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ruth-the-artblog · 29 days

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Hey @ari-shipping-stuff i thought i would answer everything in a seperate post so i can compile things easier fkjdkdidhdidjd

1- Yeah the saturation is edited :> I was going for a sunset vibe. Which is Extra Eerie in school because we always go before sunset. The original is regular window light + shadows. I'll put the og one at the readmore at the bottom. Also tbh i been using mostly pens for drawing to prevent me from constantly fixing mistakes in comics. Kkdhdkdjkdjdkjd

Oml those fucking windows. I hated them so much. As a public school student, they were in all my schools.

These, but much less clean (im talking CAKED in dust) and half the windows were broken/the glass panel is half hanging out of the frame. It was such a hazard to clean tbh because it was so easy to push out a loose panel. AND WE SAT NEXT TO THOSE BITCHES 🤡🤡🤡🤡

2- Thanks :> i also liked how it turned out with the blue pen and orange lights. I think the reason my drawings are rly expressive is because i like to draw those the most kdhdkdhdkd

3- kdhddkdjdkdjdjdkdjd with how much eyes it has, you def could hit one of them square in the eye

4- It's a karaoke room im leaving a photo under the readmore for reference. I kinda just based it off how i remembered it. Now that i think about it im not sure if there was a disco ball, but in my heart there sure is. The things on the table are microphones, but no one is singing right now. The song playing is "Eyes Without a Face" by Billy Idol, the one i linked in the post.

5- Nah i didn't use the knife, quite the opposite actually. I didn't like how one of the draings turned out, so i ripped the bottom half of the paper and drew at the bottom. Then i used my phone editor to blur the two pages together.

What ending scenes dym btw?

This place was inspired by the song "I Know The End" by Pheobe Bridgers. The place is sunset with thousands of billboards. Eyeballs and Lee sit on the titular billboard from the song as they chat.

When did Lee meet Wingtips or Eyeballs?

For Wingtips, its the usual one. Wingtips is a manifestation of Lee's imagination as a coping mechanism. Vae also act as a therapist and later a parental figure to Lee until the end.

For Eyeballs, after Lee dies, Eyeballs poses as Wingtips to torment him in Hell for eternity. However, something happens and leaves Eyeballs just as trapped in the dream-hellscape as Lee is. They kinda struggle to understand each other, as they are the only real people in the dream-hellscape

First comic

^ i think i sent the full vid in the discord before. Lmk if you want me to find it for you

Right that's it. Thanks for reading everything.

#whew #that took a long time to write #thanks :>#you are officially pardoned from any wrongdoings ever /hj #but seriously #thanks #im sorry im such a bitch #[to be tagged]#a rion #they're so Immortal Snail and You dynamic

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manybcdthings · 11 months

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can you share any favorite headcanons for your muses that you haven't been able to get on the dash yet?

I have so many characters and headcanons for them this will be a long answer. I'm gonna pop it under a readmore just to be nice LOL

Hunter is surprisingly good at card games and he thoroughly enjoys them too. It's pretty much his favorite thing to do and he knows a lot of tricks but rarely ever shows anybody. He only really shows off his shuffling skills when he's drunk or just wants to be annoying before getting a game going.

Ruben is a lot smarter than the world gives him credit for, he's just never had the resources or the opportunity to do anything with it. He's more philosophical than he seems and enjoys deep conversations even if he doesn't have the vocabulary to back up his actual thoughts and opinions.

Ethan was just as bad as JJ is back in his youth and there's a lot of old faces in Center Hill that he technically has bad blood with. Blaze and Ethan never used to be friends until they got older and realized life was too short. When they get drunk together without supervision though, old arguments come to surface from 20 or more so years ago.

Bruce is only part of the reapers to feel closer to an emotionally distant father that focused far more on wealth and power than he ever did being a parent. Being the underboss is the best way Bruce has earned his father's attention and in turn he focuses in the same way on the gang that Lee does. It's why his relationships always fail and he appears more robotic than human.

Xavier is technically hopeless at a lot of things and is quite clumsy. His hobby of video gaming is where he feels the best at something, as he has impressive numbers and scores. He's the classical case of being an awkward outsider in public and thinking to himself "Nobody knows I just hit 12k streamers on COD."

Dusty has two tattoos that he is completely clueless about and he doesn't even believe people if they tell him he has them or they take a picture of them. On his back right between his shoulder blades is a four leaf clover, from the time he convinced a bunch of Irishmen that he too was Irish and spent the whole night speaking to them in an Irish accent. The other tattoo is on his lower back like a stamp tramp and it's simply a small dragonfly, apparently acquired from one of his many trips where he disappeared for months.

Gabriel easily becomes obsessive but in a caring way. He has a lot of hobbies that he doesn't have the time for, ranging from collecting stamps (lol) to bird watching. He gets bored of them or runs out of the excitement quickly. These obsessions usually start as ways for him to feel less alone but obviously, they never do the trick so begin collecting dust more than anything else.

Harvey was amazing on a football field, he really had the talent to make it professionally but felt the obligation to do his family proud more important. He still practices football and plays with friends, but he usually goes easy on people so he doesn't appear as a show off which is a stark contrast to his rather cocky personality in other areas of his life.

Cian still needs to find a way to be chaotic now that he's realized he shouldn't do so at his family's expense. His love for adventurous things has been diverted into relationships or bedroom escapades. He often hires escorts to bring sordid fantasies to life and is the a reason why he never goes to events with an actual date on his arm.

Hakan is nowhere near as smart as he likes to think he is. The only thing he's good at is getting other people to do his bidding, which is why he doesn't do well when people can stand up to him or defy him. His only hidden talent is knotting a cherry stem with his tongue. That's it.

Ben has a secret room in the back of his office for all of his nerd memorabilia. He doesn't tell ANYBODY it's there at all out of fear of being judged. It includes actual props from Marvel and DC, first edition comics and full on superhero costumes. He doesn't even bust any of it out for Halloween, he just goes in there and enjoys a drink from his Marvel themed bar and enjoys being surrounded by childish things.

Luca once had a crush on a high school teacher and it was the only lesson that he ever behaved in. He was convinced that because his father was well known to be a charming gentleman to women, that the teacher would be more than willing to risk her career for a seventeen year old. He got turned down obviously, and never went to her lessons ever again. This is the real story behind him flunking history, but he tells everyone he just hated the subject. He actually doesn't, he finds it quite fascinating.

#headcanons #LOL

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kadoodles-on-ao3 · 1 year

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It's been a while since my last aside so I felt like sharing what I've been working on in my free time! I promise I'm not lazy, I'm just busy and also really like starting new projects halfway through working on 8 other projects for some reason haha

Speaking of starting something new when I haven't finished something I started previously, Minh and I were planning on making a collab Shulkelia one shot for Valentine's Day! Obviously that didn't pan out haha but it's still being worked on and it's extremely cute and fun :) Hopefully it will be ready to post sooner than later! And I also will hopefully be able to work on Constellations soon as well!! (Seriously I feel. SO. bad about my hiatus, especially since I know how many interesting and fun rough-draft ideas we brainstormed up for it that are just waiting to be finalized and shared with the world!!)

Another thing I wanted to do for Valentine's Day but extremely missed the boat on was mass dumping the few good NSFW Shulkelia pieces on here (with a planned warning ahead of time as well as copious tagging and hiding under readmores, of course!), including a full translation of a doujin! However, it being a nearly 20-page comic with dialogue and onomatopoeia all over the place meant I couldn't go the normal route of putting the translation below the art, it would just be way too messy and confusing. So, I decided to open up Photopea and replace the Japanese text with my translation! I felt bad about editing someone else's work (still do haha) but there was just no other way to do it, there is. SO so much onomatopoeia in there that it would be a nightmare to do it any other way. But that fact also contributed to why I still have yet to finish the translation: I got wayyy too ambitious in my typical perfectionist way, and decided to use the clone tool to edit out the hiragana and katakana handwriting for the onomatopoeia and place English text in their places, rather than just put it in small, parenthetical text next to the original writing like manga translations typically do. And oh my GOD I should never have done that there are literal HUNDREDS of characters I had to painstakingly edit out and I'm STILL not even done yet no no no... But I'm so close to finishing it!! I have only a couple pages left and then it's good to go!! Expect to see it along with the other NSFW art of them (again, with multiple warnings far ahead of time plus careful tagging to make sure you won't see it if you don't want to!!) in the near future!

Not XC related at all, but my most recent project has been making an Ao3 site skin (and, in the process, learning how CSS works) and it's been really satisfying! It's nothing super fancy, but it does create a noticeable improvement from the default (in terms of clarity/organization/readability, no offense intended at all of course!) and I'm very pleased with it so far! Once it's done I'll share it here, complete with notes on what each piece is doing to the layout and how, so anyone can use it and tweak it how they like! :)

I unfortunately haven't made any more progress on Xenoblade 3, sorry to say. And actually... it's partially because I'm worried that I'll end up liking Noah so much that I'll get even more distracted from writing Shulkelia or Xenoblade 1 in general haha... Like I'd never give up on that of course, 1 and its characters will always have a special place in my heart! But I can see myself getting swept away by The New Guy TM, much like I do with new project ideas popping into my head...

My FFXIV x Xenoblade 1 crossover has made some good progress! I've now finalized the outfits for over half of the characters I plan on making, after hours and hours of trying different chestpieces and dyes to get them as close to their canon outfits as possible! In fact, maybe I could share a little more about what exactly I'm doing, to show how I was having too much fun and made it a bigger thing than it had to be, to help explain why it's taking so long haha:

So originally the idea started out as "what FFXIV job best suits the playstyle/archetype of each of XC's playable characters?" (and I have a whole host of notes in my head about why that is from both a gameplay/kit perspective and a fandom-y General Vibes/Aesthetic perspective, which I will for sure post along with the pics). And if I could draw well, it probably would've ended there: I'd just have made some art of the cast posing with their weapons and call it done. But since 1) I can't draw the things I see in my head like I want to and 2) I like to over-complicate things for fun, I decided to pile onto this idea by not only adding more characters of (XC SPOILERS!!!) Alvis, Egil, Meyneth, and Zanza to the roster (including in terms of what jobs suit them each and why!) but also recreate everyone in-game! (I really wanted to do Dickson as well, but unfortunately there are absolutely zero mustache options that look like his :< There's only one that's even remotely similar, but the face is completely wrong for him (what facial features look like are tied to faces, for some reason; the Mustache Facial Feature creates a different type of mustache depending on which Face option you pick) so there's no way to make a character that looks sufficiently like him, at least to my standards. Maybe one day they'll add one that fits...? If they do I will for sure make Gunbreaker Dickson a reality!) This resulted in me needing to not only sit down for hours in XIV's character creator ensuring every detail was as close a match to their designs as possible, but also opening up 8000 tabs in Eorzea Collection and looking through every. single. last. glamour option. in the game for each. and. every. slot. for each. and. every. character. to find out how closely I could translate their weird (affectionate) XC clothes into weird (affectionate) FF clothes. Combine that with my stubbornness in wanting them to look as accurate as possible resulting in making two different outfits per character based on whether or not they can equip/glam the gear as the job that suits them most, (plus the fact that I'm doing [again, SPOILERS!!!] Mecha-Fiora in addition to Homs!Fiora as well as having three [three!] different job options for Shulk based on varying levels of both XC and XIV spoilers to avoid ruining twists for either game), and the fact that I went a step further and decided to also make alternate-race versions for the main party (that sounds... bad lmao. fantasy races, like elves and catboys and such) like half if-these-characters-were-instead-created-by-the-XIV-designers-in-an-alternate-timeline-what-race-would-they-probably-make-them-judged-by-me-like-their-jobs-on-both-lore-and-Vibes-TM and half if-the-XC-gang-existed-irl-and-played-XIV-what-would-they-make-their-characters-look-like, and reminder that each of these versions have two different outfit variants and each outfit needs a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 7 separate pieces each that also need to be dyed and have multiple different options to try on for every character and... it took a teeeeny bit longer than I was expecting to get through haha. But that's not at all to say it's a chore to get through; it's certainly been a process yes, but I've been having a lot of fun the whole time :) Finally getting every element just right, from all the details in character creation down to their eyebrow shape to finding the best option for every armor slot dyed just the right color, seeing it all come together and actually look quite a bit like the character is so satisfying! I can't wait to share them all, I hope someone out there enjoys the results as much as I did creating them! :) Oh, and I also will be making a glam list for each outfit as well as sharing my notes on what I picked in the character creator, so if you want to do an in-game/WoL cosplay as someone or maybe even make an alt named after one based on my recreation of them then it'll be easy for you! :)

Even though I haven't been keeping up with my fanfic writing as much lately, I do still get little ideas for things quite often and am typing them down in my doc for later! I have a gigantic backlog of things I could write: fanfics long and short, Shulkelia fics and Genfics, non-fanfic concepts both XC-related and not... rest assured, even if I'm not posting on here or Ao3 my mind is always buzzing with something and I'm always wanting to create more!

#aside #xenoblade spoilers #xenoblade chronicles spoilers #oh also don't forget about my voice line project!! that will be coming in june!! :)#is there anything i forgot...? uhh i want to do a melia and/or shulk cosplay someday #my bf has a monado prop and everything haha #i like making my own cosplays as close to from-scratch as possible #but i'm not great at sewing plus the xc outfits are outrageously detailed so idk if that'll pan out haha #oh and speaking of xc and my bf having stuff from it #i managed to snag an unopened(!!!) limited edition xc 1 that came with a special red classic controller!!!!! the european exclusive!!!!#i got it for him for his bday but i mean i paid for it and i live with him so it's sort of mine as well haha #it's very surreal to actually have and see it esp since it's near-mint condition...#thank you to whoever kept it all these years and was willing to sell it and ship it overseas!!#we will take extremely good care of it forever!!

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pidgeonspen · 2 years

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I posted 2,366 times in 2021

36 posts created (2%)

2330 posts reblogged (98%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 64.7 posts.

I added 641 tags in 2021

#sth - 250 posts

#fallout - 69 posts

#doucheweasel - 59 posts

#fma - 47 posts

#pokemon - 41 posts

#deltarune - 39 posts

#oc: carey - 39 posts

#fave - 36 posts

#srb - 35 posts

#my art - 26 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#on screen they just said 'well she's back and a better person now!' and we never got to see her experience any of her growth or how others

My Top Posts in 2021

Got this really amazing comm off of @fini-mun for the Hunter/Hunted theme they had going a while back and I'm so in love with it! Everything about this scene is incredible; the atmospheric background that looks straight out of Far Harbor, the Fog Crawler poising to strike, Darla's pose and expression, THE COLORING... I could go on!

Thank you again, Deebs! ♡

41 notes • Posted 2021-11-08 01:49:51 GMT

Sometimes you spontaneously get inspired to make an OC for crossover shit, and sometimes that crossover is Fallout + Sonic, and sometimes you absolutely fall in love with your new brainchild. It happens.

Darla is a Glowing One (a type of ghoul) and a warm, motherly person... who also happens to be a skilled hunter & survivalist. She's about 125 years old, though she first became a ghoul when she was in her mid to late 30s.

She emits radiation so she tends to travel alone, and prefers nonverbal communication as her vocal chords are damaged. When she does speak, it's a very raspy, strained whisper.

Her two huge claws and the glowing spines on her tail deal heavy radiation damage, though her normal claws are retractable. She uses a shotgun and a hunting knife when she can't rely on her natural weapons! She wants to feel young and pretty so she wears cute and feminine clothing when she can find it!

Before she became heavily irradiated, she used to act as a surrogate mother for any orphaned children she came across, as she had been a mother once herself before she turned.

Photo of her pre-ghoulification (and her children) under the readmore!

See the full post

43 notes • Posted 2021-09-16 13:54:12 GMT

Been doing some self-indulgent comic edits to feature my OC Carey for funsies as of late!

I own nothing except this incredibly stupid dog and her oversized ears. <3

43 notes • Posted 2021-07-01 00:48:28 GMT

See the full post

72 notes • Posted 2021-06-23 16:28:12 GMT

Had to do something to celebrate his return in the anniversary special! This idiot's been my comfort character, and my favorite Sonic character, for 15 years. Here's to a lifetime of adoring this asshole!

v v Transparent version under readmore, I used the comic colors in that version v v

85 notes • Posted 2021-06-24 18:25:29 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #:D

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bethesdaglitch · 5 years

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1-70 do em all! 😁💙

I’m seriously so sorry this took so long, but it was so much fun!! thank you!!! Also it’s super long so I’m gonna put it under a readmore!

1. First game you played obsessively?

Jak & Daxter! 2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc.Lmao I’m not exactly a creative person, but when I was little I tried coming up with and drawing my own pokemon. They were… bad3. Who did you play with as a kid?My brother! At first I stole his Gameboy Color whenever he wasn’t using it, but then he saved up and bought a PS2 so we could play games together4. Who do you play with now?No one really lol. I kinda prefer to play single-player games now? But I’ll play with various friends when we hang out.5. Ever use cheat codes?When I was little, yeah! Especially in the Sly Raccoon games 6. Ever buy strategy guides?Before the age of unlimited free online strategy guides I did, now I just use said online ones7. Any games you have multiple copies of?Yep, I’ve “lost” games only to find them again after replacing them like… four times? It happened with Oblivion, Fable 3, DA: Origins, and, weirdly enough, that one obscure (but fun imo!) wii game, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon8. Rarest/Most expensive game in your collection?This one was hard! After a teeny bit of research, I narrowed it down to either Rule of Rose, LoZ Collector’s Edition on Gamecube, and pokemon red and yellow9. Most regrettable purchase?Hhhhhhhh I bought the video game for the 2006 Dreamworks movie Over the Hedge. I was only 12, but I still should’ve known better :(10. Ever go to a midnight game release or stand in line for hours?I’ve gone to a few midnight releases, but none that have lasted for hours, luckily. I only started going to them in the last few years, so the only ones I’ve been to so far are Fallout 4, DA:I and uh… ME:A (I KNOW)11. Have you ever made new friends from playing video games?Nah not really, I don’t play online games, so. I have friends who play video games, but I’ve never met someone BECAUSE of video games12. Ever get picked on for liking games?Lol no?13. A game you’ve never played that everyone else has?Overwatch14. Favorite game music?NIER, hands down. 15. If it was a requirement to get a game related tattoo, what would you pick?Probably something cute and harmless like the leaf from Animal Crossing lol16. Favorite game to play with your friends IRL?Lately we’ve been really into Towerfall: Ascension and Screencheat17. Ever lose a friend over a game?Wh—no????18. Would you date someone that hates gaming?So long as they didn’t try to “forbid” me from playing and so long as we had other interests to bond over, then sure. It’d be kind of a bummer though lol19. Favorite handheld console?Idk that I have one! Maybe the Switch, since that’s the most recent and popular?20. Game that you know like the back of your hand?Silent Hill 3 and DA:I21. Game that you didn’t like or understand as a kid but love now?The Civilization games22. Do you wear game related clothing/accessories?Sometimes, yeah. Nothing too embarrassing, though. 23. The game that you’ve logged the most hours into?What, like… ever?? Geez, I dunno… probably Oblivion?24. First Pokemon game?Yellow!25. Were you ever an arcade game player?I actually wasn’t really :/26. Ever form any gaming rivalries?Oh yeah, with my brother. He’s 6 years older than me, which pretty much guaranteed I got my ass kicked in every game we played when I was younger27. Game that makes you rage?Bloodborne and Dark Souls!!!!!! I swear I try to go back and play them at least once a year, and I can never get past the first hour :(28. Ever play in a tournament?Not like an official one, but ones with friends, yep29. What is your gaming set up?Imma be real with you chief I don’t know nearly enough about computers to answer this question with anything other than “a computer”30. How many consoles do you own?Ohohoho far too many31. Does the 3DS and/or Virtual Boy hurt your eyes or give you headaches?I’ve never had the 3D slider up long enough to tell, but that probably means yes lol32. Did you ever play a game based on your favorite show/cartoon/movie/comic?BOY when I was in first grade I played Spongebob: Supersponge on Gameboy advance so much I STILL remember the password that lets you skip to the final stage (it’s WMBT) 33. Did you ever have any bootleg games or plug-n-play games?nah 34. Do either of your parents play video games?PFFF GOD NO. Although my mom does love Animal Crossing. Not playing it, but just like it’s whole deal. 35. Ever work in a game store? Or do you have a favorite game shop?No and no, tbh36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game?I… don’t think so? Maybe I’ve cried over a game, but blood?? Put the controller down, y’all37. Have you played E.T. for the Atari 2600? Do you think that’s the worst game ever, or do you have another nomination?NO NO NO OVER THE HEDGE (2006) FOR THE PS2 IS THE SINGLE WORST GAME EVER MADE FIGHT ME ON THIS38. A game you’re ashamed to admit that you like?Oh lord… idk if anyone’s ever played any of Ambition’s dating sims (Dream Girlfriend, Dream Boyfriend, Animal Boyfriend, and Moe Can Change) but I’ve literally been playing them for about… 5-ish years now? They’re seriously the worst, I fucking love them 39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?Hmm… Maybe a new Kingdoms of Amalur game would be cool? 40. What to you think of virtual reality headsets or motion controls?I love VR but the last time I tried it at a friend’s place I fucking faceplanted after leaning on a counter I forgot was also virtual and the first thing my friend asked was whether the headset was ok, so that stung. As for motion controls, they’re fun but they can be a real pain41. A genre that you just can’t get into?Sports games 42. Maybe it wasn’t your first game, but what was the game that started you on your path to nerdiness?The path to what43. Ever play games when you really should have been concentrating on something else?Oh yeah, who hasn’t?44. Arcade machine that has consumed the most of your quarters?Idk if this counts but I am a MASTER at the claw machine and that stacker game. My closet is full of useless shit I’ve won from those things45. How are you at Mario Kart?OH SO FUCKING GOOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA46. Do you like relaxing games like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon?yesssss I love them47. Do you like competitive games?I mean like I said, I mostly prefer single-player games, but I do enjoy the occasional co-op game48. How long does it take your to customize your player character?about an hour49. In games where you can pick your class, do you always tend to go for the same type of character?I actually don’t! If it’s a game I’m not confident I’ll be good at, I pick whichever class is recommended for beginners, and that changes from game to game. Alternatively, I just go through phases where I prefer a specific class above others 50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create?Christ I have no idea. Maybe a first-person escape game? idk51. Have you ever played a game for so long that you forgot to eat or sleep?NO?? DAMN ARE Y’ALL OK????52. A game that you begged your parents for as a kid?Literally any M game; my parents were strictly “No M games until you’re old enough!” I just got my brother to buy them most of the time though lol53. What’s your opinion on DLC these days?Most DLC is fine, it’s microtransactions in “pay-to-win” games that I fucking hate. 54. Do you give in to Steam sales?HAHAHAHAHA yeah absolutely 55. Did you ever make someone you hated in the Sims and did mean stuff to them?N-No??? 56. Did you ever play Roller Coaster Tycoon and kill off your guests?Ok yeah I did do that 57. Did you ever play a game to 100% or get all of the achievements?Ew no58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?Ooooh… ok, Oblivion, My Time in Portia, and Divinity 259. Do you play any cell phone games?I do! I play a lot of escape games, and uh… the Ambition games mentioned previously60. Do you know the Konami Code?Is that the up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-B-A? Huh, I never knew it had a name!61. Do you trade in your games or keep them forever?I used to trade them in occasionally, but mostly I keep them 62. Ever buy a console specifically to play one game?Yeah the Switch for BotW. Not proud of it, but it was worth it63. Ever go to a gaming convention or tournament? nah64. Ever make a TV or monitor purchase based on what would be best for gaming?Yep! 65. Ever have a Game Genie, Game Shark or Action Replay? Did it ever mess up your game’s save file?OHHHH MY GOD YEAH, I’M STILL FUCKING PISSED ABOUT IT. I had GameShark for Gameboy and PS2, but that one was fine, it didn’t cause any problems. It was ACTION FUCKING REPLAY that fucked me over. I used it for KH2 and it worked the whole time until literally THE VERY LAST XEMNAS FIGHT, when my HP bar suddenly dropped to 1??? Not my HP, mind you, the HP BAR. Meaning 1 HP was the most I could have. Literally fuck action replay >:( 66. Did you ever have have an old Nokia with Snake on it?nope67. Do you have a happy gaming-related childhood memory you want to share?I do! The very first thing I ever saved up money for to buy myself was Pokemon Crystal version. Until then I’d just been borrowing (re:stealing) my brother’s, but when I was 5 and Crystal was about to come out, my parents made me a deal that if I saved up $15, they’d pay the other $15 and I could get it! It was the first time I was working towards a fun goal, so it was all pretty exciting for 5-year-old me lol. It’s dumb, I know, but it’s something I look back on fondly68. Ever save up a ton of tickets in an arcade to get something cool?Lol nah, I think the best thing I ever got with tickets was a cheap snowglobe 69. In your opinion, best game ever made? UHHHH GOD. That’s… super tough. I’m genuinely not sure I have an answer tbh. I’m really into Divinity 2 right now but best game ever made?? Idk! that’s a hard one!!!! 70. Very first game you ever beat? I won’t lie, it was Spongebob: Supersponge on GBA

#ask meme #sorthyboy

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legalist217 · 6 years

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SHADOW AND BONE: After-Action Report

I’m writing this before cracking Siege and Storm--okay, I’ve read the first page, but MOSTLY true--because each book deserves its own fair chance and its own assessment. Sure, they also need to work together as a trilogy, but each one is a book in itself. And the first book of any trilogy particularly must be able to stand alone, both to ensure the series is picked up and to provide narrative satisfaction in case it isn’t.

Before beginning, a note of explanation regarding tags. While thinking the title was “Shadow and THRONE” was a genuine mistake on my part--I blame the swoopy font and the fact both words suit the narrative--tagging with the & spelled out was not. It’s the same reason why most of my live-blogging of this book went on Twitter. While my whinging about YA tropes entertains some and is cathartic to me, I understand people not wanting negative interaction in their tag. Plus, sometimes those tropes are there for a reason and I didn’t really feel like looking like a damn fool in real time on this platform. (Besides, there’s only a handful of people for me to directly annoy on Twitter, versus this blog having a diverse portfolio of followers who likely do not give a shit about the actual thesis statement that brought me to tumblr.)

That being said, this is serious thought and will go in the tag (under a readmore), warts and all, because now that I’ve read the book, it has to stand on its feet. So, what’ve we got?

I was texting a friend and came up with the following analogy:

[Shadow and Bone] blends a lot of pleasing attributes from series that I liked, but, not necessarily well. Like if it was cake batter, there would still be distinct lumps of identifiable flour and butter. But it’s a good recipe and a first part and the lumps aren’t that distracting so I’m inclined to forgive and want another piece.

For once, I don’t think the metaphor ran away from me. Often, this is simply that the book is using the YA tropes I’ve come to hate, but then deftly shifts (most of) them into something that makes functional sense. However, while reading this book, the following connections came to mind unbidden:

for all they go on about being practitioners of the Small Science (which would make you think an alchemy comparison would be forthcoming), the Grisha more resemble benders from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Actually, it reminds me more of Korra due to the cultural attitudes separating Grisha and otkazat’sya (aka normies). There’s a mention at the end that the First Army (normie soldiers) and the Second Army (Grisha) are rumored to be warring with each other.

one night, the protagonist is alone in the hospital wing recovering from having broken bones speed-mended when suddenly the character who keeps trying to help via unsettling cryptic clues which mostly amount to GTFO shows up over the protagonist’s bed to deliver more cryptic warnings. Did I just recount to you a scene from Shadow and Bone between Alina and the Apparat, or was that Harry and Dobby in Chamber of Secrets?

But these are the unblended parts. I’m still #shook by just how well Mr. the Darkling is written as a manipulator. I knew it was coming. It couldn’t not. But the book lulls you the same way he lulls Alina, whisking you from the genuinely horrifying Fold to a beautiful castle full of beautiful distractions. He knows just how much carrot to offer via conversations and appearing vulnerable. He applies the stick by not talking to her, and also implicitly by stopping her mail from reaching Mal. Because the book is narrated by Alina, we only pick up anything she does. And she misses much, misinterprets more, and gets so hung up on the kiss that it’s hard not to be swept along with her. All according to keikaku.

One of my favorite instances of this is in the choice of kefta colors. A garment that only Grisha wear, kefta are color-coded based on the individual’s ability. Mr. the Darkling announces that Alina will wear black, a color reserved only for himself. She rejects this in favor of Summoner-blue. It’s a choice that she makes because she doesn’t want to be socially isolated, and Mr. the Darkling seems pissy about her not acceding to his offer of fanciness. Her best gal pal Genya, who’s stuck wearing servant white in accordance with being the Queen’s cosmetic magician and the King’s bedwarmer, is stunned that such an offer of status would be let go.

But Alina was correct, just not for the reasons she thought she was. Being elevated to the same status as the leader of the Grisha would have kept her isolated from the others. Were it not for her standard-issue YA protagonist personality preventing her from making more than like two real friends, Mr. the Darkling might’ve had reason to worry about her getting away from him. But, no, her only female friend is stuck spending her nights away at the palace, and Gale from The Hunger Games is off tracking game. She’s a loner who is alone. And he cultivates that aloneness, kisses her when she’s distracted, then leaves her to stew on these new complex feelings. Is it any wonder she doesn’t resist the black kefta at the fete?

As someone who’s been played multiple times, it’s shiveringly real. I dig it. I’m intrigued to see what happens next. What a sneaky boy. Someone hurry up and make an edit of the OOH MR DARCY comic to justify my persistent nickname for him.

As for Mal, I called him Gale, and I’m sure those who’ve read the entire trilogy are protesting that this is an entirely unfair assessment of his character. Recall that I’m only addressing book one in this. What I do like, honestly, is that he seems better written than Gale did. I understand that war does different things to different people, but so many of Suzanne Collins’s characters had the same response to war that it at some point seemed improbable that they’d all become hardened near-sociopaths. Mal, however, has a real and believable love for Alina, the kind that leaves him too angry to speak to her for ages, but that ultimately allows him to forgive everything that went wrong in the face of peril. I can’t wait to see how his character gets from here to where I know from sundry spoilers it’ll end up. Definitely a more interesting boy than Gale.

Alina herself? At first, I didn’t want to like her. She read so much like all the other YA girls with all their other sad backstories, their pale faces, their skinny bodies, their clumsy lack of athleticism. But all of these attributes seemed like they were being announced so as to get them out of the way, as if we needed to get past them in order to make room for the good stuff. When it’s revealed that her bad health is directly tied to having suppressed her Grisha-ness for all those years, and that her acceptance of her gift correlates to a sunburst of good health, it’s a rush of maddeningly fresh air. All I want is a real reason for things to be presented as they are. The book gave it to me.

This doesn’t address her personality, which I earlier called standard-issue. I’m not really going to back down from that; YA heroines as a rule are sassy and straightforward and speak their mind. What lets her work better is that she lives in a world where the characters don’t respond with pearl-clutching. Alina isn’t the sole master of witty banter. She plays really nicely off of Genya, Mal, and especially Mr. the Darkling. Again, that’s all I need, guys, take note.

I’m told there are ways in which the sequels will burn off my goodwill, but that is a problem for future Liz to address in a future report. I liked this one. I don’t stay up until past two in the morning for every book I read; I have to either hate it or love it. This one was the second one.

Thanks to @alskaichou for recommending the Grishaverse. I hope you’re happy, missy >_> and don’t worry, I’ll write you fresh letters and link the fresh twitter threads as soon as I start Siege.

#the grisha trilogy #shadow and bone #shadow ampersand throne #alina starkov #mr. the darkling

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