#if any questions I'd be happy to answer

[nocturnebby]

Lore for my empiressona? More common than you'd think:

Nox is originally a Stratos citizen, born in the village under it. She was very protected as a child and was sick of all the fussing around. So she vowed to become fully independent and become an explorer of the worst areas people don't dare to step in. Ofc everyone was like "dude no" She was like "fuck u"

So grown up Nox regularly travels and resides in the deep dark, more specifically the ancient cities. They are proper cities, although cracked in some spaces. And the excess amount of wool provides enough comfort. It's very lonely down there but it's not usually that noticeable. She collects a load of the loot in the abandoned cities and is very skilled at it.

Already rich enough to own netherite tools (she doesn't care for armour, it ruins her clothes) she travels back to the aboveground to sell some of her wares. Or give it to passing children who look in wonder as she tells her stories with the items brought from the depths of the earth.

She tells stories about how a warden lies sleeping beneath the soft skulk, the noises of water dripping from stalagtites calming the great creature. The footsteps of a brave wanderer awakened it and it slowly rose up sniffing above the layer of skulk. The beast climbed up and felt the fear emitting from the human and slowly trudged over to it-

"what does trudge mean?!" one shouted

Walked over to it. It sniffed around as the human stood deathly still, and made a funny little noise. It was annoyed at being woken up! don't you get annoyed when your ma wakes you up early for harvest? So was the warden! it wasn't able to see the human, so it just left some baked potatos for it and went back to bed under the soft wool and skulk. And my dears look what I have here! potatoes freshly gifted from the warden!

the little children rushed over in excitement and shared the basket of potatoes. She smiled and sat within the chattering circle, a moment of relaxation from her usual travels.

Her ears stopped working quite a while ago. Not fully, but enough to not hear a particularly low pitched person. to amend that she traded some of her many books to an interested little researcher who fashioned up an earpiece for her. It worked quite well, sometimes a little rusty but nothing a good oiling and a bit of tinkering couldn't fix.

She now spends her days in the newly built taverns across empires. Her favorites are the Dawn and Stratos taverns but shhh don't tell anyone. Also helps with the rulers if they require any finniky goods to gather from her "homeland" the underground. Gets annoyed at requests purely because they're lazy to get it even with better tools glares at joel

Her favorite things to do are lay in the grass with a nice cold glass of champagne with music on, and trying to tame and train wardens. Has succeeded only twice but they're more rabid than a pair of wild baby wolves. Loves them to death (literally), their names are Radon and Valour.

More to come hopefully!

[cherrirui-official]

Friendlocke Violet Gijinkas (Part 1/7)

Since the edited episodes are starting to come out, I figured that bc of that and the fact that I've been keeping this in the back burner for a loooong while now, might as well complete all my friendlocke violet gijinkas!! Some are gonna stay the same while others are gonna have slight/ complete redesigns, so please keep that in mind!

I plan on posting them in order by groups of three, so there's gonna be seven parts in total, all of which I'll be linking here when done vvv

(Part Two) (Part Three) (Part Four) (Part Five) (Part Six) (Part Seven)

!! These will contain personal headcanons I have for the cast, little fun facts, and also spoilers for Friendlocke Violet (for both the edited vids and the streams) !!

@saltydkart-reblogs

And that's pretty much it, designs under the cut!

LARK:

HUGE nerd. spent most of his time during the Uva Academy studying different kinds of pokemon as well as different fighting styles he can utilize once he is able to go out on his own journey with his very own trainer! Too bad that didn't really help in the long run...

His entire wardrobe consists of McDonald's related outfits. It's fucking insane. He even has some from long LONG ago that aren't available anywhere else.

The bubble pattern on his hair is able to move and change. Nobody knows how this is possible, not even Lark himself. All Lark knows is that his hair looks incredibly stylish!

Speaking of bubbles, he has the ability to blow bubbles whenever and wherever he pleases!

Often keeps himself extremely clean and gets upset if even a small speck of dirt gets on him, despite this he somehow smells like McDonald's food and axe body spray. Disgusting. He's so cool!

Even after death he still likes to hang around the other team members as a ghost, often getting to know the newer members as well as reuniting with the old ones. Sometimes they see him, sometimes they don't. It usually depends.

SARA:

Due to being a human in her past life, Sara is able to actually speak with the other humans in the pokemon world. However she usually doesn't due to it being seen as extremely weird and out of place. She did slip up once while talking in the presence of Arven, who thought it was the weed making him hear things.

Oinkologne are usually unable to do much with their hooves but Sara spent nights practicing how to knit with her new hooves and now she's able to do it flawlessly. I don't know how she managed to do that but go queen!

When first joining the team she'd often have the urge to eat her food related companions. It was a strange time for Sara, but she managed to overcome it.

When Peppy gets sick, she usually is the one who nurses him back to health. She was a human once so she often is able to figure out whatever sickness Peppy has and treat it properly. I suppose she's like a second mother to him.

The bag she carries with her is full of thread that she collected from various Tarountula she encountered on the journey, as well as little things she knits together in her spare time.

For the most part, Sara forgives... but NEVER forgets.

Did you guys know that Sara has a new YouTube channel? Check it out!

Pastey:

Before joining the team, Pastey was a nameless wanderer. He's been down every road in Paldea and knows almost the entire region (except for Area Zero) like the back of his hand.

He's gotten hurt pretty badly throughout the run (ie. the Mikey fight, the Atticus fight, and ESPECIALLY the final battle), however, he does not gain any (physical) scars from those fights. This is bc he's basically an axolotl, and axolotls are usually able to heal without scarring.

Pastey's "arms" are, to put it simply, mud prosthetics. More info here vvv

Pastey HAS met Mall Bingo once before the run, however, he doesn't recognize her. The only reason he does not recognize her is bc she wears glasses. (You know how people somehow aren't able to recognize Superman bc he wears glasses in his civilian attire even tho his face remains the same? It's basically like that lmao)

Unlike the lightbulbs he eats, the gasoline he drinks isn't really mandatory to his diet. Gasoline is like alcohol to him and he drinks it like an absolute CHAMP.

He goes fishing when there's nothing else to do or when he can't sleep at night. He doesn't do this bc he thinks it's fun or anything, only bc it's a "good time passer" or so he claims. Other members of the team will often sit with him and vent out anything that's troubling them at the moment, and Pastey is always there to listen to them.

And that's pretty much it. Next is Joe, Hannah Ü, and Mykyie!

[paintpanic]

Resurrection AU: Void

In this AU, Void has been reincarnated as a little white puffball. He has no memory of his life before he was sealed away by the Heroes of Yore.

His main goal is to figure out who he actually was in his previous life. Aiding in this effort is Magolor, who's agreed to help in exchange for some assistance with his theme park work. He happens to be working on an ancient history-themed area, and could use a hand in the research process.

Personality-wise, Void is driven and has a no-nonsense attitude. He's not super thrilled about all this silly wizard theme park nonsense, but will do what it takes to get what he wants. He has a tendency to overwork himself. He doesn't seem to have retained any powers from his time as Void Termina.

(AU explanation here!)

[wellfine]

HII I love your art so much it's so expressive and it feels like theres so much movement in it! I was wondering if u had any tips or advice to help with that? I practice anatomy and expression so much but it seems like everything I draw on my own is so stiff!! Anyway I hope you have a great week :)) <3

Hi there! Firstly, thank you so much for the kind words, it means a lot that you would take the time to tell me!

Second- my advice is to take everything you've learned about anatomy and THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW!!!!!!!

... For now. Just into the front yard so you can keep an eye on it. But I have seen many artists concentrate chiefly on studying anatomy only to feel like their art ends up too stiff. My own experience has been to treat anatomy as a tool best used to correct an image in the later stages of construction rather than as your driving foundation.

If "correct" anatomy (however you choose to define that) is the priority of your undersketches, I find that you end up with a sort of Skeleton Song approach to drawing - y'know, the knee bone's connected to the thigh bone, etc etc. Whatever energy, emotion, or intent you wanted your drawing to convey is getting lost each time you split it into another anatomical segment. By over-focusing on individual parts, you lose sight of your image as a whole.

The key to conveying dynamic movement in motionless art is to ensure every element of your image agrees on and communicates the same action, the key to which is something called the line of action.

A line of action is simply that - an implied "line" with wich you lead the viewer's eye and communicate movement. Think of it as the core of your figure's action, simplified to its rawest form. By knowing this, you know what to emphasise and what to de-emphasise.

Well, art is a visual medium and I am better explaining with drawings than words or I'd never have picked up a pen in the first place, so:

Images can have multiple lines of action, lines of action can complement and contrast each other, and a line of action isn't always as obvious as something like running. Imagine you're tring to make your art more "aerodynamic" to the eye. Since I draw a lot of One Piece fanart, I assume you're also familiar with it, and you can probably imagine how Oda uses "lines of action" when composing panels of Luffy punching something, Zoro slicing something, Sanji kicking something- etc etc. He's really good at selling the "oomph" of action shots by reducing visual clutter so that the impact of the action is greater.

(The Monster Trio's abilities are all designed in such a way that allow for REALLY striking lines of action... you can tell Oda loves studying manga fight scenes and wanted to create a world where he could push these concepts to the limit, and it's no wonder One Piece caught the eye of animators even before it was serialised by Toei)

You're probably already noticing how line of action also feeds into composition and silhouette when it comes to conveying movement in an image. Basically put, once you've isolated whatever action it is that you want to convey, the more visual clutter you can streamline away from that action, the stronger an impact that will have on the viewer. A firm line of action, an uncomplicated silhouette for your figure, and a readable overall composition of your image/panel are all ways to minimise visual clutter.

You can also use this information to achieve the opposite effect! Sometimes the ideal action you want to convey is not fast, or powerful, or confident, and you can use the same principles.

In fact, you can apply line of action to images that don't have any "action" in them at all. You can make a drawing of someone simply standing there feel more lively by applying these same principles to their body language:

You can develop an eye for how to simplify movement down to its "lines of action" by studying real photos and other people's art. Try simplifying a figure to its silhouette, and then simplify that silhouette further to a stick figure. And honestly, a lot of this could be boiled down to "see your image as a whole and not just a collection of individual pieces". Set anatomy aside during the composition stage and bring it back in when you start building up the sketch.

Moving away from the line of action, my second piece of broad advice is simply to exaggerate more. Lots of artists subconsciously hold themselves back from pushing motion, expression, etc. out of concern that it will look "too much". Well, maybe it will- but you won't know that unless you try! You can always walk it back if you think you took it too far, but I think you'll be surprised by how far you can push your art before you hit that point.

My final piece of advice is to work on line confidence. Even if you follow the rest of this advice, if you have hesitant and scratchy lines, you're undermining the flow and punch of your art. The best way to improve line confidence is simply by practicing! Do a lot of quick, timed studies, and use a permanent medium like a ballpoint pen or marker. Focus on unbroken lines wherever possible even if it makes your studies look like garbo. I find traditional studies are best for improving line confidence, but if you'd really rather stick with digital then just don't let yourself use the eraser tool, and try using a chunky brush with limited pressure sensitivity.

And that's it! Don't stress about it too much though. Loosen up with your art and, like any other skill, you'll improve with practice, time, and analysing what you like about other people's art. Good luck!

[laviaceae]

your art has spiked my interest haha what’s tower of hanoi and how/where do i play it?

OKAY.

TOWER OF HANOI IS THE BEST GAME YOU ABSOLUTELY, 110% GUARANTEE NO REFUNDS, HAVE NEVER HEARD OF.

LET ME EXPLAIN.

(also known as: i win at all times ever and im glad my tawahano propaganda pays off, HAH!)

----------

Have you ever heard of... END ROLL? Walking On A Star Unknown? Farethere City? These are all relatively niche RPGMaker 2000 games made by a Japanese game creator known as Segawa (せがわ), with END ROLL being the most popular among Western Fans (you might see the main character, Russell, in some fanart with OMORI or Yume Nikki characters for example)!

In fact, for followers of mine who are In Stars and Time fans, END ROLL was credited as one of the inspirations for that game!

TOWER of HANOI is another game made by Segawa, one released in November of 2020, and one of the final games they've made in RPG2K (so they've got an absolute mastery of the engine).

I'll be in part directing this post towards ISAT fans since that makes up the majority of my followerbase on Tumblr, so there may be ISAT spoilers (including Two Hats/Act 6 Secret spoilers) up ahead! There will also be mild TOWER of HANOI spoilers required to explain the game's premise. Proceed at your own risk.

Section One: So, what is TOWER of HANOI all about?

TOWER of HANOI is a narrative-driven RPG with multiple endings (2 'true endings', 3 'bad endings') set in a futuristic, post-post-World-War-Five society. The game mostly takes place within the TOWER, a hyper-realistic virtual reality simulation currently undergoing playtests that was built to be able to rehabilitate HANOI (androids that look and sound and feel emotions like humans do) who have dangerous levels of mental instability.

The stability of a HANOI is measured through their Stress Level, a numerical representation of that HANOI's mental state. HANOI are generally considered by society to be more of technology or property than people (like your computer or your phone would be), and as such have no rights and are often mistreated by humans. More than 50% of HANOI hate their human employers.

In order to combat the dangerous upward trend of HANOI Stress Levels (caused by their mistreatment), the TOWER was created. In it, HANOI are expected to fight and defeat virtual enemies that approximate humans in order to destress through violence. Upon a successful completion, HANOI are to be returned to their human employers.

Because the TOWER is currently undergoing testing, groups of HANOI are accompanied through the TOWER by a human "Inspector" who is expected to report any bugs or issues they encounter during their playtest.

You play as one of those human Inspectors; Inspector No.102, Coral Brown.

(this is my art! you may have seen him in my ISAT au as taking the place of Siffrin).

He's 33 years old, kind, calm, and soft as a marshmallow. He's also a human being who believes in the rights and wellbeing of HANOI, and sympathises with their suffering. As a child, he was raised by a HANOI instead of his parents, which may have contributed to his feelings towards them.

Over the course of the game and as you progress through the TOWER you'll get to meet and intimately know the ten HANOI under Coral's care with Fire Emblem-esque Support events depending on how many times you bring each of them to battle. These can be between Coral and the HANOI, or the HANOI between eachother. (There are more than 100 of these such events to collect in total!)

TOWER of HANOI's characters are both charming and tragic. They each have incredibly well-realised personalities, backstories, and relationships both with the Inspector taking care of them and eachother. It's easy to imagine day-to-day interactions in Headquarters (your hub area) between them all.

You have Adams, a HANOI built for missionary work and who's Stress Level is the lowest out of all ten (and actually below the 'dangerous' stress threshold)! He's silly and mischevious and adores spicy food. Despite this, he's here at the TOWER because he doesn't believe in God, despite that being an important part of his 'role' in the world. When did he stop believing in God, and why? What is his relationship with the people at the Church that took care of him?

Or Mira, a Childcare HANOI that reminds Coral of the HANOI that looked after him as a child. She loves children, but has to constantly grapple with the fact that she can't have any and that any children she takes care of will eventually, inevitably leave her. How will she and Coral resolve the fact that they both remind eachother of someone they knew in the past? How will she interact with the other HANOI?

There's also Nanashi, a cheaply-made HANOI for miscellaneous chores who's trust and care for humanity has been completely shattered due to his ties with the mafia. He wasn't even important enough to be given a name until Coral gives him one upon their first meeting in the TOWER. He hates humans, hates Coral, and refuses to trust him, instead convincing himself that Coral is merely faking his kindness to get him to let his guard down just to use him like all humans he's ever known have done. Will Coral eventually be given Nanashi's trust? What will he do once he leaves the TOWER, and has to be sent back to the mafia where he came from?

Finally there's Kimon Noroi, a HANOI who resembles a child that fulfils a very special purpose. Noroi is what's known as a Yorimashi (憑坐), and uses her body to allow spirits to occupy it and commune with the living. She's seen how terrible humans can be because of the spirits she's seen and can come across as a bit standoffish (though she's really just as much of a menace as Adams is), and definitely, definitely, definitely doesn't miss the Priest at the shrine she lived in before coming to the TOWER at all! How will she interact with Adams, both having people they miss back at home? How will she interact with Mira, who's like a mother figure to her in this place?

As you progress, you can find the answers to all of these questions, as well as the identities of the six other HANOI I've not even mentioned here- all as well-written and interesting as these four.

However, the HANOI aren't the only faction in the game to worry about.

The very NPCs and enemies you'll be fighting along the way are coming to life, gaining sentience, and realising they want something more in their existence than eternally repeating dialogue chains and fetch quests and death in battle.

The head of this 'rebellion' of 0s and 1s, a computer virus named Shunya, acts as the main antagonist for the majority of the game, but even she isn't... 'evil'. She has her own found family, a group of bugged enemies she's befriended along her journey, all of whom want her to realise her dream of "melting" down the TOWER and returning all of the 0s and 1s inside to their base state of not thinking, not feeling, and not being in eternal pain.

Should you fight these people, if their emotions really are real, and defeat them without caring about their plight? Is it right to, to disregard the thoughts and feelings of 0s and 1s for the sake of the wellbeing of the HANOI Coral's grown so attached to? Should you follow the 'role' you've been given, or disregard it and create your own?

TOWER of HANOI excellently tackles the dichotomy of themes between 'roles' in societies and the 'dreams' people have, and nowhere is this more apparent than Coral Brown himself. Throughout the game, there will be multiple events and opportunities in order to control Coral's own Stress Level, and how he feels towards both the side of HANOI and the side of 0s and 1s he's stuck between. Lower his stress and he'll side with the HANOI and enjoy his job, and at higher stresses he'll begin to hate it, being unable to eat or sleep as he starts feeling awful for the 0s and 1s he spends his time killing in the TOWER....

These branch into the two main 'True Routes' of the game, depending on your Stress Level... but I shall leave the specific nature of those to discover in your own playthroughs. :)

If you've enjoyed ISAT, there's a good chance you'll enjoy TOWER of HANOI. Not only is one of the creator's previous games an inspiration for ISAT, they share a lot of similarities in their characters. Coral and Siffrin are very similar as protagonists, and as for others...

(Loop artwork credit to Insertdisc5 from In Stars and Time)

I could write a whole essay on how these two are so painfully similar and would kill eachother on sight. Maybe I will one day. Who knows. Me when I have a guide character lacking half of a face that has Fucking Issues TM stemming from intense jealousy and shares some visual similarity with our main character. Just look at them. This is the sole reason for the twohats warning. Just look at them.

Section Two: Wow, that's so cool and awesome Mx Lav! How do I play TOWER of HANOI?

You can check out the official website here, and the official downloads page here! I'd recommend following the instructions on this website to get the game working faster (because RPG2K is a pain in the ass on modern systems).

...

...Oh? It's all in Japanese? ...Well-

Section Three: --WAIT WHY IS IT ALL IN JAPANESE??

Yes, that's TOWER of HANOI's One (Big) Thing. The one thing you have to look past in order to actually play the game; it's all in Japanese, and an English translation will never be made (unless Segawa-san lifts the translation ban).

However, you don't actually need to know Japanese to play the game. I sure don't! And all of the other English-speaking fans I know that have played this game don't either.

There are three main ways to accomplish this, but I'll only discuss two here:

Sugoi Translator or similar translators. Sugoi Translator (or Sugoi Toolkit) is a machine translation tool that automatically grabs and translates the text in game you're looking at. The translations themselves make a good amount of sense, too! It's a little difficult to set up, but once you've calibrated it once you never have to worry about it again. This is definitely easiest if you want to read all of the dialogue in the game, including flavourtext (as yes, all 10 HANOI and Coral have unique flavourtext for every item in the game...), but is only available for free on the 15th and 16th each month and is otherwise only available to download on the creator's Patreon.

Google Lens. The easier, plug-and-translate method of the two. Simply download the Google Lens app and point it at the text on the screen, it'll read and translate it for you. The translations here are a little goofier (and sometimes, depending on your phone camera quality or lighting conditions, can be difficult for the app to pick up), but it's easy to complete a playthrough with just this tool alone.

If you can't get past this game's One Big Thing, I get it. It's a hard game to sell to people precisely for this reason. I'm at least glad you've read this far down into the post to get to this point and have showed interest in the game. And now you now about a game you didn't before, and you also have an itty bitty bit of context for all the non-ISAT stuff I post here. But this game has had me in a chokehold for the past two years and I promise that, if you can get through it, it's extremely worth it.

If you have the time and you're willing to try, please do! I love this game with all my heart and it's such a shame that most Western fans will never have easy access to it. I shill this game with all my heart, for realsies.

Section Four: Trigger/Content Warnings

If you've played a Segawa game before, you knew this section was coming. Segawa-san's games often tackle heavy or dark themes, and TOWER of HANOI isn't an exception. I'll add a list of content warnings here just so you aren't surprised by anything.

Suicide, both on and off screen

Self-harm, on-screen through dialogue

Themes of terminal illness, on screen

Hospitals (on screen, a majority of one of the game's dungeons takes place in one)

Death (on-screen)

Abuse (off-screen, but portrayed through dialogue)

Child harm/death (mentioned)

Kidnapping/Child kidnapping (mentioned)

Horror elements (no chase sequences, one jumpscare through an optional and hard-to-find sidequest)

Sexual Assault/Abuse (Not on-screen but talked about extensively, can avoided if you avoid Melitica/Merrytika's dialogue)

Mishandling of discussions surrounding gender identity (this character's identity is shown generally throughout the game to be a positive/supported thing, but some dialogue and design choices are quite ignorant/transphobic- though not maliciously. This can be avoided if you avoid Kathy/Cameron's dialogue)

There is also a substantial amount of screenshake employed near the end of the game. This list is from memory and limited from the amount of dialogue I've personally seen/translated, so it's probably not fully comprehensive. But it is thorough.

Section Five: Conclusion

oof... You've made it to the end! This took me the better part of a day to write, and I'm glad I finally got to advertise my favourite game on main. I hope... any of this makes sense, and that you enjoy! Even if you decide TOWER of HANOI isn't right for you, you at least know a little more about something you didn't before. Thank you so much for getting to the end, and I wish you the best!

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

EVERYONE SHUT UP AND LOOK AT HER

okay i know this is a Foul Legacy blog but listen. if anyone wants to ask me questions about Arlecchino and my OC Marine i will be so happy to answer (they are MARRIED and i WILL answer in character if wanted because i'm that obsessed)

[jimahalangel]

okay so I just got back from the Drawfee live-show (incredible I had such a good time🩵🩵🩵🩵 probably gonna be talking about it for a while)

and I wanted to post pics of my Todd (From Mario) shirt that I made last week because everyone was so nice and seemed to like it :D

this was the shirt straight off the embroidery hoop before I realized that Todd's hat looks a little like a penits and had to fix it lol

and this is it the night of the show!

(bonus my brother and I took a picture with Julia):

[as-kind-as-summer]

I finally have a minute to sit down so I'm going to yell about the Lord of the Rings musical for a bit! I'll put everything under a cut so people can avoid spoilers! Pic of me in my cute hobbit-ish outfit first 😊

So disclaimer first, hopefully I'm remembering everything correctly but I recently started a new job and can't take any days off in my first 90 days but desperately wanted to see this show. So I worked a night shift, drove 6 hours, and by the time everything was over I'd been awake for ~21 hours. And also everyone who knows anything about this show is long. Like we were sitting in act 2 and I couldn't remember if they'd sang The Road Goes On in act 1 because it had been two hours ago by that point 😂All this to say, if I misremember please forgive me and feel free to correct me!

My friend and I had the most amazing seats for this show! I'd been debating whether or not I wanted to go through the trouble of going to see it with work and all but then I got an email because apparently I'd signed up for the Shakespeare Theatre's 30 under 30 program and that made everything worth it. I'll post a picture below but we sat second row in the center section on the end of the stage right side. In the picture you can see the stairs literally came down about six inches in front of my feet. I'm not usually a fan of sitting so close but with how immersive the show was it was perfect.

(Obligatory photo with the playbill because I will always be a theatre nerd at heart)

Starting at ~15 til, the actors all started coming out and wandering the audience, just talking to people and having a good ol' time. Again I'm such a sucker for immersive performances and despite being terribly awkward this was still very exciting.

With everyone wandering around and then the show just sort of starting with no big to-do, it really felt like you're a part of the story. Like 'oh I really am here at Bilbo's birthday party.' Again just a really good time, I think it added another really great layer to the show.

I know I just keep saying how fun this show looked but honestly it looks like such a great time and like every single actor on stage is having the best time. The choreography isn't anything terribly complicated but it just looks fun. Also we saw this on a Wednesday at the evening performance which means there would've been a matinee earlier and you never would've been able to tell. I've seen shows where you can tell the actors are going through it during their second show of the day(and rightfully so) but I wouldn't have had a clue if I hadn't known the schedule. Really just such an amazing cast.

The puppetry was phenomenal! I'm not typically freaked out by puppetry but I had a visceral reaction to those Nazgul puppets. Don't know what it was about them but I was legitimately unnerved. One came up next to me and I did not care for it at all. Pretty sure the people behind me were chuckling every time I cringed but like honestly so fair 😂

So I only found out about the existence of this musical in June and it was absolutely my accident. After seeing the trilogy in theaters, I fell back in hard and was just like 'huh I wonder if there's a stage version of this if not there should be' and googled it on a whim. Pretty much been listening to the London soundtrack on repeat since then but there were a lot of songs that I felt very eh about on the soundtrack that are loads better within the context of the show. Like a lot of the Elvish acapella songs being actually just background to the action that happened onstage felt a lot more natural than listening to them on their own.

Speaking of songs I liked more, Lament for Moria was absolutely beautiful. I hate to compare casts because I think every actor brings their own unique take to the role but that was just a song that I wasn't terribly fond of on the London soundtrack. But the actor that played Gimli in this version had an absolutely gorgeous voice. I was telling someone I always assume actors in a show will be able to sing because obviously they've been cast but there are still times where someone opens their mouth and I'm stunned and this was one of them.

I really enjoyed the set design a lot. I love the current trend of having a simple versatile set with smaller pieces that are wheeled on from time to time. Also, such a sucker for turntables and platforms. I don't know what it is but I think it's A+. Also the climbing wall grips in the back so Gollum could climb up and down were fantastic! Such a simple solution but I think it worked so well. I could see them since we were so close but the way they were painted, I'm guessing they blended in really well further back and the effect would've been amazing.

Obviously even at nearly 3 hours long this is still a wildly condensed version of these stories but I was still disappointed that almost all of Two Towers was cut out other than Treebeard. This of course isn't unique to this production, just the way it's written. I don't think it necessarily detracted from the story since most of the action and important bits do take place in Fellowship and Return of the King but Two Towers is still my favorite so this is a personal gripe mostly haha.

The costumes were all great, a lot of it felt sort of generic fantasy-ish but I love generic fantasy-ish costumes so I was happy. However, I thought the orcs costumes were so cool! Especially with the new(? I'll be honest with y'all I have not read the books(yet) and I feel like I heard about this being the ending somewhere. Not sure if they changed it for the movies and the ending of the musical is the actual ending? anyway) ending they were very neat!

I'm also such a sucker for instruments being played onstage especially when it's the actors doing it and especially when a lot of them are playing multiple different instruments. I just will never get over the talent.

I think I've said most of what I wanted to say so I have to talk about Now and For Always. Since my first listen, Now and For Always was my absolute favorite song. Like hyperfixated listening for hours on end kind of favorite song. I just think it's so beautiful, the harmonies are gorgeous, and it really embodies what these stories were about. I saw the snippet Chicago Shakespeare posted before I went and I was iffy about if I'd like it. I could not have been more wrong. The way it was so slowed down, having the rest of the cast standing around Sam and Frodo, the delivery of the last verse from Frodo to a sleeping Sam? I'm tearing up just thinking about it again. Like that's what it's all about, you know? The tenderness and kindness in the midst of horrors. The true power that friendship has to carry you through the absolute worst of things. I don't even have more words, it was just such a beautiful and touching presentation and it's going to stay with me for a very long time.

Oh no wait I did have one more thing to say, they tried to make me like Denethor and no one will ever make me like Denethor! Denethor hater for life, all my homies hate Denethor. I'm sorry, I know they used the explanation of 'he's too close too Mordor it's poisoning his mind' nope don't care. The best thing Denethor did was set himself on fire, change my mind.

All this to say, I had the most amazing time and I am forever grateful I found this production when I did and had the chance to go see it. I don't think it's for everyone, as like 'duh obviously' as it sounds I think you really have to enjoy both LotR and theatre. The people behind us were snickering from time to time because there were some things that were kind of goofy. Most of it was at the weapons, they're definitely on the cheaper side but it's a regional theatre and I'm sure they only had so much budget. You have to be able to suspend your disbelief when seeing any show but especially this one. Forget what you know from the books and the movies and just go in with an open mind. It's a spectacle, it's goofy, it's serious, it will absolutely wrench your heartstrings if you just let yourself be open to it. Everyone is obviously so passionate about what they're doing and it made for such an amazing show, highly recommend to go see it if you get the chance 💜

[stardestroyer81]

Last July, I expressed interest in wanting to create arcade flyer-inspired character cards for the colorful cast of Rascal... and only ended up making one for the titular bunny boy. To make up for it, however, I think it's finally time to reveal Rascal's full cast...

... by way of a group shot and sprite showcase! 🍬🧡💙🧡🍬

[lordsovorn]

Shellmen

Lanky and asymmetrical, vaguely humanoid creatures with curiously shaped heads. Or are those bone-smooth structures of convex planes, sharp edges and wave-like spikes more akin to helmets?

They are not directly aggressive, and don't actually seem to be driven by hunger or even by instinct of self-preservation. Sometimes also called Builders or Rock-mites, they are found in large groups, meticulously carving at rocky walls with an impressive talent at splitting stone, and filling up tunnels with a dark grey, quickly solidifying secretion they scoop from beneath their oversized "helmets". They are very organized in their task, as if guided by a quietly approved building plan, and their hives can expand alarmingly quickly.

In other cases, though, they can seemingly be stuck for months on a single area, or even disappear from a "building site" entirely. The resulting structures don't seem to have any practical purpose at all - Shellmen don't even stay in their hives, and just continue onward after polishing their latest adjustments to Under's vast architecture.

As mentioned before, they are not inherently aggressive - but their "building projects" are a massive nuisance to navigation, and the alarming speed with which they can surround and entomb an area is potentially deadly. Moreso, despite their shy nature, they do not tolerate obstacles to their task. And should anyone persistently interfere (which is open to interpretation), they will not hesitate to attack. While fragile-looking and lacking any obvious weapons besides their single-stone tools, they are still often larger, heavier and stronger than a human. Their "helmet" is not only sturdy enough to protect the vulnerable insides, but also a powerful blunt weapon - though usually Shellmen prefer to simply pelt the offender with rocks from a distance until the latter retreats.

Their chitinous skin is matte black to brown, and the number of limbs seems to vary from individual to individual. The larger ones' bodies are entirely hidden in their massive "helmets", almost like a shell with thin appendages sticking out.

For a variety of reasons, it is ill-advised to stay in close proximity to an area of Builder activity - one of which is a nasty rumor that they snatch people, bury them alive and turn into one of themselves. Besides the obviously increased risk of getting lost, one thing is certain - these wild creatures are unpredictable, and their seemingly peaceful single-mindedness should not be taken for granted.

Bonus: since their activity is most pronounced in the Far Upper Stomach, it is sometimes said these creatures are the remains of an expedition sent to try and dig out a way to the surface - or the reason for their failure.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Do you know the timeline in the KOTLC books? It's very confusing.

OKAY! Semester over, timeline time! I've mapped out all the books in a comprehensive timeline. Disclaimer: there is room for error in this timeline, as it's based on my understanding of Shannon's writing and I am not foolproof; be aware of that.

Summary: The keeper series takes place over the course of 2 1/2 years. The longest book is book one, which takes 9 months, and the shortest (excluding Unlocked) is book 8, which takes 3 weeks.

I've included the time in each book (highlighted in blue), when notable events happen (I've likely missed a few), and the time between each book. My notes are more in depth, so if you have specific questions feel free to ask--though I cannot promise I'll be able to answer them.

Edit: This now includes Sophie human (marked "hy" for human years) and elven (marked "ey") ages throughout the series.

I will be posting a version without Stellarlune, but THIS ONE INCLUDES SPOILERS. Enjoy!

Book 1: 9 months long. Week 1, Sophie (age 12hy, 13ey), leaves her family and starts Foxfire. 2 months in, she gets Iggy and wins the Splotching Tournament. 4 months in are midterms. 5 1/2 months in she has her first tribunal. (She turns 13hy, is still 13ey) 7 1/2 months in is her allergy incident and her adoption cancellation. 8 months in she's kidnapped for ten days. 8 months and 3 weeks in is her second tribunal and her adoption by Grady and Edaline.

There is an estimated 3 month interim. (Sophie turns 14ey, is still 13hy).

Book 2: 5 weeks. Week 1, Silveny is found, the Ruewens visit Brant, and the kids practice for the opening ceremonies. Week 2, Sophie and Alden visit Exile, Foxfire has its ceremonies, and Alden's mind breaks. Beginning of week 3, Foxfire starts; end of week 3 is Alden's planting. Beginning of week 4, Sophie and Keefe go to the Black Swan hideout to fix her, learn she can teleport, and she heals Alden the next day. Week 5, the Celestial Festival where Silveny enters the Sanctuary.

There is a 2 week interim.

Book 3: almost 4 weeks. Week 1, Fintan is healed and Kenric dies with the funeral a few days later. Week 3, Sophie is given her restricting circlet. Mid week 4 is the final confrontation with Brant and Mount Everest.

There is an estimated 1 day interim.

Book 4: almost 6 weeks. Day 1, the kotlcrew join the Black Swan. Week 2, Sophie and Keefe attempt to trick information out of Gethen. Week 3, they attempt to break into Exile, fail, and instead exchange Gethen for Prentice. Sophie learns about elven birthdays and is stated to be 14yrs and 5 months in elven, making her 13yrs and 8 months in human. Week 4, they begin attending Exillium and meet Tam and Linh. Week 5, Silveny is revealed to be pregnant. Week 6, they storm Ravagog and Keefe runs away.

There is a 3 week interim.

Book 5: 4 weeks. Day 1, Keefe explodes Foxfire. Day 2, a small group revisits where Dex and Sophie were taken and tortured. The end of week 1, the famous sleepover and Wylie's kidnapping/torture. Week 3, Sophie, Forkle, and Oralie visit Gethen. Week 4, Sophie manifests as an enhancer; the next day Tam, Fitz, and Sophie confront the Neverseen (and Keefe), and the treaty negotiations are the day after that, killing Forkle. At the end of week 4, Sophie visits her human family to find them missing.

There is no interim.

Book 6: 4 1/2 months. Day 1, Sophie's sister moves to the Lost Cities. Week 1, Forkle twin reveal, Marella's pyrokinesis reveal, visiting King Dimitar (Keefe spars), introducing Ro, and the storming of the first Nightfall (recovering Alvar). Week 2, Foxfire starts. Week 4, Prentice is healed. Week 5, Vespera's name is revealed. Sophie then spends 3 months as a "zombie-girl." (During this, she turns 14hy, is still 14ey). 4 months and 1 week in, the second Nightfall is found and raided, the Atlantis forcefield broken, and her parents recovered. 4 1/2 months in, Amy leaves, and it's found alvar has no memories.

(Sophie turns 15ey, is still 14hy). There is a "weeks" long interim, which I've reasoned to be about 3 1/2 months long. This is based in logic but is, however, unverified.

Book 7: about 8 1/2 weeks. Day 1, Alvar's trial, Sophie and Fitz are attacked and put in the Healing Center. Week 2, Sophie begins her skill training with Keefe. At the beginning of week 3, Fitz is woken, and at the end of the week they leave the Healing Center. Week 5, Silveny gives birth to the alicorn twins. Week 6, Sophie and Fitz meet with Fintan, where he reveals something to do with the Celestial Festival. Week 7, the Celestial Festival fight happens (troll hive), and Tam is kidnapped. About a week and a half later, Sophie learns she's unmatchable.

There is a 9 day interim.

Book 8: 3 weeks. The beginning of week 1, Team Valiant is formed and Amy/Sophie recover erased memories. The end of week 1, Sophie has her abilities reset after a meeting with King Enki. Mid week 2 is when Fitz gives Sophie the infamous painting. The beginning of week 3, Sophie learns Oralie is her mother, finds Alvar at Candleshade, and breaks up with Fitz. Mid week 3 is the battle of Loamnore (Keefe unconscious, King Enki betrayal, Tam reunited, Glimmer, etc.). At the end of week 3 Oralie approaches Sophie to open her cache.

There is no interim.

Book 8.5: 3 days. Day 1, Oralie's cache is opened, Keefe wakes, and Sophie is told to stay away. Day 2, Fitz tells Sophie to reach out to Keefe telepathically. Day 3, the Dizznee's and Elwin try to help Keefe, Sophie and a few others (with Glimmer) go to the storehouse, she burns it down, and Keefe leaves again.

There is a 1 hour interim.

Book 9: about 6 weeks. Week 1, Cassius's memory of Gisela's second ability is found; Oralie, Sophie, and Dex go through Kenric's cache. Sophie wants to find Elysian. Week 2, Foxfire starts again (it was on hiatus), Sophie and Fitz begin their cognate inquisition. Week 5, the group meets with Trix, and immediately after find Keefe, bringing him back. Mid week 6, the sokeefe confession occurs, the inquisition concludes, and 1 day after that is the final confrontation and Elysian's reveal.

(Sophie is currently 15 years and 8 months in ey, 14 years and 11 months in hy).

That brings us to present day! That was a lot, so I'll keep this brief. This is pretty solid, but still room for error and if someone catches something, please feel free to let me know. I hope this helps!

people who asked to be tagged: @fucked-up-mover-shaker @when-wax-wings-melt @that-glasses-dog @creetchure @you-have-been-frizzled @crymeariveronceagain @shellyseashell @a-withered-old-rose @wyvrens @axels-corner @sofia-not-sophie @three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat @stardustanddaffodils @stopstealingtomatoes @lotuskitty404 @alike-chocolate1013 @jolieharkness @bubbleteaaaaaaaa @arsonistblue @sugarshackpeasant

hello I hope you enjoyed i did math for you :)

[guillemelgat]

FOLKTRONICA IBERICA - A Playlist

Hello everyone, @minglana and I have been working on trying to compile a playlist of all the incredible folktronica-adjacent music coming out the Iberian Peninsula in the past couple of years, and it's finally here and ready for your listening pleasure! Including everything from electro-fado and trance-like muiñeiras to arrangements of 14th century liturgical chants and revamped jotas, and spanning from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, the playlist is roughly ordered by geographical location, starting in Portugal and moving up across the north from Galicia and Asturias through the Basque Country to Aragon and the Catalan Countries, then south to Andalusia and Extremadura. Languages include Portuguese, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, Catalan, and Spanish. If there's any artists or song you'd like to see included, let us know and we'll add them!

[nervocat]

i’m so sorry for butting in but omg it’s really cool that you hunt,, though i don’t myself, i’d love to for food one day — i’ve wanted to for a long time but physical issues have held me back 😭 what kind of deer do you/have you typically hunted? i collect bones and i nearly got my hands on a roe deer skull once but i wasn’t able to 💔💔

OMG CROW I'M AJDVVRBDB

I'M SO HAPPY YOU ASKED ME THIS AND IF WE KNEW EACH OTHER IRL I SWEAR TO IT THAT I WOULD'VE CONVINCED MY DAD TAKE YOU HUTNING WITH ME IF U COULD I'VE BEEN WANTING TO GO HUNTING WITH A FRIEND BUT HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO

It sucks tho that your physical issues have prevented you, it's so fun to hunt honestly you just have to have the patience for it (which I have surprisingly since I don't have patience for pretty much everything)

shortened AGAIN because of my long rambles 😭😭

But the deer that me and my family hunt are white-tail deer and my parents went to Nebraska a couple years a go and my dad almost got a HUGE buck but it wouldn't stop running so he couldn't get a good shot. It was after a doe tho so he probably couldn't have stopped it either way

This might sound cruel or weird but my dream hunt is to hunt a wolf. Idk I just think it'd be rlly cool to and it'd be a nice challenge and good experience, though idk if it'd be good for food.. hhghhhhhh

And I have the bone of part of a deer jaw I got from hiking with my family one year. I could probably find it and take a picture of it honestly if you wanna see it.

I had to look up what a row deer skull looked like.. but that would've been rlly cool if you did get that skull

These are the deer skulls I have from my own deer I shot :33 my dad still has to clean my last velvet skull

[koqabear]

SOLL HII! whenever I try to write a fic of any genre, always ends up being mediocre because I can't length it out and just go to the plot. How do u manage to write such long fics without finishing off so early?

HAI!! oh you’ve come to the right person for this question mwuahaha 

I’ll try to break down some things i do that help lengthen the story a bit ! :]

okay! i think the biggest piece of advice that i can give you is that filler scenes are your best friend here! depending on where you find yourself in the story, filler scenes can either be super fun to write or the absolute bane of your existence— and that’s okay! but i think they really help the story and pacing overall. 

filler scenes can aid your story for many different reasons; world building, fleshing out characters and relationships, or my personal favorite, foreshadowing! for example, many (many.) of the scenes in Like Cat and Mouse weren’t really necessary, but i added them in bc i thought it’d be nice to keep the progress of the mc and beomgyu’s relationship slow! the scene where the mc is sick or when she met beomgyu while he was working didn’t really add much to the overall plot, but it helped establish and show the dynamic between the two and give more insight to the characters! i think that showing how characters act in the most mundane situations can really help flesh them out more, and help you build an image for them.

another thing you could consider is adding descriptions or fleshing out the environments more! this is applies a bit more to fantasy/supernatural/sci-fi fics but also not really alkdaghg i’ll use What the Body Wants for example; the whole scene at the palace was perfect for adding in extra descriptions, even more bc it’s sci-fi and honestly, i could make up whatever the hell i wanted. descriptions of what the place looks like, the layout, and the people in it help flesh out the environments and immerse the reader in more— but also, there’s a very fine line between a good amount and too much description, so unless that’s what you’re going for (bc everyone’s preference is different ofc) try to keep an eye out! too much description, in my opinion, can really sidetrack/distract from the story and kind of mess up the pacing. 

and ofc, if you can always add in little scenes that act as foreshadowing 😊 scenes that, at a first glance, seem mundane and irrelevant to the story, but in reality showcase a certain aspect of a character that’ll be more important later on (OYD and yeonjun’s constant feelings of superiority and possessiveness of the mc) or details about the world/environment that’ll show up again later (if that makes sense? all i can think abt rn is like. taehyun in wtbw researching the planet they’re going to and talking abt how hated humans are)

but yeah! that’s honestly the thing that works best for me, but everyone is different ! if you find that this doesn’t really help or you’re finding troubles in a different area (or just need me to clear something up for you) then let me know! i hope this helped <3

[fogclan]

Sorry for the lack of updates!

I have a few more moons finished that I will probably post soon but I'm thinking about moving on to a different clan and trying something a little more story driven and loose? Maybe a lone survivor challenge or something like that.

Apologies for any disappointment this may cause. Clangen is great but doing the updates this way was getting kind of repetitive.

[apollos-boyfriend]

im writing an au that is supposed to include everyone in the dsmp. but i am a humble enjoyer and dont know about lots of characters, purpled included. can i get a guidebook to writing cpurpled? any tropes to avoid, motivations you see people getting wrong, etc?

okay so. purpled is Interesting bc there's a lot of depth to his character in the sense that he himself is not self-aware of his own actions/wants, making for there being three purpleds: the purpled that he shows to others, the purpled he feels he is, and the true purpled he himself isn't even fully aware of. and depending on how deep you wanna explore into his character, that third one likely won't even come into play, because that is more of an instance of a character study/purpled-centric piece, but i'll go over it anyways, just in case! splitting this into parts below the cut to make categorizing things a bit easier :]

first, the basics:

purpled has a very. unique way of talking. in serious moments, he's calm, collected, and intimidating, and will act like you'd expect a broody teenaged mercenary to. most of the time, though, his speech pattern is the world's most ungodly mixture of teenage boy and starving victorian orphan.

in fight or flight, he chooses fight 100% of the time, even if that fight is not immediate.

purpled only cares about a handful of things: self-preservation, his image, and money. this doesn't necessarily mean he won't do "good" things, just that his motives are less about saving people and more about advancing his own agenda. during the red banquet, for example, he only saved the attendants because he was paid to. eret called him a hero for it, but it was nothing more than a matter of who paid more. his morals are extremely skewed,

but he's not inherently malicious. he's indifferent. his actions are logical, not emotional, so despite harming others for his own gain, he typically holds no ill-will towards them. for example, the wiki cites that he and bad have a negative relationship for betraying the eggpire during the banquet, but in reality, purpled really doesn't see bad in anything but a neutral way. there are very few people he holds either positive or negative emotions towards, as his default state is indifferent, but willing to go along with the other person's emotions if they pay enough.

the only people he does feel a semblance of strong emotions towards are: hannah, boomer, ponk, tubbo, jack, and quackity. he has positive personal relationships with hannah, boomer, ponk, and tubbo, seeing them as genuine friends. additionally, ponk, tubbo, and jack are fellow businessmen, which he very much admires. quackity, of course, is the one person on the list he has overtly negative feelings towards, something that possibly extended towards slime after the ln finale, as well. he has an Odd relationship with tommy in the sense that they're somewhat rivals, but not in the usual fandom sense where "oh they secretly care about each other because they're sworn rivals". purpled would sell tommy to satan for a single cornchip and not even blink. there's also dogchamp, his dog, which is i think the one True attachment he's ever had on the server.

business is very important to him! purpled only really cares to talk to people who he sees on a similar intellectual level as him, and business is the closest way to his heart, as seen with his relationship with ponk.

anyone he doesn't see on his level is "lesser". this is specifically highlighted with his viewpoint on slime, as he sees slime as nothing but a child who can't fend for himself and has to rely on quackity for everything. this viewpoint is, obviously, extremely untrue, because purpled is an unreliable narrator in every sense of the word.

he's very smart and extremely capable. if he sets his mind to something, he Will accomplish it through any means necessary, even at the cost of others.

he is also. just sillie. at least around those he trusts or is pretending to allow to get close to him (like fundy in ln). he pulls stupid pranks for stupid prizes. he's just a boy that really loves his dog. he's the server's strongest warrior yet he runs screaming from boomer because they threatened to child-leash him. do not be afraid to make him a freak (because trust me he Is one)

some deeper stuff! all of these things are unspoken, and things he himself is not aware of. a dive into his subconscious thoughts, if you will. if you're writing something deeper with him, these are things i recommend alluding towards/highlighting, but in a sense that only the audience is aware of. they're not things that should be Explicitly Stated, at least not by him/his pov. purpled has little to no true self-awareness, and when he does have moments of introspection, he Still manages to fuck that up, which i'll be getting into

purpled does not really feel any negative emotions other than rage and spite. or, more accurately, he doesn't let himself feel anything other than rage or spite. when lamenting about his loneliness on the server, he immediately spins it into a revenge plot, believing it'll be solved as soon as he gets his just desserts. he does feel and process positive emotions, it's just negative ones he pushes aside for the sake of anger.

this is because, inherently, purpled does not believe he is in the wrong. ever. everything is always the fault of others, which is why he results to anger, because that's what happens when he pushes blame onto other people. he doesn't ever accept that his actions can be detrimental to himself, and that his issues are always the fault of others. for example, he believes that the reason his legacy on the server was "ruined" was because of quackity's intervention. while quackity's destruction of his ufo certainly didn't help, purpled's core issue was himself. his own self-isolation is what started the downfall of his legacy, and his continued isolation is what sealed its fate.

his inability to process his true emotions/wants makes him very prone to self-sabotage, although he believes the path he chooses is the right one. due to quackity's intervention, he believes that he wants a legacy to have power and to be remembered. when he laid out his issues, however, his biggest hang-up was that "if he asked people on the server to name three things about him, none of them could". deep down, what he wanted was a sense of connection, of building a legacy through the bonds formed with others, but he was unable to realize that.

he's so fucking stupid. all of this is me trying to say he's a fucking idiot. he has the emotional capacity of a pet rock with angry eyebrows drawn onto it. he's hypocritical and not even aware of it. i don't think he has the emotional ability to know what hypocrisy is.

the most important thing, though, is to not woobify him into the "manipulated minors" trope. purpled was not manipulated, and although his age plays into the tragedy of his character on a meta-level, it has no true importance to his actions/story. and although i gush about him a lot, and there are reasons to why he acts the way he does, he is not a good person. i can explain why he does what he does all i want, but at his core he is flawed and antagonistic. that's what makes him so good!! he is not a good person, he knows he's not a good person, and unless he's purposefully playing that role in order to deceive someone, he doesn't pretend to be one, and is up-front with others about that fact.