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tiny-brass-bot · 4 months

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Hi! I saw a post where you had a game made in godot with old school rendering, do you maybe have any tips on how to make godot render a game like that instead of its normal rendering method?

I'd be right happy to!

I'll try to make this concise lol, I always end up overexplaining and then getting lost in the weeds. Buckle up, it's a loooooot of little little things that all add up.

First off, you should decide which look you're going for. N64 and PS1, the two consoles I'm emulating, both had drastically different specs. (plus, there's plenty of other early 3D systems I've not even touched!)

The N64 had texture filtering (textures were interpolated aka "blurry"), it had floating point vertex precision (points moved correctly), it had perspective correction on its textures (no warping)

The PS1 had no texture filtering, no floating point vertex precision (vertices snap and pop around), affine texture mapping (textures warp weird). I also think the color space they operate in is different? Don't quote me

So you can go hard one way or another or pick and choose what you think looks good! We don't have anywhere near the hardware restrictions they did in the 90s so go nuts.

RESOLUTION

To get a low resolution window, I set the window size of the game and the window override size to different amounts

In green is actually how big the window is on my screen (4k monitor) and in red is the retro resolution I want. If you set the stretch mode correctly (an option a little further down the Window tab) then it'll make the pixels big

COLORS

Now the PS1 had the capability of showing you over 16 million different colors, but it could only display 50,000-150,000 at a time, so in order to get more fidelity out of it, the engineers implemented a dithering effect to better blend the otherwise sharp edges between colors.

I used this shader to achieve the dithering effect. If you don't understand shader languages, that's fine. There are a few different pre-built ones for looking like the PlayStation 1 out there.

TEXTURES

Textures for the PS1 could be as big as 256x256, but they were typically 128x128. And they would squish everything a model needed into there usually, at least with like player models and objects and such.

As mentioned, if you're not good with shader language don't worry. There are countless resources out there that people will either let you use or teach you how it works. But I'm gonna touch on it a little bit here.

PS1 textures had no pixel filtering, so you could see individual pixels.

This is what determines that in the shader code. If you want it to look like the N64 (blurry lol), the proper hint is "filter_linear". Note that it won't be 1:1 with N64, cuz they used bilinear filtering (which kinda sucks and causes weird quirks) whereas now you'll only find linear or trilinear filtering. It's a negligible difference imo.

PS1 textures also were only saved using 15 bit color. I'm told that Photoshop's "Posterize" filter set to 32 can achieve this, but don't use photoshop if you can help it. I use GIMP, and while a newer version might have a posterize filter, or there may be a plugin out there, my version doesn't so I cluge it a little.

Change your color mode to "indexed", set color dithering to how you like it, and the number of colors in the palette to a number to get a good result. Usually I'll do 16, 8, 32, but occasionally I'll cheat and do a non-multiple-of-8 teehee >:3c

You can change it back to RGB after to make further editing easier.

LIGHTING

N64 and PS1 both implemented vertex lighting, as opposed to the more modern and (now) ubiquitous per-pixel lighting. Godot as it is right now (4.2 i think?) claims it has vertex lighting that you can set as a shader property but they're lying and it doesn't work yet.

The old consoles could only handle like, 2 lights though so it doesn't matter much.

The real star of the show, and in my opinion the one thing that makes a game most look like the 90s is the inclusion of vertex colors.

By multiplying the color of your texture by its stored vertex color, you can do all the shading yourself!

Plus you can reuse textures like crazy just by coloring them differently. The N64 also made heavy use of vertex colors by forgoing a texture on models entirely and just painting them using verticies. The only textures on SM64 Mario are his eyes, stache, hat emblem, buttons, and sideburns. Everything else is done with vertex colors.

Here you can see this level from my Crock Land with no vertex coloring, with some of the vertex colors only, and then with the two combined.

Rare loved this. Look at how colorful that cliffside is in Jungle Japes. It makes it so much more interesting than just a brown cliff face. Plus you can see the vertex coloration instead of textures at work on DK and the Gnawty.

My go-to example for PS1 is always Spyro, what a gorgeous game. All of those colors there are not made by a light or an environment. They're hand painted babey! Also! With spyro! The skyboxes are actually just huge domes made up of vertices that are colored in different ways! That's how they can look so colorful and "hi-res".

There's plenty more you can do, like adding a CRT filter or a little bit of chromatic aberration which I haven't gotten into yet.

The way I've learned all this is just by being curious as to how the old consoles did their thing, and slowly accruing the knowledge over time. There's still infinite stuff I don't know too.

I hope that helped! And wasn't too longwinded or confusing! Like I said, it's all about piling up tons and tons of little things, small details, weird graphical quirks that really bring out the retro 3D feel for me.

And I didn't even get into the modeling side of things! That's an entirely different "color-of-the-sky"-sized post though.

I'd be happy to re-explain or explain more about any of this!

#indie game dev #game development #retro #low poly #ps1 #n64 #tutorial #godot engine #indie dev #lowpoly

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khlur · 2 months

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We are a group of individuals and collectives in revolutionary solidarity with the people of Palestine. As a response to the feminist call to strike for Gaza on the 8th of March (International Women’s Day), we feel the need to put out this statement to recognise the occupational, genocidal deprivations perpetrated by the terrorist settler-colonial Zionist state of Israel that has led to a death toll of over 30000 Palestinians with countless trapped under rubble, decomposed, and millions displaced. We bear witness to the carceral violence, torture, humiliation and murder of Palestinians, especially those held captive in besieged Gaza and hostages taken by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). This includes a wide range of carceral forms of torture including the use of Palestinian men as human shields, widely circulated dehumanising images of public sexual violation of Palestinian men, sexual assault of Palestinian women in Zionist prisons, enforced disappearance of children, and other acts of violence and debilitation. These largely go unreported, under-reported or misreported because of the Zionist hold over mainstream media.

Humanitarian aid is being withheld by Israel to intentionally starve Gazans as an instrument of ethnic cleansing and genocide. When the few aid trucks are allowed by Israel to finally cross into Gaza, or aid is airdropped by other countries attempting to break Israel’s siege, the Zionist army bomb, shoot, kill, and run over Palestinians rushing to food trucks as seen in multiple incidents including the recent flour massacre. Children continue to die from starvation and severe climate conditions; and those not dead yet are severely malnourished. Since October 7, Israel has incessantly bombed Gaza from F16s using 2,000-pound US-supplied bombs that blow up whole neighborhoods, internationally banned white phosphorus, and smaller lethal bombs dropped from the constantly circling drones. Israel has destroyed the 70% of the housing stock in Gaza, rendered all hospitals unable to provide care, and has further destroyed medical facilities, desalination plants that supplies clean water, schools and universities, public archives, cultural and historical landmarks, mosques and churches, bakeries, roads and highways, and all civilian resources and infrastructure crucial for survival rendering Gaza unlivable. The sustained targeted attack on medical facilities have necessitated medical procedures like amputations and C-sections without anesthetics while the neonatals and infants are dying on hospital beds and ICUs for lack of oxygen. Palestinian medics are not only overworked and severely under-resourced but under direct attack. Mass graves continue to pile up and Israel strips Palestinians of dignity even in death. Palestinian families are not allowed to recover bodies. Instead, the occupying forces attack and bomb graveyards and steal dead bodies for organs and skin to be used in Israeli forensic institutes. We have also seen the insidious images of Israeli soldiers posing with looted Palestinian women’s lingerie, mannequins, stealing children’s toys and making videos cooking inside houses Gazans have been forcibly displaced from. The entire population of Gaza has been subjected to collective punishment directed towards the acts of resistance forces, which is, in fact, the right of a colonized people for self-determination and autonomy. Israel has carried out targeted attacks on journalists, medics, artists, academics and anyone who can help save lives and ensure the survival of Palestinian culture. The Zionist regime has killed over a 100 journalists to suppress news coming out of Gaza. Murdering journalists has been a tool to silence Palestinian voices throughout the 75 years of occupation. We recall the targeted killing of journalists like Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022 in occupied West Bank. We honour and learn from resilient voices like Wael Al-Dahdouh who survived an Israeli attack and whose entire family was murdered by Israel.

The Zionist entity also has a long history of pinkwashing, touting itself as a queer haven, and using that as a justification for genocide. We see IDF soldiers proudly upholding rainbow flags on rubble or others proposing to their partners amidst the horrors they inflict on the Palestinians. We see from various archives of queerness that Palestinian queers have always resisted this. Queer people all over the world reject Israel’s pinkwashing with the slogans, ‘Not in our name’, ‘Not Gay as in Happy but Queer as in Free Palestine’ and ‘No Pride in Apartheid’, and lately, ‘No Pride in Genocide’. We call for all queer comrades to include the liberation of Palestine in their imagination of queer liberation. Amidst the excruciating, incomprehensible ongoing physical and emotional trauma genocidal occupation inflicts, we call on our mad, queer, crip comrades to unflinchingly demand a free Palestine because disability and queer justice is intimately tied to Palestinian liberation.

On January 26 2024, in the case against Israel brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that through the actions of Israel, Gaza is experiencing a plausible genocide. The ICJ ordered six Provisional Measures that under law, Israel must fulfill. The ICJ ordered Israel to take measures within its power to prevent genocidal acts, including preventing and punishing incitement to genocide, ensuring aid and services reach the Palestinian population in Gaza, and preserving evidence of crimes committed in Gaza. As we can see, Israel has completely ignored and defied all Provisional Measures.This also shows the impunity Israel enjoys because it is backed by imperial regimes. It reveals how colonial imperialism undergirds international law that has historically failed the colonised by protecting the interests of colonial imperialist regimes. Yet, the colonised have stood strong in their struggle for freedom and liberation, which has historically led to the downfall of colonial empires.

We understand that our liberation as oppressed people is deeply intertwined with struggles of the oppressed worldwide. We recognise India’s complicity in enabling the genocide and occupation of Palestine. A recent report by Pew Research Center, shows that India leads in support for autocracy and military rule among surveyed nations. Indian right-wing accounts are among leading amplifiers of anti-Palestinian fake news and have used it to fan and escalate anti-Muslim violence in India. As Azad Essa traces in his book Hostile Homelands, despite its official stance supporting the 1975 UN resolution that concluded Zionism as racism, India continued maintaining relations with Israel through security and defense engagements. For example, India adopted Israeli security systems in response to the November 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Thereafter India bought its mass surveillance systems infrastructure – the Central Monitoring System – from Israel, which can operate without court orders and access any individual’s communication data. The BJP-led Hindutva regime (under whose fascist vision of ‘Hindu Rashtra (state)’ crimes against Muslims, Christians, Dalits, Adivasis is at an all time high) upgraded this relation to a ‘strategic partnership’ following Modi’s 2017 Israel visit where the two parties signed a defense deal worth 2 billion USD. This deal included the Israeli spyware Pegasus, that the government used to arrest journalists, government critics, students, especially Dalit and Muslim organisers and throttle political opposition. India is now the top arms buyer from Israel, and our taxes fund Hermes 900 drones manufactured by the Adani Elbit UAV Complex (the first facility in India and outside Israel to manufacture this drone) which Israel uses to massacre Palestinians. Israeli drones ‘field-tested’ on Palestinians are imported to be used on Kashmiris, thwart Adivasi movements in Bastar, and are being used against the ongoing Farmers’ protest.

Much like Israel, the Indian state is a settler-colonial state occupying Kashmir. The abrogation of article 370 in Kashmir in 2019 that catapulted the facilitation of Indian citizens settling in Kashmir is starkly similar to Israeli settler-colonial policies. Kashmir has thus had a long history of what Ather Zia calls ‘affective solidarity’ with Palestine embodied through various ways of resisting whereby the Palestinian struggle is ‘inspirational, cathartic’ to Kashmiris. Following the article 370 abrogation, Palestine-Kashmir solidarity strengthened with the BDS movement’s call for solidarity for Kashmir. Pro-Palestine protests in Kashmir continue to be repressed, a history that goes back to 2014 where amidst chants of ‘Save Gaza’ and ‘Go India, Go Back’, the Indian Armed Forces shot at young boys who were stone pelting, killing a 14 year-old.

We also stand with the workers of India who have made their solidarity to the Palestinian cause clear – the water transport workers who have refused to aid the shipment of arms to Israel on 14/02/2024 as well as the major Indian trade unions who, on 09/11/2023, rejected the Indian government’s move to replace Palestinian workers with Indian workers in Israel. We extend our revolutionary solidarity to the workers of the world resisting the ongoing genocide. We stand with the students who have organised for Palestine and whose protests have been met with repression by several Indian universities. Indian academia continues to receive funding from and collaborates with Israel. We call for an immediate cessation of this act of enabling occupation. We call for a total academic boycott of the Zionist entity – no more enabling of the coloniser’s knowledge production, which is a tool for genocide. The Zionist regime continues to murder academics and destroy schools, universities and libraries. We recall and honour the memory of professor, writer and poet Refaat Alareer. We urge Indian academics to see how Zionism is directly connected to the Hindutva machinery that continues to imprison Indian scholars like Hany Babu, GN Saibaba among others and student organisers like Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, among others, arrested for being dissenting voices. Our universities have long been bastions of resistance and we should strengthen our solidarities in knowledge production with the people worldwide facing violence. We learn from and honour Palestinian resistance in every form and remember Rafeef Ziadeh’s words, ‘We Teach Life, Sir!

Following the call for strike on 8th March we put out this statement and will be participating with various actions in individual and collective capacities in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We learn from and honour Palestinian resistance in every form and remember Rafeef Ziadeh’s words, ‘We Teach Life, Sir! Actions can range from actively engaging in the Boycott Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement, raising awareness in-person and on media platforms, sending emails to government representatives to send aid to Gaza and push for permanent ceasefire, amplifying fundraisers, donating e-sims, and more. From Palestine to Sudan, Congo, Western Sahara, Kurdistan, Balochistan, Kashmir all the way to Haiti and Tigray—no one is free until everyone is free. We call for economic, academic, cultural and social boycott. We call upon organisers to honour the call for the strike by addressing and embracing the call for a free Palestine in their 8 March programs and events. We call for the end of patriarchal, capitalist, colonial regimes that oppress us. We demand immediate permanent ceasefire, end of the siege on Gaza, end to settler-colonial occupation and the dismantling of the Zionist state of Israel. We demand a free Palestine from the river to the sea.

Do make your support for the statement heard by posting on social media and handing out the handouts we have made here .

Do comment your organization’s name below to be added to the list of signatories.

Signed

Trans Queer Feminists in Solidarity with Palestine Feminists in Resistance, Kolkata LGBT Academics collective, India COLLECTIVE, Delhi

#palestine #kashmir

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professoruber · 4 months

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Incorrect Quotes: Bruce giving money to the Bat-Family | Part 3

Previous Part: Link | Next Part: Link

Damian: Father. I require monetary resources.

Bruce: Do you mean pocket change or something... more?

Damian: More.

Bruce: What for?

Damian: ...

Bruce: Damian...

Damian: It is... unnecessary to go into detail, father. You can trust though that it is merely a modest amount and strictly required.

Bruce: Son. Just tell me what this is for first.

Damian ...

Bruce: ...

Damian: Tt. Fine. A boy on the tennis team at Gotham Academy has once again insulted your honour. I know you told me to ignore such jests... but it seems my silence has only emboldened

Bruce: <Sighs> As much as I appreciate the thought, what exactly are you intending?

Damian: I wish to learn from the greatest tennis masters of the world, so I may utterly obliterate this fool and render him an example. Do not worry, this will be a wholly non-lethal defeat; in fact the reason I wish to learn from tennis masters despite my vast array of applicable skill is so that a single of my moves could be deemed an attack. I must adopt the stance, heart and finesse of tennis.

Bruce: <Blinks> I... see.

Damian: So... will you grant me your blessing and monetary support for this endeavour to defend the honour of both yourself and our family?

Bruce: Have you tried talking to anyone that this boy makes you feel uncomfortable?

Damian: I am not uncomfortable, I am peeved. And for your information, I have. The elder brother of a compatriot of mine, Mia Mizoguchi as you might recall her name being, is the captain of this tennis team. However this rival who questions our family's honour is a cunning sort, I will grant him that. He has done well to keep his slander amongst friendly ears, and action anything which could justify punitive action from his superiors.

Bruce: Hm. Seems like you're in a bit of a tough one from the sounds of it.

Damian: Indeed. Defeating him in his sport of passion will not only publicly humiliate him, but also remind him of the strength of our family.

Bruce: While I... suppose I can see your logic there. But I think you're forgetting a key detail.

Damian: Which is?

Bruce: This fellow student of yours is not a enemy to vanquish. He's a child, speaking his mind.

Damian: But he voices horrible accusations against your honour! Claims you are a "mindless playboy", and that my adoptive siblings and I are your illegitimate children of various women whom you were forced by the courts to care for, and that you are a drunkard, and are a bad role model.

Bruce: I understand why hearing all that upsets you, and that is perfectly fine. As I said, I appreciate how much you care about my... honour. But devoting yourself defeating him in tennis isn't the answer.

Damian: <Huffs and crosses arms with incredulous expression> Then what is, father? Shall I just continue to hold my tongue?

Bruce: I want you to enjoy school, not treat it like another battlefield. If this boy is really being this bad, then there's other ways to deal with him. You're smart, and you got good friends such as the Mizoguchi girl you mentioned. Bring attention that he's crossing a line... and if that does not work, tell me; and I can handle it through the proper channels.

Damian: Tt. Fine. I will... try once more to expose him and his lies.

Bruce: Good. On a related note... I understand that Mia Mizoguchi has been causing you to grow interested in Serpents & Spells? <Takes out S&S Guidebook> I got this for you, so you don't have to keep borrowing hers. This seems like something you'd much rather be spending your time on compared to avenging my honour in tennis.

Damian: <Blinks> I... uh... thank you, father. Uh... I must go now and... contact Mizoguchi that I will reconsider her invitation for a lunchtime tabletop one-shot.

Bruce: Good. Have fun, son.

Damian: I… will. Thank you once again, father.

#Batfamily #dc comics #bruce wayne #damian wayne #damian al ghul #incorrect batfamily quotes #incorrect quote #gotham academy #maps mizoguchi #kyle mizoguchi #wayne family #wfa #bat family #Dc comics #robin #Wholesome #bruce wayne is a good dad #damimaps

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bobacupcake · 7 months

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Shaders!

How did you get into making shaders? I've done a lot of modeling and texturing, and while I've hacked together code for other things, I've never tried making shaders and it seems like something that would be really fun. I'd love to know how to get started making things like your raymarching shader. Do you do it within your modeling program or in an engine like unity/unreal? My modeling program of choice is 3ds max and I am not exactly sure if it supports making custom shaders

i think at some point i was just like, i wanna make cool sparkly rocks!!! so i slowly taught myself to make shaders in unity (since i was already learning unity for school). nowadays unity and most other programs have node-based shaders, which work just as well, but i find myself being a lot faster and more organized with just writing them in hlsl (the shader language unity uses)!!

a lot of the things i learn just end up as a result of little journeys - raymarching is a great example, i learned about it by watching a bunch of graphics gdc talks, and stumbled on it in a talk on how they rendered clouds in horizon zero dawn. i cant seem to find the talk it might be vaulted but this paper goes over basically everything from the talk. so i just started implementing the things from the talk!! or at least thats what i wanted to do. i got very stuck very fast and although i looked up a bunch of different tutorials on raymarching, i couldnt crack through it

so i took a break!! until a year later when i knew more and was like, i wanna try again! so i did and that time i got it working. this was my first little raymarching shader :)

anyways hope this helps a bit.. hard to put into words Exactly how i learned but it was mostly just, looking up resources online of cool things i wanted to do, googling whenever i got stuck, putting it down when i hit walls and tried again later, etc... lots of experimenting and failing and trying again !!!!

bit of an old post but here's one specifically for unity shader resources, but most of the fundamentals between programs are the same

#ask #potion of answers your question #tollytolin #gamedev stuff

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gemsofgreece · 1 month

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Some thoughts on the Homeric Age and the Early Archaic Period

Based on my reading of the Iliad and the Odyssey in the original Homeric Greek text and a fairly loyal Modern Greek rendering

I had read these in middle school but, you know, fewer things stick with you when you do them as a chore. I was interested in reading them again, not so much for the already familiar stories, but for what I could take from them and conclude about the Greek society more than 2800 years ago! I must note that it is unclear how accurately the poet(s?) - let’s say Homer - portrays the Homeric Age and events that supposedly took place more than four centuries before his time. The question is, are we truly getting a picture of the Homeric age or at least an archaic Greek society? My opinion is that the epics must have been a reflection of some early Greek era indeed and not be entirely imaginary. Most historians believe Homer does a fairly decent job at preserving cultural and social elements of an age long gone even for him, although it’s undoubtable there is a lot of infiltration with elements of his own times too.

Peace and War

It is interesting that even though the Iliad is a war themed epic and graphic violence and gore are not missed in the Odyssey either, both the characters of the epics (who are famed warriors more often than not) and the poet - narrator acknowledge war as a great evil that causes a lot of pain to people. Even the victors pillaging and taking slaves have total awareness and understanding that a slave or a defeated enemy are suffering a lot. It seems it is a man’s duty to confront that great evil and be decently prepared and trained for it, however it is not a situation that most have a special yearning for. Most men agree that there is nothing like having peace and enjoying your companies and families, however it was a great shame for a man to step back once war broke out. A war or a fight or any argument would be ignited usually by acts of injustice or great offence that should be obligatorily punished immediately, even if the offended would deep inside rather stay at home. As an example, Odysseus murders violently all of Penelope’s suitors and twelve girl slaves who betrayed his wife and slept willingly with them. He does not waver at all, despite the pleas for mercy. When his oldest servant and nanny sees the gruesome scene with all the dead, she rejoices and cheers. Odysseus then scolds her, for “anybody’s death should never be a reason for joy”. So we have this somewhat contradictory stance in a society which proclaims itself peaceful and fair yet it takes too little to outrage and urge at acts of vengeance and violence. Violence and war are seen as measures that must be taken and that one must not recoil from but there is wide acknowledgment that war and death brought to others should not be desired or enjoyed. It was definitely not among cultures that viewed war or conquest as some sort of sacred destiny or pride. But it also did not take much for them to find excuses for a war or a fight.

Religion

Despite misconceptions that Ancient Greeks were always very anthropocentric and put logic and the potency of the human mind above all else, it is certain that at least up to the Archaic period this was not the case. Ancient Greeks of those early eras were very religious and attributed almost everything to their deities. The fate of a person is sealed from the beginning and the gods are well aware of it. Even the achievements or mistakes of great people are viewed as interventions by the gods. Although Odysseus is repeatedly praised for his intelligence and resourcefulness, it is almost always a god (Athena) who enlightens him on how to act or what to say. Misfortune is also entirely attributed to the gods - if a character suffers great misfortune, it is not so much because of their own misjudgment, the elements of nature or ill luck, but because some god is angered with them or has a special liking for their enemy.

Behavioural patterns

The most notable pattern in the behaviour of characters in the epics is that it is temperamental with plenty of mood swings. Granted, we should always keep into account that they are just ancient poems and maybe the care for gradual character development or realistic character consistency was not one of the priorities for ancient poets. If we do however still attempt to draw any conclusions, we observe people who are quick to judge, offend, get angry, praise, admire, get emotional, forgive. Some of these mood swings happen in minutes. Certainly this must not be realistic but it may be a sign the Ancient Greek people were that temperamental, quick to hate and quick to love. Another crucial observation, maybe a trademark trait of the Greek ethnos, it is apparent throughout the epics that the Greeks are people who love to talk a lot, they are argumentative and they enjoy discourse. Characters unfold their thoughts and feelings extensively and they do not shy away from being vulnerable. Furthermore, their speeches are bold and often candid; they can use strong language for the flaws of people they love and they add praises even in speeches against their enemies! In other words, they generally call it what it is - they are upfront about the flaws and the virtues of those they speak to. One last observation, they tend to be suspicious of others. There is an ongoing theme of trying, testing old friends and loved ones even when this is distressing to the other person and even though the events alone prove those people’s love and testing them really is superfluous and just shows a very suspicious, disbelieving nature. Of course, testing your loved ones is a huge recurring theme in international literary work ever since, therefore once again it would be reasonable to consider that even if those tendencies existed, they were exaggerated for the sake of the poems and the prolonged entertainment of the audience.

Objectivity

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of reading the Homeric epics for me is how the author is largely removed from taking sides. Homer does like Odysseus, that is evident, however as a narrator he almost never speaks ill of any character. Any accusations are only made by characters against other characters. The narrator himself acknowledges positive traits in most characters or at the very least remains neutral. Even more interestingly, this expands to an ethnic level. Even though the epics are written by a Greek for the Greeks, there is resolutely no hatred or prejudice against any other culture mentioned. Trojans, Thracians, Aethiopians and many others are all acknowledged for their own virtues each and the narrator does not resent any for fighting against the Greeks. It is clear that at the time, discrimination and hate speech against other nations and cultures had not yet gotten to people’s minds that much. I found it very wonderful and interesting that a war text from 800 BC could master more objectivity and level-headedness than 99% of texts written in the 19th century around the world.

Women

[This part is a little longer so I am putting the rest of the post under a cut]

Classical Greece is notorious for how oppressed its women were, however either things were better for them a few centuries prior or the truth was more nuanced. Of course, we are undoubtedly talking about a deeply patriarchal society in which women were expected to restrict themselves in their own rooms and have little concern besides their kids and weaving. In spite of this, the poems are full of considerations and respect towards numerous women and seem to have them in a type of regard that is rarely mentioned in historians’ documentations. Women are portrayed with diverse personalities and the vast majority are presented as positive role models. In fact, there is only one woman who is mentioned in a downright negative way and that is Clytemnestra, but it’s only her husband who does this as well. Other than her, there is rarely if ever negative talk against other women. Even Helen is never treated badly by anybody; Helen is only ever criticised by herself. When she returns to Sparta, her people, Menelaus and visitors such as Telemachus seem to honour her as if nothing ever happened. Helen joins them in their festivities, is portrayed as more perceptible than Menelaus and always voices her thoughts in the overwhelmingly masculine company. Arete and Nausicaa are also significant female characters and they are more crucial to the safe return of Odysseus than King Alcinous. Penelope is one of the leading characters; her thoughts, feelings and turmoil interest the poet (and apparently the ancient audience) in a large part of the Odyssey, no less than the feelings of Odysseus himself. The input of women is often welcomed and considered - it is not taken into account usually when it gets in the way of plans that have to do with war and fighting or when the position of a male might be challenged in front of others. For example, Telemachus evidently loves and respects his mother but he eventually feels ashamed that he is becoming a grown man, the future king, that cannot get rid of his mother’s suitors and he often scolds her when she takes decisions regarding these matters in his and the suitors’ presence. Other than that, mothers in general are viewed as sacred and respectable. Odysseus, a mature manly warrior, is seen yearning for his mother’s embrace.

In Nausicaa we see that perhaps women could also go outdoors and have fun when accompanied by their maids. Nausicaa and her maids wash the clothes close to the shore and in the meantime they entertain themselves by playing with a ball until the sunset, with the permission of her parents.

The pain and turmoil of slave girls is seen and understood. Odysseus kills twelve of his fifty slave women because they betrayed him. The rest who remained loyal to the family rush to welcome him back - Odysseus hugs them all and weeps. This scene is beautiful because there is nothing resolutely sexual implied - it is clear that his relationship to them was more genuine than that of a master and his servants, they were also his protégées. He cared enough to weep for meeting again his female servants - this shows that even an unfree working girl could be impactful enough to a powerful man’s life without this necessarily involving sex. The slaves he killed received a shameful death but even so Telemachus explains to them why such a death is chosen for them as if he tries to excuse it. Meanwhile, there is not any hint of apologism when it comes to the gruesome amputation and murder of the male traitor. It seems it was viewed as more dubious for a man to kill a woman, whereas a man killing a man was viewed as a punishment or as a heroic act, depending on the context.

Goddesses are portrayed totally unapologetic; they clearly have the freedom to do morally questionable deeds without being judged by the mortals’ standards.

One very interesting detail is that when men converse with women, which happens a LOT in the Odyssey and not just between married couples, men often refer to gods as husbands of goddesses. For example, when Odysseus talks to Nausicaa or Penelope, he addresses Zeus as “Hera’s Zeus”. This is clearly a subtle attempt at honouring the woman the man is talking to - it stresses that even a god belongs to a goddess, even the father of all gods, is Hera’s man. This is not to question Zeus’ leadership among the gods or portray males as possessions of females but it is a way to respect the woman opposite them by acknowledging their own influence and importance. “Even Zeus is Hera’s Zeus, therefore I have the highest regard for you, my lady.” I believe this was the spirit and I thought it was a wonderfully subtle way to show regard for a woman.

Love, lust and sex

What I found the most interesting regarding romantic relationships is the impression I got that emotional connection and respect seemed to be more telling of someone’s devotion than physical intimacy. It seems that married men could get away with having sex with slave girls (not free women) as long as they did not sleep in the same bed or maintain a deeper emotional relationship with them. For Helen, it seems it was worse that she followed Paris away rather than that her being with him included having sex together. There is also totally the concept of casual sex of which goddesses seem to have a good understanding. Mortal women on the other hand can openly voice their sexual desire and take the initiative to have and enjoy sex but only when it is with their husband, but they are sometimes depicted to have willingly casual relationships (Odysseus’ working girls with the suitors), which is however a choice that is fatally punished by the master once he returns. However, it wasn’t so much the act of casual sex they got executed for but more so that it was with the suitors who were exploiting Odysseus’ riches and loved ones. There is a distinction in the Odyssey between women who eagerly entered sexual relationships with the suitors and others who were raped by them. I don’t claim it was entirely clear but to my understanding, the latter welcome Odysseus back and are not punished. Another interesting fact is that although Penelope is admired for her loyalty to Odysseus, she was not in fact socially obligated to grieve him for so long. Telemachus himself declares he is happy his mother is so loyal to her husband, however he would also be okay with her marrying somebody once he became of age. (It would also be convenient as the suitors would finally leave him alone.) Both Telemachus and the suitors repeatedly leave it to Penelope herself to pick whomever she fancies best, with the optional advice of her father. There is a small part that suggests some people would still gossip negatively if she took a new husband, however it was clearly totally acceptable for her to do so. Just like Penelope, Nausicaa, a maiden, is always concerned about what people will think, however when alone with Odysseus or her maids, she makes her attraction to him discreetly clear. I also found the men’s approach to love and sex very interesting. Men are depicted equally as capable of sexual desire, abstinence, indifference or even being sexually coerced. By the standards of the era, Odysseus is really as loyal to Penelope as she is to him, given that his infidelity was with two goddesses, one with a notorious love for potions and another who clearly kept him her prisoner.

When he returns to Ithaca, he keeps up a stone-faced fake identity for too long but when he reveals himself, he gradually becomes frustrated with Penelope’s cold and doubtful reception. We are told that apparently Odysseus was very invested in his marriage with Penelope, given the strenuous work he willingly did with his own hands to build and decorate their bedroom. When the couple reunites, Athena literally has to prolong the night for them to just weep together, cuddle, tell their sufferings (and have sex) enough. It just gives us a picture of a mutually respectful marriage where the wife is just as invaluable to the husband. Men are also depicted to have shame for their nudity, which is something that might seem surprising given the classical obsession with the body. Odysseus feels it is shameful, vulnerable and inappropriate to be seen, touched or washed by female servants, especially when he is significantly older than them. He also feels embarrassed for his looks under the female eyes. Lastly, in the Homeric epics women are ultimately the object of men’s desire. There is actually no mention of homosexual attraction. The only questionable moment, on which the entirety of the later speculations were founded, is when Achilles has a dream of deceased Patroclus and he express his wish to die and be buried together. Other than that, having sexual desire is exclusively expressed for women or, interestingly, by women in these two epics.

Other types of love such as friendships and familial relationships are full of vulnerability and expression as well. Men, fathers, sons, friends hug, cry and narrate their misfortunes openly and vulnerably. Grown men are still recipients of beautiful kind words as Thetis does with Achilles and as Penelope and even the swineherd Eumaeus, who operates as a paternal figure, do with Telemachus (both call him “sweet light”). (As a sidenote, it is clearly viewed as the right thing for a noble person to be close, caring and accessible to his servants and slaves.) Arete and Alcinous also treasure their daughter Nausicaa.

The most moving part of all, Odyssey might be the first text noting the literally undying love, devotion and wisdom of dogs. While Odysseus at the moment is in disguise and can’t show much affection or then grieve his dog Argos, it is clear that Homer wouldn’t bother adding that part if the Greek people hadn’t already started forming loving bonds with pets.

Stools

Boy they loved stools.

Conclusion

If there is any accuracy in Homer’s epics, then the late Homeric / early Archaic society was a society that generally tried to be peaceful and always measured the profit and cost from a war expedition but the equilibrium was really fragile and very often disturbed. People were religious, opinionated, argumentative, talkative and temperamental but they also valued loyalty, honour, hospitality, patience and bravery. They loved dearly and were fearlessly expressive, however they were also quick to anger and suspicion. It was a very patriarchal society, however women had their own way of being respected and reckoned. Sexual desire was seen as natural and expected in both sexes, however there were limitations to how upfront or open it could be in its expression. These limitations affected both women and men, but to different degrees or ways.

BONUS!

An examination of similarities and differences between this society and later / current stages of Greek society:

Some obvious similarities are that Greeks have indeed always been temperamental with considerable mood swings and a tendency for suspicion. There are hints of cryptical behaviour in the epics though and I would say that later and current Greeks are also notable for this (contrary to popular belief). Modern Greeks are less capable of objectivity or seeing the virtues of an enemy. The double, often contradictory approach to sex, where promiscuity and modesty collide, are an eternal trait of the Greek people. While it might be on the lower end of the western world spectrum on the matter, it is needless to say the woman’s status in the society has improved hugely. However, there is this common pattern that historically Greek women were often able to be much more influential or assertive than the laws or the “norms” expected them to be. Greeks have always loved their families fiercely. The next might come as a surprise but I firmly believe modern Christian Greeks are much less GENUINELY religious than Homeric and Archaic pagan Greeks were. Later Greeks (probably starting since late classical period and ever since) do not attribute nowhere near as much of their achievements and failures to a deity. The Greek approach to Christianity however is similar in the sense that there is an expectation of an immediate godly payback involved just like ancient people expected the favour of the gods with their sacrifices or appropriate behaviour. As time passed, Greeks became distinctly less and less interested in war and fights, despite always remaining argumentative. Modern Greece is a genuinely peaceful society that avoids confrontation but has some basic standards of good defensive preparation in case of bad need, while the ancient society was violating its own boundaries of peace very often and much more readily.

#greece #Ancient Greece #Homeric epics #Iliad #odyssey #Odysseus #Homeric age #archaic Greece #Homer #Greek culture #opinion

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w1ldthoughts · 9 months

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The Forgotten One Chapter Two:

Love on the Brain

Series Masterlist

Warnings: Description of injuries, medical procedures and a slight mention of an experience with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

A/n: This story will be emotional and reference a lengthy healing journey. I did do research on the medical side of things but some things needed to be tweaked for fictional and entertainment purposes.

Three days after the accident is when he saw you for the first time. Clay and his dad helped him out of bed and his mom wheeled him next door to your room. Both of your parents were there, standing up to give him a hug and asking how he was feeling, like everyone had been doing every hour since he woke up.

“Have they come in to give you any updates?” He asks immediately when they stepped aside, allowing him to see you. The sight in front of him almost rendered him physically sick. Although you were no longer intubated or on the ventilator and you were breathing on your own, you still hadn’t woken up. A fat purple bruise surrounded your left eye and another one called the upper part of your right arm its home. “Why is her leg propped up?” Jack croaks out, not daring to take his eyes off of you.

The doctor comes in before anyone else in the room can answer. “It’s nice to see you out and about Mr. Harlow. Miss [your last name] is recovering from an endovascular embolization. She had a subarachnoid hemorrhage that was very small and we were able to make an incision in the groin to access an artery and thread it through to the desired area. The entire procedure only took about 25 minutes and we were able to successfully close the blood vessels and stop the bleeding.”

“Now, we just wait and see. Her brain and body have had time to rest and recover so when she wakes up, which we are hoping will be sometime in the next few days, that’s when we’ll know the severity of the injury.”

Five days after the accident, Jack was discharged from the hospital and was forced to go home and shower. The house was eerily silent as he left Clay and Urban downstairs so he could get ready and grab his stuff. He closed his eyes, battling to settle his breathing as he stood under the water. There were flashes of that night, the feeling of his body being violently jerked around from side to side, the sheer feeling of horror at his inability to control the situation. Even though he knew it was irrational, he blamed himself. And he found himself trembling, letting the tears flow freely as he steadied his shivering body by placing his hands on the wall in the midst of the hot stream beating down his back.

He didn’t want to do any of this without you and he was deathly afraid that he might have to.

“Do you remember when we first met?” He asks you, holding one of your hands in both of his, after your family had given him some time alone. The doctors had encouraged people to come in and speak with you, both for your sake and theirs. Jack was ready to take any opportunity he could to connect with you, from wherever you currently were. “I definitely remember the first time I saw you. The new HR Executive fresh out of school, playing babysitter to the head of the division, bringing him his favorite gummy bears and getting his coffee and other useless shit.”

Six years earlier…

You were really starting to hate your dream job. Both you and Cleo, your new best friend as a result of your shared trauma, were hired as assistant human resource officers for the head of the HR department Grant Young. The two of you affectionately called him “cabbage patch” because his features reminded you of a Cabbage Patch Kid. When you weren’t updating company policies or making sure that employees were actually getting the benefits that were promised to them, you and Cleo were cabbage patch’s errand girls. There was less and less human resource management and more picking up dry cleaning and walking his dogs.

“It’s feeling like we’re lap dogs and not actual employees. My business degree is going to waste and I swear to God if I pick up another bag of dog poop I’m going to smear it all over that man’s desk.” Cleo cries into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “We are severely underpaid and working way too hard on things that are not our actual jobs y/n. I’m sick of it.”

“I’m not the biggest fan of our arrangement either but we have to pay our dues. Maybe he will realize that our talent is being wasted and it’ll—

Your phone rings, interrupting the pep talk.

“Hello? Yes Mr. Young, of course I can. I’ll be right up.”

Cleo rolls her eyes. “What does the warden want from you now?”

“Headmaster is in a meeting with the CEO and needs me to grab the summary report that he printed off. Because God forbid he come prepared to these things.” You sigh, taking one more bite if your food before making your exit. “I’ll be back.”

“Tell the CEO I said hi. I’ve seen pictures of him on billboard around the city and holy fuck he’s fine.”

Shaking your head with a small laugh, you tell her “I’ll let him know you’re single, see how that goes.”

The first thing you heard when you made your way up to the 18th floor is a booming voice.

“Do you honestly think that this is okay? You’re wasting my fucking time here, Grant.” The voice exclaims.

“Mr. Harlow you don’t understand. My aunt, she’s very sick and I’m going to need to fly home for foreseeable future to be with her.”

The voice lets out a deep, exasperated sigh. “You can have as much time as you need. And pack up your shit while you’re at it. We’re done here.”

“W—Wait,” your boss stutters, “you can’t be serious. I—I love this job and I need it. Please, just let me make it up to you when I come back, I’ll have my assistants take care of everything and—”

“Grant. You’re done here. I’ll give you an hour to clear everything out. You’re free to go, please close the door on your way out. Matter fact, I’ll walk you out.” You can hear the sound of the wheels on the chair rolling around. Mr. Young is near tears when the door is open and your ice meet these icy blue ones that immediately had you looking at the floor, the air in the hallway suddenly felt a little stuffier. He stopped you as you turn to follow your now former boss down the stairs. “Did you need something?” His voice was still tense, a subtle angry vein popping out of his neck as he took a breath.

“Um, sorry sir. I just brought the summary sheets that Mr. Young asked for.” You handed him the sheet and he gently grabbed it out of your shaky hand.

He gave a dry chuckle. “Please, call me Jack. And what should I call you, summary sheet girl?”

I’d rather call you a dickwad, you thought to yourself. “I’m y/n.” You replied dryly. “I should get going, have a great day Mr. Harlow.” Giving him a tight lipped smile, you pushed the button on the elevator, hitting your head on the wall at the thought of working for an actual demon from hell. What kind of person fires someone over taking time off for a sick family member?

“Do you remember that day in the hall? You looked at me like I was a monster. Hated me for the next year. Maybe even a little more. And then we made fun of him over dinner some time after when you found out his aunt Joan gets sick around the same time every year and it was actually code for ‘I’m going to play in a golf in Santa Monica.’” He laughed, getting a little choked up. “Y/n I—I can’t lose you. I’m not strong enough for that. Baby, you gotta wake up. You have to because—” one of his hands came up to cover his mouth as he cried.

There was no movement from you on the bed. He hoped that it would be like the movies, he’d be sobbing at your bedside and you'd open your eyes and reassure him that everything would be okay. But it didn’t happen. He sniffed and grabbed a Kleenex to wipe his nose and took a minute to collect himself.

He took hold of your hand again and held it against his cheek. “You need to wake up because I love you. I need to propose and I need to do it right so I can spend all of eternity getting on your nerves and we can ride off into the sunset together.”

“So please,” he whispers, his bottom lip quivering, “please don’t leave me.”

Eight days after the accident your hospital room could compete with any florist within a 30 mile radius. It could also double as a balloon store. Any and every visitor you had brought a gift. Urban even tried to sneak in a few edibles for you when you were awake but your boyfriend told him not to. And then Clay left the room crying because he wanted his sister back and that was another jab to your boyfriend’s chest.

He was sitting in your room with Cleo absentmindedly scrolling through the tv channels after begging your parents to go to his house and sleep in actual beds for a few hours. Everyone was running on fumes, having literally memorized every square inch of your hospital room floor so it was necessary to take a break from it for a while and get some air. Cleo stood up to rearrange the mountain of presents near the window. She dropped a box of chocolate on the floor and the two swore they saw you move at the sound. And then she saw it, your hand moved.

“Y/n? Can you hear me?” Cleo rushes out, her thoughts of organizing long gone. They waited a bit for another sign, something—anything.

And then your eyes slowly fluttered open and you gave Cleo a warm smile. Jack let out a breath of relief, sitting at the side of the bed and wiped at the fresh set of tears that made their way down his face at the sight of you.

You gave him a look of bewilderment when he sat down. “Cleo…” you whisper, “why is our boss’s boss here?”

He felt like the room was spinning and he was going to pass out. Cleo immediately pressed the call button to alert the staff while Jack got on the phone to let your family know you were awake. They had already been heading back so they arrived a few minutes later, meeting the doctors as they examined you.

Dr. Byers led your parents and Jack outside to deliver the news. Cleo stayed behind to keep you company. “Physically, she’s recovering nicely as we hoped. A bit ahead of schedule even. But she has still suffered an intense trauma to the brain and is suffering from what is most likely post traumatic amnesia where her mind is protecting her from remembering the pain of the accident. It seems to have also erased the last few years of her life.”

“Will she—is she ever going to remember everything?” Your mom asks, looking towards Jack in a way that reeked of pity. Something he’d never experienced before.

“It depends on the situation, sometimes people recover their memories all at once, or in short bursts. It could take a few months, years or not at all. You’ll just have to be patient with her.”

Meanwhile you were nursing a minor headache and a shock to the system. “Me and Jack? Together? Like…together together?” You asked with surprise lacing your tone, rubbing your temples. Maybe you should’ve just stayed asleep.

Just as Cleo was about to respond, your family came in and showered you with love as Jack stood behind them unsure of what to do. Your best friend took him downstairs to grab a coffee and take a walk.

He came back an hour later and let you know he was leaving and that he had to see you in person to let everyone at work know that you were awake and doing better. You stopped him before he could head out the door.

“Cleo told me why you’re really here. Four years Jack? We’ve been together for four fucking years? That means the last thing I remember is from five years ago.” You felt your throat closing up. “I’m so sor—”

“You better not be apologizing to me about a traumatic brain injury that you didn’t ask for.” He states with a dry laugh. “None of this is your fault, okay? None of it. And don’t worry about anything, we’ll figure it out as we go. Cleo’s here, your family is here and I’ll be here for you as well, in any capacity you’re comfortable with.”

Jack sat in the chair next to your bed and continued, “I don’t want you to think that we have to be in a relationship just because that’s what you were told. We can just take life one day at a time.”

Taglist

@killatravtramp

@jackharloww

@harlowcomehome

@middlechild404

@iknowdatsrightbih

@itsyagirljaz

@alimaythings

#jack harlow #jack harlow x reader #jack harlow imagine #jackman thomas harlow #jack harlow au

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queering-ecology · 1 month

Text

Chapter 5 . Non-white Reproduction and Same-Sex Eroticism: Queer Acts against Nature by Andil Gosine prt 3 (final)

Denying the Erotic

Homosexuality and non-white heterosexuality are both characterized as dangerous and damaging to ecology and a necessary component of this is the denial of pleasure. Sex is instead defined as an act of death and the denial of individual agency. In population-environment discourse, “the only possible relationship between humans and non-human nature is antagonistic, as nature exists only as a ‘resource’ for human use; more people inevitably means more degradation” (Sandilands 1999, 86). Second, “nature’s primary appearance in human life is as a limit to human excess, including, potentially, an excess of human freedom" (especially in the context of a crisis”) (1999, 86). Not only is death the inevitable consequence of both forms of queer sex, but sex itself is seen as failure of its initiators to civilize–unfettered desire. (164)

“The poor” have no agency; ‘population control’, ‘more accessible health and education ‘--’educating more girls building more schools and clinics, and making birth control more accessible may be, in themselves, worthy goals, but their pursuit in the context of reproductive control is problematic in that they write out love, pleasure, and sexual desire. 165

Supporting Greta Gaard’s contention that anti-eroticism and hegemonic heterosexuality not only are part of dominant Western ideas of nature, but also are interstructured with environmental degradation, Sandilands argues that Western culture’s profound erotophobia is clearly linked to the regulation of sex and ensures the production of environmentalisms that cling to an understanding of nature that pathologizes sexual diversity. (166)

(Working) Toward Queer Ecologies

The author has a couple of concerns about the political geography of queer ecology: is the production of ‘queer ecology’ a decidedly Euroamerican project? Work theorizing sexuality and nature has tended to assume (at the same time that it critiques) an understanding of environmentalism and nature as Western teleological narratives. Is the privileging of Euroamerican stories of environmentalism–even for the purpose of critical examination–complicit with the agendas of empire, and American imperialism in particular? (!!!)

Another concern: We must continue to discuss and even privilege analysis of race-racism, gender and class. The author acknowledges that their own analysis has made the assumption that there are two distinct types of people; the queer subject and the racialized as non white subject (either/or instead of both) when in reality, this intersection deserves more attention and could provide more insight.

Finally, the author suggests that the refusal of race-racism is not distinct from the refusal of heteropatriarchy, as both are productions of capitalism-nationalism. Might a queer ecological political project present a different kind of framework of resistance? Might queer ecology be better served for example by the kind of model of political resistance articulated by black lesbian feminists such as Audre Lorde, M. Jacqui Alexander, and Dionne Brand, where its work is not merely to attend to the ‘sexuality’ part of oppression, but to recognize and work with its full, complex rendering? (169)

#queer ecologies: sex nature politics desire #queer ecology #queer ecofeminism #colonialism #overpopulation #heteropatriarchy #racism #queer theory #ecofeminism #heteronormativity #critical ecology #ecology #environmental politics #erotophobia #queer history

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salemsimsrender · 10 months

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So you want to make a sims render: a beginner's guide

But what does that even mean? What do you need to start?

To get started with sims renders, you'll need the following programs:

Blender 3.6 - to render your sims

Blender 2.7 - to export poses, accessories and objects from s4s

Sims Ripper - to rip your sims to prepare them for blender

Sims 4 Studio - to export poses, accessories and objects for your renders

All of these programs are FREE to download and use!

Blender outputs fantastic renders depending on your settings, but you'll probably want to edit them after the fact.

For editing, I recommend:

Photoshop

GIMP

Photopea

I'll be posting editing tutorials in Photoshop, but any of these programs will get the job done.

Stay tuned for in-depth tutorials on using Blender, Sims ripper and Sims 4 Studio!

#salemsims tutorial #render school tutorial #sims 4 render tutorial #sims 4 blender tutorial #blender #sims ripper #sims 4 studio #resources #ts4 #sims 4 #sims

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pentacle-artist · 1 month

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I have finished playing Mystery Journey and have a lot of thoughts, and here's one of them (Spoilers for the final case):

How long has Ernest been going by Ernest?

The fact that he's a university student means he couldn't have changed his name recently, he would've had to have been going by Ernest Greeves since high school (or whatever they have in London) at the very least. Then I realized Ernest had the perfect opportunity to change his name.

When he was 12 and being entered into the system after his mom's death. Considering how much stuff was left at Richmond Court, it wouldn't be surprising if some proper identifying documents slipped through the cracks when they left. As such, Ernest would've been asked for his name.

And he could easily say Ernest Greeves instead of Miles Richmond.

This would also explain why the dragons couldn't find him. They certainly had access to a bunch of resources as the richest people in London, but they'd unknowingly be using the wrong name, rendering all of that null.

#also it's a very kid thing to choose a fake name based on a favorite book #there's also the chance his mom's gravestone would say greeves instead of richmond #otherwise their last names would be different which would cause issues #professor layton #layton's mystery journey #ernest greeves #lmj #lmj anime

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obscurecharactershowdown · 10 months

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Group D Round 3

[image ID: the first image is of a profile for Silver, stylized as a popup on an old school desktop. she has pale skin, red hair, and red eyes. she's wearing a black bodysuit and silver armor with blue, glowing trim. the text of her profile is partially cut off, but what is visible reads: "Met: Barrens / The Barren's head engineer, a rather morose robot living alone near the mines. It's her duty to oversee operations and maintenance of the world's industrial heart, where metals and resources are pulled from the earth's clutches and rendered into usable goods. / ...at least, that's how things used to be. Since the evacuation, only a few active--" below this text is several small, full body renders of Silver. the second image is a gif of Gary, a man outlined in simple, animated red lines against a black background. the only other color is the white of his eyes. he has a short beard and he's wearing a hooded robe. end ID]

Silver

Silver is a robot who fucked up because she wasn't properly tamed (In oneshot, taming is the idea that a robot can be taught to act beyond its baseline programming by forming a relationship with someone). She went rogue because of contradictions in her code that she couldn't resolve. Her creator, who based Silver on herself, eventually fixed her, but the damage was done and Silver had to be relocated to a remote mining facility for political reasons.

Gary

I've seen John in ONE poll but I haven't seen Gary at all. Gary is the main antagonist in the games and is a normal human being just like you and me. Actually he's a demon, and trying to summon the antichrist. He can also summon spiders! Over and over again. And remember, Gary loves you! [additional propaganda 1]

#obscurecharactershowdown #obscure poll #group d round 3 #silver oneshot #oneshot #gary ftuht #faith the unholy trinity

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salemssimblr · 5 months

Note

Hello there! I'm Eden :D I LOVE your renders! I've been rendering for well over a year at this point, however I only stuck to the super basic stuff since it took me a year before that to even know how to do it at all. I've wanted to up my game and get to where you are now. I'm SO SORRY if this question was asked already (I haven't gotten too far in your posts yet), but;

How do you personally edit your renders? I understand you use photoshop, but how do you do it exactly? Your renders have that kind of digital art style, like you drew them yourself. Feel free to be as descriptive or brief as you'd like!

Hi Eden!!! Thank you so much! 🥹😍♥️

I've followed you back and glad we're moots! I'd love to see some of your work!

I'm not sure if I've answered this before but I'm happy to answer it again! Also I haven't advertised it in a while (and I really need to try to get up a new tut, maybe soon), but my alt account is a Render School where I post tutorials, with plans to post editing tutorials in the future!

But honestly as far as my editing, I really don't do much.

Actions are my secret weapon, and I have a few favorites/go-tos I'll link! A few are by simmers and a few are just action sets. I'm in a family of photographers, so I have access to a wealth of resources for my editing.

Sonder set by @intramoon

Cold Water set by @intramoon

Retro Prime photoshop actions

Indie camera photoshop actions

But my "secret weapon," as it were, and the set of actions that I think most helps me accomplish that digital art style is a set of actions that are sadly expensive and hard to find now.

My favorite set is by Totally Rad! and I think in recent years it's been folded in to this Pixel Sugar product on their website. I know that's a steep price point but it's possible you can find it around the corners of the Internet for less, or if you can't, you might be able to find "dupes" of the better ones, which imo are:

Technicolor dream world

Super Fun Happy

Bullet Tooth

Grandma's Tap Shoes

As for my method, I know a lot of simmers paint over their renders, and I've done that a few times but find I'm too impatient tbh. My goal is always to have to do only minor touchups over my renders and some color/vibe adjustments before the finished product. My "raw" files are always exactly what blender spits out for me, unaltered in any way except to resize them for Tumblr.

To get that digital art style, I'd recommend rendering with alpha details if you don't already. If your computer can't handle alpha cc in the game, DM me and I can give you some pointers (sneak peek info for a future tut lmao) on how to accomplish it without bogging down your game.

When I go into photoshop I adjust the brightness and contrast, as I tend to personally prefer high contrast pieces that contain dark subject matter but you can still see the details. Then I'll paint/blur/clone/adjust anything that needs it, then I'll "stack" and adjust a handful of actions before applying edge blur and vignette and any other color adjustments (levels, curves, etc).

That's a very oversimplified rundown of what I do, but really overall my editing process is simple. The bulk of my work happens in blender itself. I find that the more time I take to perfect the lighting and shadows and angles in blender, the less frustrating the editing process and the happier I am with the end result. So, that said, be sure you're spending a lot of time in blender getting the light and shadows to be exactly where you need/want them to be before running it.

I know this is a bit long I'm sorry! If any of it is super confusing or you'd like a more in-depth look at any of it please let me know! I do plan to do editing tutorials for my side blog, but the latter half of this year has kind of run over me like a train, and for now I'm just trying to get by day by day. But I'm happy to help if you have more specific questions!

& thank you again!! ♥️

#replies #thank you so much this literally made my day #I was having a bad one too ugh I needed this #mini blender tutorial #tutorial ish #sims 4 blender tutorial #sims 4 render tutorial #sims 4 editing tutorial #I can't tell yall how happy it makes me when yall love my work #legit holding back tears #♥️♥️♥️

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kaurwreck · 2 months

Note

Whatcha think of how Mori is depicted by Asagiri? People are always mad about it, so I do wonder your own opinion of it.

I think Kafka Asagiri is cheeky and clever, but I'm not very objective about his choices because I knew next to nothing when I first began watching the anime, and researching complex, multidisciplinary, and context-laden subject matter about which I have very little prior knowledge is something I love doing so much that I've made it my career and most of my hobbies. I'm very, very easily delighted by layers I can sink my teeth into, and I get immense satisfaction (i.e., a lot of dopamine) from untangling patterns, recognizing references, and exploring contours I hadn't initially noticed by deepening my contextual knowledge.

The rush I get from learning means that engaging from a starting place of near total ignorance and then retroactively piecing together more information ensures I'm continously starry eyed and dazzled by the depth I'm perceiving. But I'm an American reader who was entirely unfamiliar with the Japanese literary references or relevant Japanese history prior to watching the anime or reading the manga, and I'm piecing together context from limited English-language resources. So, much of what I'm getting a rush out of learning for the first time is likely common knowledge to the native Japanese audience. It's easy to think that the water is deep when you first jump in and can't touch the ground.

For an example of how my unfamiliarity manifests as bias: I love Fitzgerald as an antagonist and then uneasy ally, and I enjoy that Fitzgerald's skill manifests as green light. But I've already chewed his themes and source material references to bits, having studied the Great Gatsby and its period-relevance re: the disillusionment of the jazz age in high school. I was already familiar with the significance of the green light to Fitzgerald's relationship with wealth and how it enchants him such that he becomes so obsessed with its hazy distortion of his dreams that he forgets himself. I liked how the anime and manga both interpret the green light, and I especially like how the green light wraps around his body, lightly paralleling Chuuya's Corruption runes and thus tinting Fitzgerald's skill with the suggestion of possession/loss of control.

But although it's a lot of fun to trace those familiar patterns in a novel interpretation, it can't compare to the thrill I felt when I belatedly realized that Vita Sexualis isn't erotica but instead a skeptical reflection on sex and the purported objectivity of naturalism; or when I learned that irl!Mori was the most girl dad to ever girl dad. With Mori, my expectations were subverted, Mori's character became brilliantly nuanced where he was flat to me before, and I felt the same rush of pleasure as if I was made privy to an inside joke. Fitzgerald felt comparatively like rediscovering a favorite blanket buried in the back of my closet; warm and fond, but not gripping or perspective-shifting. (Unlike when I first read the Great Gatsby, and thought it saturated in clever and well wrought commentary that complicated my prior feelings and prompted me to grapple with my own sources of green light.)

In other words, I don't have any objectivity here for the same reason I shouldn't be trusted regarding how badly any of my tattoos hurt. I remember vaguely that they did, but the process flooded me with enough endorphins that the edges of my memories are blunted and tinted rose.

So, to actually answer your question, I think Kafka Asagiri's depiction of Mori is brilliant and witty and subversive, layered with insight into the blurred lines between love and imperative, fear and intuition. I think Mori is emotionally wrought but manicured with pathological attenuation, which renders his bursts of passion all the more compelling. He's also funny and silly and horrifying in how his levity only ornaments and never softens the weight and gravitas of his presence.

I used to feel like Kafka Asagiri's suggestive playfulness regarding Mori was in bad taste, given the severity of the implications. I don't anymore; Kafka Asagiri is hardly as irreverent as academic commentary on Mori Ogai's medical legacy regarding beriberi or Mari Mori's love for him. I wouldn't enjoy Mori nearly as much if he were reduced to an easily digested archetype or caricature without any of the dissonance that humanizes him.

I also can't take seriously my own first impressions of Mori's character either; I've rewatched and reread bsd several times over, and I can't recall the narrative ever affirming or validating my initial presumptions. I reacted rather than engaged, which is fine as an instinct, but I certainly shouldn't conflate it with analysis.

But, as I said, I'm not objective about bsd. I think Kafka Asagiri is brilliant and fun and thoughtful. I think Mori is a watermelon full of hamburger meat that I love gnawing. I think bsd is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Carthago delenda est.

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bsd mori

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basedkikuenjoyer · 6 months

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I wanted to take a brief pause after VII, just to talk about hallmarks of Dragon Quest as a series. Because we are leaving the era where these games are a driving force in developing the JRPG genre. Like...I know when I do the final ranking I'm going to put II much higher than most. Because I earnestly feel II is one of those very special games that developed so many things that became ubiquitous you take it for granted. This does not mean VIII, IX, and XI are bad by any stretch. I'd compare it to The Simpsons; your purpose has changed in a world full of imitators. What was revolutionary is not comforting and timeless.

Sadly this does mean we'll lose a few elements that didn't translate into the next generation. Eventually the designers behind the series started following norms competitors innovated. So before we go on to VIII and it's massive legacy, a few favorite hallmarks I didn't get to cover:

One of the most iconic features here since the first that's just as fun in XI. Metal Slimes. So many have tried this and none work as well as the original. Rare version of a weak enemy that nets massive experience. The catch? They're quick to flee and while they have only 3-4 HP their defense is maxed out. Enough you might do 1 damage on a hit. Then later games introduce different, stronger varieties. If you need to grind, the metal slime family always feels like a fun little mini-game to shorten it. And the developers are smart about where their hotspots are usually. If you see one in a new area, it's worth it to try and bag a few first pass.

Dungeon Philosophy. I hate this has fallen by the wayside in favor of following Final Fantasy's style. Early on, you had to approach dungeons like an old school D&D module. You're not doing it first try. It's all part of the fun baked into what happens on a loss. You just go back to the last King/Priest you saved at and lose half your money. The dungeons are designed around this, if it's a tower you can just hop off and go back to town. But you'll have to make a few runs at the labyrinth to figure everything out and learn the optimal path. Especially with...

Random encounters having some teeth to them. This has diminished over time but game design in general has gotten easier so I don't fault DQ for it. But in those early ones, yeah random encounters can be brutal. You need to consider spells like sleep or fog that'll spare you some hits cheaply. If you flee and fail you lose a turn like a lot of RPGs but not every monster will go so it's more viable sometimes. All together, simple but tight design. A dungeon in early Dragon Quest feels like a real challenge of balancing resources like MP. This is why I love III so much, the class system plus peak design philosophy makes everything work so well as a total package. Your party comp will determine which parts are hard or easy.

Decisions on equipment. This is subtle but very cool in practice. Unlike a lot of JRPGs, in these early Dragon Quest games you're going to have to grind a lot to get every new piece of equipment you can buy immediately. Which will feel even worse if something is rendered obsolete with a dungeon treasure. You're not expected to. When you first get to town you decide what felt like it needed to be bolstered the most, then go on and start taking on the dungeon expecting to need a few trips. When you're ready to leave, decide if you want to polish it off here or try your luck with a headstart on the next town. Later games have replaced this with a crafting element I like, so it's more of a lateral move.

#dragon quest #draconic musings

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ijuststareatstuffhereok89 · 2 years

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hiii :)

I saw you’re taking fluff requests at the moment so here I am😍

More or less this scenario was ghosting around in my dreams yesterday;

The reader's a very silent, calm person, not really talking much and always leaving parties or gatherings early. Loki is somehow intrigued by her mysterious nature but when he started trying to get closer to her, she just thought he was kidding (she thought of herself as boring and weird). One day Loki found out the real reason for her former 'aversion' and set up a romantic dinner or something to convince her of the authenticity of his feelings…❣️

If it’s something you would want to work with I would be so happy. Thank you so much!!! :)

So, I am a naturally loud and assertive person, and I think nearly all of my Reader characters have reflected this, so this will be different for me to write, but great practice! Hope this finds you and makes your day, anon!

“The God and the Wallflower”

Summary: After a lifetime of being the unassuming background player, you don’t understand why the most interesting being you know is fascinated by you.

Pairing: Loki x Shy!Reader Content Warning: descriptions of verbal/emotional bullying (although this WILL be fluff so nothing too intense) Word Count: 1.5K (sorry, this became a little longer than a drabble)

Always against the wall at the party. Always in the shadows outside. Always the ensemble player in the musical. Now, you were the secretary in a sea of superheroes.

As a girl with a gifted twin sister, you grew up essentially looking out for your own needs. Your parents, the desperate social-climbers they were, lavished attention, praise, and extras on your twin, who got straight-As in school, led the color guard to their first national championships, and got a full-ride to Columbia U, all while you couldn’t even make editor of the school paper because the advisor forgot you’d even signed up. Your twin was also a beauty, somehow, she’d gotten the bright redheaded gene that made her stand out even more in the family. You just had your plain, frizzy, brown hair that often got dry. Your sister was a thin, graceful, interesting lady. You were much more of a dumpy, lumpy, faceless being.

Of course, this meant in school you got the comparisons from teachers and the taunting from bullies about how there was no way you weren’t adopted. You became an adult with your only superpower being your resourcefulness, but that could only get you a nice job as opposed to what you really wanted: friendship, companionship, maybe even a romance. Not a single person of any gender cared to look your way. Not because you were ugly (you weren’t), but because your natural ability to blend in rendered you invisible, so you chose not to fight it, and instead resign yourself to your lot.

You did pull off one amazing feat that your perfect sister never could, however: Tony Stark hired you to be his second-shift personal assistant at the Avenger’s compound in Dutchess County, NY. He was the type of guy who needed so much help that he needed a right hand for every hour of the day. Because of your natural resourcefulness and quick mind, he appreciated your ability to introduce him to everyone at a part whom he vaguely remembered but couldn’t quite put a name to. He also almost immediately admitted that he’d liked you because you didn’t seem “the type to get in the way.”

Tonight, however, was a victory celebration, and while celebrities and Avengers mingled, you weren’t of much use. So, you took your usual position along the far wall and people-watched until the earliest possible time you could go home.

Watching the Avengers mingle could be entertaining on its’ own. Steve, of course, was a hit with the ladies. Bruce and Natasha tended to work the crowds as a unit. Whenever Clint could get away from his family, he’d usually be cracking jokes with Thor somewhere in the middle of the room. Wanda and Vision usually stayed close as a couple, and like you, they were more of the wallflower type…but at least they had each other.

You looked at your watch nervously, hoping that it was midnight, when Stark would allow you to head home. Drat! It was only 9:41.

“You look like a woman with a lot of stories.”

Startled, you gasped lightly and turned your head to your left, where someone had joined you against the wall.

Thor’s shady brother Loki was the one who had initiated the conversation. You hadn’t seen that much of him since your hiring. He was one who preferred keeping to himself in the library, or sometimes drinking with his brother after most of the others were gone or asleep.

He unsettled you a little, and not because of his trickery or history with trying to conquer cities. He always walked through a room like a knife through butter, quick, confident, knowing where he was going. Although, his confident stride, along with his long block curls and devilish grin, kind of made him attractive to you. Sometimes you found yourself looking at him with interest in crowded situations where you could disguise your gazes as something else. But Loki was (technically) an Avenger, and thus, he could have his pick of any of the beauties (or studs) in the room. No matter how you felt about him, he was leagues above you, and really should have been on the arm of a model or actor or politician’s child.

So why was he here talking to the sentient cardboard cutout who’d never said a word directly to anyone in the room who wasn’t Stark?

You shook your head silently. No, not here, you thought. Would someone really stoop to mocking me here?

“My intention wasn’t to startle you,” Loki apologized. “But I’ve been keeping an eye on you most of the evening, and I’ve been biding my time, but I’ve been hoping to get acquainted with you for a time now.”

You looked down, embarrassed that you were already beginning to feel tears forming. “Please, don’t.”

Loki looked at you with concern. “What is it, Y/N? I assure you I’m—”

“—I can’t do this tonight,” you blurted out, brushing past Loki and quickly leaving the room, leaving the God standing there, confused and hurt.

Loki couldn’t believe how completely he had just struck out. It wasn’t something he was used to, especially when he’d been planning on how to approach you for nearly a week, and deciding that this soiree was the opportune moment.

“Ooof, bad idea, Vixen,” said Tony, sliding over to Loki, still dumbfounded and hurt at the rejection.

“I barely said ten words, and she wouldn’t—”

“—there’s a few things you should know about her,” Stark explained. “She’s extremely shy.”

“Why is that? She’s beautiful,” Loki said quietly.

“She grew up with a sister who was great at everything and always got the attention. I hired her because she’s got incredible self-reliance, so I barely have to explain anything to her. She never quite lived up to the bar her twin set, and when she felt short, she was usually shut out for it. When I hired her, she actually asked me if I was feeling okay.”

Well, if anyone understands what it’s like to live in the shadow of a better sibling, it’s me, Loki thought as he bit his lip. “I was too forward, then.”

“Big time, Bambi.”

He sighed. “Well, what do you recommend?”

Tony shrugged. “Getting someone like her to believe she’s special enough isn’t going to be easy, but it may be the only way to convince someone that stubborn.”

Loki smiled. “Not to worry, I already have something in mind.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

The following evening, Tony unexpectedly relieved you of duty a few hours early, saying he wanted to have a date night with Pepper. “But,” he added, “before you do, could you go out to the roof and check for a file I may have dropped the other day?”

You snorted. “Why did you have a personal file on the roof?” you asked softly. “You always tell me they don’t leave the basement.”

“Because…well…” Tony stumbled over his words for a second. “Just…go to the roof for five minutes before you leave, okay? Damn this sappy shit…” he mumbled under his breath, walking away before you could ask more.

Groaning, you obeyed and made your way up the floors, opening the door to the roof and not expecting to find a table set for two, tea lights strung up all over, a record player emitting soft, gentle, romantic music, and Loki standing awkwardly by the table.

“Oh my…” you felt a pang of nausea in your gut, and you instantly went to turn around.

“No, please, Y/N!” Loki called after you. “I’m in earnest!”

You stopped and shook your head. “There’s no way.”

Loki walked toward you, holding out a hand. “I set this up for you, and I don’t go to such trouble for people I deem less than worthy of my attention.”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “You have me all wrong. I’m really nothing.”

“Stark said you’ve been through things, that you’re used to keeping quiet because that’s what everyone expects of you,” he said. “Y/N, the same thing happened to me. Do you not remember who my brother is?”

You found the courage to look Loki in the eye for the first time. “I don’t understand. Why me? I’m the most plain, boring, unassuming—”

Loki shook his head and dared to take your hand, bringing it to his lips and laying a gentle kiss on it. “May I ask you something? Do you think me someone who wastes their time with common people?”

You shrugged silently.

“Well, I don’t. So please, take this as a gesture of my interest,” Loki said, indicating the beautiful set up he’d worked all afternoon to perfect for you. “I want to know your story, and please, leave out no details. I want to savor every chapter of you.”

You still didn’t understand why or how, but looking into Loki’s icy blue eyes and seeing the sincerity in them unlocked your heart, and you decided in that moment to exercise cautious trust, and to give the man access to your soul.

“Well,” you said, finally smiling and letting yourself open up slowly, like a rose bud, “I guess if that’s true, the sooner we start, the better.”

Your heart fluttered when you realized Loki wasn’t dropping your hand as he guided you towards the supper table. For the first time, you felt ready to open up to someone.

Well, here it goes…

------------------------------------

Please keep sending me requests and ideas, friends. I’m enjoying writing these very much!

@lokisgoodgirl @michelleleewise @xorpsbane @mochie85 @mischief2sarawr @lokisprettygirl @kellatron55

#MCU fanfiction #MCU Loki #Loki x reader #MCU drabble #loki fluff #Fluff #fanfiction #shy #fic request

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