aestivetic

[aestivetic]

Country: USA (California, South Coast)

Military Service: No

Context: Someone in the apartments had angered a local drug leader. Not angered enough to kill, but enough to let off 6 warning rounds in the parking lot.

Please reblog with country and if you served in the military, or just to increase the sample size.

[aestivetic]

My Cults.3d Store Is Open!

Shapeways may be dead, but my designs aren't!

I'm going to be uploading them for printing as test prints are completed.

For now, the first batch is new stuff:

Test prints by Good Morning Cybertron's Blunghole, thanks blung!

I'm launching with a 5-pack of Wacky Weapons with 4mm (Masters of the Universe / Turtles of Grayskull / WWEternia / nearly every other figure between 5.5" and 6") grips!

The weapons include:

Pizza Gutter

Manhole Cleaver

Dire Hyrant

Sewer Scepter

The Rattleshank Sword (based on the Sewer Sword roleplay toy (see below)

Each a blend of MOTU barbarian swagger and good old fashioned Turtle Power, perfect for those Turtles of Grayskull figures, Skeletor's latest scheme, and fun in general.

STLs available individually for $2.50 each, or the set of 5 for $9.

I'm going to be uploading more accessories for MOTU, Transformers, TMNT and just about everything else as I go, with figures, vehicles, and even riding beasts to follow.

If you don't do the 3d printing thing but still want to help out, I've got a paypal.me here, or you can grab me something off my wish list here.

Also, trying a new thing where anything I get off the wish list will result in a sort of 'dealer's choice' design associated with said item going up in the store. if you got me the thing, you get the inspired-by .stl. Process is spoon-dependent.

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Definitions of "modern" and "not The Good Guy" can vary, so I'm going to put down the personal limits to myself of:

"modern" to be written in the last 40 years or so, the more recent the better.

"not The Good Guy" to be a character who is observed by the text, rather than their actions being supported or ignored. We must be stuck with the character, rather than their perspective being through "villain perspective" chapters.

With that in mind...

Most "domestic thrillers" fall into this category, to the point that they may be considered "halter bred" to be this. Ruth Ware and Lisa Jewell are good places to start on a read-alike database.

A fair amount of current "workplace-satire satire" books fall into this, with significant overlap with the picaresque. The Cleaner by Brandi Wells is a decent example of this type.

Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey

The Tales From... books in the Star Wars universe (as usual)

The Age of Fire books by E.E. Knight (As usual. Admittedly, the actions of the characters are for survival rather than active malice, but the line often blurs)

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Johannes Cabal books by Jonathan L. Howard

"The Truth About Dino Girl" by Barry Lyga (a marginal case, still including it)

Widowland by C.J. Carey (a punch-clock villain story. Rather self-aggrandizing, but it was fun)

What are some modern works that are about a character who is not The Good Guy?

I am writing a character that is basically a tragedy about a normal person whose very normalcy turns them into a punch clock villain, then the tragedy that results. Not particularly evil, just someone serving a sick system who doesn’t know better until it’s too late.

just curious what else is out there.

[aestivetic]

[aestivetic]

Grimm had this a lot, but a specific example of this situation took place in the Jack the Ripper arc. The Ripper spirit only leaves its host when it believes itself to be at the point of death, so our heroes shoot the host with rubber bullets, and the spirit leaves in a panic.

One of my favorite things to happen in the history of fiction media is in Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2 episodes 13–14, in which we are introduced to The Judge—played by "where have I seen that guy before?" actor Brian Thompson—an incredibly powerful demon who according to the lore cannot be harmed by any weapons. And for most of the story, that holds true, he proves to be invulnerable to any form of attack.

So how does Buffy save the day?

She shoots him with a rocket launcher, successfully blowing him to bits. Which works because he was only invulnerable to the weapons that were available when the lore was written. Modern weapons have significantly surpassed those limits.

As far as I recall, this is the only time I've ever seen anything address the idea that "Ancient lore" was created within a historical context, that concepts like invulnerability are relative to the weapons available at the time. "Ancient evil awakens" is such a common trope—honestly it's the plot of like a third of Buffy episodes—and nobody seems interested in the idea that the accompanying lore isn't perfect. Like, who's to say that a taser doesn't work on a vampire? How do fae react to rubber and plastic? Maybe Febreze reverses a werewolf's transformation. Exploring how modern technology interacts with ancient mythology is so much more interesting than "Read the book, the book is right," but it seems like nobody wants to do it.

As I was writing this I realized why "Maybe the ancient text is incomplete or wrong" is such an unthinkable concept for so many people and now I'm sad.

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Wooden Locust Toy

Among the toys found in the New Kingdom tombs is this locust made of wood.

It is a genuine piece of art that showed the mechanics involved in this insect moving its wings. The result is a clever wooden imitation to be used as an animated toy.

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1550-1292 BC. Excavated from Saqqara necropolis. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 55939

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You're right, that it should have been a reply to that thread.

But I thought you would appreciate the image of a ukulele stuck in a library return slot, complete with a tag attached saying not to.

What is deemed "common sense" is absolutely defined by a society.

At the same time, I don't have a better way of defining how most people seem to read the attached tag saying "do not put this ukulele through library return slot", but it still happens every few weeks.

I don't think I'm the one you meant to send this to. Was this meant to be a reblog with a reply to the last person in that thread?

Because I'm on way too much pain medication right now to even remotely understand what that has to do with me.

[aestivetic]

Muphit, Felted Shambler

Creatures of strange forms linger in the soft spots where the Shadowfell and the Feywild both spill into the material plane at once. These places are like overripe fruit, sweet and aromatic yet lingering on the precipice of decay. Some dark entity may have hoped these locales would disgorge lethal abominations upon the world. They were half right. The two forces didn't merge, they cancelled each other out. The residue of this reaction did form living creatures, all seemingly powerful yet ultimately ineffective. They were, in essence, magic and nature's cruelest and most poorly-workshopped joke. The Muphits.

The Felted Shambler is one such creature. It is a vaguely frog-shaped humanoid, standing approximately 3 feet tall. Its outer skin is a felt-like mass of packed fibers that hold moisture and resist fire. Triangular growths of this material sprout from its neck and various patches on the limbs. They can be green, blue, red, or purple.

Born of the merging of the wild spirit of buffoonery and the essence of assassination, the Felted Shambler perceives all humanoids as its contracted targets, both in terms of entertainment and extralegal assassination.

As such, so long as it is observed the Felted Shambler is compelled to act out comedic sketches, songs and dance routines. It will do so with the assistance of other muphits if they are available.

The moment the shambler is no longer being watched by a sapient humanoid being, it immediately lunges for the nearest person with intent to strangle. If it falls into a person's field of view while lunging it will immediately snap back into comedic behavior. If it continues to be unseen, it will grasp its target's neck and begin to choke.

At this point, observing the creature will not deter it from using its unnatural strength. Fortunately, the felt shambler's strength is only unnatural in that it exists at all. Otherwise, its grip strength is exactly what is expected from damp living felt: 1/16th that of a human infant.

This will continue, with the creature making increasingly louder and more frustrated grunts of effort, until it tuckers itself out (usually 1-2 minutes) or the 'victim' makes eye contact for 2-3 seconds. In either case the shambler becomes visibly uncomfortable and retreats while doing improv.

Quartermaster's Guide to the Creatures of Xarthana, pg 77

prompt under the fold'

The image(s) above in this post were made using an autogenerated prompt and/or have not been modified/iterated extensively. As such, they do not meet the minimum expression threshold, and are in the public domain. Prompt under the fold.

Image is PD, text tisn't:

Prompt: Kermit the Frog in Stranger Things

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This is the creativity crustacean

He alone controls all of an artist’s creative energy, motivation, and gumption. He determines when you work and what you do. He lives in the mind of artists- any artist- writer, painter, dancer, actor, singer, poets. You’ll know when he’s giving you inspiration because he offers you the pen.

He tries his best but he’s very small( and he sleeps a lot) so he can only offer you this help at odd times when he has the energy.

But fear not! He has been lifting. And he’s hoping to help you find your muse this year.

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you know what I want? a post-apocalypse farm game.

you’re a wanderer who happens upon a farm. it’s overgrown and decayed, looks like it’s been abandoned for some time. but as you investigate you meet the old man who lives there. he’s been living on this farm for years but as his health has decayed he’s been increasingly unable to take care of it. he sees you are interested and asks if you would like to take it over. you, of course, say yes.

the old man gives you the tutorials, shows you around, introduces you to the traveling trader who sometimes comes by. not long after you have settled in he passes away, at peace now that he knows his beloved farm is being looked after. 

you do your normal farm game things: clean up the land bit by bit, grow some crops from the last of the old man’s seeds, repair the buildings. you scavenge the land around for old world artifacts that can be broken down for supplies and resources to upgrade your farm. the trader comes by, and as you trade with him more and more, he spreads word and other traders come too, offering greater variety. 

other people come too, slowly, attracted by news of your farm or just passing by. they bring valuable skills, but they have requirements to meet if you want them to stay. slowly the nearby town, long since deserted, fills up again. you help the new residents clean it up, repair the abandoned homes, plant flowers along the cracked old streets. 

there’s no fighting, no violence save maybe a bit of subsistence hunting. just a quiet game about life and community regrowing from the ashes. 

[aestivetic]

Congratulations to the happy couple!

And shame on my dash for not mentioning it...

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Me in white satin...

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Latest video is up in the Wheel of Time Craft-Along Challenge series. This is the White Flame of Tar Valon that is located on Aes Sedai shawls in the books, and the shawls themselves will hopefully be featured at some point on the TV series. The video link to YouTube is: https://youtu.be/3cRulHCeIg0 Keep in mind that there will be even more Wheel of Time content to come, for the making of the shawl itself soon.

[aestivetic]

Custom woven blankets made by u/Equivalent_Pay901

[aestivetic]

The Amyrlin Seat

(click image for optimal quality)

prints available here!

[aestivetic]

More walking scenes coming up!

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They became stock footage.