#p solid setup

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

Me? actually trying to do tarot cards?? sounds fake

#composition is something i definitely still have to practice a lot so tbh its good that im finally making myself do this xD #the neira one is the only one so far where ive tired blocking colours so far cos its the only one where i had a p solid palette in mind #def have to either deepen the shadows in the face or remove the tears/blood/death smoothie bc rn it looks kind of weird fjsdfl #oc: neira surana #oc: liam hawke #oc: june trevelyan #my ocs #my art #wip #tarot cards #so uhh. theres nothing super deep tbh but some thoughts behind some of the stuff #first thought was having a similar setup/comp for all of them but i am probably not gonna do that #sticking to suit of cups for neira cos its the perfect excuse to keep put the joining chalice there lol #also the circle cos. she is a circle mage. very far fetched i know #it does also fit w being trapped and going in circles and w life/death cycle so. there's that #liam gets angsty three of swords imagery because of course he does #i kinda wanna mirror varrics post hlta card and also that one abstrac-y thing i did of liam some time ago #also chains maybe? for kirkwall and for not letting go and all that #for june i do like the close up in theory bc i like having it very focused on /her/ #bc her development in dai is much more personal rather than strongly tied to the central narrative #& also focusing on her magic cos thats an important part of her & her development (& it fits her v egocentric mindset thru most of dai) #but it also looks too. idk. powerful? like she's in control. which she absolutely isnt lmao #so the other one is kinda the exact opposite direction. more zoomed out & dynamic but i want it to feel more claustrophobic too #sort of. trapped animal kinda deal. trying to get out. keeping the fire theme tho #(ignore that her glowy hand is on the wrong side i accidentally drew it flipped lol) #i am. not good at detailed and or nuanced composition so everything turns out p bold and on the nose ^^'' #it's a start tho! #(i do have more thoughts than what i wrote lol but i am running out of tags and also im tired) #feedback/tips are def appreciated btw! :>

[prwcess]

Cole Cassidy x Reader very short and sweet one shot :p

warnings: nothing much! very cute could even be taken platonically! (it’s a fps game so don’t b mad abt me mentioning guns

You were set off on a mission along with winston, cassidy, ana, mercy, and solider 76. Cassidy was known as the smooth talking cowboy to all who knew him, but when he was placed on the same team as you? someone who wouldn’t just ignorantly wave him off? He was ready to have some fun.

(pov switch.. y/n pov)

As I had really no other strength besides than being an amazing sniper, I chose the safest spot I could find to setup and prepare. I was at ease. I laid myself on the ground with full vision of the site, swinging my legs back and forth. I knew I was safe with Ana on the other side to take care of me, along with a couple sensors to prevent flanking enemy from coming up to my sweet safe tower.

“bzzt,, this thing working?”

i heard the familar rough voice in my ear piece.

“yes cowboy. it’s working”

i replied

“well look who it is..” he remarked

“you’re acting like this is a surprise? we were on the same plane an hour ago?” I giggled to myself.

“it can’t be that easy to forget a face like mine is it?” i continue, moving my gun to shoo off some of the enemies supports from moving closer.

“you’re the one who didn wanna sit with me..” i watched him shrug from afar.

with a little more chatting between the two of us, solider finally had to step in

“focus on the mission kids.”

And no hate to him but i couldn’t help but laugh a little bit, until a flashing red light burned through my scope. Trying not to panic i asses the situation, until i see cassidy’s silver arm deflect a pretty tough bullet from below me. smiling to myself, i watch the rest of the sensors coming up to me go off, knowing whoever it is, will be up soon.

“hey cass?”

“Yes doll?”

“can you stand.. like really still righttt there! for me?”

“Errr.. sure.”

he agreed as he was behind cover already.

“thanks.. just don’t flinch yeah?”

scoping in to see the sly smile on his face, I sent a bullet flying straight at his arm, which bounced right back at me, I turned my head away as the flanking enemy unknowingly snuck up the stairs to nothing but a bullet in their head. I was relieved his arm didn’t just blow off.

“well aren’t you a smart one..” he mumbled as he rushed but into battle.

afterwards, I got a good stern lecture to never ever do that again. On the other hand Cole took this as an opportunity. “After all that, i’d say you owe me a date?” .. i smiled up at him, messy hair framing his face without his hat. “sure.”

ya so i might still suck but WHAT EVAAA tysm for reading

#cole cassidy #cole cassidy x reader #cassidy x reader #overwatch x reader #overwatch #english literature #gaming #x reader

[anthurak]

Not the Bird You’re Thinking Of...

When thinking of Team STRQ as a ‘previous generation’ version of Team RWBY, it feels like a pretty common held take among the fandom at this point that Raven was the ‘Blake’ of her team, in the same way it seems pretty clear that Summer paralleled Ruby and Tai paralleled Yang. And it’s certainly been easy to draw some links between Blake and Raven, particularly when paralleling Blake’s relationship with Yang to Raven’s relationship with Tai.

I mean I’ll freely admit that I myself was one-hundred-percent on-board with this take back when the end of Volume 3 seemed to pull a ‘history repeats’ trope with Blake abandoning Yang in a way that felt very similar to Raven abandoning Tai. Which continued through Volume 5 where it seemed like the story was setting up Blake/Yang as a foil to Raven/Tai, with Blake returning to Yang, where Raven didn’t return to Tai.

However, more recently I’ve started to question how well this current interpretation of Team STRQ=Team RWBY actually works with what we now know of the characters. Like if nothing else, this current setup of Summer=Ruby, Tai=Yang and Raven=Blake leaves Qrow being the equivalent to Weiss, which I think we can all agree is… a head-scratching comparison to say the least.

Now to be fair, I do think the parallels between Summer-Ruby and Tai-Yang are still solid. Rather, it’s the supposed parallels between Raven and Blake that I’m questioning.

See, when you start looking past the surface-level ‘Raven did something similar to what Blake did’ parallels and start comparing these two as actual characters and people, things start getting pretty sketchy.

Yes, both fit the ‘dark, edgy loner’ trope, but beyond that are some serious differences. Blake is quiet and withdrawn whereas Raven is brusque and standoffish. Blake often acts humble while Raven often acts superior. And whereas Blake is so often self-deprecating and wallowing in self-pity for any wrongs she believes she may have committed (see Volume 4), Raven tries to blame others for her mistakes and runs away from responsibility. Ask yourself, does it really make sense that Blake could feasibly grow into the kind of person we see Raven as in Volume 4 and 5? Personally, I don’t think it really does.

And the best part is, do you know who IS so often quiet, withdrawn, brooding and has shown a serious self-deprecation and wallowing-in-self-pity problem in recent volumes?

Qrow.

So yeah, I actually think that it’s QROW who makes a way better parallel to Blake on Team STRQ than Raven does. And let’s not forget that Qrow ALSO put his absolute trust and faith behind a leader who ultimately let him down in a huge way. Even their weapons feels similar from a certain point of view, both having a sword-mode, the gun-form of Qrow’s weapon functioning like a handgun, and the sickle-form of Blake’s weapon more or less serving as a miniature scythe. Plus, I feel like growing up into basically the James Bond of Remnant fits Blake way better than Raven.

Oh, and this shift ALSO fixes the confusing element I brought up earlier. Because you know who was brusque and standoffish and acted like she knew better than everyone else at the start of the show?

Weiss.

Just as Qrow makes a way better parallel to Blake on Team STRQ, I think Raven likewise makes a very good parallel to Weiss. Certainly a better parallel than Qrow does. When we look at Raven in Volumes 4 and 5 and consider what we’ve heard about her, I think it makes way more sense that she would have been more like Weiss in the teams Beacon days. Oh, and let’s not forget that Raven’s weapon is a dust-infused sword with a rotating chamber just like Weiss’s.

And when we start extrapolating these changes to the character dynamics of Team STRQ, I think we start seeing a LOT of interesting parallels to the dynamics of Team RWBY. Particularly when we think of Team STRQ as the ‘failed’ version of Team RWBY who made the wrong decisions.

Like one of the things that made Qrow paralleling Weiss so confusing is that what little we’ve heard of his relationship with Summer doesn’t mesh that well with Weiss’s dynamic with Ruby. But with Qrow paralleling Blake, suddenly the way he talks about Summer makes a LOT more sense. Qrow seems to hold a great admiration and respect for Summer, saying ‘she was always the best of us’ and seems to have also had a close, platonic affection towards her. Which lines up very well with how fiercely loyal Blake has shown to be towards Ruby in recent volumes and in particular their conversation in Volume 8 when Blake tells Ruby how much she admires and respects her.

And of course, even the scant amount of info we have about Raven’s relationship with Summer makes a lot more sense paralleling to Weiss’s and Ruby’s relationship. Like if we start looking at Raven as at least partially representing a version of Weiss who lost Ruby, I think a LOT of her behavior and actions start making a lot more sense.

Now the one wrinkle with this whole idea I know a lot people are going to bring up is; ‘How can Raven be the Weiss of Team STRQ when her and Tai’s relationship parallels Bumbleby?’

Well consider this: What if Raven and Tai didn’t actually HAVE a relationship? If we start working from the concept of Team STRQ being a version of Team RWBY who made the wrong decisions, what if Raven and Tai trying to get together was one of those? I’ve brought this up in other posts, but I have a hunch at this point that Yang was an unplanned pregnancy. The product of what was supposed to be some one-night-stand between Raven and Tai which drove them into trying to force a relationship that one or both of them didn’t actually want. Which in turn is at least one of the major reasons Raven fled her team after Yang was born.

Raven’s and Tai’s relationship was never going to work because they’re NOT actually the parallel to Bumbleby on Team STRQ. The parallel to Bumbleby on Team STRQ is Qrow and Tai.

Even from what little we’ve seen, I think Qrow and Tai actually do make sense as a kind of ‘failed’ Bumbleby. A version of Blake and Yang who were never able to open up about how they felt for each other and have just been dancing around their feelings for so long they’ve just given up. A version of Blake who’s fully internalized the idea that he doesn’t deserve to be happy and the man he loves would be better off without him, and a version of Yang who at this point has just given up. And you know that parallel of Raven running away from Tai? Well I’d say it’s pretty clear that Qrow has been running away from Tai just as much.

This also smooths out any prospective reconciliation arc between Raven and Tai. I’ve seen a fair bit of debate since Volume 5 as to whether or not Raven and Tai ‘should’ get ‘back together’ or not after everything that’s happened. Instead, with this setup the reconciliation arc becomes Raven and Tai recognizing that they were never going to work as a couple and being able to accept each other as Teammates and family.

All in all, I think this interpretation of Team STRQ’s parallels to Team RWBY lines up with the characters much better. With Qrow we have an equivalent to Blake who parallels her character traits much more smoothly, and with Raven we have, well a parallel to Weiss that actually works. (let’s be honest; Qrow NEVER worked as a Team STRQ equivalent to Weiss).

Oh, and if anyone familiar with my other theories is wondering if my attraction to this interpretation of Team STRQ is at ALL influenced by the fact that it positions Summer and Raven as being both partners AND parallels to the relationship between Ruby and Weiss, and leaves things open for a certain relationship between these two that in turn sets up a certain possible origin for our main heroine AND presents foreshadowing for Ruby and Weiss themselves getting together?

You are EXACTLY right. XD

#rwby #rwby analysis #rwby theory #Team STRQ #Team RWBY #Summer Rose #Raven Branwen #Qrow Branwen #Taiyang Xiao Long #STRQ-RWBY parallels #Team STRQ is the previous generation Team RWBY #Qrow is the Blake of Team STRQ #Raven is the Weiss of Team STRQ #qrowtai #rosebird #raven/tai is the equivalent of a divorced freezerburn #bumbleby #qrowtai is the REAL bumbleby parallel on team strq #rosebird-whiterose parallels #whiterose #rosebird parents vibes

[yodawgiheardyoulikemecha]

Volokhov robota by Alessandro Cazzaniga Via Flickr: 1× gatling gun 1× solid shield 1× jumpjet 1× comm system 1× SSR This is the natural evolution of my previous build, the Arachnotron. It is bipedal instead of quad, and has a soldier setup instead of a recon by fire. Reference for the shape of the head wich is taken from Pascal's "Grunt". Arachnotron: flic.kr/p/2pCm7Kk Grunt by Pascal: flic.kr/p/c6yuSC The frame takes its name from its artificer, Mr. Volokhov, one of the first settlers of Kamchan, whose memory is lost between legend and myth. This kind of robot is used since many years for agricultural and mechanical work. Each new model is built faithfully following the original project, which is preserved like a relic. In case of need, its working equipment can be easily replaced by many types of battle equipments, including missile weapons, artillery, armor and flight systems. 🇮🇹 Il frame prende il nome dal suo artefice, il signor Volokhov, uno dei primi coloni di Kamchan, la cui memoria si perde tra leggenda e mito. Questo tipo di robot viene utilizzato da molti anni per lavori agricoli e meccanici. Ogni nuovo modello viene costruito seguendo fedelmente il disegno originale, che viene custodito come una reliquia. In caso di necessità, il suo equipaggiamento da lavoro può facilmente essere sostituito da molti tipi di equipaggiamenti da battaglia, tra cui armi da tiro, artiglieria, corazze e sistemi di volo.

#MFZ:RA #Mobile Frame Zero #flickr

[a-student-out-of-time]

Hey there! How are you?

I dunno if you heard, but Danganronpa Mauve Chapter 1 has been traduced recently, the Free Time Events are currently being published as well.

If you've watched it, what were your thoughts about the plot and characters (victim and culprit especially) ?

//Hey there! I've been meaning to get to this, and now that Zeph has finally posted the FTEs of the key characters in question, I can share.

//See, I never like viewing character behaviors and actions in isolation within the within the killing game and especially not in the trials themselves.

//Now that we've got some context, let's analyze:

//I'm once again annoyed that we're going through Hope's Peak Academy for like the fifth or sixth time, because I'm tired of this damn place and the people running it. That's really more of a me thing than a problem with people who make these games, of course, since it's already an established setting.

//More to the point, I like that Mauve is actually doing somethings differently. For starters, we actually got to switch POVs permanently this time, where our original protag was replaced partway in. Even then, Hiruto and Nozomi both had chances to not only have their own characters, but interact as well.

//I like this cast overall, and nobody annoys or infuriates me as badly as some others I could name : P

//I hesitate to give my opinions on a fangan before Chapter 1 is complete, hence why it took me so long, but I think it was pretty solid, if a bit derivative in its setup. Not bad overall.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

//However, props for actually killing a protagonist and doing so in a method nobody's done before, using the morning announcement's bell as a cover. That was a twist I genuinely didn't see coming.

//The game did so much to build up Misaki's character, and if you're a long-term fan like me, you're aware that can be a bad sign. I was so certain that she'd be killed or get got in a technicality, but no, she actually had nothing to do with this.

//Also, in kind of a hilarious experience, I used to make some jokes about Hitomi being blind since I thought her eyes being closed was more of an aesthetic thing like with Brock from Pokemon. Meanwhile, I made a prediction that nobody in the group setting up her concert would be the killer, since that felt too obvious to me.

//In the end, my theory was wrong but my jokes were accurate. Hitomi actually IS blind and our culprit was a member of that group.

//Specifically, none other than Kotori, who i never would've thought at first. And yeah, the elephant in the room here is not only her method of killing but also how utterly nasty and elitist she acts at the end of the trial. Something that really cemented the fandom's view o her as a terrible person.

//However, I wanted to see her FTEs before I rendered my judgement, because those are often the best sources of context for behaviors and attitudes among the cast.

//Sure enough, there was a lot to learn from them. Now, I can completely understand why people don't like her- frankly, her attitude does get pretty grating- but it's also kind of hilarious how her character conflict boils down to her feeling unsure about her relationship with her teacher now that she's surpassed his skills.

//Kotori Fukuoka, Suffering From Success.

//More to the point, watching her FTEs really does clear some things up:

Kotori's attitude and open insistence that she's a narcissist, always talking about great she is and how full of herself she is, actually leads me to believe the exact opposite. She doesn't think much of herself and is trying to prop herself up through that attitude.

Watching her FTEs, she never says anything half as elitist and nasty as she did in the post-trial. She never insults Hiruto or Nozomi or anyone else, never implies untalented people don't belong in Hope's Peak and actually apologies at the end. Compare that to someone like Byakuya, who can't shut up about how much he looks down on everyone. I agree with the idea she only said this stuff at the end to retroactively justify the killing to herself.

Her backstory is actually pretty credible, where her sensei- a friend of her parents- was the one who invested so much into her at a young age and wanted to show her what baking is like, even naming a bakery after her. It was thanks to that, and him offering to let her study abroad in France, that she got to make it into the franchise it is by the time Mauve takes place. But now she has no idea what to think, since she's surpassed him as her teacher, and it's clear she views him like a second father. These are the kinds of things that also drove others to become the Blackened.

She says that baking is the only thing she's actually good at. Once again a fine example of how being an Ultimate stunts and limits what people can do, and when that's gone, they feel like they have nothing else.

//So no, I don't see Kotori as just an inherently bad person. She's an arrogant little snot who needs her ego deflated, but she's nothing like some of the nastier characters we've seen out there, who trample over others without a second thought. We need to consider that the Killing Game often brings out the best and worst in people, especially when they're driven to murder.

//People don't reveal who they "really are" at the end, they say and do all kinds of crazy shit because they're afraid of dying. People reveal who they really are when they're most comfortable, like they often are at the ends of their FTEs.

//Overall, I'm really looking forward to Chapter 2 and where we go from here.

#mod talks #a student out of time #danganronpa mauve #drm

[enneamage]

I got an ask asking about the Nikifold breakup timeline but I accidentally deleted it, so this was the response that was meant to be attached to it.

(Archive readers, I got cold feet on the post that this was a response to saying that it’s looking like the Nikifold relationship ended in cheating. It’s still a possibility, but as I sat on it for longer I got lost in the possible loose ends so I nuked the initial post and went over the source videos again.)

It was, at least, a suspiciously close shave. It might be safter to say that the thing that burned the Nikifold /p bridge for good was the relationship between Jack and Eleanor. I’m not the best at keeping track of solid timelines when it comes down to it but there have been suspicious breadcrumbs along the way that suggest that some interest was shown before Jack and Niki properly separated, and that there was some overlap there.

My read on nikifold was that it was a situationship or had some ambiguity attached to it rather than a straightforward relationship-- the kind of setup that gives you feelings but no solid container to put them in. I want to say that they went abruptly sour around July-August. If I go back to the ‘large, unlabeled blowout’ theory, there was a severing point where things became quite abruptly not good between them. The simplest answer may be that this was Jack and Eleanor having flirtations, but it could be more textured than that and they only started moving closer together after that point rather than that being the turning point itself. I have kept in mind that the cheek kiss video (July 2022) probably introduced a lot of pressure into their dynamic and the question of being public or ‘official’ started hanging over them a lot more aggressively, throwing fuel on the fire.

(Edit from future: Between Jack saying that his ex girlfriend hexed him and Niki saying she burnt the scrapbook of her previous relationship because he cheated, this looks more like a traditional hidden relationship that ended in cheating. hindsight is 2020.)

I’ll show my work so you get what I’m trying to interpret:

“we’ve been together nearly six months” -Jack “I have a girlfriend” VOD, uploaded February 20th 2023. Jack states that they got together in August after not speaking since their first meetup at a party in June 2022. Both agreed that their first dates could be described as parties that they happened to both be at where they spent the majority of their time together.

August 2022 feels like the action zone. A lot of the timestamps are imprecise because it takes a while for vods to get posted and vlogs to get edited, but things seemed normal-ish until around this month.

August 16th, Niki posted this tiktok, what a way to begin the end. (Another edit: I remember Niki wearing this exact outfit a bit before this was posted, and the longer I’ve sat on it the more it seems like she make this tiktok draft privately for fun and then posted it on the day that ‘something happened.’)

Jack and Niki Willingly spent time together for the Sleepover vlog posted on August 20th, clip on the ranboo vods channel places the filming time around august 13th, probably even earlier than that – Them moving at the same time in the same direction in the vlog felt very “duo-y” to me, and backs up that the final stream together wasn’t just a fulfilled obligation to stream.  

Vod from when they last streamed together posted August 28th likely streamed earlier in the month, Streaming isn’t dating but going from how bad their public separation got there’s at least some significance to this. (Edit: had a look at a website that marked this as August 12th, an interestingly wide delay between recording and upload)

Niki does a stream about going on break for her mental health (briefly, not the focus of the stream at all) brings up being single and how she has wanted to avoid the feelings of dependency that relationships bring due to BPD. A lot of people relate to this as one of the big separation landmarks. - Very quick clip channels date this around the 29th, Niki states that she took two weeks off where she didn’t have any contact with the internet, which would ballpark the start of the break around the 16th.

Disclaimer is that I don’t want to completely attribute the state of Niki’s mental health to the state of her relationships, she’s got an enormous amount on her plate with or without her romantic life. It’s just that this seemed to be a turning point in the timeline where the before and after of her and Jack seems to abruptly shift and get progressively worse from there, it’s still hard to play ‘chicken or the egg’ from outside.

“The second time we met up and I slept here is when the queen died” – Jack, talking about September 8th 2022, a very solid time stamp because of the world event attached to it. Both at a boat party where they spent the majority of their time together the day before. Jack says that this was when they were still trying to figure out if they were together or if this would just be a series of hookups, which means that they were ‘together’ at least once before.

“I got three new tattoos and a piercing this week” – September 15th TikTok from Niki, strongly suggesting that they were related to recent emotional turmoil.

This toktok from Eleanor is interesting because it suggests that Jack was a “Guy she told her ex not to worry about.” I don’t know what her personal breakup timeline was but that could give some more detail to when they came in contact and what their chemistry was at the time.

Something happened that caused raw feelings, most people following the story seem to agree with that. If it was only the fallout from the video causing the meltdown I’m compelled to believe things would have been somewhat more sympathetic than they turned out to be. Niki has been peaceful with exes before so it seems that there’s a schism here that goes beyond a mutually agreed upon separation.

The fork in the road keeps presenting itself, either this was a breakup quickly followed by Jack and Eleanor becoming an item or there was some overlap. The thing that’s driving me crazy is I swore that somewhere along the way I saw a post where Niki overtly said something along the lines of wanting a BF who doesn’t cheat, but I can’t find it for the life of me, so the situation stays murky in my brain.   

#gen jck tag #gen nki tag #might do an Eleanor tag at some point she's starting to give Three vibes but it's too soon to tell

[beevean]

Hecula. Isaactor. Joaactor ;)

Alright, if I must be brutally honest:

where is the porn?

Like. To me the setup "the Lord and his pretty loyal knights who'd do anything for him out of gratitude" is so damn obvious. I know CoD cannot compete with SoTN or AoS in terms of popularity, but really? Nothing? I was lucky to find any scraps of Isaactor by digging into the 10+-year-old trash of blogs here! Where is the material?! I feel like I'm having visions! Or maybe I came too late to the party 😭

(well, I did find two Draactor fanfictions. they were bad. one of them was pretty good except Hector was so OOC it hurt, and the other was NFCV levels of WTF. so yeah. let's just say they were inspirational...)

anyway I don't know what else to say, Draactor in general has consumed my mind. Isaactor is a fun divorsties ship because I love to imagine how their relationship, potentially solid and wholesome, crumbled apart due to their life circumstances, a tragic case of "they were at the wrong place in the wrong time but they couldn't meet anywhere else". I love how they are very different, but with just enough similarities to mesh together, and those similarities is their brand of toxicity (I want Hector to be more of a bastard lol, down with "meanie Isaac abused poor Hector"). And Hecula just hits all my favorite tropes that make me go "oh this is very gross and bad and disgusting 🥰" while also keeping the themes proposed by CoD about Hector being forced to be Dracula's reflection <3

(special shout out to Isaacula for being an evergreen villain/simp ship!)

Anyway, I know the actual opinion you want :P

Joachim is kind of a freebie, for lack of a better word lol. We don't know much how he'd be free from his cell, let alone several centuries into the future. But I like the proposed version of him being sarcastic, irriverent (too old for Dracula's shit lol), constantly on the edge of snapping, but also still unused to being loved and appreciated. Much like a certain redhead :P so, somehow, the two fit together like a glove. Isaac would not be disturbed by Joachim's nature and appreciate being appreciated. Joachim would simply admire Isaac's qualities like his passion and wit and not compare him with anyone, and himself being touched that he's not considered a "crazy old vampire".

Hector is harder to fit, and it feels like it's mostly "Isaac and his two boyfriends" lmao. However, Joachim would not create that competitive environment Dracula did, the opposite in fact, which might allow the two boys to relax around each other and rekindle that old friendship they had as kids. I like the idea of Joachim seeing himself in Hector (arrogant but so vulnerable to the manipulations of a bastard vampire lord who is keeping him in a cage of sorts) and so gently trying to steer him away from Dracula. Maybe they wouldn't fall in love, they're not each other's type at all, but they could grow close.

also i still haven't grasped joachim on that front but i have my headcanons on hector and isaac's lax/concerning relationship with sex and good luck to the vampire trying to fix it :P

This has turned into a incoherent rant lmao, I'm still trying to sort my opinions here 😂

#don't feel like tagging lol

[twistedtummies2]

Your thoughts on the Disney Princess in general. A lot of them are blank slates so easily moulded into whatever you want.

I think that's an unfair assessment, to be honest. Quite the contrary, I would argue: I think the majority of the Disney Princesses in the official lineup (which means discounting characters like Alice, who for some reason occasionally gets counted, or Keda and Eilonwy, both of whom ARE princesses but never get included in the ranks) are actually pretty strong characters with their own unique personalities, goals, and so on. Not all of them are brilliant, mind you, but the majority, I think, are good characters with solid setups. I think the primary reason the Disney Princess lineup gets so much flak, to be honest, is the merchandising. Because when you think about it, the perception of the Princesses as these bland, frilly, "girly" things really stems from the types of toys, books, and spin-offs that are made from them. They tend to water down what really makes those characters so great in favor of things focusing on fashion and frivolity. I guess I can't be too mad about it, because...well...I shouldn't be expecting gripping character studies from what are effectively Disney Barbie Dolls and books for very young children, but when you buy THIS and it's related to a character like Moana...?

...Yeah, hopefully you can see the disconnect there. XD Again, I'm personally not TOO angry about it, it's not something that really bothers me. And I don't know how many girls, let alone adult women, are mad about it...and I do mean that when I say it, I genuinely don't know. But that's my personal take on things. Hopefully it's not too hot a take to handle. Ha Ha. :P Regardless, one thing remains positive...

...I'll take nearly any of these fiends over any Disney Princess. <3

#ask #answer #q&a #disney #disney princesses #disney villains

[jeffhirsch]

DJIA and S&P 500 Down 15 of Last 19 on February’s Last Day

Before the market can close the books on February, it still must contend with its historically weak last trading day. Since 1996, the S&P 500 has declined 20 times in 28 years on the last day of February. DJIA and NASDAQ have been just as bearish. Average losses on the last day range from –0.48% by DJIA to –0.39% from NASDAQ. The best gain on the day for the major averages was in 2000 while the worst decline was in 2008.

In the leap years since 1950, DJIA and S&P 500 still lean bearish. DJIA has been down nine times in thirteen occurrences and S&P 500 has declined eight times. Average performance is –0.07% for DJIA and –0.06% for S&P 500. NASDAQ is slightly better in leap years, up five of nine, but down four of the last five. NASDAQ’s average performance is a meager +0.01%.

More recently weakness appears to have only been intensifying as DJIA and S&P 500 have been down nine straight and 11 of the last 12. NASDAQ has tried to buck this bearish trend with three gains in the last four years. Should February’s last day see declines again this year, it could be a solid setup for the historically bullish first trading day of March.

#$^DJI #$DIA #$^GSPC #$SPY #$^IXIC #$QQQ

[retrofret]

Just arrived ! 🚛 A 2002 Gibson Les Paul Custom LPB-7 Solid Body Electric Guitar in its original black tolex hard shell case! (Link in our profile). This is a little-used 20-year-old example of one of Gibson's nicer long-serving re-issues, the "1957 style Black Beauty" Les Paul Custom LPB-7. This model is a Gibson custom/art/historic re-issue of a TWO-PICKUP 1957-style Custom, an instrument that barely existed originally as three PAF's was the stock compliment. For most players the twin pickup setup is more functional, and generally preferred. - - - - #gibsonlespaulcustom #gibsonlespaul #lespaulblackbeauty #lespaul #retrofretvintageguitars #gibsonlpb7 #vintagereissue #blacklespaulcustom #guitarforsale #guitarstagram #guitarphotography #guitarpornoftheday #guitarlover #hotguitar (at Retrofret Vintage Guitars) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl7FFd6OGtD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#gibsonlespaulcustom #gibsonlespaul #lespaulblackbeauty #lespaul #retrofretvintageguitars #gibsonlpb7 #vintagereissue #blacklespaulcustom #guitarforsale #guitarstagram #guitarphotography #guitarpornoftheday #guitarlover #hotguitar

[aquaticpal]

7. Favourite dungeons?

Ancient Cistern (Skyward Sword): when I played it for the first time, I very quickly recognized that I had descended into Buddhist "hell" due to all the spinning wheels and spikes - in Chinese it is commonly spoken of in terms of the wheels (cycles) of reincarnation, and how much pain a soul must go through before it's fit to be reborn. And then I felt really vindicated to have recognized the analogy after I googled up the story of the Spider's Thread. A very clever concept for a dungeon, A+ execution.

Snowpeak Ruins (Twilight Princess) is a commonly loved one because of how unconventional it was, but I also remember the puzzles/level design in it being very enjoyable. Plus hot soup~~

Forest Temple (Ocarina of Time): just really brilliant level design, especially when the concept of "how to make a 3D Zelda game" was completely new territory. Lots of spooky atmosphere but without going outright "horror and gore" like Shadow Temple. I'll be thinking of the twisty hallways forever.

8. Most underrated Zelda game?

S P I R I T T R A C K S

(It gets so so much hate for its control scheme and musically-disinclined people having to play the panpipes. But I had no trouble with either and the train travel was made enjoyable by the irresistible overworld music. And then you get to spend all that time with Zelda~)

Oh but also, probably almost nobody played Four Swords Adventures because it seemed so complicated with the multi-player GBA setup, but folks don't realize that the game was playable single-player and still a fun romp in that way. It was gimmicky yes but it was still a solid Zelda game underneath the gimmick!

9. Least favourite character in the series?

Umm there might be some other minor character I dislike more that hasn't come to mind right now, but Astor is pretty up there for being a wet rag with zero charisma and zero compelling story. Just fails in every possible way.

TLOZ asks

#zelda #ask game

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Mallow

My wife and I have been watching the anime, and are about halfway through the Sun and Moon seasons, so I'm just in a mood. Nothing new happened with Mallow, she's just climbing the favoritism ladder and now I'm taking another look at her kit, and figured I'd make a whole thing of it.

General Overview Mallow is a Grass Tech from what I'm going to call the older era, when Tech meant damage dealer with higher potential but difficult conditions. You know. The ones before Lear made it so you just hit sync for a billion damage unquestioned.

Mallow's damage is respectable. As a Tech, she has up to 150% bonus damage and solid attack, making her quite impressive for general pool numbers. Her DPS is surprisingly strong, packing the already nice Power Whip, and up to 80% in natural passives, with another 30% on grid. This is some good stuff. Add in Stop Hitting Yourself 5 and AoE confusion in Teeter Dance for safety, and Mallow has some very nice positives in her corner.

The flaws, however, are just as severe. To go down the list:

Trainer Move is bad, giving only +1 Spd/Acc/crit. It's slow, has no attack boosting, and requires an MPR for self-setup.

Despite being poor, the need for accuracy means few partners exist to completely offload the support to. Even if it's bad, Mallow is required to use it to some degree.

MPR is an expensive node she wants to drop. Her grid is fairly demanding and doesn't have room for it.

Multipliers include Sun, but no attack boosting means SS Morty is terrible as support. Tech Sun setters mean no Grassy Terrain from Lyra.

Other multipliers are on foe's attack being reduced. She is single-target and very slow at it, and premiere attack debuffers tend to be specially oriented (P!Dawn, Lucian, S!Tate).

Heavily relies on Confuse, which is very short-lived if any level of Lessen is present, requiring her to reset.

Mallow feels very...mixed. Some great traits, and some points that feel very restrictive, especially in the modern meta. She hasn't received a grid expansion yet, but those are coming out at a pace best described as "glacial," so I'm not expecting it any time soon.

Move Level and EX? She's general pool, but not everyone has whale powers, and Alola is pretty cluttered in the general pool. 1/5 has a lot of good DPS multipliers naturally, so as a Power Whip damage dealer, there's at least some potential for a new player as it builds into full sync. As a result, EX is similarly optional. Unless you're playing to sync, it's not strictly necessary.

Team 1: Mallow, SS Acerola, SC Steven Mallow was one of the biggest winners of SS Acerola. Sun and Grassy Terrain alongside a partner who can buff her attack and give physical moves up next? Divine. SC Steven was generally great for physical damage dealers, but was downright exceptional for Mallow. His Buddy move was exactly the fast-acting Atk/Def debuff she had always wanted, with the Sure Hit effect removing the need for her to touch trainer move at all. Mallow finally had everything she could ever want in a composition.

Team 2: Mallow, Aaron, Masked Royal/Lodge Lillie Prior to SS Acerola, Mallow's biggest win as Aaron. As someone who buffed accuracy in addition to Atk/Crit, all on the same button, Aaron was the only one who could save Mallow some time. The comp is slow as dirt though, so Masked Royal is, I think, the best addition. Buffs speed to cap, which lets Aaron get in on attacking with Staggering 4, and his Brutal Swing comes with potential debuffs to Atk or Def or both. It's less consistent for her multipliers, but it gets the needed job done.

But I also need to push an agenda. Lodge Lillie can debuff attack of a target with each attack, and has AoE on a physical attack in Petal Blizzard. They can double DPS, to some degree. I don't think they'd do it very well, considering Aaron is also slow as dirt, but I'm just saying the potential is there, and I kinda just want the girls to have this.

Team 4: Mallow, H!Caitlin, SS N "Ah, of course, she caps her own crit so Caitlin." Actually I think Caitlin's a bad partner. Mallow really wants to avoid MPR. This is supportive Mallow. SS N's natural sync multiplier is reduced attack, and his Buddy move sucks for CS. Mallow's Trop Kick can debuff Attack reliably, up to -2 per hit, and comes with added AoE confuse that can deny the actions of sides. It doesn't really help N with literally anything else, but his on-type CS performance truly doesn't need much else than improvement on the sync.

Team 5: Mallow, Shauna, H!Acerola This is the only time in my life I'll ever mention H!Acerola. The draw here is stacking Stop Hitting Yourself 5. They do stack, and result in a very high chance of the foe hurting themselves. In addition, H!Acerola can debuff defense with each hit. Whether this set is designed for Mallow or Acerola to take priority as the damage dealer depends on what the stage is doing. Anyone with Stop Hitting Yourself 5 can stack into this, but Acerola shares the physical attack focus and packs the debuffs. So even though her moves have shaky MPR status, there's at least something to be gained. This is very not optimal though.

Final Thoughts A major problem with Mallow is that the Sun multipliers are hard to shop for. Sun setters don't come with attack debuffs, outside of Eevee Lucas, who then steals every sync anyway. There's really only one composition that gives Mallow access to all of her tools at once. Otherwise, sometimes will inevitably be missing. To compound her woes, the trainer move situation is dire. I do think that a Blue-esque expansion could help. Give her Berserker 2 on her trainer move, and suddenly you open up a few extra support options that can handle that last bit of Atk/crit just fine. But even all of that won't really save her from the need for attack debuffs, which feel bizarrely rare for physical attackers. We have plenty for special, but not that many for physical, and it's kinda weird? The best is P!Marnie, who is very locked to Steel type support. And personally? I think her utility sucks. Confuse isn't a great option, and her attack debuffs are nothing special. Also very few pairs seem to need the attack debuffs? I was looking through the list, and couldn't find many with Pecking Order or Power Posture. So it doesn't come into play that often.

I feel like Mallow just needs a couple new pairs with specific tools to really expand her options. The grid expansion can do a good deal, since her damage is fine she just needs utility. That or a really unique grid expansion.

#unit teambuilding #mallow

[vegalocity]

I just thought of something. So you know how most of the villains fail at making doing serious damage with oblivion? Well what about the other heroes? Because we already know that Xiaotian and Wukong can do serious evil with it so what about the others?

I think the thing we have to keep in mind is that NOBODY is ever able to Handle Oblivion well.

the Villains don't know what the fuck they're doing with it and don't really get to DO MUCH with it except for LBD and Macaque but since LBD's is just an instant win it's not super interesting and Macaque is so hyperfocused on getting what he wants it's more of a setup than a plot device

Which is why the two people whom have caused the most damage are heroes on corruption arc paths lmao, but the long and short of it is it's just too much power to give people. it's like the Death Note or the One Ring in that way, anyone that tries to use it will end up using it for evil even if it's only with the best of intentions because no one person should be allowed that sort of power at all.

(maybe long ago when it was first made and could only be carried by several heavily baritoned singers with the explicit instruction from the goddess that gave it to them that it's for taming monsters and getting them to leave peacefully, and was to be returned to her at the end of the life of the person whom she gave it to, it was less power corrupting since it required cooperation with at least a few people all agreeing to use it at once, but not anymore)

But all the same let's make a quick run through the heroes and see how many of them can still be called 'heroes' at the end of it

-

So Sandy i'd say would probably have the least 'corruption arc'y time of it, how he got it idk, but since Sandy himself is a demon it's unlikely that he'd find out p. easily that it's a mind control record, he just remembers playing it and his whole brain switching off and flooding him with endorphins.

Sandy wouldn't cause much harm to anyone bc by nature of not being particularly concious himself while figuring this thing out he kind of can't figure out just WHAT oblivion does, and that man would very clearly rather swallow his whole houseboat whole before he ever asked anyone in his life for help and in that regard it'd be much more of a 'drug use' metaphor i think

the problem there would probably be when he asks Huntsman if he wants to give it a try and accidentally drags someone else into an addiction that's literally so insidious that neither of them are aware it's addictive at all despite being actively going through withdrawls and needing a hit. it's fine, the desire to go brainless is just slowly consuming Sandy's life and he's dragging Huntsman down with him. It's fine it's all fine the second he hits play that worry will aaalll go away.

(this is another AU where I think Syntax would be a major player primarily due to his immunity since there wouldn't be anyone better to spearhead an intervention than someone the drug in question straight up wouldn't work on)

-

So right off the bat i'm gonna say Tang and Pigsy's would be kind of a combined one since Pigsy himself would have no interest in a wierd record he found in the marketplace with creepy unintelligeable writing on it other than 'Tang enrichment' and the whole thing would be more of a subtle creepy than overt horror.

Even if we assume Pigsy had no part in it and Tang found it like, buried deep in archives he'd be VERY confused as to what a record was doing there, brought it home to Pigsy like 'i found this??? in the archives??? it's covered in Cuneiform??? we still got that old record player?' and he doesn't see why a very clearly old synth record was sitting in the archives and turns to shout across the room for pigsy and hears a clatter of something hitting the ground. they both freak out for a time, a solid 'WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT??' 'I DON'T KNOW??'

after a lot of screaming and trying to figure out what the fuck that thing was (and why after the shock passed Pigsy realized he didn't hate the sensation) there's a question of 'well What IS this thing then?'

So Pigsy (maybe not as reluctantly as he should have been) agrees to be his guinea pig (puns nonwithstanding) for a bit as they figure out just WHAT this thing is and why it is. And for awhile it's just Tang's notes about altering perception and placing the person in question (perhaps specifically demons) in a state of easy suggestion, and Tang does want to crack the code on this thing, but it IS starting to kind of make him more uncomfortable as he did so. Though Pigsy keeps assuring him its fine, the fact that he seems more excited to keep experimenting with this thing than Tang is is starting to grow worrying...

easy solution then, he just needs another test subject because he REALLY didn't want to reach the conclusion the evidence was pointing toward with PIGSY as the person it's happening to.

maybe a whole bunch of test subjects if he can't get one person to go for it and keep coming back. a proper data pool.

the fact that people keep coming back just means that they want to find the answers too. and the fact that Pigsy's just kind of touchy in the 'casual embraces' department because he's not being the test subject anymore and Tang kind of needed to have his hands all over him guiding him about when he was under and he misses that contact isn't... anything to worry about.

because he definitely didn't use a mind control device on someone he's been pining for for years and accidentally got him addicted to it. no siree.

he just needs... to figure out how this thing works and just how far he can go with it and he'll fix it

You know how sometimes the quest for answers is far worse than choosing to remain ignorant?....yeah...

-

i have NO idea how Xiaojiao would handle it ngl i think She might be the only one that finds out what it does and is just like 'nerp' and either stuff it in her family's hall of relics or get into comical schenanigans trying to destroy it

and much like a looney tunes character the record keeps just BARELY being missed by whatever she's doing to try and destroy it

#oblivion series #the Tang one is really interesting to me ngl #the quest for knowledge but also putting off dicscovering it bc you fear what the answers mean #its fun #i mean Sandy's is p. cool but it's not really a story about Mind Control in that one Oblivion could be anything #as long as it's not obviously a drug #and it'd have the same basic setup #and to give Xiaotian some credit Tyrant Prince only happens bc he himself was brainwashed for awhile to believe mind control to be cool #and just continues to convince himself its a good thing to avoid confronting the idea #that if mind control wasn't cool then he's done truly unforgiveable things to people he loves

[chopcult]

From @theoldharleykid **pc23 intro** Hey everyone, my name is Hayden Allen. I’m 17 years old. I’m from a small town called Osage City, Kansas. This is gonna be my first complete build of a motorcycle, I’ll be rebuilding my 1947 knucklehead into an offroad scrambler style bike. I blew up the engine on my way to Cook's corner for the people's champ last year. I told everyone I met I’d be rebuilding it and entering the peoples champ. So here I am! The build is going to use a dropseat frame with a dual disk front end and burley brand shocks in the rear, I’ve got some solid 9 spoke mags for that clapped sporty look. The engine is getting a full rebuild by yours truly with a cam setup from justin leinweber and a lot more custom parts. The paint is undecided at the moment but it’s bound to be something badass. In all honesty I’m building a GO bike for myself but I suppose I’ll put a little bit of SHOW bike into it for the @biltwell_peoples_champ. #offroad #knucklehead #harley #OHV #gobike #chopperswapper #chopcult #lowbrow #showbike #biltwell #peopleschamp #hartailmafia #softtail #scrambler #choppersandvans #bornfree #bornfreeshow #lectronfuelsystems (at Cook's Corner) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj82BMpSdmz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#offroad #knucklehead #harley #ohv #gobike #chopperswapper #chopcult #lowbrow #showbike #biltwell #peopleschamp #hartailmafia #softtail #scrambler #choppersandvans #bornfree #bornfreeshow #lectronfuelsystems

[kyledefoor]

Me and my 14.5” with a scope…..sub .25 split bill drills on a 6” tgt from 7 ✔️ Sub 1.0 high ready 6” tgt from 7 ✔️ Sub .75 low ready 6” tgt from 7 ✔️ Sub .5 splits A zone from 25 yd ✔️ Sub 1.0 splits from 50 in A zone ✔️ Sub 14 second standing to prone from 100 in a B8 score over 90 ✔️ Sub 2.0 splits from 200 into A zone ✔️ 300 yd A/c zone hits with wind ✔️ I’ve been using scopes for almost 30 years straight and helped design a lot of what’s around nowadays so I’m partial to them. The weight is a factor for most as is how to truly set them up correctly……..vid on my YouTube to get ya started…….once that’s solid you can absolutely shoot one as fast as an RDS………I’ve been doing it for years. Really impressed with this complete setup. Much thx to the manufacturers. #ogmk12operator #defoor #rifle #defoorproformanceshooting #recceoperator #kd4 #carbine https://www.instagram.com/p/CjIDBOTOZQW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#ogmk12operator #defoor #rifle #defoorproformanceshooting #recceoperator #kd4 #carbine

[usdskate]

The new USD SWAY ALLSTAR 2000. Now available worldwide. Are you an all-time USD fan or a young gun with an old-school crush? If your answer is yes, we invite you for a trip ´forward to the past´ with the new USD Sway ALLSTAR skates! The colorway of these new Sway skates will take you back in time to when the USD Throne skates revolutionized a young aggressive skating industry. At the same time, they will bring your skating to the next level thanks to a newly upgraded soleplate mounted on a solid Sway boot – the first setup choice of some USD pro team riders. The skates come with a flat KIZER Fluid V frame setup, with USD Team wheels 61mm and ABEC 7 bearings, 45° Velcro straps, and super comfy USD Basic liners. #USDskates #USDSWAY #inlineskate https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf6q5Ryoxmi/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#usdskates #usdsway #inlineskate