#cw fire play

[brainrotisseriechicken]

..

extra:

(it was a spring morning)

(he was a frail boy with no friends)

(he ran into you from across the wall)

(you said hello to him, and asked him to play along)

(at that very moment, he received his lifelong—)

extra 2: oscar boogaloo

yeahhhh....iykyk

[c4lxium]

swocket... .starfollower........ erm ... Hai....

[blinkpen]

[fred the talking horse voice] hey guys,

[weaselbeaselpants]

I'm still surprised that I'm ever surprised by Viv's cultural/mythological knowledge and ethics. I've known her to be pretty tasteless and bad at this for years. I guess, my real thought, is how on earth her fans couldn't have known about this. How literally NO ONE in her circle ever knew or said anything/recommended a sensitivity reader ONCE.

--Sensitivity Readers, despite the name, aren't overly sensitive or prudish or totalitarian. You hire them to ask how your story looks/feels and if there is anything abt your story which you don't think is appropriation, but others MIGHT, which is especially important w it comes to portraying foreign concepts, customs, basically anyone else's life experience that isn't yours. And yeah, you go to them for fantasy that "isn't political" because if you know anything about fantasy as a genre, you know there is a lot of intentional to unintentional coding and stereotyping (well that and, you know, portraying cultures and religions that are not your own).

The way Helluvaverse stans are SO quick to turn down any complaints...it's really revealing but also really shocking. Just...how...

How do you NOT know that long/pointy/hooked noses are associated with racist stereotypes? Were you even paying attention to the Harry Potter discourse or did you seriously not think anything was problematic abt that series until 2020?

How do you NOT know that voudou practitioners (not universally) were not happy with Princess and the Frog? You know there were, right? There's backlash/controversy whenever Disney tackles race and culture.

How do you NOT know about bl00d l*bel and greed and how they're antisemitic stereotypes and maybe AVOID making characters coded to be Jewish cannibals and/or greedy.

How do you claim to be a fan of Abrahamic demonology but not also be an (at least passing) scholar of the religions that demonology comes from? Christianity, which is where a lot of our modern idea of demons and devils and hell is based on, is chop full of stuff that's worth your time to study. No; it's not lame or converting you to give it a passing glance. There are so many secular religious scholars who love this shit and make it fun. Then maybe, if you branch off and find people who are interested start depicting things from Judaism and Islam with HELP.

srry I just saw something on twitter where someone was seriously arguing Viv should never had done research on how St. Peter should look. St. Peter is a religious figure, he should be allowed to be depicted in any way-same as Jesus, but the complete lack of care in making him a beardless wonderbread christian pastor man is what's insulting.

tl;dr: Yes, Vivienne- you CAN appropriate Christianity. Also, you should have known that depicted voudou, Judaism and other religions is appropriation w you're NOT part of those groups and done some research.

[tai-janai]

alrighty i didnt get all the pokemon done (not even close tbh) but i had a little thought dont mind me

Smitten with a lit match, admiring it for a moment. Cold watches.

Smitten catches his eye and turns to him. An adoring smile falls on his face as he rolls the match between his thumb and forefinger.

With a twist of his wrist, he flicks it at Cold. The small but bright flame darts through the air.

Though caught off-guard a bit, Cold catches it before it hits his face, and his scaly fingers close around it, snuffing out the miniature fire. He recognizes the pain singeing his palm, but he doesn't let it affect him.

He raised an eyebrow at Smitten, then looks down at the crumbled, char-black mess in his hand.

"Aw," Smitten coos, scooting over to him, "Did you burn your hand?"

Cold found himself speechless as the look of adoration turned into something teasing. The other took is hand and brushed away the remains of the match.

Smitten stares at him with lidded eyes.

"You poor thing," he purrs.

[endless--sunsets]

🩸👑🩸👑🩸👑🩸👑🩸👑🩸👑🩸👑🩸👑

cult of the lamb stimboard! sorry about the weird formatting on the bottom three gifs, idk how to fix that D: requests are still open through the inbox btw! art credit 🐑

[roytheflamboyant]

“If you see the teeth of the lion, do not assume that the lion is smiling at you.” - Al-Mutanabbi

[lapinedomme]

so very excited to do this interrogation/torture scene tonight. about to begin. wish us luck.

tonight will feature:

pain progression, from least to most intense

1. asking nicely 😌

2. threats and forceful drugging

3. slapping, intimidation

4. stress positions

5. punching and kicking, threat of sexual torture

6. punching and kicking and slapping CBT during stress positions

7. sound torture

8. sensory deprivation

9. exposure outside, only in underwear

10. fully naked once inside, begin flogging and whipping

11. electrocution

12. dry-boarding and strangulation

13. air soft rifle

14. waterboarding

15. heated up needles

16. slow slicing with a knife (epidermal, flanks and upper thighs)

17. he wins if he’s able to withstand all phases without breaking and giving up the information!

and naturally i’m making him brownies and we’re gonna eat pizza and cuddle and watch a movie while i give wound care 🥰

[queenofplaguerats]

Having just finished Netflix's Resident Evil series I have mostly positive things to say and one dark cloud that hangs over the series.

Obviously, spoilers from here on.

I'd first like to preface this by saying: Lance Reddick is an absolute standout, he brings something to the role that it desperately needed. He can go from sympathetic father to loveable weirdo to cold, calculating killer in a heartbeat, which serves him well in this role. He plays the original trenchcoat-clad Wesker of the games, and several clones of the original who play varyingly important roles in the story.

His casting is also... Part of the problem, unfortunately.

It's important to understand that Albert Wesker is a eugenicist. He is both a product and practitioner of eugenics. He has attempted actual literal genocide on multiple occasions. Being a blond-haired, blue-eyed, white man is intrinsic to Wesker's character. He is Oswell E. Spencer's perfect creation, his ubermensch. Oswell Spencer, who was a eugenics obsessed billionaire that dedicated his life to his insane fascist ideals.

Making Wesker black undercuts this essential detail and necessarily obscures the inherent and historical racism of eugenics.

This is a rare case when casting a POC actor to play a previously white character misses the mark so hard that it ends up tacitly letting racists off the hook.

Wesker is white because he's racist.

It's literally that simple.

This could have been resolved by just... Rewriting the story so Wesker isn't a eugenicist?

It would go against his previous characterization, sure, but like... At least it would be internally consistent?

Eugenics as a practice is inherently racist.

That's it, that's the thesis.

[kingprinceleo]

sketch page dump

[lrnview]

ingrid🪶

[izvmimi]

nobody:

woman with issues: ‘will he hit me?’

another woman with issues trying to set the first woman up on a date: ‘he’ll shoot you with a compound bow’

first woman with issues: *moans*

[goresugarsxx]

@viciousbite from x

☠ With lips crashing against the others, he could taste the remnants of human blood lingering in the others mouth. The demon's pupils doubled to flash his true eyes before he put his hands on his shoulders, pinning him without breaking the kiss. Their chests touching as he was practically laying on top of him by that point. His own nails, that were more like claws once he extended them beyond his human appearance, dug into Urogi's shoulders.

A low, monstrous growl coming from what otherwise looked like a normal person aside from eyes and claws. It echoed from deep in his chest and only stopped momentarily as their lips parted, two rows of razor sharp teeth revealed.

[spark-ocblog]

oc-tober 2023, day 2: new oc!

[metaphorthejesterdraws]

hey look its humans metaphor nEvEr drAwS tHoSe !

i've been trying to practice drawing humans so i can...actually draw humans! enjoy some sketch sheets until i get around to more rendered art or whatever i draw next

(still cant draw faces/eyes quite right (getting the shapes and sizes of the eyes right evades me HORRIBLY) (also face proportions as a whole are lost on me lol) but i mean. better than before i suppose??)

my fondness for extreme expressions reeeaaaally shows here. man

[canonical-transformation]

Celica gets Engaged(*) [A'lear Part 5]

(* but nobody thinks it's incest this time)

(Spoilers up to Chapter 4 of Fire Emblem: Engage.)

Chapter 4: A Land in Bloom

Florra Mill Town, featuring windmills and fields of blooming flowers, is on the road to Castle Firene. It's beautiful and... being attacked by the Corrupted, apparently.

Prince Alfred will not stand for this. Time to fight.

Meanwhile, near the centre of town, we meet Alfred's sister, Princess Céline, and her retainers Louis and Chloé. They're fending off some Corrupted.

(This pattern of "two royal siblings, each with two retainers" accounts for 2/3rds of the playable roster. Just like Corrin, I guess?)

Céline (unique class, swords+tomes and eventually staves) has the makings of a consummate stateswoman, one who would rule firmly yet kindly. She frets for the health of her brother, the Crown Prince, and in many ways has tried to shape herself to counterbalance his gentleness... despite being a gentle soul herself.

All this is entirely overshadowed by the writers deciding that "enjoying tea" is a quirky personality trait that should be, like, the one and only thing Céline ever talks about. Also the floof skirt. Between her petticoat and her hair, she is the walking definition of A-Line Silhouette. She's lovely, in other words.

Louis (lance armor) is a stocky gentleman whose eyes are permanently doing the ^_^ thing. He is a rather philosophical fellow who spends his time appreciating(?) pretty ladies(???).

Chloé (lance flier) loves fairy tales and will in due course be delighted to find herself living in one. She has enough girl next door vibes to paralyse my little lesbian heart is fond of folk food, the kind that uses whatever ingredients are around. Escargot, unagi, witchetty grub, hormigas culonas, she's into it so long as it's authentically rustic.

Chloé and Louis tell their Princess to run. It's imperative that she finds Alfred and warns him that the castle is under attack (oh no!, the castle is under attack!). Céline reluctantly flees, leaving her retainers to stand back to back and exchange quips. Louis opens his eyes (they're green) for two seconds, which is basically the only time we see them for the rest of the game.

This is more cutscene badassery than most of the other retainers get, which is very sad.

Céline runs straight into Alfred and A'lear, who are getting ready to fight. After getting over her shock at seeing A'lear awake and walking about, Céline fills them in. The Queen entrusted an Emblem Ring to Céline before bidding her to flee the castle.

An Emblem Ring? A'lear is something of an expert on those.

Meet Emblem Celica: princess, brother-wedder, and the only(?) female Lord before FE7. She detests war and violence, but she'll do what she must in the name of peace.

Celica is a dedicated magic support, offering a Mag/Res boost (and a little Str) to her sync partner. She offers damage reflection against Corrupted, and after a few bond levels, her Resonance skill(*) is pretty good. When Engaged, she gains a special skill, Echo (🥁), which allows her to perform two magic attacks in a row at 50% damage each. (60% for Mystical units.) (*) What's more, her Seraphim tome is effective against Corrupted.

Celica's ult(**) is Warp Ragnarok, which warps up to 10 tiles away and rains fire down on a single opponent. (100% hit, 0% crit, and no counterattack, like most ults.)

The battle begins with Princess Céline and her retainers unlocked. Céline is perfectly set up to Engage and Echo, killing an armor knight and significantly chipping down another. (She doesn't, because we're saving the Engage, but she could, and that's a lovely bit of hidden tutorial design.)

To begin with, Louis and Chloé are alone in the center-east of the map, fending off enemies from either side. They hint to the player that Chloé should deal with the incoming mages, and Louis with the incoming archers and fighters. They do exactly this, and buy themselves a couple of turns.

(...oh no i forgot to take screenshots during the chapter 😐 Um, have some photos of Céline and co. having drip)

A couple of turns is not enough for A'lear and co. to make it to them, not with the nearest bridge broken. Fortunately, the Emblem rings give us a way of getting there quickly.

First is Sigurd, who, when Engaged, grants an extra 5–7 movement, allowing for huge sprints. But that's not quite enough to reach Chloe and Louis in time, and Sigurd's wearer would probably get killed en route.

Instead, Céline&Celica use Warp Ragnarok to cross the river, helping Chloé fend off an enemy flier who had her on the ropes. Then, the two of them swing around to reinforce Louis. The retainers remark on Céline's changed appearance — glowy magical girl costume, red hair, etc. — while they hold a fortification.

(here's a photo with a Levin sword)

Everyone else makes their merry way along the south bank of the river, watching their footing and fighting enemies like in a normal Fire Emblem game. Vander briefly cavorts off to stall an enemy cavalier, gets his ass handed to him, and runs back to ask for help from Alfred.

Then the boss suddenly decides to move in on Céline and Chloé and Louis, and the rest of the team is nowhere near close enough to help.

A'lear curses. "Everyone, this way! Emblem Sigurd, with me!"

But it's too late. By the time A'lear and the main force catch up, Céline and her retainers are having a tea party on the boss's smouldering remains.

A'lear pauses to admire the scenery, which is gorgeous. Truly the Land of Flowers. But in her musing, she lowers her guard, and a Corrupted nearly gets the drop on her.

She's rescued by a someone wielding a Fire tome. This mage turns out to be a small girl, who shyly introduces herself as Veyle (pronounced like veil).

Veyle has white hair with black highlights, which sort of feels like the devs stole my original character A'lear, but whatever. (It's less of a left-right thing and more evenly distributed.) She's barefoot, wearing a fascinating dress made of cascading white feathers. The feathers have very slight blue and red streaks, the only real colour visible on her besides her violet eyes. A matching headpiece encircles her protectively, obscuring a black circlet. The look is completed with dainty arm-length gloves.

To me, her design evokes "baby bird", or something in that vein.

A'lear thanks Veyle, who says there's no need—she's just doing what anyone would have done. But before they can speak much more, Veyle runs off while A'lear is talking to Marth. (Was she spooked by Marth's appearance?)

What an odd character. I'm sure we'll see her again. After all, this is not the first Fire Emblem game to introduce a mysterious little girl with an exotic hair colour and strange powers wander in from offstage right, seemingly on her own.

(I'm implying that, just like Ninian and Sothis and Tiki and Lilith and etc. and etc., Veyle is [TODO: finish sentence])

Wait, I hear you say, you said barefoot. Does that mean Veyle has feet?

Rest easy, dear reader. Veyle definitely has feet.

But are you sure?, I hear you say. Maybe that was a fluke. Remember Awakening? Intelligent Systems is bad at drawing feet.

Um, let me see if the lead character designer, Mika Pikazo, has anything to say on the subject.

...yep, can confirm, those are some well articulated metatarsals, and some pleasantly long phalanges. Oh, and look how pointy those toes are!

Truly, a vintage year.

Wait, what was I talking about?

----

(*) Resonance is mutual guaranteed damage, a la Echoes: equipping a tome causes Celica's partner to lose 1HP at the start of every combat in exchange for 2 extra damage. (At time of writing, forgetting about Resonance has caused me to get Céline killed in player phase multiple times.)

Echo is great for picking off multiple weakened targets (and/or Armor Knights), for exacerbating flat damage bonuses like Resonance or A'lear's passive or poison, and for triggering tons of Chain Attacks.

(**) The in-game term for a once-per-engage superpower is Engage Attack, but not only is this confusing to distinguish from Engage Skills like Echo, but also: not all "Engage Attacks" are even attacks! I'll go with "ult" because it's short and fairly common parlance.

I might not have mentioned, but Sigurd's ult is Override, which skewers through a group of enemies standing in a line, hitting each of them once and emerging on the other side. (100% hit, 0% crit, no counterattack.) You'll see a screenshot of this next chapter. It's brutal tbh.

Marth's ult is Lodestar Rush, which is more or less like Astra from other Fire Emblem games. It does 7 hits at 30% damage (100% hit, 0% crit, no counterattack). 8 hits for Backup units, 9 for dragons.

Marth's Engage passive skill, Divine Speed, makes an extra 50% damage follow-up attack, which is fine but honestly kinda forgettable.