#nyrelle

[kyndaris]

Blessed Mother

The Diablo series has always had a soft spot in my heart ever since I played the second game back when I was 12 at the behest of a few school friends. Yes, it was MA15+ and I probably shouldn’t have been playing it at that age but I managed to convince my father to buy me it, one of a thousand cherished memories that I had with him, because I was already hooked on Blizzard’s other games: Warcraft and Starcraft. So began my descent into the terrifying world of Sanctuary and humanity’s quest to purge the evils that stalk its land.

Unlike its other major franchises, Diablo is an action role-playing game. Or, ARPG for short. But for many, it’s known as the one game that helps most people develop repetitive strain injury (RSI) because of the constant clicking that goes throughout the gameplay.

Diablo IV continues in this vein as very little of the core gameplay has changed. The playable character moves around by clicking the mouse to a specific spot on the map. The playable character attacks by clicking on enemies. Occasionally, one can mix it up with a variety of other skills by pressing something on the number pad.

That is, of course, if you play Diablo IV on the computer. The controls might be a little different on consoles but I’ve always found that the best way to play isometric click-heavy ARPGs on computer.

Besides, I didn’t get a heavy-duty PC just to write my stories. I mean, yes, that is the primary purpose but not the sole reason. I do use it occasionally to play video games that seem best suited for the PC. Why, just recently, I even bought an external SSD to possibly install Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield because these games require an SSD. And while my PC does have an SSD installed, since I bought my PC about five years ago, the storage on it is only about 256GB with quite a bit of it taken up by...well...normal PC function.

How was I supposed to know that game development would go towards SSD? I’m not a TECH expert with a pulse on the ground when it comes to new technology although my work colleagues think differently.

Anyways, back to the game at hand: Diablo IV.

While I was excited to re-enter the world of Sanctuary following the events of Diablo III and the interesting premise promised by the trailers regarding Lilith, it is my personal opinion that opening up the world only served to damage the game. While some might enjoy having an open world to explore, I personally found the countless cellars and dungeons repetitive. With level scaling and how quickly I managed to level up to 50, much of Diablo IV felt much the same. Especially when I’d unlocked all the skills that could fill my skill hotbar.

True, I could have respecced my character but there wasn’t much need for it with my storm wolf druid. It was an effective DPS machine and with the added ability to fortify at the end, I was essentially unkillable in the lower world tiers. Especially when I began to be level past the recommend threshold.

Open worlds, it must be said, used to be one of my favourite game builds. However, as worlds have become larger with needless collectibles to fill out the world, they have also become some of my most hated elements because I’m a compulsive explorer - always desperate to check out the next nook or cranny in case of side quests or something interesting. Diablo IV proved infuriating in this respect as it had so many side quests but no way to track the ones you’d completed except with a ?/45 on the world map. This made knowing which side quests I’d completed difficult to keep track of and figure out which ones I was still missing.

For a completionist such as myself, it was a nightmare. 

Even as I attempted to get most of the blue exclamation marks that I could find. It doesn’t help that they also only appear if you’re in that particular segment of the map, which makes it even harder to mop out unless I decided to hop between fast travel portals.

Despite this, I can see why the developers decided to go for an open world. After all, Diablo end-game (at least from 3 onwards) has always been about collecting the best gear and becoming stronger than you were before. Slap on live-service with battlepass and it’s a winning formula to become an endless grind quest. 

A part of me almost wanted to shake the developers and have them turn the franchise into a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) for it appears to be the direction that the franchise is going. Should it go down this route, I’d also be happy for it to ditch the isometric focus on the ground. 

Alternatively, Activision Blizzard, you could also scale it back down. At least for the story segments and have it opened up afterwards. I much prefer the more compact nature of Diablo II, where I was free to explore the map of the immediate area, kill all the enemies it contained and be awed by the majesty of how large the world COULD be rather than be faced with all the open space and respawning enemies. Which, also, only seem to attack the playable character rather than have any real conflict amongst themselves.

Are you honestly telling me that the demons and the snake cultists wouldn’t fight each other or the hellspawn-esque willdlife?

Honestly, I pity the people still alive on Sanctuary. It’s clear that they can get nothing done without being mobbed by an endless amount of bandits, goatmen, cultists and demons.

Yes, it works from a gameplay perspective but it SUCKS from a world-building perspective. The people of Sanctuary might as well give up and succumb to the end if all they have to look forward to is being eaten alive by cannibals that are just outside their gates.

Now, most of my readers, and friends, would know that I love myself a good story. And Diablo IV delivered it, especially at the start. Lilith’s arrival in Sanctuary was suitably chilling and the prologue with the people at Nevesk laid the ground work for what I had hoped would be an interesting throughline of the greyness that encompasses real-life morality and perhaps have the playable character struggle with the implications of ingesting Lilith’s blood.

But did we get any of that?

No. No, we didn’t.

The playable character serves as a patsy to link up the other main characters: Lorath, Donan and Nyrelle. It is never explained why the playable character is so strong, tearing through demons left, right and centre as they traipse through Estuar (the eastern continent of Sanctuary). Or how they seem able to resist the influence of Lilith’s blood in their veins. Even Lorath is amazed at their mental fortitude but it’s never truly explored. I never see my character waver in their convictions although there is a scene where they confess to Nyrelle that they have flaws.

WHERE ARE THESE FLAWS? All that the playable character does is help out those that need it and shout defiance at the demons of Hell.

I would have preferred a story with more player choice and to see us grapple with the consequences of our actions. Instead, most of the major decisions were made by other characters and the player character was simply along for the ride as the hired muscle. 

It would have been far more interesting to me if we could have chosen to follow Lilith rather than stop her and allow Mephisto to do what he will upon Sanctuary. I mean, with that ending, there is little doubt in my mind that the world will be drenched in Hatred. A rather frightening prospect although it’s no different to the world we live in today. And while we fight amongst ourselves, the world as we know it steps ever closer to the edge with climate change wreaking havoc.

Let it be known that our current civilisation was laid low by our own hubris and the fact that we had grown fat and indolent on greed that thinking to change our ways to ensure our own survival came second to materialistic objects.

But enough of the doom and gloom! Diablo IV! 

Personally, while I am fascinated with the lore of the Diablo franchise, this recent game left me wanting. I would have much preferred a more engaging story where the playable character didn’t sit on the sidelines as the other characters decided the fate of the world. In fact, I’d have rather a slow-burn corruption story where we step off the path of the lawful good and accept the lesser-evil to save Sanctuary.

Or perhaps have us turn away from the Light entirely and fight against the Heavens for their callous disregard of humans.

At this point, I probably have a corruption kink. 

Wait. What are you doing?

No. Don’t look at that!

...

...

...

Okay, yes. Voldemort x Hermione Granger and Voldermort x Harry Potter are a few of the things that I like to peruse on the odd occasion. No, I won’t explain myself.

All right. Where were we? Ah, right. BALANCE!

For all its talk of balance, Diablo IV very much likes to paint things in black and white. Lilith, the Mother of Sanctuary, has an evil plan to cull the weak. As such, we must stop her even if it would open us up to the Greater Evils. Elias, because he brought the Mother back, is also evil despite his intention to save Sanctuary because of the ongoing threat.

As for the Angels, well, they’ve all apparently abandoned humanity. They might not have voted to destroy Sanctuary but they are doing nothing to combat the threat of the Greater Evils in the world. 

Tyrael, a mainstay of the last two games, is absent in Diablo IV and its difficult to understand why.

In any case, if Activision Blizzard ever saw fit to paint out a little more of the world, I would have liked to play a game where the playable character deals with the corruption of the Zakarum by Mephisto. 

Or maybe if we finally saw a few demons turn to the light. 

Why is it that angels can fall but demons remain forever in the depths of Hell?

Despite quite a few gripes regarding Diablo IV, I still enjoyed the majority of the game. My only wish was that it was more concise without so many open-world shenanigans thrown in to elongate the longevity of the game. Yes, there will be  a large group of people that will enjoy the end-game portion of it, but for those that thrive on story, the open world proves to be detrimental to one’s enjoyment. Especially when the world is so utterly grim. 

And I think the wider question that needs to be asked is if Sanctuary ought to be saved or not.

[irresistible-desires]

[surra-de-bunda]

Saweetie's "High Maintenance" birthday party photographed by Walik Goshorn (July 2018). Saweetie released her major label debut EP, High Maintenance, on March 16, 2018. It has nine tracks and was produced by CashMoneyAP, Nyrell and Saweetie's cousin, Zaytoven. The single "Icy Girl" was certified Gold in June 2018, for sales of 500,000 in the U.S with over 85,000,000 streams. In September 2019, the single was certified RIAA multi-platinum and reached No. 1 on Billboard's rhythmic songs airplay chart.

[minthara]

ACT VI - DIABLO IV

- Bring Nyrelle to Mephisto

[your-old-sins-tournament]

OC NAVAL WARFARE BRACKETS

Rules:

Tie sweeps given to polls with a 0.2% percentage. Also I'm allowed to come up with the most messed up name possible for future polls

Propaganda is encouraged! I will reblog propaganda reblogs, as well as any propaganda that @s me. However, for the polls themselves, I will be using the propaganda submitted to me through the google form. If a ship was submitted twice with different propaganda, I will use both pieces of propaganda

Fandom ships will not be tagged with the fandom tag

Please be nice to each other. Do not tear down other ships. I will not reblog any propaganda remotely like that.

All polls are one week!

If i need to change anything, please send me a ask. I will change it I swear.

The main tag will be: #oc ship tournament

LIST OF SHIPS BELOW;

ROUND 1

Valley Ghost (Felix Tawfic/Griffith) vs. Aurel * Kiki (critical)

Solshuu (Solaria Aoi/Shu Kurenai) vs. Elitheocecily (Elijah Scott * Theodore Churchill * Cecily Churchill, @failboyfriend)

HG^2 (Charlie "Chuck" Beaumont/Octavian "Tavi Osborne, @the-random-phan + @cabincryptid51) vs. Geheneres (Teneres/"Gehenna", @i-hear-a-sound)

LuNal (Luca/Petra/Nails, Tass) vs. Maisther (Esther/Maidy, @cafe-au-tism)

[TIE; ships will go on under the name of LuNal-Maisther!]

SpicyFlowerSnakeNoodles (Red Son/Lotus/Nyrel/MK, Fan + Hue) vs. Dexereign (Dex/Sovereign, @caekhoi)

Eraser (Ezra/Ace, Ren) vs. Anthony Mitchetti/Emily Valentino (@sing-the-beginning-of-moana)

Pruett Pennbum/Remedy Espina (Harvey Millipedia) vs. Vargas (Edgar Vargas * Scriabin, @zarla-s)

Jax * Elin (@sypersweet) vs. Amariya (Amaya/Mariya, @what-if-i-just-did-this + anon)

Ravery (Raven Scofflaw/Avery Fracas, @what-if-i-just-did-this) vs. Dairyun (Darian/Daiyu)

Acid Dragon (VSB * ESB, @silviaflowers) vs. Pip the Jackal/Agent 27 (@squidthechaotickid)

Watercolor Dreams (Oliver Fernsby & Princess Guinevere, @hermannsprecursors) vs. Graveyards (Olly Graves * Susan Yards, @thatonegaybastard)

Golden Fleece (Yang Xiao Long/Eirian Esna, @dragynkeep) vs. Blade of Justice (Jasper Jones/Ikeda Saigo, @hermannsprecursors)

Lavender (Lavon + Devion Taillien, @mx-yippeee) vs. Featherfluff (Virtue Courtenlock/Comet Mhorlborne, @timetokrill)

Archangel (Gabriel Trinh/Raphael Madsen, @gelatinous-jellyfish) vs. Ginatré/Žydrūnas (@the-land-of-eternal-winter-novel)

Marleksei (Marlowe * Aleksei, @cowboymkb) vs. Montcia (Alex Garcia * Jules Montgomery, @gelatinous-jellyfish)

Icefang/Greatness (vox) vs. Luna * Jade * Ciela * Them (@iwillstealyourjawbone)

ROUND 2

Dairyun (Darian/Daiyu) vs. Acid Dragon (VSB * ESB, @silviaflowers)

Watercolor Dreams (Oliver Fernsby & Princess Guinevere, @hermannsprecursors) and Graveyards (Olly Graves * Susan Yards, @thatonegaybastard) vs. Golden Fleece (Yang Xiao Long/Eirian Esna, @dragynkeep)

Lavender (Lavon + Devion Taillien, @mx-yippeee) vs. Archangel (Gabriel Trinh/Raphael Madsen, @gelatinous-jellyfish)

Montcia (Alex Garcia * Jules Montgomery, @gelatinous-jellyfish) vs. Luna * Jade * Ciela * Them (@iwillstealyourjawbone)

Aurel * Kiki (critical) vs. Elitheocecily (Elijah Scott * Theodore Churchill * Cecily Churchill, @failboyfriend)

HG^2 (Charlie "Chuck" Beaumont/Octavian "Tavi Osborne, @the-random-phan + @cabincryptid51) vs. LuNal (Luca/Petra/Nails, Tass) and Maisther (Esther/Maidy, @cafe-au-tism)

Dexereign (Dex/Sovereign, @caekhoi) vs. Eraser (Ezra/Ace, Ren)

Pruett Pennbum/Remedy Espina (Harvey Millipedia) vs. Jax * Elin (@sypersweet)

ROUND 3

Dairyun (Darian/Daiyu, @vwnz and @bowie556) vs. Golden Fleece (Yang Xiao Long/Eirian Esna, @dragynkeep)

Lavender (Lavon + Devion Taillien, @mx-yippeee) vs. Montcia (Alex Garcia * Jules Montgomery, @gelatinous-jellyfish)

Elitheocecily (Elijah Scott * Theodore Churchill * Cecily Churchill, @failboyfriend) vs. HG^2 (Charlie "Chuck" Beaumont/Octavian "Tavi Osborne, @the-random-phan + @cabincryptid51)

Eraser (Ezra/Ace, Ren) vs. Jax * Elin (@sypersweet)

For some reason tumblr wont let me put the rest of the results here so here's the link to Round 4 and beyond

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 3 replay, N7: Fuel Reactors:

-I’d prefer to wait to play this mission, but some of the post-mission dialogue is tightly linked to the Rannoch arc.

I waited to play it last playthrough and that dialogue was very out of place.

-The fuel is critical for war effort, the reactors in the depot are offline, so Hackett asks Shepard to sort it out.

Sir, I’m on the other side of the galaxy saving the quarians from themselves. Can someone else handle this?

-Shepard, Liara, and the other humans are wearing helmets/breathers.

Javik and Nyrel (turian) are not.

So what’s the deal here? This is a garden world. Is everyone wearing breathing protection except the macho men who will need to regrow their lungs later?

-There’s more to this mission than most N7 missions, but it’s still essentially just a battle royale. All the other running around feels like busy work.

-The barrier engines show up out of nowhere. I had one appear in front of me.

Where do they come from? Am I supposed to assume the Reaper troops carried them in with them? Or they were snuck in beforehand and I didn’t notice despite walking by them multiple times?

-Not sending Riley support is just shitty. There’s nothing here you haven’t killed a dozen times before. You do not need both squadmates.

-After the fighting, Cortez says he can’t raise Riley.

Shepard asks about “the Prothean”.

Uh, is there a reason Shepard doesn’t refer to Javik by name? Using species is pretty distancing.

That really stands out as out of character for ME3 Shepard. You usually don’t have the option to make them that cold, and this was autodialogue.

-Hackett will send a force to defend the depot.

And what will stop the Reapers from nuking it from orbit…?

It’s not like they need it.

Normandy

-Adams and Chakwas debate if synthetics are alive.

Chakwas disappoints me. Normally my idol, she rejects synthetics as not alive. Geth are just machines.

Adams says organics are programmed and the geth are alive. Nature can be horrible.

-Adams: Just because I’m saying the Reapers are alive, doesn’t mean I want them to stay that way.

Excellent line.

-Adams also says “Lions ate their prey alive”.

Ate is past tense. Are lions extinct?

-Cortez referred to the reactor as turian. But it’s on an asari world…

The Codex entry does mention that there are turians from a corporate conglomerate that’s involved with Cyone protecting the reactor. However, wouldn’t the fuel depot itself still be asari?

I’m thinking more about this than the writers did.

[monriatitans]

February 2024 Wrap-Up

Current AI ‘art’ is created on the backs of hundreds of thousands of artists and photographers who made billions of images and spend time, love and dedication to have their work soullessly stolen and used by selfish people for profit without the slightest concept of ethics. – Alexander Nanitchkov

February’s Artist Shout-Outs

Alana Fletcher

amorecstasy

Julia Ro

Lucas Onzeki

Indeepencil

Manuel Javier Noreña Castaño

Nyrel Aoki

Simon Auchterlonie

Martin McHugh

Roxanne Henderson-Payne

Hana Augustine

Ander Lizarraga

February’s Streams and Videos

Let’s Discuss Some $#!7 — Behind the Scenes

Banned Books Edition: Let’s Read Some $#!7 by Kurt Vonnegut & Angie Thomas

Let’s Do… Something

Let’s Play Some $#!7! — Hades

Black History Month Quotes of 2024

QUOTE 1: Marian Anderson

QUOTE 2: Ta-nehisi Coates

QUOTE 3: Henry Louis Gates Jr.

QUOTE 4: Martin Luther King Jr.

QUOTE 5: Mikki Kendall

QUOTE 6: Victor Luckerson

QUOTE 7: Clint Smith

QUOTE 8: Farah Jasmine Griffin

QUOTE 9: N.K. Aning

QUOTE 10: Daven McQueen

QUOTE 11: Brittany K. Barnett

QUOTE 12: James Baldwin

QUOTE 13: D.L. Hughley

QUOTE 14: Saidiya Hartman

QUOTE 15: Abhijit Naskar

Check out the Yocum African American History Association (YAAHA), “a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to sharing educational resources about black American history”.

February’s Neverending Reading List Shares

The Neverending Reading List: Book XXXIV — The Invisible Life of Addie Larue

The Neverending Reading List: Book XXXV — The Rules of Magic

The Neverending Reading List: Book XXXVI — Practical Magic

The Neverending Reading List: Book XXXVII — Save Your Breath

The Neverending Reading List: Book XXXVIII — The First Girl Child

The Neverending Reading List: Book XXXIX — Aftershocks

The Neverending Reading List: Book XL — Circle K Cycles

The Neverending Reading List: Book XLI — Patriarchy Blues

The Neverending Reading List: Book XLII — Herlot of Alonia

Poems Written

“School Prepares You”

College

“Look At Me!”

“Get A Job!”

Bibliophile

Betrayal

So?

Accusations

February’s Video Game Quotes

QUOTE 1: Silent Hill: Downpour

QUOTE 2: Okami

QUOTE 3: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

QUOTE 4: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

QUOTE 5: To The Moon

QUOTE 6: Final Fantasy X

QUOTE 7: God of War III

QUOTE 8: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

QUOTE 9: Pokémon Black and White

QUOTE 10: DOTA 2

QUOTE 11: Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom

February’s Literacy Quotes

QUOTE 1: Clifford Stoll

QUOTE 2: Adiela Akoo

QUOTE 3: Mokokoma Mokhonoana

QUOTE 4: Luisa Capetillo

QUOTE 5: Willy Thorn

QUOTE 6: C. S. Young

QUOTE 7: Carol Anderson

QUOTE 8: Lailah Gifty Akita

QUOTE 9: Tom Zoellner

QUOTE 10: Mem Fox

QUOTE 11: Peter van der Walt

February’s Stupidity Quotes

QUOTE 7: Kurian Mathew Tharakan

QUOTE 8: Craig D. Lounsbrough

QUOTE 9: Apuleius

QUOTE 10: Torron-Lee Dewar

QUOTE 11: Vincent Okay Nwachukwu

QUOTE 12: Izumi Suzuki

Kickstarter Items Received

Kickstarter Item Arrived: Cute Creatures Compendium by Catilus!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To expand the Opinions & Truth ( O&T) blog, MonriaTitans started The Weekend Game Show ( WGS) to educate on and discuss different aspects of game development, and to show why video games can take years to make, to prevent another Cyberpunk 2077 launch scenario. Watch MonriaTitans on Twitch and YouTube!

In addition, she shares educational quotes to promote literacy, the legitimacy of video games as an artistic medium, and regarding a Cause of the Month to raise awareness, while giving Artist Shout-Outs to human artists to combat AI art theft. Want to learn more about the Artist Shout-Outs? Click here! #createdontscrape

The Artists Shout-Out posts can be seen here, on Instagram, Facebook, Discord, and more!

She is also an artist under the handle TitansMonriArt.

—

Like what you see and want to know when there’s more? Click here to subscribe for updates and/or hit the Follow button! Enjoy what I do? Please consider supporting via Buy Me a Coffee! Lastly, posts may contain affiliate links.

[ladyinthebluebox]

hi hello, i'm adopting Nyrelle thanks for asking. she's Morana's daughter now. bye.

[gcdageneral]

15 of ‘em!!! Happy Bornday O.G.!!! I’m proud of the young man you are becoming. Keep doin your thing Pimpin. N as usual… I’ll have your back n be right there every step of the way 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💯💯💯 I love you Nyrell. Enjoy your day on purpose 🤞🏾🥰😍 https://www.instagram.com/p/CjOO-1eOXK2F22soOQNKD8QIS7gRNaTRT2U7lY0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[lackwhen]

HARLEM PRIDE from LAQUANN DAWSON on Vimeo.

Show Director & Executive Producer Dave Bridgeforth

President of Harlem Pride: Carmen Neely

Director of Video Production LaQuann Dawson

Hosts: Harmonica SunBeam Dave Bridgeforth

Performances in order of appearance: Harmonica SunBeam Keith Boykin Precious Jordan Cooper Brandon Gray Nia & Ness Harlem Parade: DP/ Editor- Linden Baptist DPEditor of 00:00-00:52- Chris Fox Kelly Second Camera - Sekou Luke EP- CJ South Producer- Dnay Baptist Production Coordinator- Terry Kenard Barnes Production Assistant - Olivia Brummet & Vegas Valentine Gabriel Lawson aka Gabriel The Angel: Olutayo Jonte’ Moaning, DNay Baptist & Amandy Fernandez BBoy Blues Movie Cast & Jussie Smollett June’s Diary: Directors: Derek Blanks, Lauren Johnson Director Of Photography - Nyrell Griffith, Tim Johnson Creative Director (Way Off) - J. Bolin Designer ( Way Off Performance) - Albert Montris Stylist - June’s Diary, J. Bolin Editors - Will Sikora, Tim Johnson Sound - Tim Clifton, Donnie Lyle, Collin Morrison for Vybe Chyle Inc. Gaffer - Sean Cokes Artist- June’s Diary Very Special Thank You to ShowBiz Is Production & Management Inc. and Spirit Airlines Very Special Thank You to all the JuneBugs and Fans, Family & Friends..

Elected Official Messages: Council Member Mark Levine Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul Assembly Member Inez Dickens Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer Senator Brad Hoylman Assembly Member Al Taylor Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell NYS Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli

Harlem Pride Board of Directors: Carmen Neely, President Michael E. Hodge, Treasurer Dave Bridgeforth, Chairman of Entertainment

[ai-yo]

Do you have a youtube because I am looking to follow more black girl artists there and according to youtube's algorithm only one exsists

I am not consistant nor do I have a good workspace to start drawing on youtube. Buuuut I follow so many Black artists on youtube. Since youtube is more likely to reccommend a white supremacist what I like to do is to see who a youtuber is subscribed to, because Black women follow each other and you can discover smaller youtube channels that way. 

Anyway here is a short list of Black women artists to subscribe to

Lucid Neema

Artistik Freedom 

GDbee

Minnie Small

Christina Lorre

rosheruuu

Partii neko

RianaXo Art

Starry Eyed Char

Nautica Williams

glimbri

Penguinesk

Khali Art

Kiara’s Studio

N43NAE

Starrycchi

Nyrelle Busby

KiaraKanvas

Sadie Saves the Day

Koyuki Panda

skelatori

Tanaé Briana

Swan Creates

Dreamy Pyon

Beamymimi

Auj Ruff

DaxaniArt

Gleamiarts

Cetriya’s Art n comics channel 

LiyaJuly

I’m sure there are many more I didn’t name 

[calcificationstalactite-blog]

Nyrelle, looking over East River

[belcalisdesta]

BELCALIS DESTA BIO.

“I do a lot of covers but this is the first time I'm actually doing original content. I leave the studio and I come home wanting to listen to really myself.” — Belcalis Desta for XXL in October 2017.

tw: abusive relationship mention, mention of drugs & gangs, mention of exotic dancing

Belcalis “Belle” Almanzar Desta was born on October 11, 1996,  in Toronto, Canada. She grew up with her older brother Jordan Desta. Though she strays away from talking about her early life, it’s known that her parents are Ethiopian immigrants that settled and made a home for themselves in Canada. Childhood was not an easygoing time for either of the Desta siblings, both struggling with their relationship with their father and Belle at a young age took to the streets to help their mother make ends meet. As a youth, Belle joined a street gang at the age of 16 -- selling drugs to help provide for her family. But her street life never interfered with her education, she attended Renaissance High School and graduated early nearly at the top of her class. 

After that, she attempted to work in a supermarket. However, she couldn’t persevere with the job because of the pay, as she was trying her best to get herself out of an abusive relationship and started to work as a stripper. Stripping opened many doors for Belle, taking her all over the world but straining her relationship with her brother for years. Though her choice of work caused trouble between the Desta Siblings, it always made Belle proud to be able make sure her family back home was alright. After two years of dancing in Canada, she got a working visa and made a home for herself in Los Angeles. 

Stripping in LA gave Belcalis gave her the opportunity to meet people in high places, which eventually opened the door to her music career. Belle began posting short raps on her Instagram using the stage name, “Saweetie” in 2016. One video featured her rapping over the beat from Khia's classic "My Neck, My Back (Lick It)", which would eventually turn into "Icy Grl". She first released the song on her SoundCloud in the summer of 2017 and later released a music video for it in October of the same year. The visual, which went viral on the Internet, would go on to accrue sixty-four million views on YouTube as of December 2018. To follow that up, Belle released in that same month a freestyle rap called "High Maintenance" accompanied by a short clip of herself rapping a verse to the song, all while chilling in her kitchen. It would go viral on Instagram and Twitter as well. In October 2017, she released a video for her song, "Focus", which samples DRAM's "Gilligan". In January 2018, she was named Tidal's Artist of the Week and one of Pigeons & Planes' Best New Artists of the Month. During Super Bowl LII in February 2018, she was featured in an ad for Rihanna's cosmetic company, Fenty Beauty. That month, she signed to Warner Bros. Records in partnership with Artistry Worldwide and her own label, Icy Records. 

Belle released her major label debut, High Maintenance, on March 16, 2018. It is composed of nine tracks and was produced by CashMoneyAP, Nyrell, and Belle’s brother, Jordan. The single, "Icy Girl" was certified Gold in June 2018, for sales of 500,000 in the US. "Icy Grl" quickly became well-known and thus Saweetie gained a lot of fame. Belle then released her second major label EP, “Icy”, On March 29, 2019.

[newgameplus]

40, 42, 44, 48 for the oc ask, plz

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!did you mean: the entire campaign ever? because. yes. fr tho i treasure every moment im playin w/ yall and i AM soft abt all my characters because they, and what they represent, are all so dear to me

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?oooooooooooooooooo...................... would it be cheating to use a boy i made specifically to be devoted to apollo or ........ ahahha. zinnia would be into them too i think, i think he’s kinda interested in lengends. hes always liked a good story.

44. Something you like about your OCs in generalto draw them..................... i like 2 draw them a lot..... 

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too puregod its a list.. in orderivo nyrelllucas graves ( :((c )gemini wildsky!!ilana enwright

[your-old-sins-tournament]

FIRST PART OF BRACKET WINNERS

Valley Ghost (Felix Tawfic/Griffith) vs. Aurel * Kiki (critical)

Solshuu (Solaria Aoi/Shu Kurenai) vs. Elitheocecily (Elijah Scott * Theodore Churchill * Cecily Churchill, @jamescarpenterhooper )

HG^2 (Charlie "Chuck" Beaumont/Octavian "Tavi Osborne, @the-random-phan + @cabincryptid51) vs. Geheneres (Teneres/"Gehenna", @i-hear-a-sound)

LuNal (Luca/Petra/Nails, Tass) vs. Maisther (Esther/Maidy, @cafe-au-tism)

[TIE; ships will go on under the name of LuNal-Maisther!]

SpicyFlowerSnakeNoodles (Red Son/Lotus/Nyrel/MK, Fan + Hue) vs. Dexereign (Dex/Sovereign, @caekhoi)

Eraser (Ezra/Ace, Ren) vs. Anthony Mitchetti/Emily Valentino (@sing-the-beginning-of-moana)

Pruett Pennbum/Remedy Espina (Harvey Millipedia) vs. Vargas (Edgar Vargas * Scriabin, @zarla-s)

Jax * Elin (@sypersweet) vs. Amariya (Amaya/Mariya, @what-if-i-just-did-this + anon)

[sariid]

Photo by Charles Pressey by Charles Pressey Via Flickr: Photo of "Nyrelle Clark", portrait