#precursor race

[domineeriv]

SUBNAUTICA BELOW ZERO SPOILERS!

Finished Subnautica: Below Zero, had to draw some fanart because I think this lad is cool.

Tidbits:

I draw with keyboard and mouse.

Estimated time spent on the art is around 36 hours.

I don't know how to draw backgrounds at all.

The original size of this artwork was 7200 x 10800, but as it was too big I downsized it 50%.

This was the first artwork I've done in this style, as I usually experiment with styles. Also the largest artwork I've done in my life.

Shading is off because I don't know how to shade.

AL-AN my beloved

[jndzine]

JnD zine looking for mods!

Who?

Jak and Daxter fans! Maybe you :3?

What?

A sfw art zine to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Jak 3! It will be printed, with a digital version available as well. There might even be a merch bundle ;)

When?

Mod applications open on April 27th. The rest of the projected schedule can be found here. 

Aiming for preorders to open on the 20th anniversary (Nov. 9th)!

Where?

You can find us on Tumblr, Xitter, IG, and Bsky! We will also have a private Discord for mods and contributors.

Why?

JnD is a beloved franchise that deserves to be celebrated. Not much official merch exists, so it's time to make some of our own! And who knows 👀 maybe if we make enough noise, something will happen

Additionally, any profits from the zine will be donated to The River Otter Ecology Project!

Mod info!

All mods and contributors will receive a free copy of the zine.

We're looking for people to fill these roles:

Organizers: run the Discord and help contributors meet deadlines 

Graphics: make graphics for social posts and zine page decor

Marketing: draft and post on socials according to schedule

Requirements: must be friendly, more-or-less organized, and able to work with a team. No experience required, though it's a plus!

More info to come when mod applications open on the 27th.

@zinefeed @all-zine-apps @zine-scene

[wolfgirlfloof]

Something I appreciate about Hortus de Escapismo is how it portrays the Laterans and non-Laterans, especially in contrast to each other. Guide Ahead already gave us the angel ethnostate vs multi-racial heretics, which made for a pretty effective if blatant commentary on Laterano. And while it might seem Hortus is kind of repeating the same formula, I think it's got something subtler going on with interesting implications.

On one side we have the abbey's inhabitants: sankta, sarkaz and all other races--hell, even a seaborn for a moment. Are there cracks here and there? Of course, that's a whole plot point. But it can't be denied there is genuine camaraderie and self-sacrifice going on between these people who are simply trying to survive together (which is what makes those cracks all the more volatile).

Contrast this with the Laterans, who are dysfunctional as hell. Lemuen, Oren, Richele, and Spuria; I can't say I fully parsed everything happening between them on a moment-to-moment basis, but it was overall apparent that none of these people trust each other. Even though they're friends and classmates and colleagues, even though they're working for the good of the same state, even though they're sankta who can literally read each other's minds. There's just this constant mess of cahoots and conspiracy and treachery and bitter friction, and it takes the threat of an Innsmouth-Jonestown crossover event to get them to finally work together.

I thought it was a nice way to show more of Laterano's flaws. It's one of their core themes that they aren't as great as they say they are, but you'd think they would, at the least, have blessed harmony thanks to their literal hivemind. But evidently that isn't true either. And again, these are agents at the highest levels of the government. If they're this dysfunctional, what does that say for Laterano as a whole?

Which leads me into thinking about what the future of Laterano might have in store. I've seen some folks point out how these events have these greatly compelling premises that don't actually resolve any of the issues they bring up. Laterano only remains Laterano. And this is true! But I think it's intentional, setting up a slow burn of a regional conflict. The Lateran state is holding together, the status quo remains unchanged, the Law is content. But for how much longer? Guiding Ahead introduced us to the divide in Laterano on a broad level, the state vs heretics. Hortus de Escapismo shows the cracks within the state, narrowing in on individuals who nominally should be on the same side but aren't. The next logical narrative step would be seeing the state finally cracking apart from whatever looming danger the Law sainted Federico to deal with.

Some sort of schism, perhaps; that seems like the sort of existential threat that would directly threaten the Law's directive of preserving the Sankta. Law's awareness of it would also imply it's an internal threat, something festering in the hearts and minds of Sankta and thus one It's able to sense (at least that's what makes sense to me. We don't actually know how the Law works, so it could very well just have random magic prophetic abilities). And especially with the constant background pressure of trying to legitimize their Summit of Nations, what better way to drive that issue to the forefront by throwing Laterano into utter political chaos?

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Of the Jak and Daxter games, I’d say Jak II has the strongest “chilling with the boys” energy. I think it’s because this is Jak and Daxter at their most bro-like. Well, specifically Jak since Daxter is the same in all 3 games. In the first game, Jak was young and innocent while in the third game, Jak was more serious and resentful (which makes sense, he was exiled). Jak in the 2nd game:

* tries to flirt with the mechanic he just met (he did that even when he didn’t know it was Keira at the time)

* smirks whenever he gets a new gun/gun upgrade

* always talks in “edgy badass who likes danger” mode

* is at his cockiest (ex: how he tricked Vin into giving him access to the Baron’s palace)

* is the most in line with Daxter’s personality.

For the record, this isn’t meant to be a criticism or anything. I actually think Jak II’s Jak is the most fun one to play for then above reasons. Maybe not the deepest version of Jak (that’s Jak 3) or the most nostalgic (that’s Jak 1), but definitely the most fun, in my opinion.

I’ve been revisiting the Jak and Daxter games a lot recently. The trilogy was a major part of my childhood, so I wanted to go back for the nostalgia.

[whetstonefires]

I really enjoyed Witch King and think it's Good but need to announce the ludicrous brass balls involved in the title.

Because it's named after the main character, who is known by that title, we establish that right out the gate.

Fairly soon after, we establish that he, like Dorothy, is not a witch at all. Although he is on good terms with them and uses some of their techniques.

Bit after that we learn that witches don't hold with kings, or indeed with governance. Kai says eventually that they don't have enough communal norms to even rebel against if you wanted to. Fascinating.

The flashback-to-origin-story half of the narrative terminates before we reach the point where people started calling Kai the Witch King.

We never find out how that happened! We never even really see anyone using the title except when he's being introduced to one major supporting character by another in the first or second chapter! It's wild. Witch King without Witch King. Garfield without Garfield.

This is so funny to me I can forgive the letdown, because to be quite honest by the middle of the book I was counting on the origin of the title as a sort of tying-together moment for the whole narrative, linking the end of the earlier timeslice to the beginning of the later one, and was astonished that it didn't come. It makes the novel feel weirdly unfinished to me, like Wells accidentally left off the last few chapters somehow.

I have been denied catharsis about the title of the book. 🤣

[jakndaxter-imagine]

Imagine Daxter trying to cheer you up after a breakup.

Submitted by Anon

[jak2gooberglub]

Old crackhead looking daxter drawing practice I did 😭

[warcrimesimulator]

I've finally got a name for my time traveler people. Khizuvrans.

[witchblade]

i love that all the sony/naughty dog kart racing games like. made sense. like it’s so silly and stupid but of course they put guns and bombs in the jak game of course

[ranticore]

eh i might as well just post em here. Sirenian humans for ya. ftr i never got round to doing this for selkies or the other guys

the individual drawings for these are.. not the best and the text formatting and typos are woeful but i have a lot of fondness for them (especially the hopper harpies, they're my favourites) and the reason i made this blog was originally to talk more about them in a more relaxed space

there's also... this attempt at describing the naming conventions of the most populated settlement

one thing i really wanted to avoid with these guys was the notion of culture being tied to what type of person you are (physically i mean). it's very rare that a settlement is limited to only one type of human. culture is instead related to settlements and geographical regions (can u tell I hate the common trope of Monolithic Fantasy Race Culture). because the humans who originally settled on siren spoke english, all of the languages spoken by modern sirenians are derived from english (and this is how scholars can back-translate ancient records about ishmael et al). some people with very specific adaptations (like hoppers) might be concentrated in the area that best fits their morphology but there are no exclusive groups based on body type.

the modern sirenians do not believe they are (or were, originally) aliens on siren, they do not know about earth, they know nothing at all aside from the fact that there were once Precursors who've left some technology behind.

the main story is about our guy Qedivar travelling from the spire to the old Precursor ruins to do some research, and on the way he hires Huarva as a tugboat and Terwy as an astronavigator. They have each lied to the other about some fundamental aspect of themselves of course so there's drama but eventually Qedivar gets home and publishes a preliminary report on what he found there (which is the record of Ishmael's life). Conservative factions immediately decry it as heresy and call for Qedivar to be killed, so he has to go into hiding and publish under a pseudonym.

[starboyshoyo]

Crush Headcanons

Characters: Riddle Rosehearts, Ace Trappola, Leona Kingscholar, Floyd Leech

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Genre: Fluff

How the NRC boys act when they have a crush, and how they try to win your heart over!

Riddle Rosehearts

Ah, yes. Our favorite emotionally-stunted dormwarden, Riddle Rosehearts. There’s not much of a precursor to him realizing he has feelings for you. One night, a few months into your friendship, Riddle will notice that he enjoys your company even more so than Trey or Cater. And then it hits him. Oh, he has a crush. 

His demeanor around you will do a complete 180 after that. While before, he would talk casually with you about any and all subject matter, he’s not so sure how to approach it anymore. He’ll go up to you in the hallways between classes and during free periods, back stiff as a board, and ask you to accompany him to the library to run some errands, or he’ll extend a gracious invitation to an unbirthday party next week. Yes, those are his exact words. 

You’ll be left wondering why Riddle’s demeanor has changed so much around you until you realize that he’s following all the steps to initiating a relationship from the NRC Gentleman’s Club Guide to Courting, 3rd Edition. Either that, or Trey will tell you outright to your face that Riddle is trying his best to win you over, he knows you like Riddle too, please just take him off of Trey’s hands for a while. 

Speaking of pawning Riddle off to be someone else’s problem, that’s exactly what most of Heartslabyul dorm will be doing once they catch onto Riddle’s feelings for you. They’ll keep you around as much as possible, because when you’re around, Riddle will try his best to keep himself contained. He could be right in the middle of shouting off with your head to a group of freshmen, but the moment you enter he stops dead in his tracks and lets them off with a warning. The first years scramble out of the room, silently thanking a higher power for sending them a guardian angel in their time of need. 

Cater is the best wingman Riddle could ask for, except that he didn’t ask for him. Regardless of how many times Riddle tells him that he wants to court you himself like a proper romantic candidate, Cater will insist that he needs to be more flashy about it! He can still be a classic man and be a bit more modern! Why doesn’t Riddle take you on a fancy dinner date to Mostro Lounge, instead of another boring ol’ tea party? (Cater definitely gets his head offed for that one). 

Riddle does take one piece of advice to heart, though. Cater suggests that spending time together and doing new things is the best way to get someone to like you, and Riddle thinks that’s reasonable enough. He’ll try to vary the things he invites you to do with him. One day you’ll be helping him paint the roses in the Rose Maze, and other days he’ll take you on a ride on his horse, Vorpal, around the racing track. 

Riddle will slowly lose the awkward formality that he held around you when he realized he liked you as more than a friend. His posture will relax and he’ll begin to talk to you normally again. One thing that won’t change though is the gentlemanly ways he treats you on these ‘trial dates.’ If you’re at dinner he’ll pull out your chair for you and hold the door. When strolling the campus he’ll link his arm in yours. If you’re trying to get a leg up on Vorpal’s back, he’ll hold your hand until you can steady yourself. It’s all very sweet really, and he’ll have a small smile on his face every time he does so.

Ace Trappola

Ace is another case where you’d definitely be friends before he falls for you, but instead of establishing a formal ‘courting period’ like Riddle does, Ace will just… not change. He’s still the same roughish, loveable idiot to you, messing with you at the most inopportune moments and pulling tricks to steal your food. But somehow, he gets a bit softer whenever you’re around. Instead of just calling you a dumbass, he’ll call you my dumbass. That’s just how he shows his affections. 

Ace has had a few encounters with romance before, but he’s never once thought so much about how he must have looked to them. With you, he wants to look cool. He wants to be your number one, your first and best choice! If you’re watching him at basketball practice, he’ll throw you a wink whenever he scores a basket.

Deuce is now his rival, end of story. Whether or not Deuce knows it or even likes you in the first place, Ace will always be trying to one-up him in front of you. Deuce got 79 on his last potionology test? Expect Ace to be studying nonstop for the next week, and return to you with a 79.5. 0.5 points more than Deuce! You can tell who the better man is now, right? 

He’s not shy about his feelings, but he may not confirm them right away either. He’ll call you cute, mess with you, and playfully push you around a bit, letting you know that he likes you. But truth be told he’s a little afraid of the idea that you might not want to be with a troublemaker like him, so he’ll wait to see how you react to his advances. 

If you’re welcoming to them, then expect Ace to step up his game tenfold from then on. He’ll walk you to and from every class of the day, beg you to study with him in his dorm room, even show up at your door in the middle of the night with an armload of your favorite snacks. He’ll grin at you when you open the door, quickly shoving past you and inviting himself in to dump his successful ‘hunt’ on the table. Pick whichever ones you like, he got them all for you!

The best thing about Ace having a crush on you is that no matter what, he will always be your friend, first and foremost. He wants to have fun with you and enjoy life by your side. Laughter is common when you’re around him, and he’ll always be looking for new ways to make you smile. 

Leona Kingscholar

Leona is an odd one. Upon first glance it seems like he doesn’t spare you one look. Sure, you might make friendly conversation with him while in passing, but he’s not showering you with attention at every opportunity like some others. It’s only when you notice that he’s a little more courteous around you than he is with others do you understand his true feelings towards you. 

Leona’s hints are subtle. Whenever you enter a room his ear will twitch as if he has just heard the most interesting tidbit of conversation. If your name is mentioned he might even raise his head to see what’s going on. He’ll keep an eye on you subtly from afar, especially when walking at night, to keep you safe. And a few choice orders from Ruggie later, and Leona will have your favorite food on the plate in front of him. He wants to know what it tastes like, so he can understand the subtlety of your character a bit better. 

This boy feels no need to show off in front of you. He knows he’s strong, you know he’s strong, and so does everyone else. While he wouldn’t mind you seeing him score a goal or two during Spelldrive, he doesn’t feel the need to prove it. If he’s really the game that day though, he’ll look up after scoring, and point directly towards you in the stands. Out of thousands of spectators, he knew exactly where you’ve been the whole time, and though no one else knows who he’s pointing to, he knows you’ll get the message. 

Many people are scared of him, sometimes for good reason. No one sets foot on Savanaclaw dorm territory without him knowing, and usually, it’ll end in a beatdown or a forceful eviction from the premises. With you though, you can wander through the entrance without so much as a comment from the students. Some of them are even friendly to you, waving and shouting greetings. It’s Leona’s orders that they treat you well, after all. 

The housewarden of Savanaclaw dorm is not ashamed of his feelings for you. Why should he be? Does caring about someone he holds in high esteem bring shame upon him? You’re a perfectly suitable romantic option. He’s not going to make a big show of his affection towards you, but he’s not going to hide it. He just lets it be. 

If you notice and take an interest in him too, great. He’ll see you next weekend for a date in the Botanical Gardens. 

Floyd Leech

Floyd is eccentric at times and that carries over to his romantic life. He’s got a pretty face and unique look, so he’s used to getting attention from admirers here and there. Every so often, he’ll flirt back if the mood suits him. But most of the time they’re nothing more than passing flings or amusements. Something about you is different, though. Floyd trusts his intuition. 

Even if he has a fondness for you, you’re not safe from Floyd’s teasing. No one is, not even Azul or Jade. Floyd finds it’s a surefire way to get your attention- poke at you until you swat him away, then grab your hand in his and squeeze- but gently. 

You may not pick up on Floyd’s feelings towards you right away. He’s physically touchy with many people, not just you, and he generally gets a kick out of ‘playing’ with them. When you’re involved though, he’s a bit more amiable. He’ll lay off on the taunts and divert his focus to gifting you unusual compliments.  If no one’s ever complimented you on the comparison of your shoes to a deep sea anchor, then Floyd will do it. 

Floyd’s mood swings are a point of contingency for most people, and he knows this. For that reason he’s all the more appreciative of the empathy you show him- you try to understand how he’s feeling and why he feels that way. He won’t say it out loud but the gratitude shows- he’ll follow through with an action, even if his initial thought on it is negative. Sometimes, it’ll lead to him actually enjoying the activity you’ve roped him into. 

His nicknames for you vary at times, but he’ll always have one favorite one. Sometimes you’re his clamshell, sometimes you’re starfish or pearl. But at the end of the day, you’ll always be his little Shrimpy. 

Even though Floyd can be seen as lazy sometimes, he makes a consistent effort when it comes to spending time with you. It’s not uncommon to walk out of class and get swept up in his wake, then suddenly end up at a new restaurant that opened up in the commercial district to do chocolate-tasting with you. How did you even get there? Who knows.

Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[jndzine]

Mod apps are now open! They will run for one week, closing May 4th @ 11:59PM.

Fill out here: Google Form

FAQ

@zinefeed @zine-scene @zine-shop-channel @all-zine-apps

[writing-prompt-s]

The precursors seeded all life in the galaxy, leaving behind caches of their advanced technology to help their children reach the stars. Which makes humans all the more terrifying as not only were they not one of the seeded races, their technology isn't precursor-based either.

[jakndaxter-imagine]

Imagine Jak slowly falling in love with you.

Submitted by Anon

[jak2gooberglub]

I tried so hard on the lip synching 😭