#Id love to have one with all of them incorporated some how but i just dont know how lmao

[rebeccathenaturalist]

An App Does Not a Master Naturalist Make

Originally posted on my website at https://rebeccalexa.com/app-not-master-naturalist/ - I had written this as an op-ed and sent it to WaPo, but they had no interest, so you get to read it here instead!

I have mixed feelings about Michael Coren’s April 25 Washington Post article, “These 4 free apps can help you identify every flower, plant and tree around you.” His ebullience at exploring some of the diverse ecological community around him made me grin, because I know exactly what it feels like. There’s nothing like that sense of wonder and belonging when you go outside and are surrounded by neighbors of many species, instead of a monotonous wall of green, and that is a big part of what led me to become a Master Naturalist.

When I moved from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest in 2006, I felt lost because I didn’t recognize many of the animals or plants in my new home. So I set about systematically learning every species that crossed my path. Later, I began teaching community-level classes on nature identification to help other people learn skills and tools for exploring their local flora, fauna, and fungi.

Threeleaf foamflower (Tiarella trifoliata)

Let me be clear: I love apps. I use Merlin routinely to identify unknown bird songs, and iNaturalist is my absolute favorite ID app, period. But these tools are not 100% flawless.

For one thing, they’re only as good as the data you provide them. iNaturalist’s algorithms, for example, rely on a combination of photos (visual data), date and time (seasonal data), and GPS coordinates (location data) to make initial identification suggestions. These algorithms sift through the 135-million-plus observations uploaded to date, finding observations that have similar visual, seasonal, and location data to yours.

There have been many times over the years where iNaturalist isn’t so sure. Take this photo of a rather nondescript clump of grass. Without seed heads to provide extra clues, the algorithms offer an unrelated assortment of species, with only one grass. I’ve gotten that “We’re not confident enough to make a recommendation” message countless times over my years of using the app, often suggesting species that are clearly not what I’m looking at in real life.

Because iNaturalist usually offers up multiple options, you have to decide which one is the best fit. Sometimes it’s the first species listed, but sometimes it’s not. This becomes trickier if all the species that are suggested look alike. Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra) all have pinnately compound, lanceolate leaves, and young plants of these three species can appear quite similar. If all you know how to do is point and click your phone’s camera, you aren’t going to be able to confidently choose which of the three plants is the right one.

Coren correctly points out that both iNaturalist and Pl@ntNet do offer more information on suggested species—if people are willing to take the time to look. Too many assume ID apps will give an easy, instant answer. In watching my students use the app in person almost everyone just picks the first species in the list. It’s not until I demonstrate how to access the additional content for each species offered that anyone thinks to question the algorithms’ suggestions.

While iNaturalist is one of the tools I incorporate into my classes, I emphasize that apps in general are not to be used alone, but in conjunction with field guides, websites, and other resources. Nature identification, even on a casual level, requires critical thinking and observation skills if you want to make sure you’re correct. Coren’s assertion that you only need a few apps demonstrates a misunderstanding of a skill that takes time and practice to develop properly—and accurately.

Speaking of oversimplification, apps are not a Master Naturalist in your pocket, and that statement —while meant as a compliment–does a disservice to the thousands of Master Naturalists across the country. While the training curricula vary from state to state, they are generally based in learning how organisms interact within habitats and ecosystems, often drawing on a synthesis of biology, geology, hydrology, climatology, and other natural sciences. A Master Naturalist could tell you not only what species you’re looking at, but how it fits into this ecosystem, how its adaptations are different from a related species in another ecoregion, and so forth.

Map showing Level III and IV ecoregions of Oregon, the basis of my training as an Oregon Master Naturalist.

In spite of my criticisms, I do think that Coren was absolutely onto something when he described the effects of using the apps. Seeing the landscape around you turn from a green background to a vibrant community of living beings makes going outside a more exciting, personal experience. I and my fellow nature nerds share an intense curiosity about the world around us. And that passion, more than any app or other tool, is fundamental to becoming a citizen naturalist, Master or otherwise.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes or hiring me for a guided nature tour, checking out my other articles, or picking up a paperback or ebook I’ve written! You can even buy me a coffee here!

#iNaturalist #plant apps #Seek #Merlin #nature #wildlife #plant identification #apps #botany #biology #science #scicomm #science communication #Google Lens #naturalist #Master Naturalist #conservation #environment

[dangermousie]

Farscape rewatch 2x04: Crackers Don’t Matter

One of my favorite eps and the most quoted one in the Mousie household.

You know what I am struck by, this time? How crazily Farscape works. I am faced with the next to last scenes of this ep: John with green face-make-up, shiny cover, attacking a bug-looking alien with a sword as it gibbers, screaming 'humans are superior' and marvelling at the fact that somehow, it all works. How crazy is it? It works, works brilliantly. Farscape took some odd risks, some strange choices, but IMO, they almost always worked out.

 And the way the humor (and this episode is bona fide hilarious) can coexist with cruelty and darkness because the ways the Moyans turn on each other is just vicious and what makes it horrible is that it’s their darkest ids, worst selves exposed - so it is them, even if the worst version of them.

And they have to live with it, with all the stuff they said and did, no easy solutions...

This is long and cap-heavy so behind read more...

I am also struck by how tight the writing is. It's obviously an organic show: it didn't have every plot detail worked out years in advance. But when things come up, they get so incorporated for later, they get brought up again, it all just fits. Just think of the little throw-away comment by Maldis in S1 that John lost his virginity to Karen Shaw, and how it comes to play in Kansas in S4. Why am I thinking of this for this ep? It's the fact that here is Harvey (his very first appearance), telling John that revenge is a dish best served cold, his whole attitude, his whole statement is so in line with the whole late S3 ep 'Revenging Angel' which echoes it so well. In RA Harvey fails to understand what makes John tick, what makes him stay alive: he is limited by his creator Scorpius. He fails to realize that what keeps John alive is hope and that for John, Aeryn is hope. (That is why chip!John in Scorpy's head in Incubator is so intractable, so final: he is post-loss-of-Aeryn, he really has nothing). What Scorpy fails in (and by extension Harvey) is to understand John on a very basic level: they don't really fit, like two odd pieces of a puzzle. Grayza of course makes the same mistake on Arnessk. It's going to sound corny, but Scorpy fails to understand goodness (not surprising considering his upbringing) while John has one-up on his opponent because he understands evil, because his face has been rubbed into it until it's raw.

I kept thinking, why is John the least affected by Traltixx in this ep? I am sure the eyesight has something to do with it (I love how Farscape turns on its head the old trope of humans being saviors because they are better. Crichton is 'better' because he is handicapped, because he doesn't see so well). But I think there are other issues here: for one thing, Crichton is a researcher, someone who must be analytical by nature. More importantly, he is attuned to oddness not just because of his post-Scorpy paranoia but because he is a stranger in a strange land, sensitized. And the thing is, just as with the chip later - knowing something is off is different from being able to put breaks on it. He periodically, alone among the rest of them, realizes something is wrong with his behavior but he is unable to truly stop it - the ugliness and the violence just come pouring out; the only concession to control is that he doesn’t kill anyone. The crew is horrifically ugly to each other in this one, but the ep is also mind-blowingly hilarious. Not like Out of their Minds, which is just plain funny. This one is funny with a hell of a sting. Some pretty bad things are said. I am struck not even as much by the Aeryn-John showdown (they know each other the best, so they really know where to hurt. Though I am still wondering how you can be both frigid and a skank :)) but I think it's because Aeryn and John cause each other such universes of pain, exactly when they are not trying to, but only trying to protect themselves or even do what is best for the other, that this is small fry. What is a little exchange of gunfire and a hit at Aeryn's being a traitor or John not measuring up to his father in comparison with Die Me Dichotomy or the coin toss or so much of late S3 or S4? Still, ouch ouch ouch.

What I am really struck by are other interactions: D'Argo with Rygel, flopping the little guy around like...well, a puppet, force-feeding him crackers. It's ugly. We haven't seen D'Argo attack a helpless being since DNA Mad Scientist, and we've forgotten, and it hurts. Though it does show a difference: here it's Traltixx doing an equivalent of drugging him. The inner savage is much further from the surface. The crew from early S1 would have succumbed to Traltixx in ten minutes flat.

 And keeping with the fact that actions always have consequences, there is no magic forgiveness at the end (though also like Farscape, there is hope of one later.)

And Crichton with Chiana. It's an unnerving scene, horrible to watch, precisely because normally John is so protective of her, because for Chiana, John is in many ways her safe harbor, her surrogate big brother, someone who she would always feel safe in the area of sex with (i.e. he won't, with her). But he turns that protection on its head, something ugly (though luckily, a bunch of the horrible stuff comes from Harvey, not John, so she doesn't hear it). 

 Yikes.

Pretty telling tho that even messed with by Traltixx, any sexual threat is not from John but is suggestion of the chip, which is doing whatever to get Crichton to kill his shipmates so he’d be easier to capture. John himself is horrifyingly cruel but does not see Chiana this way at all.

The idea he ends up liking is tying her up next to the rest of them so he could try to talk without everyone shooting each other, not anything else and thank GOD.

This is such a reversal of his attitude in Taking the Stone so I think it's interesting that the attitudes in here and TtS are juxtaposed (in TtS Crichton is losing it a bit, slowly, but it makes him more protective, not less. That is the natural 'insane' Crichton, not the one where someone took over and brought out the darkest id; when he is himself, however utterly mad and irrational, he is never wantonly cruel to his loved ones.) And then of course, later, when he is back to sanity and tries to apologize, she blows it off, acts impressed. Chiana is queen of repression in some ways, however open she is in others.

 You know, there is another reason why Crichton was the one to pull it together. (And no, I am not just referring to stubborness). He already has that edge of insanity to him and it's growing slowly larger. So has he figured out how to cope under weirdness while maintaining some control? He's had to persevere through some horrid stuff and had his head messed up with, so he can temporarily put aside distractions. But the thing is - this is only the start of Scorpius messing with his head. He can fight it on the margins for now (Harvey the Chip clearly wants him to kill everyone so he can be captured easier) but he can fight it even under the stress but we all know how it ends...

Oh yes!

He tries to tell Aeryn about seeing Scorpius but she’s also affected by the light and pays no attention and even John himself assumes it was some of the stuff Traltixx did (and I believe when they first had Scorpy show it was supposed to be a one off, not a chip) and oh boy, the misery that is going to eventually follow.

(the little correction she makes, heeeee...)

Oh boy, and eventually he will make you do that and this will be one of the worst moments of your life.

The thing is - having your mind hijacked is horrible but long before that happens to any significant degree, the layers of horror of it all are there because it’s not just John thinking he’s losing his mind and having his mind sorted through and controlled; it’s the fact that he now lives with the constant presence of his chief torturer in his head - it’s a somewhat literal metaphor for aftereffects of torture yes but also there is the sheer body horror of it which is incredible.

Yikes...

Side note - the ugliness with John and D’Argo bothers me least because they are evenly matched but also it’s pure physical violence, no emotional cruelty involved. 

Also, cool bit of foreshadowing, Chiana aligning with D'Argo here but also, the way Aeryn and John still want to jump each other in this little scene tho they were shooting at each other and have not too much rationality. Heh.

God, those two must have some truly spectacular sex once they finally get to it.

Oh, and the sheer unhinged anything goes vibe of this is so perfect. I don’t know how they manage.

And of course Zhaan just spending the whole episode orgasming and show making no bones about it - I love how just genuinely out there the show was.

Just wild...

Crichton barreling through insanity to save the day but everyone emerging a little or a lot worse for wear is a lot of the modus operandi of this show and this episode really distills it down so concisely in the most gloriously insane way.

#farscape

[dreamerwitches]

I have mixed feelings on the witches, I'm gonna go through them all.

Renata and Ren: It just doesn't feel like the minor bits match up. There's too many bits that are just slightly too different. Like the screen shape and the bone colour and style. Am I being nitpicky? It just doesn't feel like the witch and doppel are linked. Or that they wanted to make this design for the witch and didn't really care that it didn't look like her doppel. I suppose I like how the witch is more organised than the doppel cause my gripe with it is that it feels a little like the parts don't mesh well. Like, what is going on with that pink bit it does not work. On its own, the witch is good. Fine, pretty, but a little bland and simple. As a design taking from the doppel, I think it kinda fails. Too much was changed.

Cyan and Hinano: Ehhhhhhhhhh I think they just made her worse?? Like, there's so little changed cause the doppel is so witch-like anyway but the changes they did do make her look worse XT the bright tubes are ugly and I dont understand the moth-ear-thing additions. Also the skirt is worse too lol. I miss the gas mask though I understand if that was added for Hinano but you can keep it on the witch c'mon! It's just like they removed all the best parts...

Don Rocinante and Sasara: Ehhhhhhhh here we go again. It looks stupid. C'mon she looks so stupid. Not in an uncanny, scary way, she looks so dumb. I included the doppel attack where she does get legs and that was silly but not as much as this one. Otherwise so little is changed mehhhhh. I liked the doppel so you kinda ruined her for me, thanksssss

Shalimar and Emiri: This is one I'm on the fence on. Design on its own, I really like. She's spooky and weird and the colours are great. I have to main issues. 1) does a 13 year old need such a sexual feeling witch and 2) does she link to her doppel well. The thing with curvaceous or sexualised witches is ones like Roberta I know are okay cause she was in her 30s when she became a witch. You could say some like Candeloro are sexualised cause she's got the booba and stick thin waist, it's kinda hard to deal with... I'm also finding it hard to judge cause I don't know if it suits Emiri, I don't know her character very well. So we'll just move on. If I drew it I would make her less adult-looking My other thought when looking at her beside her doppel was 'if this doppel came from this witch I would hate the fact it uses so little of the witch'. So switching it around, im a little mad they used so little of the doppel. It's like they had the idea for the body and wanted to use it and were like 'oh yeah! the doppel!' so stuck it on as a tail... Also the flower things on the doppel arent in the witch at all ughh. If she was just a new witch on her own id love her...

Vayu and Shizuku: Wow! One I actually finally like now! I think she looks super beautiful, the additions work! But she's not perfect... Just like Emiri and Shalimar, I don't see the doppel working if the witch came first. Why is her handbag now the head? It feels like the teapot(?) head on the witch came out of nowhere. But it's nowhere near as bad as Shalimar. She might be my favourite. I've always been 50/50 on Vayu and she improves that score.

Aodamo and Natsuki: This one's a bit boring... it just feels like they stuck on some additions and called it a day. I think if she was stood up straight I'd like her more... Love the teeth on the horn thing. Skirt is fine. Legs look awkward. Sad they removed her puffy sleeves, doesn't make sense as why the doppel would add that aspect.

Overall, it is a little annoying how clearly some of these are just super easy asset copies of the doppels with no effort put in... I think that's fine for say, Vayu as I think the doppel incorporation makes sense. She's a four legged beast so Shizuku is now riding her. But ones like Don Rocinante, Cyan and Aodamo seem like 5 minute attempts. I'm disappointed. Happy to see witches though, I'm only critical because I care about witches being good

#doppel #magia record #don rocinante #cyan #vayu #aodamo #shamilar #renata

[liquidstar]

i think something important we all have to remember about characters is that they are not real. but they are symbolic representations of types of humans. especially when you incorporate fantasy into the mix, where these representations become a bit less literal.

so, like, when you have characters that are immortal/ageless/reincarnations/vampires/whatever, who are, on paper, much older than they actually look... it really just comes down to "if they walk like a duck and talks like a duck, then it's probably a duck."

basically what i mean is if a character is functionally a teenager within a story, emotionally and societally and such, then for all intents and purposes they ARE a teenager. because the thing that they are coded to symbolize is a teenager. regardless of fantasy factors that dont exist in the real world. maybe the closest thing is someone who is an adult but looks young (i still get mistaken for 16, its a struggle) but thats a false equivalence, you are still an adult, you cant be coded as a teenager as if this was a story (though you can certainly be immature lol).

conversely, "1000 year old dragon lolis" are coded as children. they represent children. no matter how many spins you try to put on it, that is a symbolic representation of a child. there's a huge difference between the reality of an adult who just happens to look young, and the fantasy of a child who by some loophole can consent. because thats the intent the character was created with.

obviously im not saying this applies to ALL characters who are immortal children though. it can be used for all types of different effects, like, for example, pride in fullmetal alchemist mangahood uses this to enhance his Creepyness factor, due to the disconnect between his appearance and his demeanor. he walks like a duck but doesnt talk like a duck. there are for sure ways to do this trope that arent creepy in the other sense.

same thing goes for immortal teenagers- once you introduce a power imbalance into the mix that makes them functionally just an adult who looks young, thats when the dynamic can begin to feel creepy. and its a tricky thing to pull off, because you have to balance the immortality with the teenager-ness, and it seems like lots of life experience will often contradict the latter. but its not impossible (at least in writing). a character can be more knowledgeable without having power over the other, and i think it largely comes down to how theyre treated socially too. if they have just as much power as any other teenager in their society, then theres not really an imbalance. how theyre treated by other characters will inform the viewers on how to treat them by extension.

like, weird example, but the vampire girl from hotel transylvania (i forgot her name, i watched it when i was 12) is like 100 years older than her love interest. but shes still a pretty stereotypical teenager who has to listen to adam sandler her father, and has the same amount of power in this situation as any other teenager would. the movie sets up the leads as being on the same level socially so theres no issue (this may have been made extra clear because its a kids movie, which is why its an easy example). contrast this with twlight where edward obviously has power over bella specifically due to his vampire-ness, and thats why their dynamic is one that many people find uncomfortable because the fantasy age gap plays a part in this.

but yeah at the end of the day thats why id never, like, call c.c from code geass a pedophile for kissing lelouch (utilitarian reasons or otherwise), but that's also exactly why i'd call isekai man #208 a pedophile for having a loli love interest. these characters are not real, they are symbols. you cannot take symbols literally (thats oxymoronic) by just looking at the numbers of their ages, you have to look at what they represent of the real world inside the story. what does this fantasy immortal SAY about age and such. what do their actual dynamics reflect in the real world.

fiction isnt reality, but its a mirror that reflects it. sometimes a funhouse mirror, but you can still see whats being reflected if you look closely.

anyway please dont take this as any sort of discourse, i really am just musing about how fiction Works, and how different tropes apply in different ways and such. this isnt a response to anything or anyone im just thinking out loud. peace ✌️

[hairscare]

i dont know anything ab vivziepoop or whatever her name is and her work but could you give some examples and like. maybe explain how far they are from actual demonology? i love haterisms and i love learning things

kisses you on the mouth id love nothing more than to spread hate and infodump abt demonology. let me preface this by saying ive never watched any of their content so i cant speak on much besides what ive absorbed via osmosis of being on the internet and what i can see in their designs

so my special interest has always been on the 7 Princes of Hell aka the 7 Deadly Sins so thats what I'm gonna focus on. I'm also gonna bring beloved otome game Obey Me into the mix for another example of modern interpretations of them. also keep in mind im not a believer in these figures, though my research comes from both christian and pagan sources, i just like them a lot

so lets start with Mammon, the prince of greed. mammon is always depicted as a very money and power hungry kinda guy. in heaven, he was so obsessed with the golden pavement that they kicked his ass out first. hes super powerful and has 6,660,000 demons under his control that he makes build the capital of hell called Pandemonium. im not making this up demonology is silly as hell. hes associated with wealth, gold, jewels and emperors.

you may be surprised by this interpretation from the dictionaire infernal, but from my understanding/perspective, i believe this is supposed to be a lure to get more money as a begger? normally hes described as decked out in robes and gold and jewels and all that. but you can see in the illustration the bags of money.

so yeah hes like a super money hungry emperor type- in my mind i always kinda think of trump ngl. power hungry, money hungry, you get it. so if youre like me, for a character design, youre thinking a ceo with lots of expensive clothes and jewelery.

now, lets see what our friend viv has to say-

... they made him.... a clown? keep in mind, i literally know nothing abt the role he plays in the show, but... why? why is he a clown? if anything, him being a jester is the opposite of the typical emperor depiction. like a king vs a court fool. completely erases the whole idea of his greed for power. part of that greed is that he already has it but he wants more! this jester angle doesnt make sense.

okay, now lets look at obey me. theres a lot of things i dont like abt obey me's interpretations, but theyre so much better than vivs.

first of all, the white hair and blue eyes are actually accurate! the colored illustration above of begger mammon is actually colored wrong, hes often described as having very light hair and icy blue eyes. this interpretation of mammon, while yassified from the old man and the emperor, is fairly faithful. hes obsessed with money, hes constantly stealing money from other people, he wears the most expensive designer brands, and he has gambling issues. its not perfect, but hes clearly based on the demon mammon.

now Asmodeus. asmodeus has always been my favorite. hes the Prince of Lust, but he himself isnt horny. he teaches people Forbidden Arts and Crafts and also geometry, hes a disabled king (walks w two walking sticks), he likes messing with people and he hates the smell of fish liver. one time he threw someone 400 leagues and stole his identity. what a guy

asmodeus is particularly monstrous. hes got 3 heads, a bull, a demon, and a ram, hes got a duck bottom, and he has a dragon cat service animal. i think hes beautiful <3 but you can see a lot of potential symbols you can incorporate into a design! all these animals, esp his three heads, are just waiting for a cool design. so vivs, whatd you do?

... okay. hes... kinda got the heads, but its the cowards route. he has... that weird ass body that vivs loves to give men. theres... some feathers so he kinda has bird symbolism? im pretty sure he owns a casino, which is actually accurate. but like. thats #notmyasmodeus. this guy couldnt throw me 1 league if he tried. hes not monstrous looking at all. his legs are thinner than my patience.

since we couldnt really dissect viv's mammon, ill bring this up here. a big issue i have with these designs is that theyre afraid to make demons ugly on purpose. dont get me wrong theyre all ugly as hell. but not gross. not monstrous. these sanitized tumblr sexymen designs completely betray what makes the original designs so fun. asmodeus doesnt have 3 heads, he has one that looks like an evil sesame street character. the design is simultaneously trying way too hard and so fucking generic. literally if you take out the two tiny head motifs in his... hair? theres no indication that this is based on the demon asmodeus

okay, lets look at obey me.

again, hes sanitized, hes conventionally attractive, and he doesnt have any of the demon asmodeus' symbolism. hes also super horny. he doesnt do geometry or arts and crafts or even own a casino. not faithful to the source at all.

before you accuse me of being a hypocrite for liking obey me, hold on. let me get through beelzebub.

Beelzebub is known for being "lord of the flies". its literally what his name means. i cannot emphasize enough that he has fly motifs. he is the Prince of Gluttony, aka overindulgence. its typically associated with food. but beelzebub is *extremely* powerful. in Paradise Lost, hes Lucifer/Satans right hand man. all other demons respect him immensely. hes supposed to be so powerful that summoning him is supposed to run a high risk of seizures and death. he also fucking loves architecture. when a ton of demons were called on by solomon to build, the other demons were so appauled that beelzebub was being made to do manual labor, but his crazy ass was giving solomon building advice

hes a bug! hes big beautiful bug. the crowd cheers. so the motif is kinda obvious here. i mean, its kinda hard to miss it, right-

what the fuck. what the actual fuck. "but grim shes got a bee motif-" shut the fuck up. this... fox? wolf? furry thing needs to be put down asap. i genuinely think theyre using beelzebub as an bad excuse to introduce their kesha dog character. bro what the fuck thats not a fucking bug. thats not even a goddamn bee. i hate it here

i cant do this anymore show me obey me.

hes a fucking fly thank god. sure hes conventionally attractive but hes not a dog with the smallest waist ive ever seen and disproportionate birthing hips. he eats all the time bc hes gluttony. okay fine whatever as long as hes a fucking bug im ok

so. lets address why i like obey me and i hate vivziepops interpretations. first of all i just fucking hate vivziepop so jot that down. but more importantly, obey me doesnt pretend to be anything it isnt. its a dating sim. of course the characters are gonna be hot and fit into archetypes. ive made my peace with that. besides, the game actually makes their sins pretty interesting by showing how they affect their personalities, motivations, relationships and lifestyles. its not super faithful, but its not supposed to be.

but helluva boss isnt trying to do that. from my (admittedly limited) understanding of it, its supposed to be a dark comedy gritty adult animation. the characters are supposed to be questionable and unconventional because theyre literally in hell. so i ask the question: why are they so afraid to lean into that with their character designs? why does everyone have to have barbie proportions? why is no one (purposefully) unpleasant to look at or monstrous? its sad to see a creator trying so hard to make something thats supposed to be graphic and brazen in its depiction of hell and demons, and yet is afraid to actually confront the conventionally unappealing aspects of the source material, or even touch the motifs of the demons

i love the 7 princes of hell. if you want to read about the strangest characters with the oddest stories, symbols and trivia, go read some websites about them. none of it makes sense. lucifer and satan are the same person but also not and sometimes the other 5 are also the same guy. belphegor is in love with paris and is the infernal ambassador to france and has a toliet wheelchair. satan is depressed. lucifer is sometimes depicted as an whiny brat child and sometimes as a humongous terrifying beast. leviathan does jack shit and just boils the ocean and eats boats. its literally so much fun. also please feel free to add onto this! demonology is fun in part bc theres so many different interpretations and facts from all over the place that make it a wild ride

tldr: vivziepops designs are lazy and unadventurous when it comes to their source materials

#hair scares #demonology #long post #vivziepop tw

[cattocavo]

Six sketch sunday

Thanks so much for tagging me @thewholelemon

I actually have something pretty exciting to share if i do say so myself!

In november 2022 i did a master study of romeo and juliet by frank bernard dicksee. I was very happy with it. But over time I’ve become less and less happy with it, specifically how baz looks :((

This is due to the fact that i traced A LOT in late 2022 (I was 15 ok, I’m sure we’ve all had one of those phases😭) I traced the whole painting, but baz was hard bc the original painting featured a woman, and her whole figure was covered by a white loose dress. 2022 me did their best interpreting the shapes and forming a new body for baz, but honestly they didn’t do it very well. Ive hated Baz’s face and body for a while now, but still loved simon and the painting in general. Which is why I came to the conclusion that for me to be at peace and happy with it again, I have to remaster it!

And again I’ve had this on my mind for a while now, mulling it over, because it’s quite a big project. But 7 days ago i finalized my decision and started looking at references and whatnot. It took me so long to find references bc I was confused of the angle of Juliet’s head in the original painting (so I’ve changed the angle whoops) and i needed to make sense of it all. Before i knew it i had spent 5 hours (according to procreates tracker) drawing, and literally nothing had changed.. but then i spent like 2 hours more and THAT did it. It was like digging a whole in the ground searching for water. You dig a little and nothing happens, and when you finally dig deep enough the water reveals itself like a goldmine.

Anyways, i haven’t gotten around to do any recoloring yet, so ill show you the sketch (ahem, traced) of my 2022 version versus what I have now

The one on the left is the 2022 version. The one on the right is the current sketch.

I’m trying to incorporate a lot more body language from baz this time around. I think the old sketch of baz was very rigid. His torso is very short 💀 my biggest issue was his face though. It was far too feminine. The bone structure wasn’t exactly giving baz, in fact the whole face didn’t look like baz to me. The expression also bothered me, it was too superficial. Like it’s exactly the predictable expression you expect him to have. I tried to spice it up in the new version by making him appear a bit more anguished. It’s romeo and juliet after all.

Im currently looking at references to what clothes he should be wearing (don’t worry, i wont cover up his sleeves. Even if it’s more time period accurate) so if y’all have any inspo or suggestions, feel free to share them with me!

While baz is the inly thing getting completely redone, I’m also touching up some other thins. Just giving it a more refined, finished look overall. The plants in the original were really messily done, so i’m gonna work a lot on those. 2022 me also slacked on the curtains, so I’m repainting those to match the original frank bernard painting.

Once I’m done with it all i think i might sell some prints. Ive gotten requests to sell prints of this one before, but never really got around to do more than research. If i do make prints, I’m a bit worried they’ll all go to waste bc they’ll have to be shipped from denmark, and shipping in expensive :(( (I’ve tried to set up middlemen and it didn’t work for me. Red bubble wont even allow me to add a credit card😬) but if y’all are still interested in prints, do let me know! Ill definitely put in more of an effort to make it happen if i know it wont be in vain :))

Thats all from me for today :3 see ya next time

(Also check out what my COBB partner @thewholelemon is doing! It’s gonna be so good!)

Tags! @monbons @raenestee @j-nipper-95 @orange-peony

Id love to see what y’all are doing!

#simon snow #baz pitch #carry on #simon snow salisbury #fanart #simon snow fanart #any way the wind blows #wayward son #art #carry on fanart #romeo and juliet #sir francis dicksee #frank dicksee #baz pitch fanart #classical painting redraw #classical art #agatha wellbelove #penelope bunce #the mage

[frogtossing]

i had such an amazing time in Cologne yesterday… i feel extremely hungover but it’s was so worth it.

it was so so nice to hang out with @echoes-of-mia again, you’re literally the chillest person ever irl and it was so fun to experience the concert with you :D 🫶

i met so many cool people while queueing (like the lovely @mogoce-nocoj who i got to talk with some more after the concert :D (even if i might have been a bit quiet, i was still processing the concert :P)), literally the best queue experience i’ve had compared to the other concerts i’ve been to (which were also nice!!! but i was a bit too shy to engage with people so i missed out a bit on the community aspect of queueing :<). i got so many cute bracelets and in turn got to give out a couple of mine :3. and i got some fucking beautiful stickers!!! the insanely pretty Kris sticker by the talented @autoantonyms and the stunning ASTP + Joker Out Köln stickers by @/vem.da.kris on Instagram!!!! so sad that the Dopamin fan project didn’t work out :( i really hoped they’d played it!!!

the concert itself was so so fun. before the show started, someone handed me those slay pose glasses and they’re so fucking cool??? and i also hastily traded some more bracelets inbetween the openers :D

also, wow, the stage design by @as-artrat-racik was so fucking beautiful in real life. i was genuinely floored by it!!!! and once the concert started, he first thing i noticed was everybody’s hair???? a bit random but Bojan’s hair looked super nice (like the length it’s at atm???) and omg, Nace mullet real????? + it’s impressive how long Kris’ hair has gotten again, compared to the last time i saw him on stage :0.

and i’m so glad i decided to abstain from listening to any recordings of any of the new songs because let me tell you, experiencing Šta Bih Ja live for the first time was a fucking religious experience. that song fucks so hard i need it injected into my veins IMMEDIATELY. and i love how they were peer pressured by the crowd to play Schlager even if it wasn’t planned LMAO. and it was such a pleasant surprise too! such a fun song which really reminded me a lot of some of Arctic Monkey’s calmer songs (like Mad Sounds). showed my recording of it to my mom earlier today and she said it might be her new favorite of theirs and that i should tell her once it’s out haha.

i love the incorporation of a keyboard in their shows now!!! Metulji with Jan on the keyboard was so nice, as was Everybody’s Waiting!! and i gotta say, i’m not a fan of EW but hearing it live was so so nice. i loved the staging of it all so much??? with it starting off by Bojan being all alone on stage, playing the keyboard and then slowly the others join him.. it was so awesome!!! never thought it would hit so differently live :0

the UM karaoke was so much fun and i heard so many lovely voices but i lost complete track of Bojan at some point 😭 he just vanished lmao.. also Sector 5 walked right past me??? i didn’t realize who they were at first and i just went ‘wait a sec those people look familiar’, so that was fun HAHA.

i got some merch after the concert and whew, that was maybe the most stressful part of the concert. poor Vita was the only one working at the merch stand and it was obvious that she was a bit stressed by the masses of people flocking to it :(. i love the shirt i got, even if i wanted to by the black tour shirt at first :D

i wish i could have given Nace the bracelet i made for him all the way back in June/July of last year (when i wasn’t even sure if id ever get to see JO live :’3) but it’s okay, ill be taking it as in excuse to see them live once again if i get the chance to 💪 (ill be earning my own money soon so that means i might be able to attend international gigs as well :D!) who knows what the future holds!

TLDR; I had an extremely fun time, Joker Out are so worth it to see live and there are so many amazing and talented fans out there, it blows me away every time. i’m really happy to be a part of this fandom <3

#had to get this out :3 #sorry if it’s a bit rambly my head is a mess!! #steph rambles #joker out cologne

[sciencelings-writes]

My tLoZ and LU Masterlist

UPDATED 11/19/2023

Of Dubious Sophistication: 6/? posted chapters, Wild meets the chain on a day when he has to act like an important person and decides to fuck with their initial misconceptions of him. Mostly formatted to give each of the Links to come to their own conclusions about Wild, a Compilation of oneshots with a vague overarching plot.

Another Second Chance: 2/? classic Wild gets pulled into the AOC timeline and is tasked to help prevent the calamity. But he looks different enough from his counterpart that he doesn’t reveal his true identity. He accidentally parallels Astor in the whole mysterious sorcerer/ seer vibes as he both knows the future and popped out of nowhere in a dramatic cape and ancient technology. Lots of interaction between Wild and the champions and there is both angst and hijinks. There’s also stuff about the new champions as most of it follows the plot of AOC. Also Wolfie is there because I thought it would be funny for him to bop around the baby egg guardian.

The Silence of the Knight: BOTW pre-calamity fic that’s mostly an introspective fic about why Link went silent and how everyone around him reacts to his lack of outward emotions. I just saw the concept of people seeing him as not quite human because of his refusal to show any emotions and wanting to catch a glimpse of how/ if he reacts when tragedy strikes, just to see if he has the ability to feel anything at all.

Heavy in Your Arms: Wild hated getting his memories back. They could be triggered by seemingly anything, they forced the entire group to stop or have someone stay with him until he got over it, which mostly ended up being Twilight, and he tended to end up feeling terrible. Even the good ones were bittersweet, when he saw glimpses of a family that was long gone or a fleeting moment when his life wasn’t destined to be a nightmare, only to open his eyes a century later having lost everything.He knew it was starting to become a hindrance on their quest and the last thing he wanted to be was a burden. (part of a series focused on the Wolf Trio)

I’ve Seen Hell (But This is a Bit More My Style): BOTW Fem!Link fic focused on how being the first female incarnation of the Heroes Spirit would be treated with a little bit of Zelink as a forbidden relationship. Link is angry and all of her past lives are just as pissed as she is. She’s seen as a harbinger of the calamity rather than the hero sent to stop it. And she’s seen as a mistake of the goddess and proof that the 10,000 years of peace was now at an end. General woman problems you know? (Sequel incorporating LU in progress) also please mind the tags.

Swordcrossed Lovers: Fluffy oneshot of the above au, Link and Zelda go to Gerudo Town and flirt while sword fighting. Zelink Week 2022 prompt: Sparring. 

Champions Possessing Wild Oneshot Collection: The champions possess Wild sometimes, it leads to some shenanigans 

The Unironic Magical Properties of True Love: totk role swap, Zelda find where Link has been hiding since being stuck in the past.

*NEW* Forever Changed: post totk zelink, where they both come back a little differently and have to deal with the immediate aftermath of... everything.

Requests/ short oneshots:

The Idiots of the Wind: Wind makes friends with the spirit of Revali and they team up to mess with Wild, mildly traumatizing him in the process. 

A Waste of Pretty Faces: Wild and Warriors bond over something they didn’t expect (mind the warnings and tags)

To Kill What’s Already Dead: Set after sunset pt.7, Wild deals with not being allowed to see Twilight and with the very real possibility that his mentor is dying.

A Mosaic of Broken Glass: Link has a lot of scars, they don’t like them very much. Zelda is determined to help them work on loving themself. Non-Binary BOTW Link and I accidentally made Zelda asexual.

On Top Of The World: Day 1 prompt for Zelink week 2022- One Last Look, Link and Zelda reunite after the final battle with the calamity. Idk what to say it’s just pure fluff. 

Frightful & Delightful: Wintery LU fic that is Hyrule-centric for a secret santa. Hurt/comfort, but mostly fluff. 

3 Sentence Fics: Lots of short fics in one place, including LU, botw Zelink, and my own AUs!

The Many Duties of the Princesses Appointed Knight: Fluffy pre-calamity zelink hair braiding, not me basing a whole fic off of a vague idea... 

The Caretaker of Holy Things: OC fic made for a zelda creators collab, the Priestess of the Temple of Time remains at the great plateau while the calamity rages around her, unfortunately, she’s due to have visitors. 

Whumptober 2022:

Prompt 2: Nowhere to Run: Aryll from my priestesses AU meets the Fierce Deity for the first time.

Prompt 5: Hypothermia: Link and Zelda from my Golden Priestesses AU journey up to the Temple of Nayru to the spring of wisdom.

Prompt 9: Caught in the Storm: Zelda spends one hundred years fighting the calamity, even though he’s slumbering in the shrine of resurrection, Link still finds a way to help her keep her head above water.

Prompt 10: Whipping: Wild from my Fem!Wild AU has to reveal some things about her past after having a panic attack post-battle. Kind of a rewrite of part of the comic where Wild throws himself in front of Wind during a fight, you know the one. 

Prompt 15: Emotional Damage/ New Scars: Wild visits the forgotten temple after the events of LU, he mourns. 

Zelink Week 2023: 

Day 1: Yearning: All In Good Time: Fem! Zelink AU during the events of LU, Wild misses her Princess. 

Day 2: Forbidden: The Ballad of Frost and Flames: Fem!Zelink AU, pre-calamity while Link is still in hiding, they meet at a masquerade ball. 

Day 4: Hand in Hand: The Fable of the Dragon and the Phoenix: MAJOR TOTK SPOILERS, Zelda makes and eternal choice and Link learns to rise from the ashes.

#zelink #fic rec #fic masterlist #masterlist #totk #zelda #tears of the kingdom #botw #breath of the wild #fem!zelink #fanfic rec #andromedas fic masterlist #loz #tloz #fanfiction #finally got to the point where the old post wouldn't update so here's this I guess

[quodekash]

EPISODE 2 BAD BUDDY OS2 LETS GOOOOO im so freaking excited holy hell 

i still cant believe that patpran and earthmix are going to INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER??? AND EXIST IN THE SAME SPACE???? HOLY HELLLLLL 

wait hang on 

will we get longtae?? pls give us longtae i need to see my boy 

WAIT hang on how does this work. how do bad buddy and 1000stars exist in the same space if drake plays korn and also rang. i need to make some kind of murder board of the connections between shows holy hell 

tut tut, phu, you need to take care of yourself for goodness sake 

pran is too autistic for this, he doesnt know how to Social Situation and communicate what he was actually trying to say and now they think he wants to be a teacher 

also im gonna slide past the phutian relationship problems bc i dont want to think about it. my dads are not getting a divorce, and thats final 

hang on. there’s new kids now??? where the hell did they come from? 

tian’s teacher frustration is so real 

autism 

HEY 

LOOK AT THAT 

ACTUAL REPRESENTATION OF SOME KIND 

THATS AWESOME 

I KNEW HE WASNT NEUROTYPICAL 

FJEHSBGKVJREB 

i know ocd is an anxiety disorder but there’s a lot of overlapping symptoms and apparently autistic people are more likely to experience ocd 

and even if its just ocd, im still allowed to hc him as autistic 

but either way HELL YEAH REPRESENTATION AND ITS CANONICAL AND ITS NOT JUST IN HIS HABITS ITS AN ACTUAL CANONICAL DIAGNOSIS GJERBDHBDRT 

MY BOY! 

(definitely didnt completely forget about him) 

his gaydar is going off so much he can smell it (i made the screenshot too big and now phupha in the foreground is making me laugh so hard omg- i swear its the funniest thing ever. im probably tired. its 1:30am) 

THE LOOKS PATPRAN GAVE EACH OTHER WHILE PHUTIAN WERE INTERACTING- THE GAYDARS THE GAYDARS 

(yes, i know they already know about phutian bc of tian’s online diary thingy, but it still counts) 

i wanna read this diary so bad but i cant read thai. and also idk where i would find it. its probably online somewhere. it might be a merch thing. who knows man 

GEHRKDBGV THE FLASHBACKS WHILE HES READING 

IM CRYING 

“why would a good guy come to watch me take a shower?” THE LOOKS PATPRAN JUST GAVE EACH OTHER- OMG I LOVE THIS SO MUCH 

THE LOOKS THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE EXCHANGE 

ITS SO FUNNY 

I LOVE THIS 

iconic 

i love everything about this so so so much 

the amount of joy that just this one image brings me? help 

ive been wondering why they keep making those movies 

wait hang on 

guys i think we might actually be onto something 

on another but related note: what do you guys spend 25 minutes doing at 2 in the morning when you should be sleeping? cos apparently i make beautiful atrocities like that. 

anyway. 

theyre like little kids, “he liked me first” “NO HE LIKED ME FIRST” 

this is starting to sound very familiar 

pran screaming at the waterfall reminds me of patpran screaming off the top of the hill at the beach 

THEY ARE PLAYING IN THE WATERRRR I LOVE THEMMMMMM 

“i think they kissed” “agreed” “they certainly did” “i agree” okay they didnt but they absolutely should have and we all wanted them to 

they so in loveeee i love themmmmm 

IM SCREAMING AS QUIETLY AS I POSSIBLY CAN, HOLY HELL THE FREAKING PARALLELS 

hah, you bloody americans, they probably had to google what 18ºC is in fahrenheit, but i, a superior australian, know that that is... warmer than it has been recently. its currently 13º. its really weird, im not used to it getting this cold, even in winter, and winter only technically started two days ago. anyway, enough about abnormal australian weather, back to patpran 

i love them so much 

pat, i- 

HELL YES 

OISHIIIII 

FINALLY 

the kid demanding payment through sips of oishi tea? thats my kinda style 

id adopt that kid if i had to. 

i hate kids 

but ice tea? it bonds people. 

lucky kid 

i rly like this karaoke idea, i was wondering how they were gonna incorporate the ost but i guess pat’s gonna sing it 

P’AUUUU 

I THOUGHT I RECOGNISED HIM IN THE BACKGROUND EARLIER AND I WAS RIGHT 

HELLO P’AU HOW ARE YOU 

“actually, my boyfriend and i also fought about who fell for the other first. but in the end, it isnt important. what matters more is that we love each other” AWWWWBHFGHBR 

OH 

ITS THE SONG 

ITS THAT SONG 

GEIURHGUKERJBGHJK 

YAYYYY PHUTIAN ARE SNUGGLINGGGG 

IM SMILING SO HARD ITS DIFFICULT TO SEE 

i love him 

THE SIGNATURE FISTBUMP RJDGBJR 

i love them 

NOOOOO THEY STILL HAVENT MADE UP, GOSH FREAKING DARNNIT 

ooooo phu vs pat drinking challenge, this’ll be fun 

i really like how the young ones are giving advice to the older ones for a change, its very nice. and also just goes to show how powerful patpran are 

omg this kid is everywhere, i love him 

the pure RELIEF when they both see that they are, in fact, wearing pants. 

BRO THAT WAS STRESSFUL 

PRAN NEARLY DIED 

its so funny to me how intense the music is rn 

OF FREAKING COURSE 

well at least we know that means we’ll get more patpran next week, we dont have to say goodbye to them today 

anyway that was wonderful, its 3am and i feel fine currently, cant wait to feel like a dead banana peel tomorrow, goodnight folks, see you next time! 

#quodekash watches our skyy 2 despite desperately needing to sleep #our skyy 2 #our skyy x bad buddy #our skyy x a tale of thousand stars #our skyy x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars #os2 #bad buddy series #bad buddy the series #atots #1000stars #a tale of thousand stars #patpran #ohmnanon #phutian #earthmix #ohm pawat #nanon korapat #earth pirapat #mix sahaphap

[mrs-mquve-cc]

Sims Tag  

I was tagged by @esotheria-sims!

1. What’s your favourite sims death?

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever let a sim die 😆 Not only do I not actually play the game very often, I’m just too attached to my sims. But if I had to choose it’d be death by cowplant.

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

Alpha/semi-realistic till the day I die!

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight?

Nah, that’s unnecessary.

4. Do you use move objects?

ALWAYS.

5. Favorite mod?

@lamare-sims‘ Shiftable Everything! I love to decorate, and this was a TOTAL game-changer for me.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got?

I bought The Sims 2 Deluxe in 2007. I still get confused with what came with the base game and what came with Nightlife because I’ve always had NL 😅

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing?

Like LIVing. I seem to be in the minority on this but whatever.

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

Laegrinna, of course! I’m sure everyone who follows me knows already but she’s the sim pictured in this post and in my avatar. She’s the protagonist of a game called Deception IV: Blood Ties.

9. Have you made a simself?

Yep, I do have one, you can see her in my 40th birthday post from last year. I gave her graying hair then to be more accurate. I did play as her a few times but it felt kind of weird so she just roams around my hood.

10. What sim traits do you give yourself?

I don’t use the traits mod but if I did, it’d probably be Absent-Minded, Perfectionist, Cat Person, Eccentric, and Socially Awkward.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color?

I don’t use EA colors or textures, obviously, but I hate them all, especially the pee yellow blonde 😂

12. Favorite EA hair?

I don’t use EA hairs, but the only one I even remotely like is the Mansion & Garden dreads band hair. I might try to do something texture-wise with it at some point.

(Editing to say HOW THE SHIT DID I FORGET LAEGRINNA’S HAIR *facepalm* yeah it’s the Modern Bob from the EA store. As for hairs shipped with the game see above)

13. Favorite life stage?

I only play adults because I’m boring lol

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

I dunno, I spend way more time creating and taking pics than I do playing. I’m awful at building but I do enjoy it and like I said I love decorating.

15. Are you a CC creator?

Yep, have been for almost 8 years now! I’ve made a ridiculous amount of CC, mostly hairs but I think I enjoy retexturing clothing and objects a bit more. I’ve just started learning meshing and it’s opened up so many new possibilities for me. I have an endless list of future projects!

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad?

I have a few. I’m not popular in the community or anything and my social skills are lacking but I do like interacting with other simmers.

17. What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4)

Sims 2 forever!

18. Do you have any sims merch?

Nope.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims?

No and I don’t think I’d be good at making videos in general.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing?

It’s gotten much more eccentric and I’ve leaned harder into semi-realism despite most people playing Maxis Match the past 10+ years. I love goth/alternative CC and incorporated a lot more into my game when I created the Deception IV sims. It’s funny because it seems like people’s tastes get more mainstream as they age, but it’s exactly the opposite for me. I look at my old CC and the way I used to dress and make up my sims and think “wow was I boring back then.” The current aesthetic of my game more accurately reflects my personality.

21. What’s your Origin ID?

Bold of you to assume I use Origin 😂

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator?

Too many to list here! I’m a CC hoarder.

23. How long have you had a simblr?

7 years, almost as long as I’ve been creating.

24. How do you edit your pictures?

I do minimal editing, partially because I’m not very good at it and also because with CC previews I want people to see exactly what they’re getting. I use Pooklet’s game lighting actions, I’m careful with how much light I use when taking the pics in-game because it’s easier to brighten a screenshot than fix an overexposed one (Laegrinna’s white hair is particularly prone to overexposure). I brighten the subjects of the picture a bit more and darken the background a little so they stand out. But that’s really it.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next?

Well, we’re not getting anything else for TS2 anyway, and I don’t even know what else I’d want because there’s so many fun mods out there that add to the game.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far?

That’s a tough one - I love playing witches (Laegrinna and her sister Velguirie are both evil witches) so Apartment Life is up there, but I also love playing businesses and having my sims go out on the town so I couldn’t imagine playing without OFB or Nightlife.

I’m going to tag @furbyq, @focalor-sims, @equinoxts2, @pooklet, @skulldilocks, @letomills, and @phoebe-twiddle!

#fia.jpg #the usual gang of idiots #sim: laegrinna

[nahalism]

i was wondering, how did you get to develop your art? im currently in a process where i am trying to experiment and go beyond the need to create art that is realistic (as in "objectively like reality as it is", like I was being told by both school and family). i feel like I struggle a lot to follow my inspiration because of this, and I am also trying to learn how to draw scenes from my own ordinary life, but unfortunately I am quite impatient and frustrated with my inability to create what I wish to create + perfectionism in general makes me scared of using colour as well 😭 I really admire your art so much, both your sketches and finished pieces, and I have always wondered your own learning process throughout the years. please feel free to not reply if you feel uncomfortable cause I know it is a very personal process as well, and above all I hope you are doing well and I am sending you endless love <333

🥺🥺 this is so lovely to receive because if im completely honest there are multiple moments where i feel exactly as you've just described and despite pushing through it, a message like this is very validating that ive progressed in some way

i dont mind sharing at all. i started drawing/painting when i was 21/22 which is relatively late and i was so fearful because despite having a vision for what i wanted to create i lacked any skill that could help me bring what was in my minds eye to fruition. i was also insanely depressed and in the middle of getting my degree at uni (so felt like i had no time to pursue art, at least not to the extent i wanted to). — my plan to get better consisted of multiple things. id draw everyday. i had/have two styles i'd practice, one realism, and the other 'freestyle'? basically draw only from my head and from the rhythms that came naturally to my hand, no references. by doing that, or drawing the human figure/portraits/cars/buildings from my imagination, not only was i reinforcing what id actually learned from my study of the fundamentals, but i was learning to incorporate my own creativity into the rigid structure that sometimes comes from only drawing from reference. by doing that and drawing studies every day i began to build a library in my head of images/poses/character archetypes i could pull from which made drawing from my imagination easier, but also had the structural knowledge of forms/perspective/anatomy to make them look credible. id do this whenever i had free time, and once i left uni began practicing anywhere from 6-9 hours daily. a bit extreme but i felt like i had time to make up for since i started drawing relatively late in life. only tip there is to balance practice with making finished pieces. finished pieces will show you which fundamentals you still need to work on & how much progress you've made. they also show the completion of a thought whereas practice only gives you the tools to bring that thought to reality

just so u know, ur practice of the fundaments is not in vain. you just need to revive your own capacity to draw from your imagination/subconscious. the main thing is knowing your going to find your work horrible for a long time before it gets better. the joy has to come from the process of creating rather than the end product. by the time it gets better, your eye will also have improved, so you still wont be satisfied. thats where growth comes in. being your biggest critic is what will make you great, as long as you remember where you came from (date and keep your work so you can look back on it) and the role criticism plays. separate your skill from your self worth.

something helpful i was once told is along the lines of 'perfectionism is a lie we tell ourselves to justify our procrastination. no one is ever perfect, so the only way to gain skill is to practice. you cant grow if you dont begin. so if your really a perfectionist, your only solution is to start'

i would love to see your work someday and hope i will. wishing you luck and sending you all the courage to begin and be great. you got this <3

#ask

[princekirijo]

thinking about your post on gushing over persona designs and also a reply youve left on one of my posts before... >:3c would you wanna talk about your thoughts on 3rd tier p5 personas because id love to hear em

I WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS THANK YOU LEAF >:3c

OK so like disclaimer: I have yet to get to the third semester in Royal myself (I am playing through the game at a snail's pace 😭) so this is more like my thoughts based on a) just the designs in general, b) the designs in the context of the characters and c) what context I do have of the third semester (I know most of it but obvs it will be different once I actually play it). Oh and of course these are all my personal opinions so that's just something to keep in my mind!

For a more general overview of the personas, I actually think the design principle behind these personas slaps so hard. The way that each of them are in a sense, the real, true version of the original character of the initial designs is actually amazing and such a perfect final form for the thieves (considering their whole thing is ripping off their masks they wear in society blah blah blah). And also each of them try to incorporate a part of the character into the persona design (I'll explain that a bit in a minute) is really really cool. However, as with anything there are designs that nail these ideas and then there are some that for me miss it. Overall though, I think they are a solid set of personas and in general I would say I like them as a collective (not as much as the initial and they slightly lose out to the second tier designs but not by much).

Now for a more detailed persona by persona breakdown:

Raoul: Oh boy. Raoul. OK this is tricky for me. As like a design I think he slaps so hard. He looks sleek, cool and I love his head and wing design, I think they continue on from Arsene's monster gentleman look well and bring a more modern vibe to the persona (which a lot of these personas seem to do). And I think its a fitting design for Joker (purely from an aesthetic point of view, I find it hard to comment on it from the point of "does this fit Joker's personality" because that's really down to player interpretation). But hoo boy. There's two major issues with him for me.

Obvious one is that he's a DLC Persona. Instant loss for me. It adds no sentimental factor to him as a Persona (i.e. no awakening scene), all you do is just pay however much it is for him and then bam you have a cool Persona. That was a huge missed opportunity on Atlus' part. However, this brings me into my second issue, is that even if he did have an awakening scene there is no way it would ever top Satanael. Like Satanael is such an underrated persona for me, its a shame he's underutilized in the games too, because like wow that awakening scene. Is there any bigger fuck you to a god then summoning the devil through the power of friendship and humanity's hope to shoot him in the face. Unparalleled. But back to Raoul I just don't think he tops Satanael and he's stuck in DLC which lessens his impact/importance for me even though he's probably one of my favorites design wise.

Diego: I actually really really like him. I don't know why but I appreciate the swagger this Persona has. I think what Diego does best is really capture Morgana as a character. He's cocky, confident, considers himself as a bit of a ladies man (Diego looks like a playboy sorry) and successfully brings a modern twist to Zorro (and you know fits the whole this is Zorro unmasked because well it is literally Zorro unmasked). I can see why the design wouldn't appeal to some people because admittedly it is a bit boring but all in all I think its a solid look.

William: Yeah William slaps. He's a great design. I really enjoy how he's a more punk (might not be the right word but that's the best I can think of rn), cool, sleek version of Captain Kidd. I think he really fits Ryuji in the sense that it actually looks like something Ryuji would wear lol. It fits as well with the whole "Ryuji embracing his role as the delinquent" and again as is with a lot of these designs, brings a modern twist to it. This doesn't really mean much but I really like the sleek boat that he rides on. It just looks cool and honestly that's how I feel about William. He just looks really cool and very Ryuji.

Celestine: My Ann bias might come through here but oh boy do I adore this design. I think out of all of them, this is the one that executes the third tier design principles the best. First: it's a really cool upgrade for Carmen, and it really looks like it was made for Ann. Like the confidence the swagger and yes there is the whole sexy dominatrix thing going on with her but to me it feels like this is much better executed. The men at the end of her pigtails is to be quite honest a really neat design and a nice continuation of the elements we see in the previous personas. Which brings me to my next point: this is one of the two best examples of another aspect of the third tier personas: the fact that they are shown to be a fusion of sorts between the previous two personas. I don't think the ones I've mentioned so far execute this as well as Celestine and one other I'll get to later do. The combination of the Hecate color palette and Carmen's features plus the elements of Ann herself (Celestine is very fashion model to me) is done so well that I actually think it's probably the best designed of all of them.

Gorokichi: Oh Gorokichi. I have seen two opinions on this persona: people either love him or they hate him. I am very much in the later camp. I really hate this design NOT because of the actual design itself but more so the design in context. Look on its own I love how flamboyant it is. The pink fur coat, the ridiculous heels, that Groose looking hair style it's honestly really fun and different. It looks like something out of Zoolander. This all being said, in context... no. Look Yusuke is a flamboyant character. He's an artist he's passionate we know this. But this persona is far too gaudy for him. Gorokichi looks extremely materialistic and honestly way too tacky for Yusuke. Idk I'm sure other Yusuke fans feel differently but for me I just think it's probably the most out of character of all the personas in terms of how the designs relate to the character. There's something about it that just doesn't sit right with me 🤷‍♂️ I will say though I think it does an OK job at being a fusion of Susanoo (who is by FAR the better design btw) and Goemon. Again all of that is just my personal opinion but I think this is probably the weakest of the third tier personas.

Agnes: OK after writing like essays for the others I'll be honest I don't have much to say about Agnes. Like it looks cool af it's a batmobile ass looking motorbike and I think it fits Makoto I just... don't have much else to say. I don't really understand the color scheme for this one I'll be honest considering that up until now Makoto's personas have primarily been blue so this black and gold combo kinda comes outta nowhere, but it's fine. It's just missing something for me.

Al Azif: Star Destroyer. OK but in all seriousness I like the design. Again not much to say, the sleek technology + hacker vibes obviously fit Futaba very well and all in all I like it. Like Agnes it's just kinda there for me. I will say though it does feel like a Pokemon evolution more than a fusion between the previous two. Like the Salamence line (creature -> ball -> powerful creature). Does this mean anything.

Lucy: OK I promise I'm not running out of steam or anything but again, Lucy is kinda just there for me. I've honestly been sitting here looking at it like "it looks cool. It looks like an upgraded Miladay. It's cool. Why a spy I don't know but its cool". And that about sums it up to be honest. I get that the figure she is based off of was a spy but like why a spy for Haru. Was this just a case of them going "well it looks kinda like a modern business woman and looks like a spy which is what Lucy is based on so a spy it is". Is that what's happening here.

Hereward: And here he is the main man himself. By FAR my favorite third tier Persona. Sorry Celestine I love you but have you seen this man. This Persona design hits the nail on the head. Is it a good representation of how Akechi has changed as a character? Yes absolutely (dark hero vibes). Is it a good combination of the previous two Personas? Without a shadow of a doubt knocks it outta the park. Does it fit with the initial Persona unmasked theme? Yes yes it does. I also wanna mention that I like the idea that Akechi awoke to Loki and Robin Hood at the same time (full credit for that idea goes to whoever drew that phenomenal artwork I am so sorry I can't remember their url) and Hereward being a really good combination of both of them leans into that idea nicely (that's more a coincidence tbh cause I don't think it's explicitly stated which one came first). Also this quote from the wiki really sums up how good I think Hereward's design is:

"In a similar vein to how Robin Hood's design was largely inspired by comic book hero Superman, Hereward's design may have been inspired by Batman, hence the black armor and the bat wing-like protrusions on the back of his head. This may be an allusion to Akechi's role in the third semester, symbolizing his transformation from a seemingly-altruistic hero to a feared warrior seeking to see through his own personal justice. It also can be seen as a visual combination of Robin Hood and Loki, incorporating the bow and weapon of the former and the dark aesthetics of the latter."

Ella: um. Yeah I gotta be honest on this one, I don't feel... qualified? enough to give my thoughts on her because I feel like I haven't fully grasped Sumire as a character. I think the whole Cinderella persona thing she has gong on is great and it fits what I understand of her story but as for Ella's design. Why a wedding dress. Like why. It looks appealing but like??? I don't know tbh 💀💀

And yeah that about sums up all my thoughts. I will say that like I feel my thoughts will change once I get the full story of the third semester because already I feel like a lot of these designs are missing (or I'm missing the context) some connection to the actual story of the third semester. Like these personas are supposed to represent the sort of wrapping up of the thieves character arcs and I feel like that aspect is, while the idea of the personas being based off of their original personas leans into this, ultimately underused. I don't know maybe my thoughts will change once I play it properly. Uh hope you had fun reading this because I've been typing for like an hour no joke 💀😭

#asks #nebulaleaf #persona 5 royal #good lord in heaven i went off #sorry to main tag this eheh #but yeah again as always these are just my own thoughts and opinions #i find it harder to comment on the p5 ones in general because my knowledge of the game is not as good as i am with 3 #but hopefully with me finally playing through royal again i'll be able to give fresh new thoughts you know #but ty sm for the ask leaf 🥺🥺🥺 ily <3333 /platonic #can you guys tell i have two favorites #one of them might be controversial cause as ive said people either hate or love that design #but i said what i said #enjoy reading all that LMAOOOO i am too tired to spell check 😭 #man i really come on here and just rant about personas and then poof

[signedkoko]

AAAA HI MOOTIE❤️❤️ could I request a romantic Hazbin hotel match up?? (Help me I'm shy) ANYWAY

I'm bi with no real pref, I'm a Taurus and an INFJ!!

Appearance!! : 5,5 with shoulder length black hair, Blue-Green'ish eyes and Glasses! People tell me I look very Intimidating and unapproachable, I have a very vintage 1950s women's way of dressing with a hint of cottagecore into it! I'm also always wearing heels <3

A lil about me! : chronically ill ex dancer and writer, I also sing and I love to act aswell!! I love walks alot even though I can't much anymore, I have a cat his name is Morty!! I can be kinda loud and hyper, I'm usually very in your space if I know you well (and ur comfortable obviously) I also love doing things for others! Id like to say I'm a pretty skilled cook and baker, I also love card games and board games (oh and video games y'know) I always have music running in my headphones, I'm super clingy to the people I hold dear and I absolutely love showering my friends in love and appreciation; I can also be quite the hassle, I'm not all smiles and kisses which I'm trying to work on; I struggle with empathy and love, I can be very brutal and rude and sometimes borderline cruel but I try and reserve that for people that do me wrong!!

I love birds and Foxes! Oh and deer and moose those are my favorite animals I love them sm ( I'm Scandinavian don't look at me weird) I'm the kinda friend you can come to with anything, to listen or for advice or a solution I'll always be here for everyone :3

Some hobbies : dancing (on some days) playing the violin, Writing, baking and cooking

Bleh things: Alcohol (get away from me) smoking or any substances for that matter, dark coffee, bright lights, unprompted loud noises,sudden physical contact

YEAH THAT'S ME ILYSM KOKO DO THIS ON UR OWN TIME DONT FEEL PRESSURED!!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

You got…Rosie!

Already, you've got the cutest height difference and aesthetic match in the world. You come to just about her shoulders and that's not counting her hat! Fortunately, since you wear heels you can inch a little closer to her—unless she's also wearing them. 

Rosie loves fashion, so you two go shopping together a lot. She's always offering her clothes to you, but when they wind up too big (as always), she will tailor them herself to suit you or bring them to a proper tailor to fix them up. You don't wear exactly the same style, but Rosie will incorporate more of your elements into her wardrobe so people know you're together. 

Oh my, and you can dance? No matter the kind, the moment you tell Rosie that she is already talking about the pep she used to carry in her step, and she wants to go out dancing with you a lot more. Rosie is an amazing dance partner because she is very good at following your lead or showing you how to do what she has going on. 

She also LOVES your kitty Morty. Oh yeah, shes going to spoil that cat to death because, isn't it just the cutest furball ever? Rosie is the type to get bit by a cat and coo about how strong a bite it has. 

Now, she isn't one for video games, but she is more than happy to learn all about the various types you play! Be it board, video, or card! Rosie is actually really bad at these games and often reveals her hand or her plan, but she still loves trying it out with you. The one game she could beat you in 99.9% of the time is chess.

One thing that really surprises her is your ability to get along with Susan. Knowing you have a habit of being cruel to those who deserve it, she expected you to hate the woman! Instead, you bonded over your hatred for a lot of things, and Susan insists on you always being the one to help her in the emporium. 

Expect a lot of listening to oldies music while she shows you her old dance moves, working in the emporium with her, and the cannibals being extremely protective of you when it comes to other demons.

Author’s Note - I'm sorry I know its OBVIOUS but when I was going it Rosie got 7/8 and Alastor was the closest with 3/8!!! I just think she really is your match made in heaven 🖤

#koko writez #helluva boss matchups #hazbin hotel matchups

[melop-sia]

HELLO @elphabaoftheopera ! i hope youre doing well! ive arrived with more lfay thoughts and some analysis!!!!!!!! 🥳

READING THOUGHTS:

im so, so glad i rereading lfay, it is honestly such an awesome fic and the writing so amazing! personally, since this was kind of my first time reading through the entire thing without multiple day breaks, i was definitely able to pick up on less obvious details (which are compiled below!) that made everything so much better!!! i genuinely felt like i was experiencing the story again for the first time, which made me able to appreciate and become engaged with the more emotional scenes and chapters! some of my favourites of these include chapter 23 (i was evidently moved enough to leave a comment mid read 😅😅), chapter 28 and chapter 34.

for sister sunrise, the description of elphaba reflecting over her room for the last time really got me :') the paragraph was written super beautifully and after going through most of the story i reallyy felt the nostalgic and sentimental aspect.!!!! dorothy and the dark was already a pretty emotional last chapter, but in particular fiyeraba saying goodbye to glinda and elphaba reflecting on her relationship with fiyero to get through the dark were some i really appreciated and loved!

aside from that, i loved being able to notice how elphaba went from following the rules to playing by her own since it was written with a pretty clear distinction! despite it, you managed to still write her so in character and i applaud you for it! 😁

i was wondering, was it difficult for you to write each character through all of these emotions and emotional scenes? im super in awe of how well characterised they are, i can't lie my mind started mixing some of the musical and this fic together because of it how accurate it all is!!! 👏

EDIT: i was also wondering, which parallel in lfay is your favourite / was the most fun to write in?

PARALLELS:

i pride myself soo much in picking up on these! i planned to have screenshots of all of them, but unfortunatly because of the image limit ill just have to describe some 😔 nevertheless, i hope you like reading through this segment and id like to thank @mystic-oni for his much appreciated help in finding some of these!

i loved how this parallel really developed from the beginning of their relationship, with the bickering turning cute banter :) 💕

i HAD to include this one, it is so so sweet and the parallels were all incorporated so well and warmed my heart ❤️❤️

along with these, there was also nessa making the same "you look dreadful" comment to elphaba at shiz and at kiamo ko, each in very different tones that made the second time very heartfelt :')

EXTRAS:

as well as parallels, i noted some a few references related to the book 🥳 i also noticed a few things that sounded similar but i wasn't sure were exactly parallels 🧐 but still wanted to include anyway... so here they are 😁!!! some captioned, some not but i hope you enjoy all!

i was super surprised at myself for initally not finding the lyrics snuck into the poem, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless!! also picked up on the mention of sarima from the book during chapter 14!

ANOTHER EDIT: another reference i got after watching wicked again was elphaba's book "discord and discontent" was mentioned by dr dillamond (can't recall in what way though 🥲)!

i noticed elphie celebrating in a similar way at going to shiz and getting into the sorcery seminar, she makes me so :))) SHE IS SO HOPEFUL AND DESERVES EVERYTHING!!!! i absolutely adore how you wrote her so excited and youthful during the act 1 chapters 🥺💕💕

fiyero having the same reaction to elphaba's temper from two different "lives" 💞 i can't help but love this little detail! i also picked up on how fiyero jokes about seeing the present in chapter 20 in comparison to him being sincere about it in the epilogue! super super subtle but one of my favourites !! there was also when elphaba sarcastically suggested enjoying the ocean in ev to considering in the last chapter, i laughed when i first read it and i still do when i think about it :)))

EXTRAS

nearing the last few chapters, i maaayyyy have impulsively made a LFaY chapter naming quiz 😇 it is linked below, i hope you have fun with it!

FINAL REGARDS

overall, im so glad i took the time to read over this outstanding fic, i don't think i could ever get tired of your writing!! ❤️❤️ i look forward to seeing more of your work, and im very excited to hear that there may be new works coming!!!!! however long that takes, i can't wait to be here yet again in support! :)))

#lfay #love fae and yero #elphabaoftheopera

[azumasoroshi]

shizaya fights are cool

forever thinking about how fun shizuo and izaya's chase scenes are because they're always based on the environment <333 like fighting in a giant empty arena has always been meh to me i LOVE when fights incorporate the setting like the train/construction zone fights in shang-chi and any of gray's fights from weak hero and stuff like that

and the nature of shizaya's fights is literally them using every object in ikebukuro to try to kill each other with (including trucks) so of course there's a TON of environment interaction and even if it's not practical at all (shizuo probably could have killed izaya a million times over if he just punched him instead of...pressing his forehead against his???? or throwing the truck at him instead of backwards????) it's SO fun to watch

if i ever learn to animate properly id really wanna make another one of their chase scenes because explosions and fire laser beams are cool but vaulting off of sign posts stuck in the sides of buildings is even cooler

OR write about it in fanfiction, tbh shizaya fics skip over the fights too much or just have them running and cut to them being exhausted like MAN show your work give me the good shit or ill write it myself (that sounds like SO much more fun compared to writing 'he slashed the other's clothes with his sword, missing by a hare's breadth and scowling as the other rushed forward to compensate for his wavering balance" or something. maybe i tried too hard on that one but IDK I DONT LIKE WRITING FIGHT SCENES

they're generally really hard to not get repetitive for me but there'd be so much less repetition in a shizaya fight becase you're always moving and you can always throw new stuff into the equation so it's not just the same old movements over and over. and you can change locations too like what if they're fighting in an aquarium?? fucking uh oh dude

or like. them "trading weapons" would be fun, where shizuo starts throwing the knives he's acquired from izaya over the years/the ones he catches in his teeth and izaya like. im not sure what he would do but maybe shizuo launches a bunch of things at some ceiling panelling and they get stuck in it and izaya cuts them down and all the stuff falls on shizuo like stalectites and he has to run to get out from under it. that kind of stuff

i cant focus on anything else rn because i just watched this for like the seventh time this week and just hhHHHHH (it's mirrored but apparently it's from an ova so you can probably watch the whole unmirrored episode somewhere)

i love how ovas are usually for fanservice stuff and durarara fans' fanservice is full shizaya fight. they knew what we wanted and by god they delivered

#shizaya #shizuo heiwajima #izaya orihara #durarara #im not hyperfixating i swear #also bless the very few tags i have to use for them #thank god they only have one set of names i have to use #no localized differences or anything #or hero names #COUGH bnha and dgs AHEM #Youtube

[seraphex]

hello hex seraphex ‼️ it is me back again ask for permission basing a cosplay off yr designs 🙏 and to ask if you have a reference/notes for your rumi designs because my partners and i are going to be the godslayers for a con in a couple of months and id love to try and incorporate some of your rumi design in my costume ::DD

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY PERMITTED!!!! please send me pics too when it’s done if ur comfy with doing so :3 i would literally bounce off the walls <3 i don’t have very Official references for any of my jrwi designs since i like to mess with them and change the details a lot but i tried to scrapе together some notes + pictures !! hope it helps a bit

the way i draw rumi is based a lot on stuff like the last unicorn bc i loved that book as a kid. so that’s where the fluffy hooves ears and tail come from :-) and i draw all their hair/fur as white but i like to imagine it being kind of shimmery/sparkly like the hair on those old my little pony toys as well. so basically they’re Horse 🐎

also i figure the tail could help them balance since they don’t have plantigrade feet, same as vyncent . and because it looks fun. and i <3 making shit up about how fantasy anatomy works

their skin isn’t meant to be That pale white i just went too crazy with the lighting . or maybe they’re really anemic . who knows

the outfit, jewelry, makeup, etc. are all basically the same as the canon design! only major changes i made were making both the boot designs match + gave them matching armbands/wristbands + gold horseshoes. who’s their farrier? idfk

i added a tiny boob window too for fun as i was making this so i guess that’s just part of my design now

the horns are meant to have a similar texture to crystals, like a kind of angular shape yk? put some pictures of quartz here just to give you an idea. also one horn is meant to be broken like in canon i just accidentally drew both of them that one time and didn’t notice until now. oops

#asks #everyone is permitted 2 cosplay my designs/take inspo from them for cosplay i might just love u forever if u do #no id #anyways i wish u and ur partners so much luck in creating ur cosplays!! have fun!!! #lmk if u have further questions or need the og concept art or any thing my dms are always open :-)