#featuring generic dragon as an example

[dalishious]

Let’s get rid of the whitewashing Isabela mods!

Would you believe me if I told you that one of the most popular downloaded mods on NexusMods for Dragon Age II, is a mod called “Sexy Fair Skinned Isabela”? If you’re at all aware of the anti-Black racism that exists in fandom spaces, then I imagine you would.

Well, now we have the power to do something about it.

The current File Submission Guidelines for NexusMods includes a section on Inappropriate Content. Under this section, reads the following:

“Content that may be generally construed as provocative, divisive, objectionable, discriminatory, or abusive toward any real-world individual or group, may be subject to moderation. This includes but is not limited to content involving politics, race, religion, gender identity, sexuality, or social class. We tolerate content related to real world issues and events as long as the appropriate tag ("Real World Issues") is used and the content is handled in a tasteful, respectful, and non-inflammatory manner. Users who do not wish to see such content should make use of our content blocking feature.”

Now, unfortunately this rule has been abused by folks who want mods that add inclusivity taken down. (I myself had my mod that gave BG3’s Shadowheart darker skin removed.) HOWEVER, it has also been successfully used to get rid of whitewashing mods within the Baldur’s Gate 3 modding community! So, why not for Dragon Age as well?

Dragon Age II may be an older game now, but that does not make it any less against these guidelines to have mods like the following remain up:

Sexy Fair Skinned Isabela v2 by lustrianna

Sexy Outfit for Fair Skinned Isabela by lustrianna

Dark Celtic Isabela by Ravenwolfie

Dark Celtic Isabela Head 1 by Ravenwolfie

Alternative Isabela by omegadeity

iveys Isabela by jandwivey

Isabela Improved Armor by Stacycmc

XN_Isabela by fosywyn

(There are, of course, other whitewashed mods as well, for Fenris and Sebastian. But I think NexusMods might be more receptive if we have a targeted campaign at a time. So, I personally think the best strategy is to currently focus on Isabela. She definitely has the most.)

How to Report Mods

1. Under the “About This Mod” section on the Mod Description tab, there is a “Report Abuse” button.

2. A pop-up will appear asking why you wish to report the mod. Select, “I believe this mod is breaking the rules” and click “Next”.

3. When asked how you believe the mod is breaking the rules, select “Inappropriate Content” and click “Next”.

4. When asked why the content is inappropriate, select “Other Terms of Service violation” and click “Next”.

5. This is where you must describe how the content is breaking the guidelines. I strongly suggest quoting the guidelines themselves. Don’t make it too long, but remember you must outline why this is wrong as if you are speaking to an ignorant baby. Here’s an example message I’ve written:

Isabela is a Black character, as confirmed by game writers Sheryl Chee and David Gaider. This mod changes Isabela to make her white, and breaks the Inappropriate Content guidelines: “Content that may be generally construed as provocative, divisive, objectionable, discriminatory, or abusive toward any real-world individual or group, may be subject to moderation.” As such, this mod should not belong on NexusMods and must be removed.

Is this quite a tedious task to report all these mods? Yes. But I believe it is a worthy one, if we can successfully get rid of them. This will only work if a lot of people come forward and participate. So please, if you use NexusMods, take a few minutes to help clean up this racism!

[fefern]

Hello!! I'm in love with your Wuwa hcs and writing in general and I'd love to put in a request, if you're still open for them :0 <3

I'd like to request some fluffy hcs for Jiyan with an s/o that's part dragon, has horns and tail and maybe some scales like Mortefi(forgot if you spell his name like that I'm sorry😭 the red scientist guy). The s/o is super protective of him but also aloof in public, super cuddly in private when the time is right, brings him rocks and flowers as gifts and all that cute stuff, basically courting him by "dragon standards" hajsjdjd

Thank you for your time!<3

✧˖° his reaction to a dragon hybrid lover. | jiyan headcanons.

⋆ ˚☁️ ⁀➴ synopsis: look in the sky! it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a... dragon hybrid reader? just how will jiyan react to being courted by you, and how does he love you as someone who's part dragon?

⋆ ˚☁️ ⁀➴ characters involved: jiyan and gender neutral reader.

⋆ ˚☁️ ⁀➴ warnings: none!

⋆ ˚☁️ ⁀➴ notes: hello hello hello! i hope you are doing well lovely anon!! thank you for sending in an ask, and i hope this fufils what you were looking for ;;!! sending lots of love, and as always, requests are open! ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ jiyan ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

your tail would be so so pretty, decorated with scales that had colors that mimic the colors of the clouds and skies. 

your horns would be cute on the top of your head, a bit pointy and glowing in the night. 

jiyan has come to adore your dragon features, finding them both unique and absolutely beautiful. he’s caught often staring at the way your scales on your face, neck, and tail all catch the sunlight just right to create a glimmer like nothing he’s ever seen before. 

he’s quiet in the way he admires you, gently curling a piece of your hair behind your pointy little ears and smiling whenever you look over at him when he does. 

he didn’t have time to confess to you about his feelings though, he was caught up with being a general and of course, he also had to consider the fact that he didn’t really know if you would reciprocate them back. 

would you prefer mating with another dragon hybrid yourself? is that how these things work?

after a few months of being around you though, he began to notice some… strange things. 

for example, whenever you two were walking around the city, you’d always be on the defensive, not letting anyone get too close, not even the chef when you’d go get lunch together. 

then, sometimes, when he comes back from long patrols, you overload him with rocks and flowers that you’ve gathered for him, and he always says thank you, even though it’s a bit difficult to bring back to his home.

(he keeps them in his room forever to admire when you’re not around.)

also, lately, you’ve been much more affectionate with him, rubbing your cheek against his and getting very touchy as well, always wanting to be close to him physically. 

he expresses his confusion about your behavior to one of the researchers when he stops by one day to gather some intel for a mission for his rangers. 

one of the researchers directs him to a shelf that discusses about dragon hybrids, and the man spends almost the entirety of one day learning more about you and your species. 

the way he feels his cheeks flush a soft pink when he realizes just what it means for you to have been doing all these actions. he feels like he had a revelation, but at the same time feels stupid and dense. 

he’s quick to come back to you one day with flowers and your favorite food in hand, giving them to you and confessing his love for you on top of a quiet hill with a beautiful view of the starry night sky. 

“my pretty dragon, you’re prettier than anyone in all of huanglong, and i have loved you for quite some time. will you do me the honors and be mine?”

when you say yes, he feels overjoyed and wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you into a tight hug as he’s careful not to hit your horns or tail while doing so.

after the successful confession, a few things change. 

for one, when you begin sleeping over more at his place, he begins to gift you dozens of fluffy blankets and pillows. he organizes them in a nest-like position for you to cuddle up in, and finds it adorable when he comes back to the sight of you curled up in the fluffiness. 

jiyan will cuddle with you more often now, guiding your tail to wrap around his strong muscles so that you get your fix of touching as much of his skin as possible. jiyan likes to run his hands over the smooth scales to coax you to sleep.

he enjoys pecking soft kisses on the scales of your face and neck; it’s his little reminder to you to not be insecure about something so beautiful. 

overall, you’re jiyan’s most beloved treasure. he will do anything to make sure his little dragon is safe and loved.

[felassan]

New today on DA:TV from Game Informer:

"How Romance And Relationships Work In Dragon Age: The Veilguard by Wesley LeBlanc on Jul 08, 2024 at 02:00 PM Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a BioWare RPG, which means a lot of things, including the fact that the game will feature romance. Based on what I learned during a recent trip to BioWare's Edmonton office for the current Game Informer cover story, Veilguard will be the team's most romantic game yet. Relationship Level"

"Every companion in the game has a Relationship Level related to Rook, and the choices you make (and not even specifically about the companion, but in the world in general), what you say to companions, how you help or don't help them, and more all play into it. Every time you rank up a companion's Relationship Level, you unlock a skill point to spend specifically on that companion. Though companion skill trees pale in comparison to Rook's expansive tree, which features passive abilities, combat abilities, and more, as well as paths to three unique class specializations, there's still some customization here.  Each companion has access to five abilities, but you can only take three into combat. Thus, it's important to strategize which abilities to spend a skill point on and how those abilities can synergize with your current build on the battlefield. Though I couldn't confirm, Dragon Age series art director Matt Rhodes hints that companion issues, problems, and personal quests will play into this Relationship Level and how a companion interacts with Rook.  "[Bellara Lutara, for example] has her own story arc that runs parallel to and informs the story path you're on," Rhodes tells me while I watch game director Corinne Busche play through a linear, story-driven mission in Arlathan Forest where Rook is searching for Bellara. Busche adds that "relationships are key, not only romance but friendships. We wanted to lean into not just the relationships the characters have with you but the relationships they have with each other. It's a found family, and at the end of the day, they need to trust they all have each other's back." Romance"

"However, fret not, BioWare fans – romance is a key part of relationships in the game, Busche says, noting some of the romances will get quite spicy. However, not all of them will, as "each romance has a very different flavor," according to Busche. Some characters are straight to the point, while others are more awkward, having never been in a relationship before. "You learn who these characters are in how their romances unfold," she says. She likens romantic and platonic relationships to another way to "level up" your companions. It's not just experience and skill points that determine Rook's standing with companions, but diegetic conversations, too.  BioWare has already revealed that every companion in Veilguard is pansexual, notably different from the community-dubbed "playersexual" approach in some games, which sees NPCs adjust romantic and sexual interests based on the player rather than their own sense of sexuality. As pansexual companions, they are attracted to people of any gender (or regardless of gender). That's a critical distinction because, in Veilguard, your companions aren't just going to vie for your affection – they might take attraction to other companions in the titular Veilguard.  Giving one companion the cold shoulder might nudge them into the warm shoulder of someone else on the team. Busche says companions can form romances with each other, although I'm unable to confirm if that means locking Rook out of forming a romance with them.  I saw nothing resembling romance in my very early hours with the game. However, I did see the romantically inclined "emotional" response in Rook's dialogue choices at times, which led to my Rook flirting with ice mage and private detective companion Neve Gallus. Busche says this is the option to flirt and push platonic relationships into romantic territory, though Rook's flirtatious efforts aren't always reciprocated. But that's not to say you should ignore the other options – I saw dialogue choices resembling friendly, snarky, and direct, too, and I can see how these different flavors of dialogue likely mix and mingle into Rook's relationships with companions. It's still a mostly mysterious system to me, but as Veilguard is due out this fall, I don't have to wait too long to learn more and neither do you. For more about the game, including exclusive details, interviews, video features, and more, click the Dragon Age: The Veilguard hub button below."

[source]

[thedragonagebigbang]

Calling All Artists!

With nearly 50 new longfics underway, we are looking for just as many ARTISTS for our Big Bang! Sign ups begin August 2nd.

In just a few short weeks, you will be able to read the enticing summaries of these Dragon Age fanfics—and decide to make an illustration for one of your choice.

In the meantime, follow us here to stay in the loop for announcements! You can also optionally join our Discord server to cheer everyone on, but Discord is not required for this event.

For more information - continue reading!

What is a Big Bang?

A fandom Big Bang encourages writers to produce a new, long piece of fanfiction, with the challenge of a deadline. Each fic will be paired with an artist, who will work with the author to create a new illustration based off of the themes and vibes of that work. Each pair of participants in this event will produce: One (1) new Dragon Age Fanfic of at least 25,000 words, and one (1) art piece inspired by that fic. You can read more here and in our Event Guidebook.

What does artist participation in the Bang look like?

Artists will sign up by ranking their preference of fanfictions based on detailed idea pitches (example) presented by the writers. Artists commit to illustrating a new, polished artwork that is tangibly inspired by their assigned fanfiction written during the event. During the collaboration process, artists stay in regular contact with their writer and work collaboratively on their projects

⤷ Artists are expected to meet all deadlines as indicated in our Event Timeline

What does "tangibly inspired by the fanfiction" mean?

▸ The artwork includes characterts as represented in the fanfiction, OR ▸ The artwork depicts an interpretation of a scene from the fanfiction, OR ▸ The artwork represents a high-level view of the fanfiction in entirety (ex: the kind of image that might be for a book cover)

👉Even if a fic is a modern AU Professor Solas fic, you do not have to depict a modern setting, modern clothes, or even Solas at all. Even if a fic features OCs, you are not required to depict those OCs. You can find a broader view of artistic representation, if you desire.

What does "polished artwork" mean?

▸ Must meet the standard set by the artist's general portfolio of previous artworks ▸ Your work should match the level of effort of a 25k+ word fic ▸ You are not required to be a professional or experienced artist, but you are asked to put in an effort that you would be proud to attach your name to in a public forum. ▸ Polished does not necessarily mean "highly rendered" or "full color"; if the artist primarily works in pen and ink, for example, then a black and white artwork is acceptable.

If you're interested in joining us as an artist, you will be able to view & rank writer pitches starting on August 2nd, 2024.

If you have any questions about participating as an artist, please check out our Event Guidebook or reach out to the mods as noted below.

Full Event Documents: Rules | Code of Conduct | Event Guidebook

Contact The Mods: ask | discord | email: thedragonagebigbang@gmail.com

[a-book-of-creatures]

What notable books (or author) on folklore and/or mythology would you consider to have reliable info, and which ones definitely don't? It's a broad ask, but what are the first names that come to mind?

Very good ask! I'll try to see if I can put my thoughts in words, but if you need any further examples or evaluations let me know.

Here's a general rule: primary sources are Good. Books that directly reference primary sources are Good. The more distance between a book and the primary source, the less reliable it gets. Always ask yourself, where is this book getting its information from? How does it present this information? If you're not dealing with primary sources, always check to see how information is presented and where possible errors could creep in.

For example...

Books like these are the gold standard for reliability. If I was handing out ratings, they would score a perfect 5 out of 5. Everything is extensively cited (the second book is practically all citations). You can't go wrong with these.

In general the more specialized a book is, the more reliable it is. So the excellent Meeting With Monsters gets a very respectable 4.5 out of 5. Very detailed info just about Icelandic monsters. Why not 5? The authors engage in some speculative creature building where they treat the monsters as real animals and invent features for them (the hrosshvalur has dorsal spines teeming with bacteria that infect the wounds it causes, for instance). But these are restricted to marginal notes and do not interfere with the actual information.

More general books generally get less reliable. Again, ask, where are those sources? What are they?

This one is often held up as the encyclopedia of mythical creatures currently in print. It's a decent starting point to start looking for things. It has sources and each entry is linked to its sources. The entries are written in a dry, concise encyclopedic style. But it relies far too much on second and third (and fourth, etc) hand sources. Scratch a little past the surface and you start finding weird mistakes, errors, inaccuracies. Snowballing misinformation. I would consider this to be of average reliability at best. A 2.5 out of 5 or so. Best used as a suggestion to dig into deeper, better things.

This one is a broad introduction to dragons, but instead of an encyclopedia, each "entry" (chapter?) is presented as a retelling of that story. And with that comes very low reliability and heavy use of secondary sources. The retellings make stuff up that isn't anywhere in the originals and miss a lot of the point of the stories - and spread misinformation that continues to propagate online. Also there's plenty of cryptozoology in there so eeehhhh.

This one is obviously aimed at a younger audience, but I'm mentioning it because of one amusing detail. It seems to be a good introduction for children to dragon mythology. Except it presents with a straight face the marsupial dragon as a dragon from Australia. The marsupial dragon, you know, which was written into Dragonology as a joke? And Dragonology wouldn't even have made my primary-source-reliability anyway! Some due-diligence was not duly diligenced, if I may say so.

Then there are books that are just... confusing.

Like anything by Pierre Dubois. On the surface they seem well-researched. But the references and cross-references are more opaque than... uh... a very opaque thing. He clearly has a lot of them, but it's anyone's guess where the information he got came from (no cross-referencing, you see). Combine that with him just making stuff up to pad page numbers and it's never clear what is "true" and what he wrote (and some of it is distasteful, not going to lie). Sometimes he even misses the interesting part of legends just to write his own stories. The most charitable take is that this is literary fantasy, and maybe what he's said can be traced to actual reliable folkloric sources, but after having used him as a source of information I cannot recommend him. You could also argue that Dubois never does claim that this is a scholarly reference, but it sure is presented as one.

I have so far restricted myself to books that claim (or seem to claim) to be references on myth, legend, and folklore. Books that engage in speculative "creature building" (e.g. Dragonology, The Flight of Dragons, etc) would not be reliable as references, but they're still great books. You just wouldn't use them as sources of information.

... or would you? Sometimes non-reference books get treated as such, and then the information they made up gets reified by being parroted uncritically by later books. Like Woodruff's book above. A fake "long-lost expedition journal" by Pliny the Elder, it's an excuse for (gorgeous) art and Latin practice. Except that some of the made-up stuff in there found its way out of the book and - uncited - ended up in supposedly serious works. Like the Pyrallis being a dragon, or the two-headed Hyperborean frogs. Confusing. It even got a minor news mention because people were taking it seriously!

Anyway, how about you? Any books you find reliable or unreliable?

[literaryvein-reblogs]

do you have any tips for writing and creating creatures for a fantasy setting? (something similar to the monster hunter franchise)

Writing Notes: Fantasy Creatures

BELIEVABLE

Special character types are abundant in fantasies. Some examples are fairies, giants, ogres, dragons, witches, unicorns and centaurs. We love these characters because they are so different from what we find in our daily lives. However, a good author can shape the character in such a way that the reader has no problem believing that such a being could exist.

PURPOSE

Before creating your fantasy creature, ask yourself: What is the purpose of including this fantasy creature? The reason this is an important distinction is that it will determine how much information about your creature you’ll need. If they’re only in your story for the plot, you don’t need a lot of information on them—just what you need to move your story forward. However, if they’re in the story for a longer, more intimate reason, you’ll need to know things like how they move, what they like, etc.

SELECTING YOUR CREATURE

Selecting a creature may mean borrowing a previously-created animal from myths or stories that are familiar to your reader. Here are sample articles describing common fantasy species and mythical creatures.

Read widely: There are a lot of really interesting myths and stories out there with creatures that might fit your narrative.

Do the unexpected: If you’re going to go with a widely-recognized creature, don’t be afraid to put your own twist on it. This will help your story stand out among the crowd and put your own mark on the genre.

DEFINE THE BASICS

Name: Choose names that suit the world you are building. Consider the culture, language, and history of the fantasy realm the character is from. If you’re finding that you’re a little stuck with what to name the creature you created, it’s okay to turn to other sources. If you already have a fictional language in your story, you might want to create a new word for your creature. If not, you may use this site: www.fantasynamegenerators.com. They also have a generator specifically on Monster Hunter.

Age: Determine the age of your character and how it influences their perspective and experiences.

Race/Species: In a fantasy setting, characters can belong to various races or species. Consider the unique traits and abilities associated with each.

Here is a general checklist for character building, but it might also aid you in making your fantasy creature.

PHYSICAL TRAITS

Appearance: Describe your character's physical features, from their hair/eye colour, height, build, etc. Is it large or small? Can your protagonist ride it? Eat it? How is it killed? All of these will be useful when you describe the creature to your readers. Consider how these aspects tie into their background or culture. You do not have to completely describe your character. Allow the reader to establish a view of the character or use other characters to describe how your characters might look.

Clothing/Armour: The attire of the character can reflect their personality, status, or the realm they come from.

PERSONALITY

Personality Traits: Create a list of personality traits. Is your character brave, shy, sarcastic, optimistic, or reserved? Think about how these traits influence their actions and interactions.

Motivations and Goals: What does your character want? Their goals and motivations drive the plot and reveal deeper aspects of their personality.

BACKSTORY

Origin: Where is your character from? What is their cultural background? How do these factors shape who they are? Backstory is essential, however take note of where and what you introduce throughout the story development.

Significant Events: Highlight key events in your character's past that have shaped them. Traumas, triumphs, and experiences all contribute to their development.

INTELLIGENCE

This is important because it will define how other characters interacts with the creature.

If it’s a minor character, will your protagonist constantly need to be checking in with it and giving it direction?

Or is it able to function on its own with little maintenance?

SKILLS & ABILITIES

Magic or Special Abilities: In a fantasy setting, characters often have unique powers or skills. Is this creature tied to the magic of your world somehow? If so, what kind of magic? How can it use magic? What does this mean for the protagonist and their journey? Define the limits and rules governing these abilities. Set some limitation or something that can prevent the magic to be limitless – even superman has a limitation.

Skills and Talents: What is your character good at? Are they a skilled warrior, a talented musician, or a cunning strategist?

FLAWS & WEAKNESSES

Imperfections: No one is perfect. Give your character flaws or weaknesses that they must overcome or learn to live with. This is part of their growth and development throughout the story. The character growth need not always be positive, they can also become bitter through experiences.

Internal Conflicts: Explore the inner conflicts. These can add great depth to your character and the reader can get to experience the inner workings of the character’s thoughts. Internal conflicts can be moral dilemmas, unresolved issues, or fears.

RELATIONSHIPS

Family and Friends: Define your character's relationships. How do they interact with family and friends? Do they have allies or enemies?

Romantic Interests: If this is relevant, consider the romantic aspects of your character's life. How do they approach love and relationships?

CHARACTER ARC

Growth and Change: Plan the trajectory of your character's development throughout the story. What challenges will they face, and how will these experiences change them?

QUIRKS OR HABITS

Mannerisms: Give your character unique habits, gestures, or ways of speaking that make them memorable. This will help create differences in your characters.

Hobbies: What does your character enjoy doing in their free time? Hobbies can add depth and relatability.

TITLE

Titles or Roles: If your character holds a specific title or role in their world, define it. Perhaps it is a royal title, a knight, or a librarian. Titles can reveal a lot about a character, their traits and personality.

ENVIRONMENT

This is where your creature will be found in the wild.

An creature's environment is reflected in their bodies: moles without sight (unnecessary in the pitch-black underground) have excellent senses of smell and hearing.

Mammals that live in the ocean have blowholes and animals that live in trees have prehensile tails, long, curved claws, or sticky pads on their feet.

What your animal looks like will be informed by where they live.

Here's an article on The Psychology of World Building

AVAILABILITY

Is this creature widely found, like deer, or are they rarer?

What’s caused the abundance or scarcity in their population?

This will affect how your fantasy world sees the creature and how your reader sees the protagonist for interacting with it.

RELATIONSHIP TO HUMANS

Is your creature revered? A nuisance? An almost-forgotten legend? A vital part of the local people’s diet?

Knowing these things will help you to navigate your story.

If your protagonist wanders into a town and they’re tasked with taking care of a local pest problem, that’s one thing. But if they kill a creature in the woods and then wander into town with it, only to find out that this town worshipped the creature, that’s a whole other plotline.

Try to create characters with depth and complexity, allowing readers to connect with them emotionally. The more thought and detail you put into building your characters, the more vivid and engaging your fantasy world will become.

Sources: 1 2 3

Hope this helps! If you find it useful in your writing, do tag me or send me a link. I'd love to read your work.

[heckling-hydrena]

the scar rule for hatchling skins is absolutely bullshit bordering on pure ableism, but I'm really trying to wrap my head around "Lolita-inspired" because I straight up cannot tell if they mean the book (in which case they really could have worded this better) or the fashion (in which case they either clearly don't know what lolita fashion is or they're strictly talking about the more "sexualized" subcultures which again really could have been worded better lol!! like why even use lolita as an example in the first place then!)

site rules in general but especially skin rules tend to be wayyy too broad and unclear because staff is overly cautious about Everything. and talking about skins specifically, they should really be evaluated on a case-by-case basis instead of. whatever this is. because yeah certain clothes can look too sexual but I would think that the skin mods are capable of evaluating that on their own? did we really need the incredibly unclear wording of "Designs should not adultify the hatchling"? like the wording here is so broad that you could easily make a case for hatchling skins featuring little baby business suits also being against the rules. really hope the clarifications they said they're writing up will like. actually clarify things.

but I do want to push back against the people who are saying that perma-baby dragons are "canonically an adult in a child's body" because that's absolutely not true and we need to differentiate between gameplay mechanics and canonical lore because what the fuck is the auction house then? if you use a scroll of maturity on a day-old hatchling are they a child in an adult's body until they turn 5? if you have a perma-baby that is an adult in a child's body/something similar in your lore that's totally fine! but let's not pretend that's true site-wide because the scroll of eternal youth + its associated flavor text never say that and there's no official lore that says it either!! a lot of people use scrolls of eternal youth to keep their child ocs in their hatchling pose and that is an equally valid interpretation of youth scrolls.

[gems-of-jungle-moon]

I'm pretty bad at drawing dragons, could I have a tip on drawing them.

I don't think there's such a thing as "being bad" at drawing dragons, to be honest.

Dragons can have such a large variety of designs, especially when artists, modern or not, imagine them as something other than your standard fire breathing reptile. Folklore can't even be consistent on what a dragon is. To me, they're not too different than designing a creature from scratch, whether or not you want to make it biologically plausible (aka spec bio). So I can't specifically give you dragon design tips because I use the same process for all creatures I make.

Instead, I'll offer some things I learned about creature design in general from studying animals and from other creature designers.

It all comes down to two questions:

What is the character of this design? And what do you like to design?

It sounds vague but hear me out.

Designing a character and designing a creature aren't that dissimilar. Because by creating a creature, you also focus on what makes its shapes unique from others as you would in a lineup of characters. Think of how you can identify different real life animals based on just the silhouette alone, and the features that give it that silhouette. For example you can tell a giraffe apart from a whale just by the silhouette, right?

What I like to do is make designs that give a good idea on how the creature lives, speculative evolution, and that involves a lot of research into animal biology. Evolution is the most unhinged creature designer, after all.

Ostriches and emus convergently evolved to be built for running rather than flying, and occupy a similar niche in their environments. But if you reduce them down to a single silhouette, you can easily still tell them apart.

Here's two of my own designs to demonstrate this same idea. The left I designed from bears, wildebeest, african wild dogs, and gorgonopsids. It's a pack-hunting species that lives in warmer grasslands. Its arms are also comparatively long for the rest of its body.

On the right is a polar relative, designed from a polar bear, a seal, arctic fox (summer coat), white tailed deer (tail shape), and basilosaurus (for the teeth). Compared to the first design, it's less lean and has more bulk for keeping warm. The ears are also diminished and the snout is way shorter. Despite that they look like they are related species from different climates.

Sometimes I tend to exaggerate a part of the design, such as the neck fluff on the polar guy and the length of the nose on the left one. Even small changes can make a big difference, and sometimes unexpected features can give you the exact design you were looking for. Don't fear ugliness or uncanniness in a design.

Because another fun exercise I like to do is take the body plan of a creature and stretch another creature to fit into that body plan. It may look ugly and cursed but sometimes that's what I want.

If researching anatomy and biology isn't your thing, you still have options. You can always apply chimera rules.

I've also seen this being described as "frankensteining", where you stitch different animal features together without much adjustment. This design strategy isn't invalid, but I don't prefer it.

I know I went with a standard "dragon" look for Pink (and the other diamonds' corrupted designs are getting an overhaul), but that's because that look happens to work for what I wanted.

An easy way to approach any of these methods is to draw small thumbnails in a sketchbook or on a digital canvas while zoomed out. With references handy of course. Being able to find distinct shapes when it's smaller makes them not rely on the littler details to be recognizeable. That way you can iron out the rest once you find something you like. And hands off ctrl+z/eraser (or use it sparingly). I know it's tempting, but try and resist.

I like to use a ballpoint pen for this when on paper, because it makes me commit to the lines so I'm not constantly erasing. I get no progress if all I'm doing is erasing. If I don't like it, I take what I like about the other thumbnails and move on to the next. This process whittles away the features I don't prefer. Notice the little note I left next to the dog in the upper right.

If something isn't working out, that's completely fine. Look at references, build your visual library. Don't get discouraged. Try things out just to see how it looks, even if you end up not liking it. You still learned something from that attempt.

Hang the code. Embrace chaos. Draw and design dragons how you want to.

And to finish this off:

Don't compare yourself to others and let that make you feel bad about your art. In fact, stop comparing altogether. It's okay to be inspired, but you are on your own artistic journey. Give yourself credit for your own progress and let that motivate you.

I see too many people do this, especially when they have every reason to feel good about the stuff they made.

[venussaidso]

• HASTA NATIVES

Hasta Moon Hasta Moon

Hasta Sun Hasta Moon

Hasta Sun Hasta Sun

Hasta Moon Hasta Sun

Hasta ASC Hasta Moon

Hasta Moon Hasta Moon

As you can see, the appearance of Hasta men is different from Hasta women's. Hasta women have more slimmer, ethereal, fairy-like features and a petite frame. While Hasta men will look like Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon.

Hasta men have a mixture of soft and sharp features. Their face is never as defined or fierce like Chitra men. It's important to try to distinguish the two. Chitra men always seem more intimidating, especially the look they give. Then you consider their animal yoni, and think of the tiger's glare.

Chitra Moon Chitra Sun

Hasta men will always have a softer gaze (and jaw, cheekbones) than Chitra men. Even if there's a close chance of them looking alike, Chitras always have a more stronger/captivating stare.

Chitra Moon Chitra Moon

Hasta Moon women are sometimes more easier to tell apart from Chitra Moon women because Chitra women always look far more like their tiger yoni.

Chitra Moon Chitra Moon

But just like how some Hasta men can look/be mistakened for Chitra and vice versa, the same can happen to Hasta women & Chitra women. I found examples of two women who I thought were one nakshatra but instead another.

(The left I thought she was Chitra, on the right I thought she was Hasta.)

Hasta Sun Chitra Moon

I looked again and noticed that the woman on the left really does have the small, up-turned nose and an ethereal, youthful feel about her - like other Hasta women. I looked long enough to realize that she had a "fairy"-like beauty about her. And the woman on the right, her features aren't traditionally Chitra but far more Purva Ashada which is her Sun placement. And that's okay. Sometimes your Sun placement nakshatra or Ascendent nakshatra shows more on your face than the lunar mansion.

.

.

.

Hasta being ruled by Savitar, the Sun God, already tells the solar qualities within natives who have this lunar mansion. Hasta natives generally tend to steal the spotlight (Hasta Moon Harry Styles from One Direction) or they surpass their peers greatly (Hasta Moon Ariana Grande being the only megastar from Nickelodeon).

So, Hasta nakshatra people are very much alike Leos with being brightest, but they're crafty and very knowledgeable. They love learning, exploring, organizing, naturally attaining multiple skills that sometimes have nothing to do with each other.

They probably have amazing hands, I'd guess they'd love playing the piano if they're not total swift pickpockets. They're involved in various activities or choose to stay in work (art, sports) that involves a lot of repetition/practice.

They notice details that others don't, they may even have an interest in interior design, fashion or anything to do with colour coordination.

Because of the Hasta being co-ruled by the Moon, they tend to be emotionally in tune and have deep intuition. And because Hasta is primarily ruled by Mercury, they can be so good at mental gymnastics (they love wittiness and can develop a sharp sense of humour. Hasta is quite like Revati, in such a way that they like orchestrating pranks). Like their crafty side can make them extremely deceitful, cunning thieves (think of Hasta natives Zoe Kravitz & Anne Hathaway as Catwoman) and they also may be energy vampires.

Nakshatras that happen to suit Hasta: Mrigashira, Swati, Chitra, Revati, Uttara Bhadrapada, Pushya, Uttara Ashada, Purva Ashada, Shravana, Anuradha.

[saltydkdan]

Hello Salt man! You seem like an unhinged enough weeb for this question:

I’m going to be the president of the anime club in my highschool this year and have no fucking idea what I should do for activities and shit.

Any ideas? If not, that’s perfectly fine too!

(Also thank you for reblogging my Peppy drawing it made my day ^^)

No problem! I loved the art

I think it’s pretty obvious for an Anime club to watch Anime, however that shit is basic, and I have some unhinged ideas.

Trivia (the least unhinged)

—Make a trivia game on PowerPoint, or on Kahoot that feature questions based on various popular anime. Get specific and weird for the harder questions.

Anime Debate Club

—(be careful with this one because depending on the group it may get heated lol)

—At the end of a meeting, choose to random anime characters

—Tell members that they can pick sides on which of the two would win in a fight, then between meetings, bring together their arguments for why, they have to have actual citation and examples of the character’s powers, or reference specific canon material

—Bonus points if one of the debate teams puts together a PowerPoint slideshow on a character’s power set, or the other characters weaknesses

—Have a judge award points for valid arguments, but have them be cracked out of their minds about it (For example, awarding points to “Comedy” characters, like if an Osumatsu-San character surviving a Ki blast could be funny? That’s a point towards them. LMAO)

NOTES: Obviously the characters chosen cannot be Goku, Vegeta, Saitama, or in general overpowered characacters. Also, having completely fucking insane match ups, or wildly specific match ups is recommended. Like Bobobo VS Dio Brando from Jojo. Or General Tao from Dragon Ball VS Gojo.

If the fight is extremely one sided, just make a list of all the ways that one side would fucking dominate because that shit is fucking funny LOL.

Weekly Book Club but for anime

—This isn’t really “unhinged” but I recently did a manga book club with friends weekly and it was super cool to meet up and discuss the chapters of a particular series and such

—You can do this for anime and assign a set number of episodes, OR do manga and provide a way to read it online

—Rotate out series every so often so people don’t feel like they’re focusing all their attention to a single series the entirety of the year

—This could be a fun thing to do casually between meetings and to talk about a little at the start

Pitch your favorite

—Have people make a short presentation on PowerPoint to pitch their favorite series that’s 3-5 minutes each, or whatever depending on how many people you have

—If you wanna make it funny make it so they HAVE to include both Pros, AND Cons about it. (Like for One Piece: PRO would be the amazing worldbuilding, and a CON would be that Oda cannot draw women)

Make an Epic OC

—Force people to design OCs for a specific series for that week. If they can draw and want to, they can draw them. If they can’t draw? Make it a stick figure, or a shitty drawing a child would make. And have them make a small write up about the character and their powers.

—This can easily be taken seriously, or just have them make an overpowered self insert, all of it is fine

Anyway that’s all my ideas! Hope this helps or inspires some of your own unhinged ideas

[spiritsong]

one thing that immediately stood out for me from part one of the combat showcase video (video featuring all four parts here) is that it looks like every item that Rook has equipped is associated with a different faction. Here are the examples I took from the video —the helm (Golden Casque) is tied to the Lord of Fortunes, the sword (Spellbound Longsword) to the Shadow Dragons, the shield (Necropolis Defender) and the armor (the Iron Cast) to the Mourn Watch, the amulet to the Lord of Fortunes (Heart of Andraste), one ring (Andraste's Will) to the Shadow Dragons, and the other ring (Amaranthine Loop) to the Antivan Crows.

I suppose it makes it easier to get a cohesive faction look if that's what you desire (though now that transmog is a thing, this shouldn't be difficult either way)? Maybe there are set bonuses? I wonder if this will be the case for every item that we come across, or if early game items (or perhaps 'common' tier items, which we don't see here) are more generic/not tied to a faction?

[tossawary]

Live action svsss? Lmao

Oh, that is genuinely funny to me as an idea. Full-on blue-screened me for a second.

See, I'm not AGAINST the concept of live-action feature film adaptations or live-action television adaptations of other forms of media, especially not books. I personally adore the translation work and studying the translation work involved when transforming a story from one medium to another. Basically as soon as we had film, people started filming plays and adapting novels! There have been many, many TERRIBLE screen adaptations of other media, but there have also been many wonderful screen adaptations, which have sometimes been closely faithful and sometimes only used the original story as an inspirational springboard. (I personally see both Ghibli's "Howl's Moving Castle" and DreamWorks' "How to Train Your Dragon" as more of examples of the latter.)

MXTX's works have gotten live-action adaptations before. "The Untamed" is generally held to be a pretty good and relatively faithful adaptation of MDZS. And TGCF is also getting a live-action drama under the name "Eternal Faith". If it was announced that SVSSS was getting a similar drama, I would be a little baffled but fine with it, and also genuinely interested to see how they intended on expanding SVSSS into 50 episodes or something (definitely possible), and also how they intended to cover certain parts of the story without making it explicitly gay. I wouldn't even care if it was bad; I still have the original books to enjoy. Show me your live-action drama Moshang. I'm ready for some awful wigs.

(The main nightmare scenario is getting a bad or good but unfaithful adaptation that you hate but gets super popular, overrunning your book fandom with alternate characterization and pairings and worldbuilding that you can't stand. I'm sure there are book MDZS fans who absolutely loathe "The Untamed".)

The main issue with a USAmerican studio making a "Naruto" movie in my eyes (I don't even care about "Naruto" that much, I never finished it) is that 1) Hollywood is always extremely weird about anime and also Japan in general, so there's a high chance that the people at the top try to make story-breaking changes, and also try to cast white people. They do not have a good record. If this was a Japanese studio making this film, I would not blink at it. 2) "Naruto" is a very long story that doesn't lend itself easily to a stand-alone film. Either they only tackle a fraction of the story or squish way too much together. And either way, on the off-chance that the film is successful, we will be cursed to have sequels until they become unprofitable. I personally liked the live-action "One Piece" show fine, but it was a 7-hour show, not a 2-3-hour film.

I'm not even against the concept of modern remakes, personally, or even completely against the concept of live-action versions of animated films. I would give the Disney remakes something of a pass if they did interesting new stuff that took advantage of their medium or actually indicated they cared about creative quality, instead of rehashing the cartoons almost exactly but worse. The saddest part about things like "The Lion King" (2019) is that even if you kept the story exactly the same, beat for beat, shot for shot, it could have potentially been a vibrant celebration of the advancements in realistic VFX and the skill of the animators and artists involved (and there are some INCREDIBLY talented people being unfairly crunched and underpaid in these industries), but they instead chose to make everything about it visually as dull as dishwater. And I personally expect that the "How to Train Your Dragon" remake, instead of incorporating anything new or interesting, or really showing off some spectacular, well-crafted visuals, will be the same.

Anyway, this ask gave me the idea of a USAmerican studio making a live-action SVSSS film, which is what blue-screened my brain. I cannot fathom how any USAmerican studio would agree to that (it's foreign, it's gay, it's historical fantasy, it's fucking weird, it's everything that scares boring execs who crave maximum profits) and I'm sure they would fuck it up magnificently, such that I almost kind of want them to do it.

[felassan]

Just poring over some of the new images. ◕‿◕

Rogue Rook. I love this Rook, I wonder if they could be the 'default'-kinda Rook..? The detail in this game is incredible, look at the different textures and intricate patterns on clothes (in places you can even see where it's raised/three-dimensional when appropriate), carved designs on the wood of the bow, the textures on hairs, the folds of fabric and the way it hangs, the strung bow, light glinting off Taash's jewel-horn and gold pieces, etc. loads of care put into it and attention to detail. on Rook's chest is the Veilguard symbol. Taash and Neve look amazing too, and the team is ready to go! In the bottom right, is that a chest we can loot? ^^ Maybe this moment is from shortly after entering a new area, and the camera is about to transition from a cutscene kinda scene to a gameplay scene? like they've just gotten here, had a lil conversation about it, and are about to head off exploring. where do you think this shot was taken? it kind of reminds me a bit of this concept art of the Deep Roads.

I really like the decision to prominently feature Bellara and Davrin on this cover. Bellara's magic device is activated - are the triangles being drawn towards her, or are they flying out away from her? ^^ its green glow makes me think of Fadey stuff. Harding looks to have the same bow as here, with the Inquisition hairy eyeball symbol, fitting for a Hero of the Inquisition. in the background is the familiar outwards energy burst motif (example one on the right, example two). the rest of the team are present in the foreground, ready to cast or running towards the battle. the ground, dark rock, is aflame. in the background we can see telltale floating rocks and some structures. maybe this shot is 'set' in the same place as the group fight that takes place at the end of the character trailer, as here?

In this version of the image, we can more clearly see tentacle-like objects in the bottom right, which make me think of Blight corruption and what we can see around the dragon here. the other thing I wanna say about this art is you can tell care has been taken to differentiate the companions and make them unique. like both Emmrich and Neve are mages and casting, but they hold their weapons in different ways and have different stances. Emmrich's staff is green with the light of necromancy, Neve's is blue with ice magic. both Taash and Lucanis are fighters, and running, but even from a static image you can see variation in the way that they move. You can almost hear Taash's powerful 'stomp-stomp-stomp' whereas Lucanis has more of a sense of speed and streamlined motion. it reminds me of what was said in the Discord Q&A about "characterful"-ness:

This game contains “the deepest companion arcs” that they have ever done - not just in a Dragon Age game, but in a BioWare game in general. “Being able to work across all the disciplines, building characters who look and sound and behave in very specific and characterful ways.” Each companion has their own story arc you can go through, decisions you can make. “They really do take center stage. As you play through them, you see the care and love that the team has put into each one.” [link]

You know, like they are looking and moving different in very specific and "characterful" ways. Also look at this -

This looks to be Lucanis in early concept art (art by Matt Rhodes). he moves in such a specific, 'characterful' way, and it's carried through from the concept art.

my last thought here is that this cover reminded me of the group/team fight scene in this Inquisition trailer. you know, like the whole gang is here and ready to go, ground aflame, black rock, Fadey stuff going on.

[jinxed-ninjago]

One of the most interesting contrasts to me between Lego parodies and Lego shows you're supposed to take semi-seriously is generally Lego parodies acknowledge that they're Legos. Lego Star Wars acknowledges that everyone's Lego; I vividly remember a scene where Luke gets his hand blasted off, freaks out briefly, then remembers he's a Lego minifigure and just puts his hand back on, for example.

With shows like Chima and Ninjago, it's basically just a story being told using Lego minifigures as a medium. There's no indication in Ninjago (or Chima that I remember) that the characters are actually Lego and Lego isn't just being used as an artistic medium, so to speak. There are of course exceptions to this (the Lego Movies being a good example of this; The Lego Ninjago Movie is a parody of Ninjago for example, which is one reason I find the complaints against it dumb lol) but generally, Lego seems to utilize properties they have a license to use for parody and properties they own to tell more serious stories with Lego characters being used as an artistic medium.

I 100% think it has to do with genre too. Lego parodies of properties they have a license to use are generally the goofy silly shenanigans normally associated with parody. They're something you can knock out in 20 minutes if you need a laugh. They don't require much suspension of disbelief because they're made to feel like you're watching little Lego people goof off.

Shows that are original Lego properties, such as Ninjago and Chima, still have comedy, because they're targeted at kids. However, you also still have an engaging storyline spanning seasons instead of shorts. They require more suspension of disbelief because Lego minifigures are being used as a medium through which to tell a story, there's no indication that the Lego people we see on screen are Lego minifigures in the universe the story takes place in.

Shows featuring properties that Lego has a license to use have a completely different vibe than properties Lego owns. It's really interesting to me and I like that there's a disconnect between the stuff Lego uses to make silly shenanigans type shows and the stuff Lego uses for more serious storylines because it allows you to know vaguely what to expect going into something (although Ninjago gets seriously dark at times and I will always be surprised by how dark it gets despite having watched the entire series and all the episodes currently released for Dragons Rising).

[miseryguttz]

post your tangotek ramblings

you asked for it

Tango (mostly general blazeborne) anatomical ramblings and notes and head canons and stuff . I’m using tango as an example apart from the other head canons which are unique to him

The little like. Legs? Blaze rods remind me of arms, so henceforth my tango design has for arms and to compensate for the other he has an oddly shaped spine similar to a diamond kind of? Blazes obviously don’t have spines but I think they’d be distantly related to withers which Ultimately bleeds into the human/blaze cross aspect of tango. Blazes have white eyes, but tango’s eyes are red due to redstone poisoning (confirmed by tango himself), I think his claw or fingertips would be red as well like Taki dust core mf. tango has an overbite in my design (mid ramble snack and holy shit this chicken is so salty) and he’s definitely a messy eater, like izustumi from dungeon meshi he holds his spoons weird ok

I thinkthe idea of the fire hair is definitely one of my favourite design choices and I can 100% imagine his friends cooking over it. They prolly got booked for open flames a few times which is why the back of tango’s vest in has a fire-proof hood, to hide that feature.

he’s talented at nether exploration mostly bc He’s from the nether.. His natural mapping ability helped him to develop decked out with such a big area.

Prolly has a sparkbox- (For reference, a ‘spark box’ is what dragons have to ignite fire in their throats, their ‘saliva’ acts like a gasoline of sorts, the anatomy of a dragon breathing fire is just spitting Venom/saliva and it igniting. it’s pretty cool. I read it in a book when I was like. Eight. Dragononology with my own twists) anyway, he has the ability to use it whenever he wants but if he uses it too much his throat hurts.. so he just doesn’t really tend to use it unless super important anyway. immunity to heat fire and stuff, this wouldn’t apply in hermitcraft or life to make it fair, but in general if we’re not going on minecraft logic, blah blah blah)

also dungeon master tango was a result of a prank; it was dry ice mixed with soul soil into a shampoo the hermits made for him on a whim bc they thought it’d be a funny prank.. which tango ended up just liking anyway so the prank was a bit of a failure ☠️☠️ but hooray for tango it made him blue for his cool dungeon master bit

Anyways imo Blazes typically have extremely light bodies which Is why they can spin, held together by idk. Wistful magic and shit and they float, because of the wind uproar from below them. Tango cannot do that because of his human bones, which are, unfortunately, slightly more fragile due to the mix of dna In the density and structure and calcium and stuff

I’m really autistic over him And his species don’t hmu

[tobiasdrake]

You've written before about how Cell is a twisted exaggeration of Goku's ethos (and all of Dragon Ball's, if you can even separate them), the pursuit of martial arts mastery and self-improvement at the expense of everybody's lives.

I don't want to talk about that; I want to talk about the *opposite* of that.

I want to talk about Androids 17 and 18.

More than any other recurring superpowered characters, they are completely uninterested in martial arts as a discipline or even a hobby. Their fighting styles are simple, direct, and mostly lacking in signature techniques; the most distinctive, 17's energy shield, is so practical it's boring. This is all thematically appropriate, as they don't have ki and therefore have no use for the philosophical groundings in martial arts meant to help channel ki.

As antagonists, this makes their relationships with the rest of the cast pretty clear. As allies...I think Toriyama had trouble coming up with ideas for them for a while. Through the Buu arc and the first several arcs of the Super anime the Androids had no significant combat roles. When they finally get recruited for the Tournament of Power, though, their fighting really leans into this; the Androids have no interest in studying novel special moves or testing themselves against new opponents, so they have no compunctions about interrupting or opportunistically eliminating their enemies. Arguably 17 being the sole survivor is a cosmic validation of this pragmatic attitude.

It's also a nice underdog moment in general. Something I really like about Dragon Ball's tournament arcs is that they're creative with how they resolve.

Typically, in a tournament arc, we're there to see our boy conquer all the competition. That's what is expected. Dragon Ball has featured nine tournaments. Ten if you count the Anoyoichi Budokai or Other World Tournament in Z filler.

21st Tenkaichi Budokai

Uranai Baba Tournament

22nd Tenkaichi Budokai

23rd Tenkaichi Budokai

Cell Games

25th Tenkaichi Budokai

28th Tenkaichi Budokai

Universe 7/8 Tournament

Tournament of Power

That's a lot of tournaments. Some didn't get expanded into full-blown tournament arcs but that's not the point. Point is, of those tournaments, Goku only actually wins two of them. That's including the Anoyoichi Budokai, as he was the last man standing in the ring but he and Paikuhan were formally disqualified for a rule violation midway through their match so it doesn't "count" as a win.

Dragon Ball goes to great length to avoid having Goku just eat all the competitors and win the gold in each and every tournament. In almost all of them, including Tournament of Power, he is centrally situated in the climax of the arc. But they're creatively written in such a way to keep things more interesting than "Goku wins yet again" would be.

The use of 17's lack of ki signature to allow him to sneak his way to the end after Goku and Frieza have double-KO'd themselves to take out Jiren is a great example of Dragon Ball having its cake and eating it. Goku gets his climactic fight, but the tournament gets a more interesting and creative outcome than it would have if Goku just shitstomped Jiren off a ledge and claimed the trophy.