#go forth with knowledge!

[danielnelsen]

the 'talktables' in dao and da2 are the files containing all the text ever used in the game and are typically separated into two talktables per module (in which a module is like.. the base game or a specific dlc): one in the 'module' data folder and the other in the 'core' data folder (typically sorted under 'packages', rather than 'module').

the core talktable generally contains asset text (eg, ability, item, and creature names/descriptions, most codex entries, loading screen text, gui buttons and tooltips, error messages, etc). while most modules have a core talktable, the whole idea of the base game's core resources is to be available to any addons.

the module talktable is where all text specifically related to that module is listed (eg, mostly dialogue, but also specific character names, plot item names/descriptions, plot-related codex entries, etc). this is where the vast majority of dlc text is stored (and the vast majority for the base game too; there's a lot more text in dialogue than in menu options).

[vienoreal]

Juana's favourite memory.

a little story/headcanons up ahead, and the sketch for this piece, tehee ;p

she always liked making flower crowns with her parents, especially when inevitably there were leftover flowers that they could throw unto the air to make it seem like it was raining flowers. her dad was always better at making the crowns, but her mama always found the best flowers to use and which went together well. and she always found the best picnic spots.

her dad made sure there were no bees around and that she always had an epipen with a spare and a spare for the spare. her mana made sure none of the food with them had animal products or nuts, and made sure she had her safe foods.

and our little Juanita made sure her family stuck together. sure her parents bickered, but she always had to faux-gag after they kissed and made up. she got to sit and lean on her mama's chest, curled up in his embrace while the sun warmed her scaly skin, listening to the humming of her dad while he carefully made her the most beautiful flower crown befitting a princess. she got to laugh and giggle while her dad gave her the extra flowers to throw into the air and her mama gave a weather report of incoming "flower rain".

her dad still checks for bees and makes sure he has an epipen and makes flowercrowns, but he no longer has anyone to do it for.

her mama still makes sure there's no nuts or meat in the food he brings with him, but he realises as soon as the rain falls that there's no reason to do it anymore.

and our little huevo isn't there to bring them together.

[kc5rings]

Thought about it in a stream yesterday when I posted a reference for something similar, but for anyone interested in some good visual refs for shibari to use for art or fic this place has some pretty fantastic step by step guides on how various sorts of ties and harnesses are applied

There’s even some detailed information on rope care and maintenance if you really want those details to be right and as it’s intended to be instructional all the images (in the tutorials anyway) are fairly tame in presentation with the emphasis being on the ropework more than the subject.

[unexpectedbrickattack]

Peppino being a little magician makes me go :)

[galedekkarios]

is gale actually the worst guy alive or do people just have personal issues that give them a complex whenever someone else is a master of their craft and confident about it 🤔 hmmmmmmm

[pepprs]

hi im going to leave chicago in a few hours. i don’t want to come home

[lavend-ler]

beginner fic writer who likes your work, can you give some advice on how to write a good fic (characters are not ooc, natural sounding dialogue and such)?

hi there! first of I'm very flattered that u like my fics, thank u! 🥰 I've spent my last 3 days thinking of the best advice I can give to fellow writers so here is a list of tips and examples. I hope u will find it useful!

writing characters who are not OOC requires a deep understanding of the canon u're writing. my best advice for this is to truly think abt the characters u write. a great exercises are writing metas or doing list of canon traits. but writing fic is all abt interpretation and having fun. I think the best thing abt this is to fill in the blanks urself. when u see the characters and see them as a whole person it's much easier. also every action requires a reaction. I'll give u an example - Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime is a character who is all abt community, leadership and upbeat, daredevil personality. but with him loving his friends but ALSO being in front of many of them dying and also also having such responsibility, it's a natural conclusion that he'd have a survivor complex. it's never stated outtight in canon but u gotta fill in the blanks like such with ur interpretations. ur fics are all abt how u see characters and their interactions with the world and themselves

my best tip on writing natural dialogue is to constantly check the source material. listen to characters u want to write abt and learn the cadence of their voice. before my EVERY writing session I rewatch scenes from canon, sometimes to the point that I myself am tired of it. but it works! u see the interactions, u memorize the words, u see how characters talk. I don't live in an English speaking country so I watch and observe how others talk. observation is ur most important tool

"but Ed" u ask me "u also write characters who DON'T have canon voices, how do u manage that?". with characters like such u gotta get the vibe of them, which goes back to my first point. u gotta understand characters u write abt and set some rules for urself. I'll give u an example with Norma Wiggins. she only has her "older" voice and I don't have a hc for how she would sound when she's younger. but the characterization must shine through. let's think of this: Once-ler asks her "well, Norma... look. it might sound out of the blue but would you want to go out somewhere with me? I dunno, coffee or tea, aanything you want" and I will give u two responses:

"w-well, Once-ler, of course, ehm. if that won't be a problem, that'd be heavenly"

"what, you wanna take me to your loveshack? sorry, I was just teasing! c'mon, stop that face, of course, I'll go out with you"

u can see that the characterization is much stronger and matches Norma much better in the second one cause instead of shy and uncertain, she's teasing and spunky!

show don't tell. oftentimes the most hated advice new writers get. but trust me when I say it's necessary. ur readers aren't idiots, they will take the cue. u can't give them everthing upfront, u gotta work around it a bit and give them context clues. again examples:

"Upon those words, Rhys felt angry. He turned on his ECHOeye to learn all about him."

vs

"Upon hearing those words, Rhys gritted his teeth in anger, the breath in his chest got shallower. With a flash, he turned on his ECHOeye. There just had to be some secrets buried within his files, he knew. And he had to know them personally."

ur characters do not exist in a vacuum. each one of them is a full person with other relationships, goals etc. show them change poses, change expressions, interact with the background

PLEASE only refer to ur characters with their names and their pronouns. everything else is incredibly tacky, I promise u. if u refer to characters as "brunette" or "brown-eyed guy" I will hate ur writing

remember TiP ToP rule. change ur paragraphs at every change of TIme Person TOpic and Place

inspo is everywhere! be observant, look at ppl in ur life and learn from them. the every day, mundane stories can often lead to u writing amazing creations

besides metas 100 word drabbles are ur friend. giving urself limits like so expand ur creativity and will allow u to craft stories in any scale u want. it's a very fun challenge and great way to see

it's another very obvious rule but READ A LOT!!!! u can't be a writer if u don't love what u're doing! read a lot, see what words ppl are using, see how their sentences flow. published books, fanfictions, no matter what, reading is a great time and it doesn't have to be in lang u're writing it either. I read a LOT and 99% of books I read are in Polish. and they still help a lot. and if u're reading a fic and u love it, don't forget to let author know via the comments <3

thesaurus is also ur bestie. just saying

u gotta find ur best workflow. everyone is different and different things work better with them. for example I work in complete silence. I listen to 1 song before writing and then I just focus on work. but some ppl rly like listening to music. as for me, I'll just bring up one of my fave tips from legendary Richard Williams and Milt Kahl:

and last but not least and it pains me to say it.......u gotta beta ur work. if u don't have a beta u gotta do it urself. I know, I hate it too but it must be done. I found that listening to what u write is the best option so my beta process looks like this: I use a text to speech google extention which reads me my whole fic. I stop it every time I hear sth that sounds wrong for me and I rewrite it. oh and also don't worry abt it - my text to speech can't pronounce things like "energon" but he still helps me a lot

[mangoisms]

some dc fic recs (with the occasional commentary; also the inclusion of commentary or not is not indicative of the quality. know that i deeply enjoy everything here but some stuff i can’t help but talk about)

there’s an endless road to discover by zahri— centers on dick & tim; short and sweet with these absolute goofs

black out days by yutro — centers on talia & jason (with some damian on the side; all platonic btw)! you all know i am the number one talia truther and this fic sees that to completion. also includes a new phrase that i love and that is ‘biblically accurate talia’ (and boy is it biblically accurate)

commitment to the tabloids by hamethyst — need an account to read this one but it’s tim/tam (and also technically tim & tam?), a pairing i am very very very fond of. this one is where he does not Act A Fool. i love it so much and i love how they’re both characterized here. we could’ve had So Much….

verdant by cerusee — centers on talia & jason & co in an au if she took him home after restoring his mind. i think i’ve spoken about it but it’s genuinely one of my favorite fics ever (if not the favorite) and a fantastic au (with a little bit of tim bashing but it’s not undeserved i think; ok editing to add it’s maybe not bashing but that’s just How He Is. which is much better put i think)

the scientific method by an orphaned account — focuses on duke and the development/discovery of his powers, as well as him finding his footing at the manor (although i guess it can also just be considered a batfam fic? but it centers on him. as it should be) very lovely to read

[arachnidiots]

good morning! peter first made a spider-man social media account around the time he was 15/16 and interacting with other heroes as well as being recognized. he mostly made it because he wanted to reply to the stuff about him online and correct people about the name and stuff. he was okaaaay at keeping up, there’d be the occasional posting from him on twitter but he mostly replied and liked a lot of stuff. when he came back following the blip, it sort of completely fell away. he wanted to enjoy his really great summer trip and leave spider-man behind. he needed a break! but of course that also didn’t happen and by the time that the summer was over his life was completely derailed. the account got a lot of activity and mentions, mostly people arguing over stuff and taking sides. there was a lot of memes, posts, graphics. he just never opened the app again and completely turned away from social media to escape. he doesn’t really pick it up again until they come up with how to lure all the wayward villains and lands on calling the bugle’s tip line. after the memory wipe, he largely forgets about the account until he gets the classic notification ping: twitter misses you! and decides to give it a scroll. it offered him a lot of connection to the community in the past, and although he’s weary of the media at least this lets him take some control. he’s not the most active but every other day you might catch a little like from spider-man in your notifications or a reply to a little question.

[citrucee]

i desperately want to make game projects again!! but at what point do i have enough knowledge to start!? do i just hobble something together with the barest knowledge i have? aaah!

[hiyari8]

(In response to your tags on the post about working with vocal synths) VOCALOIDS CAN SNEEZE?!?!?!

I've been listening to this music for almost a decade and I'm still amazed by what we can do with this

I'd really like to hear that now lol

no see like the issue is that they can't i'm just cursed and encounter very unique problems lol

[ace-of-hearts-and-spades]

*runs up to your door* TRICK OR TREAT!! *holds out little candy bucket*

Hello hello!!!!!!! :D You can either eat these or use them to pelt your enemies to death, whichever works!!!!

[beeapocalypse]

AH i havent talked abt the frontierists here have i. very secretive sect of alamanni humans looking into Dreamed Realities (pocket realities born by dreams- the purposeful creation of them by eldritch deities Is possible but is also considered way blasphemous. near every dreamed reality by alamanni folk is born of essentially the most advanced form of maladaptive daydreaming possible and is unintentional. way hard to discern between them and real vivid Normal dreams). humanitys predecessors (taught the secret of intentionally dreaming up new lands by a select few eldritch beasties seeking refuge from the rest) sought refuge in a dreamed reality to get away from both the incessant typically deadly curiosity of the vast majority of eldritch deities and their incredibly shit living situation (forced into subterranean living bc of the whole corpse of the existence dragon and all of its curious parasites hanging up in the sky staring down at them, resources running low over the years with them unable to leave for more bc of the venettes- already sentient animals transformed into more human shapes by the eldritch in an attempt to get closer to that hidden race) and their shed mortal bodies upon successful exodus became the first humans so theyve got this tiny innate knack for intentional exploration that other alamanni folk dont. through the gathering of just abt every bit of still surviving texts on dreamed realities (WAY sparse, both thru the passage of time + the fact that those first eldritch deities desperate enough to part with such secrets were long killed by their more pious fellows), the frontierists understand the mechanics of it all Just enough to be able to deliberately enter and explore this 'final frontier' which they seek to put to page and Conquer

[unproduciblesmackdown]

had a hell of a time (good) bit ago watching elemental and feeling things including enjoying a film, great ride, i love a metaphor & anything vignettey (just living life, alongside but also including the [this is about the metaphor] threads), i do love it when a couple of fun people have an enriching dynamic that they enjoy and huaaaghwgh (good) & i liked the premise metaphor exactly as is for what it is for what it did with it & i liked overlaps & resonances w/other experiences i saw ppl perceive. i liked the way i was going oh my god that painting looks the way i feel b/c like navigating a complementary dynamic where what's holding one person back is what helps the other person along, vice versa, no interaction or relationship that develops by like having some [theoretically your trait/quality/behavior] contained in the other person, rather it being an interaction within yourself, such that i was going "i have this interaction Within Myself, right now, in life currently like always and the past years but also past months especially really, it's ongoing, i'm going Oh Goddamn Omg" scintillating to see it externalized as a conversation imagined by others. and also still different / more capacious on both ends than "wow Exactly that." feeling things going ohh my god. music is going for it so Noticeably. hot air balloon scene And track changing me with an immediate Resonance

easier when having fun but i was also like continually so hype gasping about intrigued about pointing at art direction decisions & execution and one especial element i was sooo noting was the use of Color b/c it's Really colorful like rainbow palette nigh constant noticeable saturation, And it was atmospheric, always readily visibly parsed, varying in styles but cohesive. the backgrounds babey, with obvious priority for working with a vivacious orange and/or blue. oh and the related use of Light like different visuals for different glows and just different effects and waugh....i collected mostly a bunch of bgs to point at often for that "look at the color design & atmosphere" but also so much more & foreground things big time too. semitransparent characters like bitch. the physics of fluid dynamics. optics like refraction like my God. i'm mclosing it and that these effects would be sooo prohibitively intensive w/o computer but it's so impressive w/computer and that Stylistic Decisions were made all over, it's clearly not ever simply just "oh this is what it'd 'realistically' look like if uhhh someone was made of fire or water" even as realism Based effects were employed for style and fun and our lives. the use of of course 2D animation / art conventions for style and effect and fun & our lives!!! maybe ember a bit too but wade has a whole like 2D style profile so the [curved droplet] shape always faces the camera, how are we doing that it's so cool & i love to see it. not to mention being transparent but also like clearly not!! first time i've properly thought about how inside of mouth 3D animation has Ever worked lmao

cut so i can go on & on (^ that's brevity up there lol) & post mostly various backgrounds to gesticulate at what i notice abt the use of color like oh my god. and some other things. laughed, cried, lived & loved like for real lol

oh my god

and like immediate intro theme going "oh my god blue and orange making Purple (magenta, pink) oh my god we're doing Additive Light with that holy shit yes"

so extra [!!!] about city nighttime shots especially. and the details of all the building designs, it's all the shit like i haven't even sat and Studied any given shot for all small elements like that but that you know they're There so that it looks this complex and "realistic" like you know the attention & effort is there & you get the Overall Effect baby. also the way purple/green are employed to contrast with blue/orange often. the Glows here, the Bluer upper half and the Oranger lower half that both also have some purplishness to them, the Green bridge breaking it up / spanning this

the colors in closeups even. first of all the expressions styles are after my own heart & got it, and i'm sure i'll go on & on more there. pull mouths down do the m upper lip n lower lip lines combo, you know what i mean, i Love it. wavy flowy design vs more triangular / ending in peaks/corners design for your water vs fire aesthetiques. i think that's [heat creating refraction in the air] effect like lord. the pink blue purple here. the slight shadow framing the pic for better contrast, the pink / glow around ember, wade slightly Glows from within too, the constant wave refraction there. okay obsessed again with both sorta transparent and fluid Figures like you've got the outermost layers. you've got the Inside. you've got the silhouettes and the lines that are "drawn," reddish outlines of flame shapes and constant highlight "outlines" for water so it never "realistically" blends in with everything / just Is clear and is impossible to easily parse. that those silhouettes are constantly Flowing and responding to motion / pressure as well. i can only imagine. oh and the colors again that the Glow for fire is often a Soft gradient, but there's this like, slightly convex polygonal style of "glow" / Light in backgrounds a lot and it works great for style and contrast with the important Soft Glow from fire and even also water, again the slight inner glow there too. and again the mutual [pull mouths down] expressiveness lol so much fun. the Elasticity is fantastic, same with like 2D style Movement like invoking a smear frame for example like fuck yes it's about What Works it's about style & effect & what things like lighting color faces can do that aren't just aiming for "be peak realistic" like clearly it isn't. note the sharper line of shadow in the upper corner with a deeper blue. we framing

oh this one was to point out "look at how you can see the full spectrum rainbow in the wave surface light refraction oh my fucking god" not to mention of course In Motion the shapes, the effect, some bubbles and flow for flare and seeing that constant Light Outline, the cyan leaning aqua that's put in along with the overall slight blue not b/c it's "realistic" but b/c it's what works baby the artistic design choices fuck like hell. and only when i took this one frame was it like oh my fucking god look at these split second flame shames flowing off of ember there above her head especially. all the more stylization required for fire without it being like, "realistically" mostly transparent, overly bright, not very strongly delineated / silhouetted....the shape, color, flow of flames on the "inside," outermost breaking off shapes & "outline" as well augh god. and look at the purples in the background's left side

AUGH the night city backgrounds. pottery burn haha yeah the blue orange AND purple my god!!!! it's thematic ([blue + orange = purple] b/w the blue & orange characters) and it fucks like hell holy shit!!!!!

meanwhile the green & purple here with One orange element getting to stand out / not that much blue either, but more ultramarine style than aquamarine, and LOOK AT THE MOON!!! the surface!!! check out that Polygonal glow around it and the green/purple there too!!!

and the use of bokeh. immaculate, not holding back, after my heart. the Purple/Pink additive light properties coming into play!! her reflection is more simply orange(tm) sometimes and i would presume it tends purpler when we are getting [emotionally connecting / recognition of the self through the other] but oh my god heaving overhead like a hero this additive light blue+orange=purple ingenious and stylistically fucking like hell choice. and again their "outlines" working so well while also retaining enough softness/fluidity to be part of them as a whole. everything is so cool

there's the mouth shape i was talking about. you see the slight m upper lip simply n lower lip and resultant (idk like a video game controller?) shape lol. flexible expressive asymmetry. the closeup transparency of [can always see the other side of shirt collar]. green bg for contrast while also incorporating the orange glow. the full spectrum rainbow refraction just also an immaculate and probably characterfully relevant lmao as a bonus. also hell of cute moments wauugh yes, fun, dying thanks

the additive light!!! (how magenta/purple/pink the reflection of Orange is off the Blue like employing what's realistic in another context for what fucks aesthetically & carries symbolism. like wade wouldn't Realistically be constantly [surface wave refractions] but it fucks like hell. also wouldn't be someone made of fire or water but it fucks like hell & embodies a central metaphorical layer to the literal material). also look at that curtain from deep purplish red to deep bluer purple!!! the line of bright blue!!! the glow in the Background with sharper polygonal lines / corners to contrast with the visual effects of glows elsewhere!!! wade default =3 as [wavy featured] and inherent =3 vs ember's more flame tipped => (not pictured)

ohh this one for rainbow color / out of focus usage and b/c it's like how the semi transparency but only So Much + constant outline of Highlights / constant inner glow and visible infusion of like aquamarine / bright turquoise cerulean color helps a water guy stay perfectly Visible / parsable. also besides ember being green, an effect subtly pictured at any given point: like cinders continually rising off fire but depicted so much like Sparkles :') there's so much colors and highlights and choices after my own sensibilities out here like i love a shoulder swoop design that flows right into the arms from the neck from the head. and that's exactly what we get precisely b/c it has so much flow!!! ember's like whole head Flaring out from her neck, terminal points like tips, or sources, of flames. Styles

the bokeh!! the blues and pinks and purples!!!

ouuwaah

UGH obviously in motion the like arcing falling curtains of water, the shimmering....the purple into pink into dusky orange!!! the little bit of contribution of the turquoise light aaa wahooo, ofc what the bridge adds in Composition for this & that previous shot

lmao this is b/c Wavy Scribble Squiggle Mouth again the design choices after my own heart. the constant extra wobbliness to Mouth Outline obviously works great to emphasize [water design] but it also works great b/c i love it

every shot of the background with this beach is gongious like jesus christ. the closeup of sand is like that looks amazing and So soft. look at the wavy swoopy shapiness of the clouds, look at the [in this shot] faintly detectable Polygonal outlines of Glow from the sun. feel free to look at that water like i said every shot of this, wrow. tasked with Pretty Beach Sunset and coming through big time

expressive design contrast, glow contrasts, refracting, silhouettes, those flame shapes breaking off again epic hot wheels style fuck yes....and the bg!!! look at the purple to muted purple pink sky, the atmospheric distancing on layers of buildings that goes from blue to purple!! the dimmer purple / blue / teal on the ground in the foreground here UGH the COLOR USE

ooh i was so Noticing the like, full ultramarine blue here, like it's been used Before in any night environments but the way here it's brighter, making it like "okay yeah night but more Lit Up. also the visual variety of [water curtain] textures there, the area of Pink, the Yellow that hasn't previously shown up too much but might be saved for associations with tension / "danger" lol. also love the "straightup a pool" designs lol wish i was swimming

oh the orange + blue = purple on display here / translating Outlines

amazing sequence and again look at the Purple shadows the Blues the Oranges the Greens!!!! aughhh again like So colorful and so bright but also ofc dimmed, atmospheric, balanced, waughhh!!!

oh my god what can i say. "bisexuality" for one but and also fr like the pink of the sky vs deep purple, lighter with more blue in the water, the streak of oranger light, pink atmospheric haze....augh!!!

speaking of "and then really vivid striking colors in another overall palette we haven't seen before" the teal & golden yellow for this shot was new & noticeable. the yellow of problems, but not too bad lol, looking at that Contrast with the blue on the outer pool edge there. i wanna take a swim yippee....but fr like holding some colors more in reservation, finding new combinations, as Ever how bright the bgs are but atmospheric, non overwhelming of other elements, i Love it

bokeh!!!! colors!!!!!!!

bokeh!!!!!! colors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fucking roy g biv like yes gorgeous. nice tree evocative bridge. composition. lots of lights and colors but the distribution being so balanced, but organic, broken up in all the right ways and all encompassing....the bright orange lights in shadowed blue/purple buildings in the upper left corner, leading down to the path of lights across the center of everything....ugh incredible great

out of focus bg, the lights, the purples, the blue/Green, look at everything on the right side ugh lovely, the slight Shapes of glows, can see that arc in the right side as well, the emotional relevance of all the colors and glows as this bg dims / desaturates a second later

and so similarly here, the Purple, the Glows....like the use of both the perfect balance of soft edges/borders but no sacrifice in clarity

oh and i suppose there's then any amount of spoilers following but like, in part only b/c i point them out as as much but also like. it's about the journey lmfao you see two screenshots, containing some information, well you've seen it all

and to pad that out i'll also note without screenshots about it like bringing in a very like Clear for Compositional Effect sort of Danger Yellow again twice over, with the harshest like chartreuse leaning yellow yet for it, v much a color that it'd just take more effort to fit into a palette / would have to be kind of the color centerpiece, vs the orange/blue/purple here

(but also not to say yellow was never used otherwise....some perfectly harmless golds, paler lighting like just Daytime vibe, constant presence w/fire of course. so the Particulars of a hazard yellow are all the more notable)

the COLORS....look at that orange that pink red the pink reflections the Purples....the just deep slightly slightly purple red in the bg and how like smoothed over / Immediate that background is to just make everything close & present!! the flame textures going!!! water textures going!!! cinders as points of light!! the colors the orange purple pink blue UGHH it's amazing they're really off the shits with it in every scene

spoilers they do kiss about it and i was like smacking hand to forehead like oh my god and they did another "breaking out a new Light thing" when we've glowed and refracted within and without, lit up or dimmed, sparkled, reflected, used further styles in environmental lighting....answer was Lens Flare rainbow refracting glow like goddamn!!! and again like putting In the purple, but also the blue, the orange, the out & out more cerulean / aquamarine that is not gonna simply come from elsewhere in the environment. nice commitment to also having someone smile into a kiss lmao we've all been like i Will make this work. i'm still just like ugh the focus on and variety of Light too, the backgrounds' like soft polygon/hexagon glow "fields," straightforward soft/even gradient glows, wave pattern refraction, refraction also separating light into rainbows, remember water is a lens, stylized light of fire, bokeh, additive color mixing....holding on to & breaking out Cinematic LENS FLARE is fr like ohhh my god they're just fucking On It, got this, here's another effect for you

i also have a gif b/c i couldn't note anyone's fluid dynamics / flowing / Interacting physics enough, and little moments giving that some extra flair are a delight, but holy shit a highlight i'm instantly obsessed with forever, now if there's something and nobody pours themself, i'm out

oh we sloshing!! all the water physics going on here to fantastic effect but also all working within the confines of "and it's some guy." immaculate joke 5 sec later around the "i am Not an inspector" line just What a delight. the vision....the manifestation of effort, craft....i'm not kidding at all i'm like okay forever treasuring [pours yourself] clip and if someone doesn't get it it's like it's called joie de vivre, panache, taking all kinds. some sloshheads out here

again i had a delightful time at the cinema (figuratively. i didn't go anywhere. though i did go "oh fuck re: even the idea of seeing plenty of this in theater format" like i was going oh Shit at visuals and music and every damn thing enough already, can only imagine) i was like bitch i love ppl living life vignettesquely with the emotional arcs aids of metaphor, symbolism. i love the styles and designs and i love paying attention to details and going damn how they'd do that, i love technical shit, noting techniques that are centered around 2D derived visuals, about aesthetic effect & visual purpose....i was going "oh my god same. lately, always, ongoing. oh my god it's me always crying at everything, but also never at anything, and also just sometimes at some things. it's me with the Temper it's me with one like everyone else but not about to let it out at all / not be making room for anyone else's. me like 'just powering through like arghhh' me like 'that, but [a puddle]' liable to spontaneously interact with randos by just doing your own thing, also [dying] and beloathed at that, going with the flow trying to carpe diem it, having these conversations and navigations like just as one person lmao, and also ofc it's different" lol like oh damn okay. and twentysomethings popular with the nebkids like wow in real life....and just having a great time entirely straightforwardly and expecting as much but also being increasingly delighted and surprised and going "wow my aesthetique sensibilities piqued" and going "wow okay a journey" and like Gasp at details and loving the overall effects and little moments and shots and entire deal. did weep repeatedly, when you slosh, when you soggy....delighted a lot, along for the ride having fun for the whole way, so much abt [bummed 20somethings who are nevertheless very vivacious Feeling Things, including About feeling things] and the way that's given sooo much space, Saturating things even, maybe with light & color....i liked it a bunch, [aaaaaa], great time, thinking about feeling things and feeling about it and about thinking about it & so on & so forth too like man hang on a second. and the soundtrack. and the character designs Overall there did i mention?? so cute & fun. wobbly wavy shivery tapering having Flow in the lines / shapes of silhouettes in different ways just like flow in [fluid dynamics] of flame or water in different ways. there's a lot i can say but i just mostly did the backgrounds / color / lighting noncomprehensive slideshow lol. i was very engaged like oh wahoo yippee aaa then mfs let's go and keep going

[heloflor]

Have a doc filled with Mario headcanons and wanted to share the sexualities part because fuck it, it’s still pride month.

Disclaimer since it’s relevant to this post : I headcanon that Peach, Daisy, Wario and Waluigi are all creatures from the world of the Mushroom Kingdom who look the way they do due to magic gems (those blue and green gems that Peach and Daisy have respectively). Peach is a Toad, Daisy is a Dino-Rhino (unless those flower people from Mario Bros acid trip Wonder are from her Kingdom, then again I like Daisy being a giant cool Dino, plus the trailer for Wonder showed several other big animals), not sure for Wario and Waluigi but they’re not humans. The Super Crown works the way it does because there’s one of those gems in it.

Also, since it’s briefly mentioned, what I call the “main” continent is made out of the Mushroom, Koopa, Bomb-omb, Thwomp, and Goomba kingdoms. Sarasaland (retconned into Flower Kingdom now ?) and other kingdoms are on other continents (yes I know in Superstar Saga the Beanbean kingdom is neighbors with the Mushroom. But since they never appear in other games, I’ve chosen to ignore that detail).

Anyways, onto the headcanons :

- Mario : Transmasc Aromantic Heterosexual ; he realized he’s aro after finding out Peach is a Toad and losing sexual interest in her (felt bad about it at first because he thought he fell out of love upon discovering Peach at her most vulnerable, Bowser made it worse for him by accusing him of liking her only due to her human form) ; him being transmasc is why he’s named Mario Mario (he thought it would be funny)

- Luigi : Cis Bisexual ; had a fling with Peasley + loves Daisy ; he’s gender non-conforming and sometimes shares clothes with Peach, he also trains his voice to be higher-pitched for the heck of it (+ it can help in case he has to take Peach’s place for a kidnapping)

- Peach : Demiromantic Pansexual ; is cis-passing in human form but is technically transfem due to being a Toad

- Bowser : Omnisexual ; Cis tho I like the idea of him being transmasc and birthing Junior’s egg

- Yoshi and Birdetta are T4T + poly (hence Birdetta flirting with others) ; Birdetta’s eggs aren’t actually eggs (insert joke about her “eggs” being white) ; not sure if “all Yoshis that lay eggs are female” but at least all those that lay eggs that can be fertilized are female (and on that note YOSHI MIGHT BE CANONICALLY TRANSMASC ???!!!) ; Yoshi is straight while Birdetta is plurisexual (bi/pan/omni etc)

- Daisy : Straight + intersex + transfem (imagine if Prince Haru from the 1986 movie was her appearance pre-transition, but remove the whole “Peach’s fiancé” part of the plot, or the plot as a whole since the events of this movie didn’t happen here, just keep Haru’s design as “Daisy before transitioning”)

- Big fan of the headcanon that Kamek is gay ; he doesn’t date because 1. He’s busy 2. He’s getting too old for this 3. He’s devoted to his son and grandchildren which takes all his free time

- Depending on which creature he is Wario would be cishet though I could also see him be plurisexual (bi/pan/omni/other label that has to do with dating more than one gender ; I like putting diversity in queer headcanons but I’m not the most knowledgeable on labels past the most common ones)

- Not sure for Rosalina, either aroace or she’s allo but just stays single due to her life situation ; probably non-binary (she/it, could also be a play on the fact that some see her as some kind of goddess)

- Pauline is Cis Lesbian and her and Mario parted on good terms after he came out as trans on top of other reasons (basically they still care a lot about each other but realized they were better off as friends, the whole “unknown aro + transmasc with lesbian” simply gave them an easier excuse to break up)

- Really not sure for Bowser's kids, the only ideas that are "set in stone" are that Ludwig is gay, Wendy is attracted to boys (doesn't meant she can't like girls), Lemmy is demi-boy (they/him) and Morton is attracted to girls (like Wendy it doesn't close the door for liking men).

Not sure for the rest, though I could see Iggy using he/neopronouns (likely xe/xem) and at least one of them being interesex. Btw the older kids say they don’t date because they’re busy with royal duties but the truth is they are just incredibly awkward + they can’t ask their dad for advice since he’s a romantic disaster

- I could see Toadsworth be aroace, since even in his younger years he cared more about raising his surrogate daughter than dating + he never pressures Peach into marrying ? In general he doesn’t seem to care about romance ? ; he’s also transmasc because Toad

- After seeing Bowser’s Inside Story and the beginning of Dream Team, Starlow is a lesbian crushing on Peach (is very buddy-buddy with Peach despite barely knowing her, makes a big deal out of Peach being kept safe, calls her “Peach” instead of “Princess” from the get go, at times seems to see Peach as the best person in the room)

- Toads and Goombas are naturally agender because mushrooms ; some choose to express a specific gender (ex Toadsworth, Toadette, Peach, the Toads and Goombas from the first two Paper Mario) ; some may use gendered pronouns even if their presentation doesn’t display any specific gender (ex Captain Toad using he/him despite looking like any other Toad) ; basically every Toad/Goomba that use gendered pronouns (or neopronouns) is technically trans and/or non-binary ; cisgender Toads/Goombas go by they/it ; the Super Crown gem gives the shape the Toad see themselves as but it doesn’t have to be cis-passing or even gender conforming, can be androgyne (Daisy took a while to figure herself out, hence her gem giving her Haru’s look at first ; she's not from an agender species but the way the gems work still applies to hers, hence mentioning how her being trans worked on that front)

- That previous point implies either all Toads have the same metabolism and thus all grow facial hair (Peach having to shave tho) or they have mushrooms that serves as HRT for those who want more “masculine” or “feminine” traits (hair/facial hair and tone of voice) ; the color of their hats has nothing to do with gender for Toads (ignore Nintendo’s weird obsession with making every female character in the Mario franchise pink)

- Sexual dimorphism in general is very rare/limited in this world (only the Beanbean kingdom has it ?), in “main” continent, Koopas are the ones where it’s the most present and even then it’s very minimal (genitals, who can lay eggs, possibly size but even then not really since Pom Pom is the only one smaller than her male counterpart, Wendy and other female Koopas aren’t particularly small)

- Toads (and other species) experimenting with gender could be due to seeing Koopas make the distinction between “male” and “female” and finding the idea of changing your appearance based on how you feel to be fun (even though you have the concept of male and female Koopas, there’s no transphobia in Bowser’s kingdom) ; by that point it’s common for Toads to change however they feel and go by any pronouns they want, just because they’re aware of the concepts of masculinity and femininity doesn’t mean they have to follow it to the letter with their pronouns unless they want to

- On that note, I could see Toadette as genderfluid, though she most often goes by she/her ; I could also see one or several of the other main Toads (Ala Gold, Bucken Berry, Captain Toad, "The" Red ToadTM) be bi-gender

- Not sure what’s going on with Waluigi but he’s definitely queer

[fayeandknight]

Fourth agility class. And there was one.

I'm the only student who showed up to our class tonight. The instructor told me everyone else complained about having to crate their dogs. I suspect it was more of a final straw/something concrete to push back on. Also that it was a miserable, rainy day/night probably contributed.

I will say the instructor was much nicer. Still a bit harsh but definitely softened more throughout the lesson. The instructor did say they get really mad when people argue with them. Which I get but I don't think they handle well.

That aside, Forte was absolutely amazing tonight. He spent pretty much the whole hour off leash, he only occasionally wandered off in the ring when we spent too long talking but recalled immediately every time. I think part of it is that the new is wearing off. But the bigger piece, I think, is that we were working for longer stretches so his brain clicked on and stayed on.

Introduced him to the tunnel, he was a little confused at first but the third time I showed him the entrance he ran through and I threw him a party. After that he did from both ends no problem. We got both a jump tunnel and a tunnel jump sequence flawlessly several times.

The instructor was quite impressed. Kept telling me he moves beautifully and that he's not afraid of anything. He only gets hung up when he doesn't know what I'm asking him to do. Once he knows there's no hesitation. And part of me wanted to say yeah, no shit.

I didn't, but I wanted to explain it's because I've prioritized confidence over immediate compliance. He's a freaking herding breed, the desire to please comes baked in. I want him confident. I want him to know that if he's unsure I'll clarify or give him support. That we're in this together.

He also did the A frame. We've played around with a (very) baby A frame but never a true one (though it wasn't at full height.) The instructor asked if I thought he'd do it and I said probably. He did it like he's done it a thousand times before. No hesitation, no trying to jump off early, went up and over and stopped with his back feet on the contact and his front feet on the ground, looking to me for the next cue.

At this point the instructor forgot to be critical and there was definitely awe in their voice. Told me it's clear he likes working for me and that he just trusts me. That most dogs balk, at least the first time, because from their perspective they're running up a cliff and are going to be asked to fall off it.

They also said that if I'm not careful they'll steal him. That he's really special and that the bond between us is evident. Which made me laugh out loud because it confirmed something I'd written off as me being arrogant, for lack of a better word. And that's that when certain dog people encounter Forte and I they write me off as a know nothing who shouldn't have a Belgian and in turn that I've "ruined' him. But when they get the chance to really see us work together that assumption falls apart. Because it becomes very clear that he doesn't do things just because I say so, he does them because he trusts that I'm not asking him for anything he can't do. That I'd catch him if he fell.

Anyway, we also worked more on the teeter and are up to jumping on at the half way point, riding it down, and waiting till it hits the ground to move off. And we did three 2 by 2 weave poles, both onside and offside. He picked it up easily and not at all like this was only the second time in life life he's seen weave poles.

At the end of the hour the instructor noted that he was tired but if I asked for more he'd give me more. And I told them I know so it's a good thing we have an hour ride home for him to nap. They were stunned to learn I'm an hour away and that it involves crossing the bridge. I just shrugged and said I wanted to learn agility so it is what it is.