#i started designing them with the intent of making them an experiment after i finished ew and before 6.1 even dropped

[sntoot]

designs for my azem (with color!)

more info under the cut bc i ramble

their name is hestia! and they may have been an experiment for creation magicks early in life (looks lovingly at the raids for confirming my suspicions that creation magic could absolutely be misused on people). so their hair n eyes r supposed to be weird, their hair specifically supposed to give you the idea of fire-head [gender redacted], and their eyes are supposed to be iridescent as opposed to the usual glow ancients have. they would really rather everyone behaved normally about it and didnt bring it up though

they dont have any memories from before they were found abandoned as a child, and due to the amount of strange things wrong with them, venat/azem ended up taking them in as she investigated, which turned into an apprenticeship and then got them the position of azem. venat never found out where exactly they came from, but she is certain of is that someone did experiments on them and that they are much happier as her adoptee and azem than digging into their past.

they almost always glamour over their actual convocation mask with a regular one bc they dont want to intimidate anyone by being azem (emet-selch has long since given up on complaining about it). if they are in a place like elpis where they need their hood down and their mask off, they cover up their hair with a scarf and wear their mask anyways until they get told to take it off. its both because of how strange they look but also because their aether is warped in a way to draw in other people’s aether (which is mostly just annoying in that it makes people think they have a gravity to their presence). but the amount gets worse when they get people’s direct attention and dont get a chance to mitigate, and in some cases it ends badly because people have differing reactions to being drawn to them

[r0guedr0id]

To be taken care of

Pairing: Din Djarin x AFAB!Reader

Summary: Spotchka makes Mando show his desire to take care of you.

Word count: 4k

Warnings: Bounty Hunter!Reader, soft!Din, set before Season One, smut!!!, little plot for context, but also FLUFF!, v fingering, no gendered words used, no y/n, alcohol, dirty talk, drunk sex, hint of praise kink, mirror kink, feelings???, reader is clueless about them tho, kind of sinful use of the helmet sorry armorer!

A/N: Hi!!! This is the first time I’m writing for this fandom OMG. I have little experience writing fics and I’m not 100% happy about this, but hey I had fun while typing smut at work! Also English is not my mother tongue and I have no Beta only Grammarly, although I edited this thoroughly, so sorry if this is awkward hehehe, I’d love to hear your thoughts about it!

You both probably had exceeded your tolerance limit with the spotchka that the kind people of Sorgan had gifted you on your last visit to the planet. Everything started with an excruciating hunt that had taken a toll on you and your bussiness partner. When the trandoshan male you’d been persecuting for weeks was finally frozen in carbonite, both of you sighed in relief and then your gaze met with his behind the visor. Neither of you were very talkative, your silences sometimes speaking louder than words. In addition, you both where extra grumpy that night because of the tiredness. Limping because of your sore muscles, provoked by hiding lying down on the hard floor for hours, you went directly to the spot where your provisions were. He tilted his head, curious. Normally after a hunt, you run to the shower to clean the grime accumulated from the days on the run.

Mando's questions were rapidly resolved when you triumphantly showed him the blue bottle and two metal mugs you used for everything. You must be a minimalist in a ship like the Razor Crest, which was definitely not designed for habitability. You also showed him the reusable straw you got him so he could drink in front of you on the field without worrying about his Creed. He fixated his helmet on you and finally nodded, so you poured him the spotchka filling the cup to the brim and then did the same for you. Next you let yourself slip down the metal floor with a heavy thump, too exhausted to stand for a minute more. He followed you and soon you found yourselves toasting lazily on the ground and drinking in silence.

“You did great today, mesh’la.” He said after emptying his mug for the first time that evening. You downed your beverage on your lap and looked at him as if he had gone nuts. In your time with him, he’d never praised you for your work. It was just expected that you gave your 100% in your hunts, right? You were after all partners, business partners. Associates. That sometimes fucked, alright. But you both kept things professional. So why did his praise affect the color of your cheeks that much?

“Thanks, Mando.” You muttered after finishing your spotckha too, offering to fill his mug again by raising the bottle towards him. He nodded and his gaze didn’t leave you this time. The truth was that Din was impressed by your performance in this last job. He knew you were a capable bounty hunter, of course, or he wouldn't have asked you to join him in the first place. It was only for one job initially, but you’d been so resourceful and worked so well along with him that he had to request you to join him full-time.

In the field, you always had his back, saving his metal ass more than one time, and your perception and ability to read people’s intentions was incredibly useful. Even though you weren't Mandalorian, he respected you as a warrior as if you were one of them. Not only respect, he felt admiration towards you.

And then it was the other side of your partnership. The one that occurred in the dark, rushed, your flushed skin against the cold beskar and soft sighs fogging his visor. The first time occurred after a near-death experience, the adrenaline ended in you being pressed against the wall in some alley by his beskar-clad body. He discovered you weren’t only outstanding at bounty hunting, but in other disciplines too.

Your intercourses would usually happen after a hunt gone south when both of you were especially frustrated and needed to let some steam off. You had three unspoken rules about them: you never talked while fucking, it was always done in the dark, and you never mentioned it afterwards. And of course, the helmet stayed on. You could never have imagined that you'd break all of the rules the current night.

You both had emptied the second round by the moment Mando spoke again. "I'm glad you accepted to be my business partner." His voice through the modulator caught you off guard, as you were lost in thought at the moment. He wasn't looking at you this time. You wondered if he was already drunk because he was behaving so off-character.

"You only say that because you love my stew." You chuckled nervously while pouring another mug for yourself. He asked his to be filled too and half of the spotchka was already gone. You could feel your palms against the glass sweaty: this opening-up-with-Mando thing was new for you.

"No…Yes, I mean… I do love your stew." It actually was the best he'd tasted and a great change from the ration packs he'd usually consume while on the Razor Crest. Mando played with the metal straw in his drink as if it was filled with your star recipe. "But what I'm saying is…it's nice to have you around." You looked at him quizzically, without a clue about where this conversation was directed or what was he referring to. Like he enjoyed your presence? Impossible. You rarely even spoke and didn’t know a lot about each other. Just enough to know you could trust your partner in the field. Maybe he was referring to sex. You knew he enjoyed it, as you did too. It was hot and somewhat felt forbidden. But anything in his cryptical tone indicated he was talking about sex, and it would be a first between you. Finally you decided he must be speaking about your job, you worked well together for sure.

"I suppose…we make a good team." Your half smile was timid and Mando surprised himself when his heart skipped a beat at your smile, but he was a bit disappointed. That was not what he was referring to. Sometimes he wished to be as talented with words as Greef Karga. He nodded and sipped half of the liquid courage remaining in his mug when he heard you giggling.

"What?" He asked drily. He almost felt hurt, where you laughing at him after dodging his attempt to tell you how he felt? You tried to stop but the alcohol had started to take a toll on your self-control. Especially on your empty stomach.

"You…you look so…so cute with your straw." He now fixated his visor on you, and although you tried to stop your laughter with your hand he only made it worse by looking deadly while sipping his spotchka.

"So you bought it in order to make fun of me?" You couldn't discern if he was joking or not but you started to be too drunk to care. He was marveled by this relaxed version of you, looking careless while sprawled on the floor. Even during sex, you'll keep it together, always looking composed. Was a bit of spotchka the one thing it took for you to get loose? If that was the case, he'd buy supplies for ages on the next planet.

"No dummy, I got it because that time you got dehydrated on Tatooine! You scared the shit out of me." Mando hardly remembered how that hunt ended, since in fact, he ended up fainting because of the lack of liquids due to being glued by the hip to you all the mission. It was certainly embarrassing. But what really made his cheeks flush was the endearing tone you had used to insult him.

"I appreciate how you always take care of me." His voice was softer than usual and the impact it had on you was totally unexpected. You stared at him frozen. Was he dehydrated again? You looked at the bottle of spotchka confused. Sure, it was a bit stronger than usual, but not that much.

"Mando… Are you drunk?" You asked carefully, and then he rotated all his body towards you.

"I want to take care of you, too." His voice came strained while he ignored your question. Your face couldn't be redder and your heartbeat started to go out of control. This couldn’t be happening, right? Where you reading well the room?

"Well, I could really use a massage. You know, my boss had me laying all day in some kriffing hole as if I was his personal sniper and my back is killing me." You said nonchalantly after a long silence, avoiding his face on purpose. He sighed in defeat and lay again in the position he was before, his long legs stretched on the floor.

"Your boss looks like an asshole." You could hear now a smile behind the helmet in his voice that warmed your heart.

"He's a tough bone, but he ends up growing on you." You winked at him and then got up, feeling suddenly how drunk you actually were. You stretched your arms over your head and then your neck and Mando could hear the crack of every one of your bones.

“I’ll give you that massage.” You weren’t expecting that he’d taken it seriously at all. He was no stranger to your body, but this new behavior of his was getting on your nerves. You had already spoken more than in all the month you were on board the Razor Crest. Slowly you nodded.

“Let me shower real quick first.” Without further notice, you locked yourself in the refresher to have the fastest shower in history, leaving The Mandalorian with his thoughts while you replayed your conversation in your head, trying to figure out his intentions.

After refreshing, you looked through your possessions, finally finding the small bottle of scented oil, and then returned to the hull while drying your hair a bit with a towel. The shower hadn't diminished your drunken state at all, and you were feeling feisty now. Thinking about how Mando was going to give you a massage had ignited your desire. And you could work with that. Because even though emotional intimacy wasn’t your forte, you new plenty about the physical one.

Mando was in the same place you had left him, now his back against the wall in a relaxed demeanor. He looked at you and then he was thankful you couldn't see his face. Of course, he had seen you in your undergarments before, but always in a non-sexual way like attending to your wounds or just a glimpse here or there. When you fucked you’d both keep most of your clothes on. He’d never appreciated you in all your glory towering over him like this. He gulped and felt his pants somewhat tighter.

You then sat nimbly in front of him, your back facing his front, and left the oil in your right so he could reach it. You noticed that another quarter of the spotchka bottle was missing.

"Confiscated." Giving him a mischievous glance, you twisted your body to reach the bottle and opened it to have a sip directly from it. Mando still hadn't moved a millimeter. A single drop slid along your throat and suddenly he wished he could lick it so badly. He had noted that your demeanor had changed, no longer nervous but confident in your body and sexuality. And that kriffin made him snap. His large hands snaked around your hip bones, dragging your body closer to his chest in one movement You gasped at the sudden contact, but this was familiar. Rough Mando, pressing you from behind against the nearest surface.

His long, muscular legs were spread around you, and you couldn't but appreciate his width and strength, seduced to caress where the beskar wasn't covering them. The time started to go slower as you stroked his skin through the flight suit. Sometimes it was difficult to remember that under all the metal a living red-blooded man resided. And said man was shivering now under your soft touches, praying that you didn't notice his neediness. He was a warrior with a task.

"Mesh'la, let me take care of you." His voice was gentle and raspy when he spoke next to your ear, and if he hadn't been wearing a helmet, you could have felt his breath tickling your skin. The tone in which he pronounced the foreign word made you feel a lot of things, some of them directed to your lower abdomen. You heard the tap of the oil and goosebumps of anticipation covered your skin. When the first drops slid down your column you were the one shivering this time.

When you felt his hands over your skin, you melted. You hadn't noticed when he’d removed his gloves. He rarely did it, and feeling them on your abused shoulders was like warm honey. You almost moaned from the touch of the rough skin of his big palms, his strong thumbs working on the knots that always formed over your shoulder blades. It felt heavenly.

“Is this okay?” If you didn’t know better, you’d swear his voice sounded a bit shy, but it was always difficult to tell through the modulator.

“S’ perfect Mando.” Your tone was breathy as you started to get a bit much worked up by his touch. He hummed and continued with his ministrations in silence. The moment felt fragile: you’d never had this intimacy together before. You noticed he was taking his time with you, feeling every muscle and curve of your strong back, tracing some scars scattered here and there. The alcohol and the massage were finally relaxing your tensed body, and then a moan you couldn’t stop escaped from your lips. His hands, which were working on your lower back at that moment, stopped and you could feel his entire body tense.

“Is this turning you on mesh’la?” All shyness was gone in a second, now his voice was thick with lust, a timbre you did recognize of him. His hands now had a harder grip on your back, like he needed to hold onto something. Sex with Mando was familiar ground, you felt relieved.

“Why don’t you check yourself?” Spotchka made you cheeky like that and you could hear Mando taking a heavy breath, confirming that your words had the effect you desired. Without warning, he dragged you towards his chest plate, the cold beskar biting your back while he positioned his helmet resting on your shoulder. Your heartbeat started to accelerate with anticipation. In this position, you could feel his chest rising every time: he was as worked up as you.

Painfully slow, he started to go over your outer thighs with a feathery touch with his calloused digits when then abruptly, he grabbed them and separated further making you gasp. The heat between your legs was unbearable and the thing you wanted more was for him to touch you. His grip on your inner thighs was almost painful, not that you minded, but you couldn’t stand more teasing.

“Mando, please…” You begged.

“Please what?” His fingers were now hovering over your clothed core, the fabric drenched in your slick. It wasn’t like your business partner hadn’t fingered you before, but it was always as a preparation for you to take his girth, never in this unrushed, lazy manner. Although you were going to explode from anticipation, you were loving every moment of it.

As Mando was too. The sensation of your plush skin filling his hands, your body pressing against his and dank farrik, your smell. It was driving him crazy, so much that he wanted to remove his helmet so he could appreciate the delicious smell of your wet pussy. His head was starting to spin and he couldn’t identify if it was for your fragrance or the quantity of spotchka running through his blood. He decided that the teasing was over then, and unceremoniously hooked his thumbs on your waistband and slid the piece of underwear down your legs, the soaked spot in the middle so evident it embarrassed you and turning him on even more. But he wasn’t still touching you where you needed him most. You were so done.

With your smaller hand, you grabbed his and placed it in your cunt letting go a snort and leaving Mando stunned.

“You wanted to take care of me? Then go on.” You said sassy, but your face was redder and hotter than a Sith’s lightsaber. He kriffing grunted and your breathing stopped when he finally put one of his thick fingers on your entrance to collect your slick. He amused himself at the fact that you were dripping because of him, feeling between surprised and a little proud about it. Then he started tracing lazy circles around your clit while spreading your pussy with the other hand. Mando relished himself in how soft and warm you were, imagining your flavor between his lips. In the confine of his flight suit, his cock twitched, impossibly harder. But today was about taking care of you and he was a man of his word.

His middle finger started tracing your slit up and down and you can’t help but waggle in his lap, feeling the pleasure spreading through your body. You inhaled hard when you notice the prominent bulge against your ass, growing only wetter at the sensation, and Mando could literally feel how your slick slid down your hole. While still rubbing your clit, he took advantage of the dampness to slide one finger inside, looking at that magic spot in your entrance that made your skin tingle. You moaned louder and he licked his lips under the helmet. An all-consuming desire was growing inside of him, the alcohol inside his veins whispering to him that he should indulge in his fantasy. You moan again in his arms and he’s a mess. Needs to taste you, to smell you to see your pussy drenched because of him. Every part of his body is in contact with yours, his helmet against your cheek. He’d love to bite your shoulder and mark your neck, and his need grows stronger while fantasizing about the idea.

“Mando…another finger…please.” Your voice was labored and so sexy he needs a sharp inhale to bring his brain the oxygen he needed. You were a beautiful mess. Your lips parted, cheeks red with lust and a sheer layer of sweat making your skin glow under the lights. This was nothing like taking you from behind in some cantina bathroom. He was done.

“Wait for a second mesh’la. And don’t turn around.” You nodded obediently, at this point you’d do whatever it took to be touched by The Mandalorian. Then you heard the hiss, you panicked a moment, knowing what the helmet meant for him. But inside you couldn’t deny the excitement from the anticipation about what he was going to do. Soon you had the answer. With a loud clank, he let his helmet rest between your spread thighs and then he breathed heavily, finally inhaling your sweet scent. It seemed odd to you that he didn’t choose another spot for his helmet, but then it hit you like a ton of bricks. Filthy bastard.

“Keep your legs spread for me.” His bossy tone made your pussy clench, you were used to his dry commands but in this context it made you drool. His unmodulated voice was like his hands, rough and gentle and warm at the same time, just like him. You found yourself wanting to hear more of it.

Mando’s hands traveled south once again and then he was spreading your lips, totally messy and wet. “Dank Farrik mesh’la look at you.” And you looked. The helmet, well-polished, silver beskar. His position between your legs wasn’t unintentional. You looked at your cunt at display, his large fingers caressing it like it was the most precious thing in the galaxy. You felt embarrassed and your first reflex was to close your legs. But he wasn’t having it.

“Mando, you’re shameless!” His strong hands didn’t let you close your legs but he spread them further. And when he had you like that, his fingers collected your slick determined to finally taste you. You could hear how he sinfully licked every finger and a more sinful, hoarse moan. You’d never hear him make a sound like that and it turned you to putty.

“Your cunt tastes as delicious as it looks.” Now, that was shameless. Who had imagined the reserved, soft-spoken Mandalorian had such a filthy tongue? His fingers were toying with your clit while he explored your hole with the other hand. Pleasure was filling every cell of your body and tiny moans were scaping more frequently from your lips, more aroused every second you looked at his movements reflected on the beskar surface.

“I’d love to taste you too Mando.” You teased grinding your hips on his cock, provoking a delicious sound from him.

“Another time mesh’la, I’m taking care of you today.” His voice was thick with drunkenness and desire and you couldn’t get enough of it. Then a perfect place stroke made you arch against him, leaving your neck at display for him. That delicious-looking skin was calling for him. A sharp bite startled you, provoking a loud moan from you. Even though he had removed his helmet, you didn’t expect him to use his lips on you. It looked like he was sporting a mustache and facial hair. Somewhat, it fitted the mental image you had of him and you siled internally. He continued sucking and biting all over your shoulders and neck, taking his time in your pulse point and you were a panting mess between his thighs, at this point, your slick even pooling on the floor.

His pace on your pussy was faster now, and you could feel and see how his fingers were knuckles deep in your insides, curved toward that delicious spot you could only reach with toys but he easily achieved to stroke. Dank Farrink, he did know your body. You realized he had to be paying more attention than you thought during your intercourses and that somehow made you hornier.

“Mando, I’m not gonna last much more…” Your voice was small, all your cheekiness from behind gone. You felt raw.

“That beautiful cunt’s gonna cum? Lemme see it mesh’la, give it to me.” Mando slurred as worked up and drunk as you. His words sent electricity directly to your pussy and your walls clenched against his fingers. “Kriff your body is amazing…you’re amazing.” His movements over your clit were now frantic and your vision started to blur. You succumbed to the sensation letting it hit you and then you were cuming all over Mando’s tan fingers with a loud cry of pleasure. He kept touching you until you shivered from overstimulation, dragging his fingers slowly from your puffy entrance. The vision was totally sinful. He started drawing lazy circles around your lips, caressing them. Your breath was still heavy while you came down from your high.

“Mando that was…” You didn’t have words for what had just happened.

“Do you feel better now cyar’ika?” His voice was soft again, even sleepy.

“Yeah, thank you for…taking care of me.” The alcohol and your orgasm were making your body drowsy, and you let yourself sink into his arms.

“Anytime.” He then kissed the point where your shoulder met your neck, something he hadn’t done before. You shivered at the sensation of his facial hair against your own skin and couldn’t help but smile fondly. In his odd way, he was sharing this private part of him with you and surprisingly your heart fluttered at the idea. He started then to drag his nose caressing your shoulder, it felt prominent, his mustache provoking goosebumps. You relished in his tenderness and at that moment you didn’t care anymore that this felt too intimate, wondering how it’d feel to kiss him. It was probably the spotchka why you were indulging in these thoughts and the reason you sighed like a teenager when his cheek leaned on yours. Probably tomorrow everything would be back to normal when both of you were sober, but for now, you’d let yourself enjoy how it felt to be taken care of by The Mandalorian.

[nihilnovisubsole]

phew! finally a weekend where i can set aside enough time to type up The Promised Endwalker Stream-of-Consciousness Post. i finished the base story... a month ago? but work has been busy, and i think tumblr benefits from me being quiet sometimes. anyway, what a ride. when you've been building up to the end of your arc for a decade, you want to hit it like an earthquake, and that's exactly what they did.

i think people love endwalker because it fires on all cylinders. it returns - in both story and vision - to the eorzea we love, and the dev team gets to show off everything they've learned. the dungeons and boss fights are dynamic and imaginative and colorful and bring the game's epic sense of scope to bear. the story callbacks are juicy. the music is orchestral again. we're back home, and we're saving the galaxy. what's better than this?

i love that we go to garlemald. i don't - i mean, you know, i don't like garlemald. i shouldn't have to qualify that. but it's hugely narratively satisfying to see the face of the enemy we've been fighting since the first few hours of ARR. you don't think about them when you're beating them up in castrum centri or ala mhigo. they're star wars bad guys. then you meet them on their own turf. you observe firsthand how they starve and cannibalize their own people to feed their obsession with state power and military strength. the wintry environment makes it seem all the more barren and desperate. my favorite part by far. i wish we'd spent more time there.

actually, on that note:

there is an argument that endwalker should've been two expacs. i've heard similar about stormblood - ala mhigo should've been the whole thing, and doma should've been either patch content or an expac of its own. the prevailing theory is that, after ARR, the devs are afraid of letting arcs run long. i can't speak to that, but i wouldn't have minded, that's for sure!

i won't pretend not to be biased. i've noted in many xiv posts that it hurries through its political plots to get to the magic stuff. i felt more conscious of it in heavensward and especially in stormblood. i made peace with it in endwalker. with dessert this good, who am i to complain? i can do small character drama on my own time. for now, the game wants royce to be a big damn shonen hero, and that can be fun, too.

speaking of characters, urianger and estinien have grown on me. this is the arc where, for me at least, the scions have congealed. they're all good, but with any large cast and custom player character, you tend to form the meatiest bonds with a few specific ones. i think royce appreciates urianger's cooler, more mature head. they're both so formal. he realizes she's someone he can confide in. i think she sees estinien as a gifted, but hotheaded whelp, which i find very funny. patience, child. stop sulking. do your breathing drills.

i love thancred's MGS sequence and in from the cold too. they're stressful, but i love that the team tried, you know what i mean? the fact that you can fight enemies in a pinch makes those duties way more bearable than some other games that experiment with stealth.

in from the cold as a whole, honestly. If You Know, You Know

all right, i can't avoid referencing spoilers anymore, sorry. there's a sense of classical tragedy to the whole elpis sequence. it's like watching macbeth or hamlet. you know how it's going to end, and you know you're powerless to stop it, but if they'd just made that different choice! but we had to leave eden. the warrior of light had to end up where they are to finish what elpis started. i don't do fate/destiny plots, but this? i'll take it.

i also knew what would happen going into ultima thule and still came away from it moved. it's strong writing. that's all there is to it. sure, the visuals are haunting, but the dialogue has to sell a gauntlet of difficult character moments, and it pulls it off. on the design side, there's some interesting intentional friction that forces you to linger in the zone and sit with its sense of despair. that part where you have to search the empty park for signs of life? oof

with the majority of the MSQ under my belt, i started sniffing around for what else there is to do ingame. i tried ninja. did terribly. i tried sage. did terribly too, but at least that gave me access to the healer role quests, which, ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). the nier raids are gorgeous. i even did the controversial werlyt quests, and terncliff is so cute. i kind of wish we could have another story there!

what's next? i dunno! right now i'm burning through the hildibrand quests before i continue on with endwalker's patch story. the field operation stuff seems interesting to do after the MSQ, in a "hey, you saved the world, but we have more missions for you" way. i've also contracted Triple Triad Collector Disease, so that'll keep me busy for a long time.

all right. one last thing. Real Gamer Moments: i was in a mount-farming party recently, and i said that i sort of collected mounts, but only used the ishgardian chocobo. it's a roleplay thing - it's the chocobo royce took when she ran away from ishgard. one of the party members said "haurchefant would be proud of you." AUGH

[creatingblackcharacters]

Howdy!! :]

I’M A RAMBLER I’M SORRY FOR THE LONG ASK

I’m a white small beginner artist. Due to being rather inexperienced still, I seem to have a bit of a problem when designing human characters- they all look super similar. While I am working on this, I have just started working on Black hair and traits and trying to branch out and avoid painting white-styled characters darker skin tones. It was seeing your blog that finally got me motivated to try and make Black characters with intent! (Thank you- I know you get that a lot lol)

I’m mostly asking for tips/additional resources. I haven’t finished all your lessons, but I have read a few and your page pops up on my For You a good bit. I should add that I also have anxiety and am overthinking this message as I write it!! My bad.i think that probably fuels some of my reluctance to experiment with designs- I don’t want to be offensive! However, that doesn’t give me an excuse. Tell me truthfully haha okay I don’t want to edit this message anymore let’s get to the point

Here they are! These won’t be my only black characters obviously, but they will be the first to be made with *more* intent. While I want tips on hair style and design, I would appreciate tips on how to avoid leaning into stereotypical tropes!

In the reddish and black outline we have… I don’t think I gave her a name yet. She’s brand new. (But less new than the newer guy.) She’s part of a space crew and she’s an official Protection Agent. Her job is to make sure all the colonies are safe and all cargo arrives. She’s a trained hand-to-hand combat fighter and her parents were well-off (but not rich!) in her home colony. She is an only child, asexual and had active parents. Her uncle was also in the protection corps and got her interested in it. - I’m worried about her leaning into the Strong Black Woman stereotype!

In the blue outline we have another new, unnamed character! He’s transgender and gay, lives on a ranch, and is anxious and jumpy. His parents were supportive, but you not all ‘rosy super happy never any problem unsolved.’ He’s gotta do ranch work but likes a an expressive styling. His boyfriend is also Black and is currently in the city working as a loctian. (Did I spell that right?) He may or may not have a physical disability, depending on research.

In the pinkish outline, we have George Burns Blindsight. It was born male and currently uses it/its or no pronouns. At the beginning of its story it still used masculine pronouns, and I would like to reflect the change in design. His parents deeply despised magic and when George and his oldest brother were found with it they were kept locked up- half in fear that their divine heritage would prove them dangerous to society and endanger the family and half in anger over George’s grandfathers betrayal to the family’s throne. Bad fathers/parents are super common in his universe though and literally any race you find will show you that- it’s not an exclusive to Black fathers.

In the green outline we have Rebellion of the Cool-Blood Bloodline, Jr. Her father was not a good guy, but a standard (not doting, not neglectful) father. Rebellion’s older siblings remember him pretty fondly, but he ‘died’ a little after Rebellion born. (He’s actually trapped in astral projection and technically not dead.) She’s typically an imp, but for certain missions may have to use her shapeshifting abilities to appear human. (I don’t think her current human design represents her regular design well.) She’s got a bit of sass to her, will not hesitate to tell you off. She cares about her circle and job, and sometimes the stress of being a mother to two, a widow (one of her two wives died due to a long-term disease) and a council member may make her snappy. She’s got her flaws (both in design and in-character) but is generally a prideful and cheerful person. I fear she might lean into both the Strong Black Woman and Mammy stereotypes- I should note she is the MC’s best friend.

that’s it sorry for the hassle!!

Sorry for taking so long to answer. I have to admit, and I've not got all my spoons rn but I'll address what I can.

"Loctician".

As I have expressed before, the stereotype doesn't (always) come from the description of the character or their situation, but in how they and their story are written. Black women characters can be strong and protective, that doesn't automatically make them the Strong Black Woman and Mammy stereotype. Her picking up all the pieces and doing everything for everybody (especially white characters) and no one (herself, the other characters, nor the narrative) questions that that's her role for the story and that's all, is what would make it that stereotype. Does she have her own motivations and goals? Does anyone take care of her? Is it deemed a problem when she isn't giving of herself? Giving your Black characters an inner life is what helps lean away from Stereotypes- you have to write.

I would suggest going back into the stereotype lessons again and reviewing the links within them. It helps to know why these are stereotypes, because once you do, you can use that to inform your decision making process while writing. If you don't know why something is a stereotype, you won't be able to spot it in its numerous forms. Hope this helps!

[littlewestern]

Guadalcanal looks a little like the 1940s-era superhero Sparky Watts, as created by Boody Rogers. Idk if this was intentional or not but they seem to have a similar "can-do" personality bordering on the absurd in different ways

I'd never heard of this character! But it's the right time period so I was excited to look him up.

...My god, it's uncanny.

There's a few things going on here, and it's a fun opportunity to talk about the design process, which I'm always happy to explore.

So when I first started working on Guadalcanal, I was immediately drawn to the little detail that he had one gun for defense purposes. It's almost silly, right? This big, imposing aircraft carrier who can't really defend himself at all and has to rely on the destroyer escort, but still carries around a tiny ladypistol "just in case". For that reason, my primary visual inspiration is, no joke:

Doctor The Meme himself from Gundam X. The wiki tells me his name is 'Techcs Farzenberg' which is an absolutely top-tier white-people-in-anime name.

Gonna be honest, I'm mad I didn't look up more pics of this guy before. Now This Is Fucking Character Design.

But he's a little old, right? And that hair just won't do. And I like how serious the glasses make him look, but I need a little more charm. A big boat needs to be the kind of character little boats will want to follow and defend. So we have a basic idea (as silly as it is) but we need to fill out the details.

I'm big on drawing design inspiration from old photos. Not only is this a great way to draw period-accurate outfits, but it also helps with designing more realistic faces. I find that when I draw inspiration from photos and real people, my characters feel more realistic, like people you could actually meet somewhere instead of just lines on a page. So I googled up "wwii navy men stock images" and clicked around.

Oh yeah, this is great stuff. His glasses dovetail nicely with our bespectacled non-combatant idea, and this lad's hair is much more indicative of the time period we're trying to portray. From this guy I pulled the hairstyle and reaffirmed that my decision to give Guadalcanal glasses was the right one. This guy just looks so approachable, and I want that for my character as well. If this is your great-grandpa, congrats, he lives in my head rent-free.

Now to put the finishing touches on him. I bulked him up a lot to give that air of importance and authority, and softened his facial features out to make him even more friendly-looking. His face - particularly his nose and mouth - are heavily inspired by an ex-boyfriend of mine (who I won't show here for obvious reasons lol). I think most designers can't help but draw inspiration from the people around them, so we might as well lean into it. I love the way my lived experiences can be reflected in my work. Now we can put it all together!

The one on the left was the first-pass design and the one on the right was a redraw after some tweaks and a bit of practice. You can tell I struggled with the hair and just phoned it in, but that's what first-passes are for. There's a reason I never posted the first design, lol. The second one I prettied him up a bit and broadened all of his features, focusing on his nose and the ratio of negative space around his eyes and mouth. I think this gives him a more mature look without aging him too much, since we still want him to look young enough to excuse his youthful arrogance. I figured out the hair as well, which was helpful!

"But why does he look so much like Sparky, then?" You might ask. This is a fun example of 'convergent evolution' - where two artists come up with the same result based on different approaches! A thing that's important to note about Sparky is that he was originally designed as a send-up or parody of superhero comics of the time. This informs a lot of decisions about his design.

Sparky has superhuman strength, speed, and toughness. Sound familiar?

But of course, you don't want to step on a copyright holder's toes. And you want comic book buyers to know they're buying a Sparky Watts comic and not a Superman one. Being a parody gives the artist a lot of outs here, ways to make Sparky visually distinct while still poking fun at the types of superheroes the audience is more familiar with.

Where Superman sheds his Clark Kent glasses that make him unassuming and approachable, Sparky keeps them on all the time. Superman has tousled black hair and a costume with his symbol on the front, where Sparky has neatly-parted blonde hair and a normal collegiate outfit that distinguishes him only by way of saying that he's completely ordinary. You can see, then, how they arrived at his design. By making him *different from Superman* they made him the same as Guadalcanal. That's okay, they didn't know. ;^)

Thanks for the ask!

[cupidthewriter]

Emerel: The Virtue of Patience (NNT OC Breakdown)

🧪❄️

Emerel is a dedicated scientist and the Butterfly virtue of patience. He is the adopted son of Holy Knight Jericho. He is the fourth person to join the Virtues.

Emerel is roughly Tristan’s age. Around when Tristan and Lance would’ve been a year old, Jericho found Emerel on the streets of Ravens. He had a high fever and no one was left to take care of him, so Jericho took him home. She adopted him after learning his family had passed away.

Emerel was named for his “emerald eyes,” which are made even bigger by his round spectacles. Emerel is regarded as a very attractive young man and has a few admirers, though he never recognizes their intentions.

He was very close with his mother growing up, until she started leaving to watch Lance more often. He knows Lancelot well, and they’ve sparred a few times. Emerel lost every time. He’s not very good with a sword, honestly.

The upstairs area of his home is his bedroom and also his laboratory. Do not enter unless invited, because there is always an experiment happening in there and he’s worried other people will mess them up.

When he was an early teen, he developed ice magic like his mother— though being “ice” is really the only thing their magic has in common.

Recent Concept Art

Emerel lives in Liones, usually alone because his mother is gone most of the time looking after Lance. He’s very self sufficient by then, but grows to resent the situation. He misunderstands Jericho’s obsession, assuming she would rather have Lance as her son. Him being adopted only makes him feel more sure of it. He doesn’t dislike Lance for this, the resent is purely towards Jericho.

Emerel’s ability actually functions as a Paralysis inducer. His ice spreads quick and thin, and whatever part of your body it touches will be numb and useless until it wears off.

Emerel will get a boyfriend. It’s actually Junior’s guard, Crispin. Crispin is very curious about the human world and Emerel is ready to answer every question he has. He feels like people get annoyed when he goes off on scientific tangents, but Crispin only ever listens and asks questions.

Despite being primarily motivated by discovery and science, Emerel is very aware of the limits he should go to. On the surface his motivations seem similar to Merlin’s— except that Emerel knows what is too far. He will not make the mistakes of his elders. He will be searching for a way to live longer, so that Crispin will not be alone.

He is named “Patience” for a reason. Emerel is excitable but he’s got the longest fuse of the group. It takes a lot to make Emerel go into a rage, and it’s better that he doesn’t. His ability will not work unless he’s calm.

His weapon (not designed yet) is two gauntlets that allow his magic to work through them. They’re mostly for up close physical fighting.

The reason he was given Patience though— during his early teens there was an outbreak of bad fever among many of the adults, making it hard for many people to work and produce items for trade. Emerel waited awake for several days and nights to finish a remedy for the fever that was very difficult to brew.

Refined concept art of Emerel and his tattoo

Like the rest, Emerel’s plot is relatively undecided but I want to explore his resentment towards his mother and the weird dynamic for him and Lance that would come with that. Also I wanted him to be friends with Tristan but I really don’t know how to make that happen.

The patience virtue is illustrated with a butterfly because of the process of their development— you have to wait for them to be ready. If you try to make it move faster you’ll only damage the butterfly.

The Masterlist will contain links to the other Virtues!

[bookswithsyd]

The Perfect Mix of Degen and Adorable | My Dress Up Darling

So have you ever wanted to watch something that was so wholesome you wish you could experience it, and then in the same breath, it turns into something that would make you slam your laptop shut if someone walked in the room? Well today, we might be looking at the perfect anime for you!

My Dress Up Darling is one of my most recently finished anime and it acted as a cleanse between watching Game of Thrones: House of the Dragons and Oshi no Ko. I needed a sweet slice-of-life between two intense shows, and I had this anime on my planning for months, so it was the obvious choice.

What you need to know

Before diving into the show, I knew that cosplay was the main focus and that the relationship between the main boy and girl had great development.

A short synopsis of season 1 is that two high school students find out about each other’s hidden passion. One being crafting hina dolls, and the other being cosplaying her favorite degenerate characters.

After joining forces to create a handcrafted cosplay, Gojo and Marin become friends while struggling through the cosplay-making process. The journey to the first outfit is filled with fumbling and a lot of blushing.

Instead of going the route of the girl putting herself in compromising positions and the guy taking advantage of her, we see Gojo struggling to get out of these risque situations that Marin has put him in. The whole thing is very sweet, the innocent relationship between them feels refreshing to watch.

When described so bare bones, someone who hasn’t watched the show might wonder where my title is coming from. Well, from episode one, the show is filled with scene upon scene of Gojo being put into an awkward position because of Marin’s obliviousness. The second-hand embarrassment can be felt through the screen watching these episodes because Marin will just start stripping her clothes to change into a cosplay she wants to show off, or strip off her clothes only to display a bathing suit because her measurements need to be taken, or ask to help be stripped because it’s so hot her boobs are gonna pop out of her boob bag! All of these things are never done with sexual intent behind them, but boy does that not matter to poor Gojo, who is a blushing mess each time this happens and tries to adjust to the situation.

Scenes might be awkward to watch because of Marin’s airheaded moments, but they are always funny, there is never a moment where the viewer will get uncomfortable because the scene is taking a weird turn. The dynamic between the two always stays very light-hearted throughout most of the show.

My Thoughts on the Anime

This anime was one that I wanted to get into since I saw the covers of the manga. The art style and colors on the cover really grabbed me and I thought Marin’s design was so beautiful, it took a lot longer to finally watch the anime than intended, but I am really happy that I got to that point without any spoilers.

I love cosplay, so this show really focusing on crafting the cosplay outfits and showcasing Marin’s passion for wanting to become her favorite characters made this show a joy to watch. The whole first season was so well crafted that I really want to see what’s in store for season 2.

Between Gojo’s passion for creating clothing and Marin’s passion for cosplaying, these two are the perfect match. The pacing is perfect, instead of either character wanting to jump into anything more than friendship, we get to see them become close as friends and get to know each other. Their feelings seem to develop naturally and it is actually believable.

Who would I recommend this anime to?

I would recommend it to anyone who wants to watch a show that you can make fun of. Each episode has moments that will have you laughing because of the blatant sexual framing of the characters and Gojo's struggle to not have a breakdown. There are really sweet moments throughout the show, Gojo helps not only Marin, but others who want to upgrade their cosplay outfits. By the end, the main group shows that no matter what social circle you are in, if you have a common interest, it can bring people together.

It's just the perfect blend of wholesome friendships sprinkled in with glimpses of degeneracy.

[ganymedesclock]

Hello! I hope your week has been kind to you. May I inquire of your thoughts about IDW Eggman written by Ian Flynn? I noticed his reference in one of your posts, and i would like to know how you feel about the direction Ian is taking the Sonic characters in in the Sonic franchise. I would also like to know what you think about Surge and Kit, the product of Dr. Starline's unethical experimentations. Mimic, the traitorous mercenary as well if you don't mind. Remind yourself to eat your meals regularly and to maintain a limber body!

I admittedly haven't gotten to sink my teeth in IDW- I'm currently following through @thankskenpenders' take on archie which I would like to finish before I start that. What I have seen is promising, but I don't consider myself educated to speak on those characters. I think Surge, Kit, and Mimic have very fun designs and seem to have a lot of potential, and I love the way the former two (and Starline himself) are nods to classic glitches.

As far as IDW Eggman, as I've said, I'm very interested in what Flynn and Stanley do with him! They're definitely a bit darker than I've always liked my take on Eggman- my formative Sonic game was Sonic Adventure 2, which featured Eggman as a protagonist in his own right, albeit a "dark" one. I've always liked the idea of him as half-honorable, and it's a balancing act to frame that with just how brutal and ruthless he can be. But I've grown to be fond of that- I think half-honorability stands out a little more when the other half is that... coldly efficient.

As I said in the post, I think it's interesting to take Eggman as someone who may have had noble intentions as a 'fixer' once but who's gone a good few strides further than that. In a warped way, he always 'helps'- but you may not appreciate his help. I think that plays well with him as a manipulator and a trickster who tends to play people against each other for his own profit and amusement- if he's always harmless or always terrifying that's a potentially fine character (there's much I like about SatAM Robotnik after all!) but it doesn't really hit me as Eggman in the same way.

Almost everything I've gleaned secondhand about the Mr. Tinker arc is fascinating to me because of that. Especially the way Sonic confronts Eggman afterwards, and makes it clear he isn't opposed to Eggman regaining his memory (Sonic is not someone who likes to take power or options away from even his worst enemies) but upset that Eggman threw away everything he had as Mr. Tinker, to which Eggman replies, almost wistfully, that that kind of life was "peaceful"- but he's got bigger fish to fry.

As I said in a previous post, at the end of the day, Eggman's meant a lot of things to a lot of people, and while I'll always have my own takes on the Sonic cast, the biggest thing I can hope for is that new versions of the story will experiment further. That willingness to try new things boldly is, in my opinion, one of the things that's kept the Sonic franchise as youthfully full of vitality as it is. I can't really find it in my heart to hate any version of Eggman- they've all got something going for them, from the silly to the horrifying to the aforementioned half-honorable to the completely vile.

[matrioshka]

I played through the pixel remasters! Here’s my ranking

A little prelude - while I have some interest in RPG systems and have tried to get into JRPGs many times, I’ve rarely finished these games start to finish. I get annoyed pretty easily by a lot of the things I’m sure you’ve heard brought up before and I’m easily overwhelmed by progression systems.

This list might seem a bit weird but it’s purely based on my subjective experience with the games - I probably didn’t appreciate story moments much if I was feeling generally frustrated with game, and I might feel differently if I ever go back and play them again.

2 > 1 > 6 > 5 > 3 > 4

FF1 

I ended up enjoying this game a lot. You get a really good sense of progression (probably because the PR plays a lot faster than the famicom version? 30 hours of gametime cut down to 10 hours makes the game feel pretty tight!). So many different modes of transportation, and you unlock them at a pretty steady pace. I like how the world opens up, and getting a boat or creating a new canal to sail out of feels a lot cooler than finding a key or something. Some things were a bit rough starting out - I don’t really like how debuffs work in these games, and when you use them and they don’t work it’s not really clear why, whether you got unlucky or the target is immune. I don’t think the combat is ever really engaging on its own, and the dungeon crawling is this odd mix of being grueling and also kind of trivial with quick saves. It’s mostly overarching progression that’s fun. 

The story was something I ended up enjoying a lot - it feels really creative and ambitious. A lot of the story beats I can imagine being little D&D adventures, you know, but there are some moments that really stood out to me. A kid in a town says they saw a meteor land in a waterfall. You go to cave behind the waterfall and find a broken down robot. Later, you go to the hidden city in the sky and realize this is where it fell from! It’s really cool foreshadowing while being evocative. This one moment and revelation has stood out to me more than any other moment in these 6 games and I’m not completely sure why. Maybe I ended up getting a lot out of the storytelling with this game because I chose to view everything through the lens of it being an NES game, but that’s me!

FF2 

This game has really stuck with me. It’s been a year since I started playing these games and I still like thinking about it, and when I finished the game I wanted to talk about it with everyone I could. The story landed with me like none of the games after really did - you get this really profound sense of sacrifice and loss running through the whole game. Every tragic moment is executed really well, especially considering that this being made for the same system as 1. I think it’s partially because of the text limitation that gives the game a sense of restraint and focus, but talking to a child who was waiting for their town hero to come back and seeing them realize that he never will hit me really hard. The rotating party member mechanic ended up working great throughout the game and I like how the designers were intentional with how each party member was designed - Minwu is a great character to have at the beginning, as a powerful support character that will make fighting a lot easier without killing everything for you. Gordon, however, as a character struggling with his courage and living up to his brother, is kind of dead weight when you first get him. 

Like the first game, I might have enjoyed this game’s story more because of how I engaged with it. The gameplay, battle to battle, is not any more fun than FF1, but I enjoyed the sense of customization and growth. Casting spells feels better because even when they miss you know you’re getting better with them and it doesn’t seem like a wasted turn. When I ended the game I had a lot of ideas about how I might have set up the characters differently, which is a good feeling. Also, there was a moment in the game I found really funny - you find these random, empty ‘trap’ rooms throughout a bunch of the game’s dungeons. Late into the game, you go to the dragoon castle, which has no random encounters, and it also has these random empty rooms. It feels like a gag? I don’t know.

FF3

I really enjoyed the scale of this game. The sense of progression is great, and I loved exploring all of the initial island bit by bit before revealing the wider world. This game has fun story moments, and the cutscenes are definitely more animated. The overarching adventure didn’t end up really sticking with me - maybe I would appreciate it more if I revisited the game, but not many of the emotional beats landed. (One of my favorite moments was finding the retired Dark Knight town, which is really sad and kind of sweet in concept and is a really good example of Final Fantasy’s charm).

The class system is neat, but my favorite thing about it is that the class designs are visually very cute. I don’t know if I actually enjoyed playing around with it all that much in practice - I would get used to it as the games went on but I didn’t like rearranging my characters over and over again and I didn’t feel a desire to experiment more than necessary. This is a weird case where I think I enjoyed the previous games’ gameplay more because I had to think about it less, which doesn’t seem like a good trait for a game to have!

FF4 

I really don’t like the ATB system, and this kind of spoils the rest of the SNES games. My experience with it is harshest in 4 because it was my first time with it, which is probably unfair to this particular game. But it gave combat a really odd and unsatisfying feeling, where there are moments where the system rushes you and moments where you’re waiting for things to happen, and the way the system interacts with the combat animations gives everything a start-and-stop pacing. The thing I like the least about the combat in these games is the general combat speed (how long it takes to go through a turn of combat, the animation speed for each character, etc) and 4 makes it a lot worse.

This game has some great setpieces and story moments. The way characters move around gives all of the cutscenes a lot of energy, it’s very fun. The story didn’t end up resonating with me very much - the storyline you have with Cecil, as well as similar arcs in 6, feel to me like the most simple version of this kind of “morally complex” character arc. There’s a feeling I get when I play certain games or watch certain shows where I think, this would seem really deep and revelatory if I was a teenager. Sometimes that feeling is endearing, sometimes it’s not! I enjoyed the presentation a lot, there was a lot of fun spectacle, but it didn’t leave any kind of impression on me.

FF5 

I liked the story in this one more. There seems to be a pretty big benefit to the restrained party size - lots of variety in gameplay, but characters get more time to develop interconnected bonds over the course of the entire game rather than have that development spread out. And each character gets a lot of their own emotional beats. (The moment where Faris’ dragon dies really hits hard. Really good presentation, it keeps getting better!) I don’t think any of the characters are all that complex but I liked spending so much time with them. None of the funny moments did anything for me but I think this game more or less strikes a pretty good tone. The overarching story gets less interesting to me as it goes along, though.

A big problem I had with these games, particular 4 onward, is that the process of trial and error is kind of broken. I don’t necessarily think it’s bad to have to try things out in order to discover what works, but these games are kind of bad at making it clear when you’ve made an error and when you’ve done something that works. Did I miss or is the boss immune to this? Does the boss just attack a lot or is it counterattacking, and if so, does that mean I’m meant to find some other way to hurt it or do I just push through the damage? The liquid flame boss was super egregious to me because I repeatedly came to the wrong conclusion about how the boss works due to the shifting mechanic. In most of these fights there is *a* logic to how the boss works, you only feel that logic in retrospect - it’s not like acting on your intuition or trying to apply real-world logic is going to work in most cases, so the moments where it’s necessary feel more like point & click puzzles than creative combat challenges. 

This is really weird, right? I enjoyed the gameplay in 1 & 2 way more than this game even though they’re infinitely less complex, and in retrospect the reason why I enjoyed them more than this game is that it was much harder to get confused by bosses with no mechanics.

The class mechanics were fun. I played around with it a lot more than I did with 3.

FF6

Really good presentation! I’d played a bit of chrono trigger before starting this one and so I couldn’t help but compare, and this is not nearly as well put together visually or in terms of spectacle, but it’s still fun. The first half of the game feels almost like a (kind of random?) collection of fun scenarios and set pieces connected by cave crawls. The humor still didn’t do anything for me but the story has a nice mix of goofy stuff and serious plot - out of all of these games it feels like the first game to successfully emulate the feeling of a fun adventure comic or cartoon aimed at teens, and it reminds me a lot of the kind of games that I got really into as a teenager.

By this point I’d come to terms a bit more with ATB. After 6 games though I can’t say I’ve come to a point where I enjoy the combat - it’s mostly something I push through in stride. The progression is fun - I don’t know how I feel about espers and I’m kind of glad I only realized how the stat boosts worked until the second half of the game because I would have wasted a lot of time on it earlier if I knew I could have been optimizing it. My biggest revelation by far though was that, rather than me not understanding how the class mechanics work, most of them are actually just useless and I can just ignore them. It’s odd because there are definitely times where the game definitely, definitely does want you to use them (like with Celes’ runic ability), and it seems to make sense that if there’s a unique action to a character that must be key to how you use them, right? I don’t know.

Overall, I feel good having played these games. I’ve heard a lot about them over the years - I can’t say I’ve gone into them blind, even though I tried to take each game on their own terms. As much as I’ve complained here, I have to say that I’ve played a bit of 7, 9, 10, 13, and 15, and I even mentioned Chrono Trigger - but I haven’t beaten any of those games! There’s something about these ones that made me want to see them through. They're special!

[branwyn-says]

For the last two years I've been marking the passage of time with an embroidery calendar. I try to come up with images that represent the dominant event or experience or mood of the month, so I can easily look back and remember the whole year---not every miserable detail, but at least one beautiful thing per month that was more important than the petty and less petty anxieties that generally bedevil my existence.

January - Snowflakes. It snowed a lot in Baltimore last January. I turned 40 and had some panic attacks, which were soothed by looking at the snow.

February - Babette's Feast. Mine and my girlfriend's anniversary is Valentines Day. Emulating Babette, the chef from my favorite movie, I made a formal 7 course French dinner for us both.

March - Lady Bigfoot. My girlfriend's nickname is Bigfoot and March is her birthday month.

April and May - Flower Person Emerging from Flowers. In the spring I watched a ton of painting and drawing tutorials on youtube to level up my embroidery design, which was when I came up with the Flower People, as pictured in that van Gogh embroidery I posted awhile back.

June - Beach. I joined my girlfriend's family on their annual beach vacation for the first time.

July - the USS Enterprise. I watched anton of Trek and wrote most of Ship's Night that month.

August - Mina. I thought my beloved cat was really sick for about a week. She was okay, but I needed to make art to help me process. I'm very proud of this piece, the likeness to Mina is really good.

September - Ikea Goat. I spent a week in New Jersey helping my gf settle in to her new place and she fell in love with an embroidered goat cushion.

October - Pink string lights garlanding a window. Just as I finished decorating for Halloween our landlord started pulling shenanigans and we thought we would have to move before the end of the year. The teen and I comforted ourselves by clinging even harder to the beautiful cozy space we'd created to welcome fall.

November - Basket weave with ribbon. I saw my parents for the first time in many years and a lot of reconciliation happened. My mom gave me a bunch of her basket collection and I in turn passed some of them onto my girlfriend's mom and aunts.

December- Babette's Fancy Diner neon sign at night in the snow. I started a Substack newsletter after years of intention and months of planning.

[projectastray]

August Q&A with Questions from Patreon!!

hello hello & welcome to the

🎆 PROJECT ASTRAY QUESTION & ANSWER EXTRAVAGANZA : AUGUST EDITION 🎆

i asked my patreon discord for questions about project astray's development and, given the limited amount of info out there about the game (intentional), i was curious to see what kind of curiosities folks would have!

and now i'll share those here, too! enjoy~

Q from Raccoon:

Q: What was the kind of original idea for Project Astray, like how did you come up with the main idea?

A: This is gonna start way off target, but: Back when I was working at ArenaNet on Guild Wars 2, I designed a story quest that involved a sort of passive stealth system where you were invisible at all times to enemies, unless you wanted to interact with something, in which case you revealed yourself. I thought it was a fun way to solve the 'challenge' problem with stealth in an MMO, where there weren't real systems in place to do stealth that felt 'fun' in a traditional stealth game sense... but still let you feel sneaky. So it became an order of operations problem: if I open this gate with a switch, there's an enemy looking my way, so I have to knock them out... but another enemy is looking at THEM, so I have to wait for them to turn their back, knock them out too, then the way is clear to open the gate.

Anyway that was a fun little mission, but years and years later I still looked back on that design process fondly. I was also starting to think about thematic material for a 2nd game project after ESC... and I kept brainstorming various systems ideas for games centered around my experiences with social anxiety & social stealth. And so I thought that would be a fun idea to explore.

The actual systems that have come out of that initial spark of an idea are very different, but you can probably see some of the origins in there once I reveal the full game's mechanics.

Qs from Nicola:

Q: Are you composing all the music 100% yourself or are you collaborating with someone else one a song or two?

A: Mostly, yes! It's what I'd probably call at 99% me game, where I'm leaving room for possible collaboration or assistance if it sounds fun, but the vast majority of the music will be all me. Naturally! I do have one or two possible collaborations, though, which I'll think more about once I'm in the music phase of development.

Q: Are you still spending time on coding the core mechanics or have you already finished those for the most part, and are starting to assemble the game more? (Iirc in the last update you wrote about working on combat mechanics, so kind of related on its progress)

A: The core mechanics are about 75% there! Everything is in a place now where I can primarily build out content, and the remaining 25% is all stuff that is coming from any time I can't do something specifically as I'd like to, in which case I have to start adding more scripts or actions to enable me to do more with the systems. But the core is solid! I'm still on track to get 'chapter 1' fully realised this year, which is exciting.

Q: What kind of Ashtray is this? Is it a plain metal one, maybe a colored glass one, or a decorated painted ceramic one? (I think you've written something about the working name of the project, but I can't remember what exactly and where.)

A: One of those really old ones with the sort of bubbly glass texture, fully transparent, with a frosted crescent moon baked into the bottom of it.

In all seriousness, Astray!! Thematically it'll always feel relevant. Lots of things are astray in the game, its characters and setting. "Away from the correct path or direction". But who defines what is 'correct'? Where are they going? All important key words and concepts to think about.

As a bonus fun fact: the final game title also starts with 'A' but doesn't involve the word 'Astray'.

Qs from LaurentDS:

Q: what are things that you learned from your years of experience making music that helped you in the non music related aspects of Project Astray

A: Pacing, mostly. I always think of storytelling and gameplay and transitions in games in terms of the pace they take in a musical sense. What tempo is this all running on? How will it feel if it takes X seconds to happen, can I speed it up? Slow it down? Getting it all to feel right and 'in tempo' with itself is a really important part of design for me. And it also makes composition a lot easier, or even composition can help make finding the tempo easier. Because once it all meshes, nothing will (hopefully) feel out of place or rushed or sluggish.

Q: Your music and Project Astray are done in parallel. How do you juggle between those? Do you see it as a way to break artist block (work on one when you need a break from the other, etc)?

A: Yeah, absolutely. I still think of my music work as my 'main' job because it's for folks that have hired me for my time, so I always place a priority on that and fitting the development schedule. But when I do have a choice between game design work & music work, one absolutely helps me bounce back and forth if I'm feeling stuck in one area or the other.

Q: What has been the most fun aspect or detail of its development that you want to share?

A: Honestly, getting all the gameplay elements into a state where it's actually super fun to just sit down and play for a bit... There's still a lot of work to do, but seeing the possibilities now that it's in a state where you can play for a bit, it's so exciting to potentially get more friends in and testing it out so I can see how it feels for real people that aren't thinking about it every single day.

Qs from Jodie:

Q: what parts of Project Astray's development do you plan to share in things like teasers or update posts, if you choose to share anything? Will it be limited to character showcases and some screenshots or will we also get the occasional technical post if that interests you?

A: I'd love to delve into technical aspects once I am at a place where it makes sense to talk about those things!! Obviously not until I've revealed more about the game, but coding is a fun troubleshooting game that I'm always game to share anecdotes about.

Outside of that, yeah absolutely character showcases are among my next things to share... There's a lot to get into.

Q: Once it gets close to release, are you planning to release Project Astray as an early access title and release the game in chapters or do you plan to release it all once its 100% complete?

A: I definitely won't be doing early access. I don't think it plays well with a linear story game. The only early sort of thing I'm considering is doing a 'demo' of the 1st chapter before releasing the full game, but the timing & decision on that are pretty unknown until I get far enough along that I feel confident about it. And especially with a personal project that will be many years in the making, showing stuff earlier might help build excitement for the final thing. None of that is final, though, it's just me thinking out loud.

Qs from Aeris:

Q: What are your inspirations for the game's setting/world? And are there any aspects of magic/otherworldliness to the setting?

A: There's so much about this question that I can't quite share yet, but I will try to answer it without revealing everything: The sense of 'otherworldliness' is going to be very high. While there will be a concrete world to explore, not everything might seem logical or real. This has a lot to do with the setting itself. As a normal person in this world, things might change one day and leave you wondering if what you remembered is really true, or if it's always been like this. Time might suddenly advance with a gap in perception. You might dream of another state of existence, so real and tangible, and then wake up and go back to your usual routine. But there's a nagging in the periphery of your mind that it isn't right. That you were supposed to do something else. Our main characters have felt this deep down and have pushed past the instinctual drive to return to normalcy. They've chosen to EXIST, and whatever that might entail.

Q: also, not super important, but what engine are you using for the game?

A: GameMaker Studio!

Thanks so much to all my discord dreamers for their really thoughtful questions!! I had a lot of fun answering these, and hopefully they give you even more insight into the game at this early stage.

Until next time~

[justabooknerdposts]

Final Prompt Response - Home

Prompt 19: Annabeth with Ryder and Kira when they're little

*Great prompt, loved this idea, thanks!*

***

By the time they got back from the park, Annabeth was tired. But a good tired. Ryder had gone up and down the slide possibly literally a hundred times, then begged to go on the swings, so Annabeth had put Kira in a baby swing, plopped Ryder into the regular swing next to it, then pushed both of them while they shrieked happily, kicking their legs out at the bright blue sky. Annabeth had to laugh along with them, even as her arms started to get tired. They always did Saturdays in the park, usually as a family, but Percy was at his mom and Paul's today, helping them move in some new furniture. So Annabeth was on her own with both kids. She'd been a little worried it would be hard to keep track of Ryder while also watching Kira, but her son had done an impressive job of listening today, and it had been a great trip to the park.

When they got home, Annabeth put Kira in her baby swing, then got Ryder set up at the coffee table with crayons and a coloring book. Once they were settled, she headed into the kitchen to finish up some dishes and see about prepping something for dinner later. But she'd only been out there about ten minutes when Ryder called, "Mama!"

"What's up, baby?" Annabeth dried her hands off on a dish towel and went back into the living room. Kira was dozing in her swing, pacifier bobbing in her mouth. Ryder had moved his coloring book and crayons from the coffee table to the floor and was laying on his stomach. When his mother came out, he sat up with a bright smile, showing her the picture he'd drawn. It showed a swing set, with two scribbled shapes that he said were him and his sister. The other, slightly larger, scribble was Mommy pushing them on the swings. Annabeth pointed to another scribble in the corner, with a square leaning up against it. "What's that?"

"That's Daddy," Ryder said proudly. "He carrying a sofa."

Annabeth laughed, then kissed her son's forehead. "It's a great drawing, Ry. I love it."

He beamed at her. "Will you draw with me, Mama?"

Annabeth hesitated, thinking about the handful of dishes still sitting in the sink, the chicken that needed to be put in a marinade for dinner, the laundry in the washer that needed to be moved to the dryer, and the load in the dryer that first needed to be moved to a laundry basket and then folded. But looking down at Ryder's expectant face and bright eyes, she couldn't find it in herself to care much about the chores at the moment. "Of course."

After sneaking another glance at her daughter, who was still sleeping peacefully, Annabeth laid down on her stomach next to her son and grabbed a piece of paper and a crayon. "Alright, what are we drawing?"

"Aquarium!"

"Awesome. Let's design an amazing aquarium." She tickled his side and Ryder giggled before picking up his crayon and getting intently to work.

For a while, they laid on the floor, designing different fish tanks for the aquarium, then trying to join them together with hallways, slides, and climbing tubes like the ones at Chuck E. Cheese (or Hebe Jeebies, but Annabeth tried not to think about that particular experience). Ryder chattered to her while he colored and passed the paper over to her when there was something more complicated he wanted sketched; Annabeth obliged, smiling as she followed her son's very specific instructions for a slide that wound around a giant fish tank, "Like the one in Dory!" Ryder said.

As she passed the paper back to him and watched him get to work, focusing on colors and making coral with little fish dots around it, Annabeth was suddenly overwhelmed in the best way. This was her life right now. She had a family. They were hers.

She snuggled Ryder closer and kissed the top of his head. He allowed it for a moment, then wriggled free, telling her very seriously, "Mama, I's designing."

"My bad," Annabeth said with a grin, dropping another kiss into his blonde hair, still windswept from the slide and swings. She pushed herself up to her knees, then leaned over to where Kira was still sleeping in her swing, even though it was now still. Very softly, she kissed her daughter's forehead, brushing the baby's dark hair back just because she could. Then she scooted back down next to Ryder to help him with the trickier parts of his drawing. It was turning into quite the impressive aquarium. Her professional brain couldn't help calculating what the cost of a place like this would run; to build this aquarium in reality, he might need to call in some favors with his sea god grandpa. But for a Saturday drawing session, it was perfect.

That was how Percy found them half an hour later when he got home. Annabeth and Ryder had the aquarium laid out across half the living room floor, all the different levels connected by walkways and tunnels (and a few slides).

"Whoa," he said, walking in and looking with surprise at the floor. "This looks cool."

"Daddy!" Ryder scrambled up and threw his arms around his dad's legs. Percy picked him up, swinging him in the air and Ryder laughed before telling him, "We is making aquarium!"

"Awesome." Percy kissed his son's cheek, then set him down. "Want to show it to me?"

"Yes!" Ryder hurried back over to his drawings and started shuffling them around again, trying to figure out the one he wanted to show his dad first.

Meanwhile, Kira had woken up with a squeal when she heard Percy's voice and was smiling at him around her pacifier, holding her arms out. Percy grinned and scooped her up, nuzzling his nose against hers, which made the baby clap her hands and made Annabeth pretty much melt into a puddle.

Percy sat down cross-legged on the floor beside Annabeth, bouncing Kira on his knee. Kira spit out her pacifier in order to suck on her fist, cooing contentedly. Ryder appeared in front of them, holding up two different pages and giving a very detailed explanation about these particular tanks and the awesome twisty water slide connecting them.

While their son talked, Annabeth pushed herself into a sitting position and kissed Percy's cheek.

"Hey," he told her quietly, turning to meet her eyes while Ryder was once again shuffling through papers, deciding on the next one to show.

"Hey, yourself." Annabeth patted his knee, right below where their baby was balanced on it. "How'd it go at your parents'?"

"It was good." Percy bounced Kira, who waved her hands cheerfully, one covered in drool. "Although I think I'm going to be pretty sore tomorrow. I told Mom and Paul that next time, I will be happy to cover the cost for them to have the delivery that includes movers who actually carry the furniture up the stairs."

When Annabeth laughed, Percy grinned. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, then asked, "How was your day?"

"Great," Annabeth admitted, holding out her finger for their daughter to grab. Kira squeezed it tightly, even as she continued to wave her hand up and down while Percy bounced her gently. "We hit the park, then came home to just hang out."

Percy smiled at her, the late afternoon sun highlighting the green in his eyes. "Sounds like a good day."

"It was." Since Ryder was back to laying on his stomach, working on a new drawing, tongue poking out adorably as he concentrated, Annabeth took the opportunity to give her husband a real kiss. "I'm glad you're home."

"Me too." Percy shifted the baby to his other knee, then slid his arm around Annabeth's waist, pulling her closer. "Home is a good place to be."

She nodded, laying her head on his shoulder, grateful for this moment with her family. "It definitely is."

***

* I don't know how to make the future fics not syrupy sweet—but I make no apologies! Even if this one turned out as fluffy as a blue pancake lol

This also feels like a good last prompt to finish up on—for now anyway I have a few other fanfic ideas I'm playing with, though, so no worries—there will be more stories coming this year. Got to do something to fill the PJO void now that the show is finished (and while we wait for Season Two!) and until Wrath of the Triple Goddess comes out.

Thanks as always to everyone for reading!*

[kellanved-ammanas]

TF2 Drabbles: Engie/Demo/Soldier - Direct Hit

Summary: the Rogue Science chapter had me thinking about Demo, Soldier and Engie working together on rocket science (propellants are generally explosives, and Soldier's best equipped to test out the rockets).

[A/N] Even though the physics of 'more damage, lower impact radius' don't make real world sense, I had to reference the Direct Hit in this because it's the best rocket launcher. Not objectively of course, stock is more effective in many situations, especially considering my aim with the Direct Hit isn't good enough to make it shine to its fullest potential. But it is the most fun (when popping off with it anyway) and thus is my favourite, making it the best as far as I'm concerned.

~

Demo and Engie’s elaborate explanations about what made this new launcher and its rockets different made little sense to Soldier. They used too many big fancy science words, some of which Soldier had never even heard before. Listening intently anyway though, he was pretty sure he got the basic gist of it.

“So it fires faster and does more damage,” he said once he was sure they were finished.

“Uh… yeah, pretty much,” Engie said with a slight chuckle. Why he and Demo didn’t just say that was a mystery. But they were smart people and smart people liked to over complicate things whenever possible. Unlike most smart people though, they never talked down to Soldier so he didn’t mind letting them.

“Great. Let’s go test it.” Soldier closed the case housing the new launcher so he could pick it up by the handle and lead the way out of Engie’s workshop.

Out on the shooting range, he placed the case on the table so he could open it again and pull the launcher out and heft it up onto his shoulder. Even if it was still just a prototype, it was heavier than his standard launcher and the heaviest in general, though not by much. That had to mean it was more powerful, as promised.

Demo put down the case containing the new rockets he’d made that the launcher was designed to fit. “All right,” he said as he opened it, allowing Soldier to grab one and load it in. “Same testing rules as always. Shoot a third of these at the nearer targets, and then medium, and then far away.”

“Yep, on it.” Soldier was used to this procedure by now. Sometimes things went great and he got a new rocket launcher to use on the battlefield that filled a slightly different role in his arsenal. Other times, the changes made to the launcher design and/or the rockets themselves didn’t make any kind of substantial difference and thus was a failed experiment. According to Demo and Engie anyway, as long as the launcher worked well it was a success to Soldier. Only once had things gone disastrously bad with the launcher blowing up in his hands after he’d fired it a few too many times in a row. Demo and Engie had been a bit nervous about letting him test any more after that but thankfully he’d finally convinced them not to worry about it.

Thank goodness too because after only firing a few rockets, this was starting to look like it was going to fall into the former category. It fired significantly faster, worth it all by itself, but also it did indeed look like it was doing more damage to the targets. How much that would translate when it came to firing at people couldn’t be figured until taking it out on the battlefield but more damage was always good even if it was just a little bit.

“Looks like the blast radius is smaller,” Engie observed.

Soldier had noticed that too. “That’s okay. I’ll just shoot those BLU sons of bitches in the face.” The faster rocket would make that easier anyway.

“Seems this one might be a success then,” Demo said. “Should probably finish running it through testing and all that anyway though, just in case.”

Soldier was more than happy to do so. He loved playing with all the new rocket launchers they made for him.

[jupiter049]

Victory Of The Daleks was.... Actually really good.

This one just has a lot of great stuff and moments. The whole WW2 setting, the initial creepiness and mystery of seeing the Daleks as military weapons and The Doctor lashing out to make them reveal their secret only for it to be a trap, that one cyborg scientist who proves himself as human after talking about his painful but beautiful experience with love, The Doctor tricking the Daleks using a cookie, the got damn aerial fight in space, this one was simply a blast to watch.

Even so, the more I thought about it, some problems started appearing and I understood more why is it disliked.

About the Daleks, I actually really like the designs, I think the slim look and shiny colors are very appealing, I don't really care about it looking ridiculous because like... This is Doctor Who.

I also think that despite Daleks looking fucking disgusting and more metallic fits them better, I do think this more plastic look could have worked. After all, that's the case with technology, compare nokia to the latest iphone, technology has become more slim and shiny with time, so I think a new race of Daleks having this type of design could be actually really cool.

Sadly, this was very clearly not the intention (unless I've missed a line the paradigm Daleks aren't specifically a new improved version of Daleks) which is very clearly shown by the spaceship matching the looks of the paradigm Daleks despite apparently being one from The Stolen Earth/Journey's End.

The paradigm Daleks also don't do much which is disappointing. I know the previous group of evil Daleks was the cult of skaro so the bar is kinda high, but they could have at least done... Something.

This is a good Doctor Who story, but a bad Dalek story. Which is a shame because everything up to The Doctor doing the trick with the cookie was great, but once the paradigm Daleks showed up it became kinda lame (outside of the scientist proving he isn't Dalek I guess, but I'm talking about how the episode uses the actual Daleks).

Leaving the Daleks aside. I've heard that the episode's portrayal of Winston Churchill is pretty bad, making him too nice and that realistically he is the exact type of guy The Doctor would hate.

This didn't affect much of my viewing experience (partly because I discovered this after finishing the episode), but if it's all true then it's something I can't ignore.

Even without that knowledge, the episode did felt somewhat propagandist at times which was a bit annoying. That long shot of the soldiers raising the british flag after winning was a bit hard to take seriously lmao.

This may be my longest review of a Doctor Who episode thus far which is kinda hilarious.

4/5

[reynita9]

Papa- my dad- eldest son, big brother of 4, cancer, with a Scorpio moon, rejected black sheep of the family, brooding and dark, immensely intelligent, creative but doesn’t take his creativity or talent seriously, which manifests as depression and rage and misery. not a great father but a phenomenal uncle. Loves deeply, kids love him, goofy, funny, silly, extremely helpful, handy, amazing cook but stopped cooking when my mom left him, is an arborist, outdoorsmen, eternal teenager Peter-Pan type, landscape designer, knows sooo much about the plant realm- I think he feels most understood and at peace with plants, but didn’t get deep enough into the magic of them, starts going to Catholic Church again when he is scared, but it will eventually fall off, grudge holder, finger pointer, loves eating exotic things that make people squeamish, loves coffee, loves spicy foods, loves punk and chicano ska music, used to dye his hair all the time, often smells like a combination of dried sweat and Murray’s pomade, adventurous, energetic, was the “fun parent” but rarely the responsible, reliable parent, much of his life was shaped by alcoholism, but he got sober after that car accident we were in when I was in middle school. I wish I knew why he drank what was he unable to cope with. Amazing friend to his friends, but you never quite know which version you’ll get. Reads the newspaper start to finish every day, vast library of fun-facts all the time, passionate, but sometimes unable to find useful outlets to direct his passion. His personal issues robbed us of meaningful foundational father-daughter experiences. He chose a woman who pitted herself against me as her competition when I was 5. Seems like whenever he cares deeply and personally about something, when it brings him true joy, it’s power over him scares him and he runs from it or let’s it disintegrate. self-sabotager. He never allowed himself to “deserve” greatness and joy, beauty, security, fulfillment. He loved adventure so much he began staying home. He felt outspoken about what was happening but went silent. Pure intentions in his heart always. But fear of re-living the rejection and abandonment he’d lived before. He was always the brightest light and darkest dark. Always always always left me high on his love, enchanted, and forever like sand through my fingers wanting more. I miss you, I love you.

[f1]

Alfa Romeo announce shake-up as James Key takes over Technical Director role

Alfa Romeo have made another change to their F1 organisation after announcing James Key as their new Technical Director, replacing Jan Monchaux. Key, who will officially start work on September 1, 2023, previously represented the Hinwil-based operation as Technical Director for the then-Sauber team from 2010 to 2012. STRATEGY UNPACKED: How Mercedes got Russell on the podium in Spain from P12 on the grid Marking Key’s first role since his exit from McLaren earlier this year, his appointment has been described as “a statement of intent” by the squad, ahead of them becoming Audi’s works team in 2026. Key has represented several other teams, including Jordan Grand Prix, where he became F1’s youngest-ever Technical Director at the age of 33 in 2005, the following guises of Midland, Spyker and Force India, along with his stints at Sauber, Toro Rosso and McLaren. “I am delighted to be returning to Hinwil to work with old, and new, colleagues at Sauber; I have very fond memories of my time there before,” said Key. The Key-designed C31 scored four podiums in 2012, including P2 finishes with Sergio Perez in Malaysia (pictured) and Italy “I am delighted to be returning to Hinwil to work with old, and new, colleagues at Sauber; I have very fond memories of my time there before,” said Key. “I am looking forward to leading the technical side of the team at one of the most critical junctures of its long history as we head towards a new and exciting future. TECH TUESDAY: How Ferrari’s bodywork upgrade is designed to address the car’s inconsistency “There is a huge amount of work ahead of us, but I am confident that every single member of our team working in Hinwil will have the commitment, determination and hunger to get us to the top. “We know it will require time, effort and perseverance, and the dividends from this work will only arrive over the next two seasons and beyond, but we have a journey ahead of us and a roadmap to follow which I am eager to get started. “I am grateful to Andreas for the confidence he has placed in me and look forward to repaying his trust and working closely with him on the challenges and ambitions ahead.” Alfa Romeo hope the appointment of Key will help drive the team back up the F1 order Sauber Group CEO Seidl added: “I am delighted to welcome James back home to Hinwil as he joins us to shape the future of this team. “The operation he will find has changed a lot since his time here, but the same drive, the same commitment that contributed to making the team successful in his previous experience are still the same: I am sure that, together with this very talented and committed team, we will be able to continue on the path of growth on which we have embarked. READ MORE: Hamilton and Russell pay tribute to Schumacher for simulator work that contributed to double podium in Spain “James’ appointment is a crucial step on this journey: he has an outstanding amount of experience in the sport, not just as Technical Director, but also in various other roles within the technical organisation of a team. “He will lead the transformation process of the technical side of the team, giving us the tools and direction we need to tackle the future. “I also want to thank Jan for his precious contribution to taking Sauber to where it is now, following our most successful season in a decade, in which we climbed to sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com