sunflowerwizard

[sunflowerwizard]

I remember telling my therapist about how regularly I get caught in these spirals of anxiety where my brain keeps jumping from worst case scenario to worst case scenario. We talked a lot about the importance of focusing on what we can control and not what we can't. Ended up reading some of Mankind's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

Tragically however, all of this was woefully ineffective compared to the advice of "when you feel one of those anxiety spirals coming on, stop whatever you're doing and count the blue objects in the room."

[sunflowerwizard]

can't imagine what I would be like if this game came out when I was in my weird rpg maker horror game phase as a teenager. like what do you mean its a psychological horror visual novel that is also explicitly romantic

finally playing Slay the Princess and this is going to irrevocably alter my brain chemistry isn't it

[sunflowerwizard]

finally playing Slay the Princess and this is going to irrevocably alter my brain chemistry isn't it

[sunflowerwizard]

All this discourse over who does "painting with light"

Hiroshi Nagai's paintings need sunglasses to look at.

They look like how it feels to walk across a parking lot on a 98° summer day without a speck of shade in sight.

They look like heaven but also like you'd burn your bare feet on the ground.

Even when you can see shade you know it's not enough and the minute you step out you'll be burnt to a crisp like a vampire.

And it's BEAUTIFUL

[sunflowerwizard]

Hey kid, look at me.

I want you to T-pose. Turn your right thumb up and your left thumb doen and look at your right thumb. Move your arms up and down a bit until you feel a nerve running from your armpit to your palm. Now turn your right thumb down and your left thumb up, and look at your left thumb. Keep your chest facing forward and your shoulders back. Move your arms again until you feel that nerve again. Keep alternating between these two for a minute, or look at each thumb thirty times each.

Now sit down. Put your left hand firmly under your left buttock, palm down. Keep your shoulders back and put your right hand over the crown of your head, very gently pulling it to the right. Do this for thirty seconds, then do it again but with your right hand under your right buttock.

These are stretches for the nerves in your arms, and are very good for people who sit behind a computer a lot, or fibre artists, or you name it. Do them daily. They will hurt in the beginning, but keep doing them, even after the pain has gone, or it will return and you'll have to start all over.

[sunflowerwizard]

perused the Bella Sara wiki and found out my childhood horse ship was horse infidelity. I am devastated.

[sunflowerwizard]

Hark, a piece I finished 3 months ago and forgot to post.

[sunflowerwizard]

I've seen enough people mischaracterizing Early Access Wyll, so here's the best breakdown of his original character I can give.

I'll start this off by plainly summarizing Wyll's EA backstory, some of his core personality traits, then do a bit of analysis.

BACKSTORY

EA Wyll mentions being "born and bred in the upper city" into nobility. It's unspecified what exact level of influence his family occupied.

In datamined voice lines from EA (take with a grain of salt) Wyll refers to being from House Eltan specifically. Eltan was the Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate in the first Baldur's Gate Game, and the founder of the Flaming Fist. Forgotten Realms lore states that the Eltans are no longer in charge of the Fist and have somewhat diminished in power, but again. We don't know to exactly what level.

This also means that this iteration of Wyll was not Ulder Ravengard's son. While he still spoke about his father in EA, the descriptions and characterizations do not line up with Ulder at all. Additionally, he comments about "knowing of" Ravengard during the burning inn sequence, but otherwise makes no connection.

The most damning evidence of all that Wyll being a Ravengard was not originally intended, is Wyll wanting to be like his father and thus "going thieving in the wrong shadows".

Wyll gets caught stealing, presumably as a teenager, and his father uses latent connections within the Flaming Fist to get Wyll sent there. Effectively the fantasy equivalent of sending your unruly kid to boot camp.

Wyll mentions that he didn't adjust well to life as part of the Flaming Fist, was not a very good fighter, and was generally not well liked. The goblin at the windmill calling Wyll "Captain Failure" implies he might have been given higher status despite not earning it.

The way Wyll feels about goblins is a big change between EA and full release, and is explained as part of his backstory.

We didn't get the finer details, but we can assume Wyll in his time with the Fist bore witness to a group of goblins razing a village. Horrified and enraged, he tried fighting a goblin, was overwhelmed, and had his eye torn out.

This is when Mizora showed up and offered him a pact. Considering he was left for dead and probably going to bleed out, it's pretty understandable why he took the deal.

Mizora is not nearly as present in Early Access as she is in the current game. Karlach was not involved in Wyll's story at all, there's no devil transformation.

It's also more heavily insinuated there's a sexually coercive element of Wyll and Mizora's relationship, with him speaking to how every time he wanted to leave her, she found some way to pull him back.

Additionally, Wyll wants out of that contract. Unlike full release where Mizora is randomly captured in Act 2, she starts off kidnapped, and insists she'll let Wyll go if he frees her

It kind of ended up being a plot cul de sac, but Torturer Spike was the goblin that took Wyll's eye--which was a quest item you could pickpocket/loot off his body. Wyll had commentary on it and everything.

TL;DR: -Born to a noble family with Flaming Fist connections -Caught Stealing and sent to work for the Fist as punishment -Tried to fight back during a goblin attack and was gravely injured -Mizora offers a pact -Uses his pact to become a traveling monster hunter, presumably to make up for his past failure to protect people. Antagonistic towards goblins in particular -Ultimately wants out of the pact, but Mizora won't let him go -Wyll and Mizora get abducted by Mind Flayers -Mizora agrees to let Wyll go if he frees her from the cultists

PERSONALITY

This is a bit less concrete than changed story beats, but I can say this: a lot of Wyll's core traits stayed intact between EA and full release. He's still willing to put his life on the line for the Tiefling refugees, with a whole cut line about how the kids he's training deserve to have a carefree childhood. He wants to do good in the world, probably because he spent so much time in his youth feeling like a fuck up.

There's also a much clearer divide between "Wyll" and "The Blade of Frontiers". Notably, in EA he didn't introduce himself by name. Not even a "my friends call me Wyll" quip at Shadowheart like he has currently. During his old romance scene, he has a line about being used to being the hero, and not used to needing one. He's a symbol. An emblem of something bigger than himself. The fact he's so self-aggrandizing as The Blade makes it apparent he's not confident in himself as "just Wyll"

He's also decidedly more forward and flirty in EA, with no reservations about courtship. In fact, the main obstacle to your budding relationship is Mizora herself. Wyll's trauma from her treatment interrupts your first night together. Whether you have sex or just snuggle, Wyll has a line about how he doesn't want to start a relationship until he can "give himself completely" after being freed from his pact.

THOUGHTS & COMPARISONS

I'm also not entirely sure if I'd say EA Wyll is substantially angrier than current Wyll, so much as he had more opportunities to be angry during Early Access. I can understand why the goblin stuff was cut, because it did dip into "Let's make the one black guy fantasy racist" trope. However, it did very much feel like the narrative was pointing in bright, flashing colors that this is a trait Wyll would have to grapple with, learn, and grow from. The fact EA Wyll's most glaring character flaw was scrapped and didn't get much of a replacement in full release makes his story feel less realized.

While I appreciate the overtly sexual element of Wyll and Mizora's relationship was removed, I feel like the final version is somehow even more creepy. During Early Access she existed in the background as a vague villain you only experience via Wyll. And if you do his romance scene and see the way he panics at the mere memory of her, you get the impression of oh shit. This broad is bad news and I've gotta get my boy out of there. The same principle behind not showing the big scary monster too early in the horror movie. Once you've seen it, you can't let your mind fill in the blanks. Mizora went from this intimidating figure whose motives you couldn't fully ascertain, to a mean girl that thinks she's smarter than everyone else but is really just the bumbling lackey of a bigger fish. Who pulls Wyll around with an actual metaphysical leash like a dog. And you're meant to find this sexy.

My final point, and I've said this before: current Wyll's personality seemed more suited to being a scion of house Eltan, while EA Wyll seemed more suited to being Ulder Ravengard's dissapointment son. Current Wyll speaks and carries him like someone raised in nobility despite only being elevated to such status as a teenager. Perhaps this is cynical and maybe even a bit of a conspiracy theory, but I genuinely think he's only Ravengard's son to save on time and assets. Why give Wyll a whole unique family with its own story when we can just tie him in to the "rescue the grand duke" plot, regardless of how much sense it makes!

[sunflowerwizard]

Breaking News: Cute Little Bunny Thinks About Murder All Day

Aele'nor | Duth'ka Gith | Haunted One | Draconic Soul Sorcerer

[sunflowerwizard]

i bought a pathfinder campaign book just to read 2 pages of info about arueshalae, so here's some stuff i found interesting

* all art and screenshots here are taken from the pathfinder adventure path book "demon's heresy" by jim groves

• not including desna's butterfly on her chest in the game art is a huge L. just look how cute she is

• part of her backstory - i'm not well-versed enough in pathfinder universe lore to analyze the connection sarenrae could have had to desna's decision to spare arueshalae, but it's still quite interesting. also, does that mean that arue dared to dream before being noticed by desna??? the wording here is curious

awwww

• her stats are insane

• she still has an altered version of her profane gift

redeemed arueshalae can quite literally kiss it better. that would have been incredibly op in the game, so i understand the decision not to add it, but how fucking cool is that. healing sex yay

• her redemption is dependent on penance system, and it heavily favors the aid from good-aligned characters and followers of desna

her path is quite fragile, too.

• she struggles with prejudice and distrust from crusaders even after her redemption

• the woman fought her inner demons so hard she became a magnet for will-o'-wisps. lol

[sunflowerwizard]

sourdough baking is such an unserious hobby. you mix flour and water and leave it on your kitchen counter. yeast moves in and you have to feed it every day. you will inevitably anthropomorphize this yeast colony and give it a name. at around the 1st week you're going to be pretty sure you killed it somehow despite not doing anything different. then like five days later it doubles in size after feeding and you can actually make bread now. looking for recipes has a 70% chance of showing you people with very weird opinions

[sunflowerwizard]

squidward, meaning "in the direction of squid"

[sunflowerwizard]

leaving a bowl of conversation hearts out for my followers :)

[sunflowerwizard]

They really do give off 'divorced couple' vibes.

You can see my WOTR story here or check out my other WOTR art here

Check out @greyallison for their wonderful art! They’re a delight to commission and wonderful to work with! I can't recommend them enough. Check out their kofi

[sunflowerwizard]

she's not even mad guys but cmon the blood gets everywhere and its impossible to clean it all

[sunflowerwizard]

[sunflowerwizard]

Help it's happening again but with Mordecai fire emblem and Mordecai regular show

I liked fanart of Soren FireEmblem and because that's a very fictional character name Tumblr is recommending me posts about at least 4 distinct Sorens