#liches are so fun to draw

[saint-nevermore]

“i have created an army of liches!” you fucked up a perfectly good elf is what you did. look at him. he has anxiety

[orallech]

I should be allowed to cut out my own heart and still live. Just to see what it looks like just to satiate my curious nature and there be no consequences.

[fishofthewoods]

having some quality WIZARD TIME at the moment

[unsoundedcomic]

When building a world or region of the world with the intent to write in, how deeply do you need to go in understanding it? Like, when writing Sharteshane for RP, how did you know what you needed to flesh out? When making Alderode for will and Duane's backstories, how did you find what the country needed to, i guess, support that backstory?

A setting for RP and a setting for a novel or comic certainly have different needs. Actually Sharteshane is a great example to talk about.

In RP, Sharteshane needed all kinds of enticing, mysterious environments that would draw players to them for the doing of adventures and shenanigans. It had a whole sprawling underground occupied by an undead civilisation ruled over by a family of liches. That underground had its own bizarre ecosystem, wildlife, and a cadre of mini-boss like lesser lords. There was a ton to do and explore. The surface city had a pirate's cove just to the north where criminals could hang out, famously haunted boardwalks where people just seemed to disappear (spoiler: murkoph was pulling them through loose boards and eating them), it had a posh part of town where an elabourately described bath house could host sexy times or political skulduggery, it had a pub inside a beached whaling ship along with an eccentric bartender and a friendly one-armed barkeep. It even had beach famously infested with man-eating mermaids.

Sharteshane in Unsounded- well, what do you know about it? Not too much. It's painted in pretty broad strokes as an almost comically corrupt monarchy with a puppet king and a lot of local thieves running the cities. That's about it. It's all Unsounded needs.

But see the difference? Write for what you need. It's not necessary to spend months fleshing out a setting or even side characters if you're just not going to need all that stuff. Of course it can be fun to do anyway! But a lot of people get stuck on the backstory and never progress the actual story. Writing out character sheets is easy. We all spent way too long in the character creator in BG3.

Alderode, of course, needed a lot more fleshing out than Sharteshane, as did Cresce. They serve as the actual settings for a lot of the story. Even so, there are things you could ask me about them that I wouldn't automatically know. I know their vibes though, and I could probably deduce the answers as needed.

It's probably most important to understand those vibes, when world-building. The fundamentals. What motivates a country and its people, what values they hold, what they are afraid of and what they aspire towards. If you know all that, then any details you need as you write will be easy enough to work out as you go. You'll write the world as you write the story as you write the characters. It should all gel.

[lackoftrumpets]

Decided to go all out with another massive attack this year. I went around the artfight website and other online places I frequent to gather characters I thought looked neat. I hope the attack looks alright because my monitor has been compressing it when ever I try to look at it outside aseprite. Scale and size might be a bit awkward in the attack because I draw most sprites in 36x36, so I'm sorry if some details look a bit strange. It was an interesting and fun challenge to draw some characters that had so many small pieces that added a lot to their design. Below is a list of where the characters are all located on the mass attack. If I accidently missed you or made a credit mistake, feel free to reach out so I can fix it! I hope you all enjoy the attack as much as I had making it! Link to the attack! Ship Beam: Kailani (@something-paranormal), Nous (TheQueenOfSpades), K.E.R.F (Kerfus)

Beach (Right Side): See Lion (axowotls), Perri (xazzy), Kal of the Sile Forent (KRoland2000), Hewei-Mota (@cobaliuu), Jowan (SpaceMermaid001),

Beach (Left Side): Icho (@metsaahenki), Typhon (@xenoscribbles), Starseeker (Itsa_ArtfightAccount), Lime (Paraclipse), Iris and Benjamyn (@plaguedogs123), Llanite (@spiralflute), Beach House: Tony (@130bpmnot2slow), Toshi (ceoofsilliness), Aza (MauDarling), Kai (@uyukat), Mr Midnight (Trashpandaowo), Cate (@snipdoodle), Dock: Pancho (Astro_Eastie), Savour and Sammy (@kittyknight), Seltur (Kosys) Beach Sky: Bane (AsimiLykos), Scareye (@ivi-ivisek), Hue (@maple-and-pie), Quill (Esmont), Sparkle Puff (Winelys11) Ocean (Left Side): Dave (@katicin), Reid (@spetatler), Pod (abhorror), Shard (@trikstergodessstudio), Samantha (cleoziep), Lorelei (@that-space-ace), Jellyfish Princess Oe (O3Oyh), Spotty (MonSonia_Gator),

Ocean (Right Side): Abyss (@themermaidslagoon), Lunar Tides (yewrunner), River (@jokester71), Seavarin (Merlebirb), R'lyeh (TheKraut), Vanilquana (_0liM4ma_), Seafood (ToxicElysium), Do-Ve (@ebony-the-dork), Poogie (DragonThatDraws), Beam Room: Tania (niachic), Landon (kadothorne), Beau (goosejohn), Nova (SZ11) Window Room 1: Nas (Karlach), Nova (@tem-tem-timmy), Mono (@apolloprophecy), Bastion (RatBoulevard), ORBIT-3 (folykl) Ship Engine: Kai (Argo_Chicken), Kara (Karacreations), Goldshine (@iridiss) Greenhouse: Larimar (Januzs_), Tetra (@neonwabbit), Quinn (GhostCats) Cafeteria: Benjamin (@saveraedae), Billy B. (GUARDTEN), Echo (Khryso), Cat (SilverTheCat), Red Mungus/Cooper (@sillypotatochipz), Goople (Sashi The Okapoi), Jupiter (@sillybr3ad), Maroon (Freighter), Tia [Mogus] (ManaketeSilver), Frostbite (YoshiKid141) Vents: Radi (Mooncaller), Suri (@to-much-a-thing), Monotone (@sillypotatochipz), Ricochet (eggtoasty), Reni (adenator) Main Deck: Howell "Wiz" Larson and Sophia "Fi" Gilmartin (@kayspaceprinceart), Fletcher (@deepspaceart), Quince (@beakerhoneydew), T'Sel (@cattrek) Window Room 2: Nova (eggtoasty), Luna (EllaPlay), Anya (@jinxedjay) Computer Room: Pudim (Clearth), Somni (@takonyatchi) Andromeda (Elizadesu), Osmium (@astronomalyy), [] (Spoopybug), Hannie (Hanniebaby) Window Room 3: Anpu (Lxylia), Echo (@darkecho17), Diz (DizSlime),

On Top Of The Ship: Pleiades (Xephina The Eleven), Cosminior (@npc-arts), The Lich (@meemrasmus-stash)

[darksaiyangoku]

RWBY: Grim Tales

The Hunt

Blake walked forward to the castle gates. Surrounding them were several skeletons, hissing and rattling their bones. She couldn't help but smirk. It had been a long time since she had some fun. Drawing Gambol Shroud, Blake leaped into action. The skeletons raised their bone weapons and tried to attack her, but Blake was too fast. She dodged each of their strikes with graceful speed, her jet-black hair flowing.

Blake: Hah! *slices two skeletons in half*

The skeletons stood their ground to continus their attacks on Huntress to little success. Blake was easily reducing these grunts into piles of worthless bones, not even bothering to shift Gambol Shroud into its gun form. With fhe last skeleton falling, the castle gates had finally opened. Blake walked inside the courtyard, still keeping a firm grip on her sword. Cold laughter could be heard all around her.

???: You seemed to have made quick work of my undead army, dear faunus. I must say that I'm impressed.

Blake: If that's what I call impressive, then I feel let down. Your army of rattling bones didn't put up much of a fight. Hell, Ruby could beat them. No gargoyles? No ghosts? Ghouls? Not even any giant bats?

???: *laughing* You think they were here to stop you? Oh no, they were merely a distraction. The one who is going to end yoir life tonight is me!

Purple smoke appeared in the center of the courtyard followed by tremors. The smoke melded into large, purple robes and standing before Blake was a large, hooded, skeletal figure with burning red eyes. Blake backed away slightly.

Blake: Lich.

Lich: Long time, no see my dear Blake. You're looking ravishing tonight.

Blake: How are you still alive? I destroyed your soul-container years ago!

Lich: Oh that? *laughs* A clever decoy that my dear sorcereress provided to lure you into a false sense of security. I used what little magic I had to create an illusion and used my time to grow stronger. Now that I've returned, let's continue our battle from lobg ago! *snaps fingers*

A circle of black mist surrounded them, staggering Blake slightly. The Lich wasn't messing around, he really had improved. The undead monstrosity lunged its large hands towards Blake in an attempt to crush her. Luckliy, she managed to dodge in time. She tried to parry his second blow, but got knocked to the ground almost immidiately.

Blake: *grunts*

Blake stood up, determined not to lose to the Lich. She parried several more of his punches, but she could not find the perfect opening to land a strike of her own and Gambol Shroud was beginning to chip away. It seemed like all hope was lost. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a wolf's howl and looked up. Above the rook was a blonde-coloured werewolf. He leaped down and clawed onto the Lich's back, making him scream in pain. The Lich shook himself wildly until he threw the beast off. In a weakened state, he reverted to his human form.

Blake: *sighs* Jaune, what took you so long?

Jaune: *stands up and chuckles nervously* Sorry I'm late, I had to get you something. *picks up spellbook* You left this back at my house.

Blake: Oh... *blushes* whoops.

Jaune: It's alright, sweetie. I hope you weren't having too muvh fun without me. *turns to the Lich* Who's this creep?

Blake: No one of consequence. So what's the play?

Jaune: I'll block his strikes and you attack with Gambol Shroud. That should weaken him a little. Know any spells that can take him down?

Blake: Holy Light, but it's weaker at nighttime. Still, it should causw him a bit of pain.

Jaune: That's what I like to hear! Okay, I'm going in!

Blake: Wait!

Jaune: Hm?

Blake: *kisses Jaune's cheek* Good luck, babe.

Jaune: *smiles and blushes* Alright, YAAAAAAH!!! *leaps into action*

[envyghost]

Been messin' around with hatching again! I've wanted to draw The Lich for a while now so I thought he'd be a fun subject to practice with :D I might color this later but y'all can have the lines for now! Hope y'all enjoy ^.^ (also can we talk about the Fionna and Cake finale I meaN~)

[anoopsiedaisie]

My Fionna and Cake episode 7&8 tangent

Lets start it off with the score. 20/20 it was fantastic. my stupid theory post will happen eventually, and I will ABSOLUTELY TALK ABOUT PETRIGROF

The star - Cake thinking Fionna was upset cause her fling died was silly, Fionna was clearly upset before about the candy people. The fight with the vampires was funny but intense, I love how Cake and Fionna care a lot about eachother. Also why does Simon know what holy water taste like. Pb and "Star" was so cute, and I was so right when I talked about us getting more Bubbline on tiktok (Tiktok account is not linked anywhere btw) The vampire world is super sad though, cause they had really been eating for so long, that a potential thousands of people died. Marshall and Gary really lit up the episode from the sadness once again, Gary's tangents of his candy kingdom are so cute. AND HIS HAMBO THINGY IN HIS CAR. Marten and baby Finn are so cute, I wanna legit cry cause HES MEANT TO BE A GOOD DAD BUT HES SO STUPID IN THE OG UNIVERSE. Also imma say this now, Prismo gets in trouble for breaking the rules once and ignoring a few beeps, BUT Scarab ignores several beeps and his entire job and doesn't get in trouble, that boss better have a good reason. Second date (potentially) and Marshall already introducing his boyfriend to his mom, damn. Marshall's mom matches og Hunson perfectly somehow, duche parent club. And Marshall's little blush of embarrassment from his mom acting all weird infront of Gary. Billy's corpse is messed up, like reall messed up, and the reminder of how tall he is is also crazy. I was also wondering the entire time if Pb was human in this universe until she bit off half her arm basically. The Star's outfit is so good, but I wonder how she turned into a vampire now, maybe she was bit in front of that worlds Simon's body and thats why she screamed at something. Already long section so I'll end it here with, I LOVED THIS ENTIRE EPISODE, Huntress dying was sad though, and Gary Marshall kiss was adorable. Closing thought of this episode, Bubbline but toxic yuri. Jerry - Simon and Betty better get a happy ending or I will legit be so sad, they love each other so much, and Betty just legit became part of a god over her Fiance once celebrity crush. I love how gorgeous everything is in this show, Orbo is also a funny character. I feel like someone could narrow down where things and places they go in this Lich's wish universe it'd seem fun at first then spiral though. Simon does NOT know how to draw though get this man an art class. The tree house being naked though, all its leaves gone. Lich's wish to kill all life, really just unironically killed ALL life, down to plants. Fun little references to old episodes, and including one that revolved around Ice king, hmm. Also I wonder the age gap between Betty and Simon, I like to see it as they're like a year apart but Simon just skipped grades cause hes a smart cookie. Also Simon had slides ready for people to be loud, HE WAS READY. Nerd girls in love. I am also guessing Bmo has been alone for awhile now, at least since season 5ish times since thats when the Lich would have made this wish. All the references in Ice King's junk from the melted ice kingdom. Ninja guide books, kunai, vhs tapes and the camera, the pink diary, his bed has the wishing amulet that Gunter used to break bottles. I was RIGHT

Fionna see's how unhealthy Ice King was, and changes her mind and wants him to not become this sad sad man again. Simon would genuinely be such a sweet and wonderful parent, he loved taking care of the babies in the baby universe, and he sees Fionna get happy when he tells his story with Betty and keeps doing it to keep her happy. Neddy is also guaranteed dead, already obvious but the candy kingdom doesn't have the juices being produced. Bmo has done a lot in his isolation, a lot of stuff is changed or moved, I feel so bad for bmo. But the lines "Help me zip up my bra" and "Ooo, butt stuff" Wow. The Simon and Betty stuff makes me so happy, they're so cute and I love them, they need to have a happy ending or I will be so sad. The lesbians ever, I love these lesbians, let the lesbians be happy. Simon struggling to say he loves her is so CUTE. Poor Bmo, I feel so bad, but he was probably so sad being alone, sad in someway. Petrigrof moment was so cute and adorable please, I want them so happy, they deserve to be happy. Now for the bombshell, Jerry. The Lich's wish monkey paw aspect is that he gets depressed and has nothing to do now that all life is gone. Billy's body decomposing as the Lich parasites it. SO, imma theory my reason for the portal finally opening to GolBetty, either it was because the Lich was used as the battle and influenced it in a way to allow it to finally work, OR Betty's wish to keep Simon safe truly included the crown being worn. Like the crown really did trigger GolBetty like "BITCH, NO" or the third that makes probably the most sense, The Scarab was literally about to kill Simon and go against what Betty wants, meaning she is going to interfere. I saw someone say that GolBetty likely wont remember Simon and this could cause something. BUT I REALLY HOPE THEY DONT DO THAT, I WANT THEM HAPPY SO BADLY

[jerreeeeeee]

i also read the suffering game graphic novel. here's praises and criticisms. this one is also more negatives than positives unfortunately, i tried to be fair and thoughtful but i did not like it very much

things i liked:

-lucretia prologue establishing that she went to wonderland + talking abt missing the crew. fun & mysterious

-hi mavis and mookie :) they are cute

-HI BARRY sometimes i forget he stalked merle’s family outing. i love that freak

-magnus and angus scene!! fisher showing angus the statue drawing!! ango detective subplot!! this is a nice and natural addition since we know he was sleuthing around the BOB

-merle teasing taako about his date is kinda cute actually love seeing them be friends

-thank god they got rid of the chimera. idk if this is a hot take or anything but its probably my least favorite fight in the podcast its so out of place and unnecessary. there are lots of fights that didnt really matter in the beginning like all the gerblins and the slime swamp in rockport but they were still like getting their bearings and the show was more like a real dnd campaign than a typical actual play, but by the time you get to the suffering game there’s more interesting things to do and you're like god why are we still doing random forest encounters just get to wonderland already

-not a positive per se but i’m not that upset about sterling and his party being cut. i feel like an adaptation would’ve had an opportunity to make that little c-plot matter more, and that would’ve been awesome, but as is in the podcast, i never felt particularly strongly about it? not enough to miss it. idk like magnus and merle were already for ‘trust’ even if it were strangers and taako never seems all that regretful about it (which like. fair. he’s the pragmatist and that’s how the prisoner’s dilemma works. he played the game right because he couldn’t afford to lose, knowing they hurt some slightly-less-strangers doesn’t really change that).

-i dont remember which of the boys discovered it in the podcast but merle noticing the smoke thing is good. he actually is competent and especially in an arc that’s meant to make him feel useless that’s a good little reminder

-i do like that the liches say the bell is very powerful & is threatening to destroy them like both keeping in theme with the rest of the relics and an introduction to the idea that sharing an incredible and dangerous power between two people makes it easier to keep your sanity, similar to lichdom

-griffin getting cut off with the hunger is awesome finally we’re taking advantage of the medium. nothing more to say that choice rules

-posts on tumblr hyped me up for taako recognizing barry’s dick but unfortunately that’s not really what happened and now i’m disappointed. but the graphic novels arent canon so i’ll just have to continue with my barry/taako awkward past one night stand agenda despite it all

-i dont quite know how to feel about the umbrastaff leaping to barry to replace the “love barry, trust barry” moment. on the one hand, having lup actually speak to taako wouldn’t work super well in graphic novel form, not to mention the whole band of projected thought thing was kinda convoluted and they are clearly very limited on time, and taako choosing to trust the umbrastaff in this way is a creative way to get that same effect. on the other hand, its so unclear what even happened or why it changes taako’s mind without podcast context. that’s one of my big gripes, you’re expected to be familiar with the story already, but if you’re familiar with the story, the graphic novels are… worse in every way. also, i really really liked the original scene so even though it doesn’t work, i miss it. this isn’t as effective—we don’t find out there’s a person missing from taako’s memory, his heart doesn't swell at the sound of her voice, he doesn’t know with certainty that she’s someone dear to him. it's just like, another instance of the umbrastaff acting weird. maybe you put together that 'LUP' is a person but you don't have any indication until the moment of remembering how important she is. all of that would be really difficult to get across in a visual medium anyway, but still, yknow, it doesn’t hit as hard.

-ango!! his mage hand is coming along so well!! although. why is his wand just like a stick. did he pick it up off the ground. taako needs to take better care of his boy this reflects badly on him as a teacher lmao

-i felt this way about the eleventh hour too but there’s so many little details of taako and merle’s friendship i feel like they have little asides and jokes together a lot and i love that

-the looming dread of the hunger is done pretty well (as well as it can be with such time restraints)

-merle trying to commune with pan and seeing john instead is good. very ominous and intriguing for new readers and exciting for podcast listeners

-really liked the panel of barry in the red robe against the stars and the bond engine’s white ring as he’s remembering. very cool very cinematic

-i actually also really like the framing as taako remembers, filling in the memories we’d seen previously and clearing out the static while he looks so broken, and merle asking him what he’s remembering, and then finally speaking his sister’s name. its framed very powerfully. i wish he and lup didn’t look awful so i could actually feel something at that part. like they are my favorite characters ever their story makes me so emotional and i just. they’re unrecognizable. the character designs are terrible and taako has spent 6 books now being mischaracterized and flattened to hell so i just can’t muster any emotion. maybe i'll redraw that page someday though because the panelling is genuinely very good

-the ending lucretia monologue is good she's the narrator she's the main character she's everything. love the portraits staticking out and mirroring and changing, and ending on the beach painting is great. very cinematic and a natural way to phase into the stolen century

things i didn’t like:

-i dont think taako’s deepest desire is his own brand of fashion forward athleisure wear if i’m being quite honest. these little things irk me

-why is liches get stitches all the way in the beginning… ill portent for how the rest of this book will go

-i think they shouldve introduced the flaming raging poisoning sword of doom way earlier. the payoff isnt nearly as good without the setup of having been magnus’ white whale for like fifty episodes. maybe they did mention it in earlier books and i just forgot though

-^ i hate his stupid ugly oversexualized stereotyped ass so fucking much its unreal

-why are edward and lydia ugly :( —(they're not ugly because they're chubby they're ugly because their color schemes and outfits are fucking awful) (fr though why are all their colors so muted and dingy?? why are their outfits boring?? at least their heart attack looks are fun)

-oh so there’s just no trust or forsake at all. yeah i don’t like that. in the end no great loss since i don't think it really says anything about thb's characters that hasn't already been said, but so much of thb's characters and arcs have been cut from the gns already

-i get that they’re low on time trying to fit in reunion tour but like come on part of the suffering of the suffering game is how long and painful it is cutting it down really just. makes it not matter as much

-magnus looks no different after aging LMAO he gets like 2 gray hairs and that’s it

-edward and lydia’s lich forms are also boring unfortunately

-no tasha’s hideous laughter on the heart attack mannequin? lame. although i have for the first time realized that dnd shows kinda have a thing for characters uninterested in romance being forced by mysterious powers to be haunted by creepy puppet-like “romance partners” huh

-magnus doesn’t forget kalen?? why cut that out? i guess because there was never closure for it in the original story?

-no boss rush?? that was fun :(

-magnus and taako aren’t surprised merle has kids??? did they know???

-dupree looks terrible but i guess props to carey for giving him feathers even though it looks bad

-just axed the liches’ backstory?? that was kind of important?? the fact that they turned to necromancy out of love for their family & powered themselves with positive emotions too? that like, has relevance later…

-NO BAD LUCK FOR ARMS OUTSTRETCHED? COME ON

-the framing of magnus’ soul being removed is so anticlimactic in general like the POINT of a VISUAL adaptation is to have interesting & cinematic VISUALS its just so messy

-all of arms outstretched didnt look very good in general sorry. its just such a big important moment and to make it so mid… a tragedy

-“i guess we still needed each other after all” doesnt work anymore because they removed all of edward and lydia’s backstory and character but it was an interesting line to me that i wish had been kept. hammering in that liches need anchors is, again, pretty relevant later on, getting rid of that foreshadowing sucks, and it also humanizes these villains in an interesting way that really highlights their powerlust as their downfall rather than just, like, cruelty for evil’s sake. like yes they torture people and find it fun because they’re so distanced from their own humanity but they also truly believed it was necessary for their own safety and seemingly only became sadistic after they desensitized themselves. i wrote a post about this a while ago but idk if i’ll ever post it

-not a fan of barry killing lydia either. idk why, its not like he hasn’t killed other people to protect the boys before. but that’s earlier in the show before we know he’s not just a villain and is in fact meant to introduce him as a villain. now he’s a friend so idk if you can just go back to having him murder people? again its not a wrong choice but it feels like messy storytelling. also like i think seeing a lich grieving her anchor and a sister grieving her brother would pull some heartstrings for him. it would maybe remind him of some people he loves and garner some sympathy and give him some pause. and i liked that in the podcast even though lydia was so distanced from the idea of positive anchors, killing edward just immediately undoes her, fits in with the themes and the way we understand liches to work, another powerful example of what bonds can do, and that's kinda lost here

-magnus’ answer to the bell sucks so badddd lmao when these books NEED context they’re devoid of it but when they actually have the necessary plot points/character arc established for the reader to put something together they have to go and spell it out like the audience is stupid. there was something so raw and powerful about magnus’ original “i’d hate it. shut the fuck up.” like just shutting it down and not even considering it. that’s completely lost when he has to be like “recap time! my wife, julia,” eugh just didnt like that. there are so many powerful lines from balance that i don’t hate on principal that they’ve changed, but there was no good reason to change, and so the new version just falls flat and there was no reason not to include the original lines verbatim? i get not wanting to just deliver a podcast highlight reel and have the gns be their own story or w/e but if you’re gonna do that you have to do it well, and they just keep being worse unfortunately

-they don’t get the chance to go off the grid themselves and choose to trust barry?? come the fuck ON that is IMPORTANT to the STORY

-this may or may not be an unpopular opinion but i’m not a fan of barry’s design either. i don’t like the hair and he’s not fat enough. less egregious than others but its still another instance of being like who tf is that

-barry’s little coin monologue was kinda fun and dramatic and i (finally) liked the visuals of him falling from the sky/silhouette of the starblaster against faerun’s single sun. but i wish they’d kept more of the original. add drama that’s fine but the point of it is to humanize him after we’ve spent so long thinking of him as a villain and a ghost and a force of the story and now it turns out he’s barry bluejeans. he’s just a guy. he loves his mom. he’s allergic to dairy. he’s afraid of the dark.

-especially not a fan of cutting out the “love that defined and redeemed you” and “dull weight in your chest” in barry’s coin monologue. those are important parts of his character. whether you interpret the love and the weight to be for lup or for the whole crew, you need to know that the red robe has lost people, and that everything he does is to try to get them back. he’s the lover and he’s grief personified. his mission is to save the world AND recover his family. thats like. kinda important for his character and role in the story. if you ask me.

-again the “we’ll get em next time” magnus flashback is not BAD but it could’ve looked so much better? carey definitely has strengths as an artist but her fight scenes and character design tends to be very weak so its unfortunate that this is an adaptation of a dnd podcast where those 2 things are like, the most important. idk i feel like i should be articulating what i mean better but i’m not sure how. the fights just are often really cluttered and framed in an odd way that doesn’t look very good or dramatic or dynamic. i don’t want to say carey is a bad artist, i really don’t think she is! but i think she was not the right artist for this project. the magic of a visual medium is, well. the visuals. when they’re mid the whole story suffers.

-taako and merle not just saying magnus is dead is sorta unnecessarily confusing since everyone like assumes he’s dead anyway? idk i don’t understand that choice. kinda fucks with his moment with carey. not a big deal in the end but it does seem unnecessary

-MAGNUS DOESN’T GO SEE FISHER?? the mannequin dies in fantasy costco??? what about johann???

-“you stole half of my fucking heart” i know a lot of people loved this line but it genuinely baffles me. Why Only Half. not only referencing one of the most heartwarming (and heartbreaking) lines in the original show with no context for why its meaningful at all yet—but also minimizing it? why soften that blow? why detract from the raw intensity of that grief? why reduce a very powerful sentiment? an adaptation of balance that doesn’t allow itself to be earnest and wholehearted (ha) about its platonic bonds is not a good adaptation, straight up. maybe its not that deep but it is To Me. maybe it has no real import and i’m just being stupid but like they made that choice to write half instead of just “my heart.” Why, genuinely

-hey what the fuck happened to johann for real though. that was a really important part of the story. hey. hey. what about johann. like are we just ignoring johann. am i insane. how has no one mentioned this. what’s up with johann

-

so all in all, again, rushed pacing, axing of a lot of very important plot points, shoddy visuals.

it did not make me relive the emotional journey of the suffering game and reunion tour. it inspired a vague nostalgia for the first time i experienced reunion tour, reminded me of how much i love the original show, and made me want to listen to the podcast again. especially reunion tour good god i love reunion tour. and it made me desperately wish for a good adaptation. i would do fucking anything for a good adaptation. the longing is making me sick. at least we always have podcast reunion tour.

the graphic novels are just so empty and soulless compared to the original show. i wouldn’t have an issue with changes, except that the changes, at every turn, gut the emotional core of the story that makes it so special, and ruin the strong themes throughout the story. they fundamentally misunderstand what is so good about balance. and also, like, basic storytelling. they’re poorly designed and poorly written, so they don’t even stand on their own as a different story. i'm not expecting an exact replica, but i am expecting good writing, good changes when necessary, and respect for the original beloved story. without those, the soul is gone, the spark of what makes balance so compelling and emotional.

i am dreading the story and song graphic novel. i don’t think it will be any good. the themes and character arcs and plot of the show have been mangled beyond belief so nothing is really meaningful anymore. can we go back to the johann thing for a moment—

[umbraastaff]

I'd love to hear your general thoughts on the new gn! I personally think Wonderland was a little rushed, but I loved reunion tour.

was fun in some ways and fell short in others! i overall i agree with you on that as well. more specific thoughts, in no particular order:

some really really cool visuals in this book. lucretia in the hourglass at the start, some awesome panels with space and the hunger and stuff... barry regaining his memories on page 212 is probably my favorite page in the whole book

the choice to make the Chug & Squeeze be painting instead of pottery is baffling to me. the title of the place made sense with the original… the choice to change it so that it doesn't fit, and then also make fun of that, feels a bit like i am being made fun of as a fan/audience member, regardless of whatever the original intent was

(compounded with the total loss of the original depth in this scene… no vulnerability from taako, just a good 'ol fanservice kiss…)

similarly bizarre, the choice to make lucretia lose 30 years instead of 20...? 20 not bad enough? she needed to be 60 instead of 50? what's happening lol

i feel vindicated on a spiritual level for being the only person i can remember drawing mullet ponytail barry - like 95% of fanart i see draws him either short haired or with long hair free n out like in HTBG graphic novel... never ponytails. im winning

more bafflement with magnus even THINKING on the question of forgetting julia... the kalen thing is a much more interesting conflict to me given (a) it makes sense to be uncertain about and (b) relates directly back to his love for julia. and they established AND NAMED kalen in eleventh hour, why not use that...

feels like they swing back and forth on how much they trust the audience to pick up subtext... being hit over the head with magnus continuing the "id hate it shut the fuck up" thing to rly look at the camera and wink and tell us how much he loves julia, but then the comic version of the "love barry trust barry" was VERY dependent on picking up cues and seeing taako's attitude change

speaking of, i did really love the "love barry trust barry" scene. and both times lup jumps into barry's arms is so cute ugh

i know it's a product of how rushed everything has to be putting 10+ hours of audio into a singular COMIC book, but for fuck's sake, removing KEATS..........?????? so now lydia & edward have no depth??? & no parallel/foreshadowing for the way liches work??? OKAY???

mannequin magnus design and the way they enabled him to do expressions was preddy good. enjoyed it. also the whole possession + wonderland final fight action is cool and fun

while i am disappointed the bell is all fancy and weird instead of being a very plain and small thing as it was described in canon (which felt more in character for barry), i DO really really really like the flower on top... the wither-and-bloom motif... tasty

oh yeah griffin disappearing is such a great way to foreshadow a thing beyond planes coming down to consume... ahh i love playing with meta stuff

so so much good barry content man. so much. thank god we got so much good fun reunion tour stuff. hes so dumb as rocks i love him

actually pretty cool they more explicitly canonized the explanation for barry physically attacking davenport. also barry/lucretia interaction so so so so good

as cute as the original scene is with them planning and writing the note for magnus' body, i think the way they split the party in this version was smart

i dont need to contribute more to the pool on fan feelings on blue twins, BUT given there was no choice but to have her be blue, lup is very cute

taako falling to his knees instead of like pointing the staff at lucretia... :/ eh

given how much literally this entire series has suffered from being so scrunched up, i'm also not SUPER looking forward to stolen century and S&S being condensed into one book, but ohhhh wellllll

TL;DR i don't really read these books because i have a lot of faith in the way they Tell The Story, but it still had a lot of fun moments and scenes and visuals that got my heart! fun to see thorough visual takes on my fave podcast.

[sotogalmo]

Hihi !! tryna get to know more of the alnst ocs and their creators. so. hihi !! care to tell me more abt ur resistance ocs ?

Hehehehe, hihi!!

So, funny thing is. I haven't really had much thought into all of them, especially Felix- since as for a few days he's being worked on (his relationships, his thoughts, etc etc. His main inspo tho is most definitely Issac from canon ALNST and Lich from Evillious Chronicles)

Orian has a bit more to her, but not that much as Bastienne was my first resistance oc tbh.

Bastienne, who has many names, but uses Lilith the most has the most info, yet I don't really know how to make her act- yk? Like her personality.

Bastienne is a postman and a waiter. So she has light experience with bringing in food and writing letters <- she mainly writes letters to a "human" idol; Lilith ( @alien-til-i-stage 's oc)

I just. Kinda made Bastienne on a whim, cuz of like. I had this idea of giving Sebastian (another OC) a twin, (funny thing is that Bastienne is one of the feminine versions of Sebastian!) cuz I just couldn't stop relating him to Hänsel from EC/Evillious Chronicles— who has a twin; Gretel and such.

That's why one of Bastienne's inspos is Gretel-

But yk..the idea kinda got scrapped and Bastienne is her own character with no real ties to both Flor and Sebastian, but some metaphorical and "what if" ties (clown, rebels, etc. rebel clown as been a main thing that I've been doing tbh... Flor is the main reason)

But tbh, besides all of that I can give out some fun facts!! (With an added oc, made on the 12th of September!; Yuuki who is Cindy's gf!)

Bastienne uses he/she pronouns :3

Felix is FtM/transmasc (transitioned in his early teens)

Orian has had at least 2 past lovers, or so.

Felix is a good artist but he mainly only draws birds..

Orian has a collection stash in her room! What she collects is a secret (<- doesn't know what to make her collect)

Bastienne is somewhat of a foody... and would sometimes be too carried away cuz it's food .... <- she likes food

Orian is closeted bisexual! (even tho before I had her being closeted lesbian.. decided to change it cuz inna way she would swing both ways)

Yuuki is albino, but actually really doesn't have red eyes as I drew her with. Her eyes are like. A pale lavender with some red tint to it ..

Yuuki is their mechanic! If anyone becomes an amputee in the future, or comes in as one; Yuuki will make them some spare robotic parts for them to use!

Felix sometimes.. and a bit childish? mimics bird sounds. And they almost sound near-perfect to the actual bird!

Orian, due to being on the run for a long while- she has gained some muscle! Same with the others ofc, but Orian is slightly more stronger then they are (Yuuki can somewhat match her strength but that's it)

Basti writes letters to a famous 'human' Model! Felix knows that something is up with them, but he doesn't really care as that's not his problem and such.

Felix seems to be nocturnal! <- for lore reasons, that will be explained later (on my @/yuuoseetaasria blog!)

Basti also joins with Felix in mimicking animal sounds ... The Critters™.

Felix has a sister who works for AREPH; an opposing group to the rebel group (for now, since the name is rlly yet to be decided on)

Felix's hair is actually slightly dyed,,, his actual hair color is black

*I think that's all for now,, but I will add more in the future-! / Yuuki's gf is Cindy; @tsukacchako

[caedun]

(A friend taught me how to rp on Tumblr. Tagging and reblogging replies, so bear with me).

Valdrakken

Since being raised as a Death Knight years ago and being freed from the Lich King at Light’s Hope Chapel, Tartt Sweetshriek had a second chance, so to speak. She remembered going to Dalaran and answering the call of the Horde- helping the Ebon Blade. Little did she know she would run into a demon hunter. They were just about as outcasted as the Death Knights were, so there was common ground.

Over the years, she had been on numerous adventures and fun places. Beating people in Hearthstone was fun to pass the time. She sat in one of the corners of the Roasted Ram, taking in everything. Q

A broad and angular figure passed through the Ram's open entryway, in the company of two substantial crates propped on either of his shoulders. Kitror waved him down and pointed behind the bar and the demon hunter set to putting each crate down gingerly, stacking them atop each other. He spoke to the waiter briefly, producing a small document from his pocket and acquiring the drakonid's signature before ending the conversation and stepping into the tavern proper.

With his usual looming manner he scanned the patrons one by one, his gaze flitting between them as he took stock of each patron, before settling on Tartt. After a lingering moment he strode over to her, standing at the edge of her table, his arms slack at his sides, his posture upright and stiff.

"You, Death Knight," he addressed the gothic goblin with a rasp, right hand lifting to point a long, sharp finger at her.

"What news do you and your brethren have regarding the time rifts? I assume you and yours are monitoring the state of 'Azmourne,' as it has been coined. I wish to draw comparisons with the fel-cursed equivalent, Azerwrath."

The question was posed flatly, transactionally, and left hovering in the air as his massive form loomed over Tartt's table.

[omnybus]

A Buncha Boneheads (Final)

Originally posted on My Patreon (Follow the link to see the full image)

Well, after drawing 88 different skeletal characters, here it is, the full series of "A Buncha Boneheads"! I was originally going to try and sell this as a poster but after looking into it, I don't think I can do that unless I want to deal with several dozen copyright laws.

This was quite the fun little exercise for me- the biggest challenge was trying to emulate the art styles of so many different series and properties. There are definitely more skull-headed characters out there that I could add, but frankly I think a nice even 88 is good enough, and there are other projects I want to work on for the future. Overall I'm pretty proud of this.

With that said, let me know if I've made a spelling mistake or something anywhere on here- I've tried my best but I just know I missed one or two somewhere.

The full list of characters is written below:

The Full list of characters are, in order:

Ainz Ool Gown (Overlord)

Astel, Naturalborn of the Void (Elden Ring)

Ben Bones (Freaktown)

Benny (Halloweentown)

Big, Little, and Dog (The Funnybones)

Big Steve (Doogal/The Magic Roundabout)

Bonejangles (Corpse Bride)

Boney (Weinerville)

Cadavre (Local 58)

Captain Barbossa (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Captain Boney (Rattle Me Bones)

Captain Flameheart (Sea of Thieves)

Carmine/The Bowler (Mystery Men)

Count Moneybone (Skylanders: Swap Force)

Crypt Keeper (Tales From the Crypt)

Cubone (Pokemon)

Curly (Goosebumps)

Dead Tom (Muppet Treasure Island)

Death (Castlevania)

Death (Discworld)

Death (Gregory Horror Show)

Doot Skull (Microsoft 3D Movie Maker)

Dry Bowser (Super Mario)

Duskull (Pokemon)

General Hadias (Mazinger)

General Skelly (The Barbarian and the Troll)

Ghost Rider (Ghost Rider)

Giant Skeleton (Kubo and the Two Strings)

Gravelord Nito (Dark Souls)

Gregg the Grim Reaper (Conker’s Bad Fur Day)

Grim (The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy)

Grimskull (Skeleton Warriors)

Gruntilda Winkybunion (Banjo-Kazooie)

Hèctor Rivera (Coco)

The Horned King (The Black Cauldon)

Horrorman (Anpanman)

Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

Jack the Reaper (Spirit Halloween)

Jacques LaLean (Beetlejuice Animated Series)

Jägermonster (GWAR)

Jawbone/The Skin Taker (Channel Zero/Candle Cove)

King (The Owl House)

King Igos Du Ikana (The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask)

LeChuck (The Secret of Monkey Island)

Lego Skeleton (Lego)

Lewis (Mystery Skulls)

The Lich (Adventure Time)

Long Horse (Trevor Henderson Mythos)

Lord English (Homestuck)

Lord Hater (Wander Over Yonder)

Lord Xykon (Order of the Stick)

Manny Calavera (Grim Fandango)

Manolo Sanchez (The Book of Life)

Martian (Mars Attacks!)

Mr. Crypt (Mr. Crypt Comics)

Mr. Skullhead (Animaniacs)

Mumbo Jumbo (Banjo-Kazooie)

The Nowhere King (Centaurworld)

Papyrus and Sans (Undertale)

Red Death (The Venture Bros)

Red Skull (Marvel Comics)

Rito Revolto (Power Rangers)

R.M.S./Real Magic Skeleton (O.K. K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes)

Santara of the Dead (El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera)

SCP-1471-A/Mal0 ver1.0.0. (The SCP Foundation)

Sekhmet (Skullgirls)

Sir Daniel Fortesque (MediEvil)

Skeleton King (Clash Royale)

Skeleton King (Diablo)

Skeleton King (Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go!)

Skeleton King (Team Fortress 2)

Skeleton Princess (Adventure Time)

Skeletor (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe)

Skelly (Hades)

Skull Boy (Ruby Gloom)

Skullface (Madballs)

Skull Knight (Berserk)

Skullmageddon (Double Dragon)

Skull Man (Mega Man)

Skully Pettibone (Scary Godmother)

Smitty Webenjägermanjensen (Spongebob Squarepants)

Soul King Brook (One Piece)

Spinel (Killer Instinct)

The T-800 (The Terminator)

T-Bone (Cuphead)

The Stalker (Jumunji Animated Series)

The Wither (Minecraft)

[renaultmograine]

You reblogged my art with Darion so I found you as someone who knows their Mograine stuff, I am kinda newish to post WotLK lore and I was wondering if there is any info or anything about what Darion looks like post becoming a Horseman because in Legion I remember he got obliterated by the Light and does he still look under the helmet like he used to or is he burned and stuff like Bolvar?

I mean, that's up to personal interpretation, as Blizzard doesn't like including any written lore about the death knights, the two stories we have of them being one that's dubiously canon, and the other not mentioning any real describing details of Darion. He likely wouldn't look burned like Bolvar does, as (dragon) fire and Light are two different types of magic, and the power of the Lich King is that he can restore the body to some extent, seeing as Thoras Trollbane had been dead for around twenty years before being raised, and I don't imagine Stromgarde mummified their kings.

It's also important to remember that Darion has experienced high amounts of exposure to the Light before then, with both his first death were he inadvertently turned himself into a Light orbital strike, and the second attack at Light's Hope, where all the lesser undead are obliterated by the Light and the death knights are incapacitated from it.

^ Darion's in the middle of that giant Light pillar, and he's raised immediately after his death, though if he's undead before the pillar of Light is gone is again up to your interpretation.

With those two moments in mind, in Silver Hand, Ebon Blade (the first linked story), the only reference to Darion having any real appearance changes to him in undeath (past the glowing eyes) is the fact that crying scars one's face, something that was extrapolated from Sylvanas. Again, the story isn't confirmed canon, so you can take it with a grain of salt, but it's all we really have in terms of death knight lore.

(Silver Hand, Ebon Blade is really good you should read it)

I do headcanon him with some amount of Light related burns after Legion, though I imagine them to be pale, lightning bolt like scars that trail his body (it's kind of hard to describe and I can't draw, so I don't exactly have a good example for you, sorry!). At the end of the day, though, you can have as much fun with it as you want, and Darion's appearance is so in flux we don't even really know what his hair color is anyway.

[aerialworms-art]

I've been wanting to do hourly comic day for ages, finally remembered (at 00:01 on 2nd feb), and here we are! I had a lot of fun with this!

Featuring (in order of appearance) my child Fluffy, Narcissus the brachycephalic cat, Prince the sentient mop dog, and Cassie the-not-so-fluffy-but-also-black cat. And @salty-lich-queen makes an appearance from 19:00-23:00!

I've put a transcript of all the text under the cut cause I was focused on sticking to the hourly thing and forgot about nice lettering 😅

Transcript:

[Page 1]

02/02/2024 (definitely hourly comics day)

00:00-01:00

Me: Ooh, look, hourly comics! There's a lot of these. When is it again?

Search bar: When is hourly comics day? Search results: 1st Feb hourly comics day Me: Aw, fuck.

Me, thinking: No-one will mind if I do it today instead, right? Arrow pointing at me: Going to get snack Arrow pointing at tinsel: Tinsel from 4 Xmas ago Arrow pointing at toy snakes: Snakes from Halloween

Caption: [Int. - Bedroom]

Sweet packet: SWEETS

Me: Oh! Fluffy, thinking: For me? Caption: A surprise kitty!

01:00-02:00

Me, thinking: WTF is wrong with this guy? Caption: Watching Dungeon Meshi for the first time!

Arrow pointing at me: Brushing teeth

Fluffy, thinking: I CRAVE WOTER

02:00-??:??

Caption: Thinkin' bout those old men <3

11:00-12:00

Me: UUUUUUUUGH

12:00-13:00

Me: come... closer...

Me: Time to get up! Fluffy, thinking: Bye!

Me: Actually, I'll just draw some comics first Fluffy, thinking: Oh?

Caption: A few minutes later... Me: Thank you for keeping my foot warm Fluffy, thinking: It's free real estate

Arrow pointing at my dad: My dad My dad: I keep losing books... My dad: Like this Ian Banks one - Me: Oh! The one that's been in the loo for a week?

My dad: AHA! Caption: (yes, it was that one)

13:00-14:00

Caption: Watching more Dungeon Meshi Me/my tea: sluuurp

Me, singing: VOULEZ VOUS! AHA! TAKE ME NOW OR LEAVE Caption: shower ABBA time!

Caption: Back in the bedroom... Me, singing: -DANCE WITH YOU HONEY! IF YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY! DOES YA MOTHER KNOW THAT

Fluffy, thinking: I'm out.

14:00-15:00

Title: The Exciting Adventures of Artie and Fluffy: Leaving the house!

Me: C'mon then! Fluffy: Mow! Mrow! Cat count: 1

Neighbour: Oh! Hello! Cat count: 1

[Page 2]

Me and the neighbour: Small talk Cat count: 1 Dog count: 1

Me: Here, I'll hold her, you go past Fluffy, thinking: DIE Arrow pointing at dog: Oblivious Cat count: 1 Dog count: 1

Me: Hi buddy! Cat count: 2 Dog count: 1

Narcissus, thinking: Friend or Foe? Arrow pointing at Fluffy: Oblivious Cat count: 2 Dog count: 1

Caption: We carried on... Me: Oh! Hello! Cat count: 2 Dog count: 1

Cat count: 2 Dog count: 2!

Fancy lettering: PRINCE! Cat count: 2 Dog count: AWWW

Cat count: 2 Dog count: 2

Cat count: ? Dog count: 2

Cat count: 3! Dog count: 2

Me: Uh oh

Fluffy, thinking: BOO!

Cassie, landing on Prince's head: DONK!

Me: Dude, you ok? Prince, thinking: Look! I can catch my tail!

14:30-15:30

Fluffy, thinking: That's not how I look. Caption: Whoops, spent an hour on this! Cat counter: 3 Dog counter: 3 (one went past while drawing)

15:30-16:00

Me, thinking: Alas, we must part, my love! Fluffy, thinking: What was that noise? Cat counter: 3 Dog counter: 3

Arrow pointing at Prince: Prince again! coming back from school Cat count: 3 Dog count: 7

Me: At last! Arrow pointing at people in the bushes: Three shady people in the bushes (I didn't ask)

Library: Library

16:00-17:00

PLOTTING A GRAPHIC NOVEL

17:00-19:00

Whatsapp contact name: Mum Me, texting: (15:35) Swim after work? Me: (16:54) Missed call Me: (16:59) Heading to pool now come join me! Mum: On my way! (17:04) Cat count: 3 Dog count: 10+??

Police car: POLICE ILOP Me: oo er...

Arrow pointing at a cop: Was saying something about a break-in :S Arrow pointing at cop holding a bag: Stolen goods? Drugs? Arrow pointing at fence behind them: My old infant school

[Page 3]

17:00-19:00 cont.

Scribbled out drawing: IGNORE THIS

Me, thinking: I'm no ordinary girl~

(action) Mum: WAVE! (action) Me: WAVE!

19:00-23:00

My laptop screen: UPERNATURAL

23:00-00:00

Arrow pointing at my chair: Ergonomic chair for back pain Me, thinking: What am I doing?

Me, thinking: Ah, yes. Tumblr logo: t Tumblr post: ~~~~~~DC COMICS Me, thinking: Thinkin' bout those old men again <3

Me: Time for bed!

Fluffy, thinking: Time for FOOD.

[metallic-scaled-scarf]

A commission from a friend of mine, D and Rogier from Elden Ring! @liches-covered-in-lich since it was a gift for you, after all.

These dudes were so fun and a bit challenging to draw, as I'd never encountered their characters before in art. But the colors worked so beautifully and pleasingly together, I couldn't help but enjoy it.

My commission sheet can be found here, or as the pinned post on my main blog.

Reblogs > Likes