#but i cannot physically draw the master without any

[codegreen14]

Yours truly drawing a thoschei that isn't spydoc ?!?

It's more likely than you'd think...

Everyone should give me their Draw your OTP templates. I yearn

[ladylokianna]

My favorite hello, my hardest goodbye

Pairing: Aemond x fem!reader (use of Y/N). Aegon is involved (in a good way).

Warnings: okay, what can i say... angst for first instance. The one shot contains mention of blood, trauma, child death, torture and violence. Please don't continue if that's uncomfortable for you, 18+, MDNI.

Notes: Ok, i have to admit that the whole idea of this one-shot was totally different in the beginning: it started out angsty with the what if? in which Blood & Cheese kill Aemond's son and not Aegon's, and i had also sketched out something more angsty, but i left it out because i didn't want to make my beloved boy suffer more than he had to. So, that draft posted a few days ago following a request i developed it better and out came a tragicomic piece, with Aegon as a master of torture helping his sister–in–law vent against her son's murderer.

Ah, i'd like to specify one more thing: the relationship between the Targtower siblings is not based on the TV series, i prefer to think of them as any pair of brothers, sometimes quarrelsome, capable of teasing each other (raise your hand if you haven't teased your brother/sister at least once in your life, come on) but absolutely willing to have each other's back.

Word count: 2798.

English is not my first language, please be kind.

It always started like that, with your breathing slowly becoming shallow and scattered, with your hands moving quickly trying to grab –or stop– something. Aemond notices immediately, as soon as he hears your breathing change suddenly in the middle of the night: one minute you are sleeping relatively peacefully, the next you are breathing as if you were drowning. He knows that shortly afterwards will also come the shakes and screams, a witness that that night continues to haunt you.

"There is nothing at all you can do about?"

Orwyle shook his head, contrite: there was nothing that could soothe the mental pain as poppy milk did to the physical one.

It was not the same pain.

Aemond shifts more towards you, slipping an arm under your neck and one around your waist, drawing you to himself just in time, before you could gesture in your sleep, lest you hurt yourself, whimpering as if what you are dreaming about you were re-experiencing again, in that very moment.

"Y/N?" he whispers as you start to cry, leaving him undecided on what to do. You call out for him several times in your sleep, your voice increasingly full of anguish. "I'm here!"

He realises he has no idea what to do, whether to wake you up or to leave you to sleep, waiting for the nightmare to fade on its own: Orwyle has recommended that he should not force you to wake up, but at the same time he cannot watch you suffer without doing anything to help you.

You call out to him once more, frightened, and this time he sees you laying a hand on your heart, your breathing increasingly shaky, as if you were ranting.

The hell with it.

He sits up and takes you back into his arms, cradling you like he used to do with your son.

"Y/N, wake up. It's all right, i'm here!" he tells you. "I know you can hear me, wake up!"

You blurt out something he can't understand and open your eyes wide, glassy, almost lifeless. He grabs your shoulder, shouting your name and shaking you out of your sleep. You finally wake up after so many interminable seconds, with a gasp that reminds him of a person who has been underwater too long and resurfaces a few moments before the end: your eyes return awake and bright, your heartbeat almost regular.

His own, much less so.

"Aem?"

Full of relief, he strokes your head, letting go a sigh.

"Tell me."

"Blood, Aem. It's everywhere. I can't get it off of my hands." you say, with an hoarse voice.

Its metallic stench seeps into your nostrils, forcing you to hold your breath and turn to him, sinking your nose into his tunic: one more second of that smell and you throw up, you're sure.

He takes your hand in his and shows it to you.

"Nothing's there, look." he tells you. "Look at me: it's all gone, it was a nightmare."

You look around, discovering that you are not in your son's room, but in yours, patrolled day and night by guards. You are safe.

You hear Aemond respond to Ser Criston, ordering him something you cannot understand, as flashes of the nightmare that tortures you since that night return to your mind.

"Oh gods, again?"

"Yes, and i should have consulted the maesters much earlier, because it gets worse every time. I'm so afraid you would never wake up again."

The bandage on your arm is still in place, your nightgown is still pristine white and your hands are clean. You shove your face into Aemond's chest, sighing a plea.

"No more, Gods, please, no more."

"I'll send for Orwyle."

"No, please, i'm not going to chug another one of his nasty sleeping concoctions... and i don't want to be considered crazy."

"We are two grieving parents, no one would dare think that."

You sigh. Every court holds a nest of vipers, and yours is no exception.

"Not in our presence, Aem, that's for sure. But i can assure you they speak widely about us. People's tongues can be far sharper than their swords." you reply. "I'm doing everything i can to move on even though it may seem insensitive from me, but it's so hard."

"I would never think that." he replies.

"You wouldn't, but i hear the voices of the whole court behind my back, to them i am now the crazy, childless mother and..." and something you cannot repeat, not in front of Aemond.

"Who said that?"

"Some women, i don't really remember who, nevermind." you try to cut it short, aware that you already talked too much and especially aware of what Aemond might do if he found out who was responsible for those rumours.

"And they were women amongst noble women or the servants?"

"You can punish them, but, you will not stop those voices, you know how it is. I just have to wait for their quacking to move on to the next topic, until then i will resist. It's nothing, really."

He returns your embrace, but deep inside you know he is already thinking about what to do to flush out whoever started the rumours and you also know how damn difficult it is to change his mind if something directly affects you: once he has set his focus to something, nothing can stop him.

"I almost forgot to tell you that Helaena tried to distract me, she helped me with a new embroidery and showed me some insects i'd never seen before, you know? I love strolling with her and the twins in the gardens, but i have a strange feeling in my stomach since it happened, like i have a knot i can't untie. I feel like i'm burning up inside and i don't know what to do." you murmur. "And in all this i have to ask for your forgiveness: i haven't asked yet how are you doing, i'm selfish."

His breath quivers a little before he answers you.

"I live with the memory of that night: i should have been here instead of patrolling King's Landing with Vhagar. They wanted me, and they took our son. You want to know how i come to terms with what happened? I spend my mornings in the dungeons, executing the death-row prisoners... my sword has never seen so much blood since it was forged."

".... and does it work?"

"Not in the way i would like. When i plunge my sword into their flesh i imagine sinking it into Daemon's throat." explains. "Even if he deserves a far worse death for what he has done."

Aemond didn't tell you that he still see every little detail. The rough stitches around your son's neck, his corpse, his bed soaked in blood.

You stroke his cheek understandingly, like you do every time you hear him crying in the safe space of your bed.

"I miss our little boy."

"I know. I would like to have another child, i know i owe you one but i'm not ready yet."

"Listen, you owe me nothing. If more children will come, fine. I will not put pressure on you, i'm already happy to still have you here. Do you understand what i mean? Don't get me wrong, i loved our son, i really did, and i mourn him every day, but to me you're the most important person i have."

As he is for you. You smile lovingly, but suddenly your gaze changes.

"I want them dead. Both of them. They must suffer. I must see their blood spill onto the ground. Maybe then i will begin to find peace."

He looks at you a little, before clearing his throat.

"I'll help you get dressed." he explains. "I'll take you with me to the dungeons."

Aegon greets you with a wide smile, in his own reassuring way, amazed to find you there.

"Imagine the uproar if our mother found out."

"It's either this or me burning the whole realm to the ground."

"Dragonstone alone would be enough... imagine burning the whole castle down with those bastards inside them."

"Don't tempt me. You told me you would do anything to ease the anger i feel, and you're still doing it." Aemond says. "Now i ask you to do the same thing for Y/N. You know to whom i refer."

"I want those two." you murmur.

"Yes, there were two, but i already had one hanged." Aegon explains. "I had all the fucking rat-catchers hanged. But if you wish, i will give orders for their families to die as well: all i need is your yes, and within an hour i will bring you the heads of their children."

That offer goes straight to your brain, piercing it like a dart and insinuating a dangerous temptation. It is frightening how you even allow yourself to think about it, to indulge in the idea of inflicting the same pain on other women, like yourself wives, sisters, daughters, mothers. Probably the same women you saw during the funeral procession, the ones who threw flowers at your son, who wept as you passed by and cursed the name of Rhaenyra, women who were already living under difficult conditions. But then, you think back to all the blood spilled that night, the blood that had soaked your hands and your son's tunic, the blood that dripped down from the wound they had inflicted on your arm, in a vain and desperate attempt to save your child.

You think back to Aemond and his burning guilt, to the way he threw that little tunic into the fireplace, to the way he clutched your hand when he ordered Vhagar to light the funeral pyre, to his desperate weeping smothered against your shoulder after the funeral when, embraced in the comforting privacy of your rooms, you could no longer tell who was consoling whom.

You can't.

Considering how hard you struggled to change Aemond's mind, when, lost in the pain of both of you, he had been on the verge of burning down the whole town.

"And once we've set everyone on fire, what are we going to do, Aemond?"

You shake your head, and the answer that rose to your lips to Aegon's question was the same one you gave Aemond.

"No. Smallfolk of King's Landing are not to blame, and killing their children will not bring mine back." you look instinctively at Aemond, standing next to you, with the awareness that they would both only need a nod from you, and place your hand on his chest. "Responsibles must die, but there are women and men out there already struggling every single day to survive with their own problems without having to pay for ours as well. Don't do anything more against the poor people, Aegon, please. Aemond, i beg you."

He scrutinises you attentively, and cannot ignore your eyes glazed with tears.

"If that is what you wish, so be it." he replies in a whisper, rubbing your hand with his own. "I won't do anything you don't want."

"You are far too generous, my lady." Aegon finally sighs. He leads you out of the guards' cabin, towards an isolated cell where Aemond unsheathes his sword, and the prisoner winces, knowing full well what is about to happen: he has heard the screams of the other inmates, the sinister sound of that sword, and the precise and lethal manner in which the prince uses it. He knows that Aemond shows no mercy, and that that rage will now fall upon him.

"I don't want to suffer." he whimpers, looking at the blade: Aemond has a habit of twisting it in the throat of the unfortunate, he has heard so many choke like that, in their blood, with that blade buried in their flesh.

"He is not going to execute you." Aegon replies, smiling. "It all depends on her."

He remembers you well, he remembers your voice, your face transfigured by horror, he remembers that night as much as you do.

"Please..." he begs, and after this, you can smell the stingy smell of the urine that dampens his filthy trousers.

"Not yet, Aem. I might need it later." you say, declining his sword.

"Oh, fuck." Aemond mutters, catching a glimpse of the long wooden plank on which a varied array of tools, lined up in religious order, make an eerie display: he certainly didn't plan for something like this.

"You don't like it, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't like it too."

Aegon shows you a rack with a few weapons, some too heavy for you, while others useless for the purpose, carefully explaining what each was for and what damage they could inflict.

Aemond remains aloof, focused on you, ready to take you back to your shared rooms at the slightest sign of discomfort.

"Let's make it simple before someone here decides to use something on me. May i suggest this spiked mace? Simple yet effective, you'll see. Here, take it. Joints first: ankles, knees, elbows... and don't forget wrists. Then, the small bones like those of feet and hands. Though, be careful not to hit vital points first or you'll miss all the fun. When you'll have enough you can decide whether to finish him or letting Vhagar do it, okay? It's up to you." says Aegon.

"Vhagar doesn't eat shit." protests Aemond, looking at the prisoner.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." observes Criston Cole in a barely audible whisper, watching you weigh the spiked mace in your hands, looking for the best grip on the handle. It's heavy, way more heavier than Aemond's sword.

"Keep your hands more apart on the handle or you will end up hurting yourself. Good, like this."

"Your Grace, you know she is so out of her she won't be able to kill him on the first blow, right?"

"Of course i do. That's the beauty of it: Vhagar will be a relief in comparison to her rage."

Your first blow hits the prisoner's left knee, smashing it with a loud grunt: his scream leaves you wanting to hit harder. Both Aemond and Aegon take a step back, letting you do what it pleases you without saying a word to stop you.

There's no turning back now. Not that you want it.

They look at you in silence for a few minutes in the disturbing atmosphere of the cell, a silence interrupted only by your grunts and the prisoner's screams, Aegon with a certain smile on his lips, Aemond with a look somewhere between worried and surprised, as if he found impossible that a woman like you, capable of compassion and love, the same woman who birthed your son and whom he watches playing with his nephews, could be the same fury that is mangling a man three times your size.

"You know Aemond, contrary to what you think, i also used to make a few trips to the library."

"In between wanking? Amazing."

Aegon ignored his teasing, focusing on another blow you're about to inflict on the prisoner's lower limbs.

"Hey hey hey... enough with the knees, honey, may i suggest you the shoulders, now? ...great, right there, that's it... see how the mace smashed the joint? Brilliant, isn't it? I may not have studied philosophy and history, brother, but you have no idea how many books banned by our Septon i have read. I'm sure that book about torture might interest you too."

"I'm not fond to torture, for too much can be counterproductive: once one gets used to pain, the whole thing became pointless. Hence i have to admit sometimes is quite useful."

"If this is her way of not going mad, let her. Let her vent."

A metallic clung interrupts them both: you have dropped the mace to the ground, exhausted, after inflicting one last blow. You look at what remains of the murderer's head with a soft "what the hell? " and wonder at what point in your murderous outburst he is dead, and how many blows you have inflicted on his corpse.

"Holy shit, Y/N." Aegon says looking at you almost covered in blood, like the stone floor and the wall behind the corpse strewn with human remains, blood and cerebral matter. "Oh wow. Look at it, it was awesome."

"Aem?"

"Yes darling?"

"I think i won't need the sword after all. Thank you, by the way." you say. "I'm done."

"Well sure, there's nothing more left to hit, sweetie. We're so proud of you." Aegon praise you, with glowing eyes. The dungeons are now more like a slaughterhouse than a prison, but you don't mind it. "Fine Aem, got it: never piss off your wife."

[silverryuan]

TWST with Blood Mage reader (Part 2)

I didn't know I reached a hundred followers. Thank you so much, guys!

Warning: Gore and Slight Language

• Everyone in the room waited in anticipation for the Dark Mirror's statement in hopes of finally ending the ceremony, But the mirror did not respond. The mirror's stoic face suddenly expressed fear and a judgemental expression seconds later. The mirror then replied...

Dark Mirror: "...This soul... Does not belong in any of the dorms."

• The crowd in the room gasped in shock and loud whispers filled the room. Crowley stuttered in confusion and asked the mirror for the reason.

Dark Mirror: "...They have a powerful yet fearful magic that exceeds the average young student... Their flow of magic power fluctuates in every vein, bone, flesh... Too difficult to discern the difference between physical and magical strength..."

Crowley: "I-i do not understand, I... Is what you are trying to say is that they are... Dangerous?"

Dark Mirror: "... That may be. But they are also gifted in an art form of magic that not a single student can master..."

Crowley: "I-i see. Well... BloodMage! Yuu, was it?"

BloodMage! Yuu: "Yes?"

Crowley: "What kind of mage are you?"

BloodMage: "...I don't know myself."

Dark Mirror: "There is still room for improvement... They must learn to harness that magic... To control it... Until then, they cannot be placed in any dorm."

• With that said, the mirror's face disappeared. The students in cloaks stared at you in disbelief and stepped away from you. The way they are cautious is not new to you. They are always scared...

Crowley: "Oh! Woe is me, woe is me! What do I do? In all experience of being headmaster, I have never thought I'd encounter this kind of problem... Sh-should I send them back?"

Grim, escaping: "Fnyagh! If you're not gonna take 'em, then take me instead!"

Crowley: "What the-- Stop, raccoon! You shall not escape!"

Grim: "The Great Grim's ain't a raccoon! And I got magic much more powerful than that guy! Just watch me!"

• The little monster escaped from Crowley's lash and floated in the middle of the room. He puffed up his furry chest to inhale some air and blew enormous blue flames. All the students ran to evade his attack, some ran towards safety, others pull out of their magical pens. The fighting students struggle to contain him as Grim levitated from corner to another one.

Crowley: "SOMEBODY CATCH THAT MONSTER!"

????: "Aren't you the headmage?"

?????: "...Ugh, how troublesome..."

???: "Stop with your complaining. You know you can end this yourself. Doesn't that thing look like a nice plump snack?"

?????: "Nah, too much work."

????: "Headmaster Crowley, do not worry. You can count on me to capture it. Without hurting the poor thing, of course!"

????: "That's Azul for you. Always showing off and always reaping the plus points."

• While the so-called powerful students (you assumed) bicker with each other, you see the boy with tan skin and silver hair struggling to avoid Grim's attacks and tripped. Before Grim could breathe out another barrage of flames, you quickly stood in front of the boy and shield him from the fire... Besides, you need to use your magic anyway.

BloodMage! Yuu: "...Are you alright?"

?????: *cough*, *cough* "Y-yeah, I think so..."

BloodMage! Yuu: "Good. You need to get up."

?????: "Right. Thanks a lot for...for........ W-W-W -WHAAAaa!!"

• The boy paused mid-sentence as he took your hand to get up, only to feel... Something wet and boney? He looked up in horror to see flesh clinging to whatever's left of your right arm. Blood dripping down from your upper torso, showing your now scorched left shoulder its inner muscles and veins.

• The boy screamed in terror, drawing attention from bystanders and running students. Everything seemed to freeze in motion as they witness the gore that you displayed. The monster even stopped his ruckus to look at what he's done. Some students fainted, some ran to get the infirmary ghosts, some holding their vomit in disgust at your exposed bloody burnt skin which the ceremonial robes can no longer hide.

???: "G-GREAT SEVENS!"

???: "AAAAAHHHH!!!"

???: "CALL THE INFIRMARY GHOSTS NOW!"

???: "THEY'RE DYING!"

???: "EVERYTHINGISFINEEVERYTHINGISFINEEVERYTHINGISFINE"

???: "DON'T LOOK HERE!"

???: "I WANNA GO HOME!"

???: "CAPTURE THAT MONSTER IMMEDIATELY! HE KILLED SOMEONE!"

Grim: ".....W...What have I done..... Th-this isn't supposed to happen.... No no no........."

BloodMage! Yuu: ".......Cell Siphon."

Grim: "I-i-it was an accident--... F-FNYAGH!?"

• Now that you have access to your blood magic, you use your blood cells to cast a spell, Cell Siphon, on Grim. The monster is suddenly put in a trance as the blood in his tiny body forces him to come closer to you. Finally, your puddle of blood starts to levitate around you and formed into a makeshift cage for Grim.

BloodMage! Yuu: "Huh... That was easy."

• You were expecting Grim to fight back but the fiery feline only sit there in the cage with his ears drooped down, and his eyes not meeting yours. You approach the headmage and handed him the cage. The headmage's mouth is agape and his wide eyes kept looking at you and back to the cage, trying to piece together what the fuck just happened. You assume that everyone else is also holding the same expression.

?????: "I apologize Headmaster, but I'm afraid Malleus Draconian has forgotten to-- OH MY FUCKING SEVENS."

• The short fae entered the room, not expecting to see scorched walls, everyone standing in shock, and you looking at him like you didn't mind the melted flesh and eyeball still dangling from your face.

[backhurtyy]

hi my most beloved can i request “we’ll never get to sleep if you keep fidgeting like that.” or “no, don’t stop. i like the sound of your voice.” with either zukka or legolas and gimli <3

anything for you! mwah! i once again fell victim to the can't shut up disease, so have some gigolas beneath the cut <3

The Galadhrim's lament for Gandalf fills the forest, a haunting melody that floats through the trees and sits heavy upon Legolas' heart, but he cannot bring himself to join in.

Not because of his own grief, not because he is reluctant to sing it and acknowledge that Gandalf, a seemingly invincible force in the world, is gone. Rather, it's because he can't stop thinking about another loss, one that will not be mourned or acknowledged by the elves but is no less great. Because he can't stop thinking about the devastation on Gimli's face as he beheld Balin's tomb, about the hollow thud of his helm against the stone, about how Gimli had to be ripped away from the memorial lest they lose him too. About how the entire city was full of Gimli's lost kin.

About how he has lost more than just Gandalf, and his grief has gone seemingly unnoticed.

He casts his eyes around their campsite, finding Aragorn and Boromir in quiet conference and the hobbits resting in a pile, but no Gimli. He frowns, rising to his feet swiftly and setting out to find him.

He won't come to physical harm in Lothlórien now that he's been granted permission to roam the forests, but that doesn't stop Legolas from worrying. After all, heartache can cause as much harm as an enemy can.

He trods through the forest on light feet, straining his ears for any sound besides the Galadhrim's song or the rustling of leaves in the wind. He is just beginning to wonder if he'll ever find Gimli - it is, after all, a large forest - when he catches the briefest hint of another melody, carried to him by a particularly strong breeze. It's not the soft, haunting melody of the elves, but rather something gruff and painful and raw.

It's still beautiful, though, and he knows without a doubt that it is Gimli, singing a mourning song for his lost kin in the rough-rock language of the dwarves. After only a moment of hesitation, debating whether he should give Gimli the privacy he took such great pains to seek out or trust his gut and go to him, he begins following the song.

He finally finds Gimli at the edge of the river, a lit fire before him and his face turned down to the rocks beneath his boots. He is still singing, a hand pressed to his heart, and Legolas can just barely see the glimmer of tears on his cheeks before they disappear into his beard.

Gimli's voice isn't necessarily beautiful - not like Legolas finds the lilting voices of the elves or the joyous voices of the hobbits or even the softness of Aragorn's - but it's strong and sad and it fills Legolas' heart all the same, entrancing him and making it so that he couldn't turn away, even if he wanted to. It draws him in, and he barely thinks before taking another step towards Gimli.

Gimli's voice cuts off when he hears the rocks crunch beneath Legolas' foot, and he turns to face him. "Master Elf," he says, somewhat awkwardly, though he makes no effort to wipe away the tears or pretend he'd been doing anything other than mourning.

"I'm sorry," Legolas says, equally as awkward. He'd been so sure of his convictions when he set out to find Gimli, so determined that the dwarf shouldn't be alone in his mourning, but now that they're looking at each other, he finds he doesn't know what to say. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just... Worried. I suppose."

"Worried that I'm causing trouble, eh? Well, I'll just remind you that the Lady Galadriel gave me permission to roam these forests, and I-" he says haughtily, before Legolas cuts him off.

"Not at all, Master Dwarf. I was worried that you were alone in your sorrow, and thought you might like company. But if I was wrong then say the word and I shall leave you without another word."

Gimli blinks at him once, twice, before his great beard twitches with a small smile. "Ah. Well. I suppose I'd be a fool to say no to the opportunity for an elf to mourn dwarves. Join me, Master Elf."

Legolas smiles and goes to join Gimli before the fire. "I am sorry you couldn't spend more time with them in Moria."

Gimli sighs and turns his face back to the rocks. "'Tis probably for the best. With the mines overrun by goblins, and that devilish creature of fire and ash... At least I can now carry the news back to Erebor. To their families." He's silent for a long time, before he says dryly, "You must think me a fool for even having hope they were alive. It seems everyone but me knew Khazad-dûm's fate."

"I don't think it's ever foolish to have hope," Legolas says quietly. "After all, hope may be all that helps us complete this quest."

Gimli looks at him again, studying Legolas with his dark eyes, and smiles again. "I am glad you sought me out, Master Elf. It is good to have company."

"Legolas," he says without thinking. "Just... Legolas. I would have us be friends, as Gandalf wished."

Gimli's eyes twinkle. "Well I can't be outdone by an elf. You shall call me Gimli, then... Legolas. My friend."

Legolas' heart feels refreshingly light, then, and it is that which gives him the courage to ask, "Your song... It was a mourning song?"

"Ah. Yes. This isn't quite the proper funeral for dwarves, especially not for a Dwarf Lord such as Balin, but it'll do until I return home. I don't have to finish it, though, I'm sure my voice is grating for such delicate ears as yours."

Legolas' hand flies out to gently grasp Gimli's shoulder. "No. No, don't stop. I enjoyed the sound of your voice. It was... It felt... Real. Please, finish it. I will listen."

Gimli smiles again, broader then Legolas has seen him smile the entire time they've been on this journey, and shakes his head. "You are not as expected, Ma- Legolas. But as you wish. I will continue my song."

He resumes singing, his strong voice drowning out the elves, and Legolas closes his eyes and lets the words carry him away.

[galvatream]

Soldier of Darkness Au, The Overlord vs Nokt, hmm, nah, I don't think that's an acuate name for this piece of art, The Overlord beats Nokt up, that's much more acuate.

Nya slammed into the ground, fire raging from her hands as she eyed Nokt dangerously. "Leave my family alone." Her words were venom, however, before she or Nokt could leap into battle, a dark laughter filled the monastery of gates.

"I had never considered using dragon ivory in such a way."

All eyes turned towards the entrance. Lloyd's eyes went wide with horror as he stared at the towering figure in the entrance. "No, it's impossible, you shouldn't have been able to regain physical form so soon.

The Overlord laughed, his body rumbling as he let his darken gaze fall upon Lloyd. "The Merge altered my very nature, ridding me of my reliance on conflict once and for all." His gaze turned to the dragon ivory, a thoughtful look lingering within.

"Who are you? Another to bow before the Forbidden Five?" Nokt demanded, elemental power radiating from his hands as he eyed the newcomer with an arrogant smile.

The Overlord snarled, but paid no attention to the ancient elemental master, instead, he turned his gaze to his champion. "Attack, draw their attention away from the centre of the room."

Without any hesitation, The Five warlords charged in, Vangelis flew in from above, gunning for Cole, Vex moved swiftly, closing the gap between him and Zane, Kalmaar, in the absence of Jay, instead shifted his focus to Seliel, Harumi, as she always did, sent a sly grin Nya's way and charged her. Kai, with a contingent of Oni at his command, charged Lloyd, the Oni engaging others in the room.

Nokt moved, using shatterspin to effortless knock a few Oni warriors aside as he charged The Overlord. "Whoever you are, you cannot stop the forbidden five." Leaping into the air, he fired off several bursts of elemental energy at his foe.

The Overlord effortless evaded each elemental blast, watching with amusement as Nokt changed tactic and launched himself forward, shatterspin spinning around him. With no effort, The Overlord reached forward, claws wrapping around Nokt's neck, knocking him out of shatterspin.

"Arrogant mortal, it took the might of all seven Source Dragons to defeat me when I was at full strength." Opening his spare hand, power began to form. "Even now, at a third of my former strength, it would take everything Firstbourne had to defeat me."

He brought his energy forward, sending Nokt flying into the wall across the room. "Shatterspin will do nothing to aid you against me, the collective elemental powers of the merged realms will not help."

Nokt pushed himself to his feet, looking The Overlord in the eyes. "Who are you?" He asked again.

"I am The Overlord."

[buselkiy]

*I received advice to make this a separate post.*

The answer-reflection on this post

** I'm ready to be wrong, but the current situation at Disney reminds me more of this:

And if, from what the new owners are doing with the studio "Disney is spinning in a coffin", then from how and what desires are fulfilled (if fulfilled) on the island, Magnifico bangs his head against the glass

The wish at the ceremony: is a sewing master who can help provide for the island and whose work can be dearly sold to the mainland. The desire after the overthrow of the king: is a girl who wants to fly. Thank you, this is very logical and useful. Indulging the naivety of a bygone childhood, instead of doing something new. What's there? Aaa.. the Ice Age? 5? 6? Yes, of course

To sail to another island to apply for the fulfillment of a wish that violates the laws of physics, or for some reason you are too lazy to fulfill it yourself, knowing that it takes a month to roll back mana for this spell and sell your already existing franchise (which has passed the adequacy screening) because you went broke / don't know how / don't you want to continue working with her, there are different things.

Yes, I've heard about Nimona. Although my friends and I were giggling nervously at the time. "Puss in Boots 2" is coming out And you can't follow the path of "giving up dreams in favor of reality" - we're rewriting it. Nemana comes out (despite all attempts to crush her and be the first) and a chaotic werewolf child is also impossible - we cut out the Starboy and rewrite it again. Everyone was already tired of bizarre princess? Asha was planned to be different. But without him, the bizarre stupidity is once again given to the girl.

And it's a specific anniversary, you can't move it anywhere. And the crap that was left after other films (which took some of the ideas to themselves) was crookedly sewn. And, most likely, they themselves are shocked that they had to leave It in the end, despite the first ideas, concepts and storyboards. It is possible that if you do not understand what you are drawing, then you do not have time to draw it, much less render it. Yes, every character has suffered here. And everyone is open to writing in any direction. And for that, the gratitude of this strange thing

Sometimes I wish there were fewer fights over copyrights. (looks very unkindly at Games Workshop, which banned fan animation (Yes, guys, at Disney, we can do fan animation videos, but Warhammer has problems with this)). Don't care if someone can outrun you, don't bother them, and do what you planned. But viewers should also forgive such coincidences. Otherwise, there will be only sequels and prohibitions.

There are a lot of films and real stories about the fact that desires can be dangerous, so people responded to this. And that's why people want to play it, ignoring the original. -Someone wants to marry someone who is against it. Gaston's wish will hang there forever, and he will forget about it, stop pestering Belle, and everyone will be happy. -A ship-obsessed person will not climb onto a ship without asking, and will not be thrown into the sea. -The desire to return the deceased will be exchanged for peace and acceptance of the past. These are not franchises, but powerful obsessions of people. And many people go to doctors for years to get it out of them and forget it.

Despite the gorgeous art and orderly arguments, I cannot agree with position from this post. (the link at the beginning)

*Bow of respect

**and I hope that the translator has coped with what I have written.

[ohmeadows]

I was reading all the lore books of the Xianzhou for fic research and one volume in particular, Glimpses into the beyond, has my brain running circles, so why not share my notes

It's a manuscript written by Fu Xuan, touching on divination and Aeons

I loved this quote: "Humans walk the Paths, while stars cross the sky: Observing these situations can produce future predictions. All of this is based on the diviner's ascertainment of the present situation (or the past, because the present is constantly becoming the past)."

Implied that diviners must stay constantly in tune with the present lest they loose their footings

Mentions the founder of the Divination Commission, a master Xuan Yao, who said "Only the universe and the Aeons cannot be foretold."

Fu Xuan writes that the universe birthed the Aeons, not vice versa.

She further writes that omniscience is unattainable

While writing about the Yaoshi, she brings up the fact that any attempt to divine the Abundance's future is an unforgiveable felony onboard the Xianzhou. Any attempt to do so can be lethal for the diviner, and if they survive, they will face the full wrath of the Ten Lords Commission. (The other Aeons are kind of forbidden to divine, but the punishment is less severe and may even be suspended.)

She mentions that hubris often strikes diviners during their first 100 years on the job; likely implication being that she has been doing it for at the barest of minimums that time, and more probable way longer?

The rest of Fu Xuan's observations are musings on the nature of Aeons and relate a lot to the future of the Xianzhou:

Sorting of the Aeons into three categories, which the Xianzhou still uses:

"Arbiters: Determining mortal births and deaths, which are highly connected to the rise and fall of civilizations." Lan, Qlipoth.

"The Sacrosancts: Difficult to predict as good or evil; often unable to even know where they head for." Nous, Akivili, Aha, Idrila.

"The Authors of Calamity: The main culprit behind all disasters. Avoid, or be annihilated." Yaoshi, Nanook, Tayzzyronth.

Lan appeared in Year 3400 Star Calendar, and ever since the Divination Commission monitors and interprets what Lan's arrows mean.

Fu Xuan muses that while Qlipoth themselves strives for isolation between worlds with no contact, IPC, their foremost faction, facilitates contact and trade between worlds seemingly without drawing the ire of Qlipoth at all.

When the Xianzhou fleet set sail they witnessed Qlipoth's Echidna Skywall that seperates the worlds from the void.

Fu Xuan herself has seen Nous, the machine-like Aeon. "Contrary to standard thinking, Nous is not a god that provides solutions. On the contrary, all they offer is an infinite number of questions." Overall she speaks very highly of Nous and encourages diviners to take after them.

Akivili is shrouded in legends, but Fu Xuan mentions that both the IPC and Xianzhou fleet navigate space by the star rail ("chromatic echelons").

Deems Aha to be the Aeon closest to mortals, mentioning how Aha's followers instigated a riot that ended with a troll virus being spread in the local robot army.

While Idrila is fallen, it's implied that through gathering and using the relics left behind, they might come back.

This quote is just fascinating in the implications of Idrila: "According to ancient myth, Idrila once attributed the beauty of all the starzones to themselves, showing heroes, villains, and mortals the meaning and aesthetics contained within the cosmic landscape, and driving them to complete astonishing (but often devastating) achievements for Idrila's own pleasure. This myth may reveal the true meaning behind the Path of Beauty: The integration of consciousness, insight, and values."

There is some strange and remote connection between the Yaoshi and the Xianzhou people, apparently, one that physics cannot yet explain.

Nanook is the most recently ascended Aeon. Fu Xuan muses that the followers of Nanook are becoming an increasing problem, the fleet has lost contact with many worlds ravaged by the Antimatter Legion, and that in the near future it's likely they will have to face Nanook's forces.

Tayzzyronth, while dead, still has seeded worlds which in turn become hellscapes if not destroyed. Also their scions are still alive, and there are scholar theories that they can come back at any time.

Fu Xuan once inspected a piece of amber that was a piece from the "Imperator Insectorum's Prison Cell." The omniscia implanted in my forehead could not see the future of this item, which only serves to corroborate the scholar's claims. All I can do is pray in silence to the Reignbow that such a day will not come soon.

[tokiro07]

Did a Medaka vs. Andy post a while back, now it's time for Hitoyoshi vs. Fuuko

First off, I think it's important to establish what everyone's working with:

We'll be assuming they're at their peak, so L101 Fuuko and post-Ajimu Hitoyoshi

Fuuko's got G-Liner, her two guns, and 200+ years of Shin Hakkyoku experience

Hitoyoshi has up to 20 years of Savate experience, Devil Style and Altered God Mode: Model Zenkichi, but consequently does not have Parasite Seeing, as it was changed from a skill that let him see from other's perspectives into a skill that lets him see his own limitations. He also does not have access to Contradictory Conjunction Style, as that was a temporary ability that he was essentially borrowing

With this in mind, I think we can get a good idea of the flow of the battle

As demonstrated in his fight with Munakata, Hitoyoshi is skilled in disarming and dismantling guns, so we can reasonably assume that the moment Fuuko brings out the guns, she's losing them

Hitoyoshi is able to keep up with Medaka physically, who we can reasonably assume is above world-champion-level fighters given The End, so even if he needs to use AGM match her actual strength, Hitoyoshi should feasibly be able to fight on par with Fuuko, who is able to defeat world-champion boxers and kung-fu masters

If their physiology and technique lead to a stalemate, the battle comes down to their powers - Unluck vs. Devil Style

Immediately, Devil Style counters Unluck by negating Hitoyoshi's luck preemptively: under its effects, no good or bad luck can occur around Hitoyoshi, meaning that no matter how much affect Fuuko feels for him, there will not coincidentally be a source of Unluck to draw in

Even if there was, the current interpretation of Unluck is that it takes away the luck that a person has within them; if Hitoyoshi has "zero" luck rather than, say, 10 luck to prevent disasters, then his existing luck cannot be taken away and he cannot be made vulnerable to the disasters summoned by Fuuko

However, if Fuuko were to realize that Hitoyoshi's view of luck is "good luck=positive, bad luck=negative" rather than her interpretation of "good luck = >1, bad luck = 0," she could theoretically use Unluck to drag Hitoyoshi into the negative

Moreover, since Devil Style merely prevents acts of fate, it has no impact on the direct results of deliberate actions - in other words, if Fuuko does not rely on the random factor of Unluck and instead sets up a specific sequence of Unlucky events to draw in, then her efforts to enforce Unluck on Hitoyoshi will be rewarded so long as he himself is unable to thwart them

While this makes Unluck like meteors or earthquakes much more difficult if not impossible, it makes sources like slipping on liquids that Fuuko purposefully spilled in the vicinity very plausible and simple to execute so long as she already has access to them

Of course, we have to consider Hitoyoshi's interpretation of Unluck as well - if Fuuko's efforts to draw in Unluck are to be rewarded, then the mere existence of meteors should make them something that she can reasonably incorporate into her strategies. Since Hitoyoshi isn't the type to accept a handicap in a fight, he would likely never deliberately prevent Fuuko from fighting to her full capacity. He may need to learn the mechanics first to allow it to happen, but since Devil Style is meant to be a way for him to prove that he's capable of overcoming foes on his own and without relying on nebulous concepts like fate, then defeating an enemy who manipulates fate would be the ultimate proof of his fighting abilities

From there, it's just a question of what the writer in question wants: do they want Fuuko's ability to understand others to win the day, or Hitoyoshi's ability to overcome any obstacle under his own power? Either way, it's unavoidable that by the end, Fuuko's Unluck would be in full swing, it's just a matter of whether Hitoyoshi can personally find a way to avoid it. Perhaps he'd manipulate Fuuko's Unluck against her, deliberately taking a second dose to summon another meteor that would collide with the first and destroy them both?

Again, like with Medaka vs. Andy, pick your favorite to win, but know that in my head, they both come out of it as friends because of how hard they pushed each other

[finallysafeawakepowerful]

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

“In the beginning was the unconditioned awareness of being; and then the unconditioned awareness of being became conditioned by imagining itself to be something, and the being became that which it had imagined itself to be; so did creation begin.”

By this law - first conceiving, then becoming that conceived - all things evolve out from it; and without this sequence there is nothing made -> without your creation of it because you truly are the God of your world. You are placing yourself wherever you decree to be. The nature of the manifestation is determined by the state of consciousness in which I dwell. I am always drawing into my world that which I am conscious of being.

Decreeing is ever done in consciousness. Every man automatically expresses that which he is conscious of being. Without effort or the use of words, at every moment of time, man is commanding himself to be and to possess that which he is conscious of being and possessing. FEELING it to be true, is the secret. For example: You decree within without any thought or effort to be smart or dumb. No words or thoughts necessary. You feel one of those things to be true, and so it is.

To rise to the level of any state is to automatically become that state in expression. But, in order to rise to the level that you are not now expressing, you must completely drop the consciousness with which you are now identified. Until your present consciousness is dropped you will not be able to rise to another level. Let go of the past and all the pains. Truly let go to that old self. The nature of the manifestation is determined by the state of consciousness in which I NOW dwell. I am always drawing into my world that which I am NOW conscious of being. Rebirth is the dropping of that level with which you are dissatisfied and rising to that level of consciousness which you desire to express and possess. You cannot serve two masters or opposing states of consciousness at the same time. Taking your attention from one state and placing it upon the other, you die to the one from which you have taken it and you live and express the one with which you are united.

Accept it. Revel in it. See yourself as the best. Look at where you landed yourself and how you’re sitting in your own handiwork. Physics prove all things are at rest until your observation begins, until whatever you decree to be real and true is made. Whatever it is you see within your minds eye and FEEL to be true… And then your word is made to be. All seeming matter begins to take form in accordance to YOU, because you are God in your world. It’s been dangling in front of us this whole time. You are in superposition every second of your existence, and whatever it is you choose to see, believe, feel within the only true reality (consciousness, your minds eye, 4d, etc) is made to be further once you actually believe .. you allow it to be seen in seeming matter. You will never see it unless you believe it. “Your refusal to believe it, is reason you do not see it.” - Neville. As above, so below - TheKybalion. You can never see below, what you do not see and believe above. You are in superposition at all times, and whatever it is you choose to believe and see within your consciousness, places you in that quantum possibility. YOU, and YOU alone. Accept you are God, and whatever it is you say, goes. Accept your consciousness steers the ship and is the source.

You were the one creating all that bad BS by playing that narrative in your head, imaging to be something, and becoming that which you imagined to be- and only seeing it and believing it and taking it on as your identity. All your senses believed it and felt it all to be true. It was the only story in your mind and heart. The only thing you saw within your minds eye, 4d, consciousness. You decreed it to be, you placed yourself there with the very power that is yourself. You were in superposition then too, and your conscious activity placed you there, as it’s the only law of existence. And truly look back at that older version - you can’t even identify with that person at this stage you’re at.

You’re the only one who can take yourself out of it and change it all - by doing the exact same thing, the one and only thing that alters your reality - you just change the narrative. You are the God of your world and whatever the fuck you say, goes. You control everything. Don’t fear a better life, a better way of being. Hold yourself up high and see yourself as the best and truly decree yourself to be. See yourself as the God of your world. Truly hold it true. Whatever story you hold in your mind and heart is what shapes and alters your existence because you are a god and your word is made to be. Accept you are God. There is no one else to convince. There isn’t a deeper level of you that you need to convince.

“We get into the habit of accepting as final the evidence of our senses.“ you accepted something to be true, you decreed it to be true, you made it your word within your 4d mind, your consciousness, the only true reality - so the one and only thing happened and continued to happen - your word is written. It was made to be. FEELING it to be true. FEELING is the secret.

FEEL whatever narrative you are playing within your mind to be true (as you always have) and it is written. There is NOTHING else going on but your conscious activity shaping it all. What else would you even be doing but making up an entire existence for yourself? You are God. All things form in accordance to the picture and feelings within your consciousness on top of the frequencies you’re emitting.

Everything is truth within your mind. Everything is real. Every thing is real. Everything spoken within your mind is made to be. Whatever story is happening within your mind is pushed forward as truth and as creation and as your story and you are in the shadow of that. Everything is taken literal.

[the-monkey-ruler]

so according to the rules and from what I understand, if you are the child of two powerful demons or a powerful being, it doesn't matter, you have to achieve everything yourself because the skills and magic will not be inherited to you, maybe only the strength, but beyond that, you inherit nothing and must achieve it for yourself.

I understand that Chenxiang, being a demigod, only inherited strength but had to train anyway. Are there exceptions, or is this the case for everyone? What about Redboy? Or the son of the white snake?

Well in a sense. I have said before that it does affect on what pieces you are that also affects what kind of power you are inclined to have. Like the Scorpion Demon having poison and the Yellow-Tusk Elephant King being able to use his trunk. The same could be said with demon offspring if they have any genetic effects of their partners. Red Boy most likely got his fire performance from his mother Princess Iron Fan having her cave located on Flame Mountain and being able to control them with her wind powers. But when it comes to things like gaining power then YES they would have to train for that on their own. It's like that they are born with the POSSIBILY with being as great as their partners but they are not born automatically with that power, they must train, which could be easier for them in all honestly.

Chenxiang had more natural strength but he didn't know how to use it and thus, in his earlier versions, accidentally killed another boy. He had to be trained by the Thunder God (or Sun Wukong now) in order to master his strength and have the skills and techniques to save his mother. A bow and arrow are a strong weapon to someone with perfect eyesight, but useless if they don't know how to draw the string.

Red Boy is said in the text that he trained with his powers as well, took him 300 years to master his Sahamdi fire, he wasn't just born knowing how to use it. He had strong parents and thus had an advantage but he still practiced long and hard.

Xu Shilin is a later addition to the Legend of the White Snake as the story usually ends in tragedy with White Snake and Green Snake being caught by Fahai who trapped them in a pagoda. It is in the later version does White Snake gives birth to Xu Shilin and he grows up to become strong enough to save his mother from the pagoda. I cannot find anything that really gives a clear story on how or if he was ever trained but from what I gathered that "His filial piety moved heaven, and What Snake was able to get out of the tower and see the sun again." Hard to say if he had anything magical powers to really aid his saving mother or just that his spirit was enough to do so.

From this we can gather that Red Boy, who received formal training in the span of 300 years, is so strong not because of his heritage solely. His parents being power demons does gives him that greater potential but he was only able to live up to that potential because of his hundreds of years of training, making him a threat to even Sun Wukong. Chenxiang was given far less time (I've seen him training from 1 to 3 years) BUT IN THAT TIME he was able to go head to head with Erlang Shen, one of the greatest fighters in heaven. I would like to note that Chenxiang did have both his Axe of Pangu and the Lotus Lantern on his side and perhaps those heavenly treasures were able to help his fight as well. Xu Shilin has such little information and no formal training despite being half-demon half-human. Most likely he would have great potential but I cannot find any stories of him fighting Fahai head-on or not and thus cannot say how powerful his true strength can be. What I can say is that without a teacher he was given no feats of strength or anything of physical or magical powers. To be this suggests that without proper training he could not live up to that potential.

From this, we can gather that having cultivated parents can give you a potential boost, but without former training then it cannot be utilized. Erlang and Chengxiang are prime example of how having a cultivated parent can increase your potential, Erlang Shen being one (if not the) strongest gods in heaven, and Chenxiang being able to learn and cultivate in accelerated speeds. Both being quite young in their training to save their mothers. Red Boy having two powerful demons was able to utilize his potential though it took far longer, centuries at that (we don't see a lot of natural-born demons and I personally believe that it is harder for demons to conceive a child with other demons compared to having a child with a human, hence why they are target more often for spouses (that is just a theory)). And sadly I have no examples of what power Xu Shilin could have had as he had no formal training and thus what potential he could have can only be speculated.

[tothelasthoursofmylife]

Character Profiles: Main and some extras

Index: Cloudia, Cedric, Milton, Kamden, Newman, Lisa, Cecelia, Barrington, Oscar, Trudy, Simon, Penelope

(All character ages are as of the latest chapter, or when they died. All information as of the latest chapter too.)

Navigation: Main and extras | Cloudia's grandparents and maternal extended family | Cloudia's paternal extended family (and Florentin) | Other servants and employees | Antagonists | Scotland Yard and misc.

(The original illustrated character sheets)

Name: Cloudia Phantomhive

Nickname(s): Dia, Clou, Cloudie, Lulu, Claudette, Aunt Lou

Birthday: April 5, 1830

Age: 18

Physical description: black/dark blue hair, dark blue eyes (with some faint specks of green)

Affiliation: Phantomhive family; Aristocrats of Evil; Miss Peregrine’s School for Fine Ladies (former)

Occupation: Countess of Phantomhive; Watchdog to Queen Victoria

Base of Operations: Phantomhive Manor; Phantomhive townhouse

Favourite Colour: blue

Favourite Flower: lily (particularly white ones)

Favourite Dessert: small cakes, biscuits

What is in her bag? a book (usually Dickens), dagger + sheath, skeleton key, perfume bottle, notebook, pencil, hairpins, pistol, necklace

Random fact(s):

Much to her chagrin, she can neither sing nor draw; she has, however, mastered playing a musical instrument and has exceptionally lovely handwriting.

Cloudia, as her son will be, doesn’t have the best naming sense. (She named Cedric and Newman.) Still, she will be the one who names her children (with some input though).

That’s why, while she possesses acting prowess, she cannot come up with any good fake names. (Like “Lady Varanda” in the “Mistletoes and Misfits” bonus, but that was also a reference to Winx Club.)

Background info: I considered giving her a middle name (after her grandmother Genevieve), but decided against it, as she does not seem to have one in canon. (Otherwise, I guess, she might have been listed with an initial like Cedric.)

First appearance: The Countess, Encounter (Chapter 1)

----

Name: Cedric K. Rossdale

Nickname(s): Ced, Ceddie, Undertaker, Kris, Not-Kristopher, Uncle Rapunzel

Birthday: March 25, 1???

Age: ??

Physical description: unwashed grey hair, phosphorescent chartreuse eyes, glasses

Affiliation: Grim Reaper Dispatch; Cloudia Phantomhive

Occupation: Grim Reaper; Duke of Underwood (disguise only)

Base of Operations: Grim Reaper Dispatch; Underwood Manor

Favourite Colour: cyan

Favourite Flower: bluebell, Sterling Silver Ros

Favourite Dessert: all of them! (even fruitcake)

What is in his bag? sack of sweets (biscuits!), biscuit cutters, destroyed earphones that shouldn’t be here, sometimes a banana (with disastrous results!), loose change, emergency 2nd bag of sweets, mourning hair lockets chain

Random fact(s):

He is rather clever with his hands and learned pottery and basketry; his favourite childhood game was cat’s cradle.

Now that he is the owner of a huge manor by the seaside, he’s been considering redecorating it.

He does not like fairy tales much because they remind him of someone. He cannot stop thinking about them for the same reason.

Background info: I picked “Kristopher” at random (it was the first name that came to my mind) and “Underwood” without much extra thought except that it’s sort of “similar” to “Undertaker.” I later thought that Cloudia might have rather given him “Sowerberry” as a surname because that’s the name of the undertaker in Oliver Twist. Now, I’m happy with my choices because they worked out decently in the end for various reasons.

First appearance: The Reaper, Encounter (Chapter 2)

----

Name: Milton Salisbury

Nickname(s): Mil, Milt, Millie, Sonshine, Sonny, Mor

Birthday: June 27, 1823

Age: 24

Physical description: gold-blond hair, hazel eyes (they are a bit more green than brown)

Affiliation: Salisbury family

Occupation: Baron of Salisbury; Director of Salisbury Trading

Base of Operations: Salisbury Villa (former); lives here and there due to his frequent travels but has an apartment somewhere in London too; he owns Salisbury Manor too but does not and has never stayed there

Favourite Colour: loves them all

Favourite Flower: chrysanthemum

Favourite Dessert: apple cake

What is in his bag? tinderbox, shawl, armband, gloves, flask with water, key, pencil, notebook, letter opener

Random fact(s):

Perpetually bored and severely insomniac, he learned various skills to pass his time, but he is too humble to say that he has mastered most of them.

He has a hyphenated surname as his mother was a rich heiress. He does not use it but wishes he could or could, at least, only use his mother’s surname.

He sleeps only four hours a day in two-hour stretches. (He cannot sleep longer because of his nightmares.) Wentworth also has to persuade him to sleep at all.

Background info: I regret a bit giving him “Salisbury” as a surname because “Earl of Salisbury��� and “Marquess of Salisbury” are actual titles.

First appearance: The Countess, Scary (Chapter 5)

----

Name: Kamden Sainteclare (born Kamden Emyr Llywelyn-Bonham)

Nickname(s): Kam, Kammie, Bookstore Boy; he also goes by Emyr Bonham on occasion

Birthday: April 5, 1830

Age: 18

Physical description: messy black hair, dark blue eyes (although he looks just like a male version of Cloudia, his eyes lack the specks of green)

Affiliation: Cloudia Phantomhive; Weston College (former)

Occupation: Bookseller

Base of Operations: Sainteclare Bookstore

Favourite Colour: yellow

Favourite Flower: passionflower, begonia

Favourite Dessert: Charlotte russe

What is in his bag? book (usually a handbook), handkerchief, pocket knife, all the scary medical tools (why though), a sack of bonbons, first-aid kit (how does it even fit???)

Random fact(s):

Cloudia’s opposite in almost every way, he can sing and draw, though he seldom draws and only ever hums to himself while working; on the other hand, his handwriting is awful.

He had many crushes throughout his life but has never acted on them and never kissed anyone either yet. He’s set to have a terrible first kiss with someone he likes.

Kamden was in Weston College’s Blue House. Barrington was a bit disappointed that he could not get into Green House. He was also someone’s fag at Weston.

Background info:

He is based on the “astrological twins” concept mentioned in Erich Kästner’s Lisa and Lottie (Das doppelte Lottchen).

His surname was picked as a “opposite” to “Phantomhive,” and taken from Melancholia St. Clair from Skulduggery Pleasant. (The same applies to his birth surname “Bonham,” though I got that one from Behind the Name.)

His adopted parents’ names (Phyllis and Frederick) are taken from a Skulduggery Pleasant fanfic I wrote a long time ago (they were the fake names I gave to two canon characters). His biological parents’ names (Linette and Edmund) come from The Infernal Devices. Linette Herondale in that series is Welsh, as was Kamden’s mother.

Kamden’s birth surname was “Glendower-Bunker” (“Glyndwr-Bunker”) for a while before I changed it. I thought giving someone the surname “Glendower” was just too much, but “Llywelyn” is also a regal name.

First appearance: The Lady, Bonding (Chapter 12); The Countess, Restless (Chapter 15; present)

----

Name: Alfred Newman

Nickname(s): Al, Alfie

Birthday: 1818

Age: 30

Physical description: dark blond hair, light blue eyes, very tall and broad-shouldered

Affiliation: Phantomhive family; Miss Peregrine’s School for Fine Ladies (former)

Occupation: Butler

Base of Operations: Phantomhive Manor; Phantomhive townhouse

Favourite Colour: green

Favourite Flower: camellia

Favourite Dessert: blancmange (especially with berries!)

What is in his bag? bag with bird food, hair ribbon, dagger + sheath, pocket watch, muff pistol, light read for breaks (Gamiani; his fondness for such literature stems from sentimentality)

Random fact(s):

Aficionado of romance novels; used to live in an abandoned part of a mysterious all-girls school after fleeing from a workhouse.

He does not know how he ended up at the workhouse or what his real name and background are.

Because he lived in hiding for years, he learned to move around very quietly despite his large physique.

Background info: He was originally called Albert; his name was changed to avoid an overlap with Prince Albert’s. He was instead named after Alfred Pennyworth (though he still overlaps name-wise with a member of the BRF: one of Victoria and Albert’s children, Prince Alfred).

First appearance: The Countess, Fearsome (Chapter 4; in italics text); The Countess, Frightening (Chapter 6)

----

Name: Lisa Greene

Nickname(s): Li (only one person is allowed to call her that though)

Birthday: January 13, 1829

Age: 19

Physical description: light brown hair, dark green eyes

Affiliation: Phantomhive family

Occupation: Maid

Base of Operations: Phantomhive Manor; Phantomhive townhouse

Favourite Colour: grey

Favourite Flower: anemone

Favourite Dessert: bread and butter pudding

What is in her bag? sack of herbs (sewn by Newman!), toy soldier, poison-laced hairpins (of course, usually wrapped in a cloth!), roll-up sewing kit, deck of playing cards

Random fact(s):

Besides squeezing Thomas’ money out of his pockets at their weekly game nights, she loves to sew by a window on a lazy rainy day.

Lisa generally dislikes and mistrusts all boys and men. She only likes/tolerates three: Newman, Kamden, and someone else but that one is dead.

She likes borrowing Newman’s romance books. It horrifies him a bit, but he still lends them to her.

Background info:

Lisa was set to be a talented pianist, but I forgot about that aspect early on. Maybe this will find its way back into the story one day?

I wished I had made her a bit older. (But not too old, as I wanted her to be close-ish in age to Cloudia.)

First appearance: The Countess, Celebrating (Chapter 7)

----

Name: Cecelia Williams

Nickname(s): prefers to be called by her full first name

Birthday: August 24, 1817

Age: 30

Physical description: wavy honey-blonde hair, dark brown eyes; she has a rather “angelic” appearance; since her husband Michael’s death, she only wears black clothes

Affiliation: Williams family; Aristocrats of Evil

Occupation: Dowager Marchioness of Williams; Aristocrat of Evil

Base of Operations: Williams guest house (by the Williams townhouse)

Favourite Colour: violet

Favourite Flower: heliotrope, centaury

Favourite Dessert: soda bread pudding

What is in her bag? fan, handkerchief, a few letters and notes, sleeping draught, purse, smelling salt, little booklet with a pressed flower

Random fact(s):

Generally, she dislikes every form of physical exertion, but, when she was younger, she enjoyed walking through fields for hours whenever her father wanted something from her.

Her mother died not long after giving birth to her. Her father began considering remarrying a few years later; however, Cecelia shooed everyone away, and he eventually gave up.

Michael liked spending a lot of time outdoors, and for the few years they were married, Cecelia did as well. Michael’s clumsiness and unluckiness often resulted in some minor disasters which sometimes rendered him injured and forced them back indoors anyway.

Background info:

I wished I had given her and Michael either a better surname or a proper title. “Marquess/Marchioness of Williams” just seems oddly casual.

I considered making her a fat character but scrapped the idea because it did not work with her backstory. (I also wanted to avoid the “of course, the character that doesn’t like exercising/moving is fat”-thing.)

First appearance: The Countess, Captured (Chapter 16)

----

Name: Barrington Weaselton

Nickname(s): Barry

Birthday: March 31, 1804

Age: 44

Physical description: greying brown hair, light green eyes; has a moustache

Affiliation: Weaselton family; Aristocrats of Evil; Order of the Garter (former); Weston College (former)

Occupation: Aristocrat of Evil; Head of the British Knights (former); Prefect of Green Lion (former)

Base of Operations: Weaselton Manor (his mother is still alive and lives there; Barrington owns the place, but seldom stays over; he has another manor house elsewhere)

Favourite Colour: blue

Favourite Flower: edelweiss

Favourite Dessert: tarts (particularly lemon)

What is in his bag? sword, ring on a string, metal box with candy, kaleidoscope, paintbrush, comb

Random fact(s):

His middle name is quite embarrassingly “Arnfried” as his mother is German (he does not speak German though).

Simon’s mother Genevieve set up a “playdate” between Simon and Barrington after Simon beat Barrington in a fencing tournament. While Barrington’s mother Wilhelmine agreed to the get-together, she later regretted her decision because she thought Simon was too much trouble. (And he and Barrington did get into a lot of trouble, even before Simon became Watchdog.)

Barrington and Samantha were an oddly matched couple as they are complete opposites. (They did, however, have a very happy marriage.)

Background info:

He was named after two villainous characters (Barrington Whelk from The Raven Boys and the Duke of Weselton) simply because I liked the names.

Barrington is a secretive character, and one I haven’t fully cracked yet.

First appearance: The Lady, First Training (Chapter 10); The Countess, Captured (Chapter 16; present)

----

Name: Oscar Livingstone

Nickname(s): don’t even think about it (though that did not stop Trudy’s best friend)

Birthday: December 24, 1798

Age: 49

Physical description: greying black/grey hair, pale blue eyes; has a beard

Affiliation: Livingstone family; Aristocrats of Evil; Scotland Yard (former)

Occupation: Lord/Laird; Captain; Inspector/Detective (former)

Base of Operations: Livingstone Manor (former); his officially sanctioned house

Favourite Colour: gold, blue

Favourite Flower: rose

Favourite Dessert: cranachan, honey cake

What is in his bag? pistol, dagger, knife, piece of wood, flask of water, a book (usually Paradise Lost)

Random fact(s):

He does not mind if someone keeps him company when he is reading; he only wishes for silence.

It is a Livingstone family tradition that the first son is given his father’s name as his middle name. His grandparents wanted Oscar to have his legal father’s name as his middle name (Ranald) because of that, but his mother protested. Oscar ended up without a middle name as a result.

Oscar used to have auburn hair as a child, but it darkened to black as he grew older.

Background info:

Very early on, Oscar was set to be 70 years old, a former police commissioner, and missing a few fingers.

I considered Charles Rowan’s military career while settling on Oscar’s.

Oscar was named after Oscar from Sesame Street (whose German name translates to “Oscar from the Trash Can.”)

First appearance: The Countess, Captured (Chapter 16)

----

Name: Trudy Ashdown

Nickname(s): /; she was known socially as “Trudy Livingstone” though she never legally took Oscar’s surname

Birthday: /

Age: /

Physical description: she had the appearance of a true “English rose”

Affiliation: Livingstone family; Ashdown family

Occupation: Lady

Base of Operations: Livingstone Manor

Favourite Colour: red, orange

Favourite Flower: rose

Favourite Dessert: apple cake, strawberry cake

What is in her bag? /

Random fact(s):

While Oscar is inwardly very restless and outwardly quiet, Trudy was inwardly very calm and outwardly lively.

She liked disguising herself and introducing herself by false names. (In part to conceal her relationship with Oscar.) For that reason, Barrington does not realise he met Trudy; he knew her by another name and was unaware that she was Oscar’s wife.

Trudy and her best friend instantly became friends upon their first encounter. Many thought they would get married, but they never had any romantic interest in each other.

Background info: /

First appearance: Mentioned only (first: The Countess, Clockmaker – Part 4; Chapter 24)

----

Name: Simon Phantomhive

Nickname(s): Si, Sissi

Birthday: August 15, 1804

Age: 29 (at time of death; April 10, 1834)

Physical description: messy/unruly black/dark blue hair, emerald green eyes

Affiliation: Phantomhive family; Aristocrats of Evil; Weston College (former)

Occupation: Earl of Phantomhive; Watchdog to King George IV and King William IV (1823-1834)

Base of Operations: Phantomhive Manor; Phantomhive townhouse

Favourite Colour: storm grey, sea green

Favourite Flower: forget-me-not

Favourite Dessert: had no sweet tooth

What is in his bag? notebook, pen, paintbrush, more pens, pencils, random papers, old bread, a diary that wasn’t his, cat treats, his dagger

Random fact(s):

Simon was close to his uncle, the Marquis. The Marquis was never fond of Simon’s father Percival, so Simon was his favourite Phantomhive.

He was the fag of Sapphire Owl’s prefect, but never succeeded him as dormitory leader. (He made sure that his upperclassman would drop him as his fag when he became prefect to prevent becoming prefect himself. Barrington wondered why Simon didn’t just decline to be the dorm leader when it was time.)

He had the tendency not to carry around any umbrellas, even if it was very clear it would rain, or when it was raining. (And they do live in England too.) It frustrated both his mother and Barrington. (Penelope was taken aback by that bad habit, but Simon did always carry an umbrella with him when she was around.)

Background info:

He was named after Simon Harley-Dickinson from The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place (he is the love interest of the protagonist Penelope Lumley after whom Penelope was named).

Simon is an artist because of Simon from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. (Simon Harley-Dickinson is also an artsy character, but he’s a playwright, not a painter.)

I wished I had written him better in “Festivity and Fear”; I hope I can rectify this one day.

First appearance: Three Times Christmas (Part 1): Festivity and Fear

----

Name: Penelope Phantomhive (née Houghton)

Nickname(s): Penny, Lopey

Birthday: October 10, 1810

Age: 37

Physical description: long blonde hair, dark blue eyes; she looks just like a blonde version of her daughter and has a cowlick like her future granddaughter

Affiliation: Phantomhive family; Houghton family; Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (former)

Occupation: Dowager Countess of Phantomhive; Actress/opera singer (former)

Base of Operations: Phantomhive Manor (she has not left it since Cloudia became the Watchdog)

Favourite Colour: silver, blue

Favourite Flower: yellow carnation

Favourite Dessert: biscuits

What is in her bag? She doesn’t leave the house; why does she need a bag?

Random fact(s):

She was very close to her father before he passed away when she was a child. On the other hand, she has a very strained relationship with her mother, and by extension with her sisters too.

Penelope was friends with Trudy. (Unlike Barrington, Penelope knew about Trudy.) They hoped their children would become friends too.

Animals like her, and she likes animals. She currently does not keep any pets though and also did not have any growing up.

Background info:

She was named after Penelope Lumley, the protagonist from The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place.

Her parents’ names (Hortense and Edward) were taken from that series too; they are the names of her namesake’s employer’s parents. Unlike Hortense Houghton, Hortense Ashton is a nice person though, and Edward Ashton decidedly is not, whereas Edward Houghton was.

First appearance: The Lady, Invited (Chapter 11); has not appeared in the present yet

[kakusu-shipping]

🔀 and also 🔪 for Overwatch if you have any

I wanted to draw for all the swaps I really did but this one in particular would require me to draw TWO robots and I'm just not... strong enough...

Asks from Here

🔀 Crossover Ship: Pair the wrong s/i with an f/o from a different universe and talk about their dynamic!

I ended up going with my Virtue's Last Reward S/I sense he is, partially, shipped with GTM-CM-G-OLM, a character with 30 minutes of screen time, and my Shipped with Zenyatta S/I, sense they're the OG of the OW S/Is and both shipped with Robots <3 Yay continuity!

My VLR S/I is, in short, a being from a higher plane that's love for K and desire to help him caused them to break through space and time, causing the entire game's events, just to be with him and give him the love he deserves. It's based on the noncanon ending of VLR. (you can read a mini fic about it Here)

To fit into OW lore I imagine he'd be something akin to The Iris, possibly the Iris taken human form, come to Earth. I'm not sure why it's come to Earth, but I imagine it's not very Good at the whole. Being human thing. Zenyatta finds it on his journey post Mondatta's death and take it along with him, assuming it a normal lost human. The dynamic from there would be Traveling Companions learning Humanity together, what it is to be Alive, to love and grow and change and what not. Deep stuff.

My Shambali Overwatch S/I is a human mechanic who ran away from home at a young age hoping to help Omnics and learn from Master Mondatta. He and Zenyatta are Childhood rivals to friends to lovers 10 year slow burn. (long fic series that one, the first of that is Here)

Without spoiling VLR, I imagine this S/I was the creator of GTM-CM-G-OLM and the other GAULEMs, maybe he's around the same age as K and the two use to hang out when he wasn't working. He probably takes way more interest in the GAULEMs than K though, so K remains the loneliest man in the world. Sorry K, this S/I is Robotsexual </3 GTM-CM-G-OLM is a very casual flirt and handsy, and this S/I is very easily flustered by physical affection from Hot Robot, so their dynamic is very sillie to me <3

🔪 F/E: Fictional Enemy, character I would fight with my self-insert

Oh I'm always ready to throw hands with Hanzo Shimada. Always. My S/I is Best Friends with Genji, he's basically my baby brother. When I get my hands on Hanzo he is getting a broken nose, wither that be what Genji would want or not. Hanzo takes and accepts it, it is his repentance.

Peeps in the Discord also know I have a personal Genji related Beef with Angela Zeigler as well. It is also very much On Sight with her and my S/I. I'm not letting her get away after seeing Blackwatch Genji, oooooh no ma'am, that is NOT how you build cybernetic prosthetics. We're gonna have some words

Genji doesn't like either of these beefs I have, he's forgiven Hanzo and is very grateful to Angela for saving his life and would really like me to do as Mondatta taught and let it go, forgive and move on, but I simply cannot. I am full of hate and rage for these two very specific people.

[eigwayne]

Today's Project: Creature Crafting!

This is a method of inspiration for creature designing, for any gentle readers who are writers or artists or game masters- or anyone, really, your purposes are none of my beeswax. If it looks useful or fun, try it!

I might have posted this method of monster creation before, but if I have it's been a long time and I'm almost certain I didn't include pictures last time. So please enjoy it today, despite the weird fish monster I greeted you with.

What you do is take parts of skeleton illustrations, mash them together, and draw a new form around it to turn this chimeric mess into a new creature. I primarily use illustrations of extinct animal skeletons, which adds a prehistoric feel and lets me decide whether and where to add feathers, fur, osteoderms, and spikes without the original animal informing the decision.

That is, in theory. If you've read about paleontology you'll probably catch your knowledge of the actual animal creeping in a little too much. It's one thing to go "The original's eye sockets are the middle ones, not the big ones in the back." It's quite another to get stuck on "This torso was a mesohippus so the front feet have to be hooves no matter what." If that's the case, purposely adjust the design to be different and that should reboot your creative juices. No one needs to know the original animal had hooves if they no longer appear in the final result.

Actually doing stuff:

TLDR Short Version:

Gather reference images. Suggested sources are extinct animal skeleton illustrations.

Cut into three pieces: heads, torsos with front legs/flippers, and hindquarters with rear appendages and tails.

Shuffle each category of parts up.

Select one of each type- one random head, one random torso, one random tail.

Sketch new creature based on the random parts.

Add details, embellishments, or notes based on the new creature from the sketch.

The Details:

To start, gather your references. I cannot supply mine because I printed them out and no longer have links, but search for things like "paleozoic skeleton illustration", "extinct animal skeleton", or "dinosaur skeleton reconstruction" to start. I advise using "extinct" or "reconstruction" and synonyms thereof in pretty much any search to avoid getting recent dead animals, human remains, or reconstructions with fleshy bits and exteriors that might influence your design. Also illustrations are easier to interpret than photos once they're cut up. Trust me.

Once you have your source images, you can go digital by slicing the images and saving the pieces as different layers or images, or manual by printing them out and cutting them with scissors. I cut mine into three parts- head and neck, front limbs with torso and spine, and hips/hindquarters with rear appendages and tail. Keep each type/category of part together and once they're all cut up, shuffle the stacks.

I suggest keeping the parts in a folder (or physical parts in an envelope) so you can use them in the future. Mine are separated like so:

Also if you're smarter than I am, you'll flip your images so they're all facing the same way. I have six envelopes instead of three because I forgot, resulting in "heads facing left", "heads facing right", "torsos facing left", etc.

To start creating, select one piece from each pile. I like to arrange mine at the top of a sheet of paper, photocopy it so I can keep the skeleton images but reuse the parts again later, and sketch the animal on the photocopy. I did one this morning and took photos to illustrate the rest of the process. First, my paleo parts:

I'm pretty sure this is a terror bird's tail and a mesohippus torso with that turtle head. First, sketch the basic shape this creature suggests. I usually start with the hindquarters and back, then sketch in the upper legs (because if there are issues, I'm most likely to change the feet over anything else, to make things more logical, but the shape of the haunches usually stays close to the same).

That torso tells me this is most likely a four-limbed creature. The tail is unfortunately from a photograph so parts are hard to make out. I'm not sure what that thick bit of pelvis in front of the tail is, so I'm most likely going to ignore it. Maybe I'll make the rear legs a little chunkier to suggest it's there. The front limbs have a slope to the shoulder blade so even if I didn't know this is most likely a mesohippus, I'd give it a horse's shoulder because that just makes sense with the bone shape.

After the shape of the animal is down, you can evaluate what details it tells you. This one, despite the claws in the rear, looks like a grazing animal so I decided it uses the strong beak and feet to eat grass and dig for tubers. It has high protrusions on the spine above the forelimbs, where the withers would be on a horse, but with the low head and neck, it doesn't looks very rideable. So I sketched a rear view showing the high spine compared to the round sides. Then I sketched the feet to sort those out (this is where the "This was a mesophippus" thought I mentioned earlier happened, which is how this creature got stumpy claws on both rear and front toes later). And I did a couple different possibilities for the facial horns, with the thought that maybe the males have big horns for defense and display. Then I figured, why leave the lady turto-rhino-phosrhaco-ponies out, and figured they can have out-sized horns too.

At this stage, I add notes to myself. I know my handwriting is bad so here's the most relevant ones:

maybe add some fur or fat

no good for riding if domesticated

-if adding fur, could turn into hump (this is in reference to the tall withers)

grazing and digging (with an arrow toward the hooked turtle beak)

floppy ears could work but it'd look even more rhino-like

And that's the gist of it! After this, you can move on to a new creature, try something different with the same skeleton, or polish this animal up a bit.

Want to see a similar method by a professional illustrator using just skulls (3D rendered, no real skulls involved), with dynamic results? I happen to have found one today! Try this video from Youtube channel Jazza: Drawing Insane Creatures from Mystery Skulls!

And here's another example from me:

Happy Chimera Creature Crafting!

[slugdragoon]

RPG Role Analysis Series #5 - Dragon Quest III vs. Final Fantasy I vol.I

It's time to do a bit of compare and contrast! I want to talk about Dragon Quest III, but I think we need to compare it to Final Fantasy I, because they have such a similar structure, and together are so foundational in the JRPG world.

Dragon Quest III was released just two months after Final Fantasy I, so I don't think they influenced each other much. The Wizardy series was already on IV around the same time, and Ultima IV had come out years earlier, and many of the classes in Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest III are analogous to those games, which in turn are taken from D&D.

Despite this, the chosen classes for each game have so much overlap! FFI has six, which each have a promoted class, but each class promotes only to that advanced class and can't change mid-game. There is also no main charater, your four party members are equal and your party composition can be anything. DQIII on the other hand allows you to choose your three party other members at will mid-game, but you always have to have Erdrick, the protagonist.

Warrior (FF) / Warrior (DQIII) - The damage-dealing knight in both games. Both Warriors are tanks that wear the best armour and swing the strongest weapons, their job is to hit things and stay alive long enough to push through damage. In DQIII however, the Warrior cannot learn Magic, whereas the FF Warriors' promotion, the Knight, can learn low-level White Magic, making it a bit more of a paladin sort, actually. There is no further distinction in FFI of access to spells than the level of spells a job can access, so all low-level White Magic is available to the Knight, meaning they can heal (single or multi-target), deal holy damage to a group of undead, increase allies defence and evasion, or reduce incoming fire and lightning damage, making them have a role in supporting the party as well as dealing damage.

Monk (FF) / Fighter (DQIII) - FFI monks and DQIII fighters are more similar than the Warriors in that in both games, neither can learn spells, including The Monk's Master promotion. Both wear no armour, and no weapons (except claws can be used in DQIII without penalty), and hit hard weaponless, but are left as glass cannons due to their lack of armour. FFI monks emphasize being faster than other classes, and DQIII fighters have a higher critical hit chance, but the main draw of both is that they save the party money by having one fewer member to buy expensive items for. In addition, they can reach their maximum potential better than two Warriors who would compete for the same rare/unique swords. This is especially useful in DQIII, as a Hero-classed Erdrick will always need this gear. These early games don't have monks do especially monk-like things, like have any special fighting abilities, their job is to be low maintenance, above all.

White Mage (FF) / Cleric (DQIII) - Both classes have low physical stats, but aren't as helpless at using weapons as the Black Mage/Mage. They won't deal your main damage, and have to be carefully guarded, but it won't be completely worthless to attack normally when no one needs healing (which is great, as their magic does not focus on damage either), and won't necessarily crumple instantly, but should be carefully guarded. Both types can heal, revive, do multi-target damage for a large MP cost, reduce incoming magic damage, buff (evasion and defence for White Mages, agility for Clerics), and heal status effects. The DQIII Cleric can cause sleep status and debuff enemy defence, wheras the White Mage can only dispel defences (not truly a debuff, which is the realm of the Black Mage). The Cleric also has instant death spells, where the White Mage can protect against the same from enemies.

Black Mage (FF) / Mage (DQIII) - Both the DQIII Mage and the Final Fantasy Black Mage have pitiful weapon attack power, as they are meant to only attack using spells. In DQIII, items exist to cast spells for free, which gives the Mage something to do without blowing all their MP. The Mage can buff party defense, the Black Mage can caste Haste, and both can buff party attack, both cast elemental damaging spells, and slow enemies. The DQIII mage get a lot of the dungeon traversal utility spells that carry over from the protagonist of DQI and the Prince of Cannock in DQII (and some new ones), as was as a magic reflecting spell and some polymorphing. The FFI Black Mage has instant death spells and status effects like blind and stone.

The DQIII mages have more of a mix of spells probably influenced by the roles of the Prince of Cannock and Princess of Moonebrook. The result is that the Cleric feels more like a D&D Cleric, with about the same level of offensive options, and the Mage feels more like a D&D Wizard who learns a variety of spells with different functions, including niche utility cases. The Final Fantasy ones really focused down on having the White Mage do purely beneficial effects to the party and the Black Mage do purely detrimental effects to the enemy (exception:making other people hit them harder), and fully exclusively own those roles.

Damn my posts are so long, I'll do some of the more divergent/interesting classes in another post (Red Mages/Sages, Thieves, the Merchant, Hero and the Jester).

[theothin]

I think it is much more productive to have a conversation about what is and is not an appropriate way to use AI than to treat such different uses as equivalent.

Using AI to imitate a performer's voice in ways the performer does not want their voice to be used is indeed very rude - much like doing so by manually stitching together clips of their voice. But the field is so much broader than this.

I have a friend who enthusiastically supported having her drawings serve as the training data for another friend's generative art model, to create AI art in her style. The friend making the model did so on his own computer, using no more power than typical use of internet or video games. The first friend remarked on how fascinating the results were, both how they accurately captured aspects of her style and how they did new things she now felt inspired to try.

Any way you look at it, this was not an action that made the world worse, but one that made the world better. Both for the insights it offered the first friend, and for the joy it brought the two of them and others they shared it with.

When people cannot imagine how someone might find value in a thing, they often jump to assuming there is no value to be found in it, and deriding the people who do like it as defective. This has happened in so many different contexts, both to dismiss any new form of art like in the backlash against modern art, and in other aspects of culture and life. It really isn't a good instinct to listen to.

Speaking personally, I would physically not be able to draw well without injuring myself, but I have all sorts of images in my mind that I'd like to bring to life. I commission art of some of them, and I use character creators like Picrew for others. For others, I use AI. Each of these approaches results in the creation of things that would not otherwise exist, and I think they all have their own value. And with each of these approaches, while I'm not personally drawing anything, I do have to apply an artistic perspective to assess how well the results are communicating what I want them to, and if not, to figure out how to change course to get there.

Like other art, AI art is as good as its creators make it. Someone who doesn't know what they're doing will probably do everything wrong and fail to recognize how it shows in the results. On the other hand, I've seen some incredible results from people who've mastered the tricks for finely controlling their model, often using models trained on no copyrighted material in the first place, and frequently modifying the generated image with other tools to progress further. I'd describe myself as a beginner who has some knowledge, while also having a long way to improve.

There are companies drowning the internet in SEO garbage. We need to find ways of cutting through their spam, and to hold them responsible for things like creating apps that claim to have information on which mushrooms are safe to eat and then tell people to eat poisonous ones. From the looks of things, most corporate investments in AI are a bubble that's likely to pop soon.

But if that's what you're seeing of AI, you're going to underestimate what dedicated users will accomplish by truly understanding it as a tool. Companies can drop support for AI services they provide through their own servers, but countless people are already using local AI programs that don't need any external support. Even if corporate AI crashes, local users will be able to keep sharing and improving the tools they have. Those tools are here to stay, and we'll all have to adjust to whatever impacts they have.

There will be negative impacts from this, and positive ones. People will create things that would not otherwise exist, and people will not create things they otherwise would have. We can find ways to make the best of whatever situation happens. But, please, in the process of doing that, don't dismiss the things people can accomplish with these tools, and don't blame them for the ways others might misuse them.

hey jonny, i just thought you'd want to know that character.ai has an ai-generated imitation of your voice and i'm not sure what other websites might have it or where it originated :(

Yeah, it's a fucking garbage state of affairs but, as a somewhat well-known performer with a pretty distinctive voice it doesn't exactly shock me. Needless to say I think anyone who used this is a mediocre waste of skin and if they ever tell me in person they've used it then 50/50 I punch them in the teeth.

I can't wait for a couple of years when it all collapses just like every other niche-but-interesting-technology-with-limited-use-cases-sold-as-a-universal-panacea-to-gormless-CEOs grift (blockchain being the best example). Because the thing is, none of these things actually make any money and cost a vast amount, so as soon as all the dumb venture capital funding dries up and AI is required to actually start paying for itself, the bubble bursts and the whole industry is fucked.

That said, it's gonna be rough when it happens - a lot of companies have invested very heavily in AI and they're going to be hurting badly. I know of more than one media company whose idiot executives invested ridiculous amounts into NFTs and ended up laying off massive swathes of workers when that obvious fucking scam collapsed. I suspect the AI crash is gonna be even worse than that. And by then it will have drowned the Internet in slop. We'll see, I guess.

Anyway, anyone who uses AI is a soulless fucking husk of a person who cannot tell half-digested vomit from culture, and I would pity them if they weren't making the world such a measurably worse place to exist.

[azeez-unv]

Happy Examinations

Happiness is your last exam paper

Dear Children,

During this period, your Principal and teachers must have given you ample valuable suggestions and guidance, and inspiring messages to boost up your confidence. My first suggestion to you is, accept their advice with grace; for I know, they sincerely wish the best for all of you.

Time is precious and now that the examination is fast approaching, it has become very precious! All through the year, you may have been giving a step motherly treatment to the syllabus. But now the month of March is approaching - it is the 'testing time' for you. Even at this stage, if you realise the true worth of your inherent power, without doubt you can give a spectacular performance in your exams!

Draw your time-table, budget your time according to the importance of the subjects, and make the best use of the hours and minutes, which are now in short-supply. That apart, you need to take proper care about your food and nutrition, physical exercises etc. This too is very important. This along, pay proper attention to your fundamental strengths. Give them top priority. Be linked to your soul power and self-confidence. Take genuine interest in the subjects incorporated in your syllabus. They are very important to you! Let your concentration be so sharp, the brain cells are able to understand what is read easily, thoroughly and perfectly.

But then, how to find the expression of such qualities in your personality? We know, resolution, self-confidence, soul-force, concentration- it is easy to pronounce these weighty words. However, to put them into practice is so difficult! If we make the practical assessment, it is not very easy to emulate these qualities. Just by pronouncing the word, 'Concentration', you will not be empowered with concentration. The book is open right in front of you. Your eyes run through the lines and paragraphs. The tongue is wagging desperately to learn so many things by heart. Yet, you are unable to grasp the meaning of what you have read! You sincerely wish to concentrate, but cannot! It wanders in tens of directions. What do you do then? In fact, in the real sense, this lack of concentration is the basic problem with you students. This is the root cause of all your difficulties!

So, according to me, it is not enough to give you merely the suggestion, "Concentrate! Make proper resolutions! Be brilliant among the brilliants etc.” The proper suggestion would be- How to concentrate? How to unfold brilliance? How to be enthusiastic from within? How to read the syllabus with concentration and dedication? You need to know such a procedure through which such qualities can grow and bloom in your heart; you get the sparkle from within! You need to follow a unique technique with which such qualities find their expression and illuminate you from within!

Presently, several such procedures are in vogue, like Deep Breathing, Auto Suggestion, Yogic exercises, Pranayams etc. But these exercises strengthen, calm, and relax our mind only to some extent, and for some time. For, these disciplines and procedures have their own limitations.

However here, in this Organisation, we, working at the various fronts, have gained a remarkable experience in this field. In so doing, we have reached to a conclusion that the effectual technique to achieve the objective is meditation 'based upon the Pineal Gland- the Divine Eye!' This is not our self-invented technique. This procedure has been followed since ages by the Revered Holy Masters and their pupils! In the Vedic Gurukuls (schools), under the quiet and invigorating shade of the trees, the sages taught their disciples on the basis of the same procedure. The result was - able and brilliant students, viewed from any angle.

All the sacred texts describe the same procedure. In the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Lord Krishna rejuvenated and inspired the dejected and sorrowful Arjuna too with the same procedure! You must have read Shrimad Bhagavad Gita; if not, you must have definitely viewed the T.V. Serial- 'Mahabharata'.

From all sides, Arjuna could hear only war cries and tumultuous sounds of war trumpets. In front of him, stood the awesome formations of the enemy columns, battle-ready and all in a get-set-go position! That was a moment of the toughest test for him. In fact, much more than that! Because there, 'pass' or 'fail' meant 'live' or 'die'! But what happened at that crucial juncture? Arjuna's powerful shoulders that were ready to strike for the fight, to show their might and valour, began to tremble. The great bow "Gandeeva" slipped from his hand. His face became pale and mouth dried up. Each and every part of his body began to shiver. He experienced burning sensations in the skin. His confidence withered away. He literally felt like collapsing, so sat at the back portion of the chariot.

Indecision at the critical time often leads to defeat and Arjuna was going in that direction only. According to Psychology, the state of mind of Arjuna was that of stress and depression. The similar physiological changes are observed in the tension-ridden children before the exams. To lift Arjuna out of this mental morass, Lord Krishna delivered a brilliant sermon packed with motivational and inspirational push-ups. He taught him the truth ingrained in principle of selfless service. He explained to him in depth about the eternal soul, the concept of the sin and the sacred, Dharma and Adharma (unrighteouness), action and inaction, with appropriate examples and valid arguments. This was indeed a sort of psychological counselling. That too from the All-Knowing, the Ultimate-psychiatrist!

Even then, what was the net result? Arjuna was caught in the net of words. He rattled questions after questions. But he failed to erect the arrow on the Gandeeva! So, through this divine play, the Preceptor of the Universe, Lord Krishna, gave the appropriate and relevant message that merely by the jugglery of the words and suggestions, you can not instill 'life' within a dejected being! For the purpose in view, you need the practical technique. In the eleventh chapter, Lord Krishna himself elucidated and bestowed this practical technique. He declared, "Divyam Dadami Te Chakshu" and opened the 'Divine Eye' of Arjuna. (The result was instant and direct experience of the God-Consciousness!) The transformed Arjuna recouped his original physical as well as mental health and became a dynamic individual again. With great enthusiasm, he blew his conch, "Devadatta". The terrific twang of his bow "Gandeeva" sent shivers in the enemy camp. Hearing its reverberations, the concerned trembled! Arjuna fought the battle with all his skill, and emerged as the final victor!

Not only the proclamation in Gita, all the Realised Souls equivocally declared that this is the only procedure. Swami Ramtirth was the Professor of Mathematics. While explaining the intricate theorems of Mathematics, he used to say, "Only the Third Eye is wanted, an eye on the head, Mahadeva's third eye to discover the complete success and glory." To achieve success and to attain total glory of life, the Third Eye i.e. the Divine Eye is needed. According to our sacred texts, this Divine Eye is placed on the forehead, in between the brows! This is not within our gross body; it is the 'part' of the subtle body. Therefore, it is not visible. Concentrating, through this Third Eye, one delves deep within his inner self, whereupon his scattered thought-currents get focussed. Henceforth, with this focussed mind, one may concentrate on anything with ease, be it a tedious subject book!

This apart, by doing meditation through the Third Eye, the seeker begins to experience freshness, enthusiasm, better orientation for action, heroism, better decision-making, encouragement etc… and the dynamic energy flows through him. This is not just the philosophical truth. This is the experimented truth and as such, it stands the scrutiny of Science. Science also has put the stamp of acceptance on this philosophical proclamation.

According to Science, there exists a gland in the human brain called the Pineal gland. In spiritual vocabulary, we call this gland, 'The Third Eye' or 'The Divine Eye'. In his book, 'Physiology' the scientist Guyton writes, "According to Embryology, at the initial stage of growth, there exists three eyes in the 'Embryo'. As the growth progresses, two eyes take shape and position right below the forehead and one eye takes its place behind the forehead, in the cave of the brain, and it becomes the pineal gland." Guyton further writes, this gland secretes a special type of hormone called Melatonin. Melatonin provides power and enthusiasm to us, from within. It sharpens our intellect and makes us lustrous. The qualities of decision-making and fearlessness sprout within us.

As per an experiment conducted in the laboratory, when the rats were given Melatonin injection- rats turned brave and 'lion-hearted' to an extent that they even attacked the cats! Such are the qualities and specialties that a success-craving student must attain!

Now, the question arises, when and how to get this Melatonin? According to the Scientists, Pineal gland secretes this hormone in only one ideal condition - When the mind is at complete rest! Absolute rest! When this non-minding state of the mind is achieved? When does the 'mind' rest in the state of thoughtlessness? Normally, we achieve this state when we are deep asleep, that too for 6-10 minutes only! For the rest of the night, the mind is in a dream state. The criss-cross currents of thoughts continue to engulf us from within. Thus, the Melatonin secretion happens for a very short duration. The powerful impact of even this short span secretion is visibly felt in the morning, when we rise with our body and mind rejuvenated!

If the secretion of this Melatonin is caused to be increased, mental weakness, negative emotions and intellect's dullness can be given a go! The Scientists also accept this fact. The quantity of secretion can only be increased with the process of meditation. In the sleeping state, we are not even conscious of the body. How then we can empty the thought-basket of the mind? But this state can be easily secured through meditation, only after the opening of the Third Eye. When the Perfect Master opens the Third Eye, meaning thereby, when He activates the Pineal Gland, you can dive deep into your Inner Self by meditation. Your mind becomes calm and you achieve the state of thoughtlessness.

The net result is, you get additional secretion of Melatonin. That too according to your need and will! Whenever and in whatever quantity you want!

So, dear students! Brahm Gyan based Meditation is one of the best means, which can lead you to the Royal Road of success! Not only in the academic field, you will achieve success in every department of life! Acquire the top slot!

Therefore, do not delay- be the sincere aspirant and begin your journey on this path! My sincere good wishes and hearty blessings are always with you! May you succeed!