#if any questions I'd be happy to answer

[canisalbus]

Hello, thank you for sparing your lovely dogs with us! ❤️

It's sometimes hard to remember that they're your OCs and not a project for a dramatic film or book! All the trivia and world building is so wonderful to read! I hope it's nice to have so much attention on Machete and Vasco, they're lovely and deserve it. :)

I wanted to ask, are there any other OCs you're particularly attached to from your roster that you'd perhaps like for the world to see? Maybe there's someone that you wish had gotten just as much attention?

Aa thank you, that's so sweet of you to say! It means a lot to me to hear that people find my dogs compelling ;_;

I have a lot of OCs, but I've been pretty laser focused on Machete, Vasco and their setting for a couple of years now. I feel like that's the creative pursuit that is bringing me the most joy and fueling my inspiration right now. But I don't want to view my other characters as abandoned either, I'll go back to working on them once the right mood strikes.

Just for fun, here's a sampling of dogs. Names in descriptions.

[fandomgeeknerd]

stobotnik au idea number unknown

stone is the master emerald

let me explain

in this universe everyone thinks the master emerald is a green powerful emerald even is drawn like that but no it's not it's human with untold amounts of power aka stone and he's in like a tangled situation where he's locked away all his life by his perceived father aka commander walters and the doctor hears abt this rock with power and searches for it only to find out

it's the most beautiful man he's ever seen

and also at the time of rob finding him he's in that thing shadow was in at the start of sonic 3 (i forget what it's called) bc he tried to escape and walter's imprisoned him, in sonic 2 when rob first finds the master emerald ya know that whole dialogue that's what he says to stone when he first finds him and sets stone free

also like tangled rob's only in it for his powers at first but then falls for stone HARD

most ppl are scared of stone due to how powerful and semi-controlled his powers are but rob's not scared (mostly bc rob wants stone's powers for himself but still)

as for what stone looks like i'd like to think he looks like that one master emerald powered!stone fanart the one that has a green and purple versions (i hope you know the one cus i'm sure it's lost in the masses by now) but that's only what he looks like his personality is the same as he's always been

[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!

[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!)

[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!

[iwantmochisoup]

my OCs miso and soupy!! pls give them lots of love <3

[dichard-grayson]

As a Danny fan who knows almost nothing about Catholicism I thought your comments about the necklace were super interesting, would love to know more if you're still interested in sharing!!

Hi nonie! Thanks for asking, I love info dumping so of course I'll share! I've also included various links in this post with more information/sources on the things I'm talking about if you (the reader) want to do your own research.

I am also going to tag @bipanicknelson and @a-raven-into-tardis who also left questions in the notes.

If you're unaware of what I'm talking about, I made this post where I said that Danny's medallion necklace he wears isn't just a comfort necklace but it's part of Catholic and Latino culture. And since I'm going to be touching on something that could be a bit divisive I would like to put out the disclaimer that I am a cradle Catholic, as in I was raised in the religion since birth, and I'm also Mexican so I'm speaking from experience. I am also not claiming that I know Danny or his religious practices personally, I'm making a guess based on his necklace and the fact that he's Mexican-Colombian, two countries that are largely Catholic (Colombia is reportedly 64% Catholic and Mexico is 78% Catholic) so one can safely assume he was probably raised in the faith and still identifies with it to an extent, though how much, I can't say. I also need to put out the disclaimer that I am basing this on the Mexican experience, since again, I am Mexican, and I'm not claiming I know anything about Colombian Catholic practices though I would think they are similar given that we have the same colonizer but if anyone reading this is Colombian Catholic and wants to give more insight, please go right ahead!

First I wanted to show you the necklace I'm talking about, this is the clearest shot I could find from Danny's instagram in 2021. You can see the medallion is of Jesus Christ with the crown of thorns on his head. The hand next to it I believe is called a hamsa and its meant to protect against the evil eye, this isn't a Catholic belief so I don't know very much about it, but if you know more please fill us in! Though I haven't seen the hamsa on his necklace more recently which could be due to literally anything, but I just wanted to point it out (photo evidence further down).

For starters, what is a medallion? A medallion is a small, usually metal, circle engraved with the image of a saint, the Virgin Mary, or Jesus Christ typically worn around the neck. The Catholic tradition of wearing medallions goes back centuries and they are not only an outward expression of our faith, they are also blessed by priests and are therefore holy objects. We believe that the holy person on our medallions is actively protecting us and guiding us. In Mexican Catholic tradition, medallions are usually given as a present to kids when they complete a sacrament, though it is most typically given by a godparent to their godchild during their first Holy Communion and children, if they continue with the faith, will continue to wear their medallion into adulthood. Usually, in Mexican tradition, boys are given a medallion with the image of Jesus while girls are given medallions with the image of the Virgin Mary, or Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Mexican apparition of the Virgin Mary. While I don't know if there is an explanation why the medallions are gendered this way outside of Mexican machismo, this is the best explanation I have as to why Danny's medallion depicts Jesus as opposed to any other holy figure.

That is the big difference between just a comfort necklace and the medallion. While a comfort necklace can be any necklace that provides the wearer emotional support and can be used as a fidget or sensory stimulation during stressful events, a Catholic medallion has strong religious ties and significance for the wearer. And yes, a medallion can be a comfort necklace, mine is, but just saying that its a comfort necklaces reduces its significance in the Catholic religion.

Now, going back to Danny, here you can see him wearing the medallion in an interview he did with IMDB for Brave New World, though without the hamsa from the 2021 instagram picture. Again, not sure if that means anything about his faith or its just a nothing event (like he lost it and didn't feel the need to replace it), but thought it was something to point out. And you can see it peeking out of his shirt on the red carpet for the newest Mission Impossible movie. So it is very possible that Danny sees his medallion as both a religious object protecting him it is also a comfort necklace for him, but just saying its a comfort necklace takes away the Catholic and Latino culture behind why he is wearing it.

TLDR: Danny's necklace is a medallion depicting Jesus Christ which is a common piece of jewelry worn by Catholics and it has a deeper religious meaning that goes beyond just a comfort necklace.

[httyd-art-requests]

I’m considering making a blog similar to this one but for a different fandom so I wanted to ask if you have any tips?

!!! That's great! Please let me know if/when you do make a blog, I'd love to see it!

Don't be discouraged if your posts don't draw in people immediately, it can take time for the right people to find you. I started out as a daily art blog before I changed to an art request blog, so my daily posting gave my followers something to come back for (aside from my infinitely likeable and charming personality, clearly) (joke)

I got lucky enough to be discovered by some very kind and very supportive people early on, who helped me keep up with the daily posting for much longer than I expected to be able to do. Give it some time, and your people will find you as well.

In my experience, it's very easy to get overwhelmed once you have requests coming in on the regular. Don't be afraid to take breaks, and don't push yourself to keep creating if you're not having fun with it anymore. Draw your boundaries where needed, and don't forget that It's Your House. You get to make and change the rules.

Be kind to people, be welcoming, and most of all: have fun!

(And tag me so I can reblog it :] )

[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)

[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 💜

[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):

[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! 🍬🧡💙🧡🍬

[acellcalledparadise]

That building gear thing sounds sick?? pls tell more??

Oh you saw that?? Yeah I'd be happy to talk about that AU!

I've had people tell me that parts of the setup remind them of things from the show Dungeon Meshi, I'm not fully caught up with it (just finished the anime) so I don't really know exactly how much they are similar but it's certainly a fun thing to note.

The setting of this AU is pretty similar to canon Crusades (at least for the first part) except for the addition of these "building Gears". In the AU they are referred to as "Dungeon Gears", the name coming from their labyrinthian interiors. (originally I had them be called "Incubators" based more on their purpose but after being told about the show parallels I liked the other name for them more.) These things are particularly nasty to deal with, and because of that the Order has specialized groups within its ranks that are designed to deal with these Gears if they are to pop up. (Characters like Sol and Ky can be found in these groups).

I'll separate stuff with a read more so this doesn't get too long

Allow me to go over all of the (known) information on Dungeon Gears:

These Gears are massive, with the smallest recorded being around the size of a house while the bigger ones are more modern-day skyscrapers in size.

There's no consistent "style" between Gears of this type. You could find all manner of architectural styles expressed with these things (although usually, individual Gears will stick to the same smaller amount of "aesthetic"), they can even contain various flora or other features found in nature. Some can be found burrowing deep into the earth, similar to their namesakes, others are capable of movement, dragging themselves across the earth (think: Howl's Moving Castle) to who knows what destination, some are even capable of flight. Most of those ones will simply float in place, like a monument to behold. The way the Order sees it, there's no real way to "classify" the appearance of these things given how much they can vary and instead use other features to classify something as this type of Gear.

One such feature is how both the interior and exteriors of these Gears are constantly shifting. While inside one of these Gears the halls you traverse shift almost as fastly as you can explore them. Exploring these things is a nightmare, worst case you could find that the path you were following leads to a dead end, only to then find out the way back had sealed shut as you had gone through it and without a new path randomly opening or the proper tools you are left to a fate of either starving (or more likely running out of oxygen) in your little pocket or being crushed to death as the Gear finishes filling in the hole you thought was a tunnel.

The other major feature used to classify these Gears (and probably their true purpose amongst Gears as a whole), is their ability to produce other Gears. Dungeons essentially act as spawning grounds for Gears of other types. Typically a Dungeon is capable of producing only one type of Gear, with no known link between the aesthetic of a Dungeon and the type of Gear it produces. These Gears will start showing up once the Dungeon grows big enough to start producing them (more on that later), and thus why Dungeons are a huge problem. The longer a Dungeon is left alone the more Gears it will produce and that spells a lot of problems when you're in a 100-year war with Gears as a whole.

Gears within the Dungeon seem to all be linked to a mini hivemind similar to the great one all Gears operate under as a whole. After leaving its native Dungeon, Gears get incorporated into the greater Justice command line but while inside the Dungeon Gears seem to receive directions from the Dungeon itself, it is believed that Dungeon Gear themselves while capable of controlling their "own" Gears are still under Justice's orders.

One of the biggest mysteries the Order is trying to find out is how exactly Dungeons are made. As mentioned earlier Dungeon Gears continuously "grow" with no known size cap (not like the order would want to keep one around to test anyway), but their origins are a complete mystery. What is known is that they are capable of "spawning" anywhere, without warning. They grow pretty rapidly reaching a size that's able to start producing Gears within hours, coupled with the ability to just "appear" in even human-populated areas makes this mystery high on the Order's solving list (if that makes any sense lol).

The one silver lining with all of this is that these Gears are still killable. Deep within a Dungeon at the presumed center of it, you can find what's known as "the Heart Room". This room unlike anywhere else within the Dungeon does not change and hosts the "Heart" of the Dungeon. The Heart has no distinct shape to it, it has a lot of "Veins" sticking out from it (these Veins can actually be found embedded into the walls all throughout the Dungeon. They carry this black sludge that would probably be considered the Dungeon's "blood" and is extremely hazardous to human health.) and it "beats" just like a regular heart would (although pulsates might be a more apt term). While called the Heart it also serves as the brain of the Dungeon (or at least no other organ that could be a brain has been found) once destroyed (the one doing so must be careful to avoid getting any "blood" on them) the Dungeon begins to rapidly fall apart. With it's life cut off it no longer changes but that doesn't make the rush to escape any safer. Getting out is usually a mad dash to who knows where praying that you'll find an exit before the Dungeon collapses on top of you, most of the other Gears within doing the same.

And that, for the most part, is the setting of this universe. It is believed that Justice herself is one of these types of Gear but if so her Dungeon has yet to be found. I do have an actual plot for this au too :) I didn't post it here for length reasons but if interested I'd be happy to talk more about it.

[a-cat-in-toffee]

Couldn't imidiately find the original post but I bet my PD guys could beat up your PD guys /j

(I honestly know so little about your AU's but your Kota Kill and Mr Wight designs give me life OKAY BYE-)

HEHEHE???? IM GLAD YOU LIKE MY KOTA AND WIGHT DESIFNS I LOVE DRAWING THEMM...... honestly probably kota is the ONLY one of them with like actual fighting power /jjjjj

[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.

[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!