#in game but. it's not so useful for scale references because it's just one continuous stretching texture... if i can find it i'll show you

[poptartmochi]

screaming and crying. i have finally discovered my first skybox <3

[i-drop-level-one-loot]

Hun something else I want to ask is if you would do a hybrid dragon Yan..? Forgot to mention it in the last ask because I forget ideas a lot <3

-from the one anon who said to use 3 names you like :)!

P.s I’ll probably refer to myself as this forever now hun

I'm sorry this took so long!! Here it is:

CW: mild violence, video game logic

Yandere!Dragon x GN!Reader

The winds in the mountains were cold enough to slice open skin and leave blisters.

Traveling up towards the sky was (Reader), a warrior known throughout the lands for their incredible feats, climbing up the snowy pass towards the dark splotch on their map.

The dragon's lair.

Only human in appearance, (Reader) had slaughtered almost every type of monster and fiend in the continent, sending fear through all living beings. They were rumored to be immortal, since they seemed to be capable of recovering from any wound they received, no matter how critical. Whatever life threatening hit they took, and no matter how certain their death seemed to be, (Reader) would only black out, waking a few hours later. A warrior without a past, without a home, who only lived to kill.

Slaying a dragon would be the last creature on the killer's list, having already defeated deities and apocalypse level threats. It wasn't that a dragon would be harder than killing a god; they just hadn't gotten around to it.

In the grand scheme of life, dragon slaying would be a side quest.

(Reader) doubted that the battle would be difficult in any sort of sense; aside from their incredible physical attributes they also had legendary gear such as "the Ring of Absolution" which was forged from the tears of a Golden Warrior. That ring alone made it impossible for enemies to block their attacks or use "break out" to parry.

Upon finding the cave and entering recklessly, (Reader) wished that someone had told them sooner:

That "when you're at the top, the only place to go is down.."

A blast of fire knocked their helmet off their head as the heat pushed them back. Shocked (and a little excited) the warrior raised their vampiric sword. Inside the cave, a giant red and golden dragon sat posed, muscles tense and eyeing the invader with intrigue.

"Who are you, to enter my home?" His deep voice sounded more confused than offended. And when (Reader) pointed their weapon at him in response, he chuckled. "Adorable little human, if you wish to live a long life, leave this cave now, and I shall spare you."

(Reader) shouted, igniting a glowing light around their body, then lunged, slashing at the beast.

To the dragon's surprise it hurt.

"Foul little thing!" He snarled, attempting to blast the human with another bolt of flames (this time not as a warning) but the fighter rolled out of the way, effectively dodging the attack. (Reader) thrust again, angering the dragon when he found that he could not block the sword, the blade passing his harder scales and hitting his soft flesh despite his guarding.

Amidst the rage and frustration a new emotion began forming within the centuries young being; respect.

There were no dragons he wished to associate with, there were no creatures that approached him of their own free will. He was alone. For a very, very long time. For he was not just a dragon..

He was Targov the Malicious.

A dragon of legend, ender of nations, killer of kings..

And his health was slowly being chipped away by the steel of a mortal.

(Reader) did not know who the dragon was, only that this was the closest location for a dragon nest.

"Small human.. I have a proposition for you."

The warrior paused, tilting their head as they waited for the dragon to continue.

"You have impressed me, and you have earned my admiration. So I offer you a chance at life eternal: become my mate, and ascend to a higher state of being.

You shall never want nor need for anything. I will be your willing servant for all of eternity."

It wasn't the first proposal (Reader) had received, yet it was certainly the first from a beast. They stepped back a fraction as though his words caused them to stumble. His request sounded so genuine that it almost killed their blood lust.

Almost.

Disappointment and betrayal filled the dragon's eyes as (Reader) suddenly threw their sword like a spear, lodging it into Targov's chest, a feather's distance shy of his heart. But even that only further fueled the growing need he had for the mortal. And the obvious solution to the warrior's resistance was to make the choice easier for them.

Targov flew forward, but instead of attacking like (Reader) had predicted, he grappled the human in his talons and continued faster, propelling them both out of the cave and into the sky as he built speed.

The wind jostled the surprised human about like a rag doll as they rose higher into the atmosphere. Their ears popped painfully, but they could still hear the roaring laughter of the dragon.

"HA! Now what do you say, human?! Shall you be mine? Or shall I drop you?!" He held the adventurer loosely by the fabric visible under their armor in an attempt to frighten them. But what he saw next made his heart falter.

His eyes widened as (Reader) smiled triumphantly, raising a dagger while maintaining eye contact, and sliced off the part of their outfit Targov held onto, willingly allowing themselves to fall.

It was just a fall.

Yeah, it would hurt. It would hurt like a son of a bitch, but (Reader) knew they wouldn't die. They never did.

However, their near immortality was something that Targov didn't know about.

Before his emotions could fully form into separate feelings, Targov dove, recatching the little human, now with a more secure grip, and flew back to his home, his heart beating a billion beats per second once it restarted.

(Reader) was thrown to the floor by the dragon seconds before being blinded by a bright flash. The dragon was consumed in a bright white glow that illuminated the cave, morphing into a more human appearance, with deep golden skin and red hair. His horns and claws still remained, but as (Reader) could see clearly from his lack of clothes, was now mostly human. He charged towards (Reader), face twisted in his confusing mix of emotions. Anger, shock, hurt, feelings his adrenaline wouldn't give him time to categorize as he closed in on the confused human.

He hoisted (Reader) up by their neck.

"You'd really rather die than be mine?!" The enraged dragon screamed.

Struggling to breathe, the warrior grabbed one of his scaly hands while trying to smack his face with their dominant hand.

The glint of their ring caught Targov's attention, who recognized it instantly. He had been alive for a very long time, and killed many a god during his rebellious years. Sharp teeth sunk into (Reader's) fingers, the dragon biting their hand lightly, suddenly, earning a shocked cry from the struggling human. Targov dropped (Reader), pulling the ring off their finger with his fangs as he did so.

The warrior didn't notice their missing ring until they regained their composure and attempted to attack the humanoid dragon, who blocked their attack perfectly fine.

Targov wore the ring on his smallest claw.

"I see I was right about you.." His deep voice chuckled, but (Reader) couldn't tell if it was out of amusement or fury. "A fellow God killer.. who better suited to be my mate?"

He grabbed (Reader's) wrist, and despite it's low speed, the ring prevented (Reader) from dodging.

"Welcome home, my mate."

"Even if I have to break you, I will have you. And you will learn to love me."

[gffa]

SO WHAT ARE JEDI HEALERS LIKE IN CANON? The subtitle of this project was literally, “Started making it.  Had a breakdown.  Bon appetite.” because Star Wars lore is a mess of about five distinctly separate continuities and hardly anything has been devoted to this particular niche of Jedi worldbuilding.  I spent a few hours hunting down sources, most of which were just one or two lines, at most a whole entire single paragraph! of information, and not much on how Force healing actually works. This is fair, primarily the Force is about the emotions the user puts into it, that’s the core, central theme of what the Force means to Star Wars worldbuilding, rather than nitpicking details about hard rules of how it works.  Further, the Force isn’t full of hard and fast rules on a bigger scale, it depends on the person, it depends on their mood, it depends on whether it’s a Tuesday or a Friday, because it’s about serving core themes, not about serving a system of magical rules. That said, here’s what we know of Jedi Healers specifically in canon, both as a group within the Jedi Order and as an ability of the Force.  This post will mix together Legends and Disney/Lucasfilm canon, as well as include RPG books that are not meant to be sources of canon, because the whole point of this is to give worldbuilders some tools to start with, should you want!  HAVE SOME FUN WITH IT, PICK OUT WHAT YOU LIKE, AND BUILD UP FROM THERE.  \o/ KNOWN JEDI HEALERS: - Rig Nema (Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon) - Stass Allie (Disney/Lucasfilm canon, as a healer) - Barriss Offee (Legends canon as a healer, Disney/Lucasfilm canon as working with healers) - Mill Alibeth (Disney/Lucasfilm canon) - Nahdar Vebb (Fantasy Flight Games canon, as a healer) - Vokara Che (Legends continuity) JEDI HEALERS ROLE IN THE JEDI ORDER: Jedi healers seem to be fairly rare and they were regarded as fairly precious:

(Jedi vs Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force / Legends canon) Note:  In this instance “Old Republic” = prequels era, and while this snippet is Legends, Rhinnal has been mentioned in Disney/Lucasfilm canon in The Rising Storm.  In the FFG books, the Jedi established a chapter house on Rhinnal for many patients that was still in use and had been expanded during the prequels’ Jedi Order’s time.  So, the Jedi have Halls-of-healing-esque houses on other places beyond Coruscant. Jedi Healers were regarded as the most sensitive Jedi of all:

(Wild Space / Legends Canon) JEDI HEALERS’ STRUCTURE: Rig Nema was a Consular Jedi, which was a Jedi that devoted themselves to the study of a science or diplomacy, where she was a dedicated doctor.  Jedi specializing in healing seem to often withdraw from any combat duties, as well as they fall under this specialized role within Jedi career paths.

(The Visual Encyclopedia / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) In Legends, the Jedi Healers worked with the MedCorps Jedi, as well as the were in leadership roles in the Temple’s infirmary and on worlds like Rhinnal and H’ratth.

(The Jedi Path / Legends canon) Note:  The Service Corps are tricky, because Legends established them just after The Phantom Menace came out, before even the second movie of the prequels had arrived, much less TCW or anything.  Which means much of the content that came later had a tendency to contradict itself, as well as they do not exist at all in Lucas’ canon, and they are only mentioned in deeply obscure reference guides in Disney/Lucasfilm canon (and no mention of aging out--which further cannot work the same way, as TCW and Dooku: Jedi Lost establish that 14 year olds are young for Padawans and that 17+ isn’t rare for Padawans), but have never appeared in any book or comic yet.  All of which means:  Feel free to use them!  Source material is a buffet that you get to pick and choose from!  But be aware that some things are fundamentally incompatible from one continuity to another, and the Service Corps is a big one of those. Within the Jedi Order, there was a sub-order of the Knights who practiced healing arts, called the Circle of Jedi Healers:

(The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia / Legends canon)      “Seated on the Jedi High Council due to her invaluable role as a Jedi Consular, Master Stass Allie is gifted not only in diplomacy and Lightsaber combat, but also Force healing. As a member of the Circle of Jedi Healers and overseer of the Medical Corps, she continues to hone her healing abilities even while deployed as a general for the Galactic Republic in the Clone Wars.” (Complete list of Force Collection cards / Continuity status unknown, probably Legends as it started in 2013) Not all Jedi had to be dedicated healers to work with the medical clinic.  In Disney/Lucasfilm canon, Barriss Offee often spent time helping injured Jedi, because she found healing to give her solace.

(Stories of Jedi and Sith / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) Though, in Legends, Barriss was more directly a healer, working under Stass Allie in the Circle of Jedi Healers, where she specialized in disease rather than surgery.

(Star Wars Databank / Legends canon) Similarly, when Mill Alibeth finds her place within the Jedi Order, at Yoda’s suggestion that she use her abilities for specialized medical and spiritual assistance for war-wounded Jedi, she’s not necessarily Master Nema’s Padawan, it’s not so formalized as that, showing that there’s a lot of flexibility within the Jedi Order’s studies and paths.

(Brotherhood / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) JEDI HEALERS’ ABILITIES: While Jedi healers focus on medical training, they also train Jedi in the main components of Jedi philosophy, like greater control and insight.  When Mill Alibeth begins training with Rig Nema, she gains greater mastery over herself and the insight she has into Anakin in their meditation together:

(Brotherhood / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) In addition to Jedi healers being rare, it seems like it was taxing for them to directly use Force healing, because it drained them personally.  While much of Kylo’s ability to revive Rey seems to come from that they were a dyad (and this would not be possible with other types of Force Healing, so other Jedi could not do that particular thing), Rey does do some Force Healing, where she must calm herself and center herself to do it properly, and it takes energy from her to accelerate healing. It’s not much here, she doesn’t need to recover from it, but anything more significant and likely she would have.  So, Jedi healers have to be careful about how much they give of themselves when healing others.  This is also why Grogu collapses after healing Greef in The Mandalorian.

(The Rise of Skywalker novelization / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) Another Jedi healing ability is the Healing Trance, which would accelerate their natural healing process.  While in this trance, because their heartbeat and breathing slow, they can appear to be dead to others, and they’re unaware of the world around them.  Depending on the climate, they can last anywhere from a week to a month within this trance, without outside hydration being given to them.

(Jedi vs Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force / Legends canon) JEDI HEALERS WITH THE FORCE VS TECHNOLOGY: The Jedi Order of the prequels seems to balance between technology and the Force, that both have their place in healing.  In the episode “Voices”, Rig Nema relies on medical scans to show Yoda’s physiology, as well as a tank of dark liquid (either a bacta tank or a sensory deprivation tank, both would be useful for Jedi who need calm and no distractions to connect to the Force) to help him, but it’s balanced with his connection to the Force being plumbed, it’s not focused only on technological means.

JEDI HEALERS HAVE TO WATCH OUT FOR: In addition to being extra sensitive, Jedi Healers would be spending time in places that were soaked in pain and suffering, just by the nature of injured people’s anguish.  Not only would they face the difficulty of dealing with a patient’s pain directly, Force-sensitive means being psychic, as in that pain literally soaks into the walls around them.

(”The Jedi Who Knew Too Much” / Lucas canon / Disney/Lucasfilm canon) It’s intense enough in places that have a bad accident and those feelings linger, it’s a hundred times worse in places where people are always in pain or dying.  Jedi Healers aren’t just subjected to the person’s suffering that’s right in front of them, but the thousand patients before them that have left their emotional imprint on the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the pillows, the bed, the very air around them. HALLS OF HEALING/MEDICAL WINGS:

The Medical Center and Infirmary seem to be located about halfway up the left-hand side of the main ziggurat: "Medical center and infirmary, staffed by Jedi Medical Corps.” (Complete Locations | Disney/Lucasfilm canon)

“The Jedi Temple's Halls of Healing were beautiful. They had lofty ceilings and enormous windows that spilled golden light over the blue and green and rose-pink walls and floor. Imbued with the Force's most gentle aspects, with love and nurturing and peace, they were full of perfumed flowers and green growing things, with the music of running water and the vibrancy of life renewed. They were the perfect retreat for those who were broken in body and mind, a place where the ugliness of suffering was washed away.” (Wild Space | Legends canon)

It’s difficult to get a sense of the size of it in The Clone Wars, but it seems to be fairly big, given the diversity of what we see of it, there may be more hard scientific areas and more gentle healing areas, both:    - Obi-Wan’s transformation into Rako Hardeen is in an area with multiple cordoned off areas with doors that can be fogged over. (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon , Disney/Lucasfilm canon )

Likely the same area in the episode “Voices”, it seems like it’s in an area of the Temple that’s a hallway away from windows facing the outside. (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon)

 Anakin and Mace share a recovery room, which has a different style from the other infirmary rooms, done in different colors and with softer lighting, indicating that they have gentler recovery rooms versus the active medical problem areas It has a window looking out over Coruscant, indicating that it’s near the edge of the ziggurat, likely an area for less critical patients and meant to promote healing. (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon)

 Yoda is put in the infirmary in an area that looks to be the same area, but also has a separate area for a bacta tank, which seems to be at least possibly similar to the same area Depa was in when she was submerged in bacta. When Anakin walks into the room (and later he and Yoda walk out), we see what looks like sky through a window in the background of the outside hallway, possibly indicating this was near the edge of the ziggurat as well.  (The Clone Wars | Lucas canon, Disney/Lucasfilm canon)(Kanan: The Last Padawan | Disney/Lucasfilm canon)

[daemonkitsune]

asmodeus headcanons

obey me masterlist | masterlist

// trigger warning : mild sexual references, mild non-con reference (nothing explicit) //

asmodeus surprisingly enough has scorpions in his room. as his symbol animal he’s particularly fond of them. his scorpions also have their own specialised skin (scale?) routines.

as the avatar of lust asmodeus goes through the entire scale of libido’s. just as he can have one of the highest libido’s he can also be completely asexual. this is not a known fact about asmodeus.

asmodeus can fix almost any problem on social media, including getting an image off social media after it’s gone viral. leviathan is the technology wiz with games and whatnot, mammon is great with technology in the background, and asmodeus is brilliant when it comes to social media problems and whatnot.

asmodeus knows all of his brothers skin types, hair types, styles, likes and dislikes when it comes to clothes and general hygiene care. whenever he makes a new line of something (clothes, skin products, hair products etc) he always makes sure there’s something that each of his brothers would love.

asmodeus has multiple alt accounts that no one but him knows about. his alt accounts all have a theme and none of them involve his face or name in the slightest. he uses these accounts to spread rumours and leaks about certain things. demon bullying his brothers? now there’s a rumour going around about that demon. asmodeus has a new skin care line? oh look! someone leaked it to the public and now everyone’s talking about it!

being the avatar of lust comes with some advantages, for example asmodeus has a vague idea of every sexual thing someone has done without even searching for it. chances are he knows if someone’s asexual before they do, and chances are he knows if someone wanted to actually have sex or not.

a draw back to being the avatar of lust is that almost everything asmodeus says is thought to have a double meaning. for example, asmodeus may say his throat is sore or hurts (maybe from sickness, maybe he’s just thirsty) and almost everyone who hears him say that will immediately laugh and make some joke about asmodeus’s knees hurting too.

a lot of what asmodeus does is considered to be incredibly superficial, but for the most part he’s always completely and unashamedly himself.

asmodeus uses his connections to get limited edition or rare items for his brothers. satan’s been upset recently? asmodeus conveniently found some rare cat themed item that he thought satan would like. lucifer’s stressed? asmodeus found a rare vinyl or some limited edition demonus that lucifer will find in his room or office at some point.

asmodeus mourned the loss of his angel wings more then anyone else did, not necessarily because of what they were, but because of what they’d represented to him. he eventually came to love his new demon wings, but occasionally he’ll find himself incapable of looking at them in any way shape or form.

when asmodeus finally started to get used to being a demon he decided to explore what the devildom had to offer, and that’s where he realised that tail, wing or horn care products were mostly only available to the nobility and higher in the devildom, so he made his own care products. he customised them and continues to perfect them everyday so that everyone can care for themselves.

asmodeus can tell when someone is feeling down or depressed before they can. he can tell when they struggle to get out of bed, or when they find it a chore to take a shower or look after himself, and whenever he gets that depressed feeling in the air, he’ll post a bunch of stuff like “good job on getting out of bed and getting something to drink”, “good job on putting on that cream or having a snack” etc.

when it comes to saying exactly what your thinking, asmodeus is the definition of it. asmodeus will make an offhanded comment about someone without even thinking that it may be rude, and it will take him a little while to realise he said something he shouldn’t’ve. 

when it comes to judging products or snooty and rude demons his lack of brain to mouth filter is brilliant, however when it comes to his friends or brothers his lack of filter can have some rather unsavoury results. especially because asmodeus can’t help but compare his brothers to who they used to be in the celestial realm, specifically mammon.

asmodeus used to look up to mammon a lot so whenever he see’s mammon act like the avatar of greed his brain always makes a comparison and asmodeus bluntly says what he’s thinking. whenever asmodeus realises what he said to mammon he’ll usually feel guilty, but instead of apologising he’ll sneak something mammon will like into mammon’s room as an apology.

is mostly perceptive to how his brothers are feeling. he’ll invite leviathan out to do something and he’ll always have an ear or eye on leviathan to make sure he isn’t overwhelmed. will invite satan out and will keep an ear or eye on satan to make sure no ones pissing him off, and if someone is then asmodeus will swoop in and convince whoever is causing satan to leave.

asmodeus isn’t very good at cooking, but he’s practised making all his brothers favourite foods so that he can surprise them when they’re having a bad day or so that whenever it’s his turn to cook dinner everyone will have something to enjoy.

[worldsokayestmagicalgirl]

The first batch of pictures for Amoré's character journal are here! Also I have been so super sick that I've literally had nothing to do but to work on this for like almost 2 weeks so...

The cover to cover tour officially starts here. All I can say about the front & back is that I lament my lack of experience with my Cricut when I made these decals. I only had 2 "fun" colors to work with at the time & I was still getting comfortable drawing in Procreate, so my silhouette art leaves a lot to be desired compared to some stuff I've made recently. I also found it's incredibly easy to burn this leather book.

But she's volume one, everything with her is a learning experience, & I realized as much as it helps to have a mini heat press for tight corners & small spaces, the cloth barrier they suggest you use between the vinyl & the iron tends to make things harder to press on this scale. So instead I gotta quickly tap straight on the transfer film & hope I don't burn anything around it :(´◦ω◦｀):ﾟﾟ

So at the risk of thoroughly exposing my inner theater kid, Amoré set the precedent with how I went forward creating campaign characters. I started off collecting 5 songs to make a mini story arc (almost like a show choir set list 🙃) that helps me figure out an outline for the kind of story I wanna give them.

Somehow Amoré ended up with a truly horrendous blend of rock & theatre. Absolutely incredibe. No wonder she's always such a dramatic bitch.

It was a lot easier to go in & add little decals around these lyrics. I'm definitely cursed with the Too Much™ gene, but I enjoy the little pops of color they give ✨ plus it justifies me hoarding all these vinyl scraps printing stuff this small lol.

Stat sheet!

In all honesty, as my first character I had no fucking clue what I was doing when I placed these & if I could go back & change one thing I'd probably swap her Intelligence & her Wisdom. She’s definitely more people smart than book smart.

But everything else is...very accurate. She has all the upper body strength of a chicken nugget. Plus on top of the (already) negative I traded disadvantage on everything DEX for magic crystal shoes that can be periodically harvested. Just a way for her to carry around the family fortune without actually having to return to the vault✨

For something that started so average, her CON became a monster & always comes in clutch for her alcohol tolerance. I've played variations of her across a few different one shots & I always manage to roll well for anything alcohol related. The dice do respect a bit 🤣

Spells on the other hand, I floundered with a lot at first because we’re not a combat heavy game, but then I found Chaos Bolt & that was that. It’s essentially Amoré in spell form & I’ve had a ton of fun with it over the years. Also Mage Armor cuz my girl is SO DISTRESSINGLY SQUISHY.

Cantrips were more or less a bit of a toss up. Message was fun for the sheer idea of her using it to talk shit during social events without being caught. But aside from Light serving fun backstory purposes the other 3 are kinda just what looked fun ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ unless you count the idea that she would absolutely delight in zapping handshakes.

From there, I wanted to extend the world map made by our wonderful DM @cappierong into a full scroll. Ya know, for the aesthetic ✨

Our campaign started in Civania, where Amoré's main Estate is. I just wanted a quick mock up to reference, so I edited a preexisting picture I found that checked all the boxes (large, on a plateau, accessible only by bridge) and then absolutely smothered it in flowers.

But anyways... This is primarily where Diana & Amoré grew up together in their decade of backstory ✨

There was probably waaaay to much back & forth trying to keep the continuity between stuff I've already drawn & this big reference. But I think it turned out pretty ok? Not like if I make a mistake anyone will really know lol.

Scaling was also another big issue I had, & I moments where I thought something was too big I just kinda handwaved it away like "ehhhhh she's from a stupid rich family." But now I have a NEED to draw baby Diana & Amoré around like, the statue gardens or something cuz I feel like certain parts of this place are definitely ominous 👀 especially for children...

And lastly we have the back cover & the High Noble political relationship map! I normally have this closer to the front but for layout purposes it'll be here. I kinda feel like I need to do more for the decoration of it but I can’t think of anything else to add at the moment.

Sam if u read that no you didn't.

But now! Other than a family portrait that I've always wanted to draw, I think I'm ready to move onto the art for Season 1 : Arc 2. It's a pretty hefty amount of art in comparison to others, so I gotta get busy. Especially since I think I'm gonna have to draw a few comics *sobs*

If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading! I'm always excited to talk out our little idiots so thanks for indulging me ❀(*´▽`*)❀

[thelavenderelf]

Something a little different than usual, but this is a page out of my sketchbook regarding the fur coat I designed for Sylvana that she wears during the events of Unstable. That piece can be found here.

I am a huge nerd when it comes to costume design and storytelling with costumes, so I wanted to make something that represents what she's going through in my fic. This outfit was also heavily inspired by the gorgeous fur coat Daenerys Targaryen wears in Game of Thrones.

My handwriting is kinda illegible, so my design notes will be under the cut. With some more in-depth info of course. It became a bit of an essay:

The majority of the coat is made out of an off white, creamy fur. Probably an ivory more than anything. The color represents the snow, death, and mourning. She starts wearing it after Kodlak's funeral, so it's a symbol that she's still mourning for him. The snow connection is obviously because of her snow elf heritage and it's winter time during the story. As for death, that is a bit more metaphorical. Or is IT!?!?!?

The coat is embroidered with strips of blue suede handstitched in a pattern closely related to the scale pattern of a dragon. Here is one of the reference images I used for the pattern:

Before Unstable, Sylvana was very much a reluctant hero and wanted nothing to do with being the Dragonborn. Unstable begins about a year and a half after said revelation, and she's starting to become much more comfortable with the title. This coat is the first piece of clothing she owns that was made just for her. She commissioned it from Radiant Raiment in Solitude and she specifically requested the dragon scale pattern because she thought it would be cheeky whenever a dragon tried to pick a fight and insult her with terms such as "soft belly."

The pattern also represents her growing confidence in herself and her abilities.

Blue represents her love of Skyrim and all the people she has come to care for. But most importantly, it mainly represents her growing bond with Vilkas. I also like to think that it was dyed blue with a mixture of nirnroot. Something tells me that nirnroot provides a nice blue dye.

The back of the coat features a panel of silvery, grey fur that continues to mimic the dragon scale pattern. The color silver represents change, vulnerability, and almost a sense of paranoia. And with the silver being on her back, her most vulnerable place, it also represents an incoming danger that she doesn't suspect.

And finally, the coat is lined with a light golden suede. It represents the past and a hidden connection. The golden hue is a call back to her being raised on Summerset and within the Thalmor. As for the hidden connection, it also draws back to the past, but way before she can even remember. This hidden connection represents a familial bond that she has wanted for so long, but may not be one she expects.

[liketwoswansinbalance]

MASTERPOST for The One True School Master of Vault 41

This is a continually updating table of contents to help with navigating my posts about TOTSMOV41, my WIP longfic.

The fic's premise: Sophie joins forces with a resurrected, former lover in the midst of trying to get Tedros back onto Camelot's throne, but that's not even half the uphill battle: rogue psyches and distrust abound and threaten to shatter the present state of the Woods as everyone knows it.

or

In which Rafal is resurrected during the events of One True King and things go horribly, disproportionately wrong!

Also, the fic will not be published for a very long time, so don't expect to see it anytime soon. I'm still on draft zero/the outline/script.

⸻

—Table of Contents—[Pre-Publication of Fic]

Title reveal and associated music

Round I of Excerpts

Apparently, the tag "otk" is banned from tumblr.

The misleading trope hint

Round II Excerpt

Visual ref. 1

Facts about the fic

Reblog #1

Aesthetic for one of the first scenes (and flower trivia in the comments)

A Peek at My Outline Process

Reblog #2, dialogue, and reference to suicide

Round III of Excerpts

Sketch - Rafal got punched in the face.

Screenshots of my Pinterest board for the fic

Update, more facts about the fic, and its references to philosophic concepts

Round IV Excerpt

Cover Reveal

Reblog #3

Reblog #4

Reblog #5

Hypothetical Non-Excerpt

The Recurring Japeth Punchline

Reblog #6

Reblog #7

Three "Fun" (Incongruous) Facts

Thanatos drive reference mentioned

Reblog #8

Reblog #9

Reblog #10

Ask containing minor fic trivia

Update and Round V of Excerpts

Which wizard is this? (a.k.a. The Tedros Insanity Poll)

Reblog #11

Reblog #12

Reblog #13 and Fic Tags

Round VI Excerpt

The Suffering Scale

Word Ask Game

Word Ask #1

Word Ask #2

Word Ask #3

Results of the Tedros Poll

Round VII of Excerpts

Guess the Last Verb/Noun

Minor Spoilers

Reblog #14

Reblog #15

Reblog #16

Visual ref. 2

Reblog #17

Slightly Cursed Thought?

Aesthetic

Round VIII of Excerpts

54. Scrapped Hypothetical Scene

55. Reblog #18

56. Visual ref. 3

57. Reblog #19

58. Reblog #20

59. Deliberate or Not Deliberate?

60. Update and Another Ask Game

61. Page Number Ask #1

62. Page Number Ask #2

63. Visual ref. 4

64. Visual ref. 5

—The Story— [Links TBA after publication.]

Part I: Of Solipsism, Sophistry, and Storians.

Part II: Great Mistake II, Great Mistake III, and Verisimilitude

Part III: Phantoms, Prescience, and the Pen

Deleted Scene

Meta post

Fic Analysis, Commentary & Trivia

Propaganda

⸻

Need-to-Knows (a.k.a How I'm meddling with canon):

This fic will involve Rafal being resurrected, and lead up to an alternate continuity of plot events, all set during One True King. Thus, its title will be: The One True School Master of Vault 41. However, the title may or may not be a bit of a misnomer, so I might just end up subverting your expectations after all.

There will be a form of "psyche travel," or an approximation of time travel, using Dovey's crystal ball like in ACOT, the arson of a certain Wizard Tree to look forward to, and some offbeat, unprecedented action taken by the Storian. Of course, Agatha and Rafal will bicker a lot while Sophie plays the role of mediator. And, oh, Rafal will be tortured, slightly…

Additionally, there's a couple things to note about the premise and the changes I've made to canon, for context:

1. The fic will disregard Fall as canon, yet will acknowledge Rise.

2. There are several canon elements I'm not using. The Rafal is the fic is him from Rise, and also from TLEA. I decided to only acknowledge Rise but not Fall because I didn't want to work with the identity-swap twist. So Rafal is Rafal is Rafal in this case. I will draw from both his Rise characterization and his TLEA characterization.

3. Later in the fic, Rise Rhian only has minor appearances, and is present in Rafal's psyche, but he will not actually be a character until I write a possible sequel, if I ever do reach that point. So, you can assume Rhian was moderately Good to grey on the morality scale, and that Rafal was the one who ultimately committed the fratricide for the purposes of this fic.

4. I've decided not to acknowledge the OTK parentage twist. To clarify, Rafal will have no relation to Japeth, simply because it felt out of character for him to have children with a woman he seemed to loathe, even if it may have been less out of character for the canon Rhian falsely disguised as "Rafal." I personally thought it contradicted Rafal's characterization, so Japeth's placeholder father, who probably won't even be mentioned in the story, will be the Green Knight, to explain his magical prowess as the Snake.

Otherwise, for the most part, this fic is alternate continuity "canon," and diverges at some point during OTK.

I've tried to set the stage, eradicate confusion, and mediate potential disappointment as best as I could above, but if anyone would like me to demystify anything about the fic, my writing process, or ask anything else at all, feel free to send questions to me! Yet, I might not be able to answer everything, for various reasons, including limiting excessive spoilers, so please keep that in mind.

[randomnameless]

Remember the heavy lolcalisation bias regarding the Fodlan games because of tea bags?

It was to be expected, as soon as we heard Supreme Leader and her two sidekicks were added as DLC, we knew the game would include heavy lolcalisation to keep the, uh, “Pat continuity” from FE16/Nopes/FeH.

And we weren’t wrong!!

In Zelestia and Blue Edlegard convo (I mean this sidekick has no name!) we have this in japanese :

Google-ised, it goes :

We already see there is something wrong here - a mention that cannot ever be mentionned in the lolcalised FE16.

And thanks to my good friend @renisfan​, just in case someone is out here to remind us that mechanical translations should never be used to understand a text in a different language, especially in japanese, jp!Zelestia effectively uses those kanjis 種族 which mean “race”, and it’s very different from the kanjis 人種 that refer to “human race”.

Jp!Zelestia is thus saying that despite their ears, scales or lack of, people here are family.

To which Blue!Edlegard replies :

The traditional answer one would expect of that unit, save for the fact that he is the only lord in his base games to never react to the fact (or even learn) that some people in Fodlan have pointy ears and aren’t human.

Dimitri - I mean Blue!Edlegard uses the 種族 kanjis just in case someone was wondering - so no he doesn’t mean different races like different races within the human races, but talks about pointy ears, round ears, laguz, etc etc. All races.

“Random, you’re making this up, surely the global version wouldn’t have edited this, it’s not even the same game, you’re seeing conspiracies everywhere!”

:)

:’)

“backgrounds”

What is this even supposed to mean? Where’s the race mention, given how Zelestia is a mage dragon and managed to become friends’n’family with non dragon people or even non mage dragon people?

“backgrounds”

“Dimitri no! Read your lolcalised script damn it! We erase the word “race” don’t bring it back! Are you listening???”

Now, who can hazard a guess as to why Zelestia’s line was lolcalised? Does it has anything to do with bags of tea? 

Or it was just a coincidence? 

Is there anyone in Dimitri’s circle of acquaintances who doesn’t consider people as beings - i mean friends - i mean beings able of feelings and being inherently banned from certain positions because of their race?

But you know what, it’s tea time.

[sonkitty]

Threshold Tricks - LINK - Update

-Added stuff about the two rounds of play.

-Updated the Requirements to list #7 as actually there should be a core concept then the former #7 became #8 to say advanced pocket mechanics should be used.

-Added a section called "Switching Rounds", a lot like what I added to Earthly Objects Part 1 today. Here is what's in this version:

For an audience player, Round 1 involves finding the given Threshold Trick with its Single, Double, and Triple. It should have a name. Five of the six Threshold Tricks should have a core concept with The Pocket Trick missing one. In Round 1, an audience member is never required to play the game by checking anything frame-by-frame. Based solely on my own experience, I admit, Round 2 starts with a second look at The Pocket Trick in case you missed something since there's a decent chance you're missing core concept itself. To play Round 2, an audience member is definitely required to play the game by looking at things frame-by-frame because you can't discover the Tied Hands any other way. Well, at least you probably wouldn't. The Tied Hands are just the start of realizing the scale of The Pocket Trick and its giant impact on so much else within the Earthly Objects game. Eventually, the audience player should realize advanced pocket mechanics are used in the other Threshold Tricks to continue and expand on playing Round 2. This switch strongly suggests that The Pocket Trick is the most important Threshold Trick out of the six.

-Updated the Triple for The Bigger Thresholds Trick to say that "didn't touch the buttons" is the simple explanation in Round 1. That's always felt too easy, so I think Round 2 is supposed to include another guess for a proper or better explanation. I also added my latest notes for my latest guesses.

-In The Sunglasses Trick section, I added links for the touches I've covered so far in the Sideburns Scheme posts.

-In the section about the Threshold Tricks structure, there is a part that says, "None of the tricks are having their touches happening in episodes 3 and 4." I added, "That is likely because Crowley and Aziraphale are in the phase of borrowing each other's homes to form a special connection."

[magicalenbysarah]

I take the Hyrule Historia manga as canon because I don't think it contradicts anything in the games. Here's a kind of analysis of it.

If the manga is canon, Hyrule and Hylians were known as the Land and People of Hylia respectively and this was before they were in contact with the Goddess. Hylia seems to be a personification of the area itself, and likely cannot leave it due to her role as guardian deity.

The manga also says Hylia and Link's Loftwing will eternally be reborn alongside the Hero, suggesting that this Loftwing is Epona.

Hylia claims the Master Sword was created by the golden goddesses so maybe she used the Triforce and her own force to forge it? The Master Sword stabilizes the land as it ascends to the sky, so it has power over time and space, probably due to its connection to the omniscient and omnipotent Triforce. The Master Sword is originally a claymore but is reforged(reborn is the word used) into the True Master Sword, which is the familiar longsword.

The 3 dragons put the symbol of the Triforce on the Master Sword, a nice reference to the real life inspiration. The symbol was associated with the Hojo Clan and was called Mitsuuroko(Three Scales).

The Master Sword is said to have become a pillar between heaven and earth, referencing the Shinto Creation myth.

Hylia seals Demise in a very similar way to how BotW Zelda seals Calamity Ganon, with her emanating light at him with an outstretched hand.

Hylia says Link's imprisonment was willed by the heavens and meant to hone his spirit, which tempers the Master Sword. The Sword's energy is Link's and only he can use it as it has chosen him as its master.

Hylia says she will be forever reborn alongside Link. Contrary to certain belief, this does not contradict the ending of Skyward Sword. Demise does *not* curse Link and Zelda to reincarnate(or curse Link to reincarnate and Zelda to stay dead for some reason). All he is saying here is that Demons will forever oppose the land of Hyrule, the hero, and the royal family. The Hero and the Princess will forever fight the Demon King because of their never ending hatred for each other. Link and Zelda will continue to reincarnate not because of Demise, but because that's the process all mortals go through. Not only would it be incredibly foolish for Demise to make Link(the only one able to kill him) reincarnate, it completely takes away his agency. Link and Zelda defend Hyrule to protect its people from Demonkind. They wouldn't stop reincarnating and protecting it even if being reborn was a choice. I think it would be a betrayal to the series' writing if Hylia canonically reincarnated once because she wanted to protect mortals so much and then just left Ganondorf to kill her descendants while she just, relaxes in heaven for millenia. It is not consistent with the character of Hylia or Zelda, at all.

[practically-an-x-man]

1, 3, 4, 9, 17 for the ask game

Thank you!!

Fanfic Writer Asks

do you know how you want the story to end when you start, or are you just stumbling through the figurative wilderness hoping to find a road?

I generally always know the direction I want the story to go, I can't think of any examples (posted or unposted) where I don't at least have some idea of where I'm going.

3. on a scale of 1-10 how much do you enjoy incorporating romance into the average story?

I'd say a 5. I enjoy writing romance because it's a fantastic opportunity for some really fascinating character dynamics (obviously a character dynamic does not require any romance to be interesting, and I think I have plenty of cool character dynamics without romance, but there are so many fun tropes to break apart with a hammer when it comes to romance), but I also can't write or read a story that's only romance. I need there to be other action, angst, or other plot elements to drive it along if I'm going to really enjoy it. I like romance because I really enjoy writing nontraditional romance, I think it's fun, but it's absolutely not a requirement.

4. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

Hm... I've got a whole list, and it really just continues to grow. I think the oldest one in my plot ideas list is an old MCU fic idea: the main OC has a symbiote, and a cool dynamic across from Loki. It's long overdue for a revamp, the idea is old and a little flat compared to the things I write now, but the threads are still there and I'm sure I'll write it eventually.

9. in an ideal world where you’re already super successful and published, would you want to see a tv or movie adaptation of your work? why or why not?

Oh hell yeah! I'm a huge film nerd (which should be obvious given my irl job and all), and I do view a lot of my fics in a "cinematic" way. I'd be curious to see how they got translated to the big screen!

17. what is your favorite line you’ve ever written?

I'm terrible about remembering individual lines, but one of my favorite moments is when Ophelia steps through the portal to confront Charybdis in Catch and Release:

“Aw, c’mon, nobody’s ripping the multiverse open just for me.” Peter found himself saying, his mouth moving faster than his brain as it always seemed to, “I mean, we were only face-to-face for a couple days, it’s not like this is a Shakespeare play.” “It will be,” she said, “Sweets to the sweet. I’ll drown her in the river below us and spread rue on her grave. She broke the rules, and she will suffer.” “I would give you some violets, but they wither’d all when my father died.” A new voice chimed in, surrounded by a whirlwind of orange light and bluish metal. Peter turned, that flicker of hope in his chest blooming into a flame. Ophelia- his Ophelia - stepped from the portal, four familiar claws drifting easily over her shoulders. She rolled her shoulders, dark eyes glinting dangerously as she started her horrible duplicate in the face.  “And we cast away moan,” she said, “God ha’ mercy on his soul.”

For one thing, it's such a powerful entrance for her imo, and I really liked their interchange of lines here. After Peter's mention of Shakespeare (him thinking of Romeo and Juliet), Charybdis references Hamlet - "sweets to the sweet" and spreading rue on her grave are related to the character Ophelia, after she goes mad. Then Ophelia, Argonaut, enters with more of Ophelia's quotes from Hamlet - if I remember correctly, those lines are from just before Ophelia's death in the play, foreshadowing that one of them will die in the fight.

[chattercap]

October 2023 Development Log!

Hello everyone! Happy October~ Time for a monthly progress update!

I'll start off with the big stuff: I started migrating game engines, from Unity to Godot. You can read the rationale behind my decision here.

GAME ENGINE MIGRATION HELL…OR NOT?

Overall, the migration is going fairly smoothly! Godot has pretty robust C# support at the moment, so I was able to migrate/translate a fair amount of my basic C# codebase from Unity to Godot without issues. Visual novels are pretty lightweight games, so apart from some issues with mobile builds, I think it will go well, and I will continue working with Godot for the time being.

After I spent a few days experimenting with the systems, I programmed in my story parsing logic and finished a basic game loop. Currently, the text handling is complete, with all of the functions that I initially coded in (branching paths, nested choices, conditionals, etc.) Auto and fast forward are also functional, and I also worked in the saving/loading. In addition, I added a few additional functions: sections (the ability to parse the same text file into different scenes), checkpoints (the ability to easily navigate back to a specific line), and "unsticky choices" (the ability to make choices "disappear" if you've seen them once).

I also programmed in a NVL mode. For anyone that's not familiar with VN lingo, the standard format of sprites on top with the text box below is called "ADV" mode, whereas "NVL" mode features text overlaying the entire screen (usually with some kind of darkened background for visibility - like above). NVL mode is less common in VNs nowadays, but it's useful for long monologues or narration (whereas ADV is best for dialogues). I also coded in the ability to swap freely between NVL and ADV mode.

In addition, I implemented customizable text. Basically this is text that can be adapted based on user input. For anyone who has played games with customizable protagonists, this is useful for adding things such as pronouns.

I also worked on a few simple "polish/quality of life functions" (that existed in my Unity build, but required new code and a bit of fenegling to work in Godot):

-A typewriting effect so that text fades in instead of being shown all at once.

-Text boxes that dynamically size based on the text inside.

-Making buttons scale as you hover over them.

I also designed some new basic GUI. While I'm not sure I'll actually use this GUI unaltered in any game, this is a good "base framework" with all the necessary elements.

The updated save screen now has 100 save slots (I'll see how large the save files get and adjust accordingly), and it saves a screenshot of the current game screen in addition to the current line. (I was pretty proud of myself for this one!)

Lastly, I started working on a rollback function. If you're familiar with Ren'py games, you know that when you scroll up on the mousewheel, it basically "reverses" the game so that you can easily go back and reread text or play different choices. I didn't implement this when I first made my framework in Unity because it is a bit complex; there are a lot of variables and edge cases that you need to take into account, and it basically requires me to "double" the amount of code, as I need to account for both a story running forwards and a story running in reverse.

Since I'm basically rebuilding my framework from the ground up, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try to implement a rollback, as I can code it in pieces as the codebase is being built. Currently, rollback is functional!

EVERYTHING THAT'S NOT CODING HELL

My focus this month was The Deepwater Witch! The sprites for the leads are fully rendered, with two variations for each, and now they just need to be animated. Around a third of the CGs have been storyboarded, and I also took reference photos for the backgrounds. The script is up to 26,281 words.

I also worked a bit on character designs for Hanasu, the Karamu sequel.

PLANS FOR THIS MONTH

For coding, I will start implementing basic visuals - sprites, CGs, and backgrounds - before moving on to audio, visual effects, and other advanced visuals (animated panels, etc.)

For everything else, since Once Upon a Time VN Jam has officially started, I will continue focusing on The Deepwater Witch until the first draft of the script is complete, and all of the CGs and BGs have been storyboarded. After that, I will start working on my other projects with less immediate deadlines.

Thank you to everyone who's keeping up with my development shenanigans! If you want to hear from me more often, I post most of my major announcements here and on Twitter​. I also post almost daily on my Patreon​ with sketches, writing snippets, sneak peeks, high resolution art, and weekly devlogs.

[ionasadventures]

LA Adventure- Day 2! (Part 2)

We got to briefly stop and see around a real live sound stage! We weren’t allowed to take any photos of the inside as the show was still filming (they’d stopped for lunch!) but it was so fascinating seeing how they make these 3 camera sitcoms. The set was made up for “Bob <3 Abishola” (spelt with a heart symbol I’m not just being lazy haha) which is a typical sitcom like Big Bang Theory or Young Sheldon or Friends. They’re called 3 camera sitcoms because typically they only use 3 camera angles! One on the character speaking, one on whomever they’re speaking to, and then one for the wide shots with everything in it. The sound stage is laid out in a grid fashion, with 4 sets on each side of a narrow passageway. This passageway is referred to as camera alley because this is where the cameras will be! As with before, the sets don’t have ceilings on them to allow for lighting and the cameras are in a fixed position so as to not see the lights. It takes about 5 days to film one episode, and the sets are left as they are throughout the whole filming season as most of that time is dedicated to set up! After this the tour of the backlot continued, we drove past a few more famous locations! They have a massive jungle area with real plants from the jungle (as the climate will allow for it!). This was ESPECIALLY of interest to me as this was the area where they filmed the iconic T-Rex chase scene from Jurassic Park!! Warner Bros. let’s other studios use their facilities too, which is why some of the locations seem above are used in things like Breaking Bad, Jurassic Park and Spider-Man. They also have a big pit which can be filled with water to create a lagoon, or with dirt to create a graveyard. Versatile! After the outside lots - which were MASSIVE - we navigated to a warehouse area of the tour which had costumes and props on display. It was very cool to see! Costumes from Interview with the Vampire, Batman, Crazy Rich Asians, Space Jam, and of course a whole host of DC superheroes. They even had some from Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon. The costumers were intricately made, the detail was outstanding! For example on Aquaman’s suit there’s tiny iridescent scales all over. The props were cool too as they were primarily the Batmobile and other Bat-items from across the Batman movies. They had this cool area from The Hobbit which showed how they did the forced perspective trickery to make the Hobbits look small and Gandalf look big! The studio tour really made a point to showcase every aspect of the filmmaking process, detailing how costumes and props and sets were made. The amount of afford put in to each and every part of filmmaking is insane, no wonder it takes so long to make because so much detail is included, things you may not even see or notice unless you’re looking really close! Sam Warner (one of the Warner Brothers) advocated for the use of Vitaphone, the process of using sound in cinema, and it was fascinating to see how they would make the sounds for shows. For example, in the Spider-Man kiss scene, to prevent the fake rainwater from going up Tobey McGuire’s nose, they used a combination of cotton wool and Vaseline to plug up his nose! However this meant that he couldn’t speak properly, so he re-recorded his lines using the sound system to make himself sound clearer over the rain. If you go back and watch the film, you’ll notice that Kirsten Dunst as Mary-Jane only lifts the mask up to below Spider-Man’s nose, to prevent the cameras from picking up on the cotton wool! They also had things such as wooden boards and fake shoes to amplify the sound of actors walking on set, as typically the sets would have plastic floors to prevent the actors’ footsteps from drowning out their lines. Thus by dubbing over the footsteps, the sound department can control how loud they are and change the volume depending on the scene. Such cool stuff!! From storyboards to green screens to motion capture to physical makeup, it was incredibly to see behind the scenes and had given me an even greater appreciation for all those involved!

[titleknown]

"Some random people told me they don't think video games are necessary. And this is why degrowth should scare everyone!"

Okay. That's still a strawman. But if video games are the issue you care about most, that's fine. Just say that up front next time. So anyway, how exactly does growth make better video games than degrowth? My favorite video game is Zelda Windwaker. A decade of exponential industry growth has not been able to bring me a better game than Windwaker. In order to continue industry GDP growth, it's an endless cycle of expensive DLC and labor abuse. That's the reality.

So, once again, read some JK Steinberger and maybe you'll calm down. Or, if you don't like listening to women, you can read Jason Hickel and calm down that way.

[In reference to this post]

...I feel like I'm being strawmanned here, because it wasn't just about vidjagames, but rather about the ways in which they treat "inefficient" interests, and what that says about the problems with their philosophy.

Like, while videogames can be useful as a metonymy for that, even with devices as broad as desktop computers or art tablets, I have never heard anyone into degrowth say a fucking nice thing about any of the computing devices I use for self-expression.

From everything I've seen, they regard it as the same sort of wasteful toy for the Global North as Hummers or McMansions, even if it's a lifeline or a vital means of creation for some of us. In fact, it feels like they regard any new technology that can't be kitbashed together or that doesn't work with their "hippie aeceticism for all" vision as being Like That.

Like, I've heard them shit on automation, on nuclear power, on asteroid mining, the list goes on. I'm afraid to have any hope in any new technological changes these days because I know they'll come out of the woodwork to say "Oh, this is bad actually and you're a bad person for taking hope in it," because it always happens, in real time on my Tumblr dash!

Like, I don't bring up the person saying that "Any new technology that can't be kitbashed from existing parts would devastate the global south" and "the idea of emerging technologies is a capitalist grift" as a singular gotcha, but because I've heard the sentiments animating that from the degrowth crowd so often that it feels like saying the quiet part out loud.

Like, to cite Giorgios Kallis again, he's said stuff like this

Indeed, I have made a general case for a culture of prudence—a culture that is reflexively inclined toward limit rather than limitlessness. One area where precaution is necessary is technology. We cannot cease to pursue knowledge, but we can no longer pretend that the limitless pursuit of technology is unproblematic. Ours is the first predominantly secular society that will have to devise institutions to limit the directions that knowledge takes without limiting knowledge itself. How we will be able to achieve this is hard to say, but recognizing that we have to is a crucial start.

and

Scaling up limits controls free-riding and absolves individuals from having to be ever vigilant of their conduct. I don’t want to wonder constantly whether I should consume this or that; I want government to tell me what we have agreed not to consume.

Like, that rings alarm bells to me on the idea that the vision of degrowth includes chokepoints on resources to choke out "inefficient" uses in the arts or sciences, the same as under capitalism just with a different underlying worldview justifying it.

That you would be technically free to do whatever you want, but if whatever technological project you wanted required something more complicated than a peanut crusher you'd have to beg and plead for them to let you access it, same as under capitalism.

Like, again, these people who think that the devices I use as a means of expression and communication are decadent toys, what would they say when I need a replacement?

What would the hypothetical organization Kallis says to stop the "bad" pursuit of technology say to the scientist researching a "niche" field for science's sake, or an emerging technology that would enrich human life but would require new infrastructure?

The sort of politically-active class-resentful person who wrote "About Hating Art" and who seems to infest degrowth circles would probably love to shrink any discipline that requires specialized artists (such as say, animation) small enough to drown in a bathtub!

...To digress, the reason I haven't read Steinberger is because I haven't seen specific stuff of theirs cited in a place where I could read it (Or pirate it in the case of Kallis' book).

But I do know about Hickel. And I know he's cited a lot as a "hopeful" face of Degrowth. I also know he's buddy-buddy with Kallis. You know, the very dominant person in Degrowth circles who said all that crazy bullshit, from what I know they've collaborated a lot.

That says to me that either A) Hickel is ignorant of the implications of what Kallis says or B) He knows about them but does not care that Kallis is saying the quiet part out loud. Neither of these are good.

And like... the thing is on games you're not wrong. Like, there's a reason I mainly play indie games or older games these days.

Hell, there's a reason that, as I said in another post, I think that GDP is very stupid! I think that the modern means of growth and its dependence on collapse as a form of "degrowth" is also very bad and stupid!

The old aphorism "Fire is a good servant, but a terrible master" very much applies to growth! But it also applies to degrowth, and so much of what I read appears to show that y'all don't get that!

Like... leftism's promise to me always felt like you don't have to choose between the wellbeing of all and the freedom to create, where everyone could live comfortably and have the time and resources to pursue their passions.

But from everything I've seen Degrowth betrays those by saying you have to choose, and that the "good life" only applies if you want to live a very specific way or can forcibly modify your desires to do so. It all comes off as very "Bread and roses, but fuck you if you like tulips."

I see this especially from Resilience.org, which is where I was first introduced to degrowth, which loves the shit out of the atomized hyperlocal bootleg-Ghibli "transition town" movement, which probably shaped my negative view on it if that helps you understand me better.

And like... I get you're approaching in good faith, and I can understand where you're probably coming from. But like, I wish y'all could understand why so much of what your movement says sounds like that beyond blaming us

[whatswexceles]

MY THOUGHTS ON EVERY RAIN WORLD DOWNPOUR SONG (take 2 now that i know more about the OST)

this is quite a long read and even longer listen so like keep that in mind or something.

also there's not rating scale or anything i just wanna talk about rain world music lmao

also FULL SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE EXPANSION!!!

got that? alrighty!

Downpour: very nice trailer music. The arp is still very nice to listen to and the lead and bass are very rain worldly. A perfect trailer song and overall theme for this expansion

Together: a very friendly sounding song for the jolly co-op trailer. Gives me terraria ost vibes a little bit. I like the drums and the little reference to the outskirts threat theme at 1:15

Task: another trailer song for the more gritty Expedition mode. Gives me some alpha RW song vibes which is neat because those songs actually go really hard. I love how heavy it feels.

Overskog: I LOVE this long’s vibes, another trailer song i believe. This song gives me sinking underwater vibes in a completely unique way and I love it.

Landmarks: I believe this is another trailer song for one the three mini trailers that all got released on one day. Sounds like a threat theme with the heavy drums and continues nature

Triptrap: this song is pretty iconic for me. A chill song accompanying a trailer of the DP slugs just walking through new areas. Very neat and cool and Downpour-y.

Sparkling pendulum: nothing more than terrifying ambience. “The Rot” Counterpart to where “Drastic FM” plays in normal pebbles, truly terrifying!

Satellite: more ambience.

Flicker: ambience

Threat: Waterfront complex: it still pisses me off that this song says waterfront complex but its “Waterfront Facility” in game fdhnjlokhfndssfdsfs. I still love this song though. I absolutely LOVE the little pad fills and how they glitch and break.

Aquaphobia: submerged soup or structure song. The use of pan in this song with the noises still gives me the vibe of there being something lurking just out of sight in the water and I love it. IRL leviathan encounter. 

Onto A new dawn: submerged superstructure. Very fitting ambient tract for when you’re in the final stretch of restoring a supercomputer’s godhood.

Not your rain: another Rot track. Very melancholic on everything and its so fitting. The depths (Rot not subterranean) still terrifies me. 

Fragile: plays in bitter aerie, fits it so well. The snow drifting over a city still for centuries, its such a pretty song and aerie is always pretty.

Obverse of the old wind: plays on the top of still intact Moon. where you see the city. A fitting track.

Threat - metropolis (Day): metropolis is still one of my favorite areas. This song fits the feeling of battling scavengers on The Floor and in the industrial corridors of the “City”. My one grievance with metropolis is that it feels more like a place with city-shaped structures than a city. Like I want to be able to fight in an ancient costco or Mcdonalds.

Threat - metropolis (Night): metropolis having a day night cycle is still so cool to me, even if i’ve never even experienced it it must be cool. I love the bg melody, I wish it was more prevalent because it's just kinda a cool melody to go with. This song is definitely on my list of songs I should remix.

Overcast: plays in the garbage - shadaded connector rooms, nothing more to say than just a random ass song with a loose melody.

Frosted Festival: chill music awesome. Saint’s version of “Unseen lands” which is the first song you’d really hear in your first run of Rain world. I don't really see the connection but its a nice song to listen to while you’re exploring the snowed outskirts

Breathing hyometer: still confused what a hyometer is because they don't exist. Google docs keeps wanting to correct it to “hygrometer”. A surprisingly pretty hand pa song for something that would play in The Gutter. Very chill, I like it

Trusted component: plays on the precipice. Has really fast sporadic drums with a slow simple melody. Fits precipice well-ish. Just a generic very rainworld-y song 

Accidented condition: slow song with silly instruments that feel like they’re building up to something. Plays as saint in garbage.

Threat - pipe yard: HELL YEAH i love all of pipe yard’s music. Its melody just feels very turn-y and pressure-y

Chilblain grace: chilblain is described as “a painful, itching swelling on the skin, typically on a hand or foot, caused by poor circulation in the skin when exposed to cold.” a good introductory to saint as a campaign. It feels so full of nothing but coldness and hostility yet very empty and void of a proper meaning. Very chaotic yet it keeps staying the same, in loops. In a cycle if you will >:3. Very Rain world-y song if you think too much about it like I am.

Ascent: I like the faint wave noises at the start. The ambient noises really add to the vibe of Submerged superstructure. 

Fading light: saint counterpart of “Black moonlight” in shaded citadel. Generic drums generic repeating pattern. Don't know what else to say

Flux: I actually really like this song. The melody is very nice. It plays in submerged near the shoreline gate and its very just preparation-itive for submerged

Vast Unlife: this plays in a couple places in shoreline as Saint, it really feels like a recurring motif of “everything i knew is fading under the blizzard” for the player itself. It really gives that vibe, the heavy ambience and whistle of the bit-crushed wind with the sporadic piano notes. 

Threat - Outer expanse: i still love this song.outer expanse has so many layers and they’re all cool. It also has a day-night cycle which I didn't know about. It's melody is just ARGHHH yes. I love the glitchy bg fills.

Eyes of Iron: heavy suspenseful music. My original idea was that this was an artificer song either before or when fighting the king scav but nope! It plays in garbage wastes as saint, like all good songs do for some reason. The melody on this song makes up for it being kinda boring.

Sheer ice torrent: MY BELOVED. This is the saint version of bio-engineering and kayava. Like it literally plays where bio-engineering and kayava do in the base game AND IT LIVES UP SO WELL. a vibey icy version of the two best songs in the base game. The arp in the second half works so well and this song just makes me want to go crazy 11/10 (i'm not gonna rate the rest of these)

Veiled northstar: SUB SUB SUB 2!!! Basically a glow up of an old alpha song that now plays in sump tunnel. This song is so vibey, 

Weathered Step: undergrowth ambience. Only like 12 seconds so i dont really know what its for.

Reflections of the moon: this song is such a THING. Its moon’s version of random gods but it feels so DRAMATIC and shiney that it's like, an entirely different feeling.

Threat - Looks to the moon: precarious threat song. Honestly it doesn't feel like a threat theme because of how little it has melody. Just feels like pad spikes and a bg melody.

Fragments: I LOVE THIS SONG. the bells just ringing out in the melodies sound so ethereal. It sounds like I could listen to this while sitting next to a forgotten building. It plays underground in pipe yard.

Open skies: a very similar song to fragments, except it feels more positive and encouraging than melancholic. It plays in outer expanse so it could be like a final-stretch to be home.

Frost reaper: I LOVE THIS SONG. it plays in one specific room and it is one of the most POWERFUL moments you can have in a saint playthrough. This song plays in the room where you’d connect from chimney to pebbles. But pebbles isn’t there. So you walk, realize the connection point is gone… and then the song kicks in. and you get this sinking “Oh no…” feeling and the song seems to accompany you. Until it stops 24 seconds later. And you realize you have to go back.

Outro theme: i believe this song plays in survivor or monk’s new ending. It shares a similar melody and vibe to fragments. Emotional.

New else VIII: still haven't listened to the elses too much. Echo-y ambience, not much more to say.

Threat - rubicon (unused): this song doesn't give me rubicon vibes, it gives me pipe yard vibes if anything. I guess stygian depths can have its off brand pipe yard music all to itself. I will say its melody is kinda pretty. If the pad in the BG of this song was more hearable I think I’d like it more…. Might be a nice remix song

Lost city: metropolis ambiance

Bloom: Outer Expanse ambience

Rain: despite how UNCREATIVE this song name is, it is still one of my favorites. Pipe yard simply has the best music in the game for no reason at all. Its main melody sounds kinda like how people headcanon the slugs to sound. A very silly and adventourus song

Orange Lizard: to quote me from last time i did this: “definitely gives me the vibe of a late-night metro system, where there are only a few people there and it's quiet enough to hear the trains running the tunnels.”. I LOVE THIS SONG. the metro system vibe, the quiet pondery melody. And i was quite right as this PLAYS IN THE METRO TUNNELS IN SUBTERRANIAN. MUAHAHAHAH I WAS RIGHT. Anyways listen to your Rain world chill music today its good.

Wandering cut: this song is still pretty good. Very full and busy, vibey though. Plays in sunken peir

Daze: Outer Expanse ambience

Garden: song that plays when you fail an expedition for some reason. Very vibey though. It also plays in bitter aerie and yeah i see that

Metal Canopy: a very chill song I actually really like. Plays in waterfront facility.

Random Fate: according to the source im using it plays in the “memory conduit lab” in submerged superstructure which I am actually really confused about like what is that. Very generic ish ambience that breaks into the sundown (?) theme midway through. Very pretty song reflecting on moon’s whole collapse. Basically a submerged version of random gods.

Wired: vibey. No idea where this plays but i like it.

Ancient: sounds like it's being played on like an actual weird ancient instrument, similar vibes to fragments again. This plays in Expanse and it feels very much like a song that someone would play in the citadel in the eastern side of expanse, in the citadel. 

Scapeless doubt: plays, weirdly enough, in struts. Moon’s legs. For a song as dark as this one, I'd expect it to be in The Rot, or Rubicon, or even submerged. Kinda a generic dark RW song to end on.

[dexmckinnery]

Let's continue the small talk we're having with asks like the old days, haha! I enjoyed asks blogs a lot, it was a blast! Tho at least in the Homestuck fandom things where kinda segregated from fancharacters and canon ones (I come form ages where having OCs interacting with canon was like a sin and let alone self inserts like I do myself, we were seen as lesser creative people...) Giacomo's name in Japanese is literally the word for pineapple in Spanish, Piña (I'm from Mexico, I lost my mind to see some of the characters are named after food in Japan lol). And I see now about the references you took for him, I always wondered how people rip the 3D models, still I like the lil flab on him uwu (I'm a overweight gal and finding characters to relate is hard ;w; )

Haha, sure thing! XD

Yeah, ask blogs were great, it’s a shame people aren’t really doing them any more because something I enjoyed a lot was interacting with other ask blogs... the upside is that I can make Giacomo a side blog and not have to worry about not being able to send out asks as him XD;; It’s a bit easier...

It’s interesting, the OC interacting with canon thing... the only fandom I did that for really was Bokumono (Harvest Moon) and it was generally accepted, so I haven’t experienced people being seriously against OCs as such... but with Bokumono, you’re expected to have OCs I suppose! Especially now the games have character creators...

Yeah, hahaha! XD I love they just went all in on food names this time. Like Rika is Chilli... and is basically an anthro chilli pepper (that hair), I think it’s charming. ¦D I can see they’ve tried to translate the names faithfully... but it’s a shame some has been lost in translation. Giacomo really is a pineapple when you think about it... the yellow stocky body with spiky hair on top... spiky exterior, sweet interior... checks out, huh?

I mean, you CAN see it in the game, you don’t need to have the models XD You can see it in his pose when you battle him and it pauses the cam on him holding out the ball at you.

You can see it when he first comes in sitting on top of the Starmobile

And you can see it at least when he talks and gestures

In any case, that’s the inspiration, regardless. XD Here’s the funny “stumbling on the Starmobile” one people can never see up close as a bonus

The more you know, hahaha

On how to rip them... I’m not sure how people get the files out of the games, but the raw files were shared on the forum of model resource... I had to convert the model using a script somebody had written so it could be opened in Blender, then use... Switch Toolbox I think... to convert his textures to PNG so Blender could read them... I don’t actually have a Windows OS new enough to be able to import the models fully textured (a Python incompatibility =() and when I do, the model loses it’s rigging... so I had to tell this file where to find what texture, which is why it’s not perfect... I then had to use Switch Toolbox to take the model’s armature and convert all the animations for it into something that Blender could see with a plug in... it’s all very hit and miss thrown together, but it works well enough that I can see the animations on the model and turn them around in 3D, which was good enough as reference for making plush and drawing for the ask blog... I really hope somebody rips him properly soon though. XD

Edit;

Here’s Team Star lined up with each other! Eri is SERIOUSLY tall... she’s taller than Larry and Larry is TALL so... If you consider Mela and Penny to be 5′02″, it makes Giacomo 6′00″, Larry something like 6′03″ by that scale, standing up straight instead of slouched, if I remember right... Ortega 4′07″ and Eri a whopping 6′06″! I’m not sure they considered what their heights would be when scaling them in game, hahaha XD

(Fair note, these numbers are speculation and worked out by laying a height chart over them and trying to be reasonable to Ortega, they’re in no way canon since I’m pretty sure we don’t have a reference point number to base it on!)