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#design basis: landscape
naixatlozdesigns · 7 months
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Nightglow Woods
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This is a personal design and is not for sale. It is displayed here for portfolio purposes only.
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reasonsforhope · 6 months
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"At HarperCollins, a lot of attention and thought is given to deciding exactly what combinations of margin measurements, font, and layout feel most appropriate for the genre, and writing style.
But in a case of do-your-part environmentalism, designers at the publishing house have now standardized a series of subtle and imperceptible alterations to normal font style, layouts, and ink that have so far removed the need for 245 million book pages, totaling 5,618 trees.
Telling the story in Fast Company, representatives from HarperCollins, one of the four largest publishing houses in the world, explained that the idea first arose in Zondervan Bibles, HarperCollins’ Christian publishing division. Being that the Bible is 2,500 pages or sometimes more, saving ink and pages was not just an environmental consideration, but one of production costs.
A new typeface called NIV Comfort Print allowed Zondervan to shave 350 pages off of every Bible, which by 2017 had amounted to 100 million pages, and which, as Fast Company points out, would be four times higher than the Empire State Building if stacked.
The production and design teams then wondered how much they could save if they applied the same concepts to other genres like romance and fiction. Aside from the invention of the eBook, publishing hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years, and the challenge was a totally novel one for the teams—to alter all their preconceived ideas and try and find a font and typeface that resulted in fewer pages without being harder to read.
They eventually standardized 14 different combinations their tests determined were the most environmentally friendly, and which delivered an unchanged reading experience.
But the challenge didn’t stop there. Printed books, one might not know, are printed in large sheets which are then folded into sections of sixteen pages, meaning that Leah Carlson-Stanisic, associate director of design at HarperCollins, has to calculate the savings of space, words, and ultimately pages with the help of her team to fall in multiples of sixteen.
Nevertheless, they have been successful with it so far, and in the recent print run of one popular book, 1 million pages (or a number near 1 million that coincides with the 16 times tables) were saved.
“We want to make sure our big titles, by prominent authors, are using these eco-fonts,” Carlson-Stanisic said. “It adds up a little bit at a time, saving more and more trees.”"
-via Good News Network, April 4, 2024
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Note: Great! Waiting to see this on the rest of their books and at the other big publishers!
Actually, though, it's worth noting that this may not come quickly to the other large publishers, because Harper Collins almost certainly owns that font - meaning that other publishers would have to pay HarperCollins in order to use it, on an ongoing basis.
More on publishing shit and more realistic solutions here below the cut!
What I'm hoping for and think is more likely is that this will inspire the development of open source eco-friendly fonts, which would be free for anyone to use. That would make it far more likely other publishers would adopt eco-friendly fonts.
I'm also hoping it would inspire other publishers to create similar eco-friendly fonts of their own.
Ideally, there would be a whole new landscape of (hopefully mostly open source) eco-friendly fonts. And/or to see calculations of the eco-friendliness of popular existing fonts, compared to each other.
If we could have a publicly accessible list of calculations for different fonts, including fonts designed to maximize eco-friendliness, I really do think that it would affect which fonts publishers choose to use. Here's why:
Most people in publishing are on the left (notoriously, actually) and really do care about the environment
People in publishing are plenty aware of these issues re: paper and trees, I promise
Shorter books means smaller production costs - and possibly smaller shipping costs as well, over time! So it would save them money too.
Eco-friendly fonts could also be combined with other measures for greater effect, such as bamboo paper (already in use for a lot of projects where page color/quality is more flexible) and thinner paper (aka paper with a lower weight) that uses less trees.
Don't expect books to all move to just one or two different fonts, though. Publishers and typesetters and font designers will innovate to create more options instead, though it will take longer. This is because different books really do use different fonts for various different reasons - one new font to rule them all isn't really a solution here.
"Every book is in the same font" may sound like a "whatever" deal to a lot of people, but as someone who works in publishing - trust me, it would actually make your reading experience worse, even if you could never quite put your finger on why.
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sephsbat · 3 months
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Altars & Shrines in Hellenism
In Hellenism, the practice of setting up altars and shrines to the gods plays an important role in religious worship and devotion. Altars and shrines serve as physical focal points where offerings, libations, and prayers can be made to the deities.
Altars
Altars in Hellenism can take various forms, but typically consist of a raised platform or table upon which offerings are placed. Altars are often made of stone, wood, or even simply piled earth. The size and design of the altar can vary depending on the space available and the specific needs of the practitioner.
Altars are usually set up in a dedicated religious space, such as a home shrine, a temple, or outdoors in a grove or sacred area. They are oriented to face the east, toward the rising sun, as a symbolic gesture toward the divine.
Common offerings placed on Hellenic altars include incense, candles, flower petals, fruits, grains, and libations of wine, water, or honey. Practitioners may also leave small votive objects, such as statues or figurines, as gifts to the gods.
Shrines
Shrines in Hellenism are small, dedicated spaces set aside for the veneration of a particular deity or group of deities. Shrines can be located both indoors and outdoors, and they often incorporate images, statues, or other representations of the gods.
Household shrines are a common feature in Hellenic practice, allowing practitioners to maintain a personal connection with the divine in their own homes. These shrines may be as simple as a small table or shelf with a statue or symbol of a deity, or they may be more elaborate, with multiple images, offerings, and ritual tools.
Outdoor shrines, known as "sacral landscapes," can be found in natural settings, such as groves, springs, or hilltops. These locations were considered sacred to the ancients and were often the sites of temples, altars, and other religious structures.
Visiting and tending to both altars and shrines is an important part of Hellenic religious practice, allowing practitioners to honor the gods, make offerings, and seek their blessings and guidance.
Sacred Spaces
In addition to altars and shrines, Hellenism also places great importance on the concept of sacred spaces - specific locations that are dedicated to and imbued with the presence of the divine.
Temples
The most well-known sacred spaces in Hellenism are the temples, which were grand structures built to house the physical representations (cult statues) of the gods. Temples were considered the dwelling places of the deities, and they served as the primary sites for public worship and ritual activities.
Temples were often located in prominent positions within a city or in natural settings, such as on hilltops or near bodies of water. The architecture and decoration of a temple were carefully designed to reflect the attributes and domains of the deity it honored.
Natural Sanctuaries
Beyond the constructed temples, Hellenism also recognized certain natural locations as sacred spaces. These included groves, springs, caves, and mountains, which were seen as inherently holy due to their physical features or associations with particular gods and mythological events.
Natural sanctuaries, known as "sacred landscapes," were often the sites of altars, shrines, and other religious structures. They were believed to be places where the veil between the mortal and divine realms was thinner, allowing for more direct communication and interaction with the gods.
Household Shrines
As mentioned earlier, individual households in Hellenism also maintained their own sacred spaces in the form of domestic shrines. These small altars or dedicated areas within the home were important centers of private worship and devotion, allowing practitioners to maintain a personal connection to the divine on a daily basis.
Household shrines were often located in prominent areas of the home, such as near the hearth or the entrance, and they were tended to through the offering of libations, prayers, and other rituals.
Regardless of the specific form, sacred spaces in Hellenism served as conduits for communication with the divine, providing opportunities for both individual and communal religious practice and devotion.
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papiliotao · 1 year
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・❥・BEAUTY AMIDST AN ENDLESS NIGHT
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♡ — Reader: GN
♡ — Characters: Albedo, Alhaitham, Kazuha, Scaramouche, Thoma, Tighnari, Venti, Xiao, Zhongli
♡ — Synopsis: on days where you feel as though the world is against you, your lover is there to cheer you up.
♡ — Content: fluff, modern AU, established relationship, generally soft
♡ — Word Count: around 200 per a character
♡ — A/N: the fact that I wrote this solely because I get sad for no reason sometimes. I'm sure there are people out there who can relate though. For anyone going through tough times, stay strong and keep going! I hope this fic will be able to cheer you up a little. (P.S. the parts for each character are arranged in alphabetical order if you're looking for anyone specific)
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As your boyfriend, it is both ALBEDO’s duty and pleasure to remind you how much you mean to him whenever melancholic feelings of dread weigh your heart down. You watch as he flips through the pages of a worn sketchbook sitting in his small art studio within your shared home. It is filled with the most wondrous portraits of landscapes, wildfires, and even people. However, Albedo completely disregards those works. Instead, he opts to point out particularly detailed drawings strewn throughout the sketchbook. Intersecting lines form picturesque depictions of the memories you share with Albedo. On one page, your first date. On another, your first night together. But it is the final page he shows you that causes you to raise an eyebrow at him. It seems to resemble a rather average day in your life. In the sketch, you and Albedo are conversing in a mundane setting; there’s really nothing special to be seen. When you ask your boyfriend about it, he allows a gentle laugh to escape the confines of his lips. Then, he points out all the finer complexities of the work. From the lovestruck expression on his face to the way he flawlessly replicated your every feature, you begin to realize how much Albedo thinks about you on a daily basis. Upon reaching this epiphany, the feelings of insecurity and bitter frustration that have been permeating every inch of your mind dissipate ever so slightly, and it’s all thanks to Albedo’s love.
On days where it feels as though you’re drowning in a sea of your own sadness, you are thankful for your lover’s relaxed demeanour. ALHAITHAM’s voice is the only sound that cuts through the tangible silence permeating the air of your living room. He recites complicated words adorning the pages of one of his rather verbose books as you sit beside him, leaning against his muscular figure. Although you can’t understand half the phrases that leave his lips, you feel at ease. His calm voice lulls you into a dreamlike trance, acting as a temporary ailment to the negative emotions that threaten to overwhelm you. So instead of paying heed to the disturbing feelings of deep melancholy that plague your fragile heart, you direct all your attention to the alluring sound of your loving speaking and the feeling of his body pressed against your own, allowing yourself to get lost in every single intricacy of his mannerisms — the very subtleties that you love him for.
Everything about today has felt rather off. Happiness eludes you, avoiding you like an ancient plague, causing feelings of unadulterated sorrow to bubble up within the depths of your soul. Although you’re trying to conceal all your woes behind a carefully-crafted mask of smiles and feigned lighthearted laughter, your facade is akin to porcelain — delicate and fragile, cracking under the slightest pressure. And to no one’s surprise, KAZUHA is able to see through your meticulously-designed illusion of exuberance instantaneously. The subtle sighs and breaks in your expression prompt him to drag you to bed as soon as you’re finished with your daily tasks under the guise that he wants to cuddle. In reality, he knows that you’re having a rather difficult time, and he wants nothing more than to hold you and kiss the pain away, so as of now, you are wrapped in his warm embrace as he continuously presses his soft lips to the back of your neck. His snowy hair tickles your skin as he comforts you, and between each chaste kiss, he whispers sweet nothings into your ear, assuring you that tomorrow, the sun will rise again, giving way to a brighter day full of ecstasy and warmth.
Some days you can’t help but feel as though the world has been obscured by veils of endless blue. Everything feels mundane, and you just can’t bring yourself to smile. Thankfully, even in moments as perturbed as these, you are able to seek a small bit of solace by confiding in SCARAMOUCHE. To others, he seems brash and insensitive, but when it comes to you, he is attentive beyond measure. So when signs of melancholy begin to show through the cracks in your demeanour, your lover drops what he is doing and turns his focus to you. He insists on taking you out to a mysterious location, and although skepticism floods your thoughts, you eventually give in, agreeing to trust Scaramouche despite his enigmatic musings. Your boyfriend drives you to a quaint location situated in the middle of nowhere by the light of the setting sun. As you exit his car, you are greeted by the scent of the evening air, refreshing and cool, just what you need after a long day of feeling down. Scaramouche intertwines his fingers with yours, grasping onto you like a lifeline. He pulls you through a sparse line of trees, and although the darkness of the night obscures your vision, you trust your lover to guide you. When you clear the grove of vegetation, you are met with a sight that causes your breath to catch in your throat. Scaramouche has brought you to a cliff in a secluded area overlooking the city. Millions of stars adorn the velvety royal blue of the night sky, illuminating the world below, and the lights that glitter from the distant urban area fill you with a sensation of nostalgic ease. As you sit down on the soft grass beside Scaramouche, a sense of calm washes over you. Here, beside your lover and under the watchful gaze of the luminous celestial bodies up above, you finally feel at peace.
Amidst restless hours filled with uncertainty and unwanted negativity, THOMA is like an effulgent light piercing through the darkness that clouds your mind. He caters to your every need, doing anything your heart desires in order to remedy your pain even the slightest bit. Right now, he is standing in front of the stove, his back to you as he attentively prepares a meal. A mouthwatering fragrance drifts through the air as he cooks, and the warmth that fills the kitchen from the stove melts the icy cage of sadness surrounding your heart ever-so-slightly. When Thoma finally finishes, he plates the food in a meticulous manner and then shifts all his attention to you. The steam from the fresh meal caresses your cold cheeks as your lover peers deep into your eyes, displaying to you a wondrous sea full of olive green lights as you lock gazes. Before you can thank him for making dinner, Thoma leans over the table and presses a tender kiss against your cheek — one filled with all the gentleness and comfort of the sun on hazy winter days, making even the harshest of stinging winds just a little more bearable.
Whenever the world seems grey, shrouded in the gloominess plaguing your heart, TIGHNARI never fails to restore the beauty of the vibrant hues around you by bringing you bright bouquets of delicate flowers. Vivacious translucent petals tickle your nose as you breathe in the floral scent of the blossoms you are holding in your hands. The perfumed aroma that fills the air causes the tension in your shoulders to relieve slightly. A sigh of contentment escapes your lips as Tighnari takes the flowers from you and places them in a vase. His fingertips brush against your hands, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake. In a hushed voice, he begins to explain the symbolism behind each plant in the bouquet. From blush pink azaleas to the fragile and pure lily of the valley, your lover knows of the meanings behind each floret, listing them off one by one. You know that the only reason he’s rambling on and on is to distract you from the thoughts that wrack your restless mind, and for that, you are beyond thankful.
When VENTI first proposes the idea of going on a picnic, hesitance overtakes you. You know he’s just trying to cheer you up, but you’re not quite sure if you’re in the mood to go out. Nonetheless, he manages to convince you that leaving the confines of your house to breathe in the crisp, late spring air and surround yourself with the viridescent foliage of the outdoors will work wonders for your mood, so you allow him to drag you to the park, albeit somewhat begrudgingly. When you arrive at your destination, Venti sets a blanket down on the lush grass, and atop the checkered quilt, he places a weaved basket. Upon opening the basket, you discover that it is filled with all your favourite delectable treats, so despite the bitterness of the day, a small smile settles on your face. As you begin to grin, Venti sings you a song, imbuing each lyric with softness and tenderness, conveying to you that even in the darkest of hours, he will always be by your side. The wind tousles your hair as the sound of leaves rustling in a gentle zephyr rings out like a backing track to Venti’s angelic voice. For the first time that day, you feel a sense of ease settle over you.
XIAO isn’t great at comforting people, but each time he sees your empty expression, he feels his heart shattering into countless fractured crystal shards. Despite knowing that he’s not the most qualified to help you deal with your worries, you still decide to go to him to seek consolation, so in spite of the fact that he is rather inexperienced, Xiao tries his best. He tells you to rest and immediately tucks you into bed with a sweet yet endearingly shy kiss on the forehead. Before he leaves the room, he whispers a few honeyed words in a voice that somehow feels softer than usual, reassuring you that everything will be alright, and when he finally exits, he sets himself to work on all the unfinished chores around the house. He works diligently while you relax under the silky covers of your bed, and although it takes a while, when Xiao finishes with your trivial tasks, he joins you in bed, wrapping an arm around you and allowing you to bury your head in his chest, breathing in his comforting scent as you feel yourself drifting off into a blissful realm of alluring slumber.
On days where joy evades you, ZHONGLI never fails to find a way to comfort you. His presence alone is calming, but when coupled with his actions, you feel as though you can almost continue with your daily routine as usual. At the moment, you are sitting with Zhongli in your living room as your hands are wrapped around a teacup. Condensation graces your palms, and it would be unpleasant if not for the warmth seeping into your body through the delicate porcelain of the cup. As you take a sip of the drink, you allow an airy sigh of contentment to slip through your lips. It’s absolutely divine, reminiscent of the finest ambrosia, something straight out of the tales your lover is currently recounting. Your mind feels as though it is clinging onto his voice, hanging onto his every syllable to regain a sense of stability despite the fog that clouds your thoughts. He spins stories of downfalls and triumphs, some tales downcast while others inspirational, and in the midst of his narration, you find yourself transported to a different world full of fantasies — an oasis of reprieve hidden away from the monotonous and lamentable reality facing you.
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Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this, then reblogs and comments would be appreciated!
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literaryvein-reblogs · 2 months
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Writing Notes: Elements of Art
The elements of art are components or parts of a work of art that can be isolated and defined. They are the building blocks used to create a work of art.
LINE A mark with greater length than width. Lines can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal; straight or curved; thick or thin.
Horizontal lines suggest a feeling of rest or repose because objects parallel to the earth are at rest. In landscape paintings, horizontal lines help give a sense of space. The lines delineate sections of the landscape, which recede into space. They also imply continuation of the landscape beyond the picture plane to the left and right.
Vertical lines often communicate a sense of height because they are perpendicular to the earth, extending upwards toward the sky. In a church interior painting, vertical lines may suggest spirituality, rising beyond human reach toward the heavens.
Horizontal and vertical lines used in combination communicate stability and solidity. Rectilinear forms with 90-degree angles are structurally stable. This stability suggests permanence and reliability.
Diagonal lines convey a feeling of movement. Objects in a diagonal position are unstable. Because they are neither vertical nor horizontal, they are either about to fall or are already in motion. The angles of a ship and rocks on the shore convey a feeling of movement or speed in a stormy harbor scene.
The curve of a line can convey energy. Soft, shallow curves recall the curves of the human body and often have a pleasing, sensual quality and a softening effect on the composition. The edge of a pool in a photograph may gently lead the eye to the sculptures on the horizon.
SHAPE A closed line. Shapes can be geometric, like squares and circles; or organic, like free-form or natural shapes. Shapes are flat and can express length and width.
FORM A three-dimensional shape expressing length, width, and depth. It is the basis of sculpture, furniture, and decorative arts. Balls, cylinders, boxes, and pyramids are forms. They can be seen from more than one side.
Geometric shapes and forms include mathematical, named shapes such as squares, rectangles, circles, cubes, spheres, and cones. Geometric shapes and forms are often man-made. However, many natural forms also have geometric shapes. Example, a cabinet decorated with designs of geometric shapes.
Organic shapes and forms are typically irregular or asymmetrical. Organic shapes are often found in nature, but man-made shapes can also imitate organic forms. Example, a wreath uses organic forms to simulate leaves and berries.
SPACE The area between and around objects. The space around objects is often called negative space; negative space has shape. Space can also refer to the feeling of depth.
Real space is three-dimensional; in visual art, when we create the feeling or illusion of depth, we call it space.
COLOR Light reflected off of objects. Color has 3 main characteristics:
Hue - the name of the color, such as red, green, blue, etc.
Value - how light or dark it is.
Intensity - how bright or dull it is.
White is pure light; black is the absence of light.
Primary colors are the only true colors (red, blue, and yellow). All other colors are mixes of primary colors.
Secondary colors are two primary colors mixed together (green, orange, violet).
Intermediate colors, sometimes called tertiary colors, are made by mixing a primary and secondary color together. Some examples of intermediate colors are yellow green, blue green, and blue violet.
Complementary colors are located directly across from each other on the color wheel (an arrangement of colors along a circular diagram to show how they are related to one another).
Complementary pairs contrast because they share no common colors. For example, red and green are complements, because green is made of blue and yellow.
When complementary colors are mixed together, they neutralize each other to make brown.
TEXTURE The surface quality that can be seen and felt. Textures can be rough or smooth, soft or hard. Textures do not always feel the way they look; for example, a drawing of a porcupine may look prickly, but if you touch the drawing, the paper is still smooth.
Texture depicted in two-dimensions. Artists use color, line, and shading to imply textures. In a painting, a man's robe may be painted to simulate silk. The ability to convincingly portray fabric of different types was one of the marks of a great painter during the 17th century.
Surface texture. The surface of a writing desk is metallic and hard. The hard surface is functional for an object that would have been used for writing. The smooth surface of a writing desk reflects light, adding sparkle to the piece of furniture.
Principles of Design
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eyeodyssey · 1 year
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Photos from the Tokyo Grand Guignol stage play Galatia Teito Monogatari, based loosely on the Teito Monogatari serial of epic dark sci fi occult horror books. Despite sharing its basis with a greatly influential series which spawned several films (the first Teito Monogatari adaption even featuring special effects designed by H.R. Giger) and a set of animated horror films, Galatia remains the most obscure of the Tokyo Grand Guignol’s productions. Very sparse information of its contents exist online. On one specific page I found a month back, a (very poorly translated) English synopsis describes the play as being a story about a machine that destroys a major city in Japan. It’s unclear if the machine they’re referring to is in reference to a humanoid robot or a more generalized weapon. It’s said that in the play, Kyusaku Shimada appears as a mad scientist who creates the oxygen destroyer from Godzilla (1954). In a description of the ending, the finale depicts a scenario where the character Yasunori Katō (a demon that manifests itself as an imperial army First Lieutenant) welcomes one of the characters to what he refers to as the “new imperial city”. He reveals to the character a supernatural landscape where various children’s toys and dolls across the stage come to life and move around on their own, all to the sounds of marching drums and claps of thunder. All images were digitized by yours truly, with the sources being volume 28 of Yaso magazine and the Suehiro Maruo-focused magazine Only You, which features a digest version of Galatia’s screenplay. Of course, with the screenplay (or at least a condensed version of it) in my possession, I plan to translate it to English some way or another down the line. This adaption would help start off Shimada’s professional acting career, with Shimada having his first major cinematic role as Yasunori Katō in the film Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis. As mentioned though, Shimada doesn’t act as Katō in the Tokyo Grand Guignol version. That role was instead designated to Yaguruma Kennosuke, who would later appear as Raizou in the original performances of Lychee Hikari Club.
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Yaguruma Kennosuke as Raizou in Lychee's December 1985 performance, apprehending the Marquis de Maruo (performed by Suehiro Maruo) when he enters the Hikari Club's hideout. Kennosuke is on the right side of Maruo, with Hiroyuki Tsunekawa (Zera) standing aside Kennosuke with his bag of lychee fruits. As a side note, you've gotta appreciate how despite then being well into a Maruo-flavored era of underground culture, there are still the occasional callbacks to Terayama's legacy, hence the clock that Katō is seen holding in the first photo.
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signanothername · 28 days
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Hope u don't mind two in one!! :P
🎼 🌊
Don’t mind at all! <3
🎼 Your favorite music to draw to right now?
To be completely honest these days i kinda listen to different songs all the time so can’t really choose something, but i do listen to Will Wood, Burn the ballroom, Bear ghost, and Jack Stauber on a regular basis whenever i draw :D
🌊 What’s the hardest thing for you to draw? 
ENVIRONMENT!!!
Fuck i wanna draw environmental art cause I actually love it but I’m really bad at it and it’s worse if it’s buildings or a room or a hallway or something like that, like i can easily draw landscapes and nature easily cause perspective doesn’t fuck them up whenever i draw them, but buildings or anything cubic?? Yeah it’s so hard to draw that crap cause any wrong move with the perspective is extremely apparent hcjvjvjvjv
Like look at the difference between nature based environments and building based environments
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Like you can tell it’s way easier on me to draw nature over buildings/ rooms hcchchchch
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But i shall conquer environmental art one day and when i do it’s all over for all of you <3333 /lh
(It’s my dream to make an entire environment design of Nightmare’s castle <3333)
———
Artist ask game
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quindriepress · 1 year
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This week's spotlight is on Beth Fuller and her comic Witching Hour. Beth is an illustrator and concept artist from Dublin, Ireland. She’s considering putting down the stylus pen and heading off into the wilderness to live as a hermit, but likes hot showers and horror films just enough to keep her in civilisation. For now, anyway. (@bethfuller | website | instagram | twitter)
"Witching Hour is about a young girl sent on a mysterious journey by her father. Two pale trees with intertwined branches form a strange gate at the edge of 12-year-old Esio’s town, and beyond it lies an old, ruined land. Over their pints, as dusk falls, the villagers say it’s where lost things - and people - eventually end up. She’s got sandwiches, an apple, plasters, a bottle of Tipperary Kidz water and a Horrible Histories book in her rucksack and she’s heading off into the unknown, with only a talisman to guide her. There’s no telling who she might meet along the way."
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Read the spotlight below the cut!
"That’s the initial rundown, anyway. Speaking more subjectively, I wanted to create a setting where two totally different characters - as different from each other as you can get - are forced to work together and end up changing each other’s lives. I really do think you can get on and find common ground with almost anyone, in the right circumstances."
Witching Hour took several years to incubate. "I’d been working on a comic slowly and haltingly since I was 18. There are pages kept deep, deep in my computer with old, badly drawn versions of Esio in a radically different setting, but it never really made sense as a story. I don’t think I made it past page three! Still, the fantasy atmosphere and character of Esio stuck with me over the years. Plus I really like to mix the dull, routine and mundane aspects of everyday life with things that are otherworldly and strange."
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"Eventually we had a visual narrative module as part of my degree, and while recalling my old comic pages (I was mulling over it in the shower, which is where I think many of us do our most important thinking) an idea came to me that would form the basis of Witching Hour. Adding this to the embers of my previous project gave me more than enough fuel to sit down and start drawing.
"I have plenty of ideas for what I want to get up to next. I’ll work on a tarot set, keep working on freelance concept art and illustrations, design some tattoos, maybe try my hand at another comic at some stage. As always, feel free to get in touch and let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see from me!"
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Beth draws inspiration from many sources: "The landscapes of south-west Ireland. Horror films, foreign language films, fantasy films, anything animated. The writing of Michelle Paver, Neil Gaiman and Ursula LeGuin.
"For me, though, it’s primarily the work of other illustrators that has inspired me the most, and it’s often only through seeing and evaluating lots of different brilliant styles that you can start to discern your own tastes. As a child, the obligatory Ghibli film catalogue. Then the work of Chris Riddell, Max Prentis and Ian McQue were enough inspiration to foster an interest in art school. I went, studied Illustration at DJCAD, and discovered Jake Wyatt, Celia Lowenthal, Juliette Brocal, Linnea Sterte, Jack T. Cole, Evan Cagle, Alphonse Mucha and (of course) Moebius. Seeing their work is like taking the creative spark and making it into a deodorant flamethrower."
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Beth's work often centres around fantastical worlds and sweeping landscapes. "I think somehow you always come back to what you know. Sometimes you don’t even notice you have a fascination with something until you start to create and it keeps returning.
"My family and I spent a lot of time around Irish coastlines growing up, especially during the warmer months. Kerry, in the south-west, has mountains that turn brown in winter, then when summer comes are carpeted with a haze of purple heather, not unlike the hills of Scotland. There are crumbling ringforts and monastic ruins on isolated hilltops. I could be in the most beautiful place in the world but still miss the coconut scent of Kerry gorse. The fantasy aspect is fun to play with, and it adds a nice sense of mystery, but fundamentally I think the landscapes I draw are an attempt to capture, and return to, the shores I kicked about on as a kid."
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For aspiring comic creators, Beth has this advice: "This is a common one, but I think it’s still worth saying: if you have a story, get it down. You don’t need to consider yourself a comic artist to make a comic. You also don’t need to wait around for the right time, or enough expertise - nobody is going to give you a nametag with ‘comic artist’ on it. If you can draw, and you need to say something, just start drawing boxes and see where it goes. Also, ‘Necropolis’ by Jake Wyatt is really good."
You can pick up Witching Hour, alongside the other three comics in our 2023 collection, right here on Kickstarter! 
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kemetic-dreams · 2 years
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                THE IFA CONCEPT OF SOCIOLOGY
Yoruba culture has used the Ifa paradigm of the cosmos as the basis for building their major cities. The structure of the Yoruba Nation was a federation of city states. Each city was ruled by an Oba. In ancient times the Oba was never seen by his subjects, so he became the invisible nucleus of the circle that formed the city. He was surrounded by a female council of elders called Odu and a predominantly male council of elders called Ogboni. The city itself was supported by male and female work parties who tended to divide their labor along gender lines. The men were traditionally farmers and the women traditionally controlled the market place. Both men and women participated in craft guilds that preserved the techniques used in the arts. The cities were built in a circular formation with the compound of the Oba at the center. The symbolic image of Yoruba culture appears as follows:
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There is some archeological evidence in the Yoruba cities of Ile Ife and Oyo that suggests that this design was used as the basis for the actual layout of those cities. The extent to which this occurred in other cities has not been thoroughly researched. It does appear that this structure was used in pre-colonial times as the basis for establishing political and religious institutions both of which were built upon the cosmological model found in Ifa.
Variations on this structure involved the system of establishing the location for sacred shrines. The system is called Gede which is a very old form of astrology. In Gede the path of solar bodies and planets is marked in relationship to the ways that they transverse the landscape. Celestial bodies are believed to enhance the ase (inherent power) of natural forces that arise from the Earth. By correlating the influences of Olorun and Ile, the ancient diviners were able to consecrate their shrines in places that reflected the essence of specific Odu.
Earth (ile) was considered a reflection of Heaven (Orun) and the layout of Yoruba cities was designed to make them mirrors of the cosmic order. The religion of Ifa originally comes from the city of Ile Ife. In lfa scripture, Ile Ifa is described as the original home of humans. The words: "Ile Ife” translate to mean; "Spreading Earth." So Ile Ife is a city and it is any place where land formed on Earth that allowed for human evolution to take place. Ifa scripture also refers to Ile Ife as a Spiritual place. It is the home for those ancestors who have returned to Source.
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D. THE IFA CONCEPT OF PSYCHOLOGY
Perhaps the most accessible manifestation of Odu is through the portal of individual consciousness. Ifa teaches that Odu represent the energy patterns that create consciousness. They are analogous to what Carl Jung called archetypes of the collective unconscious. Jung believed that there exists a set of primal patterns that form the content of self-perception and place the self in relationship to the world. According to Jung, these patterns remain abstract until the unconscious gives them a cultural and personal context. In both Jungian psychology and the Ifa concept of consciousness, Odu (archetypes) can be revealed through dreams, where they take on personal qualities and manifest as mythic drama. By grasping this particular manifestation of Odu, Ifa teaches that it is possible to create internal balance which is the foundation of living in harmony with Nature.
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Ifa psychology is linked to the concept of ori. The literal translation of ori is "head." This is a limited definition because ori also implies consciousness and Ifa cosmology teaches that all Forces in Nature have ori or consciousness.31 Because Ifa believes in reincarnation, every ori forms a polarity with ipori. The ipori is the eternal consciousness that exists in Orun (Heaven).32 It is the ipori that forms the link between past and future lives. If a scripture describes the ipori as the perfect double of ori. According to Ifa cosmology, every ori makes an agreement with Olorun prior to each incarnation.33 This agreement outlines the type of life that is to be lived and the lessons that are to be learned in a given lifetime. At the moment of birth the content of this agreement is lost to conscious thought. Part of the process of establishing internal balance is viewed as the task of remembering the original agreement between ori and Olorun.
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This agreement is the source of individual destiny. Because divination is considered a method for discovering destiny, all divination based on Ifa is related to the question of enhancing the alignment between ori and ipori.
The link between ori and ipori lies within ori inu.35 The Yoruba words; "ori inu" translate to mean; "inner head." This is a reference to what Jung called the individual consciousness or self. Ori inu is the nucleus of that circle of Forces that creates self-awareness.
In addition to the polarity between ori and ipori, ori inu is the center point of the polarity between ara and emi. Ara is the physical body. Ifa psychology includes the heart (okan) and the emotions (egbe) as part of the physical self. According to lfa, the nature of one's ipori can only be grasped if the head and the heart are in alignment. In other words, the mind and the emotions must be in agreement if spiritual insight is to occur. Similarly, Jung understood that a conflict between the mind and the emotions is one of the sources of mental illness.36 In Ifa this conflict is called ori ibi. It is difficult to make a literal translation of ori ibi, but the term suggests a lack of alignment between ori and ipori. When the ori and ipori are functioning as one, it creates a condition called ori ire. A literal translation of ori ire would be; "wise head." .Jung referred to this condition as individuation, which was his basis for defining mental health.37
Ara or the physical body exists in polarity with emi. The Yoruba word emi means; "breath.” Ifa teaches that the breath of life comes from Olodumare and contains the eternal essence of consciousness. Emi in this context would translate to mean; "soul." The Ifa symbol of self would appear as follows:
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richea · 4 months
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Arise review
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After buying the game at launch, I finally, finally finished my playthrough of Tales of Arise. Normally I would just write a few thoughts on Twitter and leave it at that, but I found I had a lot of things I wanted to touch upon with this game. With the prior two entries in the series, I kind of just rushed to finish them and then let them collect dust in my brain afterwards. However, back then I had other Tales games I wanted to try for the first time, so part of it was I was itching to get to ones I knew I would enjoy more. I got all caught up with the series before Arise was even announced, so there's no excuse this time!
With Arise, I took my time (well, maybe too much time), and let myself really process the game before I let myself finish it, in order to give myself a more solid basis for how I will feel about this game going forward. To that end, I wanted to really write down my feelings on the game in depth, touching upon all the various aspects of it and how everything made me feel.
Quick warning: if you don't accept criticism of Arise well, this isn't the review for you. I am approaching the game from the perspective of somebody who has played every other entry in the series and ruminated on all of them for years on end. I will be critical of the game in this piece. I'm not trying to tell people how to feel on the game, this is all purely my own thoughts and feelings, from the perspective of a long time Tales fan who deeply cares about the direction the series is going, and more importantly, its rich history.
I am also not looking for people to change my mind on the game, so please do not try to tell me my feelings are "wrong" or that I'm not appreciating certain things properly. I'm not looking for discourse.
That said, if you are someone who is interested in my perspective, then by all means enjoy the essay that is to come.
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In this post I want to dive into all the different aspects of the game and talk about each in depth, namely the story, characters and gameplay. I think it's more interesting to judge a game by balancing all these traits rather than just pinpointing one specific thing and basing my entire view of the game on that one thing (for instance, I tend to value interesting characters first and foremost when I indulge in media).
That said, for a quick TL;DR of my feelings on various things, when compared to other entries in the series:
Story: 2/10 Characters: 1/10 Character designs: 3/10 Other UI designs (such as monsters/menus/etc): 0/10 Battle gameplay: 4/10 Other gameplay: 4/10 Music: Undecided, which in its own right may not be a good indicator of how I feel about it Graphics: As a video game it's a 10, for Tales specifically it's a 9/10 for the graphics themselves and a 1/10 for the lack of anime portraits and the portraits we got just look awful (how does Ufotable only get worse with its Tales designs?)
Visual presentation
I want to start by acknowledging the graphics, as it's something that has zero relevance to how I feel on video games. Arise is a very pretty game! There is no denying this. I found myself stopping and just moving the camera around to admire all the pretty landscapes and views in the game. The character models are also very nice.
That said, like all modern Tales games, the battles are a bit overly stimulating on my eyes, because there's so much going on and lots of flashing lights. The actual effects were very pretty though.
The skits are absolutely horrible to watch. Even setting aside how I feel about the lack of skit portraits, the thin white text on top of the off-white backdrop was a horrible design choice. I think this is probably my least favorite aspect of the game. I get headaches very quickly from playing video games even just normally, and watching a ton of skits with intense eye strain did not help! There's also way too much movement with the skit... boxes? as well. Were they thinking about accessibility at all when coming up with them?
On the same topic, the subtitles for general cutscenes were also awful. The outline around the text needed to be much thicker. I could probably read 30% of the dialogue in the game. Thankfully I know a decent amount of Japanese, but still, I was interested in reading the actual translation of the text and I was having a really hard time. I feel bad for people who wanted to play with Japanese voices and don't know as much as me.
The menu UI was also very disappointing. It felt really barebones and had next to no personality to it. The big portraits drawn by Iwamoto were a nice touch (though if you're going to make such massive paintings, at least make the art itself more interesting to look at?), but it wasn't enough. They just felt like something to fill in the empty space which there was a lot of; the menu layout really did not utilize the space on the screen well, and it's double annoying when you consider how microscopic the font in the game is and how they could've used that space to make things more readable. Everything was hard to read, and again the lack of portraits was just utterly disappointing. Every time I opened the menu I just felt sad at how lifeless it felt.
Gameplay
My feelings on the gameplay are mixed. I'll start with the elephant in the room: the gald system in this game is not good. Only getting gald from chests and sub events is just a massively poor game design. Fishing helps but it's more time consuming than doing battles would be and there's really no other incentive to even doing it (at least battles would work towards EXP and getting battle proficiency things!).
The owl system was fun and was definitely a highlight of the game for me. It took me back to looking for attachments in Xillia, which is something I really enjoyed in that game as well and made the long traversing in the game more bearable. I just went from point A to point B in both Zestiria and Berseria, so this was the first game since Xillia 2 that I actually touched every corner of the map.
The battles are also a mixed bag for me. I will be completely transparent and state here that I mostly only played Shionne and Rinwell, so my feelings on the melee gameplay is very limited. My committed team was Shionne, Rinwell, Dohalim and Kisara. Between them you could hit every element weakness, on top of Kisara's high defense (and the fact that I just liked her more than Law and Alphen). From the perspective of a caster main, the battle gameplay was fine. Like other entries, you could do fun manipulation strategies to speed casting time. By the end game I was just spam casting Rinwell's highest tier spells instantly which was fun.
The healing is definitely... not great. There were a few times where I would run out of Orange Gels and then have to do a story progressing map action and it would eat the rest of my already gone CG bar. It was really infuriating. I only used First Aid the entire game, never anything else, because why would I use a better healing arte when it would just drain my gauge faster? It was a mess.
The monsters I did not enjoy. It felt really hard to stun them so it never felt satisfying fighting anything. Their movements felt WAY too grand. If every single boss is huge and epic and has moves that hit the whole map, the whole game starts to lose its impact. I also feel like they did way too much damage in a single hit, which made the healing issue even worse, and it felt more like I was trying to perfectly dodge every attack than it did managing my health in a natural way.
The skill system was just fine, no real commentary to make there. I wish there were more titles in the game however, and that they would display on the status screen (even Graces did this despite them both having the titles and skill systems merged).
Some quick other things
The campsite system was fine
I liked that the sub event indicators were really obvious, as someone who's really bad about doing sub events especially on my first playthrough (the actual sub events themselves are a different issue)
Like with fishing, I never really understood the point of the ranch
Did this game even have minigames?
I actually really liked the weapon skins system, that was super fun
Story
This is where I will start to nitpick things because I play Tales games for the story and characters first and foremost. And, having played every other game in full, my feelings on the story and writing in this game are... not very high.
To start, I do at the very least think Arise had some interesting starting concepts going on. Namely, a protagonist trying to figure out his amnesia and a girl who zaps everything she touches are pretty cool concepts! However, even from the first promotion trailer I was concerned about Shionne's story hinging too much on Alphen. The "he can't feel anything, she hurts everything she touches" plotpoints felt really, really convenient to me from the first trailer, and was a setup for having all the impact on the game being reliant on Alphen being a decent character (as well as, well, almost forcing him to be Shionne's hero, rather than him gaining that honor through actual hard work and emotion), but I was more than willing to give the game the chance to prove me wrong on that aspect.
I have too many feelings on the character writing so I will be giving them their own section below.
Anyway, sadly, I think those are the only two interesting and unique things in Arise's narrative. Everything else the game has done has been done in a prior Tales game but better. Let me go down the list (non-comprehensive as I can't remember every single theme from every single game, but I will name games that at least have these as the major theme that I can recall):
Two worlds vying for power (I could name games that don't have two worlds faster than I could name ones that do), and one world is trying to suck power out of the other one (Symphonia, Hearts)
The plotpoint about "when humans lose all their power they turn to dust" is literally exactly what happens in Hearts, while the "making people feel strong bad emotion to provoke them into our gains" is what Zestiria and Berseria's entire lore was about as well as Rebirth
Racism, oppression, slavery and colonialism (Phantasia, Destiny, Symphonia, Rebirth, Legendia, Tempest, Hearts (R removed this but there's literally an NPC who flaunts about enslaving the "lesser beings"), Berseria)
First half of the game is fighting a series of specific enemies, second half is focused on lore, especially figuring out stuff with the second planet (Destiny, Eternia, Symphonia, Vesperia, Hearts)
Do I think Tales rehashing tropes is a bad thing? No, not at all. It's something they have been doing for a long, long time. But what made it work in other games is that each game had at least something completely unique to it to balance that feeling of repetitiveness out. For instance, Hearts shows up a lot on this bullet list, but it is the only Tales game to have lore based around entering people's hearts, and the whole story is based around a fairy tale. Even the fact that it has a robot as a playable character was a first for Tales. Legendia rehashed a lot of plotpoints from Rebirth, but it had its own unique spin on things and the worldbuilding in it is completely unique with the focus on marine themes and the story structure being unique from any other game. Symphonia even keeps the same worldbuilding from Phantasia but the feels of the games are completely unique from one another due to how different the themes the stories tackle are. The issue with Arise is that I cannot think of anything unique in the game, aside from Shionne's thorns, that wasn't done in another game. And even then, all of the writing regarding her thorns is a big rehash of heroine tropes and situations in the series' past. I will go over that when I discuss her though.
Another glaring issue with the game is the skits. Normally, Tales skits have roughly 4 purposes. In order of prevalence: fun skits to show off the character's personality that the story can't showcase, the characters discussing story events to showcase the full depth of their feelings on the events as they happen, skits going over worldbuilding to explain in better detail if you didn't catch it from the story scenes (or just giving more information!), and navigational skits. Skits were always meant to be lively and engaging, even if things felt dull in the story, skits existed as a pick-me-up, and as a way to show how the characters were having fun. Skits are one of the most famous parts of Tales storytelling, specifically for this reason.
What's wrong with Arise's skits? In a franchise where the fun:dull skit ratio was 6:4 give or take, Arise changed those numbers to 2:8. Most skits were dedicated to rehashing events. Even in those rehashes, the characters were near constantly bringing up plotpoints that happened 30+ hours ago in the story. Over and over! Alphen was still talking about the first 5 hours of the game when you're on Lenegis!
Watching the skits, it genuinely felt like I was having constant deja-vu. I think I actually was worried I was going crazy at some point, because of the sheer extent of times they would have the same conversations over and over and over again. It got to a point where I would joke about Alphen and Law being on the screen together and I would say "countdown to them bringing up Zephyr" and every single time I would say that, the convo would turn to him. This was 55 hours into the game!
It's not bad for characters to reflect on the past events, but when that makes up the vast majority of their conversations, and one singular event makes up the entire personality of the character, the game feels dull very, very quickly. Skits transformed from a thing that I would usually open to find fun shenanigans between the characters and silly banter into me sighing about having to hear about Zephyr's death for the 200th time in the past 5 hours. It was very exhausting. Can we talk about something else now? My rant about this could be endless, but I genuinely want somebody to do a study on just how many times Alphen and Law bring up Zephyr throughout the game, and how many lines in the skits were dedicated to things that weren't just recapping events.
(Even then, there were cooking skits! However, I can only hear so many conversations about preparing food before I start getting bored. I know that eating and food is a BIG cultural point in Japan, but did every single "fun" skit need to be about eating? No.)
Speaking of, let me go over my feelings on the actual story and its events.
While the game did have a slow start, it wasn't that bad. The game eases you into what's going on, with the slavery and meeting Shionne. Nothing really of note to mention here. Rinwell and Law's character introductions were nothing special, but that was fine, it was still early in the game. My first major issue with the game is Zephyr's death. As it may be obvious from my above rant, the game places way too much importance on him as a character. A game mourning a character is nothing new. For instance, fractured Milla's death was a big turning point in Xillia 2. However, the entire game, as well as two entire characters, did not revolve around her death. Arise's issue is that Zephyr is barely a character, and yet the game constantly reminds you of how great and wonderful he was. We barely saw the guy, and no number of skits dedicated to Alphen and Law talking about him changes the fact that he is no more memorable than any other random NPC in the game. His death is unceremonious and was one of the most predictable deaths in the series to date.
(As an unrelated note, I am someone who loves a lot of NPCs in Tales. I love a lot of characters who have very little screentime. Two of my favorite Tales characters are Stella and Marian, who actually have a lot of similarities with Zephyr in narrative importance! The difference, however, is that you are not constantly having it drilled in that they are the epitome of nuance and the stories are not dictated by either character's morals, of which we never got to even see. Arise has Alphen claim Zephyr has the best moral views in the world and his entire life is dictated by those morals he was taught, and he pushes them on everyone else. Including the player.)
Zephyr's death aside, the other non-party characters are barely characters. I don't even remember any of their names. Especially the lords. To sum up my feelings on this instead of subjecting you to a long tangent on the lords, let me just drop these posts I made while playing:
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One of Arise's lowest points however is how it handles its themes of racism and colonialism. I have a distinct memory of Alphen telling Rinwell to shut up when she brings up Renan oppression to him, Law tells Rinwell she's not allowed to want revenge due to her oppression, and there's this not-so-great scene on Lenegis where the party reflects on how... one of the lords was "only human" for wanting to enslave the Dahnans and how they can "see" his point of view? NOT GOOD! One of the comments I made while playing the game was "Alphen would stop Cless on his quest of revenge and he would also tell Velvet she's over-exaggerating is kind of my feelings on him at this point" and I still stand by it.
In general, the story is just very predictable. At no point in the game was I surprised by what was going on. Well, no matter, there's other predictable things in Tales games! ...But the difference is that other games, I at least was compelled by the characters and their reactions to those predictable events. Or, their personalities alone would carry me through plotpoints I otherwise found boring. Arise never endeared me to its cast, yet it expected me to find shock value and importance in its very predictable storytelling. I remember when the party takes on the lord who kills Rinwell's family, they said "we'll spare her life" (which is its own long rant but I digress) and I went "oh well someone DEFINITELY won't kill her one second later" and then Vholran showed up as I was saying it! Then, Alphen JUST so happens to get his feeling back in his body after Shionne walks right into Vholran's arms! This was truly the point in the game where I completely gave up on enjoying it and I started to only push myself to beat it just so I could get it over with.
The story sadly saw no improvements after that point either to remedy my soured feelings. The only two things I enjoyed after that point were the little bit with Dohalim's past and him making the speech on Lenegis, and Rinwell touching Shionne's hand in the final scene in the game.
I could go on forever about the story, but I will leave it at that.
As for the sub events, you couldn't really call them "events" when they were just one or two lines about defeating monsters. I did every sub event in the game up until before the final dungeon. I was very unimpressed by them.
Characters
This is absolutely my least favorite part about the game. As I stressed at the beginning, what I go through media for is for the characters. Good characters can salvage just about anything for me. When I watch story scenes, I'm always thinking about how it makes the characters feel. I went into Arise thinking "even if the story doesn't cater to me, at least I can fall back on enjoying the characters and their banter".
As you can already tell, I was utterly disappointed with the cast in Arise.
Alphen
He is easily the contender for my least favorite Tales protagonist, hands down. The issue with Alphen is he never has any original ideas at any point in the game. He always attributes any of his morals to Zephyr. He would go on tangents, explaining how other characters should feel about things, but when asked he got all of his ideas from Zephyr. It seriously felt as if he never thought for himself.
Making this worse is the fact that he would explain how everyone should feel. He would tell Rinwell to stop being mad about her oppression, he would tell Law to listen to his feelings on Zephyr and change his view on him based on his view of who Zephyr was, he would tell Kisara how to feel regarding her place as a woman.
Worst of all, however, was how he would talk to Shionne. Any time she would have an issue, he would make it about himself. In her most important scene in the game, where she's talking about how her thorns make her want to die, he made it about himself. She said what she wanted for herself and he said "whether you like it or not, I'm taking matters into my own hands". Yes, Tales has done this before, with the heroine wishing to die and the hero telling her he won't allow that, but it's infuriating in this case when he never lets her think or act or move or do anything without his input. There's countless scenes in the game where she would be upset and want time alone and he would force her to talk to him about her feelings. Shionne was not permitted to ever exist without Alphen forcing her to talk to him about it and expecting her to go along with what he wanted, and his feelings about her situation. Again, past Tales game have had this, but when it's so constant and so prevalent, and is the only thing the character has to them, it becomes exhausting and annoying.
Also, his only "unique, fun" trait was that he likes armor, but this dialogue only ever showed up... when you made armor?
I was really disappointed with Alphen. Which is really not good when he is the protagonist, and Shionne's entire character also hinges on him. Especially given the grand finale to the game was their wedding, when I saw no romantic tension between them, because all he ever did was explain how she should feel. He was such a mess. I have more I could rant about with him but I need to leave it at that.
Shionne
Shionne is a big bundle of wasted potential to me. That said, she is probably one of the only characters in this game who felt like a character.
Like I said above, her thorns are an interesting concept. However, the handling of it really was standard Tales heroine tied to a cursed fate. The damsel scene, the way she wants to die but the protag talks her out of it, etc. That said, I did think her trauma with never being touched in her life was interesting, and it did make me emotional at points, even if the execution was poor.
I just really, really wish she could've been a character separate from Alphen. Her writing truly was doomed from the start with him being the only person who could touch her. Again, it felt like she bonded with Alphen because he's the only person who can touch her, rather than them actually making a proper bond as people.
Rinwell
Rinwell is... fine? I honestly don't have a lot to say here. I think it was nice that she got importance as the spiritual person in the party, and her banter with Dohalim was nice. I really disliked her relationship with Law however, and again, I hated that Law and Alphen tried to talk her out of her revenge. She was in the position as a "spiteful" person who "needed to grow out of it" but... her family was massacred? Why is Law allowed to be furious about his dad dying, but she's not allowed to be mad about her family being killed? The hypocrisy in regards to Rinwell seriously infuriated me and I felt really bad for her.
Law
Hoo boy. I really do not like Law either, for many of the reasons I don't like Alphen. He does with Rinwell what Alphen does to Shionne. What is with Arise men and mansplaining everything to the girls and refusing to let them have any agency or thoughts without their input?
He was also supposed to be the "mood maker," except his only mood making scenes were Hootle pecking him in the face or him saying something dumb and Rinwell calling him an idiot. It really wasn't that funny and felt like borderline bullying.
Law falls under a Tales archtype I normally really really like (Tytree, Spada, Hisui, etc), so I was expecting to like him quite a bit, but sadly I just... do not. See my Zephyr rants above as well.
Kisara
Kisara is probably the most unfortunate character in the cast. In theory, I really like Kisara. I'm a big fan of knight ladies, and I always enjoy the older woman character in the party (even if only in her 20s). In practice however she just... completely misses the mark. All of her scenes are dedicated to one of three things: working (or not working) under Dohalim, her brother, or how she can be a proper woman. Yikes! It's not good when a female character's entire character revolves around what she can do for men! There's many skits where she asks "what can I even do if everyone cooks for themselves" and her conclusion is... to follow her brother's dream? Kisara, can't you find your OWN dream? And no, bringing up how she can help Dohalim also doesn't count here.
I don't hate Kisara for being who she is, but I really just want to have a stern talking to with whoever wrote her. A female character should not revolve around men and being in the kitchen. Seriously. This game came out in 2021, you should've known better.
Dohalim
While I didn't like his introduction scenes much, he grew on me a lot throughout the game, and he definitely felt the most like a Tales character to me. There was a lot of humanity and nuance to him, and he had the honor of actually having his backstory shown on screen. He had a lot of facets to him: the part of him that was a Renan leader, the part of him that supports the party, his own goals, his own motivations, interesting relationships with other characters, as well as (and maybe most importantly) fun things about his personality via his breaks from seriousness as well as his fondness for music and artifacts.
Overall he felt very fleshed out, and I really wish he had been put in another game. I came out of Arise quite content with the character that was Dohalim, which I cannot say for anyone else.
Closing thoughts
Overall, this is probably the most disappointed I have been with a Tales title. Of course, I don't think every game is perfect, and there are games that I will admit just don't click with me personally that others adore, and likewise there are games that I think fall flat in some regards but resonate with me for the characters.
For instance, I think Tempest is a perfectly fine and even charming game, despite it being more on the barebones side of things. I do not hold Tales games to unrealistic expectations when it's not necessary, and I always think of a lot of things when I base how I feel about the game: crunch time, what the creators had in mind when making it, what heart was put into the story, what fun I am able to find even in the game's flaws. Things to that effect.
Where Arise differs for me is that many of the decisions I dislike about the game were intentional. The lackluster, yet overbearing monsters were intentional, the lack of skit and status portraits were intentional, the story not being that compelling, but taking itself way too seriously and acting as if it's the pinnacle of Tales writing, is also what the producer of the game flaunts when he discusses it. All of these things negative attribute to the quality of the game. Arise scratches away the charm that Tales games have, yet it is flaunted as being something groundbreaking when the story never attempts a single new trope.
It's not one deviation from series staples, it's a whole cluster of them. Why was there any reason to remove post battle dialogue, when that is something everyone absolutely LOVED about the series? Why are skits, which are part of what brought Tales to fame, boiled down to recaps of story scenes and not fun moments, which is what everyone is excited for when they go to open a skit? Why are the cute and iconic monsters completely gone, when every single game used the same designs? Why does the producer for the series actively hate the things that the fans love about Tales?
Arise is essentially a long laundry list of bizarre decisions made by the producer with awful execution, and then sadly the writing does the game absolutely zero favors. I came out of playing it feeling hollow. I've been revisiting some older games after playing it, and I've been getting legitimately emotional at how the characters in these other games actually talk to each other like people, and don't just bounce recaps of events back and forth to each other. Other games know how to have fun, and they have compelling characters, which is really what has always been the thing bringing people back to this franchise.
Would I like Arise more if it wasn't labeled a Tales game? Honestly, no, given I only ever played it because it's under the Tales branding. And I shouldn't have to even ask myself that, given I play Tales to enjoy Tales, and its tropes, and all the fun little things these games provide that no other series can give me.
If and when the next Tales game comes out, I will still probably play it. But so long as it is under our current producer, I will go in incredibly cautious, given he seems adamant about hating all of the things I love most about Tales. At the very least, I hope the next game is more innovative with its writing and characters, and brings back some of the charm that even Zestiria and Berseria had.
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📚💸 Career + Wealth Analysis 💸📚
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One of the most frequent questions astrologers receive from their clients when doing a chart reading is about their career, profession or work.
The labor we do on an everyday basis is essential when it comes to our finances and self fulfillment. It can either be something we enjoy doing that meets all of our needs, or what brings a paycheck yet lacks inner satisfaction.
There are several ways to confirm if the work you are doing is activating your Venus properly, and you may wonder why that planet in particular? Simple! Venus is related to finances, luxury, and comfort. The jobs that align with our Venus sign tend to be the ones that not only fits into our financial needs, but also provides a genuine feeling of contentment.
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So, if you want the straight forward answer to “What career/field/job/hobby can help me create wealth and feel joyful about it?” Then Venus is your short answer. Remember that wealth will look differently for everyone since we all have different perceptions of how much money is truly enough to have the lifestyle we dream of.
Look for the Sidereal sign that your Venus falls in, find below the careers or fields related to it, and confirm for yourself the difference in your wealth accumulation once you incorporate it into your life.
Note: please keep in mind that if your Venus is conj, square or opposite a malefic planet/s (Mars, Saturn, Rahu/Ketu), there will be some natural resistance or challenges that you will experience throughout life with work, job, profession, or financial matters. Venus in Virgo, Scorpio, and Capricorn to a degree could also experience similar experiences.
The house where this planet is placed also tells a lot about the way your job manifests in your life (places, people, etc). Now, there are many ways to remediate any negative effects, so no need to be concerned or feel doomed.
There are many advanced Vedic Astrologers who mostly focus on remediation of planets that are in difficult or challenged positions, so take a look at the options available if you ever feel like there's an extra difficulty for you in those matters.
♈️➡️ Vocations that require independence, daring and the pioneering spirit: entrepreneurs, pioneers in any field, idea people, those who initiate new projects, troubleshooters, directors, adventurers, executives.
Firemen or fire fighters, forest rangers, engineers (metallurgical), members of the armed forces, firearms experts, police officers, machinists, mechanics, iron and steel workers, locksmiths, welders, athletics that involve speed and daring, race car drivers, contact sports, boxers, dancers, movement therapists, physical education instructors, surgeons.
♉️➡️ Vocations dealing with the earth and substance: farmers, ranchers, agriculture instructors, landscape architects, gardeners, rock collectors (semi-precious gems), builders, carpenters, building contractors, concrete pourers, chiropractors, massage therapists, computer programmers.
Occupations involved with money and finance: bankers, bank tellers, stock brokers, financiers, money managers, investment advisors, security analysts, treasurers, economists.
Artists, sculptors, jewelers, pottery makers, fashion designers, tailors, florists, musicians, singers, voice teachers, throat specialists.
♊️➡️ Vocations involved with communication or transportation: authors, proofreaders, ad copywriters, screenplay writers, editors, reporters, teachers, lecturers, linguists, speech therapists, librarians, bookstore owners, publishers, magazine employees.
Radio operators or disc jockeys, television producers, telephone operators or repair persons, telemarketers, stationery store owners, journalists, salespeople, printers, book distributors, clerks, office workers, secretaries, typists, typesetters.
Messengers, mail carriers, taxi drivers, bus drivers, railway employees, plane pilots, accountants, jacks-of-all-trades. Can engage in two or more occupations at once.
♋️➡️ Vocations that nurture: physically or emotionally (especially through food): caterers, restaurant owners, chefs, cooks, bakers, waiters and waitresses, confectioners, dairy farmers, grocers, food distributors, nutritionists.
Social workers, counselors, psychics, nurses, family therapists, preschool teachers, children's writers, tioners, caretakers, water-related occupations, plumbers, swimmers, lifeguards, fishermen.
All careers dealing with the home: realtors, hotel managers, innkeepers, homemakers, governesses, maids, laundry workers.
♌️➡️ Performers of all types: actors and actresses, playwrights, entertainers, dancers, singers, musicians, movie stars, circus performers, jugglers, clowns, sports figures, teachers (good teachers are entertainers), amuse ment park owners, speculators, gamblers.
Leaders of all types: executives, managers, government officials, politicians, foremen, judges, athletes, salespeople, the profession of selling, promoters, dia: mond and precious metal brokers, gold workers, heart specialists, all vocations involving children.
♍️➡️ Vocations dealing with analysis, detail and technical expertise: statisticians, accountants, book-keepers, computer programmers, teachers of technical subjects, stenographers, critics, inspectors of all types, draftsmen, graphic artists, technical illustrators, crafts-people, specialists.
Health occupations and the social services, mental health workers, therapists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, social workers, employment counselors, nurses, doctors, massage therapists, respiratory techairians, dental hygienists, dentists, secretaries, office managers, food service worker, nutritionist, waiters and waitresses, dieticians, veterinarians, zoologist, sanitation workers, janitors, public health officials, house cleaners, butlers.
♎️➡️ Vocations that pursue balance, harmony and justice: negotiators and counselors of all types, marriage counselors, wedding related businesses, diplomats, labor arbitrators, judges, lawyers, managers, salespeople.
Occupations dealing with beauty: artists, architects, painters, illustrators, photographers, fashion designers, fashion industry workers, milliners, color consultants, clothing store owners or salespeople, beauticians, hairdressers, cosmeticians, interior and exterior decorators, cosmetic manufacturers and dealers, jewelers, florists, candy makers.
♏️➡️ Vocations that focus on uncovering hidden secrets: researchers, muckraking journalists, investigators, detectives, physicists, occultists, those who work behind the scenes, espionage agents, psychics, astrologers, all matters dealing with death, funeral home directors, morticians, cemetery workers, insurance salespeople, soldiers, those working under the earth, undertakers.
Those who work as healers. all medical practitioners, physicians, nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, surgeons, pharmacists, pathologists, past-life investigators, hospice workers, chemists, music therapist, musicians.
♐️➡️ Vocations dealing with exploration, travel and adventure: explorers, astronomers, travel agents, airline employees, flight attendants, astronauts, import-export agents, foreign correspondents, language interpreters, traveling salespeople, promoters, customs officers, athletes of all types, archers, sporting goods manufacturers, horse trainers, breeders and jockeys.
Occupations dealing with higher knowledge: philosophers, college professors, ministers, theologians, missionaries, preachers, orators, publishers, metaphysical writers, philanthropists, lawyers.
♑️➡️ Vocations dealing with administering and organizing: administrators of all types, managers, business owners, executives, government officials, politicians, judges, manufacturers, coordinators, principals at schools, wardens, disciplinarians, buyers, consul-tants, vocational counselors.
Occupations that work with form and structure: architects, contractors, builders, carpenterivil and rivil and get industrial engineers, economists, chiropractors, orthopedic specialists, osteopaths, miners, landowners, mountain climbers.
♒️➡️ Vocations dealing with progress and inven-tion: inventors, scientists, educators, researchers, astrologers, social workers, psychologists, futurists, humanitarians, social reformers, United Nations workers, employees of world relief organizations, future-oriented occupations, astronauts, airplane pilots, aviators, parachutists, hang glider pilots, solar energy researchers, physicists, radio and television technicians, electricians, electrical engineers.
♓️➡️ Vocations of a spiritual, healing or artistic na-ture: religious workers, priests, monks, nuns, sisters of mercy, rabbis, clairvoyants, mediums, charity workers, prison workers.
Physicians, faith healers, psychic healers, nurses, hospital workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, hypnotists, anesthesiologists, podiatrists. Poets, musicians, writers (inspirational, fantasy, metaphysical, science fiction), actors, dancers, painters, artists, entertainers, comedians, singers, filmmakers.
Water-related activities, fishermen, sailors, divers, swimmers, lifeguards, marine scientists, oceanographers, bartenders, oil industry workers.
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Is your Venus sign all you need to know to find all the clues and perfect descriptions to tailor your ideal professional life? No, but it is a huge start in a small way and with short information.
If you guys would like to go more in depth with career astrology, then also take your time to check the following, and find the common theme:
•10H sign + where its lord is located
•D10 Lagna (Dasamsa chart)
•Mahadasha planet in your chart, the house its located, and where the lord goes.
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naixatlozdesigns · 7 months
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The Shimmering Marsh
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This is a personal design and is not for sale. It is displayed here for portfolio purposes only.
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justatypicalwizard · 1 year
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Rough and new | bakugo | part two
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✦ Summary: You meet a new and interesting creature that seems to share your curiosity. Both of you have motives to your actions that turn out to be vastly different.
✦ Warnings: mer!Bakugo, fem!reader, adult reader, smut(ish) content due to the curcumstances of the story do not expect full smut, dubcon
Minors do not interact
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Humans are specific, very weird in their actions and customs yet, like every other creature in the world, they deserve respect. Some mers know a lot about humans just as some humans know a lot about mers but on a daily basis the sea specimens don’t really care for the two-legged. They were always present in the world and that’s just it. 
Due to that, humans were never really present in Bakugo’s mind. He never anticipated he would become so attached to one of them.
It was a peaceful day of hunting, guarding and all of the other shit he has to do for the colony. The dynamic of the group he’s in fluctuates easily. It’s a mixed group of mers, which in his mother’s opinion is healthier than living in a similarity-exclusive one. Because of that the mers living in this place are of all colours and shapes. Because of that he was also destined for a certain role. His mother taught him, from the very beginning, how to be a warrior, a tough and resistant one. At a very young age he picked his weapon- a sword. 
Now he was sitting on a rock next to the main gate of his group habitat. It was hard to give a proper name for places like this. Mers mostly availed what the natural landscape gave them, building their homes from what they found. Bakugo’s home was situated in an underwater cave hideout. The undetermined and rough shape of its inside has been softened by decorations, lamps and various different signs of family life. Yeah, the whole group of mers was mostly like a big family. Smaller caves, often connected to others by winding tunnels and corridors, were occupied by single mers or families. Elders and adults spent their time educating the younger, pursuing the groups history by painting murals or telling stories or just simply scolding the youth for their dubious games and horrific lifestyle. The stronger ones went hunting or guarded the main, and a few smaller gates. Pup’s swam everywhere when it was not lesson time playing the, earlier mentioned, dubious games. 
Bakugo rested his back on the stone grumbling to himself out of boredom. He was well aware of how important keeping guard was. Even though nothing happened to their hideout for years it didn’t mean they could underestimate what the sea hid beneath its dark waters. As important as the job is, it is also painfully boring. Sitting with his sword sheathed on his back he looked at Kiri situated on the other side of the gate. The redheaded mer swung a heavy war hammer in his hands, back and forth. Ditching the designated sitting spot for a guard, Bakugo swam to his friend.
‘’Whatcha doin’ Katsuki?’’ Kiri’s soft yet masculine voice rang through the silent, slightly too loud.
‘’You saw me for the last thirty minutes, what could I be doing?’’ Bakugo asked, slightly annoyed. He wasn’t irritated by his friend but more because of the overwhelming boredom. 
‘’I don’t know, I’m gonna fall asleep any second now.’’ The redhead sighed, not losing the wide smile from his prominent face. He was so used to Bakugo’s causticity that he didn’t mind the snarky remarks.
‘’Better not, my old hag is gonna bring us food any minute now and she will kill you if she finds you asleep.’’ The blonde smirked at the thought of his mom giving Kiri, yet another, earful. She treated Kirishima like her own son which ment hard love and a lot of scolding.
‘’Thanks for reminding me that I’m hungry, now ‘m not only bored but also starving.’’ Kiri deflated on the stone he was sitting on. 
‘’Worry none.’’ Another blonde mer swam their way making Kirishima perk up on the stone and Bakugo turn around with an always present frown. ‘’Here boys.’’ His mother handed them fish placed neatly on seaweed. It was chopped and decorated with some seasoning but still pretty much raw. ‘’And why exactly are you not sitting on that stone?’’ Bakugo’s mother pointed to her left with a scrutinising glance.
‘’To piss you off.’’ He spat before digging into his meal.
‘’Thank you for the food.’’ Kirishima tried to sooth the growing tension between the two explosive mers but his tries backfired instantly.
‘’Yes, thank you to Eijiro. Don’t you think using magic words would be nice brat, eh?’’ Bakugo’s mother swam closer to him, yet her son kept ignoring her, on purpose. ‘’Do you really think this is a fucking game between you and me?’’
In their pup’s years Bakugo always fought with his mother. Having no proper fatherly figure he was forced to rely on her. She never let him down but there was one certain problem. The two shared nearly identical tempers which turned out to be a minefield. From the very beginning Kiri remembered Bakugo always ranting about how stupid his mum is and how much she expects from him. Of course he didn’t really think like that, at least not about the first part. On the other hand the expectations… they were high.
Bakugo’s, Kirishima’s and a few other families had been the main guards and warriors of the whole colony for a long time now. Raising him a certain way was obvious and the blonde didn’t have a problem with it, at least with most parts. He loved being a warrior, training and fighting, bathing in the glory that no other speciality could encompass (at least that’s how he saw himself in his head). Unfortunately there was one thing that he never agreed to and always fought off.
The mating.
Kirishima was well aware that the same responsibility lay on his shoulders, but for his own peace his parents didn’t pressure him about it. The thought rooted in his head was enough for them to be calm about their son living up to the expectations. Bakugo on the other hand openly voiced out his total disagreement. His tossing around made a handful of elders disappointed in him which also took a toll on his mother's reputation. These old pricks were so dramatic.
The duty was simple. As a warrior, mate in the best and most fertile years of your life. The later you’d start the lower the chances of breeding another great warrior. That’s something the colony could not suffer. Actively look for a mate or at least don’t brag about ditching your responsibilities (like a certain someone). The colony gave you the best meat, the best sleeping quarters, the best jewellery, all in thanks for your sacrifice, your hard training, your long hours of guard and your simple, natural duty of passing down your power with your blood.
This is why some looked at Bakugo with a mixture of emotions. He was great in everything he did, except for that one little thing. Why can’t he just obey? 
Why? The answer is simple and one that the explosive blonde would never voice out to anyone. He was sacred. Mers mated for life so he had only one choice, for eternity. This made uneasiness bubble inside of his chest as if someone constantly reminded him that one mistake would doom him. He didn’t want a life of spite. For the one person in the whole sea who is supposed to be his soft spot and safe shore to be his collar. 
Bakugo couldn’t believe how careless Kiri was about the topic. How little fear he felt. The redhead always said that he’ll just wait a bit more. Maybe the person isn’t from their colony, maybe he should visit some neighbour mer hideouts and look around there. He believes that when he meets the one he’ll know in an instant.
Oh yeah, Kiri was all ears for the elders' stories about how monogamy is rooted in mers DNA, how meeting the right person sparks something in you. It only takes the scent of the other person to recognise that you only have a half of your heart, the other piece is in their hands.
Bullshit.
Bakugo never believed in this shit. It was all a bluff to make them less hesitant about the mating for life. Nothing like that happened, at least not on a daily basis, not with everyone. The harsh truth was that he’d have to court someone he doesn’t even probably like and then bear with them for the rest of his life. And produce pups, oh for fuck’s sake, he’s so done with this. Nothing in the sea will make him end up like that. Not a chance.
Lately such thoughts clouded his mind every time he talked with his mother. Bakugo saw that behind her eyes, felt that in her angry tone. She was counting time for him, she was well aware of his statement, she hated it. Yet, she cared for him. If it wasn’t for the sheer fear of being kicked out of the colony which meant countless dangers for her son and a lifetime of loneliness, she wouldn’t pressure him as much.
Just bear with it, accept it and don’t be so hung up on the one small topic. You just have to make a few pups and move to a different pit. Later you can live your life how you want it to. Please…
Yet, she knew he wouldn’t listen to her begs. Softness and sweet words never laid in their dynamic. It was anger, frustration and ambition that pushed them, both of them, to the goal. She knew she had to do it like that, even if it wounded her heart.
‘’Not a chance.’’ Bakugo spat at his mother. ‘’Leave me.’’
She rolled her eyes knowing well, spotting it in his composure, that he didn’t mean the food she just brought, the long hours of guard he had to keep today or anything else. He was already deep down spiralling in his self-destructive thoughts.
She had to pressure him.
‘’Can you at least once in some time do what you’re asked and supposed to.’’ She growled at her son.
‘’And what the fuck do you mean by that?’’ His gaze was piercing but so was hers.
‘’You know damn well what I mean by that.’’ She pointed her finger straight into his muscular chest. He was bigger than her but their presence was identical, clashing, none of them able to take complete power over the other. ‘’What do you plan for mating Eiji?’’ Both of their blonde heads darted Kirishima’s way. The redhead prayed for this to stop before they smash him to the ground with their hateful gazes.
‘’I don't know yet…’’ He tried to wiggle out not hurting Bakugo but also not getting on his mum’s bad side.
‘’Don’t you lie to me.’’ That scrutinising finger pointed his way this time and he felt daggers shot at his chest in embarrassment. She read him like a book.
‘’I think I’ll visit some… other… colony…’’ Each word that rolled out of his mouth was more and more quiet until he was mumbling under his breath looking everywhere except for the two mers in front of him. If he’d stand up he'd be bigger than both of them but unfortunately he sat on that damn rock, looking small and not very serious afraid to move even an inch under Bakugo’s mother’s gaze.
‘’See? Is it that fucking hard to do anything?’’
Pretend, just pretend you’re doing something. You don’t need to settle down if you hate it that much. I don’t care if you breed another warrior, I just want you to be at peace finally.
She couldn’t tell him what she really thought. It would be wrong, not educational. She just prayed he would finally get to it on his own and pretend until people forget about this issue. He could say that he tried but never found anyone and they would believe, take care of him, saying how sorry they are that he didn’t find the one. And he would have lied to them for a bit and it would all be over.
‘’I’m not doing anything like that. Leave me.’’ Her son was unmovable, his feelings carved deep down into his soul. Stupidity and lack of cleverness too. Maybe also being truthful, he couldn't lie like that to himself or anyone else. What a disaster.
She left, huffing and puffing. He was also fuming for the rest of the guard with Kiri trying to lighten his humour, telling him that they can go together to search in other mer hideouts. 
As his job for today neared its end Bakugo found his way back to their lair, having changed the guards. He was still angry, the intrusive thoughts never leaving his head. The blonde swam around pointlessly hissing at the pups that bounced off of his tail. He wasn’t able to find a place for himself. This feeling was familiar to him, as if the multiple layers of water above pressured him too much, crushing his form.
‘’Another fight for mating?’’ The blonde heard a familiar screeching voice.
Skula, one of the most elderly elders, swam up to him. Subconsciously he slowed down his pace for the crippling mer to catch up. She looked as if she was to fall apart any second. He honestly asked himself how old she was. Some said she forgot and came up with a random number every time someone asked about it. That way sometimes she was 98, other times 105, on better days 21.
One thing about Skula distinguished her from the majority of elders. She honestly liked Bakugo and believed in him without even a tint of dissapointment. Skula remembered the old days when the sea wasn’t as peaceful as it is now, maybe that’s why she had a soft spot for any warrior, or maybe she just recognised Bakugo’s distress.
Nevermind her motives, she held onto his fin, the one situated beneath his back. Usually that spot was reserved for more… intimate situations but Bakugo knew damn well that this old witch wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to entertain herself before she dies (and she looks like she’s ready to die anytime soon).
‘’Oh, you just swim too fast, I need some help.’’ She laughed at his eyes rolling.
‘’You just want a handful old hag.’’ Skula brushed off his remark. 
‘’Another fight?’’ She pressured the youngster.
Bakugo only nodded. He never knew why but this woman always made him open up, even if it was just a tiny crack in his various defensive layers.
‘’Go clear your head before you bite any pup.’’ She patted his back a few times.
‘’No place for it here.’’
‘’You’re hot-tempered, angry and aggressive.’’ She began in a slightly lower tone, as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear her. Bakugo looked at her wrinkled face that held a mysterious tone in it. Was she about to start again with the stupid shells and rocks she’s been looking into all day long? Prophecies and shit? ‘’The ocean’s cold and calm, deep, dark and mysterious. You’re none like it. You shine my young Bakugo.’’ She circled soothing eights up and down his back. ‘’Don’t blame yourself for feeling out of place here when your heart’s not at peace.’’
‘’Do you really mean that I’m just a shity mer?’’
‘’No stupid, listen to me.’’ She huffed at his flat response. ‘’You need something else. I want you to see something. The waves told me about it.’’ There you go again. ‘’There’s something matching your temper that you need to see with your very own eyes. Something as hot…’’
If she’ll really tell me in a second that this hot thing is my butt then I’ll honestly kill…
‘’It’s up there.’’ Skula pointed her crippled finger upwards, following with her eyes. ‘’It’s big, hot and golden. It’s gonna speak to you, listen to all of your problems and tell you what to do.’’ She was mysterious yet enthusiastic.
Normally Bakugo didn’t follow Skula’s different prophecies and things she read out of scattered stones but this time…
‘’D’you mean above the water?’’
She nodded her head a little too fast, it looked like it could crack.
‘’You want me to swim to the surface and talk to… something big and fucking golden?’’
‘’Exactly.’’
This was stupid enough to entertain him. Beside there was one crucial thing that Bakugo was interested in. He never swam to the surface. It’s not forbidden but why should anyone do it? There was nothing interesting there for him. He heard stories that the surface felt hot, or extremely cold. It depended on something but he didn’t remember what it was called. Sometimes water poured from… something there. Ah shit, he didn’t know anything about the surface… and this only made him more interested.
‘’And when should I go, oh mighty oracle?’’ Bakugo asked Skula theatrically.
‘’Now.’’ She stated simply as if it was nothing.
‘’Now?’’
‘’I thought I was the deaf one.’’ She snickered.
‘’Don’t laugh at me old hag.’’
‘’Go, nothing’s gonna happen. Nothing bad my child.’’ 
‘’Mum will…’’
‘’I’ll tell her it’s my fault. What will she do? Shout at me, an elder?’’ Bakugo honestly loved this old witch and how she still fearlessly lived her life. Jokes will never leave her side.
So Bakugo went, up and up and up. With only his sword, frustration and the stupid little prophecy that a golden thing will cure his problems. It felt tiring, as if the water above was endless. He imagined what it would look like, the very top. Would it be a single, straight line or did the water disappear gradually? Swirling and turning he went up, climbing layers and layers of water. It started to feel warmer. Why?
After a long journey he neared what looked like a breaking point. The water looked weird here, like it was pierced by something light. He had to squint his red eyes, slowly nearing the edge. Anxiety flooded over his body, pumped by his racing brain. Was he scared? Yes he was but he’ll never recognise it. Clenching his fists he swam up, finally breaking the surface.
‘’Ah fuck!’’ The mer growled as the sun burned his eyes.
After what felt like an eternity of pain his eyes finally started to adjust to the new light source. It was so bright, so hot it fact. He felt it on his cheeks. Was this why the water here was so hot? Guarding his eyes with his hands he looked around. The surface was weird, not exactly flat but also not gradual. It moved constantly, splashing aggressively. He liked it. There were some elements in his field of vision that seemed to stand still. One of them was a big rock. At least that’s what the thing looked like, it was similar to boulders down in his hideout so he just assumed the obvious.
Bakugo swam up to the rock. It sank deep down, reaching the downhill seabed. Behind this one there were a few more on them. Then he remembered. Big, hot, golden thing. Groaning, he felt the need to do as Skula pleased. She was the one that gave him this idea and he had to admit, the surface was more than he imagined. He felt so good here, between his and this world. The blonde honestly started to like how that hot feeling falling from above him kissed his wet cheeks, whatever it was.
He looked around, not spotting anything in particular. Then, he looked up.
‘’Fucking shit my eyes!’’ Once again he was blinded.
Shielding his face with his palm he took a glance up. There was something big there, yellow or maybe orange… gold? A very warm colour at least. The warmth seemed to flow from that. Was it the thing that Skula talked about? Did her prophecy really come true? Then did every one of her prophecies mean something? (If yes then he had a problem because she often foretell for him various stupid things)
Should he really talk to that thing? It seems pretty static and… not doing anything. He hated feeling dumb and that’s exactly how he felt right now.
Suddenly something splashed into the water near him. Instantly he lowered himself, burying his head under the surface. From behind the sunken boulder he saw some commotion in the water. Something was there, something big in fact. Should he retreat? No, he’s not a coward. 
The thing stopped moving after a few seconds and he waited. It seemed like an eternity of him, hiding behind the boulder observing the very same spot, waiting for the thing to make its next move. It never came, the water splashed above him like it did all the time, swaying him back and forth against the stone.
His turn. Bakugo swam up closer, slaloming between the few stones underwater. Finally, he reached the one that particularly interested him. Something above the surface moved there and then went still. He couldn’t make out the exact shape because of the waves. He had to swim closer.
Putting both of his hands on the stones surface she went up once again, nearing the strange thing. The closer he got the clearer the image. The thing started to look just like him… at least its upper part. It had a face, hair, a torso, hands that held it form as if it was scared and…
As if he’d been lightstruck something clicked in his brain. That smell, that faint tint. He felt intoxicated as if he could only breathe this for the rest of his life. What the fuck was that? Why did he never feel it? Where is the source?
The thing moved, and he saw a hand stretched his way. The palm, the fingers looked just like this, except for his membrane. It didn’t have a membrane… that’s a human. The first human Bakugo ever saw in his life.
The faint smell hit him again. The human put their hand under the surface and touched his hair. He didn’t have a clue why he allowed all of this. Some mere human roaming their hands all over his head… but he liked it. The small fingers grazed his forehead slightly, their touch soft and subtle. It moved lower. With its palm just under his nose he finally got what he was looking for. That sweet intoxicating smell came from this human.
Bakugo felt a million emotions rush at one time. He was hungry, desperate, interested, intoxicated and horny. Could it be? Is this his mate? Do they feel the same?
He grabbed the tiny wrist connected to the small arm (at least compared to his). The human jumped back and started to squirm but Bakugo didn’t care. He was too high on the new feeling springing inside his ever so cold body to acknowledge that the human didn’t look at bliss like him. He pushed himself more and more wanting to show off his body and inspect the mate, subconsciously knowing how to court.
Suddenly the human screamed. The primal sound tore him out of his clouded state and he dipped back into the water slightly. The human hugged their wrist, then looked at it and finally after some time showed it to the mer. He saw a bruise in the shape of his hand.
Did he just hurt his mate? Were they this delicate? Fuck, he should have known. This was definitely not very courtesy of him.
‘’Fuck.’’ He mumbled.
Looking up at the human’s face he saw that the earlier fear subsided to curiosity once more. Were they also interested? He had to check.
Emerging from the water he sat next to the thing. It was harder than he anticipated, slipping at the first try. Something pulled him down like it was crashing down from above him, he felt heavy here. It didn’t matter, the intoxicating smell was more important.
Bakugo followed the human’s eyes and spotted that they’re looking at his tail. The small hand of the creature neared his scales. He felt excited, deep down he wanted this touch, he wanted that human’s hands all over the place where his skin met with orange scales. He wanted to tangle the human, wrap around them, claiming all of their body. He was blind to the crucial differences between him and them. Yet, his mum raised him to be somehow a good boy, or at least to have some manners. This was too intimate for seeing each other for the first time so he slapped the human’s hand away, much to his own displeasure.
He was happy, no, he was in a state of complete bliss. The creature, his mate, wanted to be close to him, wanted to claim his body just as he wanted to take theirs, they just showed it. The eagerness, that look in their eyes. Do they also feel intoxicated by the scent of his body? Should he show off more? Should he unsheathe his sword and show combat skills? No, he could scare them just as he hurt them a moment ago. This creature’s very delicate. 
Bakugo was honestly out of his mind right now, blinded by something written deep down in his DNA. He wanted to touch the human, subtly, let them know that he wants to take it slow, the right way, and court them like they deserve. They didn’t once talk to him so he also stayed silent a bit scared after what he did to the human’s wrist.
Bakugo dipped his hand into the human’s hair. It was soft, extremely soft and delicate. It felt like nothing he had ever touched in his life. He smeared his hands all around the weirs texture wanting to feel the most of it until he heard something pierce his ears.
It was the human’s sound. He had no clue what it meant, not understanding a single thing but he loved it. The tone, so much more melodic than how he and his species spoke. Or at least that’s what he thought. He wanted more of that sound so he continued to play with the human’s hair.
That smell, it was still all around him, dripping off of the creature’s body. He wanted to scoop closer. Bakugo held the human’s hair and exposed their neck for him. The smell was thick there so he buried his face into the crook of their neck. It made his insides twist out of hunger and need. He wanted to devour them, have all this sweetness to himself, bathe in it, let his own skin soak with it. But he’s gonna play it nice, just like they deserve.
What did your body look like? He wanted to know every inch, every important thing. Their teeth, were they sharp like his? Do they have pointy canines just like him? He dug his finger inside the human’s mouth searching for an answer. They started to squirm. Did he annoy them a bit? He liked the thought. Loved the feeling of their body moving under his. He could make the trash, he wanted to hear those primal sounds erupting from their throat just for him and because of him. But he’s gonna play it nice.
Bakugo found his answer. The human’s canines were short and soft, just as he imagined. It was not perfect for raw fish but he didn’t care, the feeling of his mate being weaker and softer than him made him want to claim here and now. But he’s nice. 
The blonde straightened his back moving away from his mate. He looked them up and down, pleased with what he had, excited for what he would do next, how their relationship would bloom and how he’d make them feel. He was still blind to the fact that your bodies were very… different.
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PART ONE | PART THREE
SERIES MASTERLIST
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Chaeropus ecaudatus the Southern Pig–footed Bandicoot
Pig–footed bandicoots (genus Chaeropus) were so called because of their hooflike forefeet. They had relatively slender legs compared to other bandicoots, allowing them to move quickly through the landscape.
Although initially designated as a single species, Chaeropus yirratji was split from C. ecaudatus in 2019 on the basis of morphological differences. Both species became extinct by the 1950s due to habitat loss from land clearing for agriculture and predation from cats and foxes.
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mythbustersfacts · 3 months
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[Opening Scene: The MythBusters workshop. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman stand in front of a collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts]
Jamie: [skeptical] Adam it looks like you've been on tumblr again, do the fans have another myth for us to test?
Adam: [excitedly] Today, we’re diving into a modern myth that’s taken the internet by storm—the mystery of the White Pharaoh.
Jamie: [nodding] This enigmatic figure is said to be an ancient Egyptian pharaoh with distinctly European features. Some claim he’s from an American textbook, while others say he's a character from a slot machine.
Adam: And there’s a twist! Rumor has it, this character is based on a real person living in Utah, who’s supposedly forcing people to build pyramids. Crazy, right?
Jamie: [raising an eyebrow] We’re going to investigate the origins of this character, let's start by looking into the slot machine story.
[Adam and Jamie walk into a glitzy casino, filled with the sounds of slot machines and the buzz of excitement. They head towards the corner where a Pharaoh’s Fire machine stands prominently.]
Adam: [pointing to the screen] That’s the guy! The White Pharaoh. Notice the European features, quite different from traditional Egyptian depictions!
Jamie: [curious] We’ve arranged to meet with a game designer who worked on Pharaoh’s Fire. Let’s see what he has to say about the design choices.
[The team meets with the game designer, a cheerful professional eager to discuss his work. They gather around a table with a laptop showing design sketches.]
Game Designer: [pointing to the screen] The White Pharaoh was designed to stand out and appeal to a wide audience. We used a mix of features to create a character that was both exotic and familiar.
Jamie: [deadpan] So, no historical basis at all?
Game Designer: [shaking his head] None whatsoever. It’s purely a creative blend. We wanted a character that would be memorable and fit the adventurous theme of the game.
Adam: [raising an eyebrow] Did you expect this character to become an internet sensation and a point of debate about ancient Egyptian history?
Game Designer: [laughing] Not at all! It’s incredible how a piece of gaming art can take on a life of its own. But remember, it’s just a game character, not a depiction of real history.
[The team thanks the designer and leaves the casino, ready for the next phase of their investigation.]
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[The camera follows the MythBusters team as they drive through the scenic landscapes of Utah. They discuss their mission to find the real-life White Pharaoh, rumored to be somewhere in the state.]
Adam: [approaching a local] Excuse me, we’re looking for someone known as the White Pharaoh. Do you know where we might find him?
Local: [pointing to a distant hill] He lives up there, in that big house. You can’t miss it. But be careful, folks around here say he’s a bit... eccentric.
Jamie: [turning to the camera] Alright, let’s go meet the man behind the myth.
[The team approaches a large, pyramid-shaped house on the hill. They knock on the door and are greeted by a tall, pale man dressed in an ornate robe. His features strikingly resemble those of the White Pharaoh from the slot machine game.]
White Pharaoh: [smiling warmly] Welcome, travelers. I am the White Pharaoh. What brings you to my domain?
Adam: [extending a hand] We’re the MythBusters. We’re here to learn more about you and your connection to this image that’s been circulating online.
White Pharaoh: [eyes narrowing slightly] Ah, the internet… always spreading tales. Come in, let’s discuss this over some tea.
[The team enters the house, which is filled with eclectic decorations and tapestries, including numerous Egyptian artifacts and pyramid models. They sit down in a cozy living room.]
Jamie: [looking around] This is quite a collection you have here.
White Pharaoh: [smiling mysteriously] I am fascinated by ancient Egypt and have devoted my life to studying it. Some even say I am the reincarnation of an ancient pharaoh.
Adam: [leaning in] And what about the pyramids? We’ve heard rumors you’re involved in building some out here.
White Pharaoh: [chuckling softly] Yes, I have a few projects going on. I believe in bringing a piece of Egypt to the American landscape.
Adam: [nervously] And these people working for you... are they volunteers?
White Pharaoh: [gazing intently] They are devoted followers. They believe in the vision I have for restoring the glory of ancient Egypt.
[As the conversation continues, the atmosphere grows increasingly tense. The team notices several people working outside, surrounding the Mythbusters van and stacking large stones around it in pyramid shapes under the White Pharaoh’s watchful eye.]
Adam: [whispering to Jamie] This is getting weird. We need to wrap this up.
Jamie: [nodding subtly] Agreed. Let’s make our exit.
White Pharaoh: [suddenly standing up] You must see the pyramids we’re building. Come, I insist.
[The team follows the White Pharaoh outside, where they are led to a large, partially constructed pyramid. The workers, looking exhausted, glance at them with a mix of fear and curiosity.]
White Pharaoh: [gesturing grandly] Behold! The future of Egypt in America. Isn’t it magnificent?
Adam: [backing away slightly] It’s... impressive. But we really should be going.
White Pharaoh: [smiling ominously] Oh, but you must stay. We could use your skills to complete our masterpiece.
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[The camera captures the tension as Adam and Jamie face the White Pharaoh. The air is thick with unease, and the followers of the White Pharaoh begin to close in on the MythBusters team, their intentions unclear but menacing.]
Jamie: [firmly] We’re leaving. Now.
Adam: [nervously chuckling] Yeah, thanks for the tour, but we have a lot of other myths to bust today.
[The White Pharaoh’s smile fades, replaced by a cold, calculating expression. He raises a hand, and his followers tighten their circle around Adam and Jamie.]
White Pharaoh: [calmly] I’m afraid I can’t allow that. You’ve seen too much. You will help us complete the pyramid... or you will never leave.
[Adam and Jamie exchange worried glances, realizing the seriousness of their situation. The followers, looking more desperate than before, begin to push them towards the unfinished pyramid.]
Jamie: [to Adam, quietly] We need to find a way out of here, now.
Adam: [looking around for an escape route] Agreed. Let’s create a distraction.
[Adam notices a pile of construction tools nearby. He subtly picks up a hammer, trying to hide his movements from the encroaching followers.]
Adam: [raising his voice, addressing the White Pharaoh] You know, I’ve always wanted to test the structural integrity of a pyramid like this.
White Pharaoh: [intrigued, momentarily distracted] Oh? And how do you plan to do that?
[Adam suddenly throws the hammer towards a stack of equipment and knocks over a circular saw causing a loud crash and a cloud of dust to rise. The followers instinctively look towards the noise.]
Adam: [shouting] Now, Jamie!
[Taking advantage of the confusion, Adam and Jamie sprint towards their van, dodging followers who are trying to block their path. The scene is chaotic, with followers stumbling and shouting in the dust cloud.]
Jamie: [grabbing the driver’s side door] Get in, Adam!
[Adam dives into the passenger seat as Jamie revs the engine. The van lurches forward, scattering the followers who are still trying to recover from the sudden disruption.]
White Pharaoh: [yelling angrily] Stop them! They must not escape!
[The van speeds down the dirt path, kicking up a trail of dust. The camera captures the frantic followers chasing after them on foot and throwing pyramid-shaped stones but they quickly fall behind.]
Adam: [panting, looking back through the rear window] That was close. Way too close.
Jamie: [focused on the road, accelerating away from the scene] Yeah, but we made it. Let’s just hope we’re not followed.
[The camera follows the van as it navigates the winding roads of Utah, the unfinished pyramid and the White Pharaoh’s house fading into the distance. The mood inside the van is tense but relieved.]
[Musical Sting and Scene Transition: Back at the Workshop]
[Cut to the MythBusters workshop. Adam and Jamie stand in front of the camera, looking slightly shaken but with a hint of excitement in their eyes. The familiar backdrop of tools and experiments gives a sense of safety and normalcy.]
Adam: [seriously] Our investigation into the White Pharaoh took us on a journey we never expected. We set out to explore a modern meme and myth, but what we discovered was far beyond what we imagined.
Jamie: [nodding] The White Pharaoh isn’t just a character from a slot machine. He’s real, and he’s out there in Utah, building his vision of a new Egypt in America. We saw it with our own eyes, and it was both fascinating and a bit terrifying.
Adam: [leaning forward, with intensity] He claims to be a reincarnated pharaoh, surrounded by followers who are completely devoted to his cause. They’re constructing pyramids in the desert, bringing ancient dreams into modern reality.
Jamie: [smirking slightly] So, after meeting him and seeing his projects firsthand, we have to say... myth confirmed. The White Pharaoh is real, and he’s turning his own myth into reality.
Adam: Confirmed!
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Dear @faisonsunreve thanks for the tag. This was definitely a time taking task but so much fun to do. A true time travel to your watching history. To my surprise there are three French films and three Tom Hanks films included. 😄
A few comments about certain choices.
Favorite film of all time: The Thief of Bagdad (1940): The jewel of the film is Conrad Veidt’s insane Jaffar dressed up with the turban.
Best script: Some Like It Hot (1959): The story about two antihero musicians trying to make a living and avoiding gangsters by dressing as women and joining a female band and traveling to Miami is still unique to watch.
Favorite poster: The Empire Strikes Back (1980): Memories from the childhood. Darth Vader’s perhaps a little too epic posture promises you an emotional adventure and that promise will be fulfilled.
"I’ll watch it some day": Napoléon (1927): @missholson and I were introduced to this 6-hour biopic of Napoleon and we were stunned by the shots of the twenty-minute triptych sequence, where widescreen panorama is made by projecting multiple-image montages simultaneously on three screens. Blu-ray is waiting on the shelf.
Big personal impact: Elvis (2022): I wasn’t prepared for the narrative where female gaze and male vulnerability are allowed and validated.
You like, but everyone hates: Angels & Demons (2009): Don’t know today’s reception but when it was released the film was heavily criticized by the critics and the audience. I like both this and The Da Vinci Code (2006), but having more convincing characters, plot and hold for the entirety makes it better than the first one.
Underrated: The Ninth Gate (1999): Polanski is a very contradictory director for his sexual abuse charges, therefore it feels shameful to admit liking his films or considering his films to be valued. Many find Gate as a dull thriller. The film doesn’t rely on jump scares or gore but the mystery around the occult books and the things you can’t see. 
"Why do I like this?": Bachelor Party (1984): This is my favourite question of them all. I discussed with @faisonsunreve about on what basis you should answer this and does it reveal your true movie taste. The 80’s crazy comedy is a silly and out-dated genre and that is why the films of this era fascinate me. Bachelor Party is full of lame humor and over-the-top characters. Yet the storyline is versatile and entertaining. Young Tom Hanks embodies the past. 
Great soundtrack: La Cage aux Folles (1978): Ennio Morricone has said first he has to understand the film, the images, the story and the director’s intentions before starting to compose. I would like to know his study for Folles, because the soundtrack has such a humorous, characteristic and warm sound. 
That cinematography: Furiant (2015): I was balancing between Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and La double vie de Véronique (1991), but this short film stands out with the way the rural landscapes, the dimly lit rooms and the unspoken moments are visualized (and edited) by the producer, director, writer, cinematographer and editor Ondřej Hudeček.
Criminally overlooked: Angélique film series (1964-68): Yes, you could put almost any Conrad Veidt film here, however I chose this. I have been fond of Angélique films since I was a child. These spectacles tell the story of Angélique in the time of King Louis XIV of France. Romance, adventure, scheming with breathtaking soundtrack and costume design, beautiful Michèle Mercier in the leading role and the flashy way of speaking French offer us an exquisite interpretation from the 60’s. 
Favorite active director: Peter Strickland: I have seen only The Duke of Burgundy (2014) and Flux Gourmet (2022), nevertheless his style of using the aesthetics of Italian genre films and the intimacy he creates is just heartwarming.
Anyone who wants to make their own version, please do and let me know. 📼📀📦🔦
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