#I could ramble about a lot of design choices but i won't

[shiawasekai]

Part 1/?? of Nela's Reference Sheet, mostly covering the Mythic Metamorphosis changes. Open to modifications long term (maybe including some simple shading?) which I'll upload when the Sheet is complete.

#oc: nela damasio #pwotr pals #“normal hair” more like depression hair #i didn't use it as the main showcase here because it hides the ears #A lot of her design came BEFORE I decided to go this hard with the non-human features so it's a happy accident #I'm absolutely weaponizing it #I could ramble about a lot of design choices but i won't #I'm open to any questions tho

[zarvasace]

And here are Dire and Madness, dark Twilight and dark Four!

Rambling and more art beneath the cut as has been standard :) only two more left to do and guys I love them

Masterpost

Dire

Dire is dark Twilight. 

He and Twilight share one major trait: they are protectors. Not even a process that bastardized Sky’s kindness could take that away. By no means is Dire nice, however. He is a Twilight that has lost all control and doesn't care to regain it, because that would mean facing all he's done. Some part of Dire is aware and suffering, but he purposely buries that part.  

But on the surface that he presents and identifies with, Dire lashes out at everything that causes him pain—which is a lot of things. Dire is no different from the other Darks, in that he can't stand the light and gets annoyed quickly. He doesn't often speak, and nobody is really sure how much he really understands of what's around him. He acts more like an animal than a human in a lot of ways, and is often a little more cruel than he has to be. He's unnaturally strong and quick, and his weapons of choice are his nails and teeth. He indulges his brutal urges because the alternative is thinking.

For plans that require destruction and fighting, the Darks let Dire run out first. He could probably fight an army on his own, provided that he has plenty of darkness and an enemy without too much strategy. He's powerful and extremely dangerous. Due to that, the Darks don't let him run free. They use the shackles around his wrists and neck to keep him nearby and out of maiming range. When they do let him out though (to hunt or fight or exercise or whatever), he always comes back…

Because Dire is a protector. He leans more offensive than Twilight, but Dire too knows friend from foe. He doesn't always care, but Dire has sorted the other Darks as “friend” in his head, and he won't let anything hurt them except for themselves, if he can. He's particularly fond of Madness and Nothing, and has been known to grab them and not let them go, even when they start biting. 

Dire’s design pulls a lot from the fever dream in Twilight Princess: gray skin, blank eyes. He has longer, more matted hair than Twilight. His claws are wicked sharp, and he wears tattered clothes without shoes. His wolf pelt is the softest thing about him, and it really should be washed. His markings are a bit more dramatic than Twilight’s, extending down his cheeks and arms and legs. 

Despite the markings, Dire does not have an alternate form like Twilight. Well, he might, but he was never cursed the same way, and this technically is his dark world form. Some combination of magic might give him the ability to shapeshift, but he doesn't need it. He's bestial as it is. 

Madness

Madness is dark Four! There is one big question here: is Madness the same person as Shadow from the manga?

Yes and no! Madness and Shadow do not exist at the same time as separate individuals. They were both made from Four’s darkness, but for different purposes. Shadow really did die when he smashed the mirror, and this isn't exactly a second chance… but it might be. Think of it like this: that body is a computer. Shadow was an operating system there, logging away memories and performing programs. Madness is on the same computer, but is a different operating system (a weaker one, really). However, those memories and personality from Shadow still exist, buried and only subconsciously influencing Madness’s behavior. They act eerily alike sometimes, not that anyone but Four would notice. Perhaps someday, Shadow’s OS will break through and become dominant, but even if he did, he wouldn't be the same. Madness would still be there. 

“Still rivers run deep”—to me, this is very much Four. One body, four colors; a deep knowledge of his chosen trade; a rather serious demeanor with a lot of variety and thoughts; plans and ideas backed up with a combination of emotion and logic. He's balanced. In contrast, Madness is a “fast river running shallowly,” an unbalanced amalgamation of too much, all at once, a broad variety with little substance. 

Madness is a little… unhinged. He's clearly smart, but he speaks in roundabout ways, making connections that don't exist or are too convoluted for anyone to follow. He stares into the distance a lot, and can be quite unnerving if you try to notice how often he blinks (rarely). Nobody can really decide how much of his behavior is on purpose or just how he is. When let loose, Madness shows unparalleled capacity for complex plans, but he doesn't always know how to hold back and often goes overboard. He'll beat that dead horse, and bomb those charred ruins, and smash that fallen vase… You get the picture. 

A lot of these Darks have an odd magical power, and Madness’s is one of the more prominent ones. With a touch, he can attempt to bury a bit of his power in the mind of a sentient being (human, Rito, Zora, Minish, etc) and turn them into a thrall. While a being is a thrall, their eyes turn red and their consciousness goes to sleep. Madness can give them mental commands, and they technically work under his processing power and not their own, so no matter how vague the commands are, they do what he means them to do. Madness can also jump into thralls’ heads to pilot them specifically, seeing from their eyes and speaking from their mouth. He doesn't magically know everything about the thrall, though, so he still has to try to impersonate, and that doesn't usually work well. While he pilots, Madness is still technically in his body, so he will say out loud anything he's commanding the thrall to say, which limits his opportunities to trick the others. 

Without commands, the thralls sit in still silence, which means that over extended periods of time, Madness does have to worry about food and rest for them. The more thralls he has, the less effective he is, because his focus is split, even if he isn't directly piloting more than one person at a time. If he lets someone go even for a moment, the connection is severed entirely. He absolutely refuses to use any thralls in a combat scenario, because he feels their pain, even though it's fainter when he isn’t directly piloting. He uses thralls instead to gather information, start rumors, purchase/steal supplies, and often just cause chaos. 

Madness is actually rather genre-aware. He knows that their schemes are destined to ultimately fail, because the Darks are the “bad guys” and they will lose. As such, he's hedging his bets and logging away information for an inevitable betrayal to the Lights. He does not intend to be on the losing side when it gets down to it. He has half-baked plans to snatch a few of the other Darks and take them with him, too. Madness absolutely does not take any sort of leadership role, which means that he doesn't feel any responsibility to rein in Nothing, making him Nothing’s favorite. Madness also spends time hanging out with Dire, who he thinks understands more than he lets on. Those two would be his first choices, and he thinks Nothing might know that. (This is not at all related to the fact that Shadow’s memories of betrayal are both sweet and bitter.) 

Madness does not get along well with Agony—Madness prefers chaos and mind games over Agony’s stab-first approach. He purposely annoys everyone else. Along with Depth and Shackle, Madness is one of the few Darks who can pass as human, so he's been on a few excursions into towns or groups, and he likes emphasizing his unnerving traits. He'll use a sword if he has to, but prefers bombs and words. He doesn't have any powers from Shadow (shapeshifting, stretchiness, whatever else), but he is very sensitive to light, like most of the Darks. 

Madness casts a wide net, putting on an air of randomness with a sprinkle of insanity for flavor. He connects more dots than he appears to, though, and has a few unexpected urges toward the light. Make no mistake, though, he is a Dark, and he has no intention of doing good just to do good. His ultimate goal is to survive the Dark Chain’s fall, and beyond that… traveling? Therapy? Living at home with people he doesn't hate? (Why does he feel an emotional connection to his Light? Why does he want to protect him? Why does he want to exercise his freedom? Why does it feel like he's running out of time until—)

#my art #lu z darks au #linked universe #sorry for the low contrast dire there #had a hard time with some of these colors #ugh tumblr messws up my posts

[eternally-tired-muffin]

au: life was kinder to them (sabito, tsutako and kanae don't die)

rambling under the cut!

Both Shinobu's and Tomioka's personalities changed a lot after their loved ones' deaths, so if that never happened, I think they would act quite different (on top of having different haori). They would also both still become as strong as hashiras but don't achieve the rank due to already having nine hashira.

Sabito would become the water hashira instead as he improves faster than Tomioka so reaches the level first. I can't imagine Tomioka with a different breath style as he was so well suited to water breathing that he managed to create an eleventh form. For Tomioka to achieve the promotion to hashira, they would need to have multiple water pillars, unless Sabito uses a different breath style (I've seen people use ice for him which I think fits really well). This doesn't solve the numbers issue, though.

Tomioka would instead simply not get promoted but be informally known to be as capable as a hashira by those who go on missions with him. I think this could work well as it would lead to his canon self esteem issues as he thinks of himself as lesser than the others because he is literally not of their rank (rather than thinking lesser of himself because of how final selection went). I figure he and Sabito argue about this but make minimal progress. Tsutako doesn't know he feels this way because she and Tomioka don't talk about demon slaying things at all. She disaproves of his choice to join in the first place and wishes he picked up a "normal life" like her (who is happily married to her fiance) but doesn't stop him.

Meanwhile, Shinobu would become Kanae's tsuguko when Kanae is promoted. As Shinbou isn't a hashira, she would be on fewer missions and have more time at the butterfly manshion so she could focus more on poison production. I think she would develop a larger variety of weapons. For example, inspired after meeting Genya, she could make poison filled bullets or other projectiles that give her long range attacks. Maybe she would create long term attacks too but I'm not sure how yet. She would also train Kanao and other demon slayers in poisons. This means that there can be many poison users in the corps which enables lower ranked slayers to defeat stronger demons. This makes her really valuable despite not being a hashira.

With no reason to hide her emotions behind a smile, Shinobu is loud about thinking the "nine hashira only" rule is stupid. It's gotten her on the bad side of a couple of the existing hashiras (Uzui, Sanemi, Iguro), who consider this an insult to Ubuyahsiki. On the other hand, this makes Sabito respect her a lot. He also hates the rule and wants Tomioka to be promoted.

Shinobu and Tomioka would probably first meet in the butterfly mansion when Tomioka gets injured. They also interact quite a lot through mutual friends, such as waiting for a hashira meeting to finish. This sort-of-but-not-really-hashira thing would be something they have in common. There's rumours in the corps about both of them. Tomioka has no idea. Shinobu knows this and thinks it's hilarious.

Tomioka is still very introverted but doesn't avoid others like in canon. I think he would respond to Shinobu's teasing, even if only to complain, so they would become good friends over time (but won't admit it).

Masterpost

Updated Shinobu design

First comic

#this au appeared out of a doodle and my brain is bursting #pls talk to me if u have questions/ ideas!! #kny #kny au #kny fanart #demon slayer #demon slayer fanart #demon slayer au #giyuu tomioka #kimetsu no yaiba #shinobu #kny kocho #shinobu kocho #tomioka #tomioka fanart #kny tomioka #i don't know how to tag characters. #digital art #fanart #my art #hashira surplus au

[toon-topaz]

I saw your choice animation meme on youtube and i absolutely loved it! Have you ever gone into the STP voice designs in full detail? Im curious to know your about design choices!!!!!!!

Ohoh I certainly do have a lot of thoughts about them, it would take a long while for me to type out all my thoughts though lol

I could make some posts going into my ideas, though I'm not great at articulating my artistic intent in a cohesive way

(my DMs are open if you want some unfiltered rambling that won't take me a billion years to write out)

#ask #slay the princess

[auxiliarydetective]

We've done it!

Or, more accurately, you've done it! Thanks to you, my fellow Tumblrinas, I've actually managed to hit 200 followers!

I never thought I would get this far, but I'm eternally grateful for all the love you've given me, and I can't wait to share many more brainrots with you!

In tune with that, I've decided: Why not let you look even further into my mind? I've given you lots of writing, but why not provide some visuals? And so, in thinking about what I wanted to do for my 200 followers celebration, I came up with...

⁕ Evie's Mind Palace Festival! ⁕

(Placing a cut so this doesn't get too long ^^)

As depicted in this lovely graphic above, I'm going to be focusing on my OCs' fashion for this little event. But not just that! I'll get to the bonuses later :)

For now, text version! Because Tumblr likes not loading images and some people may not be able to view the image

↬ Step 1: Pick an OC of your choice! From my OCs, that is. Hope that was clear. Anyone from the list. I'll even throw in a little bonus and say that unintroduced OCs are allowed! That means the ones on this list AND ones I may have rambled to to you in a chat we've had.

↬ Step 2: Pick an occasion prompt! The prompts are as follows:

Casual (aka everyday wear, aka their basic character design or an alternate outfit or it)

Formal

Training/Athletic

Battle (this may overlap with either 1. or 3. for some characters, but let's assume they actually get geared up for battle)

Hot weather (your typical summer clothes)

Cold weather (sweaters, winter coats, you name it)

Swimwear

Canon event (may overlap with some other categories, but I made this a separate thing for the lore opportunities it provides) - Make sure to specify what canon event you want!

Stealing clothes - You can include who the character should steal from in your ask, otherwise I will pick the victim myself.

Holiday-themed - Pick your holiday! Any holiday counts.

Fandombend - Pick your fandom! (This will probably come with some headcanons on what the OC would be like in the new fandom)

Inspired by a song - Please, pick a song! Preferably from the OC's playlist. I should have a playlist for almost every OC. Hop into the "#playlist" tag on my blog to find them and, if they're not posted over there anywhere, tap on any playlist that's there, let it take you to my Spotify profile, and hop into the "Character Playlists" folder!

↬ Step 3: If you want, pick an extra prompt! Your options are:

Historical - Please specify your time frame! You don't necessarily have to, but I tend to be an indecisive little gremlin, so it would make things a little easier if you could pick ^^"

Fantasy (This, of course, makes little sense if the OC is already in a fantasy setting)

Sci-fi (Once again, this makes little sense if the OC is already in a sci-fi setting)

Steampunk

Cultural - Please pick a culture for me to take inspiration from! It doesn't have to be a real-life culture. For example, you could pick Japan for some kimono art or you could pick the Kuja from One Piece!

Color prompt - Pick your color! I ask that you do keep it at one color so that I have some more freedom, and I won't take specific hex codes either because those specific hex codes might clash with the OC's color palette

Prompt of your choice - This can be literally anything! Yes, also an occasion, in which case it would replace your original occasion prompt. I just didn't have the space to add in all occasions known to man, so if you have another idea, this is where to put it.

↬ Step 4: Send your ask! Done!

Once you've sent your ask, please keep in mind that it might take me a while to answer it. I'll then make a collage/moodboard and get the ask posted. Maybe, I'll also draw your prompt, depending on if I have the energy and/or time for it. If I plan on doing that, I'll let you know in the post and tag you once I have the drawing finished! I may also be swayed into adding a little fic snippet to the answer, if I do feel so inclined. Maybe a song to match the vibes? It'll be a little surprise!

► Rules:

Be nice! It's not hard, and it's basically all I ask.

This is the one time you might not want to shower me in asks because these asks might take a bit to answer. I'm not putting a cap on how many asks per person you're allowed to send, just maybe be mindful of how long they take to answer and space them out over the time of the event.

I'll be accepting asks from the time that this is posted until March 17th. The event ends with the strike of midnight starting the next day. Whenever that may be in your time zone. As long as it's still 23:59 on March 17th somewhere around the world, send in your ask. I might also extend the event if asks keep coming in and I have the energy to keep going.

↬ Additional info for mutuals: You get to ask for crossovers! Just pick one of my OCs and one of yours and I'll try my best to draw them. I might bother you for references though, so be prepared! It doesn't matter how long we've been mutuals for! It could've been five minutes, you're still allowed to send in crossover asks. As long as we're mutuals, let's say, at the time that the ask is answered, it's all good. In practice, that means that you just need to be following me to be able to send in a crossover request. If you ask nicely and maybe say something about why you'd think why our two children would go well together and we share a fandom, it's very unlikely that I'll deny your request and won't follow you back.

Also, if you've ever wanted to say something about my OCs and/or me and my blog, this might be the perfect time for you to do it.

Okay, that's it for now! Love you, everyone! Here's to more fandom-y shenanigans!

Also, behold my new non-OC post divider! It features a lineart sketch of my blog icon in the middle! The icon was designed by @benevolenterrancy pretty much exactly two years ago when they realized my old icon was not, in fact, a unicorn. I still go full-on heart-eyes mode whenever I see my icon, so I figured it was time to remind everyone of the amazing artist that created it <3

Taglist: @starcrossedjedis @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @fluffle-system @wheresmybloodynauglamir @supermarine-silvally @nanukanal @cody-helix02 (I believe this is the first time I've ever used my full taglist, aka the basic taglist plus everyone from fandom-specific taglists - wowie!) - Let me know if you'd like to be added or removed, for specific fandoms or the general list!

#evie's events #evie's mind palace festival

[tvmigraine]

Disney (Almost) Made an Anniversary Kamen Rider

You remember during the 2000s where Disney owned Power Rangers? It wasn't a bad era in terms of what was put out, but maybe I'm bias because I grew up with it. Running from Ninja Storm to RPM, Disney had a troubling run with the show - the quality was good for a kid's show, but Disney did not like making it. It's not a secret that they were trying to bury Power Rangers, the show only continuing after RPM because it was bought back by Saban. It doesn't feel like a coincidence they sold back Power Rangers less than a year after buying Marvel Entertainment.

And ever since, Disney has had no interest in Tokusatsu as a genre. You could argue the closest they ever came was Mech-X4, a Disney XD show about a kid controlling a giant robot to save his town.

Then rolls around the 100th anniversary. Tokusatsu is still as popular as ever in Japan and, while Super Sentai isn't as popular as it used to be, Kamen Rider has been going strong ever since it's revival in the Heisei Era.

If Disney wanna make money in Tokusatsu, it makes sense to put it in Kamen Rider.

This is the Imagination Belt. It was released last month and, honestly, I'm glad I got back into Kamen Rider in time to see the strangest anniversary celebration yet. It was produced by Bandai and I won't pretend this is officially a Kamen Rider product - it's made by the same company, but that's not enough to call it that.

But it sure takes a lot of the beats!

As a person who has previously rambled about a non-existent canon surrounding a Sonic Screwdriver toy, I really appreciate that this gives me more to talk about inherently. Kamen Rider historically has been getting more and more Riders with every era of the show and this toy is no different - ten different Disney icons made into marketable... keys... how did they not do Sora-

Nevermind, I'm glad they didn't.

The designs aren't great, I won't pretend they are, if you're a fan of Kamen Rider. It's clear the character designs were leaning closer to Kingdom Hearts (or even Spectrobes, if you remember that), so it's hard to judge them in terms of your typical Tokusatsu outfit. That being said, the consistency of the goggles does imply something about this uniform - if it's as important as the belt to be included on everyone, that's notable.

There's also a notable detail with the Imagination Belt itself - the Keys. Half of them are Gold, half of them are Silver, inherently splitting the team of Riders (Imaginators? Imagineers? Disney Adults?) in half. It implies simply that the goals of all the Riders don't align, that perhaps they're in a battle.

The Character Selection is also brought to mind. I imagine it's based on multiple factors, like popularity in that area and inclusion of specific brands... but that doesn't stop them being weird. Including specific representatives for Marvel, Lucasfilms and Pixar absolutely make sense - the choice of Woody is textbook. Iron Man equally makes sense, but the design has him look (personally) more like Lightning McQueen, which may just be a flaw of similar colour schemes.

But Grogu? Ya coulda picked anyone from Star Wars and... I get that The Mandalorian is probably the best received in pop culture... but the implications that he's getting his powers from a space baby is quite funny.

NOTE: The specific split of teams is Gold Keys belong to Mickey, Minnie, Simba, Woody and Iron Man - Silver Keys belong to Snow White, Moana, Tiana, Elsa and Grogu.

They also have built in power-up modes, specifically "Full Max" which seems to grant a power boost based on related characters - Mickey's Full Max gets help from Donald, Goofy and Pluto, meanwhile Simba has Timon and Pumbaa for example. But in your typical Tokusatsu, if your power-up involves other iconography, that tends to involve beating monsters. Are the monsters for "Imagination Belt" other Disney characters? Were Donald and Goofy evil beasts that had to be defeated? Did Woody have to beat Buzz Lightyear and the other Toys-Turned-Monsters? Minnie's Full Max is her with a cat, did Minnie Mouse have to fight a CAT?!

But onto the Lore Implications...

There's easily enough here to build an insane fanfiction, as you're about to see, but this does continue a point that I really appreciate about toys - kids, collectibles, whatever you want. You can tell your own story and it's not even difficult. Everyone has inherent creativity and, given a small amount of time, you can make any story out of any objects.

Case in point...

"Imagination Belt", to me, feels like Ryuki or Geats - it is a Rider War (Disney Adult War) where these two factions of "heroes" are fighting. It's probably against each other, Gold vs Silver, but you can imagine there are other monsters in between as your usual plot hooks.

The "Riders" of this world likely have their powers from raw imagination - passion for something that manifests in the Keys, giving them power in return. If the imagination becomes twisted.

Based on appearances, the Iron Man and Grogu Riders probably are leading both teams, the conflict started by the both of them and spiraling from there. Mickey is the obvious protagonist, Grogu looks like he'd make a good rival to keep the protagonist moving forward.

And there may be only ten official keys but Disney is an all-consuming black hole of creativity. There could be a lot more and you know it.

#tokusatsu #disney #disney 100 #imagination belt #kamen rider #power rangers #Youtube

[snek-panini]

Hi! Your book bindings are awesome and the information you provide is so useful to me so - thank you! I had a question- am I supposed to glue the whole of the endpaper to the text block or just have it as a flippable page? When using decorative papers that have a good and bad side I felt off about having the bad side showing, but now I'm not sure.

Hello! Thank you so much, I'm glad my rambling is useful. Also the tags you left on my post the other day made me super emotional, thank you. I'm going to put the rest of this post under a cut, since it got really long and has images in it. Hope it helps!

So, end papers! What I do (and I think most people do this but I'm not an expert) is to have them as a flippable page. It feels weird at first to have that blank page on the back, but almost every book I own including ones from book stores has them that way. I don't usually post photos of the back side of the endpaper because it's not as pretty, but here are some I've made:

Left side is Around the World in 80 Days, which I posted a couple of days ago, and the right side is from Lunacy, a fic I posted about earlier this year. With 80 Days I used a florentine print and they're only printed on one side. Lunacy looks like that because the endpapers on that one are cardstock and that tends to be colorful on both sides, so if you want to avoid having a plain back that's one way to do it. As a bonus, it's very thick so it won't wrinkle around mull or tapes when you glue it to the covers. It tends to only be available in solid colors though, so it does limit your design choices that way.

The pros do it this way too! Here are a couple of books I've bought in stores that have the same setup. One of them is from a horror novel though, so trigger warning for teeth on that one just in case.

The green one is The Reivers by Faulkner, which is a very fancy edition put out by the Franklin Library, and the one with the teeth is a special edition of one of the Welcome to Night Vale novels. Both of them have very fancy endpapers, one in shiny silk moire and the other in what I assume is a custom print, that are still blank on the back. I figure if it's good enough for fine presses and special editions it's good enough for me too.

I have gotten the impression that some people paste multiple sheets together in order to make stronger endpapers? Like paste, squish till flat and dry, fold, attach to text block? But I haven't looked into that yet and don't know if I've understood them right. If I'm right, that might be one way to get designs on the back of the endpaper, by pasting the plain sides of two sheets together. Or you could maybe run the sheet through your printer upside down and print an image on the back, if the paper's sturdy enough to take it. Or I do a lot of things with rubber stamps, you could stamp something there if it fit the book you were making. All of that would require experimenting though, I haven't done any of it and am now throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks.

Anyway, this got really long and rambly and I hope at least some of it was helpful to you!

#endpapers #bookbinding #snek makes books #answers to asks #i love getting asks but be prepared for a dissertation in response

[antisocialxconstruct]

Personally, it’s the lack of consequences or just any type of response really that makes me avoid Evil choices a lot. That’s one of the reasons I thought Dragon Age 2 was the weakest game in the series & Liara the weakest ME character. You could be an unapologetically atrocious person & get no significant response positive or negative. Sell their friend back into slavery right in front of their face? Nothing. Sell another of their friends into slavery? Again, nothing. Kill your own sister unprovoked? Support unwilling human experimentation? Nada, the most you get is 1 sentence of recognition. It’s like the world is a punching bag & it’s just kind of boring/unsatisfying to me when no one’s even trying to hit back. Also, a lot of times the evil/mean options are just kind of dull imo too many times the choice is something cartoonish & the motive is just “Why? Because I’m evil.” When I was into my FH my character was pretty shitty & never really faced any consequences but I was still interested because they had a lot of narratively interesting things going on within & without (I probably got really rambly but this is also something I think about a lot)

Yeah, I was just saying to someone else I feel like there's... probably two conversations to be had here, because on the one hand there's the issue of games shoehorning in an Evil Option that doesn't really make sense within the narrative BOTH because they've given your character no real motivation to do it, and because the story isn't going to respond to it in a satisfying way. And I will freely agree that that's just bad writing, which doesn't make for a fun roleplay experience no matter how edgy and evil you might want to be.

But there's also the question of games where even if the overarcing plot is fairly linear, there is at least enough writing to make you feel like your character has a distinct personality (whether that actually bears out or not, it's about the in-the-moment experience). That personality could be "unrepentant asshole on a power trip" or something, but a lot of people still won't do that simply because it involves being antagonistic toward other characters. Fallen Hero is actually a great example of the phenomenon I'm getting at, because that's a game specifically designed to make you play a bad person, and there are still a lot of people who will go out of their way to play their mc as a tragic antihero who really does want things to work out in the end. And I just personally can't seem to get my head around the appeal of roleplaying as someone who's polite and friendly and accommodating because I'm already roleplaying that every day in my real life :/

#ask #anon #rpg morality #rom speaks

[thedreamyperidot]

Very much new to tumblr, so I'm not entirely sure how all this works yet. I don't exactly know how to respond to reblogs yet so bear with me. First off, your ramblings are totally fine, don't have a problem with it at all. The reason I'm responding to you is to explain my perspective on the game and how it was handled. This mostly concerns you calling the devs lazy. (Note: I don't fault you for thinking this, nor am I upset about it. Sorry if this ends up being a super long reply lol)

I'm not going to go deep into the details of my life and who I am, but I think it's important to know that I've been taking game development classes for about 2 years now. I'm not an employee of GameFreak, or the Pokemon company, so I can't give any definitive answers on why the game came out the way it did, but I am almost certain that it isn't because the people involved were being lazy.

I'm not exactly sure how to best explain this, but from my experience with the game, it seemed like the team behind it genuinely cared about the project. The art direction completely shifted, pokemon are much more detailed now, there is an overabundance of things to see and do, and the core game is actually really fun. Character designs are great, the writing is well done, and there are so many creative ideas at play here.

Now if that is the case, why is it such a mess from a technical perspective? There is the chance that their game engine needs an update, and there is also the fact that this is their first fully open world game, but I don't think either of those are the main culprit. The two potential reasons why I think the game ended up the way it did is either a lack of time, or a lack of money.

First off, let me explain my reasoning for time. Breath of the Wild was the first Zelda game to attempt an open world. It's development started not to long after the release of Skyward Sword in 2011 with a planned release date in 2015, but got delayed to 2017. This left that team with a development time of 6 years. The dev time for Scarlet and Violet was presumably 3 years, with SwSh dlc, and Legends Arceus being developed at the same time. When you are making an open world game that has a strict deadline, some corners are definitely going to have to be cut. This deadline is set by the Pokemon Company to keep sales up while pumping out more merchandise.

My second thought is that there is not enough money going around. Before anyone says that Pokemon is the largest franchise in the world, yes I am aware, however, Gamefreak doesn't get to decide how much these games are funded; the Pokemon Company does, and they also have to balance out things like the mobile games, merchandise, the card game, the anime etc. Gamefreak only gets a small small portion of that cut. Because of this, they can't just quadruple their team size just to pump out higher quality games quicker, because The Pokemon Company wants to turn a profit.

As unfortunate as it is, this stuff isn't completely in the hands of GameFreak, and as such they don't really have much control over it. This is mostly speculation on my part, but it is a fairly educated guess. Sorry for the long winded post, but I think that the devs get treated quite unfairly by fans who think that they are the sole reason that the games won't improve in quality.

I hope my own rambling at least gave you some insight on game development, and it's many challenges and I hope this helped you understand my point of view on the subject a little bit better!

oh my god! yeah maybe saying lazy wasnt the best way to go tbh, it was 2am when I made those tags so my word choice wasnt the best (Also why I mentioned how if you disliked the tags you could let me know sjdhjfj)

I think that the points you make are completely true! Game Freak mightve cared a lot for the game but due to factors out of their control the product ended...like that. It's honestly such a shame as someone who was a huge pokemon fan since they were 8, seeing the series suffer due to capitalism has been incredibly disheartening.

Thank you for this ask! I appreciate your thoughts in this and I understand my wording might not have been the best.

#ask #whoops i meant to respond to that privately.

[transsexualhamlet]

🍽️🐉👑 for the ask game wooo

hiiii :))))))

silm ask game

🍽️ You are having a dinner party and you can invite five (5) characters from the Silm. Who do you invite?

Ok well there's two choices here. Either I create a dinner party which can FUNCTION and won't result in SOMEONE'S DECAPITATED HEAD LANDING IN THE MASHED POTATOES orrrr I could be silly :3

so here's the two.

If I want a functional and enjoyable dinner party I invite Beleg (Turin is outside on a leash so lightning doesn't strike the fucking house), Finrod, Fingon, Luthien (Beren is outside making sure Turin doesn't get hit by lightning), and Tuor. I think it would be lovely and everyone would have a great time and they would all decide to go hang out outside in old man parade lawnchairs and start beatboxing.

If I want an INTERESTING dinner party I invite Feanor, Maedhros, Aredhel, Melkor, and Fingolfin. Bets on the first bowl of pasta thrown for a silmaril!

Technically adding Thingol might make this arrangement even more volitile but I don't want to invite Thingol no one wants to invite Thingol

🐉 A lot of figures in the Silm have weird Eldritch powers or possibly biology. Tell us about your headcanons for one.

Oh so this is my place to ramble about my Melkor design agenda. Trust me WAY too much thought has gone into this.

First, the caveat: All of the Valar I believe originally manifested forms that range from 9-12 feet tall, with reasonably adjusted proportions. They can obviously decide to be like the size of a skyscraper or normal human sized any time they want but I would consider that to be their normal baseline. (Mandos is the tallest, but Melkor and Manwe are similarly close behind.) (Maiar are usually 6-8 feet tall, and can generally blend in with elves unless they're on the taller end)

So as Melkor is the most powerful of the Valar his design just has to be the most imposing, and I feel many don't do it justice either for focusing too hard one one element (he basically invented all of them except for water) or making him look too much just like. If a guy was a vampire. (Not to mention the old tolkien bros who decided he just looks like if an orc was big.) Obviously the Valar are mostly modeled on elves considering they're really the elvish gods men were just left to fend for themfuckingselves, but they all have sort of elemental/supernatural aspects of their biology depending on their power.

In my opinion, Melkor's form in his full glory (pre- chronic injuries) is extremely fluid. His mass is 90% robes and hair . Just a truly obscene amount of hair and it all behaves like writhing smoke. His main domain is Darkness so it's just like. It's like you're talking to a sentient shadow. He's I think the Vala who most often changes his size like Melkor is the kinda guy who will just grow to the size of a building because he doesn't wanna walk all the way from point A to point B. Either that or he will just fucking evaporate and skirt around like an ominous fog. But I feel when he is solid his physical form behaves like stone, in the fact that it is grey and will glow like magma in cracks across him if he's in hot enough fire. When he was first on Arda as it was being created, he looked much different- well, first off, like a naked ken doll, and secondly entirely a bright glowing orange gold. They kicked him off and everything isn't lava anymore so he doesn't look like that anymore but that was basically what I'd call an "adolescent" form of him which no one but him and the Valar remember anymore.

But yes while he was in the void he got goth and now he looks like a big shadow with a lot of tentacley hair. And horns and talons and teeth. Which is incredibly important to note. I am normal

I already answered the Noldor king allegiance thing on Seb's ask, which u can check out a few posts below but it was Finrod :)

#rowan gets yelled at #ask game #anon

[miraculouscontent]

ML au I thought of while bored at work I think you'll enjoy:

Toward the end of the school year preceding the one Origins started, Marinette befriends Juleka, and ends up spending a good portion of the summer hanging out with her, and by extension, Luka. Over the summer Luka and Marinette develop feelings for each other, and by the time Origins comes around Marinette is planning on asking Luka out, making a gift for him and hyping herself up to finally ask him when they hang out after the first day of school. Everything goes similar to cannon, with the exception of the gift Marinette made getting damaged during the first Stone heart attack (it gets fixed when she uses the Miracle Cure the first time). There might also be a change where she considers Luka as the best choice to be the Ladybug Miraculous holder, but things still play out in a way that she chooses to be Ladybug. The end is where things get much more cannon divergent, with the Umbrella Scene being replaced by Marinette, brimming with confidence and maybe a bit of left over adrenaline after telling off a super villain and being an awesome superhero, takes off, running through the rain to get to the Liberty, and we get a cute scene of Marinette asking Luka out, and finding out Luka was also planning on asking her out and wrote a song for her.

So we just get Lukanette being the adorable couple they are for the whole series. Also, I just realized that skipping the whole Umbrella Scene means Adrien never gets to clear the air with Marinette about the gum incident, so she's probably won't be very friendly with him for a while.

YES YES YES.

ALL OF MY YES!!!

And if I may add to this (hopefully you don’t mind!), imagine that Marinette befriending Juleka was because of the picture in “Reflekta;” the one from a previous year where Juleka and Marinette (who had a bun and blue capris at the time) shared a class.

Marinette approaches Juleka later in that same week before class, a little shy and holding something in her hands. Juleka looks over Marinette, a little put off (this is Chloe’s main target after all; she’s not sure she wants to be involved with her), but then Marinette lowers what she’s holding for Juleka to see.

Juleka’s eyes widen.

“Um,” Marinette begins, “I know it’s not much, but I saw that Max’s hand blocked your face in the class photo, so I took a copy and edited it so your face was showing.” When Juleka doesn’t immediately respond, she gets nervous and stammers, “S-sorry if it’s kind of weird. I mean--I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but I still knew your face because you’re really pretty and do you model at all because--please say something so I can stop talking--”

“Thank you,” Juleka cuts in, her voice still quiet but also very genuine.

Marinette blinks, surprised; people usually have to strain their ears to understand Juleka, who is known for mumbling, but her voice could apparently be incredibly clear when she wanted it to be. “Y...you’re welcome.”

“Can I... have it...?“ Juleka asks, a bit hesitantly, her hand reaching for the picture like it’d burst into flames if she touched it.

“Huh? O-oh yeah! of course! I did it for you, so--” Marinette quickly hands it over.

Juleka takes it and stares at it, truly able to appreciate her appearance without needing a mirror flipping her look. She even moves her bangs aside with her free hand, wanting to appreciate it with both eyes.

“...It’s good,” she says, a bit awkwardly but she means it. “Um... you do this a lot?”

“Ah--” Marinette blushes. “Yeah, sort of? It’s uh--just a hobby though. I really like designing so I do all sorts of art and--”

She starts rambling a bit, but that’s fine because Juleka needs a moment to gather her thoughts. She feels lame for getting so emotional over a picture but she’s just so happy. Sure, it’s not “real” but it looks real and it’s the closest thing she’s ever gotten to a successful picture.

“...Can I see?” she finally manages to ask, letting her bangs drop back down.

Marinette stops talking, hearing what she said but not registering. “What?”

“Your designs,” she mumbles as she shifts awkwardly in place, feeling a little shyer now and internally panicking at having put herself out there.

In an instant, Marinette’s eyes light up. “Y...yeah, yeah! Definitely! I--” She covers her mouth and looks around sheepishly, realizing how loud she’s being. Quieting down, she hurriedly adds, “M-maybe after class? It’s starting soon, but we could meet after--if that’s okay--”

“Yeah,” Juleka replies, her eyes drawing back to the picture. Then, more confidently, she repeats, “Yeah.”

#category: positivity #ML Mixed Picture AU #relationship: Juleka Couffaine & Marinette Dupain Cheng #other: ask and answer #((hi i adore them and need them in my life))

[flowerofgoneril]

Hilda and Fashion

I wrote one of these for Deirdre and it was really fun but I’ve got a lot of Hilda thoughts too!  And I promised N I would put them all down dskjfhskdf.  I just really fucking love costume analysis and the thought that costume designers put into their work.

Hilda 100% puts a ton of effort into her outward appearance.  Her entire support chain with Lysithea is evidence of this.  Honestly I could talk about that specific support chain for hours it’s one of my favorites!  Hilda knows that looks are important and how a person appears outwardly greatly effects how they are perceived.  Specifically these lines here from the B support I will show.

Hilda: Let's put up your hair to show off your neck. But we'll leave a few strands hanging, to make you look more vulnerable.

Lysithea:  Why would I want to appear vulnerable? I don't want to be attacked!

Hilda:  This is for wooing, not warring. When you're older, you might understand the importance of looking a little vulnerable.

Hilda uses her makeup and fashion choices as another tool in crafting her hehe I’m such a delicate flower persona.  So...why does she choose what she chooses?

Academy Phase: Everyone is in a school uniform but Hilda gives off more school girl vibes than the other girls.  Pigtails.  White blouse.  Short Skirt.  Tall socks.  Hey it’s the “Baby One More Time” video!  She’s going for that sweet and innocent vibe.  Sexy but still sweet.  It’s classic and stereotypical but it works and she knows it.

War Phase:  Everyone's older so we see a more adult sexiness to Hilda's Look. Namely a tiddy window. The pigtails almost fuse into one uh bigtail and she adds more accessories. I'm kinda surprised she doesn't wear accessories in the preskip since that's like her whole deal but again I think that's part of the obvious schoolgirl look she's aiming for. Now that she's moved out of that phase of her life she glams it up more. Years ago I read someone's headcanon that she wears the big arm poofs to hide that fact that she's totally ripped and I really liked it. I do not remember who said it or even where I saw it but I really like it and shout out to the original thinker of it.

Three Hopes: I am definitely looking forward to playing this and getting more of a vibe for why she looks like this now but I do wanna point out some things I've noticed already. It's definitely a sweeter look than her regular post skip with the cute lil bow. Little bit of Red Riding Hood vibes. But the biggest thing I noticed is how similar her outfit is to Caspar's. I won't lie, I totally like them as a ship so I'm big eyes at that from a stupid shippy perspective but also why him of all folks? For sure I will pop back to this after playing fewth with an update.

I feel like I had more to say but now I don't remember so I guess if I think of things I'll come back and add them but here ya go more of my probably incoherent ramblings!

#| headcanon |

[shadowturtlesstuff]

Enchanted

finally finished this!!! im so happy with it, and will be writing it in thomas’s pov as soon as possible and perhaps part 2? 

Sleep evades me. My mind keeps returning to last night, specifically to a certain person I had met last night. I pull the covers higher, burying my head as I finally gave into my wandering mind.

~

I stand alone, needing a break from my aunt Amelia. The music was beautiful, a soft sound that filled the entire room. The party itself was decorated in a magical way, the columns in the building encompassed in vines, the tables with floral centrepieces. It was a mixture of whimsy and magic, yet no one seemed happy to be here. Everyone I spoke to was forcing smiles, men faked laughter as they believed this was not a party but a way to make business deals and enforce their own reputation. It was absurd how no one was just admiring the effort people put into making this perfect. It was the same every month, I'd walk to the edge of the room and watch. To calm my nerves, to explore the different flower pieces, the musicians and the flickering candles from the chandelier. The gowns women wore only once to try and show their wealth, whilst I tended to wear the same, as it fit the magical atmosphere this room desperately tried to make people see, yet they were too blind by their greed, the need to prove themselves to everyone to just simply stand back and enjoy themselves.

My cousin Liza seemed to be in conversation with Dacina, the host of the party, someone I had spoken to a few times, each being more enjoyable. Her calming demeanour and charm always lifted my spirits. Her family organizes this ball once a month, her father hates it but makes a lot of business so it is always left to her to plan and design it. With the help of Illeana and lots of their servants they always make this place ethereal. Her brother, Thomas Cresswell, only ever shows up for a few hours then leaves, only being able to handle the faking niceties for so long. Dacina told me of his tolerance, or lack thereof, to society. She speaks highly of her brother, as I once did, yet I have never met Mr.Cresswell. 

The varnished wooden floor slowly gathers marks as couples danced. How I longed to be one of those dancers, being swivelled by someone I loved. They would look at me as if I was the most magical thing in the room, with a soft smile and adoration in every word he whispers to me. I would be his equal as we spun around, the world fading into nothing as we held each other. Alas, those dreams are not likely for someone cruel enough to carve the dead. 

I snap out of my fantasy as a group of older men walk towards the buffet near me. They talk loud enough so everyone can hear, shockingly talking about work. I roll my eyes at them and look away back to the dance floor. The lights above cast shadows, making the scene feel like my imagination as I sit by a fireplace to read a romance novel. If this was a novel, there would be my love interest here, watching and finding the courage to say something. There are families at the table, children clinging to mothers as the men sit and discuss whatever. My father, uncle and aunt sit together in a seemingly civil conversation. I look for Liza again, deciding I should probably stop brooding in the corner but as I look for her my attention keeps going back to the men at the buffet. Not by choice, but by their obnoxious decision to shout their conversation. 

“A woman led the strike, ridiculous, she had to go,” I heard an oldish man say, followed by murmurs of agreement, “these strikes are out of hand, demanding we pay more, absurd notions.” The man is none other than Mr. Birling, a notoriously cold hearted man, much like dacianas father apparently, both of whom value money rather than people. Even their own families. The group of men who looked the same as him, slightly wrinkled face, greyish hair, miserable faces with hints of conniving schemes being plotted against each other. Friends until one of them was earning more money and was more successful, then they were enemies again. 

The men were in a heated discussion about their business and from what I can dissect from their ramblings is that they fully believe themselves to be hard working men, a rarity these days, and they must do what is necessary for their companies. Meaning, budget cuts, strikes from workers, firing people, and any horrible decision in the name of money.  I refrain from rolling my eyes, or going over to berate them. 

“Mr. Birling would not know what a hard day's work is.” someone says quietly behind me. His voice is smooth, confident, and whilst I agree due to what I have learnt about the birling family and the conversation I had just overheard, I still wouldn't say it aloud with him being this close. Not that he pays any attention to anyone but ‘hard working men’. 

I turn my head slightly, the man behind me is tall, a smirk playing at his lips. His suit is finely tailored in a dark grey, with a peach tie. He takes a step forwards and stands at my side, staring out into the crowd, a glass of half drunk champagne in his hand. I return my gaze to the crowd. “Whatever makes you think that, surely you heard him talk about how much he works,” I try to suppress my own smirk and I also sneak a glance at the strange man. He merely takes a sip of his champagne. 

“Right of course, his words, I shall listen more closely next time.”

“As you should. You wouldn't want to misinterpret someone's work ethic and make a fool of yourself in front of a stranger.” 

“You consider me a fool now?” he turns to me now, hands pressed against his chest in fake offence. His brown eyes meet mine as I face him. His sharp cheekbones feel familiar, but I can't place where from. 

“Yes. how could you consider someone such as Mr Birling, a man with such talent and tolerance of others, a man who clearly built his company and was not handed it by his father, how could you with a straight face imply he doesn’t know hard work.”  we stare at each other for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. He has such a pure laugh, we seem to be the only sound in the room. People around us stop and stare, upset two people are having fun at a party. The stranger leans against one of the columns, disrupting the vines slightly. Yet he doesn't seem to care, as he slowly starts to regain his composure from our outburst. 

Mr. Birling is one of the men looking at us with full disdain. He perceives us as two kids who do not understand life, he specifically tells his accountant that there is something wrong with us if the rumours are to be believed. Children of science. Outrageous. Especially a girl. A girl, not a woman. I ignore his pathetic whining, intent on not letting him ruin my night and return my focus to the stranger. Who, I realise, is someone who enjoys science. His face is more solemn now, having also overheard Mr.Birling. He quickly recovers and plasters a smirk on his face, a spark shines in his eye and I can already tell this won't be good.

“I want to meet this ‘girl’ who led the strike, perhaps she could use some help. I mean, all they ask is fair pay,”

“But fair pay is absurd. Completely and utterly absurd. Why should the wealthy share their wealth to those who ensure it.” he finishes for me. The men that run this world will end up being the reason it fails. We share a look, full of understanding and he lets out a sigh. Now we're talking about work and politics at a party. 

“Aside from those charming men, how are you enjoying the party?” He gestures to the men around us and I snort. Charming was one word for them. Being with him and trading remarks felt like passing notes to each other, telling secrets during class even though we are meant to be listening to the teacher. I can't help but think I know him, and by the look in his own face he knows me. Perhaps we met but didn't have time for a full conversation like we are now. 

“Mostly entertaining, the place is spectacular as always, the people are..” I searched for a word to describe the people, as well as my family. I love them dearly but they can be insufferable. “An interesting mix. My family is dramatic, so I escaped to the edge to peace and quiet, which apparently isn't possible. "I give him a pointed look but he takes no notice. 

“My family is also dramatic, and I came for peace myself but found myself captivated by you, specifically how you watched the crowd, listening, and how you curled your fists in an attempt not to go and publicly humiliate the poor man. Which, by the way, I think you should've. Would've made the whole thing worth it.” He takes a sip of his champagne and I nearly roll my eyes at him. Of course he'd want that. From what I can tell he isn't someone who enjoys society and has no problem saying it. I also think about the families in attendance and which of those are dramatic. The only person I can think of is Darci's brother, whom I've not met but heard about his nature over wine with her. 

“If I was merely standing here minding my business would you still have found me captivating enough to talk to me? Or is my appeal in my anger?”

He downs the rest of the drink and straightens himself taking a step towards me. I cross my arms, impatient but he gives me a soft smile. “I've been trying to get the courage to talk to you for months, I always see you here at the edge, always. My eyes find you instantly in any crowd. Transfixed, captivating. It was an added bonus to me when I saw the fierce nature in your eyes up close, I knew I was right to want to befriend you.” 

Silence falls as we both take in his words. I feel bad, not being able to figure out who he is. His honesty is admirable and makes me smile, as well as blush. I can feel heat rise to my cheeks. Just as I begin to rectify the situation by asking for his name, a man comes behind 

me, he’s around 40 probably, and looks at me horrendously in an attempt at a smile. I recognised him from earlier, he's one of the men that spoke with Mr Birling and that alone makes me instantly want to recoil. 

“Can I help you sir?” I asked and I can hear my own clipped words, yet somehow he does not. The smile widens and he looks me up and down. Then he offers his hand to me and I realise he wants to dance. With a woman half his age, that he has never met. 

“Miss Wadsworth, dance with me?” more of a common than a question. Since I am already highly aware he doesn’t like when females have opinions or say no, I refrain from rolling my eyes and just walking off from him. Instead I take a step back, so I'm by my new friend’s side and smile widely. 

“I'm afraid I already promised the darling Wadsworth a dance, we are just finishing our drinks first.” As if to prove my point he drinks the last of his drink, mostly to hide his smirk. Something else the man doesn't seem to notice. His face drops, but his pride makes him believe he can stand there, waiting for me to run to him. There is an awkward silence until I feel hands reach down and take mine, they are warm and make me jump slightly at the contact. Not in a bad way, not in the way I would have if it had been the man in front of me with his gaze like fire as he looks at our joined hands as though he has a right to be mad about it. I feel my own fire burn as he stares, so I tug his hand away from the man. I need to just escape into the dreamlike nature of the dancefloor, as well as thank my saviour and learn his name.

He leads me to the dance floor, nearer the edge and his hands slip down to my waist as I find his shoulders. His touch is hesitant but reassuring. Somehow he looks calm and terrified, as though he never expected to dance with me but never wants to stop. I can't help but feel the same as we begin to move. My skirt swirls around us and we say nothing for a while as we both calm ourselves and let the music envelope us. In a way, this is as close to my daydreaming as I might ever get. Being here on the dance floor with someone who isn't twice my age and the definition of misogyny. We dance as equals, neither of us truly leading but letting each other float around each other. We're sure of our movements and demand nothing from each other. It is a weird calmness that settles. We are strangers as far as i know, and yet we dance as though we have known each other our entire lives. 

“You are a delight, miss Wadsworth.” he breaks the silence, somehow louder than the music for me, yet it's quiet. Almost like he didn't mean to say it aloud. 

“How do you know me?” my voice matches and i feel bad asking, but i need to know. My tone is not accusing, and his face only burrows in confusion for a second before he smirks at me. A smirk I'm seeming to become familiar with.

“My sister Dacina speaks highly of you.” my eyes must expand as he laughs softly. That's why I recognized him. He has the same structure as Dacina, sharp cheekbone and soft skin. Perfect complexion. 

“So you are the infamous Thomas cresswell?” this time I smirk and his eyes widen. 

“Infamous? What on earth have you heard of me?”

“Your sister has lots of opinions on you.”

“Of course she does. Whatever she has said is most likely not true.” He blurts out and I laugh at his relationship with his sister and him wanting to impress me. “Unless she told you I am utterly irresistible, charming, quick witted and incredibly smart.” winking at me he sends me into a surprising spin and my hands land on his chest. We've sped up slightly, yet our heartbeats are both faster than necessary and I can see a hint of a blush creeping up on his cheeks. 

“She did mention you have an overly large ego. She'll be happy to know I agree with her.” I feel his hands tighten at my waist slightly and I watch his curls fall down in his face as he shakes his head. I'm delighted by this turn of events. Daci is wonderful, and if this is the Thomas that I get to see, not his reputation, then I shall try and keep this in my life for as long as possible. His spark in his eyes shows how he may think the same. Also, if daci, liza and ileana are with Thomas, then i might have the most fun I've ever had in my life.

His voice slides through my thoughts, but also reinforces them. “I am sure she failed to mention how big of an ego she has. Honestly, Darci is worse than I. Have you met Illeana? She will surely agree with me on this.” 

“I'm sure she would, I've also heard you are a scientist, what do you study?”

“The dead. Much like you and your uncle.” There is so much certainty in his voice, no resentment or the usual tone I hear so I gift him an earnest smile. 

The song ends, and we stand, hands still on each other for a second longer than we should. Just as I go to remove my hands from his chest I feel him pinch my sides lightly. Then his warm hands slip from my waist and I wish more than anything to dance again. 

We go to return back to the column near the buffet, where we first spoke, and as I take a step I feel him move so he's pressed at my back, his hands finding mine. Even though we are gloved, even though no one can see our hands due to how close we are, and how many people are moving about, my heart pounds at his bold nature. I adore it, so I squeeze him and keep my head facing forward as I lead him off the dance floor. We settle back, Thomas letting go of my hand to pick up two glasses of champagne and hands me one. We both take a long sip, perhaps settling our brains or making it worse. Well see. 

“You look,” he pauses, as if trying to find the right words, brows furrowed slightly as if he was reading a dictionary, “enchanting.” he finally finishes, gifting me a rare smile it seems. No longer does he smirk at me, but shows me a genuine look that I want to have painted as it is the best thing I have witnessed. Heat rises to my cheeks as I look down at my dress. Someone at least understood what I was going for, with a pale peach colour, sparkling bodice that runs along the length of the skirt. The long sleeves adorned with tiny gemstones, golden to match the accented colours of the hall. In response to Thomas I look back up at him with my own genuine smile, perhaps some of the only true smiles to be shared this evening. His suit fits him perfectly, showing off his defined features, his tie a pale peach as well. I assume Dacina helps him, as her dresses always astound me with the details. There are tiny, miniscule gems on his tie, that snake down and remind me of vines.

“You look,” I act the way he did, scanning my brain for something that fits, handsome or charming doesn't do justice but I'm sure whatever I use will only boost his ego and be used against me, so I settle with: “bedazzling.” 

“Bedazzling?”

“Thomas, I study the dead, I have to look closer than one should at things, so of course I noticed your tie. Henceforth: bedazzling.” The air shifts back to our teasing tone and he smirks once again.

“You are the only one to notice, except Daci of course, nothing gets past her. Am I correct in assuming you like the tie?” Despite his teasing I feel a hint of worry as if I wouldn’t like his tie. 

“I adore the tie cresswell, everyone here should be weaning ties with tiny jewels.”

His face falls as he scans the crowd, eyes narrowing slightly as he takes in the groups of men. “I cannot tell if you are being serious with me or not, but I agree nonetheless. The men here are awfully drab, boring, plain. It's insulting to us really. Daci puts so much time into making this beautiful and these people do not see it.” He is shaking his head. I agree, I have heard how much work goes in and despite my effort to help she insists that I do nothing but enjoy the party. I have a sneaking suspicion though that Liza helps. The flower centrepieces are her favourite, and whilst that might be a coincidence I know how stubborn and convincing she can be. 

“I do. I love her parties. I always find myself standing here, watching and noticing all the changes from the month prior. Like, last month she went for more of a red theme, with red roses as the centrepieces, little red accented chairs and carpets. Whereas this month is more of a forestry vine, hence the vines around the column.” I point as though they are a secret thing you need to search for even though they are obvious. Yet he turns anyway and runs his finger down the length of it with his adorable face set at a soft smile. Thomas might have been there when she got the idea, or placed them or he might have placed them himself and is now remembering it. 

My gaze finds Thomas and he looks at me, baffled, and I feel the blush creeping back up. It is not the same confused look that I get when I tell people my love of science, but one of intrigue. As if he could listen to me talk forever and not get bored. It's as if he has never thought anyone would notice such things about his family's party. “Enchanting.” is all he whispers to me. Then he clears his throat, an ever so soft shake of his head as though once again the words were meant for him and not us both. 

I stare out at the crowd again. I'm sure my family will want to know where I've disappeared to, I normally do not leave them this long. Liza I'm sure will want to know why I danced with Thomas. Yet the thought of leaving him makes my legs leaden and my heart sink and anchor me right next to him. Im completely wonderstruck, and feel ill have a permanent blush, especially when i look at his stupidly handsome face, his quick smirk and small smiles that feel special. It is odd, I've only heard stories, spoken to him briefly and danced, yet I have enjoyed his company immensely and hope this never ends. I want more dances and to steal more smiles to keep forever. I want to make fun of people together, and dance. 

I go to steal a glimpse of him, expecting to find him staring at the crowd like I was but his eyes are on me. “I have to leave,” his abrupt words anchor me in an entirely different way, “I mean,  I want to stay and I'm sure you want my amazing presence always now Wadsworth but I have to wake early. New job. So, my darling, I shall see you tomorrow.” Thomas hesitates for half a second and begins to walk away. I watch him go and say goodnight to his sister and then leave. His words fill my head. It’s reassuring to know he enjoys my company as much as I do.

~

I bolt upright in my bed, the lights, music and memories falling away as I focus on the last words he said to me.

I'll see you tomorrow. 

What does tomorrow mean? Does it mean he has a job where he thinks I visit? Will he be making an effort to befriend me? Does he know my family? I am so confused. How had I not caught these words sooner? Perhaps he wants to tell me he had a terrible time, that he doesn't like my presence. I'm on my feet without realising, pacing back and forth, the cold air hugging me close. I wish he was in front of me now. I wish he would whisper the words enchanting again. I wish I knew what was happening in a few hours that warranted him saying those four words. I run my hands over my face, untie my hair and let my curls fall over my shoulder, brushing away the colder ever so slightly. I'm ridiculous. Four tiny words sent me spiralling. I climb back into bed, my hair fanning out around me and the blanket returning warmth back into my system. Immediately my mind returns to Thomas, his face forever in my mind. Even if tomorrow could be the last time I see him, there is a chance that it is just the start. 

Enchanting…

Those words fill me with confidence that yes, Thomas might become someone special to me. That perhaps our dance sparked something and now all I wish is that I can tell him how enchanting he is.

@fangirling-again @kittycat2187 @goatahoan @city-of-fae @purplecreatorhorsewagon @boredbookwormgirl @goddess-of-writing-wars @loveyatopluto @lovecakeandmore @yikesitsmaddie @bookscressworth @androgynousdeputylawyershoe @fandomtakeover @throneoftsc @the-hoofflepooff

#sjtr #hpd #efh #ctd #cresswell #thomas and audrey rose #Thomas Cresswell #Audrey Rose Wadsworth #audrey rose #kerri maniscalco #enchanted #taylor swift #stalking jack the ripper #Hunting Prince Dracula #escaping from houdini #capturing the devil

[askmerriauthor]

Jedi: Fallen Order thoughts 2/?

Discussion on "Star Wars - Jedi: Fallen Order". First post here, spoilers and lengthy rambling after the jump.

Honestly, I love this box art so much purely for the facts that 1) I made sure to remove that poncho the instant I could because the game's cloth dynamic rendering had it flailing about wildly as if it were trying to attack the universe through sheer defiance of physics in every cutscene. And 2) see that alien dude on the left with a pistol? In-game, he's an utter coward who never once participates in anything remotely resembling violence and sure as hell never wields a gun. It just reminds me of how Kirby is always given angry eyebrows in the US because marketing people are fucking stupid and think players won't be drawn to the game with an abjectly cute mascot.

So! The story.

As mentioned in my previous post, "Fallen Order" basically wants to tell a Found Family tale about a ragtag group of remnants who leave behind their previous lives and forge a new future together. We have our main character Cal Kestis; a former Padawan who survived Order 66 and has been in hiding for a handful of years. Cere Junda; a former Jedi who's cut herself off from The Force, Greez Dritus; a gambling addict pilot with a troubled past he's trying to leave behind, and BD-1; an annoyingly named but utterly lovable Droid who is far and away the best character in the entire damn game. There's also Nightsister Merrin; the presumably last survivor of the Nightsisters and potentially Cal's love interest, but she basically only shows up in the last 10 minutes of the game and doesn't get a lot of screentime despite being presented as a major part of the cast.

The game takes place a handful of years after the purge of the Jedi in Order 66, where both Cal and Cere's core character thrust is tied into. Cal was a child who survived only due to his master sacrificing his life to save him and has been wracked with guilt and PTSD ever since. Cere, on the other hand, unintentionally abandoned her own Padawan and other younglings, directly leading to their death, corruption by the Dark Side, and almost falling to the Dark Side herself. The bulk of the narrative throughout the game is dealing with the relationship these two have with one another, coming to terms with their own trauma, and moving forward from there. Meanwhile, the overall plot itself focuses around finding a Holocron that has a map and list of Force-sensitive children throughout the galaxy, which the gang can use to rebuild the Jedi Order while also keeping it - and thus the children - out of The Empire's hands. The whole series of events culminates in a big showdown between Cere's former Padawan whom she abandoned and became corrupted into an Inquisitor, Cal contending with his own guilt, and the decision on whether or not the gang has the right to interfere with the Force-sensitive children's lives and potentially put them in danger if another purge were to occur.

On paper, it's a solid enough story. The actual execution leaves something to be desired.

Something I absolutely hate in games (which has become frustratingly abundant in recent years) is the illusion of choice. If a player is presented with choosing A, B, or C, that decision should matter. Which path is taken should have impact, consequence, and change the course of the story. If all three routes converge back together at the same outcome regardless of what you picked, then your choice never mattered at all. "Fallen Order' suffers from this. There are fairly sporadic points in the game where you're given the option to choose how Cal will reply to a given conversation, or whether or not to take a certain action, but it doesn't matter at all. The conversation's outcome nor the overall story isn't affected by your choice (or even if you bother to have the conversation at all), and the any time you try to do something other than what the game wants you to do, it'll just reset itself endlessly until you cooperate. You have no choice in the matter, but the game makes it appear as if you do to emulate your involvement.

I absolutely hate this in games. If a game presents you with choices, then your choices should have consequences. Your input should matter. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a linear, plot-driven game where the player has no direct input on the narrative. If anything, that gives the story even greater opportunities to shine because it allows the writers and directors to be in full control of the presentation, characterization, and story.

At the risk of sounding like a cranky old man, this is very much a "back in my day!" sort of situation where older games wouldn't shy away from simply locking a player out of content if they chose a certain path. If you pick A, you don't get to see what happens down B or C. If you want to join the Jets, you don't get to join the Sharks. If you want to see what lies down those other routes, then replay the game and make different decisions. Sometimes it was a specific design choice, other times it was a way to handle hardware/programming restrictions. But there's a big notion these days in particular where there's a desire to make sure the player sees all the game's content up front. I anecdotally chalk it up to an increase in non-gamers entering into video game development at management level and making design decisions they're not qualified for, but that's just my own take. Like, I understand the thought process behind it. "We have all this content, so we want to make it a selling point and ensure the player gets to see all of it! If they play our game and miss a bunch of stuff, they might bitch at us and cause reviews". I get it, I do. But it's also bullshit because it directly harms the final product. If a game is good, players will replay it ad nauseum for ages beyond release. So they're going to see all the content one way or another. When the "we have to let the player access all content up front" mind set is in effect, it means the player's choices ultimately don't matter and the resulting abundance of content is quantity rather than quality.

In the case of "Fallen Order", your choices don't matter one bit and it's not even out of a case of accessing content. For some reason the developers put in this vestigial, pointless façade of a dialogue tree and choice system when the game frankly would've been far stronger if it had just been left out entirely. Developers have to invest one way or another. Either make it a fully narrative-driven game and tell a solid story, or make it a player-driven game and put in the effort to make the player's choices matter. Especially in a Star Wars game, as RPGs in this franchise have historically have Light/Dark Side choices, character deaths, and alternate endings based on your decisions. A big part of "Fallen Order"'s story is characters contending with the risk of falling to the Dark Side because of their trauma, but the game itself never actually gives the player any chance to explore that at all. It's a huge missed opportunity either way.

I think that's where a lot of the story's trouble comes from in the end. It's a lot of build up on a good idea that fizzles out and goes nowhere. Cal spends the entire game getting to a point where he's ready to move on, and then the game ends. Cere comes to terms with her past mistakes and tries to redeem her fallen Padawan, only for said fallen Padawan to be killed abruptly and completely cut off that entire story thread. Greez's past coming back to haunt him is shoe-horned in randomly and never goes anywhere. Merrin doesn't have enough time on screen to matter. There are three major villains throughout the game who are just cast aside casually and with no lingering impact for ever having been there. The biggest final boss, who has been the core antagonist and a major point of emotional conflict for the entire game, is discarded with no resolution because this is a Star Wars game and we just can't have one that doesn't feature Darth Vader sweeping in to steal the spotlight.

It's just... ugh. There's potential here. There's obvious, glowing moments of potential where things could've been developed into something really impressive if they were just given the opportunity. It feels like a huge waste and the end result is just a "meh" game that doesn't go anywhere, doesn't contribute to the setting, and could very easily be dismissed entirely from the franchise with absolutely no impact.

#star wars #jedi fallen order

[afoxysunny]

Sportacus as Álfurildi

Choosing a Miraculous for him was actually the easiest out of all for me and the more i thought about this AU the more sense it made.

Disclaimer: this AU is just one big work in progress so please excuse the fact that i don't have most of the details worked out yet

Even without a Miraculous Sportacus was already a slightly above average hero. Not being called into Lazytown to live there with the kids he traveled around helping whoever needed him. One way or the other he ends up being chosen as the new Guardian of the Miracle Box once the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous are recovered from the villains in Paris

Here are the references i started this process with

And a process it was indeed. As obviously as the choice for this pair was it was equally as hard to actually design him

Most butterfly inspired fashion i found were dresses or otherwise extravagant and made for women, definitely too impractical for Sportacus to wear. I like what i came up with in the end a lot and am so relieved as halfway into this process i was really scared it would end up looking like this disgusting cartoon trope where they draw old fat men in tiny pink dresses to make fun of them but thank goodness it didn't!

Design Notes:

Red Spotted Purple - that is the very misleading name of an almost entirely blue butterfly with some faintly red spots. It works though, the Kwami is purple but the cistume still ends up partially blue

Brooch in place of crystal - it was a no brainer, the round and glowy Miraculous just had to replace/join in the placement of his usual crystal (who knows if he even has the crystal in this au? I sure don't) Details on his costume get the dark purple colour of the brooch

Bandana around neck - Sportacus' canon outfit already leans very heavily on Icelandic traditional fashion from head to toe. All accept the bandana tied around the neck. With each version of Sportacus' costume getting closer to this tradition i just had to add it

Ugly ass cap he loves i guess - honestly i think this style of hat is so ugly but he seems to like it so let him keep it i guess

Blue + purple - in Miraculous canon the Kwami's colour usually is the one and only dominant colour of the costume each hero ends up with. Only Hawkmoth really deviated from this and I'm not good eith simplistic and effective designs so i went more into that direction. Sportacus' signature blue stays the base with Nooroo's purple added on top for the butterfly themed costume parts (it was accidental but also sportarobbie so that's always a plus)

Reasoning:

The show Miraculous Ladybug makes it very clear on multiple occasions that the Butterfly Miraculous is meant to call in allies to help the Miraculous Holders and that all Kwamis wish for their powers to be used for good. Despite this the wiki is written like Nooroo is evil even though Hawkmoth corrupted his powers against the Kwami's wish. Because of that i wanted to pair Nooroo with someone who could never be mistaken for a villain: Sportacus

Story:

Sportacus has proven himself a hero wherever he went, looking for the best in people while always striving for even better. Because of his many strengths he was chosen as the new Guardian of this Miracle Box to keep it safe and most importantly help Nooroo recover from the long time abuse he had to endure. After befriending the Kwami they mutually decided there would be no better new partner for the slowly healing Nooroo than the supportive Sportacus. Which works out perfectly for his own interests as well. Of cause he wants to do all he can to help the purple Kwami through his struggle with recovery and Sportacus is strong in many ways so he stays transformed into Álfurildi for as long as possible; while Nooroo powers him up nobody can get to him and hurt him again.

I actually thought up a very big load of story for him and Robbie so i won't go into too much more detail right now until you also met Robbie's Miraculous version, stay tuned!

Name:

God, did i struggle with this one. In the end i mashed together the Icelandic word for Elf, Álfur, and Butterfly, Fiðrildi, to get Álfurildi! It's lame, i know, but honestly, Sportacus really isn't good at naming things so I'll let it slide. I imagine Robbie said exactly this to him as well, and additionally is too lazy to say that nane despite being well capable of speaking Icelandic so he just calls him Fairy. Both because that's kinda what he looks like and also because (at least according to the app i use to try to learn Icelandic) the word for fairy and elf are the exact same in Icelandic. That really bothers Sportacus and always corrects him by saying "you know that's not what it means" but in the end the kids can't pronounce Álfurildi and end up calling him Fairy as well, much to Robbie's and my amusement

Thank you for your attention, it truly means the world to me that i get ti ramble your ear off with my nonsense

#Lazytown #miraculous ladybug #Lazytown au #Miraculous Lazybug #Revive the lazy #Sportacus #Íþróttaálfurinn #ithrotaalfurin #sportarobbie #Mentioned #Nooroo