#the effect looks better on larger edits

[klaunee]

Edit 2/12/2024: I wanted to add a disclaimer to my redesigns! I really appreciate all of the likes and comments that these have garnered, but I just want to add that these aren't intended to be "improvements" or "fixes" of the original designs in any way and were done as a character design exercise for my own entertainment. Looking back on them there's a lot I'd like to change about them and I'd never claim to be anything more than an amateur/hobbyist character designer messing around with these character concepts.

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Alright I wasn't really feeling the other one I just did. I wanted to diverge a bit from it to better fit the other redesigns I did and do my own take on Al, which is why I made this one that's more shamelessly inspired by Cab Calloway.

I based him on Cab Calloway because I want him to have Mr. Calloway's charisma and showmanship to accentuate his role as a radio host. I feel like the canon Alastor is too subdued in terms of expressiveness, and of course this is part of what makes him unnerving, but I wanted to subvert that. This rendition would still be a gentleman, but he's much more animated in terms of his body movements and facial expressions. He's witty and has a great sense of humor. A big man with a big smile and a larger than life personality. Constantly schmoozing and sweet-talking other people. And yet there's just something off about him...

Copying my design notes from the other post and adding a few more.

Premise: A man who was born in a semi-rural part of the United States but moved to the big city at a young age. Became infatuated with the music and entertainment scenes of the city and idolized performers of the Jazz age, Vaudeville actors, and comedians. Decided to become a radio host himself after working at a local station and became renowned for his humor and wit. However, despite loving several parts of the big city, Alastor was disdainful of the rapid industrialization taking place and its effect on the environment he'd grown up in. In an attempt to make his broadcasts, which increasingly gained a more serious and environmentalist bent, reach more viewers, he delved into the occult and made pacts with demons. Unfortunately, his meddling with the occult drove him insane. Fortunately, however, his familiarity with black magic granted him increased powers when he showed up in Hell. Overall, a gentlemanly character with a suppressed madness that seeps out from time to time.

He's very tall. I wanted to make him uncanny looking while still retaining the gentlemanly appearance of the canon version and to do this I tried to give him an elongated silhouette. He's as tall as Angel Dust, if not taller when standing up, but he's constantly bending over either due to poor posture or to ingratiate himself to the shorter masses.

No more sexyman hourglass figure, I made him a bit broader to give him a bigger presence.

Cab's signature pencil moustache. I see a lot of people giving him one and I'm not sure if we share the same inspiration, but it's a cool look!

Overall a more desaturated, sepia palette than the rest of the cast for an old-timey look (I mean Angel Dust is old-timey too but... forget about it). Also to contrast with the red of Charlie's suit.

The black line parts of his antlers are meant to look like the velvet shedding deer undergo as well as power lines, with an eye in the center which resembles the flame between Baphomet's horns. This eye is where his "power" emanates from so to speak, like a radio signal.

Waveform design on his suit.

Design on his shirt meant to resemble a ribcage.

BIG ANTLERS! (less so in this version, more manageable)

Diamond design on the pants to indicate he is a trickster.

A long, deer-like neck and a deer-like yet human-like face to give him an uncanny look.

His right eye is a radio dial and he has a speaker in his mouth to produce that radio quality when he speaks.

I tried to make his suit look like a zoot suit for historical relevance, particularly the broad-shouldered ones worn by such performers as Cab Calloway. I made his pants high-waisted and pegged.

His staff is based on antique carbon microphones with the center modified to look like an inverted pentagram.

He practices black magic.

His entire body is covered in fur save for his face and ears, like a werewolf.

Thanks for reading!

[rakurairagnarok]

Hi there! I'm heading to the U.A.E. from America in a few days and I'm quite anxious. I was wondering if there was any clothing at Rakurai Inc which would help me fit in better with the locals and boost my confidence and assertiveness?

Glad you got in touch! We have exactly what you have been looking for!!

You found a package when you got home from work. It was a completely blank box except for a small sticker reading Rakurai Inc.

You open it up to find a slick looking headset in it, with some arabic inscriptions on it. You look around the box, but can't find anything on how it works. It doesn't seem to have a jack in it nor any way for you to connect it to your phone with bluetooth so you decide to put it on.

Immediately it starts to play a tape.

"Learning module activated. Scanning for necessary courses"

Suddenly a weird humming begins to drone in your ears. Along with it certain arabic sounding phrases started playing in your head. The first few times you couldn't understand any of it, but suddenly you understood most of it.

"Big, strong, fertile"

Images of big strong arabic men appear in your head. You stumble a bit as your sense of balance was thrown off. You look down and see the legs of your pants have gone up your legs. You watch it with facination as the headset continues.

"Large, Leader, Rich"

Your head begins to spin again and you can barely get yourself on the couch.

You look down to see your pants tight on your legs, almost painted on. You see your bulge growing in your pants, and with it waves of pleasure start spreading through your body.

The tape speeds up, a larger variety of phrases being pushed into your brain, while your mind fogs over due to the pleasure.

"Plump, handsome, regal"

"In charge, charismatic, addictive"

"Cultured, gorgeous, playfull"

Your body keeps growing. Bisceps exploding through the fabric of your shirt, while your pecs are involuntarily bouncing. Your waist snaps, slimming down while your abs flex and push to the surface. Your back widens, shoulders rounding out. Your growing cock starts leaking, before bursting free from the confines of your pants. Your moans echo through your appartment, a previously unknown amount of pleasure radiating through your body.

Your hands explore your growing body.

"Wanted, desired, needed"

"Hungry, hungry, hungry"

You are hungry. A primal hunger that you couldn't satiate here. You need ... you want to be...

"Topped, fucked, bred"

Yes... your mind racing, you want cock, you need it, but you are in charge.

Your ass growing, you feel your hole pucker. It tenses, and releases. You know. You don't get fucked. You fuck. You aren't just a bottom. You drain your partners. They aren't penetrating you, you allow them to enter you, for them to experience the best moment of their lives.

"In charge, draining, dominant"

A grin appears on your face, a face that has been perfected due to your new toy. Sharp jaw, perfectly trimmed beard. Plump lips to get their tool ready.

You make them desperate for more. You got loads of different "tops" on speed dial. They say they're a top, but they are actually too afraid to take it, but you're much better.

You take of your headphones and look around your room. It's a penthouse in one of the most expensive buildings in the U.A.E. which had been gifted to you by one of your clients. You look at your phone and see a few notifications telling you of the massive amount of money you have made from your previous night out.

You smile, life is good.

I hope you enjoyed our trial edition language learning headphones!!! As seen in the picture they are state of the art and can be modified to fit any needs. Be aware some side effects may occur, cultural switch, sluttyness, or iq loss are some of the most common. Please continue your patronage with Rakurai Inc.

[gatheringbones]

laura s. brown, from lesbians, weight, and eating: new analyses and perspectives, from lesbian psychologies: explorations and challenges, edited by the boston lesbian psychologies collective, 1987

["Lesbian fat activists, a non-client population, seemed to be women who are comfortable with their lesbianism. My lesbian clients who are fat, although not necessarily activists, seem to be generally unconcerned about their weight and are for the most part physically active women who perceive themselves as healthy and attractive. I have noticed a relationship between healing from homophobia and reduction of negative self-concept where weight is concerned. For example, a lesbian client who entered therapy from a position of great internalized homophobia could not comfortably say the word 'lesbian' and avoided associating with other lesbians. Her weight was greater than average for her height, although within the norms for women in her family: she consciously perceived her fat as one of the indicators of her lesbianism and her undesirability as a person. Therapy focused on issues of internalized homophobia as it affected self-concept and interpersonal functioning. However, a side effect of the therapy was that this woman came to embrace her lesbianism in a more positive manner, she also began to see herself as attractive at her current weight. She changed her hairdo so that her face, which she had previously stigmatized as looking fat, and had tried to hide with her hair, would be more visible. She also purchased clothing in bright colors that she had always liked but had avoided buying for fear of bringing attention to her "fat, unattractive" body. She took up exercise, which she had loved as a girl but abandoned after puberty as her body assumed its (apparently) genetically determined larger size. She became active in the lesbian community and often commented in therapy sessions about her amazement that there were so many attractive women who were also fat. Her relationship with food also changed: she began to be more careful about what she put into her body, and paid better attention to foods that left her feeling uncomfortable and off center, rather than simply to caloric content.

Such anecdotal and clinical observations must be made cautiously because the empirical data is sparse. The trends that I and my colleagues have observed clinically when we consciously attend to the relationship between homophobia and fat oppression are suggestive. They point to some directions that lesbians and therapists, and therapists who work with lesbians, may wish to consider in working with lesbian clients around issues of food, eating, and body image and size.

It is essential for therapists to examine internalized myths of fat oppression as we apply them to ourselves and our clients. Do we, for instance, assume that fat women are fat because they are eating in an out-of-control manner? Do we assume that women who are not fat are not concerned with their weight and are eating in ways that are healthy and functional simply because the result is one of normal size? Do we accept the ego-dystonic nature of a woman's fat as proof of the need to lose weight, or do we ask the same questions that are not asked about so-called ego-dystonic homosexuality as a diagnosis? Do we secretly envy women with bulimia because "they can eat as much as they want and it never shows"? Do we fat-oppress ourselves by shaming ourselves about our own pleasure in food or by engaging in self-punitive actions such as compulsive dieting? Do we fat-oppress fat women by assuming that they want suggestions about diets, or by telling them "I feel fat, too"— pretending empathy with the real-world aspects of discrimination against fat women by virtue of our own participation in the process of fat oppression? When we hear lesbians derided as fat and ugly, do we protest that "we're not all fat," or do we examine carefully the relationship between the devaluation of fat women and the devaluation of lesbians? Until and unless the therapist examines and changes her own internalized fat oppression, she is likely to fat-oppress her clients, in either overt or covert manners.

In re-examining our fat oppressive norms, we must also make the personal connections to our internalized homophobia and from there, to the misogyny that lies at the basis of them both. A woman who nurtures herself with food, and who does so without guilt, shame, and self-hate has challenged a very basic message given women against feeling worthy of love and sustenance. A lesbian who loves herself and her love of other women and does so without guilt, shame, and self-hate breaks another such rule, that of compulsory heterosexuality. A woman who is spending time and energy on her own pleasure by feeding herself lovingly, by using the resources available to her, by taking as much space as her body grows into, is as clearly revolutionary as is the woman who loves, values, and commits her energies to the love of women. It is quite natural and healthy for women to rebel against the woman-hating inherent in both fat-oppression and homophobia. So-called "eating-disordered" women are the most obvious causalities of that battle. The struggle to be able to stay thin enough while still eating enough to satisfy hunger is often manifested in the alternative bouts of bingeing, purging, and laxative abuse found in bulimia, or in the swings between compulsive stuffing and compulsive dieting found in other women who feel too fat."]

[nsves]

blender lighting tutorial + tips.

requested by @thecrimsonsimmer + recommended viewing: youtube video one, two, three, and four. this post will be dealing with newer versions of blender (2.8+) and cycles since that's what i'm more familiar with + commonly used for rendering. this is coming from me as an artist with some dabbling in photography and things i've learned in college!

references and setting the mood

are you basing your render on an existing photo? study the light source and what direction it's coming from: that's what's going to tell you your set up for a similar effect. if you're not basing it on an existing piece, a good start is knowing How you want to set your subject (your sim) up - do you want them to be in the spotlight? are they in a specific environment that has neon lights? are you going for moody or something fresh, bright? definitely look up colors and their meaning (color theory, movie screencaps, etc.) to create a stronger image!

using resources to start the set up

it's always a good thing to mix your tools with different communities, such as the art community! many have lighting tools to figure out how to color their subject, such as this free-to-use head figure that depicts where the lighting source should be placed.

there's also the photography community and teaching people how to set up their lights for certain setups. video three and four linked in the beginning are from photography viewpoints.

spot? area? point? sun?

let's think of the lighting types as objects - a spot is like a plain lightbulb, area is a reflective sheet, spot is a flashlight, and the sun... well is the sun!

a spot is similar to an area light, but triangular/a cone. think of a helicopter search light, it's focused on a small area with the most light concentration. these can be used for lamps with lampshades, car headlights, or a lighthouse.

an area light is great for lighting up technology. a phone screen, tv screen, tablet, anything that's an LED screen emitting from a surface. the light is not as concentrated as a spot and is meant to cover more flatly (hence the rectangular source)

a point is best used for small pops of colors such as candlelight, lamppost, lightning bug tail, etc. a small source that has nothing covering it.

a sun covers the entire area and can be used as the overall mood setter. it can create filter over the entire render by just shifting the color like you would see in a movie. you'll be given a line with a sun light that gives the direction of where the sun is coming from. basically a spot light just on a much larger scale LOL.

power + coloring

this screenshot is mostly what you'll only use to start off with. watts is the unit of measurement and the higher you go, the brighter the light will be. examples with a white colored point light 10W-20W: general portrait lighting 30W-50W: bright source, close flashlight for example 60W+: blinding

coloring is just like the system for in game lights for ts4. shift it to whatever you want it to be (click the white bar, that's the color preview) and mess around with the vibrancy. the darker, more intense color, the less it's going to appear on the sim.

closeness and intensity

similar to what's shown in the head lighting tool shown earlier, the closer the light is, the more that specific area is lit up. go too close and your sim could be completely washed out. it helps to change the size of the light (change with the radius slider) to better imitate what you're wanting. the larger the radius, the more diffused and softer the light source will be. close + small = very clear of the light source shape, can obviously tell where it is in relation to the subject far away + large = soft lighting, more of a hazy lighting of the color you choose.

to quickly adjust the light, press "G" and hold down your middle mouse button to adjust which axis you'd like to edit along. green is the x-axis, blue is the y-axis, and red is the z-axis. you can also press "G" and type the letter of the axis you want to use. drag the mouse to change the placement on that specific axis to however you want. if you want to freely edit the placement, just press "G" to move it out of the axis bounds.

world lighting

take this step as setting your canvas color before you start painting. in order for the values to look their best, change the world color to the same hue of the color you are mostly using. for example, this is set in a red-toned environment:

this is essentially changing the cast shadow onto the sim. the default is gray and will muddy up your undertones if not changed properly. for this instance, if you were to still use the same red point light in a gray world color it'd look like this:

of course, this will be based on if you have an environment image or not that can affect your lighting overall. this post is based on the fact there is no environment image and what not! if you need a visual demonstration on how to mess with the world lighting, check out this short video.

i hope that helped anyone beginning to render or wanting to light up your own scenes! i'm no rendering expert, but here's some of the helpful tricks i've learned and collected over the years<3 if you have any other questions feel free to send an ask!

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (January 14-20, 2024)

Ultraman Blazar's finale aired on Friday. It was a solid capper to what's easily the best entry in the Ultra Series since I was an undergrad, full of heart and pyrotechnics. There were a few major loose ends—Captain Gento is better at keeping secrets than most hosts—which I'm hoping the movie, due in late February, will address. If you're looking for a place to start with the long-running franchise, it would be one of my first recommendations. Great effects, great cast, tons of new kaiju, and a blend of novelty (lots of focus on the tensions between the defense team and the larger monster-fighting organization; a host who's in charge of said defense team) and returning to form (Blazar yowls plenty but is an Ultra of few words; the power-ups and goofy weapons are kept to a minimum). And even if you don't want to commit to a whole show, episode 22, focusing on a hapless salesman of kaiju insurance, is a must-see for any fan of the genre. There seem to be no worlds left to conquer at Tsuburaya for lead director Kiyotaka Taguchi, so as I've been saying since around 2015: Toho, are you paying attention?

Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, the regraded black and white version of Godzilla Minus One, is coming to North American theaters for one week starting January 26. Toho's yanking both versions from theaters after February 1—puzzling considering that the film is likely going to be nominated for the Best Visual Effects Oscar tomorrow. Takashi Yamazaki led a Godzilla delegation to the Academy's visual effects "bakeoff", in which voters watch highlights from the ten shortlisted films and their VFX teams explain their work. IndieWire reports that Yamazaki's presentation drew the most applause, describing Minus One as the "potential frontrunner." The Hollywood Reporter likes its chances too. Nominations will be announced starting at 8:30 AM EST. The Creator seems to be its biggest competition.

Godzilla Minus One also recently cleared $50 million at the U.S. box office, in the process passing the first Demon Slayer as the highest-grossing Japanese-language film ever released in the U.S. Some outlets are reporting that it's the highest-grossing Japanese film ever released here, which isn't accurate; the English-dubbed Pokémon: The First Movie made almost $86 million back in 1999. (And I think it's plausible that something like Rodan or Godzilla vs. Megalon would be the champ if you figured out how much they grossed and adjusted for inflation.)

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #4 brought Godzilla and Tiamat to Atlantis, forcing Aquaman to release the Kraken to defend his city. Incredibly, this is the third Kraken associated with the Monsterverse, after Na Kika (called Kraken when it was introduced in the King of the Monsters novelization) and the main antagonist of the Skull Island cartoon. I'm guessing it's going to have a shorter lifespan than either of them though.

In other Godzilla comic news, IDW will be putting out another intriguing one-shot in May, titled Godzilla: Mechagodzilla 50th Anniversary. Past comics from the publisher have included multiple Mechagodzilla models, but this one seems to be going above and beyond. Rich Douek is writing; Andrew Lee Griffith is illustrating. The logline:

For 50 years, the King of the Monsters, Godzilla, has gone toe to toe with its robotic doppelgänger, Mechagodzilla! As an intrepid reporter profiles the history of Mechagodzilla and its creator before the launch of the newest model, he finds himself entangled in a much deeper conspiracy. A decades-spanning adventure celebrating the mechanical monster's milestone!

One of master kaiju illustrator Shinji Nishikawa's books will receive an English translation courtesy of Titan Books. Awkwardly titled Godzilla: The Encyclopedia of Godzilla, the Japanese edition included over 100 full-bodied illustrations of various Godzilla series kaiju and analyses of their designs (alongside plenty of Nishikawa's trademark chibis). I'm sold, suffice to say.

Ryo Momota, director of the short tokusatsu film Revive! Smile Rock Giant God, has put the whole thing on YouTube with English subtitles for your amusement. It posits that a real rock formation outside of Tamano City will come to life to help its citizens in their hour of need. Very low-budget.

Kaiju Brooklyn is a one-day con that began filling a longtime void for East Coast kaiju fans last year. Here's the first major piece of news about their June 1 event: they'll be screening The Return of Godzilla outdoors at day's end. Consider me highly tempted.

Kaiju United has a new, wide-ranging interview with Barry Goldberg, webmaster of the legendary Barry's Temple of Godzilla. That fan site was my first window into the wider world of Godzilla in the early 2000s, and it's only been updated a few times since, so I was pretty interested to read how its creator was doing. Don't get your hopes up for a revival: he's still a Godzilla fan (loved Minus One, Shin not so much), but has moved on to other things. Great insights from a Big Name Fan who stayed humble.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

No other option for this poll since it's based on the options that won a top 2 spot in the previous rounds.

Grace Field Kids Edition Goldy Pond Edition Lambda 7214/Paradise Hideout Edition Free-For-All Edition Other Platonic Duo Polls Suggestions Post

Copypasta'd propaganda from my other posts under the cut:

Grace Field Poll: I was glad to see how well Don & Emma and Gilda & Ray were doing on the Grace Field poll. ;w; Both feel the most criminal to me given how big of a role Don and Gilda play in the series, but ultimately I went with Gilda & Ray because I couldn't think of any moment for them that was equivalent to Don being the first of the larger group of kids to voice his support for Emma's plan:

(Chapter 130)

Except for maybe this brief exchange they added to the anime:

(S1 Episode 12)

Episode 10 also nixes the scene of Don and Gilda privately conversing in the woods in chapter 31 and instead has Ray apologizing to Don and Gilda directly rather than just Emma, which is made even more poignant when you consider how strongly he reacted to Emma and Norman giving them false hope about still being able to save Conny in chapter 11/episode 4.

He's not even trying to feign the distance he self-imposed between them in his mind at this point. He's genuinely sorry for failing them for their own sakes, not as extra able bodies who could assist Emma and Norman outside the wall. And it's a genuinely distressing sight for the two of them, seeing him at his lowest point after everything he sacrificed for this plan.

To have her then knowingly hum and hold that look of fondness for him when she sees how shocked is, after years of believing a better outcome was impossible, and how worried he is, because try as he might to keep the other children at arm's length mentally there's a way Ray frets over and looks after them that is reminiscent of Gilda's own (they are united in being the Mom Friends™ of the escapees 🤝), is such a sweet, gentle kindness that they didn't have to include but I'm very glad they did.

Goldy Pond Poll: Emma & Oliver has always felt like one of the most pertinent dynamics to come out of Goldy Pond alongside Emma & Violet with the amount of focus each are given individually as effectively the leaders of the Grace Field escapees and Goldy Pond kids, respectively, and together. The latter is significantly less, unfortunately, but Oliver usually acts as Emma's point person when she needs to confer information/plans and Norman and Ray won't work for the situation because symbolically the scene calls for a representation of larger group cohesion with the kids she didn't grow up with.

Also, after losing so many older siblings at Grace Field and becoming the big sister/leader of them, it's nice to have her regain that kind of relationship with any of the Goldy Pond group; Oliver just happens to have more panels dedicated to it lol

(Chapter 69)

(Chapter 110 & 111)

(Chapter 122; this moment is so minuscule, but again we have Oliver acting in a leader role and Emma using him as a point of reference to confirm that taking it easy in this new place is wise and safe for everyone. If even Oliver thinks it's okay to act like this—to say nothing of the way he tells her so gently and in so few words—then she can rest a little more soundly.)

(Chapter 161)

(Chapter 179; he's not the only one given focus here, but I like that he's the one this bit ends on to drive the point home to Norman and Ray about Emma.)

And then this piece by @nagaikei-ajin is my favorite of the two of them for the intensity and parallels.

i want to believe emma and oliver are carrying on yugo and lucas’ will and even got a pair of gloves for remembrance... 

Free-For-All Poll: I'm glad other people are also fucked up by this panel of Ayshe & Mujika:

(Chapter 144)

The way she's staring at Mujika in rapt attention, left hand grabbing for hers while she holds her right in front of her chest to show how animated she is in the conversation, either because she's gesturing to herself or is at a loss for words in the the excitement of the moment or because the adrenaline from the skirmish with Hayato and Jin is wearing off and trying to will the words to spill forth.

It's been months since she's been able to hold a conversation with anyone in the language her father passed down to her because he believed it was something worth preserving of his culture from a millennia ago, so to be able to have that back with someone as kind and graciously loving as Mujika is something special.

[teaandtoastandthyme]

Lockwood & Co - Books vs. show preferences

First, things about Lockwood & Co that I like better in the books. (Book and show spoilers abound in both these lists.)

The timeline. I'm actually very confused about what the timeline in the show is supposed to be. I could see a somewhat condensed timeline making sense for screen adaptation, but I felt like the show didn't give the characters enough time to know each other as well as they supposedly did.

Which boy drew his rapier first in the Archives. In the show, Lockwood draws his rapier first to defend both Lucy and himself against Kipps' nastiness. In the books, Lockwood draws his rapier in quick defense against Kipps' rapier, having used his words rather than his sword to provoke Kipps. I just like that bit of character portrayal better.

The scene at the Combe Carey well. I think Lockwood's "No, Lucy. That's not the way it's going to be." is such a powerful foreshadowing line about how they help pull each other away from the call of death. And it would have fit so well with some of the other scenes they added for the show.

The Skull's dialogue. Certainly most of his best sarcastic lines are in later books, but they didn't set his character up well to make those remarks. While the tone of the show is a bit different than the books, it seems they could have kept at least a little of his ridiculous nature.

The plan (or lack-thereof) for infiltrating the relic auction. While certainly the trio (plus Flo) are plenty chaotic in this part of the books, they DO have a pretty well-thought-out plan to get into the auction and get the bone glass. They're not just winging it. There are several minor plot holes and/or convenient plot devices in the show that wouldn't have had to happen if they had kept the Winkman auction scene a little closer to the books. And it would have highlighted that these kids actually are smart. (And that Lockwood is actually good a making plans sometimes.)

And now, things I like more about the show adaptation:

George's physical characterization. The books' use of Lucy's voice to disparage George's appearance can be overwhelming to the point of distracting sometimes. I appreciate that the show allowed Lucy and George to have some conflict without it involving making fun of physicality in any way. There's enough of that already in the world. That is literally my least favorite part of the books. (Though at least Lucy does mature a bit over the series in this respect.) [Edited to clarify: I have nothing against George in the books or the way he looks, just the way the others talk about it!]

The expansion of Norrie's role. I think this was a brilliant move to highlight the trauma Lucy experienced and heighten the stakes a bit. And it was also the perfect device for explaining parts of the world in narrative form.

A deeper exploration into mental health and suicidality. The books contain these themes, but I love the way the show brought these characters' experiences of trauma and mental illness more fully into conversation with each other and with the story. It was masterfully done, without romanticizing or preaching or toning down.

Lockwood giving Lucy the diamond necklace before the party. When I first watched this scene in its entirety, I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. I am so used to male characters telling the dressed-up scrappy female character how stunningly beautiful she is, and I hate it. I hate the way it shifts the agency and purpose of the woman's appearance. I've said before in other posts how much I appreciate that Lockwood just lets Lucy be in this scene. She doesn't need him to compliment her appearance because her appearance is not for him. And then, of course, the necklace can be more about connection and relationally rather than approval or beauty.

Clues about Lockwood's parents and the nature of the Problem a little earlier. It ties the stories together into one larger mystery a bit sooner and quite effectively, I think.

What about you? What are your favorite changes in the show, and what do you like better in the books?

[toxicanonymity]

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey Love! How are you?

I'm going around to my favorite writers to ask this question, because I'm really curious on what you're thinking.

When you're writing Smut and you say the guy has a big dick what size are you imagining, length and width?

I am good! Thank you ❤️❤️❤️. I hope you are too! I personally think of it as at least long enough to stack both hands wrapped around just the shaft (tip sticking out on top) and thick enough that your thumb can't meet a finger when you wrap your hand around it.

As for the measurements, here are some HCs I've previously done of dick sizes and characteristics, basically just making the point that the Joels are different.

🍆👇🍆

Dick Headcanons, key word HEAD 😏

Night Walks - 19 cm (7.5") base to tip erect, and on the girthier end of average. Just barely curved upward for your pleasure. He's a shower not a grower. Tan, smooth. Huge balls. Hair still mostly dark, not much gray down there. Better groomed than you might expect - he's kinda vain.

Raider - 20 cm (8”). Proportional girth. Bulbous - middle is slightly thicker than tip and base. Kind of duo-toned, pink and tan, tip is pink. Shower and a grower. Balls on the larger side. Black, ungroomed hair. Relatively veiny.

Free Use - 17 cm (6.7”). Thick. Pale shaft, pink tip, tip is not much girthier than shaft. Grower. Proportional balls. Straight, almost geometric due to the pattern of veins. Black hair that he keeps trimmed but not closely shaven or manscaped.

Stepdad - 17 cm (6.7”). Thick. Upward curve. Shower. Proportional balls. Pink with darker pink tip. Salt and pepper hair, mostly pepper. Long tip. Symmetrical but not much personality, looks kind of like a dildo. Occasionally shaves completely, furthering the effect.

Trouble 18 cm (7”), one of the girthiest Joels, slightly tapered, couple of nice veins, prominent tip (the size of a lime according to Just the Tip). Somewhat of a grower. Proportional balls. On the pinker side, tip slightly darker. Neatly manscaped salt and pepper hair.

Speakeasy 19 cm (7.5") tan with pinker tip that's long but close to the same girth as his shaft, he's a grower, just barely curved upward, relatively veiny. Decently groomed, pubic hair is darker than the hair on his head.

*NEW*

Lincoln (cannot compute length) - Tip comes to his belly button in the very graphic slouching visual i have in my head, idk how to translate that length and don't wanna sell him short (or long). Tan, 4 or 5 bluish veins but not thick ones. Perhaps in the top half of Joels in length, but the bottom third in girth if measured mid-shaft (base is thicker). Tip on the narrower side. Shaft curves upward toward his body but not to an extreme. Hair is mostly dark gray, well kempt.

editing to add:

Thighs Out - 17 cm (6.7"), light pinkish tan shaft, pink tip, well groomed, brown hair, not very veiny, moderate to hefty girth. It is a very good looking dick and he's a shower. It's warm and smooth and he gets sooooo hard. Balls: Moderate to large, not as saggy as you'd expect for his age! And not very hairy

Brat Tamer / Big Daddy - 20 cm (7.9") base to shaft, the tip is almost the size of a tennis ball in volume (like if you molded it into a cockhead shape). Tan shaft, purple-ish tan tip. Bluish veins that don't protrude much. Large balls that hang low. Hair is dark with a touch of gray. Manscapes because it makes him look even bigger. He's a shower, which given his size means he has a nice bulge even when he's not hard.

Slasher Joel 18.5 cm (7.3"). Very girthy, can't wrap your hand around it. Looks thick even in his big manly hand. Tan, but flushes angry red when rock hard. Tip is proportional to shaft. Prominent dorsal vein, otherwise not very veiny. Hairy, does not shave or manscape, but has good hygeine. He's a grower, and the growth is a barometer of his himbo status. Huge, heavy balls.

-

You can HC them however you want though. Also your dick doesn't have to be this big to be big IRL, and it doesn't have to be big at all to be more than enough.

[snapscube]

Hey, I just edited my first ever stream (was Kuu's Colosseum vod) and I used your suggested method!!! it was fun, and I see making more as an inevitability. Thank you! :]

Though there was one question I had, and maybe it's a diff in the software, but it was about the second pass, where you making the rough cuts based on the timestamps recorded but keep the original source unchanged. I assumed this was so that you could go back to the original source and get more or less context to make a transition between clips better.

I've been using Shotcut, and it has the ability to extend a clip back or forwards, re-gaining cut footage, so I effectively have the original video at all times even when I cut it to pieces. Am I misunderstanding the point of keeping the original vod alongside the rough cuts?

(Included both parts of your ask so I can answer in one, hope you don't mind!) Yeah so let me hit these points beat by beat!

Personally the "two timelines" approach for me is just helpful as a general frame of reference for how much original footage is there, how much I've been able to cut down to, where my clips are on that timeline, AND yes, how much context surrounds each clip that I could either remove or utilize as I edit the rough cut down further. Ultimately it's MOST useful for that last point though, so if something like that Shotcut feature works better for you then 100% feel free to omit my suggestion! Not everything that works for me is gonna work for you and that's totally fine! I just like having a version of the timeline with all my markers lined up to the uncut footage JUST IN CASE, and it's something I'd recommend as people get familiar with the needs of their own workflow and the abilities of the editing suite they use.

When it comes to the video lengths you should be looking at for a final cut, it REALLLY depends on a lot of different things. What's the mission statement of the video, who is the target audience, what are your goals for pacing. Personally, for the main SnapCube channel we like to sit around the 30-60 minute window for edits, give or take depending on how long the original stream was. This is often being cut down from streams around 3-4 hours minimum, so safe to say a LOT of stuff ends up on the cutting room floor. But personally I find that a lot of the biggest time cuts actually end up in the polishing phase after you've already done a rough cut, because that's when we are just completely "butchering" the original pacing of my commentary and bits and story moments to just make everything super snappy (haha), as that's the style we're going for. Ellie in particular does a lot of sentence splicing and rearranging my commentary to fit a smaller amount of footage that communicates the larger idea of a bit or conversation, it's super impressive. I'd say definitely play around with the format and try to take a couple passes to see how much you can get things down while still communicating the original experience well, but OVERALL your style is your style and if long videos are the vibe with the audience you're shooting for, there's no harm in that. You're gonna find a good balance with practice!

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

Hunger

I posted this a bit ago, but I think I accidentally deleted it while cleaning up my blog. So I edited it a bit and thought I should post it again. I think it's a neat look at Majexatli and the fact they're a Malarite.

CW: Hunting, Violence, Everything you'd imagine would come with worship of Malar (a Chaotic Evil deity of hunting, bloodlust, bestial violence)

//

Majexatli wondered, sometimes, what drew them to the hunt. 

It wasn’t something they took the time to consider before the Nautiloid, when they prowled the Sword Coast in wildshape. Back then they rationalized it; it was much easier to hunt and eat in wildshape than to gather ingredients and make camp and cook something. Having most of their meals be bloody and raw made the ones they had outside of wildshape that much more special.

Now, though? They spent their days as a person, every night there was a camp with plenty of rations, there was wine and cooked meats and soups and bread enough for everyone. There were traders who could sell them any array of foods, there were greens and mushrooms a plenty along the road, abandoned campsites and kitchens with all sorts of meats and produce. 

Majexatli didn’t need to hunt, every night they could curl up by a fire with a full belly.

So what drew them to the hunt? Why did they still feel a hunger clawing at them? A restlessness in their own skin? 

Sometimes at night, Majexatli watched Astarion hunt while prowling in the shadows and lurking in trees. He was effective enough but clumsy. As much as he has grown better at stealth, at ambushing enemies with his bow or dagger, he was different when he had just his teeth, when his mind was preoccupied with hunger. It was quick and inelegant, never drawn out, he picked whatever animal he could find, it didn’t matter what it was so long as they had blood. 

It seemed wasteful.

Sometimes Majexatli entertained the thought of teaching him how to hunt properly, the art of drawing it out. Maybe they could have him hunt them, make him prove himself before spilling their blood. Never were his eyes more present and alive than when their blood was on his tongue.

They could teach him the rules of the hunt.

They shouldn’t, they knew, shouldn’t drag him down with them. They were supposed to be the kind and wise druid coaxing him back from the edge, rather than echoing the dark whispers in their mind and showing him the shards of divinity that could be in everything if you tore into the flesh enough, how if you swallowed holiness bloodied and raw enough it could fix you from the inside.

But Astarion was a vampire, undead, he needed blood to live. He had a reason for his bloodshed, he would starve without it. What reason did Majexatli have? 

If their hunt was just a supplication, a prayer, an offering, then why did they hunger? 

Was devotion making them a monster, or was their piety a justification for the monster they already were?

If they weren’t a monster, if they were truly good, then Majexatli would have been at camp, basking in the victory of the Shadow Curse being lifted, finding what pleasure could be found in the brief moments before they chased the Elder Brain to Baldur’s Gate. 

Kethric Thorm was dead, the Nightsong freed, Thaniel made whole again, Gale alive, Wyll would be free of his contract soon, Jaheira and Minthara had joined their camp. There was a veritable feast around the campfire, endless companionship, if they wanted they could be pulling someone away to somewhere private and chasing whatever pleasure they could.

Instead, they were in the forest, hidden in the shadows, following a trail of blood through the trees, the buzzing euphoria of the hunt dulling the hunger that had dug its claws into them. 

Slaying the young is forbidden.

The brown bear in their sights was full-grown, only slightly larger than Majexatli’s current form, the Dire Wolf they hadn’t let out since the gnolls on the Risen Road. In any other form, it would have been stupid, reckless to take on a bear. It might still be, but they wanted a challenge, wanted to impress. 

A bear claw was one of Malar’s holy symbols.

Make your kills long and bloody.

They jumped from the shadows, snapping at the bear’s hind leg, making sure to bite and tear its flesh enough for the bear's blood to spill on the grass below. They let the bear get a swipe on them, feigned a pained yelp as it spilled their blood in turn, ran off into the trees as though afraid and wounded.

Oh, Majexatli was disappointed when the bear didn’t follow, when it didn’t try to hunt them down in turn, but they could adapt. 

Keeping to the shadows, every so often they purposefully stepped on a twig, just to watch the bear stop in tense silence, sniff the air. In that tense silence, they would dash out, pounce and bite and then run off again before the bear could truly react.

Taste the blood of those you slay and never kill from a distance.

Majexatli shouldn’t have enjoyed it, they knew, but the only thought in their mind was blood. With every snap of their teeth, they relished in the sharp, warm rush of blood in their mouth, as they stalked they lapped at their muzzle and the blood soaking their fur. The promise of more blood, of tearing open flesh, of devouring raw and bloody viscera was intoxicating.

They followed the trail of blood through the trees, stalking, tracking, thrilling at the adrenaline in their veins that kept them warm and warded off the cold breeze. Majexatli let the blood lead them to the edge of a clearing, down to the river’s edge.

The bear was wounded, patches of its fur stained red and glistening in the moonlight. The wounds weren’t grave, bites and claw marks purposefully shallow, just enough to bleed, to distract it, to wear it down. There in the open, there were no twigs or dried foliage to alert the bear to their presence as it licked its wounds on the river bank. 

Crouching in the grass, Majexatli almost felt at home, they could almost forget about the Elder Brain and the Nautiloid. 

They let out a growl as they lunged, managing to knock the bear over as their jaw clamped down on the juncture of its neck, heart jumping and blood singing as they held it there, felt the bear thrash beneath them claws swiping at them blindly, weakly.

And then Majexatli’s blood turned to ice as they felt the fur beneath their teeth fade, muscles reshape and suddenly their teeth were sinking into a person’s flesh, so much more fragile, so easy for the flesh to give. 

The rush of blood in their mouth filled them with terror. They should have released immediately, should have let go of the shoulder as soon as they felt the change, as soon as they heard a cry of pain in a voice so familiar. They should have relaxed their jaw—but why? Did they want to let go and drop wildshape? Or did they want to let go so they could adjust their bite, shift their teeth from shoulder to neck, find the jugular and sink their teeth in—

A strong hand found the scruff of their neck somehow, even as now this form dwarfed the man beneath them. Blunt fingers dug into their fur, into the flesh and muscle there, more gentle than he had any right to be.

“Majexatli,” 

They could feel the vibrations of his chest beneath their teeth, Halsin’s voice slightly strained, yet firm and with none of the hatred Majexatli deserved.

Majexatli’s jaw relaxed, teeth pulling out of flesh and they knew blood was spilling from the wounds. They hadn’t felt any bones snap beneath their teeth, yet their mind raced with images of what they would see when they pulled away, visions of Halsin with his throat torn open, bleeding out before they could do anything. 

A memory surfaced, unbidden, so visceral even 20 years later, how quickly they had bled out, how they had spent those few seconds begging for Silvanus to save them, calling up every prayer they had memorized, every supplication and offering they had given. They had spent every breath striving for the balance Silvanus wanted and he had simply watched their lungs be torn from their chest, as if their slaughter was simply an accepted collateral in his divine plan. 

“Majexatli,”

There was a hand on their face, and it took everything in Majexatli not to snarl and snap at the gentleness.

They couldn’t bring themselves to meet his eyes, instead staring at his shoulder, the tears in his tunic, the bloodstains, the bite marks still lazily oozing blood. He must have cast something, a healing spell to stem the worst of the bleeding and coax the shallowest wounds closed.

“It’s nothing serious,” His voice was so genuine, “I’ve had much worse, it’s alright. We’ve all had moments where we lose ourselves to the beast,”

Halsin let out a slight laugh, but Majexatli could hear a slight pain, the way it was slightly forced, as though he was trying and failing to ignore the Dire Wolf that stood over him. He knew, he had to know that Majexatli could snap his neck with their teeth, that his blood lingered in their mouth. Majexatli wanted to be horrified, disgusted, and they were, but they also wanted to lick their lips and savor the taste.

“Are you alright?”

They finally met his eyes and recoiled, from the concern in his face, from the cautious but naïve trust. He should be running or shifting back to a bear that could snap them in half, they would deserve it.

Majexatli had the upper hand, though, they still had their teeth and claws and as much as the thought of Halsin’s blood on their tongue sickened them, as much as they wanted it to taste foul, the taste was divine. It always was.

They could taste more of it. All they had to do was bite again, all they had to do was let go. Their quarry was beneath them, unarmed, unarmored, the end of the hunt, of their hunger was within reach.

Suffer no druid to live, for they believe not in survival of the strong, but in a weak-minded balance.

Majexatli ran. 

Darting off into the trees, they ignored Halsin’s voice calling after them, blindly zigzagging through the forest as if they were trying to shake someone off their tail. But the beast they were trying to outrun was the one wearing their skin.

They crashed out of wildshape, into the dirt hard enough to skin their knees, their palms, though they could hardly tell their own blood apart from Halsin’s. Curled up on the ground there, they watched as the moonlight filtering through the trees slowly faded and was replaced by sunrise.

If your prey escapes, they have earned their freedom and whatever boon seems fit.

Majexatli didn’t know if there was anything they could give that would make up for what they did. But they weren’t sure if Halsin was the prey or if they were.

[slayerkitty]

2023 in Review: Meta Edition

So I got tagged to do a moth-by-month meta review by a few people - @chickenstrangers, @lurkingshan, and @ranchthoughts. I wasn't sure I had enough meta or posts, but then I remembered Only Friends...

So I figured, why not?

January/February

No meta from me yet - was still lurking/starting to poke my head out and interact a little.

March

My Favorite/Most Popular: Dome is Jesus! So I've long said that my first BL meta was for La Pluie, and that's true. However, my first meta since I started watching Thai dramas was for Midnight Museum (which is, technically, not a BL). Thus we have my Dome is Jesus meta. And I don't think I was wrong? But he was also way more than that, lol.

April

My Favorite/Most Popular: Dome is one of the four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Midnight Museum season 2 WHEN?

May

No meta this month.

June

My Favorite/Most Popular: Dream loves Nara. HAHA, my first La Pluie/BL meta and it's about the GL side couple. Dream wore that red 'N' right over her heart on that sweater and since I've been to the @respectthepetty school of color, I noticed it right away. AND I WAS RIGHT.

July

My Favorite/Most Popular: Turtle Tai. My La Pluie meta where I over identify with Tai for several paragraphs. I have no idea if it helped others who were struggling with Tai get a better understanding of where he was coming from emotionally, but writing it was cathartic and I'm so glad @lurkingshan poked at me and said I should write it.

August

Most Popular: Let's Talk About Trust, Baby. One of my first Only Friends metas from early on, when the show was absolutely eating my brain. I had a lot of fun breaking down the trust dynamics of the characters.

My Favorite: Baby, Let's Try. My breakdown of the Let's Try OST MV (and Only Friends BTS videos) analyzing the different framing devices and effects used and what it might be saying regarding our larger group discussions on ephemerality in regard to the show. When I watched this MV and realized what was happening, I had to drop everything and write out meta and that was so much fun.

September

Most Popular: Narrative Frameworks in Only Friends (post episode 4). I ended up doing this weekly and it was so fascinating... until the frameworks went away. Why, P'Jojo?

My Favorite: Working with @jenyifer to figure out the story of the Only Friends end cards for each episode. It finally put the mystery of those moments to rest and figuring out where they originated or where they fight in the chronology of the show really added some depth to certain moments.

October

My Favorite/Most Popular: With the dramatics and exhausting reveals of the Red Peafowl casting announcements, I loved my reaction: Let's Just Stan the Fucking Bird. @blmpff mentioned fan club memberships and the Featherheads were born.

November

My Favorite/Most Popular: (Stages of) Grief in Last Twilight. I wanted to explore where Day and Mhok were with the grieving process. My only Last Twilight meta (so far?).

December

My Favorite/Most Popular: Narrative Choices in For Him the series.

Honorable Mention: my most noted post of the year, lmao, but not a meta - my second Pit Babe is trending post.

Look at me, I got all wordy from July through November, LOL. Here's hoping for more meta and more brain rotting BLs in 2024.

Not tagging anyone, but if you see this and you wanna do it, consider yourself tagged!!

[greatbigbellies]

ANNOUNCING THE 2023 PREGNANCY KINK ADVENT CALENDAR!

After months (Yes, months) of planning and on and off work throughout this year, I am excited to unveil the 2023 Pregnancy Kink Advent Calendar! From December 1st to December 24th, I have new, unreleased, completely original content going up EVERY day. These range from written kink fics (clocking in at approximately 1k words each with some longer exceptions), some batches of pictures, both bare bellied and with a fake bump, multiple kink audios, AND a video floating around in there! I’ve been working hard planning, writing, recording, and editing everything for this for a while now, and I’m super excited to show it all off. I began work on this back in APRIL, so it’s been a labor of love (pun intended) that I’m really proud to have finished in time for december this year. Those vague calls for kink audio ideas that never seemed to come up again? Those repeat posts asking what people would scribble on my belly? Yeah, those were all for this. Which means if you sent something to me in response to those, congrats, it probably made it in!

So settle in and enjoy! New stuff drops starting 12/1/2023 all the way up to and including christmas eve! This whole thing was a fair bit of work but a LOT of fun to do, and if it gets enough positive interaction, I would be very open to doing it again next year. Check back every day for something new!

Additional details, context, and a bit of “developer commentary” under the cut!

So… what should I expect from this?

This is a larger scale project that I’ve been building for well over half a year, and I did my best to provide some variety to it. There is, of course, some good ol McPreggo content in there. Because it’s one of the most popular things this blog has to offer, I get a ton of asks about it, and it’d be silly of me to not give that crowd some love. That said, if you’re not really into McPreggo or rapid preg as a whole, fret not, there’s lots of other content to enjoy! Most of the written pieces involve longer progressions split over multiple posts. This is by design, because I didn’t want any one post to be too long (advent calendars are supposed to be easily consumed ‘treats’, but not whole presents unto themselves), but it’s hard to do anything meaningful with only 1K words to a post. If you’ve read my older stuff, like some of the comms I fulfilled a few years ago, you know the buildup and foreplay is really my strongest aspect, and it’s no different here (if you haven’t but would like to, the ‘commissions’ and ‘writing’ tags on my blog will take you where you want to go). Nothing in the calendar has any outright SEX scenes in it, but there’s plenty of pregnant contrivances and paragraph long descriptions of heavy bellies that you’ll find something you’ll like! There’s over 13k words cumulatively across all the writing, so there’s a wide breadth to enjoy!

The audios range from 3 and a half to 6 minutes long, with one more experimental, slow burn exception. They range from sweet to spicy, and might be my favorite content in the whole calendar. While previously I had been taking a premise and improvising most of it, these new ones are pretty tightly scripted, and I genuinely think they came out better for it. Less repetition, more creatively, and was able to work in some sound effects to set the scene and tone for some of them. I think you’ll enjoy them!

Outside of that, I’m going to leave the rest as a surprise. Like I said, I’ve got audio, video, pictures, and writing, so there’s a lot to look forward to!

Is this something I’m supposed to pay for?

Absolutely not, this is all free. I made this because I wanted to, and wanted to share it with people. This blog is 5 years old now and is sporting well over 5K followers, which is to say it has way more popularity and staying power than I expected it to when I made it. You guys are great, and wanted to, in my own weird way, treat everyone who has been following, sending asks, and chatting with me so far. If you really genuinely would like to give back, I have tips turned on for my blog, but I’m putting this out there not expecting anything back.

This is THE PEOPLES preg kink content, damnit!

Are you going to do this again next year?

If people enjoy it, then I would like to, yes! I’m not some harsh corporation with strict engagement minimums to uphold, so I don’t know what “enough” interaction looks like to justify a 2024 edition but if people are liking and reblogging, and I get an ask or two about it, then I’d call that a win! It’s just good to know that hard work is appreciated, y’know?

If anyone else out there likes the idea and wants to do something similar, I would be very excited at the prospect of collaborating in the future. It’s not lost on me that this whole production doesn’t have any kink art, but believe me, you don’t want to see me try to draw something resembling a person, let a lone trying to make it sexy. Even if someone wanted to contribute a single article, a written piece, some art, an audio even, even just 1 “day” of content for people to enjoy would be amazing. Any outside contributors would, of course, receive credit for their work and have their main tumblr (or other kink social media) listed in their post.

Honestly, if I had enough people reach out and want to contribute, I would likely just create a separate sideblog JUST for pregnancy fetish advent calendars, so it’s not going up on any ONE contributor’s blog to benefit them above anyone else. I didn’t want to reach out to artists in the community going “hey would you like to draw some free art for this thing I’m doing that I’m gonna post in december, I swear”, because that just reads like a scam. I’m hoping that, having made and rolled out everything myself at least once, it can stand as proof that I am genuine about this kind of thing. A way to prove for someone that has the drive and bandwidth to work on this, that I’m not going to take credit or otherwise run off having gotten free art/work.

If you’re reading this and have something you would be interested in contributing to the calendar next year, my DMs are open, and it is never too early!

Any other questions, or just to share what you think about it all, shoot me an ask or a DM!

[appledew]

Ion is all set!

Made for  lemoncakes42 on Instagram!

Ion is made with custom dyed minky, custom printed minky and mochi minky. They lay art about 31 inches from front claws to back tips of the toes; about 58 inches to the very end of the tail! They have pouches of polypellets inside of them for weight and they are very floppy! The wings are also nice and floppy. The toes are thread sculpted and the claws on the legs are applied using fabric adhesive. The face plate is not removable.

Holy cow-- gonna try to keep the fun facts at a minimum.

The base body coat is dyed to have a slight gradient. It starts at about the “waist” and ends part way down the tail. The dye job, however went through multiple boiling water bathes because the coat came out too vibrant baby blue. I was able to soak away some of the dye, luckily!

This is the largest plush, length wise, I’ve ever made!

The “eyes” were printed by last second choice. I realized that some of the larger eyes couldn’t be stuffed to have a slight 3D effect if embroidered. It saved quite a bit of time for embroidery; not so much for clean up, haha!

The back paws were edited the evening I finished up Ion! The reference had 3 toes and one dewclaws-- not the 4 I originally designed! Oddly, I kinda like the “separated” look that the edit did, it feels like it defines the paws a little better!

And that’s it! I made the mistake of taking a few too many intense commissions this round, especially after having my dental procedure done that knocked me out for 2 weeks, but I (partially) have no regrets!

_______________

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/appledew

Trello queue: https://trello.com/b/FZKSnMo7/plushie-commission-to-do-list

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AppleDew_

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apple.dew

Tumblr: http://appledew.tumblr.com/

Furaffinity: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/appledew

deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/appledew

[kbthebearcat]

This is something I should have shared sooner but totally forgot. Here’s another ref that needs to be updated, but still does a decent job at showcasing the basics of the character. This time it’s Troy! So as you can see he has his usual alien humanoid form, and then a “monster” form that he can change into. It can either be done willingly, or when he feels strong emotions/instinctual like self-preservation, aggression (rare for it to be this reason bc it takes a lot to make him that angy,) or the urge to protect someone he cares about!

The green parts all glow in the dark!

I’ve also got some info on his species here that you can read if interested! Also Troy and his kind have the technology to not only shrink themselves down, but also change their appearance to better blend in with other alien inhabits if needed! Troy and his family live on earth so they can study the human race, so they live in disguise!

Here’s a ref of how he looks as a hooman. Pretty much the same, but without the pointy ears, green glow/blush. He’s usually 180ft when in normal form, but he’s 6’2 when in human disguise!

EDIT: I forgot to add this little tidbit in but one thing about Troy in particular is that he has larger ears than the average htraein. It’s a rare mutation to get but it can happen. This doesn’t effect him much physically, but he did get picked on for a bit when he was younger.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (March 3-9, 2024)

Shin Ultraman took an eternity to reach home video, but Godzilla Minus One will proceed as a more reasonable pace (by Japanese standards). Toho will release roughly one billion different editions on May 1, with Amazon- and Godzilla Store-exclusive physical bonuses both on offer. Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color is included with some of the pricier versions, or you can buy it as a standalone Blu-ray or DVD.

The black-and-white version of Shin Godzilla, SHIN GODZILLA:ORTHOchromatic, also hits Japanese home video on May 1. Like Minus Color, no 4K edition, just Blu-ray and DVD. A handful of new bonus features about ORTHOchromatic are included.

As is standard for Toho, none of these releases will be English-friendly. But given the films' popularity (and the lack of any legal way to watch Minus One since it left theaters), expect bootlegs to circulate at light speed.

Unsurprisingly, Godzilla Minus One cleaned up at the Japanese Academy Awards, with eight victories out of eleven nominations: Picture of the Year, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Art Direction, and Best Lighting. That's one more than Shin Godzilla, and pretty much guarantees that the Toho Godzilla series will keep the prestige pictures coming. Strange times!

We'll see if Minus One can also capture Best Visual Effects at the American Academy Awards tonight. The Creator remains its biggest competition. The Gareth Edwards film is better-positioned by the usual metrics, with a second nomination for Best Sound and five wins at the Visual Effects Society Awards, but the enthusiasm gap for the films themselves may prove decisive. I'll be doing a much lengthier analysis during Wikizilla's Oscar stream tonight, which will start at about 6:00 PM ET, an hour before the ceremony begins.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire tickets may not be on sale yet, but Cinemark theaters have rolled out the above merch (much more efficiently than Target and Walmart have rolled out the toyline, if my local theater's any indication). I have a suspicion those plushies will be worth a mint a few years from now, small as they are; don't know about the other stuff. I bought the larger popcorn tin when I saw Dune: Part Two on Thursday. The promo image is deceptive, as the green area is transparent plastic and the Titan image is on the opposite wall of the tin, so that popcorn's either defying gravity or being held up by a hidden insert. There are Kong and Skar King variants as well, the latter revealing his height (318 feet). Poor Shimo; being the "secret" villain really narrows the amount of merch you get.

The other interesting GxK news this week (apart from the endless TV spot variants, which I'm not even trying to keep track of) is a collaboration with the American Red Cross, of all institutions. Donate blood, platelets, or AB Elite plasma from March 25 to April 7, get a free T-shirt. And for completion's sake, I'll mention the Roblox and Call of Duty cross-promos too.

Chibi Godzilla Raids Again, an unexpected delight last year, is getting a second season starting April 3. The official site revealed that Minilla is joining the cast, while those silhouettes to his right look like Titanosaurus (unjustly neglected in recent years), Gigan, and Gabara. Expect to follow the first season in being uploaded to the GODZILLA OFFICIAL by TOHO YouTube channel with English subtitles.

Here's another chance to watch Tsuburaya and Toei Animation's Kaiju Decode short, originally released in 2021. (It goes away at the end of the month, because every Japanese studio is apparently hellbent on making short films ephemeral, so download it now.) It's the basis for a recent mixed reality game for the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest Pro, hence its return to the spotlight.

UniVersus, a collectable card game predicated on pitting characters from various franchises against each other, is going all in on Godzilla after offering a couple of Minus One cards through highly convoluted means last year. They're releasing a couple of Godzilla Challenger Series (preconstructed decks) on June 21, one based around Godzilla and Mothra, the other around King Ghidorah and Rodan, with Mechagodzilla thrown into the mix for both. I've never played this game in my life, but the prospect of a shiny Godzilla card with James Stokoe art is sort of tempting.

[russilton]

I understand the point you're trying to make about George and homophobic comments but can you stop likening the very real oppression that Lewis is the victim of to some ignorant twitter comments on a white driver with a girlfriend?! Lewis is literally attacked in real-life by the kkk fanbase of that vile sport, ex champions throw around violently racist and homophobic slurs towards him without any pushback, stewards publicly wish for him to burn in his car (yes this has happened more than once), his literal championship was stolen to make space for their "great white hope" (in their words), other drivers have victim-blamed Lewis for years of racist abuse. This is the level of oppression that Lewis has dealt with in the sport, don't ever compare his situation to anyone else. I know you won't post this because white queers hate addressing their racism but you need to stop talking about Lewis if you insist on using him as a prop for your ship. You remind me of Barca fans who claim Gavi is oppressed due to sports heckling while a whole stadium chants racist abuse to Vini. In the wake of the discourse centering the racist abuse that black athletes face in Europe, it's asinine to compare a black athlete's situation with a white one. On that note, I have yet to see you speak up on the racism and homophobia that Lewis is subjected to, but you're always prepared to paint your cishet white fav as oppressed.

I spent a very long time trying to figure out how to answer this ask, most of the day if I'm honest, because while I’m always willing to learn, I also think some of the things you’ve said here just aren’t true, and the fact that I’ve made you feel that they are means I need to be clearer with what I’m expressing.

At no point did I ever, ever, ever intend for it to sound like I was saying what George is dealing with currently is anywhere close to what Lewis deals with on a daily basis. And I don’t think that’s what I said at all, but if it came off that way, it’s something I want to change.

For the sake of transparency, I've made an edit to the original post to clarify my point. I understand now it might have come away belittling to seem like I was equating a more isolated incident to something larger and much more complex, and I'm sorry for that, it was just the only incident I could come to at the time.

I’m not looking for anyone to come to my defence here, because I’d rather speak for myself, nor do I want to make it sound like I've never made mistakes. I've made plenty, on here included, and i've done my level best to change and listen. But if you believe I have never spoken about the racism Lewis faces, have you been around that long?

I talk about it often, and as blatantly as I can while also making clear that as a white guy, I’m not the voice that should be listened to, and that it’s better for me to promote POC speakers or link to them instead. I'm sorry you if it appears like I'm not doing it enough, Ive been trying to listen instead of speak, which is what i've been told to do in the past on here by other anons. When asks have crossed the topic, I've been blunt about the systemic racism in f1, and why it serves F1 to suppress Lewis' voice. But again, there is a limit to what I have said myself, because I don't think its right to make myself the centre focus, when it should be more informed voices.

The only reason it may seem like I do more speaking myself when it comes to homophobia around Lewis AND George, is that it's something I HAVE experienced firsthand, and can more effectively talk about. The vitriol Lewis faces for self expression and the homophobic stereotypes that pour out with it are things I've been open about before, and Lewis' own changing views on gender and gendered clothing are something I'm deeply proud of him for.

But i also need to say I want to be able to talk about multiple issues at once without it seemingly like one is standing over the other, or should detract attention. It's both true that Lewis faces abuse that the officials surrounding F1 and even Mercedes itself will sweep under the rug or belittle, AND that the torrent of Homophobic abuse George is facing needs to be addressed no matter his sexuality or relationship status due to the effect it'll have on his fans.

I care less about how George feels as someone who isn't routinely oppressed and able to easily access support, and more about how formula one continues to absolve fans of extremely bigoted behaviour under the umbrella of calling them a bad outliers rather than addressing the root issues of the sports own willing ignorance and allowance of hateful behaviours from stewards, marshals, team staff and even other drivers. It's not about how the drivers feel, but how minority fans are pushed out in favour of the toxic cesspool f1 has happily encouraged the growth of in order to rake in their money, rather than address. There is not a single f1 comment section on any team, or official social page i would willingly step into, because It is never anything but filled with the worst voices that f1 just.. ignores. Until they're booing Max Verstappen on track, and we're all demanded to be nicer to him, even as he continues to stoke the kinds of fans that have called me every slur in the book and told me to off myself. There is a reason I only interact with F1 on tumblr of all places, it is legitimately the only site I feel safe to do so.

I was a Lewis fan before I was a George fan, and I think I will always find a closer home in him than I will with any other driver. No driver has stood up quite as vocally for issues both close to home for me and issues the world over. No other driver has stuck his neck out the same way or made me feel quite as allowed into a traditionally cis het white space. I only became a motorsport fan because Lewis made me feel like there was a space for people like me.