#others mindblowing art

[catsurfavs]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!! here are some silly guyz i drew [ive been wanting to draw them for agez but a bday gift seemed like a good time >w<] i hope ur birthday is super fun!!!!

HGSHAGGSBDV OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE THIS SO MUCH?!?!? GHEGHAG THANK YOU AAAA

[sketchy-tour]

✨DANDY COMMISSION APPRECIATION POST✨

Of course, being commissions I bought, none of these lovely beautiful pieces are by me. Credits (in order) @frillsand @weevmo @lanlishiba @parrotparfait @kandavers

I am!! GONNA attempt to gush about all these pieces without devolving into keysmashes or screams but like. A. AA. AAA. I was gonna say "yall have no idea how annoying I am about Dandy" but honestly you do. You all do because I shake my silly puppet oc around CONSTANTLY.

ANYWAY I JUST!!! AUGH! ALL OF THEM MAKE ME SO HAPPY!!! The fact I get to see Dandy in art styles I love and adore around the fandom fills me with a joy I cannot even DESCRIBE to you!! OOH I JUST!!! I love them. I love these pieces. I stare at them all the time and now I'm rattling them all around at you guys!!!!! LOOK!!! LOOK AT THESE LOVELY LOVELY PIECES RN AND CHECK OUT THE ARTISTS!!!!!

[your-subby-creature]

Yall ever cry (/pos) because of how much you care about the people you've met on kinky tumblr or is that just me?

[humanmorph]

lemferos. thinking so much about them lately

[rosicheeks]

Honeybee: Name something positive you have done for yourself or someone else in the last two weeks.

I’ve been really trying to focus on bettering myself lately.

[mumblesplash]

Just wanted to say that I love your end poem!

[“end poem”]

:DDD thanks!!!! if you haven’t seen it be sure to check out the illustrated version @livvi3love made too!

[damagedlemons]

Hello! we’re 3 different Morty fictives all sharing a blog, we’re introduce ourselves separately but we’re pretty much always together, if one of us is fronting all of us are fronting, and even though we all use different names Morty’s just fine! Morty Smith, He/Him, introject of Morty c-137 PJ, He/Him, introject of ‘Evil Morty’ Ami, He/She, introject of Morty c-69, ( Miami Morty from Pocket Mortys ) we have mixed feelings on source, but generally speaking enjoy the show, but we also play a lot of video games and stuff like that, our main plurality blog is @sweetesthoneybee

proshippers dni and die by my blade

[a-book-of-creatures]

Posting this because I reblogged something about Usborne Books and apparently most people seem to associate Usborne with lift-the-flap books for preschoolers.

Which is weird because to me as a child Usborne books were some of the spookiest books I could get my hands on. They filled the same place as Dorling Kindersley - colorful, creative, informative books that were educational as well as fun to read. And their approach to myths and legends was, not going to lie, very formative for me. If it wasnt' for Usborne, there might not have been ABC.

And much like Dorling Kindersley, Usborne went through a phase of extreme creative experimentation before stagnating into safer forms of publishing. But for a while, Usborne books were mindblowing.

So what has Usborne done then that aren't lift-the-flap books for preschoolers? Well, a lot. Puzzle Adventures. Extreme map and code puzzles. How to Draw Books. Cut-out and build houses, Trojan horses, and dinosaurs (by Luis Rey no less). How to Be A Detective. Nature spotter's guides. Nature Search books. Facts and Lists books that instilled cosmic horror in me years before I knew what cosmic horror was. I could go on forever.

There was a series of excellent myths and legends books which I posted about before.

These were illustrated by Rodney Matthews and were every bit as metal as you'd expect from something by Rodney frickin' Matthews.

Then there were the Quest books which were Where's Waldo-esque books that followed a storyline in a fantasy world.

In this case, they showcased lush art by Nick Harris in which you find various items or characters to make the story progress, as well as other random things (find 10 rats, find 8 clownfishes, etc).

The Tabloid Histories books, oh my gosh.

Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Medieval, etc. history told through tabloid articles and ads.

More about monsters though! There were books about folktales and legends illustrated by Stephen Cartwright.

For me it was my first time hearing of a lot of them, such as the Lambton Worm!

The Haunted World, now that was spooky! With lots of colorful, dripping art by Graham Humphreys.

Introduced me to a lot of ghosts, vampires, and monsters from around the world. Such as the story of Arnold Paole!

And there were maps and diagrams...

... and lindorns [sic] and mokele-mbembes!

The Supernatural Guides had denser text but sadly have not been reprinted anytime recently.

The World of the Unknown series, though... ohohoho those were good.

Of course (no offense to fans of ghosts and UFOs), I had eyes only for the Monsters book. With such gems as the Velue...

... the Lambton Worm...

... and cryptozoological rubbish such as the Monongahela sea serpent (below), the Loch Ness Monster, the Abominable Snowman, and their ilk.

You know, the sort of thing that would keep a 7-year-old fascinated (and perhaps scared under the blankets) for weeks.

Anyway, yeah I just really love Usborne books. Or at least what they used to be.

[liramic]

Xicheng enjoying the sunset!

A repaint of a 2021 drawing (old below):

I'm so happy with this repaint aaaaa. I already love looking at bad old art bc it makes me feel better about current art lmao but this is my first time actually going through and doing a repaint to fix what's bothering me about it.

The first thing I had to change was def the ribbons. I was already not happy with the ribbon placement in 2021 actually but I couldn't figure out at the time how to change it to actually be a shape I like. But I've learned a lot about composition since then! And also realized that having objects in the foreground covering part of your figures isn't a bad thing lol and can actually create more interesting compositions.

There's also a lot of other small tweaks I did, like moving them closer to each other (to be closer ;) but also to remove the tangent that was formed between their arms), adding birds bc the sky looked empty, and just overall crisper edges. Overall, I think the changes aren't like mindblowing because the composition, color scheme, and even the faces are the same but I'm soooo much happier with the new one ^_^

This'll be on my shop this weekend (prob sunday) as a bookmark and poster~ I haven't restocked since the bookmarks sold out in december cuz I've been waiting to finish the repaint!

[coulson-is-an-avenger]

my favorite kinds of media are the ones that i know absolutely fucking nothing about and yet constantly inspire artists to create art on par with medeival biblical painters like theres no tomorrow. shout out to sonic, rgu, princess tutu, the silmarillion, and the hundred others i couldnt even begin to name on my dash creating mindblowing pieces that belong in international museums y'all are real ones

[simcardiac-arrested]

BOO!!!!! sillyguy jumpscare

“looks like a raver ancient built him” - my friend

“i am SUCH a fan of how you make all of your fanocs annoying himbos with unnecessary swag” - my other friend

“he’s fresh sans” - like, two people

so — he’s finally here!!! the Basketball!!!! be warned INSANE and MINDBLOWING loredrop below‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ as well as some general trivia about NWB + some more silly doodles

The Ancients, dissatisfied with the very prominent lack of results the Iterator project was bringing, began having doubts. Perhaps they had gone about this the wrong way? After all, the jellyfish that doesn’t try is the one that doesn’t get caught in the net. It seemed they had made their design of the Iterators inherently flawed — they tried too hard to solve the Problem, over and over and over again.

It was time for something new. An alternative.

And so, the idea for the Anti-Iterator project was brought into the world — a whole generation of Iterators that didn’t try. Some called it redundant, some pointless. But it convinced plenty, certainly enough to make that idea a reality, and the plan came into fruition.

No Way Back was the first created; his name was given to him to signify a turning point, a new era of Iterators. One that would bring with it change and, hopefully, finally, a solution.

so anyway NWB did absolutely nothing except talk excessively about the ancients’ fashion and sometimes ask them for their drip clothes for his collection and also make cringefail music. the project was discontinued immediately

NOW!!! TOP 10 GAMER TRIVIA:

- makes the shittiest sounding music possible, sincerely believes it’s peak art. if you don’t think the same way he’ll say You dont get it. You just dont

- fan of fashion, art & history, but in a normal way (unlike pebbles). really wishes he could have a whole wardrobe of clothes like his creators, but they’re all gone now </3 and even back then when they were all still alive they. did not like giving him stuff (they did not like him)

- one of them did give him the nikeys though

- most of his creators deemed him useless and didn’t particularly care for him. however, some of them (usually the kids) liked talking with NWB, and he enjoyed interacting with them too. he kind of misses the ancients even if they were asses

- is an enigma to his local group: he barely sends messages, and when he does it’s wildly off topic, and literally NEVER about work related stuff. occasionally he’ll drop his “bangers” in the groupchat and ask for opinions. unfortunately most of the iterators ignore him because they find him annoying (and useless as well. very ancientcore of them)

- kind of incomprehensible. he just says things

- doesn’t really have a god complex so he’s generally friendly, open-minded and easy going, but if you’re mean to him he’ll go Wow. Not cool, man. and he’ll probably give you a lecture like a 90s PSA

- calls himself a DJ. doesn’t even have a proper DJ name. probably doesn’t even know what a club is

- fan of nature, enjoyer of life. has no friends and no purpose but doesn’t let it get to him. at least he can make the equivalent of cbat 2 and force every iterator in the world to listen to it

- he’s stupid but he’s also really smart because. supercomputer. however he chooses to not use his brain and instead be silly. he thinks it’s funnier that way

- sometimes sends his music to other iterators besides his local group’s. they also ignore him

- you really can’t tell when he’s being ironic or not, and whether he’s really THAT dumb or if he’s just trolling. one thing for sure — he loves to mess with the stuck-up iterators from his local group if they decide to bother him

- if the ancients had any equivalent of the 80s, he would’ve been a very very big fan of it

- loves animals too. would call slugcat “little dude”

leave your thoughts in the COMMENTS below!!! remember to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE and listen to DJNWB on SPOTIFY (suddenly becomes normal) if you have any questions feel free to ask and i will answer. i love this guy he’s my everything

[tagedeszorns]

(Violetbirdie here) I think it's complicated due to a variety of issues. 40k as a franchise is huge, but it isn't the sort of thing that tends to have overlap with tumblr type fanspaces. It also doesn't help that 40k is a fractured fandom featuring tons of different factions, so it's not like a standard fandom where there are main characters and a main story that people will always flock to. The primarchs are the closest thing we have to that, which is why there is naturally more content for them. In addition, fandom itself is in a bit of a flux state and has been ever since the 2018 nsfw ban which caused a lot of people to leave for twitter, which is now undergoing its own huge changes right now (and I just hate twitter on principle).

I suppose the one thing I think would help, would be somehow getting the 40k tumblresque fandom space more consolidated as a whole. Like, somehow have a blog that is popular for all factions that posts headcanons about everything, thus getting people interested in parts they don't normally think about. Because 40k is a huge time investment to learn about. I've been listening to audiobooks for what feels like nonstop for over a month, and even then I could only ever feel confident telling people about Emperor's Children. So it naturally is harder for new people to get into the fandom and focus on some of the smaller things because there is just so much. It's almost how I view your blog. I check it daily for fun art/headcanons/just general character stuff, and you made me more interested in some of the captains and such. But even then, you have your focuses. So a space even more general where someone would reblog art from everything 40k would likely be nice? Maybe I just miss the livejournal days of fandom. As far as more engagement, I think having silly things like character weeks which encourages people to draw or write or talk about specific aspects is a huge benefit. It sets a schedule and makes people feel like they are shouting less into the void.

But as someone new here, maybe its my weird perspective, but I don't feel like things are getting less popular. If anything, from just checking AO3, it seems like things are only getting more popular for less of the reddit type and more for the Tumblr wanting to see hot dudes and their complicated feelings type. Also more people are getting into 40k in this side of the space through rogue trader. Like people I never talked to about 40k are starting to look into the series because they played Baldurs Gate 3, and needed a new RPG to play, and conveniently Rogue Trader is filling that for them. So, I'm optimistic if anything. Sorry about the long ramble! Just kinda dumping my thoughts out.

I love Tumblr because, unlike Twitter or Bluesky, it allows for way longer, way more elaborately structured posts. I love it when artists don't just slap their pics into a post and be done with it, but instead add stuff like maybe "I read this book, here's a quote, and it gave me this mighty need to draw this". Or "please listen to this music here while looking at my pic! It goes perfectly with it!". Or just a multi-paragraph-essay (preferably very unhinged) about the character in the upper left corner.

This in advance, so you can see I'm totally with you on the "miss Lifejournal"-thing, because blogs are so much better than just 500 characters, four pics and nothing else. And why I think Tumblr is a very good replacement for Lifejournal.

The multitude of Tumblr-blogs with their many different angles are such a treat and provide such a rich ecosystem! I follow artists posting exclusively admech-stuff, others solely Drukhari, some writers focussing on just one Astartes Legion ... it's phantastic and the depth of their niche-knowledge is mindblowing.

I agree with you that this will be overwhelming for new fans coming from rather monolithic stuff like Rogue Trader. And the key to keeping those new people involved and making them feel welcome is showing them all this variety without scaring them away.

Maybe this new feature Tumblr is working on, can be helpful here. I haven't read much about it yet, but it seems the "Community"-feature has the potential to bundle stuff in a way that's more approachable for new and old fans alike. Maybe there's room for your idea of having "character weeks" (I like that! Sounds very MacDonald's. I'll have Fabius with extra pickles, please! 😁).

I'm sharing your optimism that both the new games and maybe the new series/movies will bring a lot of new fans over and some of them may even stick around. I am a bit wary that there's the possibility of a MCU-situation starting to build up, but since Warhammer-lore is in a constant state of flux anyways this might just add some spice to the mix.

So, yeah, hope for the darkest of futures!

[b4tracha]

Getting Closer to SKZ

(Sorry I disappeared,, I have been busy with uni..)

Bang Chan: Because he is a very busy person, he honestly forgot that he gave you his number until randomly he got a message asking if you wanted to hang out. He was clueless until he realized you were the hot guy from that group hangout. He almost immediately said yes, but calmed down once he realized how insane he would probably look to him. Instead, he calmly said yes, and the very next day after a recording session, he was going to go eat with you.

Getting closer was easier than he thought it would be honestly. Chan can be very shy when it comes to very attractive men, so the fact you wanted to interact with him was mindblowing. You could make the stupidest joke in the world and Chan would giggle like a child, ears hot and red. Your smile, charm, demeanor and just attitude had the man hooked. 

Now you guys were hanging out at least multiple times a week. Because Chan was a very busy guy, that usually meant you were in the JYPE building in his mini studio watching him work in awe and giving comments while he got bashful and tried to hide. He tried to keep you away from the other members, but the other members of 3racha were bound to meet you. Now you were the subject of Chan teasing. He couldn’t go outside the dorm without Jisung or Changbin going, “Going out with Y/N again~?” He hated to admit that they were actually right most of the time.

Lee Know: The second he was home with Dori after the check, he took a selfie with each individual of his cats. He talked about them alot to you while at the vet and he wanted to show them off to you(while also showing his visuals off as well.) He giggled when you fawned over Soonie and Doongi as you haven’t met them. That was then the start of the “play dates.”

The kitten you had rescued and then decided adopt and take care of was obviously too young and small for her to be around the other three, but that didn’t stop Minho from begging you to come over with her, so he could cuddle her while watching you play with his babies. He was very persuasive when he was whiney, but you didn’t mind all that much.

He kept you hidden from the members and wouldn’t mention you to the other members, not for any particular reason. He just wanted you to himself, much like a cat. Once he was on break, he would beg for you to come to his house in Gimpo to bring his baby (you or the kitten, didn’t matter the answer.)

Changbin: You weren’t exactly a regular there as he found out when he went the next day and you both ended up talking. You just had a bad muscle strain and required weeks of physical therapy to build it back up properly. He didn’t mind honestly. He actually enjoyed helping you in your workouts and even gave tips so it wouldn’t happen again.

After workouts, you guys eventually started to eat together afterwards and exchanged contacts. You could rip the loudest laugh out of him honestly. Every couple minutes, the restaurant would be a decent volume and then you’d hear Changbin’s laugh rip from the corner of the room. At some point the owners even threatened to kick you guys out before you guys just left and walked for a bit until it was time to part ways. If Stay saw a workout video or two from a new angle, it was probably from you. Not that they would need to know..

Hyunjin: Hyunjin is an artist. That meant sometimes he had try new things. Meeting you gave him just the right amount of motivation to keep doing down the art shop and buying new things. You must think he was going broke with the way he kept going in and out and at a chance of getting a glance of seeing you. 

Eventually, he got the courage to ask to draw you. It came out of nowhere for you, because he doesn’t say that much to you, but he does tend to stare but it did start to make sense now. Nonetheless, you did agree and went to a local coffee chop and he started to sketch you doing random things like a boost of sudden energy to make anything under the sun. Once he was done, you both started to talk about art and your favorite styles and mediums and artists and anything you could find. 

Hyunjin felt like it was easy to talk to you. He felt like it was easy to look at you. He would find himself doodling you. He didn’t mind that much as sometimes he would just change a few things and post it on Instagram or Bubble for Stay. Maybe you were easy to write about too..

Han: When you offered him ice cream, at first he thought a little small cone or something. No, you asked him what flavor he wanted and got him the biggest cup you can get for it. When Jisung went to say something, you just admitted wanted to talk to him more. Que brain circuit. No, that’s okay.

Han enjoys talking to you alot. You both ended up going to the park together more often, which was kind of a shock for the home body that his dorm mates usually knew. You guys would walk the trail, or lay in the grass and talk, or even feed the fish or ducks in the pond whenever you guys could. It was relaxing being with you and letting go for once. 

 One day, he brought you back to the dorm to show you a song he made and he never felt more nervous in his life. At first, your face was unreadable but once it was done there was a big goofy smile on your face that just made his heart hammer twice as much. 

Felix: Before his manager could pull him away, you ended up slipping your number in his pocket. He didn’t realize at first, so he was bummed that he could never talk to the hot guy that was flirting with him again. That was until the wind blew a little too hard and he dug his hands in his pockets, finding the paper. He was shocked, yet impressed. As soon as he got privacy, he added you in his contacts and spammed you. 

Neither lived in the country that the event was being hosted at and you didn’t live in South Korea, so it would be hard to meet in person. However, that didn’t mean anything to him. He loved texting you. If you thought his messages on bubble were excessive, his messages with you were even more extreme. Anything he did in his day would be accompanied with a selfie and a message. And like you were when you first met, you called him pretty and told him about your own busy day. It wasn’t perfect like he wanted it, but he enjoyed talking to you. If someone asked who his last contact was? Well, he would have to plead the fifth.

Seungmin: Because of you, the company put a restriction on how much coffee Seungmin could drink. He would come in every day before any lessons or practices starts and if your shift hasn’t ended, would come back. He enjoyed going to that little shop so much that he even had your work scheduled memorized so he didn’t come when you weren’t there.

Eventually, the conversations started outside the coffee shop (because of the restriction.) He wasn’t that big of a texter, but he did love checking up on you during dance practice or vocal lessons breaks. Even at work, you answered him quick. If a member asked who had him smiling so big, he snap with some stupid snarky comment everyone knows he doesn’t mean. He wanted to keep you his little secret just for a little longer. Even Jeongin, who goes with him everywhere, doesn’t know about you just yet. 

I.N: The next time he saw you he wasn’t having a shopping spree. He honestly almost forgot about you. Being an idol, it was hard to constantly keep up with people. You tapped him on the shoulder and spoke to him casually like that was something normal to do. He was worried it was a fan, but it was just you. The store was having a slow day, so he just decided to stay there. You talked about fashion, aesthetics, and even the tips you said you wanted.

But after a while, your boss told you off about talking to customers while on the job, so you had to stop. Jeongin got annoyed about it, but you didn’t care that much. As much as you hated your boss, he wasn’t around that often and you liked working there and people-watching and seeing all the visions people had with clothes. You both decided to exchange numbers and send different things like clothes and shoes or even stupid posts you found funny. If you wanted to complain about your bosses, you’d go to each other and give each other advice as best as possible. The two of you were definitely two peas in a pod. 

[kyndaris]

Preaching to the Chorus

About three years ago, Troy Baker pitched the idea of a video game musical called Chorus. What struck me, beyond the fact it was asking for donations as it was a crowdfunded project, were the high profile voice actors taking part, the art style, the bringing on of composer Austin Wintory and that it was being developed by an Australian developer! Years later, there was almost no word or hint of the game and I feared the worst. For a good long while, I wondered if I had just imagined the game being announced. Until, of course, Summerfall Studios announced the upcoming release of Stray Gods in August 2023! Suddenly, we had a release date and songs to enjoy after years of what had felt like absolute silence.

Yes, Chorus had changed its name but it was still the same premise I was promised: an urban fantasy Greek-mythology inspired musical where I got to make decisions on where the songs went. Needless to say, I was excited!

Despite it releasing in August, I didn't get to play the game until much later in 2023 when I finally got a bit of a breather between all my lengthy video games sucking up most of my time (and the fact I work full-time and commit to writing my stories and watching endless TV shows to be up-to-date on whatever is popular). Well, no. That's a lie. I've put a few games on the back burner like Octopath Traveler II and Like a Dragon: Ishin! (they are totally going to be played soon, I promise!)

In any case, I purchased the game while it was on sale (a measly 20% or so) and then stepped into the shoes of Grace. And almost immediately connected with her feelings of being cast adrift. Like so many people who have graduated university, and who didn't immediately apply for graduate programs, she's a little lost and unsure of her direction in life. Enter Calliope.

After the two share a duet together, Grace returns to the apartment she shares with longtime best friend: Freddie. As she rests, there's a knock on the door and lo! Calliope staggers through clutching a ghastly wound. With her last breath, she passes on her eidolon (the soul? and memories of an Idol) before dying in poor traumatised Grace's arms.

As Grace, understandably, panics, at the sudden turn of events, Hermes steps through the front door and tells Grace she needs to meet the Chorus. Within moments, Grace is taken to an upscale office room where she is greeted by Apollo, Persephone, Aphrodite and Athena. Before Grace can get a word in edgewise, these Idols (as the Gods now call themselves - although it makes me wonder if other pantheons exist in this world created by Summerfall), decide to execute Grace for the crime of maybe-possibly killing Calliope. That is until Apollo protests.

And protest he must consider later plot points. Such as him divulging the prophecy leading to Calliope's murder!

Honestly, so much of the story could have been resolved if Apollo stopped being a sad boy and actually used some brains to more cleverly resolve Grace's predicament. Instead, we have Grace run around the city for a week in a bid to prove her innocence and figure out the truth behind Calliope's death.

But what a wonderful week it was as several Idols help out, from the fast-talking Pan to the scary Medusa (with a very cute monster voice from Anjali Bhimani). But who can forget, and forgive me as a I fan myself and swoon over, the dommy mummy: Persephone. The design! The voice! The attitude? Gosh, I just wanted Persephone to step all over me. And considering the height difference she had over Grace?

Just...

I'm just going to die in a corner over here now.

Anyways, diversion aside, the plot was serviceable. It wasn't the most mindblowing story to be told but I liked how it introduced us to many of the Greek Gods and mythological creatures hiding in America, whilst weaving it in the murder mystery plot at its core. While the game threw out new leads often, I didn't ever feel an urgency to solve the crime or fear I'd not be able to figure out the murderer. Sherlock Holmes, this is not.

Rather, no matter which scenes you may wish to complete first (and I always went back to the Underworld to chat up Persephone), I feel like the end-point is almost always the same with our villain being unmasked as the smiling cookie-giver!

From a gameplay perspective, Stray Gods doesn't offer much. It's pretty much a visual novel where the player selects dialogue options or the next part of the song they wish to sing. There's no walking around or exploring the wondrous set pieces you find yourself in. Nor is there any random clicking on background objects for some light commentary or to pocket away clues to be presented at some other time.

In fact, there's no real animation to the game either. Most of the characters are stills, changing their posture as the dialogue or songs demand. Like flipping through a comic book or going from pane to pane.

But what does make Stray Gods stand out are the songs. Yes, there are some where I felt like it faltered: Asterion and Hecate's song (with the volume turned way too low) and some of the weaker blue options in Challenging a Queen. To me, it just wasn't as melodic as they could be and sounded a little jarring. Still, these were glossed over by several other standout songs like The Throne and the Ritual.

Speaking of The Ritual, while I did feel for Aphrodite, I didn't much like her selfish actions of dying and passing her trauma onto another poor soul. Like, either go to therapy and work on your issues or just die permanently and stop inflicting someone else with your trauma! Forgetting is not the path forward. And maintaining the cycle of the next Aphrodite reawakening to your traumatic memories of the Second World War whilst your son, Eros, deals with the fallout is NOT healthy.

On a side note, I liked how the melody of Adrift was used in the background of the game and was also revisited during The Trial.

As for the actual singing, I'm still impressed by the singing of so many of the voice actors. I mean, I wasn't surprised by Troy Baker considering he was a musician before he was a voice actor. And Felicia Day...well, considering I'd stumbled upon her back in her The Guild days, knew she could sing because of the songs she released. And the fact she appeared in Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog alongside Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion.

While I did like Laura Bailey, there were moments when I felt her vocals were just a little too raw and weren't able to hit the notes as well as could be. No shade on Laura, though. I love Laura Bailey! And she had a tough task with so many variations to sing!

Still, I did like her rapping. MORE LAURA BAILEY RAPPING PLEASE! Especially in the Challenging a Queen song.

But I do wonder what Stray Gods might have been like if we had actual Broadway actors brought in for the singing with stronger vocals and/ or melodies.

But I must say, my absolute favourite singer was Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. How could I not? She voiced Persephone! And I so wanted to romance her!

In the end, though, I foiled my chances because I was trying to play in-character by asking myself 'What would Grace do?' in most situations, especially when she was down in the Underworld and was especially traumatised by her best friend's death.

So, yes. I obviously brought Freddie back and the two ended up getting together in one of the more wholesome relationships there is in the game. Because, if you ask me, Pan? He just shows up out of the blue and is all sneaky-sneaky. A girl with her head on her shoulders wouldn't immediately fall for him, even if his intentions were good.

And Apollo? I know my friend @mrsarmageddon likes a 'I-can-fix-him-sad-boy' but he was too set in his ways and a little too unwilling to be of any proper assistance until all his secrets had been unveiled.

As for Persephone, she's a very angry woman and also wouldn't have been a healthy choice considering her romance with CALLIOPE in the past. Still, I couldn't help but want her step on me.

I don't know what that says about me. I'm probably secretly a sub/ omega who just wants someone to take care of me.

But let's not dwell on what this revelation could be and instead talk about how Stray Gods pushed the gaming genre to try and be more inclusive in ways no-one had thought of before. Beyond that, I loved the characters. The narrative, while simplistic, was entertaining enough to pull me through my initial playthrough of six and a bit hours. So, it's not even all that long. Which is perfect when you're gainfully employed and have a ton of time-consuming hobbies.

The one major downside to me was the fact it didn't have a chapter select after the first playthrough. If it did have it, allowing me to skip ahead to say 'Act 3' to redo my conversation with Persephone so I could romance her, or skip to certain songs so I could try out different combinations or variations, it would have heightened the gaming experience for me. Instead, Stray Gods forced me to play through the entire game again just for the occasional tweaks I wanted to do in my playthrough.

And now, during The Game Awards 2023, there's been an announcement for ANOTHER musical game called Harmonium. And it features sign language! So, it's definitely something I want to keep an eye on!

YES! TO MORE VIDEO GAME MUSICALS!

But also, don't let it become too overly saturated. During the Game Awards, I couldn't help but notice more Souls-like battle systems, using Japan as a setting (for Western developers) and more mechs/ robots.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and admire the Queen of the Underworld a little bit more. For perfectly REASONABLE purposes.

[freckliedan]

sometimes u just gotta wrestle on the obnoxiously green carpet.....

i've literally just been sitting on this ask bc like.. every time i see it it just vaults me violently back in time to being 18 and like genuinely tussling a little bit with art for the excuse to touch. i KNOW the implied phan floor sex is the mindblowing thing right now but i'm also deeply unwell and emotional about young love where you legitimately wrestle a little bit for an excuse to be all over each other. the rituals aren't even that intricate but i'm still a wreck.

dan and phil have been so all over each other simply because they wanted to be touching for fourteen fucking years. what the fuck

[eastgaysian]

i feel like gushing about pentiment's art and custom typefaces and writing animations is easier than talking about all the thought and complexity in its writing that is REALLY what makes it stick for me, especially if you want to avoid spoilers, but god the writing is so good man. every character is a full human being and you get to experience how they grow and change and adjust over the course of their lives to really feel like you know them as human beings. there is nothing that can undo a death or truly bring justice or closure to the people affected and yet we keep living anyway. the past is always with us and this is what lets us choose our future. the world is and has been cruel and unfair but we keep living and loving each other anyway. and then i think about the art and the custom typefaces and i'm like wait those fucking rule too those are just mindblowing incredibly detailed labors of love. game of the decade. the century. it's literally pentiment it's $20 on steam. you don't need gaming skills or crazy specs or even to read all that much!!! tbh!!! and it's worth every cent! werner is there