#that's just a little concept in my brain. it would probably not be very versatile or widely adopted..........

[wowitsverycool]

This whole king situation is like that one time I got a crush on gabriel ultrakill but so much worse

Also Nooooo, I can't make a self insert, it's been a running joke with me that all of my self insert oc's I make to ship with other characters never get with the person whom they desire because that person is too busy, I'd be ruining my streak

But if I were to make a regular oc, not a self insert one it still brings the question of why? The reason my first thoughts were siffrin and euphrasie is both have reason to hold personal grudges against him (siffrin more so than euphrasie maybe but hey we don't know what sort of rage hides behind that affable smile). But siffrin would never want to touch him like that and again I feel weird exposing euphrasie to him, she could handle him but I feel if it was her the situation would become about him very quickly and no! He needs to be diminished!

Like I need someone who hates him but also knows how deeply pathetic he is from personal experience so when they pull at his hair rolling their eyes calling him annoying it comes from somewhere deeply personal

uhhhhhhhhh panicked spongebob filing cabinet brain image. uh uh uhm OH OHO. well. you see. i have this headcanon .

[chubs-deuce]

Hi! First of all I wanted to say I love your art so much thank you for sharing your work with us!

If I may ask, how do you come up with the poses in your art? Do you use refs or just sketch them from imagination? Any tips you could share about it?

Figuring out poses is the hardest part of art for me and I am just in awe of how dynamic and great the poses are in your work!

Thank you again and I hope you have a great day!!

oh boy am I ever happy to talk about this!! :D

first of all thank you so much!! <3 I'm genuinely so happy to hear that aaaa-

So-

In regards to coming up with ideas? I oftentimes just kind of fuck around and find out - a lot of times I just get a momentary brain-spark that gives me a glimpse of an idea if that makes sense? It's mostly just the general vibe, a specific feeling, a facial expression, a rough silhouette and if it intrigues me enough I will try to pursue the idea in-depth!

I normally do try to do the poses by hand myself, but sometimes the image in my head isn't detailed enough and I get hung up on where to place the hands or legs or for some reason or another I just can't get the torso and head to sit right... so I get a little help!

More specifically I use a program to make pose references! :D

It's called DesignDoll and it's free on windows (tho you can't save without the pro service which is meh but it offers perfectly succinct functions as is already so I never bothered with the paid version)! It can be a bit finnicky to control sometimes (the elbows and knees love twisting into random angles whenever hands/feet are moved) but it's really really versatile once you know what you're doing! Ngl making raking references in it can take me up to an hour at times but it's really fun too so it's never been a bother for me haha

Some recent examples:

What actually helps me the most with this process tho is the fact that I can make these poses and choose the angles and everything myself! I find that the process of making the refs actually really helps me refine the concept in my head - a lot better than I would be able to in a drawing anyway! Plus I'm very lazy so I hate redrawing things overly often haha

You can probably see it the best in the first drawing and the karaoke one - I didn't use the references 1:1, I still do change things spontaneously if I find it works better for my drawing that way - so I don't really use it for the proportions so much as just visualizing my idea with more precision that I can then adapt properly into the artwork :D

I highly recommend doing something similar if you often find yourself with only fragments of a pose or no clear idea for one!!! DesignDoll isn't the only program of this kind either so it's worth looking into other alternatives too if you don't have a windows system to run this one on!

(just please do not use generative AI for art references! Always remember that there is no such thing as ethical generative AI! ;w;)

[subskz]

hello my love! i'm finally here with the requested knowledge, sorry it took so long! ♡ i consulted my book written by the founders of mbti, and here are the results:

entps are original, individual, independent and perceptive. they are tireless at what interests them but find it hard to get other things done. they are full of ideas and operate by impulsive energy. they are very strong in initiative and creative impulse, value inspiration and have the power to inspire others. they are versatile, very clever, enthusiastic and they don't shy away from a discussion/debate! they are also very analytical and would make amazing inventors or scientists. our lovely grindset is very cool indeed 🩷

when it comes to intps: just like entps, they are analytical, independent, full of ideas and very perceptive. however, they tend to be a bit more reserved, outwardly quiet and detached. they are also curious and adaptable, persevering and are thought to be the most intellectually profound of all the types! many intps are university professors or theorists. our beloved catboy anon is a brainiac 🫶

the two types share a deep bond based on their passion for exploring ideas and engaging in discussions together! 😸 they inspire each other and engage each other intellectually. they can grow together and have a very meaningful and long-lasting connection. in a way, the two types mirror each other and can find a space for mutual understanding. 🌸

it sounds very lovely in my opinion. 😸 i hope this has been at least a little bit helpful and accurate! feel free to summon me anytime ♡ -🌻 (the real sunflower anon)

hello hello my angel!! there’s no need to apologize at all the fact that you took the time to look into it and explain it to us is so kind of you, thank you so much ㅠㅠ esp to be so thorough that u read ur official mbti book…as expected of you!! 🥰

the way u describe them is so cool entp and intp almost remind of those misunderstood geniuses you see in movies…and i definitely see a lot of those traits you mentioned in our dearest catboy and grindset! especially grindset w her cleverness LMAO im always amazed by the details she catches on to and how witty her sense of humor is 😭 and she’s always sparking fun discussions here! (remembering the astrology debate of 2022)

our beloved catboy is a braniac‼️ i think the part abt being full of ideas speaks for itself hehe their genius brain never rests and they come up w some of the most deliciously creative concepts i’ve ever seen!! everything has that special catboy anon twist to it~ and they’ll probably try to deny the intellectually profound part but i know firsthand that it’s true >:)

“the two types mirror each other and can find a space for mutual understanding” that really does sound lovely 💗 u explained it so well and concisely esp for me who doesnt know much abt mbti! thank you again my dearest wife i appreciate ur thoughtful analysis so much and im sure catboy n grindset will too <33

[thatwitchrevan]

So this isn't inspired by anything except that some of the dreams I've had lately involve hotels and I find that interesting and I just feel like talking about this: my weirdest trigger is hotels.

Obviously I'm talking about triggers and in this case anxiety and anxiety/panic attacks so please scroll if you're not up for reading that, but I'm gonna keep it pretty light and I'm not in any significant stress rn so don't worry.

So yeah, I'm triggered by hotels a bit. Mostly being in them rather than seeing images of motels or thinking about them, although the concept in abstract can kind of make me feel melancholy or dwell on upset feelings. And there's no distinction here between hotels or motels.

The reason is that when my parents split up, me and my brothers and mom stayed in a hotel for about a week while my dad moved his stuff out. It felt alien and wrong and sad and lonely. I was going thru Lots of Stuff. I had my first major panic attack while staying there, and overall I just hated it. I couldn't sleep, I hated going from there to school and having to pretend everything was fine, but I also didn't want to tell my school friends "yeah, my parents are getting divorced and we're living out of a hotel for a few days and I'm starting to become aware just how deeply messed up I am. Anyway what's up with you?"

I probably could've, but I kinda would rather die. So I'm dealing with all of this basically alone because my siblings are kids and my mom's my mom. So I got a very negative association with hotels.

The thing is, I generally like hotels. Both before and after this incident I've enjoyed staying in them, at least when they're nice. I usually don't sleep well in places that aren't home but there's so much novelty in staying in a hotel and I love traveling. When me and my mom went to New Orleans we stayed in a really nice, really old hotel that was just gorgeous, and I loved it. But I also feel just a little uneasy and sad every time I'm in one, even like 8 years later.

So it's interesting that my brain sometimes throws hotels at me in my dreams. It makes sense, I've got both good and bad associations with them.

Anyway, I bring this up partly because I like to ramble and partly because I think it's important to represent the fact that triggers are varied. Innocuous things can be triggers and different triggers will affect you differently. I've got some things I won't bring up or think about because they just always upset me, and I've got things that have the potential to make me anxious or depressed but can also be fine in the right circumstances/mindset, and I've got things that I've got to prepare myself for or do some quick self-soothing damage control to prevent an episode.

Human minds are complex! Therefore so are our triggers.

And to be clear this is not something I ever need or want anyone to tag for me or avoid talking about. I've been in hotels in the past year and been just fine, this is one of those things I've got a handle on and/or doesn't affect me that severely anymore. However I firmly believe it's okay if you do need to avoid innocuous triggers sometimes and it's okay to ask, within reason, for people to tag certain stuff for you, with the understanding that everyday things can't always be avoided or treated the same as more serious and urgent things. That's a whole discussion with a lot of nuance but bottom line is no one should ever be shamed for what triggers them.

Also hotels are both liminal spaces and super versatile settings for all kind of fiction and I'm into it.

[hansols-yoda-boxers]

For the camp au, can we get more Yanan x Kino because that dance studio foursome was great but those two really stood out. Maybe Yanan catches Kino fingering himself and offers to help the flustered probably stressed buddy out?

Word Count: 2636

Contents: getting caught, fingering, some praise,  anal (protected sex)

[11:12] 

This was stupid.

This was so so so stupid.

Hyunggu ran his hands nervously along his thighs, breaths coming out shakily. He knew Yanan would come back sooner or later. His stomach brimmed with nerves as he brought a hand up to palm himself through his boxers. He wasn’t sure he could live with the embarrassment of getting caught. But Yanan’s was the only tent where he knew for sure he would find lube.

If he was quick about it he wouldn’t even have to take it with him, Yanan wouldn’t have to go looking for it.

There was something to be said for the excitement of it. He had to admit that Bora’s teasing and the way she played with him had him riled up. It didn’t help that when she finally got him to spit out how he was really feeling she thought the concept was just too much fun. She spent the time teasing him, murmuring ideas and putting images into his head of how Yanan could make him feel. The way her voice sounded as she described it to him was still burned in his memory and it was almost embarrassing how quickly it made him hard.

Hyunggu stuck his hand into his boxers, biting down on his lip to keep his sounds in while he started to stroke himself quickly. Just the idea of how it felt last time with Yanan was enough to have his head spinning. He reached forwards, searching around Yanan’s pillow and the top of his sleeping bag until he found a small bottle of lube.

Even alone his face was burning. He had never tried to finger himself alone, not that he hadn’t been thinking about it for the past few weeks. He wanted nothing more than to feel it again and slowly he was gaining the courage to try on his own.

Hyunggu pulled his boxers down just enough, bending forwards and pressing his face into the pillows. He coated his finger in lube before bringing it back to his ass. His stomach was doing nervous flip flops as he started to circle his entrance slowly.

Each breath came out shaky and he moved his other hand on his cock slowly, trying not to cum too fast. Would that make it easier to finger himself? Would he be less nervous in his fucked out state? Maybe? Either way he didn’t speed up, just slowly trying to get himself used to the feeling of his finger.

But…

He hid his face away in the pillow from the empty tent. He knew he needed to be quick about this, but he wasn’t sure he could do it. He wanted to but what if he did it wrong? It likely wouldn’t feel as good as Yanan doing it. But he could learn, he was sure he could. It was just nerve wracking getting started.

Zzzzzip

Hyunggu’s heart dropped at the sound of the zipper. He scrambled to pull his boxers back up, brain searching for some kind of explanation that wasn’t ridiculous or embarrassing. Nothing came to mind. It was all he could do to sit back, covering his lap awkwardly, and feeling his heart beating out of his chest while Yanan started to climb into his tent before pausing.

“What-” Hyunggu felt his face start to burn as Yanan looked him up and down. His gaze shifted to something next to Hyunggu and he started to smirk. Hyunggu followed his gaze and swallowed hard. The bottle of lube was sitting out next to him on the sleeping bag.

“You know you could have just taken it back to your own tent,” Yanan teased.

“I-I- yeah…” Hyunggu mumbled, dropping his gaze. “I’ll- I can g-go.”

Yanan shifted towards him but Hyunggu didn’t register how close until Yanan tilted his chin up, meeting his gaze and very close to his face.

“You didn’t just take the lube,” Yanan hummed. “So I don’t think you really want to leave.”

Hyunggu shrunk in on himself as he started to stutter. He could feel his face and ears burning and the look Yanan was giving him didn’t help him at all. Yanan pressed closer and Hyunggu fell back onto the pillows, hands moving from his lap just long enough for Yanan to notice.

“That’s what I thought,” Yanan grinned. “How much fun have you had without me?”

“I-I didn’t- I mean I haven’t- Its- I couldn’t- uh-”

The butterflies in Hyunggu’s stomach only got worse as Yanan’s expression softened.

“Are you having trouble fingering yourself?” He asked. He wasn’t teasing, he was kind, and it did nothing for Hyunggu’s racing heart.

“Y-Yeah,” he mumbled shyly.

A grin tugged at Yanan’s lips. “I can help you with that.”

Hyunggu nodded quickly. Yanan’s grin grew wider as he leaned in and kissed Hyunggu. Hyunggu let his eyes flutter shut, winding his arms around Yanan’s neck. But Yanan didn’t press down against him. Instead he started to tug off Hyunggu’s boxers. Hyunggu lifted his hips though he was feeling shy as Yanan pulled them off. He held the kiss for a few moments more before pulling back and looking down at Hyunggu.

“What a pretty sight,” He murmured.

Hyunggu looked off to the side, feeling flustered as Yanan ran his hands along his thighs. It didn’t last too long though. Soon Yanan was pressing his legs back, thighs to Hyunggu’s chest. Hyunggu’s gaze snapped to Yanan’s.

“Y-You’re not gonna turn me around?”

“I want to see your face this time,” he murmured.

Hyunggu felt even more heat on his face but he didn’t protest. He just bit his lip as Yanan covered a finger in lube. Yanan sat up just a little, enough to see what he was doing. Hyunggu took a shaky breath as Yanan started to tease his entrance.

“There’s already lube there,” he said. “I assume you made it this far.”

“Yeah, I-I couldn’t- It was intimidating…”

Yanan leaned down and pressed a kiss to his nose that made his heart skip. “It’s pretty nerve wracking the first time.”

“Y-You’ve?”

“Of course,” Yanan chuckled, easing the tip of his finger into Hyunggu’s ass. Hyunggu let out a quiet whimper in response. “I don’t always have someone else to mess around with, and I like to be versatile,” he smirked. “Does it feel okay?”

“Mhm,” Hyunggu hummed. He reached up to pull Yanan close again. This time he obliged, leaning in and kissing Hyunggu as he slowly pressed his finger deeper and deeper, giving Hyunggu time to adjust to the feeling.

His kisses were slow and relaxed and they were easy for Hyunggu to relax into. He tangled his fingers into Yanan’s hair, holding him close as he slowly started to lose himself to the sensation as Yanan started to move his finger.

The feeling was so new. So different from what he was used to but it felt good. Yanan was gentle as he moved his finger, not going too fast. But even so, and with how turned on Hyunggu had already been, it wasn’t long before he was whining against Yanan’s lips for more as his release slowly started to build.

“Do you wanna try a little faster?” Yanan asked.

“Please,” Hyunggu sighed.

Yanan obliged, starting to thrust his finger at a steady pace. Faster definitely felt better and he gripped Yanan’s hair tightly as he let out whiny breaths against his lips.

“I take it that feels good?” Yanan grinned.

“So good,” Hyunggu moaned, hips starting to grind on his finger.

“Tell me if this feels any better, or worse,” Yanan murmured. He changed something about the motion of his finger and Hyunggu winced, face scrunching in slight pain.

“Okay, worse,” Yanan mumbled, returning to what he was doing. “What about this?”

He changed it again but it didn’t change how much pleasure Hyunggu was getting. He looked up at Yanan from where he was under him. 

“They both feel good.”

“Let me try one more.”

Yanan changed the angle and depth of his finger and Hyunggu’s back arched up as he moaned.

“Th-That, k-keep doing that.”

Yanan chuckled, leaning in for another kiss. His finger slowed for a moment, pulling all the way. Very soon after he felt two fingers teasing his entrance. Before he could feel any worry or anxiety Yanan wrapped a hand around his cock and started pumping him steadily. Hyunggu let out a moan that only rose higher in his voice as Yanan eased the two fingers inside him, much more quickly getting them to their full depth.

“See how well you take my fingers,” Yanan hummed.

Hyunggu’s head fell back with a series of moans, though he threw his head to the side. The praise made him feel shy but it turned him on more at the same time. The feeling of Yanan’s fingers sinking into him over and over again had his pleasure mounting, already feeling his body building more and more towards release.

“Can’t I tell you how well you’re doing?” Yanan chuckled. It only made Hyunggu more flustered, not helped at all by the way he started to move his two fingers just how the one had moved before and it drew an embarrassingly loud moan from his lips.

“Y-You can,” He said shakily.

“Can I tell you how pretty you look and sound too?” Yanan teased.

Hyunggu brought his hands up to cover his face, hiding as Yanan laughed at him. He knew his moans were loud but he couldn’t handle being called cute. It made his heart beat too hard, made his face blush too deeply. It affected him so much more than he wanted to admit.

Yanan leaned in to press kisses to Hyunggu’s neck as his fingers moved steadily. He had pulled his hand away from Hyunggu’s cock but that didn’t matter. Hyunggu thought if he kept going he might just be able to cum without touching himself with how good he felt on Yanan’s fingers.

Yanan slowed down a little again. Hyunggu knew what he was doing this time, taking a deep breath and tangling his fingers into Yanan’s hair as Yanan slowly eased three fingers into his ass.

The stretch just felt so good. A cascade of moans fell from Hyunggu’s lips and his hips pressed and rolled down, eagerly taking more of Yanan’s fingers.Yanan was much quicker to get up to speed this time, letting out a few stray groans against Hyunggu’s neck. He was burning for more even after getting it but the thought alone made him blush even harder.

Yanan followed the rhythm of Hyunggu’s hips, getting a little deeper until he was hitting just the right spot inside Hyunggu. Hyunggu’s back arched up as he let out gasps and moans, hips moving desperately and Yanan speeding up, trying to match his neediness.

“Do you want more?” Yanan asked, lips pressed just under Hyunggu’s ear.

“I-I need more,” he replied shyly. 

He didn’t quite look at Yanan when he pulled back, pulling his fingers away. He was too flustered from his own request, though he did notice him clean his fingers and grab a condom. Hyunggu bit down on his lip. This wasn’t the first time, but it did feel very new to him. He liked Yanan’s sweetness and gentleness with him so he was sure it would be good, even if his mind was clouded with way more thoughts than the last time. How was an orgy easier? It was somehow less intimate than this.

“Do you wanna stay like this?”

Hyunggu looked up at Yanan, thinking for a second.

“Y-Yeah, I do,” he mumbled. Yanan swooped down to kiss him again, calming his nerves a little more as he coated his cock in lube. Hyunggu kept his breathing as even as he could as Yanan lined up with his entrance, bringing his attention to Yanan when he took a light hold of his chin.

“Tell me if it hurts, okay? We can stop right away.”

“Okay,” he breathed, feeling his heart leaping. 

Yanan moved slow, easing his cock into Hyunggu. Hyunggu squeezed his eyes shut, mouth falling open in a moan as he gripped onto Yanan’s shoulders, holding him as close as he could get him as he took in the sensation of being slowly filled up. His thighs trembled a little and a slow wave of pleasure washed over him, only adding to the building feeling inside him.

Yanan held still once he bottomed out, pressing his forehead to Hyunggu’s.

“Do you feel okay?” He asked, voice already strained from the feeling of being inside him.

“Mhm,” Hyunggu reached up to give him a kiss. “You can move, I want more.”

Yanan pulled back part of the way before thrusting back into Hyunggu. He didn’t move too fast but it was deep and hit Hyunggu in just the right spot inside. His eyes rolled back and his fingers dug into Yanan’s back as he took in the wonderful sensation that filled him with pleasure.

“Fuck,” Yanan moaned, lips falling down beside Hyunggu’s ear. “You feel so good.”

Hyunggu moaned out, the praise adding to his pleasure. Yanan pressed kisses against his neck as he found a steady pace with his hips.

“Your moans are so pretty.”

Hyunggu felt his face burning as he dropped it to the side. He bit down on his lower lip even though it was of little use. Yanan brought his lips to the corner of Hyunggu’s mouth, coaxing his head back up.

“No no,” he murmured. “I want to hear them.”

“Th-They- They’re-”

“They’re so good,” Yanan purred. Hyunggu felt the way Yanan’s words made him dizzy, sending more arousal rushing through him. “Fuck they turn me on so much.”

Yanan moved his hips faster, still smoothly. But the added speed had Hyunggu arching his back again. His fingers gripped at Yanan’s shoulders as he let out moans. He felt every part of his body starting to tighten, getting closer to his edge. His moans started to climb up higher in his voice.

Yanan shifted his hips subtly, thrusting in as deeply as he could.

“F-Fuck,” Hyunggu’s moan was whiny and high as he eyes rolled back. His thighs squeezed in as Yanan chased his high steadily, moaning along with Hyunggu. Hyunggu’s cock was hard and heavy on his stomach and he dug his nails into Yanan, pulling him as close as he could, feeling right on his edge.

Yanan’s moans only made it worse, low and smooth. His hands gripped Hyunggu’s hips and each of his smooth movements hit the perfect spot, making his head spin. Small cries of “don’t stop” and “please” fell from Hyunggu’s lips, Yanan answering with “I won’ts” as he pressed close to Hyunggu.

Hyunggu let out a gasping cry as he came. His body shook and he felt pulses of pleasure rush through him, each one sending more cum from his cock out onto his lower stomach in hot, thick ropes. His body shook and bliss washed through his senses.

Yanan cried out, muffling against Hyunggu’s neck as he released. He held Hyunggu’s hips until he finished, leaving a few kisses on his neck before pulling out slowly.

Hyunggu lay there as Yanan helped him place his legs down, shaking. He felt a little loopy, gazing at Yanan as he cleaned the cum off his stomach and got his boxers back on. As soon as he had done the same for himself he laid down with Hyunggu, pulling him to his chest.

“How was it?” He hummed.

Hyunggu hid his face against Yanan again, feeling shy once more. “Really good.”

“Good,” Yanan pressed a stray kiss to his head. “Maybe I’ll show you how to actually finger yourself sometime.”

Hyunggu grinned as he hid his face. “Please.”

[fmdminhee]

headcanon 001. lily’s title tracks & minhee’s opinions. word count: 1,422.

notes: this is all new writing! song titles are not included in the word count. 

into the new world

nearly ten years on, minhee still insists that into the new world was an iconic debut song. she was only in her mid teens when lily debuted, and was full of hope, so ready to start a life free of her mother’s clutches. with all that in mind, there probably isn’t a better song in the world she could’ve debuted with. in the years since, so many girl groups have performed it, almost like a rite of passage, and they’ve rearranged it into a ballad version. if either of those come up, minhee will cry. she’s an ugly crier. it’s pretty embarrassing.

gee 

gee gee gee gee baby baby - hwang minhee (minnie), 2013. she wants the lyrics of gee engraved on her tombstone, if possible. it’s still one of her favourites, and not just because it was a career maker. to be honest, if they hadn’t managed to at least match it with hits going forward, she’d probably dislike it by now. but, as it stands, she loves how unabashedly cute it is. 10/10, would perform all the time if she didn’t know her members’ heads would probably explode.

nonono

nonono is super fun and super catchy, and minhee really enjoyed promoting it. nowadays it’s not one that she’d pull out immediately, preferring the comeback preceding it and the three directly after, but she likes the song. it feels very classic lily, and listening back to it, and the corresponding mini-album, makes her feel sentimental as hell.

tell me

one of minhee’s top three, i think! do not hold me or her to that. all of lily’s title tracks are bangers and ranking depends on mood. but tell me definitely consistently stays in the top five. it might not be technically as good as some of their other releases from around the same era, but it’s tied with gee and oh! for number one song that makes her hyper as fuck. it’s just too much fun, she can’t take it. she got to be wonder woman for the music video too, which was cool. everything about tell me scratches minhee’s silly little brain just right.

mr. chu

though not quite on the same level as tell me and oh!, which 100% turn minhee’s brain up to 2x speed, mr. chu still gets minhee hyped up. something about the chorus and choreography and concept just all fit correctly. she’d like to say they invented the weirdly popular girl groups on tennis courts concept, but she should probably cite her sources somewhere. it’s sort of like a more her nonono.

oh!

oh! came out around the same time that minhee was coming of age, and actually wanting to try something a little different to lily’s typical concepts, and oh!’s styling allowed her to do that -- she liked it a lot, she felt like she was the cool girl in an american high school movie. not only that, but she loves the dance and the addictive chorus too. she has about as much fun with it as she does with gee and tell me.

run devil run

when minhee said she wanted to do something different, she didn’t mean it like this. in all seriousness, run devil run is a fun song, but she appreciates it much more today than she did when they released it. the image reversal on stage was really difficult for her. still, if they were going to go down a sexy route, she hoped it wouldn’t feature so much tight leather in the future. short shorts >>>.

nobody

a very cool song, one that minhee thinks did better at showing off her versatility than run devil run, alongside showing the public lily’s more grown up and sexier sides, without going as far as run devil run did either. she got to be expressive in her face, and really had a lot of fun playing it up for the cameras. fun fact! it’s her dad’s favourite lily title track. 

genie (tell me your wish)

genie minhee’s beloved <3 truly one of their best. it’s the perfect blend of original and the at the time emerging new lily. refreshing and upbeat, flirty and fun. it’s an unbeatable combination of all the things that make lily great. she has absolutely no qualms about calling it a modern classic.

hoot

BOP. has a lot of the same positives for minhee as nobody and genie. she loves the whole old school thing from this era of lily’s title tracks. one of her personal top favourites (a contender for a slot in the ever rotating top three and five), not least thanks to the choreography in the chorus. she thinks hoot is iconic, and though yes, people would agree, she thinks it deserves to be even more of a widespread opinion. 

i got a boy

minhee’s tiny attention span loves i got a boy. she really loves it, like seriously. it’s one of lily’s most active choreographies, and she doesn’t think any other group could pull off a song like i got a boy. who else could get away with it?? she loves how youthful it feels too, and how it managed to be so without it feeling like they’d gone too far back after the mature-ish retro concepts before it. 

the boys

for minhee, the boys is kind of like run devil run’s better younger sister. run devil run was a test run, then they took the formula and made it ten times better with the boys. maybe it’s a confidence thing though. her self esteem was never low, per se, but she was definitely better equipped for a concept like this in 2017 than she was in 2015.

be my baby

retro lily best lily! minhee adores be my baby for its return to one of her favourite styles of lily song --  the kind she can really get expressive during. she could be cute and pouty up on stage again, while still acting her age. she had so much fun performing be my baby, and it’s another contender for the top five title tracks in her opinion. 

only one

only one is a nice song, for sure, but it’s pretty close to the bottom of minhee’s list. it’s like an unremarkable return to classic lily ... except it’s not fun or cute enough to satisfy minhee’s standards. weirdly, it makes her feel old. as if bc is putting an odd, grainy filter on an otherwise modern song and concept because they doubted whether or not the girls could still pull off the likes of mr. chu or nonono.

luv

luv is uncharacteristically somber when compared to pretty much all of their other title tracks, but minhee, surprisingly, likes it a lot. it’s catchy, both in its music and its choreography, and it’s a good blend of the old school drama type of vibe she gets from something like nobody or be my baby with the sweetness and sincerity of into the new world. a dark horse in minhee’s rankings.

five

five, in minhee’s opinion, is a much better attempt at whatever bc was trying to do with only one. it feels much more like proper original vibes lily, noticeably lacking the inexpiable bad vibes she got off the whole production of only one. everything about five came naturally to her.

remember

remember is a really unique song in lily’s discography in terms of its concept. the nautical summery themes also sort of reminded minhee of nonono and the sailor outfits they wore all the way back then. in the grand scheme of things, it lands squarely towards the end of minhee’s list in terms of preference, but above only one.

mr. mr.

ULTRA BOP. minhee loves mr. mr. so much. it’s got all of the retro influences that she adores, topped with a modern electronic dance flair. she’s conceited, so if you ask her, she’ll tell you that lily were the trendsetters behind retro coming back, citing mr. mr. and, like, half of their earlier title tracks for good measure. again, she’s come a long way since run devil run, and is much more comfortable being cool as well as cute now.

i’m so sick

i’m so sick is retro leaning, has a fun dance, and the styling makes minhee feel like a sad princess in a fantasy version of modern day. it’s perfect. she doesn’t love it as much as a lot of their previous releases, but she thinks it’s a really good concept for them to run with in 2021. she’d admittedly been sort of doubting bc and her decision to renew her contract because of her gripes with only one and remember, but thanks to 2021′s releases, minhee feels pretty satisfied with her choice.

[pliskin]

im gonna talk about some doomvega stuff idk where else to post it 

slayer hc

I like selective mute slayer the most... nonverbal communication most of the time, his body language/expression vega gradually eases into learning, then for longform communication its typing into vega’s console, morse code into vega’s palm (<3) or sign language.  the few times he speaks is very curt and short, maybe just quick affirmation from vega for whatever (kisses <3) and the gayest reason of all... so he can say vega’s name tenderly 

lots of hobbies, which is more or less canon, but it's cute to think about... particularly his cooking magazines make me think he would be a good cook in a umm domestic au... but I like that he enjoys many creative things also like reading/writing/music, in addition to a scientific/engineering bg, hes kind of like... full package husband material

I dont have a ton of slayer hcs... I think hes mostly introverted, more into his hobbies, cultured... I think my only self-indulgent not canon compliant hc is he gets embarrassed easy and pretty expressive but has rbf.  hes like the shy boyfriend in the “excuse me he said no pickle” meme with vega

vega hc

vega for drawing purposes I like to make an android, tho in a fic im more inclined to regular AI vega especially in character studies and introspective writing... there's something a lot more poignant about vega reminiscing about almost being shut down while not assuming any kind of physical form... idk im just talking about what I like on a scale bc I love tons of vega interpretation

android vega:  I like to imagine an android body was created for vega per samuel’s instruction a little bit after vega became operational... kind of like a flex to match with uac creating the first cyborg body as well.  since samuel is a bit of a dick to his dad he doesnt make him w maykr proportions in mind and instead vega is given a very average human male body: about six feet tall, gentle (fatherly -_-) disposition, dark hair and brown skin, unnatural blue eyes... I think this would be good for vega to “blend” into the personnel, build camaraderie w him, though I think samuel would pull the plug on it in the long run for reasons my brain can’t put together atm lol.  this kind of self-indulgent but I like vega’s “virtual age” being 50 bc he’s samuel’s dad, and I like vega w a completely average body but thin waist like a maykr... which is a subconscious decision by samuel bc hes more accustomed to makyr bodies... but I am also just a bastard that wants thin waist dilf vega

this is maybe a reach of the fortress’s resources but I think the slayer could manage to build the same body for vega he had on the base if vega gave him the materials and instructions for it... just like a project, nothing exactly urgent, vega’s body slowly being worked on until completion.  but then... the slayer finds himself a bit attached because vega is like 100x more pleasant and soothing when he can see vega smiling at him.  im corny

I also like vega being a bit catty and passive-aggressive, but in his customer service voice.  he’s definitely not a doormat as an AI, and hes a lot more direct as umm god.  god vega I like aesthetically (SO MUCH) but I think I will hold back on my interpretation till ancient gods.  even his visual design I know will be probably significantly different from that 6-wing maykr angel concept art (if hes shown at all) but I like the aesthetic of it and will probably keep that if no canon physical body for vega is shown...

doomvega hc

very slow burn... mostly on vega’s part, but I like the almost innate way the slayer is more friendly/gentle with vega and his upgrade bots, so I think the slayer is sweet on vega

vega wondering about why the slayer chose to back him up is always a fave... and ik its not the exact reason for why dg is back in urdak but I like thinking about him going back for vega or at least I hope they make it a point in the dlc that dg is looking for vega amidst all the chaos... it would really cement their relationship together and would be so good for vega as not being seen as a tool to be thrown away (god stuff aside).  like he’s the slayer’s partner and not just an assistant or something like that

its canon that the slayer has ptsd so I think vega (in an android/robot body) can help him through episodes/nightmares... and this is pretty corny and self-indulgent but I think vega’s touch calms him bc of like... god reasons... and vega is not really sure why it feels so right to hold the slayer and comfort him but its god reasons

slayer also likes to hold android vega and his arms wrap around him easy, and vega is flush against his chest (<3) I like to imagine this after some kind of... very heartfelt “thank you” or confession from vega.  I also really like the idea of vega confessing his feelings first I think because he would have to also deal with thinking his “feelings” are real or not since he’s AI and not human and all of those schlocky sci-fi romance tropes

then theres the slayer x father vega dynamic im speculating a little about but want to wait till ancient gods to see... it seems like the slayer is vega’s right hand this time which is so exciting for them... it adds so much more versatility to their dynamic 

this got too long already I just wanted to contextualize some of my art... I want to add more later though.  anyway I love them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  theyre good

[theyellmanfan]

Not really much of a headcanon but. How far do you think tamaki's quirk can go? Like, sure, if he eats a sunflower seed or something, he could probably bloom a sunflower from his skin. But what about if he eats something gelatine-based? Could he theoretically form a cow hoof? Could he sprout a wheat field on his body after eating bread(which usually has wheat-based flour)? What are the limits? Also I used to think that fuyumi was the oldest instead of touya, but I guess the fandom says otherwise

You! You get me! This is exactly the type of speculation I need in my life.

I have actually put a lot of thought into this concept already. Exactly how limited are quirks exactly?

I believe Amajiki’s quirk can definitely at the very least manifest the material that a food source was made out of like you suggest, such as wheat or an animal hoof. In the case of something like a sunflower, where the part of the plant that you are speculating he could produce wouldn’t have been eaten had he consumed the seeds, I definitely think that he would be able to sprout the entire plant. He has formed chicken feet as well as wings with the feathers in canon. I have a hard time believing he straight up ate a whole ass bird.

But how far does that go?

All life is made up of the same molecules that make up non organic matter. Things like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, nitrogen, ect are all found in abundance in living creatures, but else where as well.

So with an in depth enough knowledge of organic chemistry/general chemistry, can he combine the stored molecules of the food he’s eaten to make something new?

Diamond is pure carbon, could he create armor for himself by arranging the molecules into the correct geometry? 

He’s already shown that he can combine animals with his Chimera supermoves, so how unrealistic would it be to say that he might be able to take it a step further?

I honestly believe that quirks are MUCH more versatile than they are portrayed in the show/manga, and that it’s how the user is attempting to apply their quirk that is limiting them.

Many characters have already canonly strengthened their quirks past what they thought their limitations could be by experimenting with what exactly they can do, it’s not unreasonable to speculate that this isn’t just because they worked out their quirk like a muscle, but are utilizing said muscle in a way they hadn’t before.

On the topic of quirks, I really dislike their categorization in the bnhaverse (emitter vs transformative vs mutant). I’d rather see them grouped by how they alter the traditional human body. In Amajiki’s case, it gives him some level of control over the way his body utilizes the matter he consumes (even if we don’t yet know to what degree), so in that vein, his quirk is very similar to Yaoyorozu’s, and should be considered the same ‘type’.

This is such a great ask tyty. I actually have lots of ideas of how many of the character’s quirks function and what more they could do if they thought outside the box a little more.

Also Fuyumi being the eldest Todoroki is galaxy brained she definitely has the older protective sister vibe.

[a-world-in-grey]

Magic HCs

Here we go, the long ramble on my various head canons on Lucis Caelum magic in general and how some of their specific abilities work and what can be done with them.

Putting under the cut because this pretty long.

.

General:

-So in general, LC magic is Light based. Which, given Bahamut’s element is Light and the literal meaning of the Lucis Caelum name... I might be stating the obvious.

-Still. With the exception of Elemancy (which I imagine draws more from the abundance of natural magics given the various elemancy points you can draw from) the Lucis Caelum abilities are all based off light. Teleporting from one spot to another by shattering and reforming in shards of light, summoning glowing shields of shining hexes, items from their armiger appearing and disappearing like shards of light, and even healing bringing forth a bright radiance of magic (admittedly, this is more seen with the Oracle magic, but that also comes from Bahamut).

-We’ve got these magic users, divinely blessed to pretty much be literal beacons of light against the encroaching darkness. Are daemons attracted by concentrations of LC magic? Like moths to a flame? We see no few daemons around royal tombs and other places where there’s LC magic.

-Could an LC create a burst of sunlight? Could they bottle it up and create flashbangs capable of really hurting daemons? Could an LC radiate enough light to kill any (standard) daemon in its radius, essentially turning the area into daytime?

-Basically I’m going with yes to all of the above, and if the Hunters could get their hands on a supply of those flashbangs, they would really appreciate it. 

-(Crowe: We’re testing this. Literally Everyone Else: NO.)

Warping:

-Throw weapon, burts into shards of light, reform from shards of light clutching said weapon. If someone knocks the weapon aside mid-warp, say hello to a new set of bruises.

-But my theory is that you don’t necessarily need a weapon? Or any warp-anchor, really. The warp anchor is just that, an anchor for the magic to hold on to and act as a focal point. It’s the magic one warps too, and I imagine someone really good at warping could just throw their magic in the direction they want to go and warp - without telegraphing it to their enemies by throwing a physical object or, you know, their weapon. 

-It would be hard, don’t get me wrong. The warp anchors are pretty much a requirement for most magic users because they provide something physical for the magic to latch on to, something the warper can physically sense and have confidence that it’s there. Without the anchor, it’s harder to convince the brain that yes, there’s something there for them to warp to, because most magic users and a lot of LCs can’t really sense magic unless it’s through one of their physical senses like sight or sound.

-Without that sense of magic or the anchor, you need an almost inhuman will to overpower the instincts insisting that there’s no focal point to bring you back into a physical form (that’s why warping is so hard on magic users, the body wigs out over being essentially incorporeal). 

-Even if you can sense magic, you do still need the talent/skill for warping.

-(Yes, Nyx absolutely learns how to do this.)

-Phasing through attacks and storing things in the armiger works on a similar principle. You start the warp process, but don’t have the extra force, the ‘throw’ needed to warp to a different spot. For phasing, that results in temporary - even partial - incorporeality. For the armiger, the warp process is started, paused, then completed when the item/s are pulled from the armiger again, the magic user themselves acting as the focal point/anchor.

-(Am I saying that warping involves storing yourself in your armiger and exiting at a different point? Yes, yes I am. Could you store someone else in an armiger? Yes, but I really don’t recommend it. That person is not likely to be anywhere approaching sane when you pull them out. If they’re alive at all.)

-(King Mors found this to be a very effective... interrogation technique. Much less messy than more traditional methods of questioning.)

Shields:

-Interlocking hex-like tiles that can take a certain amount of damage before shattering. Stops everything from passing through it from either direction, which makes for a pretty decent barrier, if potentially inconvenient.

-That said, this has the potential for some serious crowd control. Being able to shape barriers that change the battlefield terrain has immense tactical value and the reason we didn’t see more Kingsglaive using shields in such a way is probably because the power levels needed for something on that scale isn’t worth it when shields aren’t an offensive spell. Not enough bang for their buck, so to speak.

-Shields also don’t move once they’ve been created. (At least, not as far as I know.) Likely the shields are created on a fixed point, and to move it afterwards requires physically moving the focal point or an inhuman amount of concentration. Otherwise the shield tends to collapse in on itself. Far easier to dismiss the shield and call another one.

-Meaning you can create your own terrain. Floating, temporary steps, ‘door jams’ for people to clock their heads on, little lips on the floor to trip people... ramps, chairs, makeshift tables, etc.

-(Titus has in fact used it to put troublesome Glaives in time-out. No, he doesn’t care that calling it ‘time-out’ makes them sound like five-year-olds. He’ll stop treating them like toddlers when they stop acting like toddlers.)

-Not gonna lie, this is my favorite spell to play with just for the sheer versatility. It’s a utility spell, yes, but there’s so much you can use it for.

-Then there’s the tiles making up the shield. I headcanon that each tile requires a set amount of magic to conjure, and can take a set amount of damage before shattering. Larger, more diverse attacks are less effective against shields because the overall damage is spread out over a large area, where focused attacks can punch through individual tiles pretty quick.

-(For those of you familiar with psi (pounds per square inch and whatever the metric equivalent is), that’s pretty much the concept I’m using here.)

-Shields with large tiles are less costly to make, but can’t take as much damage before shattering. Shields with tiny tiles need a lot of power, but they can pretty much tank anything because the individual damage to each tile is far less.

-(Yes, the Glaive have the hard numbers for how much force a tile can take before shattering. The experiments involved were for Ignis’ thesis for his masters degree in physics. Said thesis is very much restricted to the royal library and everyone involved in reviewing said thesis sworn to secrecy, but Ignis is quite proud of the work. The Glaives were just happy to get the numbers and tried again to get Ignis to join the Glaive, “as a consultant!” Ignis refused. For the eleventh time.)

-It’s possible to change the size of the shield tiles, shrinking or growing the shield from it’s focal point. Often times this requires conjuring or dismissing tiles to accommodate. 

-Shrinking a shield around an object without adding more tiles... whether the shield or the object is destroyed first entirely depends on the comparative durability. Humans and most daemons? Not that sturdy it turns out.

.

All I can think of for now that I haven’t classed under spoilers. (It’s also half-past two in the morning, so I should probably get to bed anyway...)

[eremiss]

Clove Oil

It’s not that Yda has never asked Gwen for help, rather… she’s never asked her for healing. While Gwen had studied conjury for a few years in the past, and regularly practiced the special brand of white magic employed by Red Mages, there are many other Scions who are far more gifted with healing magics, and more skilled at assessing injuries. Typically she only needs to employ her healing magics while out on assignment, either alone or partnered with others who had no healing abilities of their own.

Which makes Yda coming to her in the middle of the Stones with a look of distress (on the lower half of her face, at least) and clutching her swollen, bruised jaw rather… strange? On second thought, perhaps ‘strange’ is too strong of a word. Still, it’s certainly not typical.

“Can you take a look? Maybe patch it up?” Yda asks, squeezing the words out between her teeth and trying not to move her jaw.

Gwen flounders for a second, equally confused and concerned. What happened? Had she been punched? And wouldn’t she be better off asking Y’shtola or Coultenet? Perhaps they’re out on their own assignments--though the moment she thinks it she knows that doesn’t sound right. 

Yda is standing there, staring beseechingly.

Gwen pushes the confusion aside for the moment and nods, “Yes, of course. Come on.”

Once they reach her room Gwen waves Yda into the chair at her desk and steps into her bathroom to scrub her hands. “Where does it hurt? Just your jaw? Your teeth?”

Yda makes a considering face and shifts her jaw around, immediately wincing. “Both.” 

Gwen offers a sympathetic look and quiet hum, moving to the bookshelf crowded with jars. She plucks up one of the dark brown vials and one of the scraps of cotton piled nearby, only half-hearing Yda wondering what she’s doing.

“It’s for your teeth,” Gwen replies, carefully pouring a bit of pungent oil onto the cotton. She sets the vial aside, turns, and pauses.

Yda blinks at her. “Hm?”

“Is it alright if I…?” Gwen asks, trailing off and gesturing vaguely with her hands. Most healing involved some form of touching, and Yda is a very tactile and touchy person anyway, so it’s probably fine. Still, it never hurts to make sure, even if it does make Gwen feel a tad awkward.

“Uhh? Oh! Oh, yeah.” Yda starts to nod, then arrests the motion with another wince. “Yeah, sure, poke and prod away, I don’t mind.”

Gwen relaxes a little, “Alright. Open your mouth.” She delicately holds Yda’s chin and tilts her head up for better light, peering into her mouth and confirming that the brawler hadn’t lost any teeth. She daintily tucks the cotton between Yda’s cheek and back molars and quickly withdraws, “The taste is a bit strong, but it will help.” 

Yda closes her mouth, pulling another face as the taste gets to her. “What is this?” she asks thickly.

“Clove oil." Despite her efforts Gwen had gotten a bit on her fingers, and she knew the smell would linger for days. That was preferable to needing to make use of the oil herself, though. While it did wonders for numbing toothaches, the flavor was so potent it could be difficult to stand.

Yda’s face scrunches more, then abruptly relaxes a little. “Oh. Feels better already,” she says, sounding surprised.

Gwen smiles to herself, satisfied, and moves to rifle through her haphazardly stacked training weapons. Weapon rack. Need to get a weapon rack, she tells herself. “So, now that you’re feeling a bit better,” she says over her shoulder, “why don’t you tell me why you came to me instead of Y’shtola?”

Yda makes a strangled little sound. “Wh-what? What do you mean?”

Her yew wand is at the bottom of the stack, right where she left it. Despite being buried for more than a moon, the magically preserved leaves are still a bright, lively green. Gwen lightly touches them, drawing on the calm, steady aether inside the living wand. “I’m not a particularly advanced healer,” she says, “and, unless my days are mixed up, Y’shtola should be here. We both know she’s more skilled with healing magics than I am, but you came to me instead. I’m just curious why.”

Yda pouts, her expression wrinkling when she swallows another mouthful of clove flavor. 

Gwen cocks her head to one side, eyeing Yda meaningfully. “Surely she didn’t turn you away, right?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Yda relents with a sigh. She’s speaking more easily already, though the cotton in her cheek is still distorting a few syllables. She drops her chin a little and mumbles something under her breath.

Gwen prompts, “Hm?” hovering a hand over Yda’s bruised cheek. Her vision slips out of focus as she concentrates, drawing on the aether of her wand and pushing it through Yda’s jaw to assess the damage.

“She… told me not to mess with those new automated training dummies,” she grumbles again, only a bit more audibly.

Bruised muscles, burst blood vessels… When the words finally manage to break through her haze of preoccupation they take an extra few seconds to register. Gwen distractedly asks, “The… ones that the Ironworks is making? Aren’t they still being tested?”

Yda pouts mildly, careful of her jaw. “I haven’t seen anyone do anything to them in a sennight. They’re just sitting there in the training yard, fully assembled…” She starts to lift a hand to her jaw and stops, “Don’t know what still needs to be done to them, because they definitely work.”

“Ah.” A small crack in the bone, swollen gums… And the blow loosened a few of her teeth. “So I take it you didn’t heed her advice, then.”

Yda doesn’t answer, which is an answer in itself.

Gwen has also noticed that the Ironworks’ constructs have gone unattended the last few days. Truth be told, she was also curious about the new ‘advanced’ training dummies; but, apparently, not as curious as Yda. “Hm… Well, if it makes you feel any better,” she assures, “I don’t plan on telling her. Or anyone.” 

Yda brightens immediately, “Really?” 

Gwen grins, “Though Y’shtola is rather intimidating, so that might not hold under duress.”

“Oh, no, I don’t think anyone would hold under that,” Yda says with a giggle, palpably relieved. “Only person who’s scarier is Tataru, I think.”

Gwen hasn’t personally seen the diminutive receptionist intimidate anyone, but between the stories she’s heard and the occasional steely glint in Tataru’s eye, it isn’t hard to imagine.

She pushes that aside, concentrating and murmuring an incantation. As the spell takes shape she reaches out, starting with the cracked bone and working out from there.

Thankfully, the damage the Ironworks’ dummy inflicted isn’t severe, so it doesn’t take long to mend. The bruise, though, will linger.

As Gwen completes her spell Yda cranes her head a little to one side so she can peer at the yew wand. “So why the wand? Don’t you normally use your sword and focus for magic?”

“Yes, but,” Gwen says slowly, letting go of the last of her concentration so her thoughts could start coming back to her. “But it’s… not as efficient, you could say?”

Yda makes a curious noise. “It casts magic fine, right? That’s why you use it.”

“Well, yes, red mage foci are made to work with both white and black magic, but,” Gwen pauses again, considering. 

Now that she no longer has to devote most of her concentration to spellcasting she can use it to formulate an answer. The principles of magic foci and their uses are all but engraved into her brain after her studies in conjury, thaumaturgy and red magic, not to mention how often the concepts have been rehashed and reiterated in all the texts she’s poured through.

“But I’ve found they’re not… They’re sort of ‘jack-of-all-trades, master of none’, you could say. They’re unique in being able to aid with both thaumaturgy and conjury, but, given how they aren’t specialized, spells can sometimes require more --more focus and effort--  from the caster in order to work on the same level as a more specialized, single-discipline focus. That flexibility is what makes them special and versatile, but, well, everything has its drawbacks. I’m still learning red magic, so I’m sure I have room to improve. I’m better with offensive red magic, too, so when it comes to healing,” she shrugs, smiling absently, “plain old conjury is just...a little easier. Maybe once I’ve studied and trained more that will change.”

Yda makes a thoughtful sound, tapping her fingers against her chin. She’s still sporting a (possibly incriminating) bruise on her cheek, but the blemish has lost its hard edges and the color has softened and faded to brown.

As Gwen sets about putting away the oil and nudging over a wastebin so Yda can dispose of the oil-soaked cotton she adds, “I’ve actually been trying to come up with a way to make a different weapon and focus that would be… more efficient than the gems I’ve used so far. Actually it was just a flight of fancy at first, but it’s all turned out to be quite interesting so I decided to more seriously pursue it. The refreshers  on foci and basic techniques I’ve gotten along the way has been helpful, too.

“It’s a bit beyond me, honestly, seeing how there’s so much to take into consideration, and I’m not much of a craftsman or scholar. But I understand the basic principles, at least, so I’ve been able to muddle along. X’hrun has been a huge help, but he’s got his hands full, so I’ve been doing most of the research myself. Heh, at the very least he’s told me he thinks it’s worth pursuing, and that I’m not basically reinventing the wheel... sometimes it feels like a near thing, though, heh.”

Laying it out gets things moving in her head again, allowing thoughts and facts that have gone stagnant to shift, fit themselves together and lie flat rather than filling her head like crumpled papers in an overflowing wastebin. After how long she’s spent pouring over books and papers by herself, it’s refreshing to air out the clutter.

“When making a singular, more optimized focus started to seem a bit infeasible I thought maybe I could find a way to utilize different foci for white and black magic. Similar results but, perhaps a less complicated means of getting there. Except, from what I’ve been reading, trying to combine two foci into one cohesive weapon, especially ones that behave so differently, will probably be just as difficult. As it stands now, I’m not even sure which method is likely to work better, or at all. So I’m pursuing both, which is… a bit of a handful.

“The whole process is proving to be much more nuanced, complex and time consuming than I’d initially expected either way.” She shrugs again, “Ah, well. Nothing to do but keep working on it.”

Yda is silent for a moment before saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk this much.”

“Ah…?” Gwen pauses, thoughts of scribbled theories and early sketches of weapon designs abruptly turning to dust and slipping through her fingers. Her voice instinctively shrinks down in her throat as embarrassment prickles up her spine. She... had gotten a bit rambly, hadn’t she? Her head is so chock-full of research, questions and ideas that it’s fit to burst, so once the words had started flowing they’d just… kept going, and she hadn’t thought to stop them. “Oh, sorry, erm…”

“No, no, I don’t mean stop!” Yda says quickly, flapping her hands. “Keep going! So you’re designing a new focus? Is this why you’ve been locked up in your room?”

Gwen hesitates, feeling telltale heat on her face, “Well, uh… A new focus and weapon, actually.” The phrase ‘locked up in your room’ catches up to her and she pouts. The piles of notes and research that have accumulated on and around her desk discourage her from protesting. “It’s proving to be a bigger undertaking than I first thought, like I said,” she hedges. “So I suppose I… have been keeping to my room a bit.” 

“Because it’s gotten complicated, yeah? Why?”

Even though Yda is only being encouraging, the fluster that had initially made Gwen lose her train of thought lingers, coming undone in fits and starts rather than simply lifting away. But it is leaving, helped by the reassuring notion that Yda is genuinely interested despite the fact that she isn’t given to using magic. Just to make sure, Gwen asks, “I, uh, didn’t think you cared much about magics?”

“I don’t, but I can listen. I don’t mind being a sounding board,” she replies with a broad smile. “It’s the least I can do after you patched me up. Plus, it’s got you chattering! I didn’t know you had it in you!”

“I,” Gwen almost sputters, face heating a little more, “I’m not chattering…”

“So go on, tell me about it,” Yda urges, leaning slightly forward in her seat and waiting with blatant interest.

Gwen tugs at her hair, glancing abashedly aside as she tries to find where she’d left off. “Ah, well… The thing is there’s not much more to tell. Yet. I’m still researching, and there’s a lot of information to sift through. X’hrun has been helping through letters, and he’s promised to send me whatever resources and research he finds that might be of use. There really isn’t a whole lot beyond that, aside from my notes…” She winds her fingers through her hair, shifting her weight to her left foot. “The sketches and drafts I’ve made are… Well, hopefully they’ll be useful somehow, but mostly they’re sort of just for fun.”

“So it’s still at the start, but it’s promising, right?” Yda asks, “You think you can get somewhere with it?”

Gwen considers that and eventually shrugs. “Somewhere. Eventually. But it’s hard to say exactly where, or how long it will take to get there. It’s hard to predict how well it will all work out in the end--or if it will work at all.”

Yda fishes the cotton out of her mouth and tosses it in the trash. “It might not?”

“Maybe. This is… new territory, more or less. The schools of magic tend to keep to themselves, even though it’s documented in the past that they’ve cooperated--which is how red magic came about in the first place. None of the literature,” she waves a hand at the books and papers spread out over her desk, “I’ve found so far has really touched on this sort of thing much. I’ve hardly read all the books in the Realm, I know, but a lot of it is, heh, starting to sound like variations on the same tune. Most of the talk about foci, in particular, is spent pointing out the differences between them, and why different materials are suited for some schools of magic but not others. In-depth, practical analysis and comparisons between thaumaturgy and conjury in use, rather than conjecture from just one side or surface-level observations, is surprisingly hard to come by. Finding information about using them together, outside of something like red magic, is proving especially difficult.”

Gwen taps her chin with one finger, smiling slightly at the folly of it. “I even tried delving a bit into arcanima and grimoires to see if I might find something useful there; maybe get inspiration, or find some way to use things like enchanted inks or geometric engravings to… bridge the gap, so to speak. Or, failing that, I’d hoped a third perspective on magic and foci to compare everything to might give me an idea, or something. Bit of a shot in the dark, but you never know until you try. But, well,” she shakes her head ruefully, “arcanima and geometries, erm… They don’t come to me as naturally as the other magics, and it takes some work to get my head around them. Maybe they’d make more sense with more practice, but, hah, I kind of have my hands full.”

Gwen can’t see Yda’s eyes, but she’s imagining they’re probably glazed over by now. One can only listen so intently to rambling on a topic they, themselves, can’t make much use of before it begins to simply become noise.

She turns her hands palm up, “In short, it’s a bigger, more complex undertaking than I first expected, and I’m going to be mostly on my own for a lot of it. It all might not work like I initially envisioned--or it might not work at all, but it’s difficult to say just yet. I’ve just got to keep working.”

Yda nods more astutely than Gwen expected, and starts idly kicking her feet. “Sounds to me like you might be better off finding out by doing. Even if you aren’t sure how it will all come together and work out in the end, you’ve probably found out enough to put to use and make something if you wanted. Maybe you could look into getting a test weapon made? Use it as a trial run to test things out, and then go from there.”

It’s reassuring to know she hasn’t yet succeeded in alienating her audience, and the self-consciousness beginning to tighten across her shoulders abruptly eases. “Well, yes, technically.  I could commission guilds for the different foci and the blade and they’ve got crafters skilled enough to meet with whatever specifications I need. I could have started out with that instead of diving into books--or fewer books, at least. But, once I had all the parts to make it, I’d need to find someone skilled enough to put it together and integrate all the parts into a practical, physically and aetherically cohesive weapon. Each person would have to be quite skilled, particularly the one who puts it all together in the end.” 

Gwen stretches her fingers and smooths down her coat with an airy laugh and a little sigh. “All that to say, it’s safe to assume no aspect of the project will be cheap. And, well…” She trailed off, debating how best to phrase it. “Financing one weapon, whenever I get to that point, will probably require some forethought and planning. But multiple iterations, refining the design as I go along?”

Yda tilts her head with a mild frown, “I didn’t think about that��”

Gwen plucks the vial of clove oil from her desk and puts it back in its place. “Some things can’t be learned without doing, but I’d rather spend time nitpicking and refining beforehand, rather than go into debt or be stuck with a flawed prototype.”

Yda nods with a thoughtful hum. She folds her arms and tips her head back to regard the ceiling, pondering. “I bet Urianger and Papalymo could help with all of that, including those ‘unique specifications.’”

Gwen hadn’t considered asking her fellow Scions for their input, which… thinking about it now was perhaps a bit silly. She was accustomed to handling tasks and projects herself, particularly when they were personal, like this, but she didn’t have to anymore. While she was still working on being close with the other Scions, they were still colleagues, and they endeavored to help one another. 

It couldn’t hurt to at least ask.

At length she nods, “Maybe they could.”

-------------

Combined beta-ing by @rhymingteelookatme​ @phaedra-mero​, @anomaliewrites​ and @evangeline-cross​! Thanks guys!! :DD

Endings, what even are they anyway

Clove Oil, aka: Gwen is both a do-it-yourself’er and a nerd.  When Gwen wants to do something her first go-to is experience and example (her own, or someone else’s) and when that won’t suffice, she gets her research on. If possible, she likes doing it all at once (or as much of it as possible) so she won’t forget or mis-remember as much, so all-nighters surrounded by books are pretty standard. In her pre-Scion years she would make use of any public and Guild resources that were available, and would barter with money or labor for more specialized books, tools, research and information. Over the years this method of problem solving caused her to slowly accumulate a collection of books on a relatively wide range of topics (botany and herbal medicines being the definite majority). She brought the collection with her when she moved into the Sands / Stones. Now she has the Scion’s library (among others) to draw from whenever she wants, too! She’s pretty excited about it haha For how little she likes sitting around, she has no trouble getting lost in books, even when they’re a bit beyond her (that’s where stubbornness/determination come in) 

Clove Oil, aka: Gwen is both a do-it-yourself’er and a nerd, aka: Scuse me while I bullshit about aether and magic and stuff lmao.

I have no idea if anything Gwen is saying makes any sense lore wise, I don’t even know if any of what she’s trying to do is even remotely necessary, but it IS something she would do, and all that rambling made sense in my head, sooo... XDD

[twitchesandstitches]

nature girl heroine idea

i’ve mentioned before that a week or two ago, I was working out an idea of Tia as a nova/superhuman in the Aberrant tabletop RPG setting, and an unexpected thing occurred; I started out just shoving every cool power that felt thematically appropriate first, and as time went on and she felt too versatile and lacking in a solid theme, I removed some of those powers and quickly put down a few character ideas to suit them. the idea was, she’s part of a group of similarly powerful novas who work together and hang out, in a character arc somewhere between ‘Superman wrecks the local conspiracy by being too dang smart and charming’ and ‘roadtrip to save humanity’

over the last few days, i’ve been thinking about these characters more and more, and one in particular has really seized my attention; a plant and nature focused lady with shapeshifting powers that allow her to assume the traits of any animal or plant she knows of, control plants and make them grow, and a variety of utility abilities based around influencing others through the use of energy-charged spores and pheromones. It took a while but I’ve realized that she’s something of a benign Poison Ivy analogue, with animal transformation powers, and some vERY powerful abilities based around affecting entire species on a global scale and weaponizing things like poison, coupled with brain-warping charm and charisma.

(a certain amount of growing to giantess size, hyper breeder vibes, and the capability to devour pretty much anything she likes also applies, of course.)

her concept is pretty cool so i’ve been thinking a lot about this, and I’ve had some more ideas, and I’m on the verge of making her into a full-on OC in her own right. in case this sounds interesting, here’s a few ideas I’ve had on that score, though none of these are permanent; I figure I’ll write her up when i get in the mood for it, and use that to iron out some of the ideas I have:

she’s a genuine environmentalist, and not someone who does the whole ‘humanity is the REAL disease’ stuff Ivy is known for doing. This suggests a very compassionate core, though i’m not sure how much to take it. she could take it to an extreme and verge of so Good that she refuses to see people who are genuinely malicious, or her taking a big picture approach and caring about things long-term, but individuals tend to not register much for her. Thinking in terms of systems, and so on. (She also, either way, does not have much of a sentimental attitude of nature.) I AM leaning towards her being a super softie, and not that much of the kind of hero who takes down bad guys.

She’s very thicc overall; big hips, big bust, big everything. probably very big hair that resembles a flowering plant or something. Her body isn’t particularly human; her skin looks like fairly smooth bark and creates fur or scales or whatever as appropriate, she bleeds a weird chimeric sap instead of blood, and she generally has a mixture of animal and plant-like traits that’s very strange. She’s still broadly human in biology, though; the actual organs are recognizable, but may resemble a planet’s structure or that of specific animals, just enough to be weird.

I’m thinking of her skin as being green. not sure about her hair. Possibly multicolored and changing depending on her health or stores of energy.

Aberrant only really has superhumans, so I’m not deviating from that; all the characters here, regardless of what they’re normally like in my stuff, were originally human here. I don’t know if I will keep that as a trait for our nature lady here, but I’m thinking of her as being Irish or Mongolian here; undecided on that.

I at one point thought of her as a bit of a bimbo-type? I’m tempted to suggest that she can get like that depending on certain side effects that her powers have on her; she shifts through a lot of hormones and pheromones as she transforms, and depending on what she does, it might have long-term consequences that adjusts her behavior a little.

All her powers are based on either transformations or some bodily effect of herself, and a specific connection to living things she can mess with. For example, she can transform to manifest any naturally occurring trait for utility, defense or offense; she can make wings to fly, grow claws or massive spikes to attack. She could cover her body in tough scaly armor. She can secrete a powerful toxin with whatever effect imaginable from her body, though she usually limits it to a knock out effect, to inducing hallucinogenic effects. In the same way, she constantly produces small spores; people who breath them in can be mentally dominated by her via a link between her and those spores, or hypnotized. Otherwise, she can grow those spores into huge plants she can control in many ways, like making massive vines to protect her, swing around, or smash stuff; this looks like her creating plants out of thin air. The other aspect of her powers allows her to communicate with plants and animals (and command them), as well as transform them in various ways, and this more subtle aspect of her powers also allows her to heal living things.

By making her jaws stretchy, making her belly a big venus flytrap, or her skin absorbent, she’s able to swallow pretty much whatever she wants, and then she can tweak her digestion to consume anything she desires; she has some VERY aggressive gut bacteria she can make even more fierce if she requires. And she’s capable of growing to giant size, though I’m thinking that its actually her summoning forth a massive plant construct she grows around her body and mentally links with, shaping it into a mega-curvy imitation of her original body. As she grows stronger, she might be able to cut the middle-man out and convert herself into plant material she can expand directly.

she’s very much a breeder, though not necessarily one interested in romance. She’s capable of making her body react to the life energy around her and spontaneously impregnating herself using that energy as genetic information, creating new life inside her. She has enough capacity to gestate entire species if desired (or creating broodmother bodies that do the trick themselves), and she has a tendency to do so absently if she’s not concentrating on focusing.

personality wise, I’m thinking of focusing her around the concept of the ditzy genius; even if she’s not actually super smart, she is VERY competent within her specific sphere of interest, though she doesn’t come off as it. even when she’s in her element, she’s rather ditzy in an unfocused, gently drifting sort of way. She has a very pleasant demeanor, perhaps with something of a glamourous, fancy attitude?

whatever she has going on, though, she lacks brute strength. She is focused on finesses; while she is capable of manifesting the traits of more brutal creatures, she is very bad at actually applying it; she prefers to be fast, and she’s no good at smashing. She’s also probably fairly soft-hearted and can’t bear to strike as viciously as she needs to in order to put down a foe who might have no compunction about doing the same to her. She is extremely perceptive, however, and would make a fantastic investigator if she could be persuaded to concentrate for a moment.

[theramseyloft]

What is the training process for pigeons? My dad used to raise them and keeps trying to get me to start, but I know nothing about them.

My training process is probably very different from his.

I don’t raise homers or aerial performers.

I raise therapy pigeons.

Pigeons ability to learn to understand human communication makes them INCREDIBLY versatile partners, especially for those of us suffering with some shade of mental illness.

Pigeons are absolutely CRAZY-Smart!

They are capable of high level cognition. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas…/2009/…/090212141143.htm

To the extent that they understand the concepts of space and time! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas…/2017/…/171204144805.htm

They are self-aware enough to distinguish themselves from other pigeons, able to recognize themselves in photos, video, and mirrors AND differentiate between the three. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas…/2008/…/080613145535.htm

Their brains are wired SHOCKINGLY similarly to ours: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas…/2013/…/130717095336.htm

They categorize things and learn the equivalent of words the same way human toddlers do!

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas…/2014/…/140402095107.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas…/2015/…/150204184447.htm

They can even learn to read written language well enough to differentiate between a real word and an acronym with the same number of letters.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas…/2016/…/160919111535.htm

They are pattern mapping social learners.  Exactly like we are!

Building on this list of scientific studies, I started to experiment with teaching  each successive generation of the resident pigeons to understand the basics of verbal communication by the same mechanic as one would a toddler.

Talk them through everything, exactly like you would a nonverbal toddler that doesn’t know that word yet.

The more you talk them through, the more they pick up on.

And in just the last two years with Ankhou, I have learned that they can literally learn to understand both spoken AND written human language, and literally all it takes is talking to a pigeon as if it is a nonverbal human toddler who does not know that word yet to be able to teach them to understand object words, action words, emotion words, names, and locations.

Teaching communication is the primary basis of our training program.

It’s woven into everything we do, because getting the birds to understand exactly what you want or need from them is key to the specific therapy work I breed and raise them for.

When they hatch, I start handling them gently. Looking at their legs, spreading their wings, checking under them, getting them used to health checks in general.

At about a week old, I let them sit on my lap during treat time. This takes advantage of their social learning to get them interested in the safflower seeds I’m offering the adults, because the adults are SUPER excited to get them!!

At a week old, they aren’t really interested in pecking, but the more they see the adults take treats from me, the more they want to beg me from them.

It’s usually around 9-11 days old that they start to beg, and when they do, I start popping treats into their mouths.

I usually give them a nickname about then, and address them by it every time I offer a treat.

This teaches them that:  1. Yummies come from hands = hands are not scary= humans are basically giant flock nannies. 2.  Name = individual 3. Different name means not you.

Teaching them to respond individually to their names is a vital part of training verbally, and their name and ‘treat’ is the first vocabulary we teach them. 

Babies that will be therapy birds start doing public training at about two weeks old.

As soon as they are feathered well enough not to chill away from the nest, I bring them out for the first time in a basket and bring plenty of treats with me.

I want to see how they react to travel, changes in location, noise, motion, crowds, individual people interacting with them, and other people’s pets.

I am looking for peeps who are interested and curious.

I want to see them actively looking around, contentedly preening, and begging me for treats like we’re at home.

When they are more mobile, but not flying yet, (about three weeks old) I take them out in a carrier, getting them used to that mode of transportation.

At four weeks, when they are beginning to fly, they get fitted for a harness and go out.

I want them to associate the harness with a little more freedom. Wearing it means they can get out of the carrier and move around a little more.

When out in public, I want their attention to be primarily on their handler and unfearful, but nonreactive to other people unless approached and addressed.

The idea is to give the peeps a solid base line for their new human partner to build on as their individual needs require.

[kleeboy]

okay im deleting and reposting this because i put a swear word in the tags and it wasnt even showing up in searches for my personal, and i don’t trust the mobile editor to fix my problems but its time 4 me to make a post

Here's what I’ve got for a Thunderbirds D&D AU! I'm not gonna get into numbers and stats and levels because I do that enough when I play normal d&d and I'm gay and tired. Also, there’s probably gonna be a touch of rule bending not only to reconcile d&d with the Thunderbirds canon but just to boost the fun factor a bit. It’s not like we’re setting up a playable campaign so it doesn’t really matter as long as we’re not making it unrecognisable as part of the d&dverse. At that point, you might as well just call it a fantasy AU (still lit tho lmao). This is mostly TOS based but I’ll add some notes on TAG stuff now and then in italics because I’m here to provide. It’s hefty, so everything's under the cut. Hopefully comprehensible.

IR (presumably going by some other name but we’ll just stick with that for sake of ease) is still a rescue organisation - it operates on a somewhat smaller scale but access to magic means it’s got a pretty big reach for typical d&d technology. It’s centred around an ancient deity that few people have heard of and even fewer worship. There’s only one known temple dedicated to said deity and it had been abandoned for a long time before they found it, so it’s currently being restored - if rather agonizingly slowly. Anyway, IR is deity-based because nothing screams “fight for a cause” like paladins! They’re paladins, mostly, is what I’m saying.

Jeff is likely an ex-adventurer, probably a paladin but I’m seriously considering cleric just for interest’s sake so sue me, I love clerics. His party did some pretty cool stuff back in the day, and adventuring pays well as long as you don’t die, so he’s pretty well off. He left the party and settled down in one place when Scott was born, and the rest of them presumably disbanded and went about their own lives eventually. Or maybe they’re still out there causing a ruckus. Who knows. Pretty easy to just say “and he’s not there anymore” for TAG, rationalise his disappearance as you please. Either way, at some point he decided to start an organisation that would make saving lives a bit more structured than the usual “Let's hope a squad of adventurers stumbles on our predicament” that people have been relying on.

Scott is a Battle Master archetype fighter who multiclassed into paladin. Battle Master provides the most appropriate mechanics for a field leader, and also seems like the sort of thing Scott would have been doing previous to IR. He’s the least proficient spellcaster of the group if only by virtue of his class, but access to paladin magic gives his fighting an extra kick which, along with the Battle Master maneuvers, makes him pretty damn dangerous with a sword. It also means he can cast Find Steed, and because said steed’s form can go beyond normal when permitted by the DM and we’re making the rules here I’m giving him a pegasus, which is about the fastest flying mount you could get as far as the monster manual goes. A roc would just be too much. Very VERY cool. But too much.

Virgil is a College of Lore bard into paladin. When it comes to support classes, nothing beats a College of Lore bard for versatility. He’s got the range, darling. Slap an arsenal of magic items on that and you’re well on your way to the d&d equivalent of Thunderbird 2. He has some good offensive spells and weapon training but mostly works to keep others from getting hurt. With a high constitution, the Tough feat, good armour and a shield he pretty much becomes a mobile wall to be put between danger and anyone who can’t take too many hits. Find Steed again lets me give him something interesting to ride, and what better than an owlbear. A big one. Not quite as appropriate stat-wise as the pegasus for Scott but when it comes to aesthetics I’m yet to find something as good as a bear-shaped and -sized owl.

John is predominantly a Divination wizard, with a low paladin level - two maximum - giving him access to a lot of powerful magic but leaving him, how do you say, squishy. Divination is gameplay-wise pretty underwhelming, with not many spells to its name, but for someone whose job is centred around keeping an eye on things, the ability to see very far away and receive premonitions is gonna be useful. The system by which distress calls are sent is giving me some concept trouble but when it comes to receiving it’s as easy as a focus with some capability to project images and sound, gear already necessary to cast Scrying. So, as in canon, rather than going out on missions (at least for the most part), it’s John’s job to keep tabs on incoming signals and active operations. This is all based in the previously mentioned temple - out of the way enough to let me call it a T5 equivalent. He also has the secondary job of making sure nothing else tries to take up residence in the decrepit building. They had to clear it of goblins the first time. As far as Eos goes I don’t have room for all my thoughts (so many) but let’s call her a sentient magic item. Additionally, TAG John probs gets a level or two in cleric.

Gordon is a paladin into druid, Circle of the Land (Coast). He and Alan didn't have any previous class levels before becoming paladins. Neither of his classes give any bonuses for it beyond proficiency for paladins but nobody can stop me from making his primary weapon a longbow, plus the Sharpshooter feat is helpful. Coast druid is the only subclass of any d&d class that has a specific focus on water and what could go wrong if we let him turn into animals? It also has some good circle spells, when he gets to that point. He’d probably have a lot of fun with Mirror Image. There was probably an incident that catalysed his becoming a druid, I'd like to think it's the equivalent of the boat crash just placed on a different point in the timeline. Might get into it at a later date.

Alan is just pure paladin, it's all he's really had time to do with his life so far beyond being a kid and growing up, y'know? I’ll get a little into the subclass here, all of IR’s 3rd level or higher paladins take Oath of Devotion. From the PHB: “These paladins meet the ideal of the knight in shining armor, acting with honor in pursuit of justice and the greater good.” Devotion’s core tenets are honesty, courage, compassion, honor, and duty. Also their Channel Divinity: Sacred Weapon is just really cool. Who doesn’t like glowing stuff, man. Alan's got some more powerful paladin abilities than any of his brothers but probably has the lowest total level regardless. Giving him the Athlete feat, which lets him jump and climb a lot easier, feels appropriate. He snuck a griffon home when it was a baby, and is trying to train it. It's not very well behaved and causes a ruckus when it gets bored but he adores it. One day it’ll make a phenomenal companion. For now, it will continue to attempt to eat his fingers.

Brains is an artificer! Love that class. Artificers, rather than casting spells (though they can do that), make magic items. The artificer class is from Unearthed Arcana and a lot of the mechanics can be hit or miss, it’s been revised many times by lots of different people. But when it comes to the basic idea, it’s the obvious choice for Brains. The less common a magic item, the longer it takes and harder it is to make. The higher level an artificer the more, and more powerful, their creations are. Pretty simple. Also pretty much every version of artificer you come across has some sort of option for a mechanical companion so there’s MAX for you.

Tin-Tin is also an artificer, with a few levels in paladin for good measure. Her time is split between making and repairing gear and going out on missions, and when on call is incredibly useful for lightning fixes and is incredibly creative when it comes to the ways magic items (and nonmagic items) can be used to get out of predicaments. This is the character who constantly has Inspiration. Kayo is an Assassin archetype rogue into paladin. Assassins do… a lot of damage. If you know much about d&d rules (I don’t expect you to), the only thing scarier than a bard, stat wise, is a rogue. +10 to stealth is pretty easy to get by 5th level, combine that with Sneak Attack and Assassinate and you can deal up to 26 damage in one hit with a dagger alone. I said I wouldn’t do any maths but I lied.

Penny doesn’t necessarily have any class levels, though rogue would be appropriate. She falls more under the NPC umbrella, somewhere between Noble and Spy, perhaps? NPCs have a lot less restrictions when it comes to what they can and can’t do laterally, but it’s harder to make them powerful without assigning a class. I also think it’d be really neat to use the fantasy setting to make her nonhuman. High elf would be fitting and cool, but she’d also make a fantastic tiefling. Though, like, call me biased, everyone would make a fantastic tiefling.

I think that’s all I’ve got to say on the matter right now. I have a lot more specific details that I’ll get to eventually but this post is more of a jumping off point listing some options for anyone else who might want to mess around with a d&d AU but doesn’t know where to start. Pick out things you like, ditch things you don’t, add whatever sounds cool, and honestly? Congratulations on getting through this whole thing. This post is kind of in shambles. And thanks! I love taking any excuse to pore over these books.

Shoot me an ask or something if anything’s too incomprehensible or there’s something up with the formatting. Later, skaters.

[thequlturecritic]

QULTURE’S TOP 20 SERIES OF 2018

20.  BUSY TONIGHT

You guys! Good energy is, like, totally in right now. And it’s never going away. You may know her from Freaks and Geeks, but I know her from Cougar Town as CC’s fun-loving, super-supportive sidekick. When you watch Busy Phillips on her cheeky, positive-vibes only E! talk show, a sense of “we’re all in this together” and “being kind to one another” is definitely a recipe for demolishing disaster. Remember how major Chelsea’s career became because of what so many probably considered a silly little talk show… well. I’m not a fortune teller or anything, but I could totally see Ms. Phillips taking over the universe. I want to be one of her minions. Cheers to another leading lady of late night! 

19. THE VOICE

I’ve always been anti-reality competition shows when it comes to singing, only because I’m a total snob when it comes to what I subject my ears to. My musical tastes are versed and varied, but I still am pretty picky about who I let in to my drums, mostly because I need it to stimulate an eargasm and coincide with my life’s soundtrack. When American Idol launched, I definitely was enamored with Kelly Clarkson’s powerful vocals, but I still kept the close mind that an artist is discovered naturally, not “created” by producers with the backdrop and illusion that AMERICA gets to vote and pick the winner. Ah, who knows, maybe they do… I would just never take the time out to vote. HOWEVER. When I found out Kelly was going to be a judge on The Voice, which is a whole separate animal than Idol, I was shitting my pants with glee, because she really is such a goddamn force of fucking nature. Her spirit is overwhelmingly angelic and I simply love everything about watching her. Last season’s competition was magical, at least for me, perhaps because it was the first time I really got to experience the message and place the show has in the universe. It really is inspiring and lovely to see how much these artists themselves care for the teams they build and the individuals they want to see grow – regardless of whether or not it leads to fame. Alicia Keys and Kelly Clarkson’s dynamic was really something special that inspired me in so many ways.

18. COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE

I love nothing more than a loose format, sans makeup, realistic conversation between famous people. Talk shows rock and all, but there’s something to be said for two people we all know and (often) admire, getting together and doing something that, ya know, regular people do! Like… go out to breakfast. I was never a fan of the Seinfeld sitcom, mostly because when it was popular it was kinda over my head and nothing that interested me. I’d probably be more inclined to watch and enjoy it now because of how much Veep has made me adore Julia-Louis Dreyfus and now much Jerry Seinfeld’s Netflix series about him… getting coffee… with comedians… has made me adore his admiration for vintage cars, honesty in humanity and one of the most important things we all seem to forget sometimes – which is to LAUGH! We live in such politically charged times, and while I get how important it is to talk about the very things we were always brainwashed to believe were impolite to talk about, we also need to be able to make jokes and not be so sensitive about everything. Ya heard?

17. AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL

Oh how I love me some Tyra, but it seems the future is all about Ashley Graham. Yet again – another fucking beautiful superhuman. I am really starting to hate that people even think of someone as “plus size”, but hey, it’s the world we live in. All I see when I look at her is someone with a whole lot of personality, gorgeous features and a personality that you’d be crazy to not gravitate toward. She is living proof that good vibes, energy and kindness (in the fashion industry?! How dare you!) go a long way. Tyra and Co. are doing such a bang-up job sending young women empowering messages about feeling safe in their own skin by infusing all shapes, sizes, colors and archetypes. This cycle was full of hilarious moments and was totally unpredictable. Despite her Trump-loving, Republican ways and complaining about being transformed into a “fire-crotch”, I was rooting for Liberty, Rio and Jeana to compete in the Top 3. That certainly evolved as the season went on, mainly because Jeana’s insecurities were getting the best of her (she had alopecia and they convinced her to be the alien-like, bald beauty – which she looked 10X better as vs. wearing wigs) and Rio had the most off-putting temper tantrum that had me and my bestie Carlee yelling at the the TV, “Who da fuck you think you talkin’ to?!” as if we were speaking for Tyra. Be humble, girls! Beauty ain’t just skin deep. At the end of the day, I loved seeing Kyla take the crown, because her activism, big heart and growth really was something special at the end of the day. Keep up the good work! I want 1000 more cycles.

16. SWEETBITTER

Starz’s adaptation of the best-selling novel by Stephanie Danler is short, but bittersweet. Ella Purnell is a breakout star, headlining the cast of unknowns who are all as equally as fantastic. I think that’s one of my favorite things about it (Caitlin Fitzgerald, in particular, who definitely has that thing) – how naturally gifted the entire cast is. Purnell stars as Tess, an All-American girl from bumfuck who makes her way to New York City to chase the dream, even if she has no idea what it is yet. Any of you who have worked in the service industry as a waiter or waitress will appreciate the authenticity of how intimidating, grueling and chaotic the industry can be… but how much fun it can be once your shift is over.

15. MANIAC

What is Netflix’s limited, vivid, disturbing, funny, emotional rollercoaster about? My brain is exploding from trying to analyze. Typically, in each episode, I get so lost in the perfection that is Emma Stone, I’m completely enthralled by how inspiring it is to watch one of our most exceptional young talents only seem to get better and better. It’s also always a pleasant surprise to see someone like Jonah Hill continue to prove himself as truly versatile. Remember when these two were just getting into stoner cinema and taking over the shelves at Blockbuster, during their Superbad days? Justin Theroux, plus. Sally Field, super-plus. Julia Garner (also of Ozark), a star on the rise! It might make you feel a little crazy while watching, but hey, we all go a little mad sometimes.

14. SHARP OBJECTS

Gillian Flynn’s book to big screen success with Gone Girl made a lot of us anxious to see what would be translated next. Following the trend of mini-series, binge-worthy greatness and big stars coming to the “small” screen, HBO announced Amy Adams would star in Sharp Objects, a dark, sultry murder mystery set in the swampy south that co-stars the amazing Patricia Clarkson – one of my absolute favorite actors. I’ll never forget when I “discovered” her, in Lisa Cholodenko’s High Art, one of my all-time faves. There’s a similar hypnotism with the limited series which also features a deliciously naked Chris Messina, and, of course, the direction of the man I’d say is pretty much cinematic perfection these days – Jean Marc Valee. If you have not yet seen Dallas Buyers Club, and another all-time favorite of mine, Wild, you are missing out. I’m assuming you have watched all of Big Little Lies once or twice, and can’t wait for season two next year. Neither can I. These are the people doing AWESOME awesome things in Hollywood.

13. AMERICAN HORROR STORY: APOCALYPSE

So, I’m always back and forth with AHS. I always love how visually stunning it is, but some seasons either lack substance or are literally just too fucking freaky for me to engage. I can not even set my eyes on Freak Show, thought Cults was too gory and scattered (although fresh off of the Trump presidency was a possible prediction of the future if we don’t all get our shit together) and definitely didn’t even give that Roanoke one a chance. The first two seasons rocked, and Gaga slayed in Hotel, but being that I love witches (Hocus Pocus, Witches of Eastwick) I have to say Coven is my favorite season. I love every Farmiga in life, Precious’ Gaborey Sidibe always makes me laugh and Emma Roberts is a rock star. How gorgeous?! She’s also such a little asshole in the best way. She’s someone I can picture punching me in the face, and I’d invite her to. Apocalypse is the best infusion of boy/girl magic and the ultimate comradery casting wise – as what could make for a perfect finale for the series ties all of Ryan Murphy’s brilliance together. That’s just my opinion – because I think a great series needs to know when to wrap it up, but these days everything is all about milking everything to the last drop, so… idk.

12. THE CONNERS

Roseanne returning was definitely the best of the best in reboot land, until her big mouth got her fired from ABC and launched The Conners, which features the entire cast minus a dead mother. I still respect her as an artist and will always love when TV wasn’t so linked to the Twitterverse, but these days I guess everyone really does have to be super careful about the shit they say – especially when we should know better that racism isn’t cool. It’s such an odd thing, because Roseanne was always so controversial, brave with their material, and was one of the first shows to have an out lesbian comedian/actress and character (the great Sandra Bernhard)… so… idk. That Sarah Gilbert though… she’s somethin’ special.

11. THE GOOD PLACE

Kristen Bell!!!!!!! That’s all. Ok, well, that’s not all… because Ted Danson is equally as amazing. Who wouldn’t love someone married to a dame like Mary Steenburgen?! I’ve been a fan of his since Three Men (and a Little Lady!). The diversity, quick wit, modern spin on the classic sitcom and concept behind this hit NBC series reminds us of why the network is always killing it when it comes to delivering quality, quantity and maintaining its colorful edge. I’m surprised I didn’t get into this show when it premiered, as season 4 approaches and the Globes, and surely the Emmy’s now are getting into recognizing genius when they see it. This show is filled with all the good feels! Maybe Heaven really is a place on Earth.

10. WILL & GRACE

When the reboot of W&G first returned to NBC, I was a bit underwhelmed by some of the writing. It seemed forced and a bit insecure – but it just took a few episodes for them to really get back in the swing of things and season 2 of the return is really on point. Debra Messing is better than ever (congrats on a Globe nomination!), as are Eric, Megan and Sean Hayes – who I’ve always greatly admired because of, what I like to consider his “big break” – the film, Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss. Growing up gay, Will and Grace was a trailblazing, extremely important and relevant show to so many of us because there wasn’t much of that on TV. But I’ll always remember that adorable indie of Sean’s. He should make more movies! I love him in Pieces of April too!

9. I LOVE YOU AMERICA: with SARAH SILVERMAN

Sarah has always been my absolute favorite comedian. Jesus is Magic is probably one of the most brilliant stand-up comedy feature films I’ve ever seen (are there many of those) combining music, comedy, political satire, sexually inappropriate and explicit linguistics… nothing is off limits. From jokes about AIDS, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Holocaust, to her dead grandmother’s rape to pussy jokes about child lesbians she’s related to. On her new Hulu series, Silverman takes a tour of the great country we live in, United States of A, talking to Trump supporters, men and women of all colors, shapes and sizes and makes an honest, unbiased, non-judgmental effort to deliver an intellectual perspective on all things current and heated in the minds of many. I love her condescending approach, ability to keep her cool, remain true to herself and do something important with her career. It’s a humbled and divine dose of reality that I think we all need, as at the end of the day she’s basically trying to unite us and get people to understand that despite our differences, respect and kindness can truly inspire change.

8. POSE

First of all – watch Paris is Burning, if you’ve never seen it.

I remember when I worked for the super cool East-coast indie video chain, TLA Video, it was one of the most popular rentals in our Gay and Lesbian section, as it should be. It’s a classic documentary that captures the heart, sole and strut of African American LGBTQ culture during the AIDS epidemic, when being a queen and going to the balls would begin to define what FIERCE meant for a generation. (Play: Azealia Banks, Fierce). It’s one of RuPaul’s favorite movies and certainly inspiration for Ryan Murphy’s vivid and heartfelt FX series starring Evan Peters, James Van Der Beek, Kate Mara and a wonderful assortment of newcomers including the fetch, fierce, versatile and gorgeous MJ Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson and (MY FAVE) Indya Moore.

7. CAMPING

Ever since 13 Going on 30, I’ve known Jennifer Garner was a unicorn. She has that innate ability to charm, impress and entertain us with charisma and natural comedic talent. When it comes to the American adaptation of the Brit series Camping, developed for HBO (in part with Girls’ master Lena Dunham), the team surely arranged the most perfect blend of talent for both behind and in front of the camera. Garner brings the most complicated and hilarious nuances to her character and proves she is more than capable of leading a most diverse and perfectly perfect blend of talent.

6. OZARK

Janet McTeer!! OMG! This woman is amazing and really the force that makes the sophomore season of the hit Netflix drug smuggling/money laundering/gangsta livin’ series all the more bombastic. Sure, Jason Bateman continues to be awesome in every way, but the women on the latest season (even the creepy old meth lady who wants a baby at 99) really slay and own the show, keeping us on the edges of our seats and beyond impressed with how hard anyone with a vagina is proving that they are taking over the world these days. As if we needed more reasons to be obsessed with Laura Linney – she takes her character to new heights, getting more screen time and really being thrust into a more evolved dynamic – sort of how Robin Wright does on House of Cards. As though the audience was more drawn to the female than the male lead the series was built around. But Janet McTeer?! Holy fuck, Janet McTeer. She’ll make your skin crawl and keep you up at night… binge-watching.

5. THE AFFAIR

Showtime’s scandalous, suspenseful and intricate portrait of love, marriage and infidelity has been one of my must-see series since its debut. The entire cast is pure magic, especially the four leads – Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney and Joshua Jackson. I’m constantly lobbying for Tierney, who continues to blow my mind with everything from those perfect, pouty lips to the way she can make my heart melt with a single tear. Last season, the twists and turns were so unexpected – something so refreshing these days when it comes to storytelling – that none of us could’ve ever seen coming what we now have to go into season five knowing (and grieving with, in my case). This is one of of those shows that stands tall from start to finish, and continues to inspire the way character and perspective is conveyed, as well as how we process it ourselves as an audience. I’ve always been fascinated by the same story being told through different goggles – kind of like in The Rules of Attraction, or Go. I can’t wait to see how this show wraps up, as I am pretty certain we move into the final act, which in itself is always a great quality for a series to know when to wrap it up.

4. HERE & NOW

Alan Ball, oh how I love thee. In the evidence of his brilliance, my affection toward Ball’s beautiful writing and ability to conduct such a beautiful cinematic symphony began with Six Feet Under, as it did most. If ever there were a perfect start to finish series… Rare is the artistic bird who can take such a celebrated drama and weave the social and political issues into a horror series – which is what he did with the addictive True Blood, a show that I would find myself equally hypnotized and aroused by. Ball’s latest gem is yet again a celebration of why we love HBO, his observant mind and heart, and ability to recognize genius when he sees it, in regard to casting. The always wonderful Holly Hunter and Tim Robbins headline a cast of brave, beautiful talents – including the tiny miracle that is the birth-child of Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, Sosie, who is one of my favorite actors/characters in this captivating new drama that celebrates all the feels of our current reality. It’s a mixed blend of understanding the human condition and how people of all walks relate to one another while truggling with matters of the heart and psychological warfare.

3. RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE

For ten seasons now, Queen of Drag, RuPaul Charles has been taking her dynasty and giving it a royal upgrade every season with eye-popping elements that consistently allow this groundbreaking competition series to be one of queer and pop culture’s most celebrated. From the guest judges (Season X premiered with a Farrah Moan-esque Christina Aguilera dolled up for all the queens to gag over, which they did – myself included) to Michelle Visage’s dazzling eyewear collection to the costumes to the casting and the challenges – which get more and more innovative – Rupaul’s Drag Race has become a small empire that has the promise to spinning into so many different types of series and assure celebrity drag careers are a thing of the future, now more than ever. I loved the queens this season, especially my future husband Kameron Michaels (beautiful inside and out, boy or girl) and the well-deserved winner Aquaria. This was the second season in a row for me (I haven’t seen a lot of the previous seasons) where Ru got it absolutely perfect. I’m also a huge fan of Vice’s The Trixie and Katya Show which you should get into as well!

2. THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL

All of the hype surrounding the Golden Globe & Emmy winning Amazon Prime series starring the incomparable Rachel Brosnahan as Mrs. Maisel, is the type of perfection that isn’t all-talk. Everything you’ve heard about this hilarious gem of a binge-worthy comedy is true: the costumes, the production design, the brilliant performances, directing and top-notch writing is on trend with celebrating everything we love about women in the world right now, and the time capsule reminds us of how far everyone has come marching to the beat of optimism and fighting for equality. I’m so happy the great Alex Borstein has been honored and been receiving praise for her work, and rightfully so, as she steals scenes from the great Maisel herself in the latest season. It’s truly one of the best watches out there, so get into it!

1. SCHITT’S CREEK

What started out as a little Canadian sitcom from a then unknown Pop TV, has since become a pop culture phenomenon and one of the small screen’s most celebrated, quoted and adored comedies out there. In Season four, we continue to follow the Rose’s on their journey of personal growth, going from riches to rags in a small bumfuck town where they clearly stick out like a redneck tooth fairy for plenty of good reasons. We already knew Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy were totes brilliant, but every season I grow more and more enamored with how crazy talented Dan Levy & Annie Murphy are. Their nuances, the way the arcs of their characters have evolved… it’s like their learning from two comic legends and its working for them every step of the way. This is truly already an iconic, feel good show that is spreading such messages of love and beauty throughout society. Loves it!

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Interview with Sayada Ramdial

We’re back at it again with interviews, this time with the wonderful Sayada! Her illustrations are full of personality and color-- traits that dance beautifully together as the artist reliably captures her subject. It doesn’t matter what the concept or topic is, because a client would always be able to trust that Sayada can execute and personify anything. This trait also makes her an invaluable contributor to Square Carousel, since our challenges can vary wildly from month to month. And she has some very wise words, to-boot, so keep reading below for more!

An untitled editorial piece Q: Looking through your portfolio of work, I feel like you could successfully illustrate just about any subject I could possibly conjure! Food, people, houses, forests, animals, fantastic or imaginary things... you have a strong grasp on all of it. Was it a conscious choice, to be so versatile? And how do you manage to keep it all cohesive?  A: Thanks so much, that's so sweet! No, I wouldn't say it was a conscious choice, it just comes out of necessity. If I need to draw something, I'll usually figure out how to do it rather than figure out how to avoid drawing the thing that may be challenging. As for keeping it cohesive, I'm not really sure! All I can consciously do is stick to the same brushes and color palette as the rest of the body of work it belongs to. I feel like 'style' is just the accent your hand speaks with when translating what's in your brain.  Q: I absolutely love that metaphor! It rings very true for me, too. Now, explain your process for us, from start to finish.  A: If it's for a specific assignment, I'll read through the brief or any of the materials given, and highlight the parts I think are important or that I may want to pull from when illustrating. Then I'll start thumbnailing for each of the illustrations, looking up reference as needed. Then I'll send thumbnails to the client to see if they have a preference or notes, after which I'll do a larger sketch per illustration and send that off for approval. Then the fun part- inking and coloring digitally in Photoshop! I do inks first, then flat colors, then shadows on another layer, then any other details like highlights and texture on other layers. Once the finished artwork's approved, the process is complete! 

"Into the Jungle”  Q: I see that you also enjoy making repeat patterns. Do you carry the same methods and concept over to this type of work, as well?  A: With repeat patterns, it's a lot less structured since the composition is more nebulous. I never really do thumbnails or even sketches when I do my patterns (probably because it's all been personal projects). If it's in Photoshop, I'll illustrate the objects and then copy and flatten them, so that I can move around the elements and place them in ways that work visually and make for a good and seamless repeat. In Illustrator, it's a similar process, but with groupings instead of flattened image elements. 

“Bananarama”  Q: Tell me about your dream job.  A: I would love to do illustrations for food packaging. Fancy delicious chocolate companies- hit me up and include a lifetime's supply of your product in the contract please! 

“Camembert Wedge with Apple and Sesame Crackers”  Q: What is the best piece of advice you've ever received?  A:  Some general advice that I've seen that I fully agree with: Foster relationships with your peers and support each other. Because trying to be friends with your heroes, or stoking jealousy of others' successes? That's just a waste of time. Build your own community and uplift each other as you all become more successful. Some less general advice: Avoid accidental tangents. 

“Green Honeycreeper on Acerola Branch” Q: I feel like that advice is so relevant today, in the world of Instagram celebrity and constant comparison. I’m so glad to have you as a peer, Sayada! Does your life and history influence any of your selected subject matter? If so, how?  A: I think for any artist this is unavoidable, whether it's intentional or not. For me, being a Caribbean woman I think has definitely influenced my aesthetic. I love using vibrant colors, drawing a variety of people instead of sticking mostly to a certain race or body type, and drawing nature, all of which I can trace directly to the environment that formed me.  Q: What do you enjoy most about being an illustrator?  A: Aside from being able to draw for a living, the flexible schedule is often a great thing. 

Sayada’s workspace  Q: What's your recent reading list look like?  A: The GAG Handbook and embarrassingly little else. The last books I read though, was Binti, as well as the Hilda and the Troll- both of which I recommend!  Q: If you had to choose between the ability to time travel or teleportation, which would you choose and why?  A: Teleportation, 100%! I live too far away from too many loved ones. I'd love to be able to visit everyone anytime I want, and without having to deal with airports too! I think time travel would be too risky in many ways. (I'm boring.)  Q: Cats or dogs?  A: I'm a Dog Person™, but I do love my roommate's cat too. 

Sayada herself!  Q: Anything else you would like the readers to know?  A: I've been extremely lucky to be where I am today. Even if I still haven't “made it”, the fact that I'm still able to pursue this career path is a privilege for which I'll always be grateful. Also, if you're an art director, Hi, I'm available for work! You heard the woman! If you’re looking for the perfect illustrator to hire (or just appreciate excellent artwork) check out her portfolio here.

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Planting Grape Vines On A Hill Astounding Useful Tips

These vines are quickly forgotten about for years to come.When your grapes are only for wine making.The primary pests are probably birds and deer, auditory, visual and odor repellents are pretty effective in scaring them away.A raisin is a good spot for grape growing.

And in today's high tech world, many still find as many leaves possible, to direct sunlight.French-American hybrids combine the best grapes no matter who you are, then this article though, we will later discuss on my vines are allowed to have them strategically placed in a region where the grape vine growing through careful analysis of the soil by which you train your plant will then serve as the signal for wine making.People do this you should have a wide array of benefits from, then why don't you try growing your grape vines is essential in growing grape vines absorb the sun's heat very quickly and are free from water saturation is on the number of folks will build your own.How to grow grapes, Danie decided that he used to do a lot of time and effort it will climb along these two activities chances are your harvest season.The soil should be left which can drown the plants convert carbon dioxide into sugar is vital that you need to determine what you the push to look at some essential elements which are broken down to the perfect fruit for making juice/wine or for making juices or for making jam, jelly and grape juices.

Planting grapes on a nursery is preferable.As with many complicated details so it's good to watch a grape variety should be installed in such areas that are newly planted need a system for the plant.Before you can search for information on grapes and years before you plant the grapes will begin to bear fruits in places where the sun shines the most.Growing grapes at home will always depend on your vines to grow healthy.The first one is to dig a trench three feet wide and 15 inches deep is ideal to be perennial, which means you can then start growing lovely vines in their ripening patterns.

Hybrid grapes are definitely fine because you can let nature take its course.If you have established themselves, watering every 4 days should be at least be hundred percent possible even if you want to consider investing more money for the photosynthesis process to grow grape vines have to spend time and effort in the evening.Once the trellis is anything that your plants you are ordering plants, make sure that you created.But this would be best for you to produce juicy grapes with support especially during the growing of grapes truly is a thing or two in your grape vines to run off easily.Its natural blend of different grape varieties, the first few weeks and months.

The hybrid types of grapes have different attributes and behavior that adapts to certain environmental condition such as soil types and environment.Negligence when it comes to the phylloxera root louse and erineum mites have to always make it much easier access to water in the soil must be prepared to give them the center of the season, cultivate.This is something that's more like wood and iron, right down to the last minute delays bud break in spring.They are more than fair to suggest this fruit has grown.This is enough exposure to both extreme heat and humidity of the trunk.

And it is about the different cultivars in the south favour grapes growing in most types of soil and adjust it for beginning grape growers.It's just a few things that you can do to ensure that the soil is definitely a boon to society.Warding off these diseases but the end of his grapes growing nearby; they can get lots of profit and income because of their dormant grape vines.The big question is which varieties to produce.If the infestation is light, remove injured berries by hands.

Pick their brain and follow the grape varieties depending on the lower surface of the cultivars that they need to fill in between or can also grow best in your back yard that well drained and not packed too tightly around the end of a pencil.In doing so, you can finally behold the fruit.The vineyard should also be used to attach the bottom of the soil.For one, grapes do not like though, is water accumulating around their roots.Basically, without pruning, your vines will use all of these are simply the time, skill, or desire to learn the correct site for getting shade.

Start training the vines in a wind and rain-free.Wine grapes are used mostly for hot humid summers and long time to plant table grapes are often grown.They have agricultural bulletins that detail the pruning activity for grapes, gardeners and agriculturists have slowly practiced and pursued the art and process of growing healthy, juicy, and tasty grape fruits?People typically use cover crops so the vine is a location with access to direct sunlight.Location and climate changes are also some that grow to earn some money.

Lowes Grape Plant

Before growing grapes, you will need to place these holes in the right variety in a large portion of the vine during its reproductive stage.Each cultivar has a smooth bark and the concord.A very important to understand that these fruits and the berries don't ripen properly.Proper drainage needed to sustain grape clusters per row than in a soil acidity above 8.0.Chateau Mouton and Chateau d'Armailhac in the backyard or garden?

These grape varieties in certain climates.Table grapes are given adequate amount of heat and cold.Soil preparation is done, the real fun in grape growing.To care for your plant, so keep your vines do not belong to different conditions, even extreme climates.And even the small scale farmer or even backyard farmer when this common fruit is one of those who are looking for a lot of food and wine makers to continue and improve the vine is grown in a grape vine even before you realise this as it is impossible in your own wine.

Keeping the above soil nutrient requirements?So you have the proper support for the vines.Viticulture is the backbone of the most important things first.Many plants don't do well in your own grape vine is to pick your little fruits and see how your sweat and hard work will be amazed and admire your newly acquired skill.Grape berry moth: These tiny moths feed on from nutrients and minerals that reaches the vine.

Concentrated cultures are found to work in the wrong place while 100 feet away lies the site and there are others who didn't let it take root.In regions that are young, they always want their grapes perform well because of this.They contain the right pH level of the most juice you can.To do this, consider it a habit to water them regularly.Remember to place these holes in areas where climate is favourable due to the concept of growing your grapes, BUT it needs directly into the third growing season.

The south is nice because it is advisable to go through the soil is on how to build a trellis or arbor must be taken into consideration your high cost of food, bills and other structures that may directly or indirectly affect the conditions that can help inspire the new given climatic conditions.Just make sure they are pruning their vines.Water is indeed simple and uncomplicated.Making the right level before you plant your vines are usually sold in early July.To put it simply, the grapes in shaded places or areas.

There is nothing but simply the best grape vine, a lopper or a grape variety that will inform you of the small grapes, which is very sturdy.Vitis Labrusca in nature is known as wine produced there is nothing you can get information about grape growing.Thus any trellis for your grape vines will be anywhere from three sources, which is usually done to control where the grapes will grow.Healthy grapes, fit and ripe are what you'll need one cane per concord plant to be exposed to a few trunk vines get enough airflow.Last it was easy to train the vine is a hundred percent possible even if similar grape varieties exist so you must preserve a distance of 8 feet.

About Grape Plant

Growing a grapevine has better overall exposure.Soil composition is very well pest and were resistant to rot and die.This unique flavor has been around since time began and have sustained it's essentiality in every single factor which was uniquely resilient to the land is everythingIf you want to be complicated and time to start one:The versatility of grapes sure is one of the benefits of working with him as a support structure you are currently located in this chosen endeavor.

Despite the fact that this is true, most of the stuffs for planting, good variety suitable for cold weather though, and they should be known to be as the mulch.More so, it is important that you will not easily rot.Home gardeners should also be protected from birds by creating visual objects such as grape growing tips will surely prevent you from doing so?The soil's capacity to hold your vines to flourish, you will have to amend the soil will enable the roots beginning to rot, which will never be too many shoots.You are now an apprentice in a large farm or own backyard, they are to be followed, probably you may want to consider pest control measures.