#DON'T @ ME FOR THE SHITTINESS THIS WAS MADE IN GIMP

[shapelytimber]

Wanted to paint some of my favorite characters, nothing more nothing less

[COMMISSIONS]

Way too much yapping like an embarrassing amount, the individual portraits and the template I used below vvv

I shouldn't be allowed to talk about my favorite characters- especially to people who (presumably) don't know them xjfkdk apart from the very popular ones ofc

ILLYA KURYAKIN (The man from U.N.C.L.E)

gay ass little Russian spy I love him he is so *dramatic* and a huge nerd and a Beatles fan and into fashion design- perfect pocket size blorbo ;w; also seeing a Russian character being given a positive leading role in an American tvshow from the 60s ?? Yes he lives in New York and works for UNCLE America.... But he is still a communist ?? Incredible ! Also I really like the fact he isn't given the cliché personality traits often given to Russian characters i e anger issues drinks a lot violent ect (looking at you shitty(imo) modern remake... What did you do to my little guy ;;). In a close contest with Spock for the "gayest man from tvshow" of the 60s..... And in my heart he is winning djdkd for me the gay subtext of muncle hits so much more because it's not a scifi show- it's closer to home, Napoleon and Illya were *like that* in the present day of the 60s, they were both human, and no alien fuckery made them go to the village more than once or play house in the suburbs or get attached ass up to get pegged on a regular basis... Truly a show that feels written by an old queen and a guy with the biggest fem dom fetish jkvjjkb (don't get me wrong tho I adore star trek tos and spirk too <3)

KUROO HAZAMA and PINOKO (Black Jack)

sometimes I rewatch some of the oavs from the 90s when I'm sad :) I had a huge phase a couple years back when I read nearly all the manga (should really finish it... Or reread the whole thing frankly), watched *all* the shows (bar young black jack, hated that shit) and idk I just love this venal bitch so much- him and his daughter and his conflicted feelings for his tboy ex that he still loves kfkfkf btw I'm dying for a modern take on this like please please please I'd love to see Kei Kisaragi's story rewritten a bit (trans character in the 70s sure was progressive but oh boy-), because him and black jack's relationship makes me so *weak*.... And maybe see him a bit more than in one story- anyway ! When it comes to his daughter Pinoko, it's very hit or miss- when the writers lean on the cute father adoptive daughter relationship it's great, when they lean more on the whole "she has a crush on him" (very much like a child in most case, and he *never* reciprocate thank god) and bring up the fact she is technically 18 a lot (she was an evil tumor trapped in her sister before he created a body for her- black jack shit dw), and she gets jealous of other women.... Well it's terrible and I'm uncomfy :(

EVA KANT (Diabolik)

Look.... You just can't show me danger diabolik 1968 and not expect me to become insane djdkdkdk she is so cool ;; !!! Her and her devious eel of a man (here as a panther, because even tho I haven't read the comic yet, I'm taking an educated guess that all the panther imagery is here to represent him, the lethal twunk always in the all black gimp suit... And if it's not then fuck my entire life ig fjfkkd), the cuntiest het couple you've ever seen, such freaks I love them ! Partners in crime that will blow up the tax offices of the whole country if you try to put a bounty on them <3 they are in the guilty faves category only because I'm this invested in these characters after 1 (one) movie fkfkf watched the first two remakes and was hmmm let's say underwhelmed, could have been worse but going after the 60s one ie peak cinema was hard... I went in fully invested in these heterosexuals and they still fucked up their romance and relationship ;; (don't spoil me the third one btw haven't seen it yet ! I know it's the yaoi one- which doesn't give me much hope for Eva tbh...) I'll soon start reading the comics tho ! Managed to find all twelve volumes of "Il grande Diabolik" in french for pretty cheap so I'm excited for that :D (might scan them and upload them online because omg I tried finding scans in *any* language and only found a dubious website that sold digital copies for 7€ a volume ??? What is this)

UTA (The Void / Тургор / Turgor / Tension)

Apathy girlyyyyy she just like me for real for real nfkfk what absolutely charmed me about her is yes her design, but more importantly her chamber's design (if you've never played the void, a sister's chamber is a space that represent her. You get a sense of who she is by exploring her chamber before finding her and talking to her soul it's great). The lonely island out at sea, her laying down on a suspended steel boat in a grotto, looking passively at the moon by a crack on the ceiling.... And the moon is looking back. Incredible ! I love this game so much

KIM KITSURAGI (Disco Elysium)

Do I really have to explain this one ? When I played the game with quiji I remember I kept saying "when Kim talks, we *listen*" djkdk we did get a good grade in Kim Kitsuragi and got him to dance in the church <3 this fucking centrist cop wormed it's way into my heart and many others because of course he did. The only Kim K in my eyes. Also funny anecdote : before I played Disco Elysium, I had one concept art masterclass where a kinda famous concept artist came to give advice, make us really stressed then give us a shitty grade.... And when I tell you this man looked so much like Kim ??? Same haircut, glasses, face with a scar *exactly* where Kim's portrait has a stark shadow on his cheek and he was dressed in an orange top- truly uncanny. Anyway, Kim is so fucking cool how does he do it

DARK VADOR (La guerre des étoiles)

*sight* not surprising if you know me... and to be clear when I say Vader I don't mean Anakin Skywalker, post barbecue only zouz here. I refuse to yap about this man djdkdk I already do that way to much in ao3 comment sections

And here is the template I used ! Don't know who made it tho sorry...

PS : all these where made in 2-3 hours each :D wanted to challenge myself by painting quickly, and I mostly (looking at the Eva Kant one that gave me trouble) succeeded !

[neopronouns]

[if alt text is not accessible for you, every image in this post is a thin dull purple line divider with a slightly darker dull purple bow in the center, resembling a bow tie. end id.]

welcome to my blog!

i'm dexter, and you can find more information about me here. i'm 23 and i mainly use he/him, ey/em, and it/its pronouns, but any other pronouns that are not she or they are good too!

i also run @mogai-headcanons, where i made edits of folks' mogai/liom/etc. headcanons, and @neopornouns, a request blog like this one for 18+ terms, and my main blog is @pierz.

please read my dni before following me and read my general rules and blog rules/open requests before requesting!

if you're interested, you can also read my request whitelist to see what requests i'll be most excited about!

my requests are currently closed ! here is every request currently in my inbox. my queue currently posts 2 times a day.

here's a quick list of frequently asked questions — i recommend you look through this before asking me a question, since i get a lot of asks and may ignore yours if it's answered here!

q: what program do you use to make your flags/edits and how? a: i use gimp on desktop! here's a simple flag tutorial i made and a basic flag splicing tutorial for multi-flag icons.

q: what's your header/icon? a: my icon is floofty fizzlebean from 'bugsnax' over the rikagender flag and my header is an edit i made of several bugsnax (scoopy, cinnasnail, instabug, charmallow, crystal sweetiefly, chocolant, and kwookie) in a similar format to the 'bugsnax' loading screen!

q: are you alright with requests involving [insert media]? a: if it's not in my general rules linked above, probably yes! if you're concerned for a specific reason (source content, shitty creator, etc.) please let me know in your ask; i don't know what's problematic about every piece of media!

q: i don't see my request in the inbox! can i resend it? a: yes! just resend it and let me know that you sent it previously while requests were open.

q: can i put your terms on [insert wiki] or [insert other social media site]? a: yes, as long as you credit me and do not reword my definitions, add additional definitions, etc.

q: can you tag [insert thing]? a: yes, i'll try my hardest to remember! feel free to remind me if i forget.

q: how long will it take for my request to be posted? how long will it take for you to get to my request? a: i can't definitively say, sorry! i try to make it so the queue has a month's worth or less of posts in it, but as for getting to your request, i don't really know for a number of reasons.

q: [insert post] should be tagged as eyestrain! a: thanks for letting me know! i struggle to determine what is eyestrainy a lot of the time, so i tag things as 'eyestrain' when i'm certain and 'potential eyestrain' when i'm not. if you're photosensitive, i recommend blocking both tags to be safe.

q: can i use one of your edits somewhere? a: yes, and i would strongly prefer if you credit me somewhere if you do.

q: are you alright with spam likes/reblogs? a: yes, and i appreciate your support and enthusiasm!

q: [insert nice thing] a: i cherish you so much and your ask probably will sit in my inbox forever along with all the other incredibly sweet asks i've received over the course of this blog!

q: [discourse] a: please Do Not.

lastly, here's a few resources you may find useful!

my taglist application, for if you want me to tag you in my coining posts/edits

my deviantart for flag templates and symbols

the pride-flags deviantart, which has a ton of high-res flags for mogai terms and more flag templates/symbols

my guide to finding mogai terms by name (and ensuring that you don’t name a new term after a preexisting one)

a guide to how i create names for my terms

an archive of pupyzu’s term suffixes carrd

a list of other mogai blogs i enjoy (hasn't been updated in a while, sorry!)

a beginner’s guide to request etiquette

my redbubble shop, where i’m happy to upload any other flags i’ve personally designed or edits i’ve made

[clatterbane]

Early o'clock appointment at the prosthetics place this morning. This was waiting in the office after the initial intake talking to the prosthetist, while he went off for a while to look into using a bigger room where they do casting.

The prosthetist I got was a youngish Indian guy who seemed fine to deal with so far. My shitty Swedish skills did not turn out to be an issue today either, which was a relief. Occasionally I really do need Mr. C to act as interpreter on some things, but that really wasn't needed today. And it's extra important to get clear communication going with a prosthetist, at least if you want to get an actually useful prosthesis.

The initial assessment was pretty encouraging. He was initially concerned that the situation might have been complicated by the delays, and me mostly being stuck in the chair for 4 years and counting now. But, I really do NOT have the troublesome muscle contractures or level of general deconditioning that they were halfway expecting to see. Actually seemed impressed (like the PT people last time) at my leg strength now, after a couple of quick tests.

I am in absolutely terrible shape right now, for myself as an individual. But, I am also NOT upward of 70 and with other serious health issues complicating matters, like the average client they'd be encountering. Kinda makes a difference. Also, being persistently unable to fucking sit still for more than a few minutes at a time has probably actually worked to my advantage in this case.

At any rate, the guy quickly seemed convinced that, with a little practice and reconditioning and all that good stuff? I am likely to be very active, and need to be set up with appropriate equipment to that end.

Thankfully, there that may well include more than one leg setup at a time, to be better for different purposes. Also a higher level ankle and foot than they put most people in especially starting out. ..

(They don't use exactly the same system for classification or criteria here, but it's pretty much the same idea. I haven't actually looked into the specifics. What'll get you around a grocery store fine won't necessarily work so well if you're wanting to hike around uneven terrain, etc. Sounded like I went straight to the equivalent of K4 back in the US, though.)

Gotta say I was a tad concerned about that part, going in. I didn't make it as far as the actual prosthetics clinic dealing with the NHS, but overall I kept getting these mixed messages that I was young and healthy, and should spring back in no time--and also that it was basically only expected for a middle-aged AFAB person to occasionally gimp around the shops, and that it might be unreasonable to expect to ever get back much better mobility than that. Which could easily turn into a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially with enough pennypinching involved. Again, I never made it to the stage of working with the local "Limb Centre", so may have run into some different attitudes there. It may have been better than I still sorta suspect.

As it stands, though? Nobody's looked at me like I had two heads when I've mentioned wanting to get back on a bike. Very normal daily activity, living in a purposely very bikeable city! Or anything else, really. I do not want to start running marathons now, I just want the ability to get back to some reasonable-for-my-hyper-ass level of activity doing stuff that I actually enjoy.

It sounds like I should at some point get a leg set up for general walking-around purposes including hiking (as one of my explicitly stated goals) and one set up better for cycling (as the other major one), using different attachment systems and slightly different ankle/foot components. May be able to get a swim fin foot in the future to swap on if I want to get back into that. It is evidently (thankfully!) not like some insurance coverage elsewhere or some of the things I hear about experiences with the NHS, where you're necessarily getting one all-purpose leg to last you for 5 years or whatever.

I really don't know what they're intending with the timeframe for both, but it should be 2-3 weeks until the walking-around leg is ready to try on. They may need to do some adjustments before it's ready to start getting up on. It sounded like they're doing the socket building in house, rather than sending it out to some more centralized facility--which is to the good, as long as they know what they're doing. Sounded like my leg guy would be doing the fabrication.

I was a little surprised that they're skipping the temporary socket step and going straight for a final version, but things have had a good while to shrink down on their own by now, and that guy wasn't foreseeing my bony leg shrinking down much more anytime soon so that it needed a new smaller socket to fit. That is a pretty common thing for people who have started the process much sooner after surgery.

(No, he just kept commenting on how knobbly mine is. Which, he's not wrong. That does need some extra fitting accommodation around the potential pressure points, however.)

I did not go home entirely empty handed today, though.

I did get one of the "real" liners made for wear under a socket, as opposed to the compression-only sleeve that PT put me wearing. It is remarkably more comfortable, as I was hoping. We're talking a neoprene sleeve with enough of a silicone gel lining to make a seal on the leg, and it's cut down lower. Not extra bastard heavy duty silicone only.

With limited wear so far, the less rigid material is indeed NOT trapping and pinching the hell out of any flesh on the back of my leg. I did take it off after we got home because my skin there does need a little rest break to heal after what the first one has been doing to it. I do not really intend to put the white one on again. Will be happy to give that thing back to PT whenever I see them again.

But yeah, there is no doubt an awful lot of work in my near future. I am extremely relieved to finally have an aftermarket leg this close in sight, though. It almost felt like a "when I win the lottery" type prospect, there for a while. (And I am trying not to place similarly unrealistic expectations on the whole process, tbqh.)

[madamepestilence]

I swear to god I genuinely think Windows 11 should be reclassified as malware and banned internationally.

I have an extremely low-level economy laptop. I'm aware it's falling apart. My GPU is pretty bad, I only have 8 GB of RAM, last winter fucked up the fan, and the CPU is regularly hitting 92C now.

Unfortunately, that means that I get to experience shitty Windows 11 updates the hardest.

Over the past few weeks, multiple Windows updates have made my laptop increasingly worse. I used to be able to run Firefox, Steam, Discord, a Steam game, and even open Minecraft or GIMP and maybe have files open. I could watch Twitch streams or YouTube videos in the background of everything.

Then, suddenly, my computer starts freezing. Firefox is suddenly taking up 800 MB to 1.5 GB of RAM. For reference, I can only use 7.78 GB of my 8 GB RAM, and Windows 11 natively uses 4.5 to 5 GB of that at all times.

That means I actually have ~2.78 GB of RAM. This rendered me unable to watch Twitch streams or YouTube videos in the background while I have a game open.

Firefox updates. Windows updates twice. Suddenly it runs a bit smoother, and everything is using about 200 MB less RAM.

Then, suddenly, I can't have Firefox open at all in the background. It causes everything to freeze. I think it's the CPU temperature, of course, that would be causing issues.

Now, today, 22 May 2024, without any Windows updates, I suddenly cannot have even so much as Steam, Discord, and Team Fortress 2 open at the same time.

It uses 90-100% of my RAM at all times.

Windows 11 is malware. It is behaving as though it's a crypto miner or as though it's got an insidious AI creeping through it scraping data from my files.

On the off chance some fucker at Microsoft sees this, move to Windows 12 and remove all your bloatware. Don't think I haven't seen that thread on Microsoft Answers where a fuckton of people call out Windows 11 for being significantly worse than Windows 10.

To those of you who are itching to say Just buy a new laptop/buy a computer!, feel free to donate me several thousand dollars. I am in extreme poverty, I am currently a NEET, my phone is not currently able to text or call (meaning I can't get a job right now), and I cannot afford it.

To those of you who are itching to say Just use Linux instead!, the vast majority of people I talk to automatically assume I'm unfamiliar with Linux. Everybody knows what the fuck Linux is.

I miss using Linux Mint KDE, but again, I'm in extreme poverty, and I have a history of bricking computers trying to build them or install a new OS. This is my only laptop and I can't afford to replace it.

[fishboneart]

Fishbone #005

They weren't kidding, that history can rhyme

Only 9 layers and 5 source images this time. Things don't always have to be a federal fucking issue.

With how much ai art wank discourse is rooted in purity politics, especially but not exclusively on tumblr, I was amused by the mental image of slipping into a hazmat suit before venturing into the dangerous and repulsive wasteland of ai art to retrieve alien salvage like the stalkers in Roadside Picnic. It doesn't feel like that, it feels like being a grabby little corvid in the shiny trinket factory, but I still enjoyed the concept.

The rest of the image is about art as alchemical process and I'm not going to explain it.

I've been observing for some time that the objections to ai art are indistinguishable from the objections to photoshop ~20-25 years ago (including the one about "it's different this time bro trust me") so I want to look at some of them a bit closer.

It's not real art

Stop getting your talking points from fascists.

But-

I don't care how you justify it, it's a fascist talking point. Stop.

It's stealing

At risk of resurrecting stupid bullshit I was already bored with 20 years ago, I honestly think there's a better case for this regarding PS than machine learning. PS artists actually do use elements from existing images, lots of them (ideally with permission/license). However, consensus opinion has long since concurred that PS artists substantially transform and recontextualise those elements and the result is an original creation, same as physical collage.

As I've come to understand it, ML doesn't use elements from existing images, just mathematical descriptions of image attributes. It doesn't incorporate images on any level, or even pieces of images, so I'm left wondering what's being stolen here? I'm not being shitty I genuinely can't see anymore what is stolen when ML simply does not use any part of any existing image to generate an image.

There's no skill/creativity involved

The first time I ever used adobe photoshop (I've long since switched to GIMP, change the name, FOSS 5evar, etc.) I spent about fifteen minutes excitedly stacking filters on a picture of a butterfly, before the person showing me how it worked dismissively explained that filters don't make art.

Elements and principles of design are learned skills. They're taught at art school because they're not innate and they're important as hell. I often feel like people are tacitly arguing all that stuff's just padding--and if you're staunchly anti-ai-art I promise that's not an argument you want to make, it will backfire spectacularly on you.

And yeah, I think everyone still agrees that just piling filters on a photo isn't very creative and takes no particular skill. I doubt anyone thinks instagram filters take a good photo for you. I think (or hope) that we all understand now that complex image editing and manipulation does in fact take skill and creativity.

I can't help but wonder how much of the vapid trash we're seeing in the explosion of ai art is the equivalent of the 2000s explosion of shitty filtered photos.

The computer does it for you

There's so much more to PS art than filters, and the computer emphatically does not do any of that stuff for you. It doesn't do composition or colour theory or concepts or art history for you. It just does what you tell it to, you still have to make the art good. Fishbone #001 involved manually isolating dozens of fucked up hands from ML images, and I complained about it the entire time and the computer didn't even get me a cup of tea.

A lot of people used to actually genuinely believe that photoshop was a magical plagiarism machine that you stuck stolen art in and it automatically made perfect composites for you. Probably some people still do, it's a big world. But it never was true, no matter how hard they believed it.

Is there more to ML image generation? Idk I'd have to try it to find out for sure and I'm very tired. But the more I learn about it the more I think there could be. The frequency with which I see very elaborate and specific prompts with garbled and all-but-irrelevant images does at least suggest that the magical ease of making ai art has been somewhat oversold.

Using it in any way is cheating/cheapens your art

I think the cheating idea mostly came from the photography community, who thought PS was a shortcut to better photos for undisciplined talentless hacks who couldn't be bothered to learn to take a good photo. The irony. But for me, since I wasn't using it to improve photos, this was such a weird take. Cheating at what? At photoshop art? I'm cheating at photoshop by... using photoshop?

And the idea that using PS at any stage in your process irredeemably sullies your art is just stupid on its face. It's not radioactive. It's not a PFAS. Sin isn't real. Santa isn't putting you on the naughty list for photoshopping. The Galactic Council of Artistic Integrity aren't checking for pixels.

Needless to say, since 100% of the source images I use in this project are ML generated, I also think it's a bit of a silly objection to ML image generation.

It has no soul

I am not and have never been christian. I do not and will never care what your imaginary friend thinks about art.

Also, this is a repackaged fascist talking point. I told you to stop that.

It sucks

Most of everything sucks, what's your point?

People are going to lose their jobs

Unfortunately this one had some connection to reality. By about 2010 there were almost no painted book covers, and painters who'd made their living from them were forced to adopt PS or find a different job. It wasn't just book covers of course, commercial artists across the board felt the pinch of automation. That's not exactly PS's fault, the parasitic owning class will simply take any opportunity to fuck over a worker for half a buck, and PS art is generally cheaper because it's generally faster to make.

I actually have some questions about how this will play out with ML though. Currently, yes, it's looking very much like in ten years there won't be any PS book covers any more, but I think the parasitic owning class are going to quickly remember they don't actually want art that they can't hold copyright over, and human artists will remain necessary. No one wants a logo they can't trademark. No one wants commercial art if they can't control the licensing. I don't even think it'll take a wholeass test case, just a few things like selfpub novels using the same cover image as a major release or folks using pure ML images from the big stock sellers without paying, and as soon as they realise they can't sue anyone about it they'll come crawling back, cap in hand, to hire you back as a contractor at an insultingly low rate.

People will lose their jobs or find their billable hours severely cut, but, unfortunately, as the brave Luddites showed us, you can't stop automation by fighting the machine, no matter how noble your motives. You need to actually change society somewhat.

But I think this should be enough of a concern without having to also make shit up. You can just object to ML on the basis of tangible harms it will be used to inflict on individuals and society. That's plenty to be mad about, you don't need to put lipstick on it.

It's different this time bro trust me bro

Plenty of people sincerely believed that rise of PS was fully automated skill-free art theft and the sky was falling, and pointing out that all the same things were said about the invention of everything from the photocopier to home video to the printing press to the camera didn't even slow them down because this time it's different, this time it really is that bad. It wasn't.

And I honestly don't know anymore if it is.

[crescentisleart]

🌟I'M OPEN FOR COMMISSIONS!🌟 (Rd1: 9-29/11-29)

Greetings to everyone who is and everyone who isn't. As content as I'd be to reblog things forever, I do draw and I do need things… soooo, drawing instead of ebegging because crushing guilt either way and using my one chosen defining skill to feel useful? To be honest and fair, I just need at least $25-30 to get past instafart's bs, but I could also do so much more if my chronically ill butt just… tried? I have self-trust issues, don't @ me… Also, I'm not starving; I need sundries. 🤷🏾

✅ will draw: fanart, ocs, nudity, light gore, suggestive/light n-s-f-w. Furry, animals, therian, toon, and light kink all welcome

⛔ probably won't draw: heavy gore and n-s-f-w, mecha (not because I don't like it, I just doubt my skills in it. Ask at your own risk, I guess…)

🌟PRICES🌟

🌟NOTES🌟

The color type is the base price, the size adds as advertised

Detailed backgrounds, extra characters, and/or designs will cost extra; about +10-15 each depending on my spoons at the moment.

One-page comics are... doable, but not a thing I plan to do often, at BnW or Full Color price + $40. Comics are hard, even short ones.

One of observant mind will notice that one of the examples is traditional. DO please specify if you'd prefer traditional or digital. If not, I'm gonna randomly do one, the other, or a mixture (It's the same effort for me, either way.)

There will be times where I will NOT be able to sit up and work. I will either edit this message, or make another one with said announcement on it and pin it. An then subsequently edit or make another message again to announce that I'm well again. So goes the conditions of having a corporal body; sometimes you get stuck with a shitty one.

I plan on taking breaks. They will be announced similarly. Because breaks are good for you.

The ability to say 'no' is always at my discretion. I'm willing to try things; I am NOT willing to be uncomfortable.

I have more examples if you're curious, just nothing recent or that I personally feel represents me as an artist at the moment... It's complicated...

Reading is hard, so I made the different bullet points different colors. Um... yw?

🌟CHECKLIST🌟

Email me at angelicdirt0 (at) gmail.com. Say hi, say hey, and include "commission" somewhere in your subject line, please! OR dm me if you need to ask something real quick - but full requests with references, descriptions etc. should be exchanged via email. :v

Please include:

What type of commission you'd like - b&w/color, portrait/half body/full body, how many characters, etc. references of the character(s) - if you don't have an image of them drawn out in their entirety, please provide picture references of all their parts (hair, face, clothes, colors, etc.)... You have a reference sheet? Even better!

What you want to see - what pose do you want your character(s) to be in? what expressions? what is the vibe you want conveyed? is there something you want to focus on in particular (e.g. a character's ring, a scar, a limb, etc.)

Are you okay with your commission being public? - you will get a higher-res, un-watermarked version of your commission and the project files (Krita, FireAlpaca, or GIMP... I tend to jump around). I do intend to put lower-res, watermarked versions of my commissions up on my blog / portfolio, so please let me know if you would like it to be a private commission.

You'll receive a reply within 3-4 days, at which point we can talk a little bit more about your commission if needed!

Full payment will be required upfront through a P@yp@l or c@sh@pp. The invoice will be sent to the email you used unless specified otherwise.

Thank you so much for the look, and hope to talk to you soon! <3

[themoomoorn]

It's ultimately proof that stans and loonies fold in on themselves because Cyril represents a triple-pronged threat:

He was treated like garbage in Almyra and his views that reflect this are wholly independent of Fodlan. None of his Houses endings involve him returning there in any capacity, and he cannot get a paired ending with the only other playable Almyran in the game. (Almyra GoOd, Fodlan BaD, goes against the rich prince Claude having a very rosy view of his homeland. Hopes even throws in some pretty bad stereotypes that only give Cyril's dim view of the place legitimacy)

He was then forcibly made a slave in House Goneril, something that comes up at multiple points in Houses, but is usually downplayed to make Hilda look better, and is erased outright in Hopes (Hilda is one of the most popular characters on both sides of the ocean despite being a pretty realistic portrayal of having a certain kind of racism. Holst is similarly at least liked on a memetic level. This would also have to make people acknowledge that Claude, despite allegedly being very anti-racist, makes concessions to Hilda's views because House Goneril is one of the few places in the Alliance that likes him well enough, and he needs all the support he can get in being acknowledged as Duke)

The archbishop of the continent's goddamn majority religion winds up saving him from slavery with practically no strings attached, and the whole scenario is so bonkers to him that he becomes an attendant-cum-chore boy. After being plucked from the worst that his motherland and his forced adoptive homeland had to offer, is it any wonder that a neutral religious area that accepted him would be seen as his new forever home? (RELIGION BAD! RHAGE BAD! SHE MADE HIM HER SLAVE INSTEAD! Never mind that Cyril doesn't give a damn what anybody thinks of him and does as he pleases, never mind that Seteth himself mentions that Cyril owes Rhea nothing and can do as he wishes, including acceptance into the Officer's Academy if he really wanted it. He's also never treated poorly for not following the Seiros Faith, and when he does say a Seiros prayer for Jeralt in Houses, Rhea doesn't exactly force him to do it either.)

The fact that loonies try to regurgitate the same talking points that Eggstans throw up in regards to Cyril is very telling. There's no way to reconcile that what they want Cyril to be doesn't align with canon at all, because it means acknowledging that Rhea did a good thing, Hilda is kind of a shitty person, and some of Claude's own values are very, very skewed. Remember how in Houses, they put in the effort to have Claude scream, cry, and throw up at the pirates that tried to masquerade as Almyrans during the Alois/Shamir paralogue, but has absolutely no presence in the Hilda/Cyril paralogue where actual Almyrans invade? Similar thing happens for his own Hopes paralogue, which is just a regurgitation of the Alois/Shamir one. And when Shahid invades twice, he's more fixated on Almyra's reputation, which...involves actually raiding and invading for dick measuring purposes. That is not a good look. Or how with Holst, his need to destroy the Seiros faith to allegedly let more views flow in feels extremely hollow, since he has a fairly dim view of religion in general and he doesn't interact with other non-Fodlanese people. To him, it's Fodlan versus Almyra and "maybe a few tokens to make me look better."

But this would have to make loonies acknowledge that while Claude may not be amoral the way Edelgard his, he's flawed as hell, and in Hopes especially he does border more amoral than not, and that isn't a good thing. Much like how the devs shot themselves in the foot with throwing training wheels on Edelgard the Red Emperor, any intrigue that comes with Claude lashing out and being hurt in turn, down to the downright fascinating fact that he'll turn a blind eye to Hilda's racism if it means currying her favor, is gimped because they really don't know what the hell they're doing with him.

Well, looks like even a broken clock's right at least twice a day; an edelstan on twitter was pissed a few days ago when they saw that Cyril's Meet the Heroes description described his time “working” for House Goneril as “some odd twists and turns”, pointing out that such vague wording was most likely used due to a combination of 3H not caring about Cyril's backstory and IS needing to sanitize Hilda's image so she can sell better in Heroes.

Hahaha,

It's funny because on SPE some people made memes, and you have angry people in the comments, being angry and basically lying or making up facts to either diminish Cyril's uh, "working conditions" in House Goneril, or try to sweep it under the rug to give some "Rhea BaD" takes again

Like :

(meme where Claude doesn't criticise his allies for keeping slaves, but blame racism on the lady who saved the child slave)

"Faerghus is the most violent country because they killed the emperor and enacted a coup while being backed up by mole people" to talk about that time when Loog got his independance

"Rhea BaD bcs Cyril can't learn how to read if you don't support him with Lysithea" even if he writes in the Post TS regardless of recruiting Lysithea or not

"Claude tries to talk to Cyril out of fighting but Cyril drives to a suicide charge with Rhea's blessing so Rhea BaD" in GW, with the source being, idk, since the person who came with that take never sourced it

"Rhea BaD she used the regicide in Faerghus to get rid of her political enemies" you mean the dude who tried to kill her?

"Supreme Leader wouldn't be able to continue warring if Rhea DeD bcs else she would be invading people and would lose public support" like the Supreme Leader? From the land of MAGA? Lose public support?? If she invades nations to restore Adrestia to its glorious past???

"Cyril never said he wasn't eating well in house Goneril" but the JP line says he was always hungry in PAlmyra and Fodlan before coming to the Monastery...

Anyways, as expected, even if FEH tries to sanitise some of Fe Fodlan's most, uh, contentious points, we will always have discourse because some people just prefer their fanon to canon, and while I can understand them to a degree (look Willy is basically fanon at this point) it's always hilarious to see people refuse to engage or even consider that the game they "love" says X when they prefer Y.

When it comes to, in general, Church related characters or Kingdom related characters, we see a lot of discourse like this popping up because while FE Fodlan shat on them (to an extent, for the Church related characters) FEH has to give them the minimum spotlight they give to other characters of the franchise, so yes, Hilda's popularity most likely is the reason why Cyril in MYH just had some "odd twists and turns" (tfw Begnion Senators aren't as popular :( so Muarim was mentionned to have been a slave) but his voiced lines has him mention he was captured as a "war prisoner"...

Putting everything it adds up and we have : Cyril was captured as a war prisoner when he was 11-12 by the Gonerils, was hungry there, complained about "work being hard" there (when Cyril doesn't complain at all in GM despite the huge workload he has!), and implies to Mercedes to have been mistreated in House Goneril because he was Almyran (which matches Hilda's prejudices in her C support about Almyrans).

Why is Cyril's backstory so "discourse rising" then?

Is it because Rhea BaD cannot rescue a child from slavery from a popular character's family/household? Or because Hilda's laziness and preference to let other people do her chores looks especially wrong if we take into consideration that those "other people doing her chores" at home might be children "kept as prisoner of wars and fed twice per week"? Or because it reflects badly on Claude (in both games) who wants to end discriminations and prejudices by getting rid of the institution that rescued an abused child, while working hand in hand with the family that abused said child based on his origins?

(lol@the "but Faerghus BaD" bonus point in the earlier SPE thread I mention, I don't even understand why it was brought up lol)

Back to your post, it's hilarious how this edelstand was pissed becayse FEH whitewashed Cyril's backstory to maybe sell more Hilda alts, when Pat'n'pals try their hardest (in FE16, Nopes and even FEH!) to "alter the script" to shit on Rhea, Dimitri to make Supreme Leader alt'able.

Maybe there's hope for this twitter/X stan?

[synoikismos]

                                                 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖙 𝖔𝖋

         THE ( ATTEMPTED ) ABDUCTION OF HELEN & PERSEPHONE 

                                                  PART ONE

featuring:

david gandy as hades   :::   dante and virgil in hell

toni mahfud as pirithous   :::   theseus and pirithous playing dice for helen

park sooyoung as persephone :::  proserpine

snapshot:

—————   in the dark nights when you find yourself still awake, do you still hear your friend, screaming in the underworld, punished for the hubris that was yours and yours alone ?  close your eyes, o saltwater’d son. maybe sleep can wash away the sins you can’t forget.

[rebelracket-a]

~ if you don't mind me asking, how did you make the R effect for your icons? What programs or tools did you use? ~

//I used Adobe Photoshop (because I’m an iMac wielding, ex-graphic design student tryhard), but you can achieve a similar effect in GIMP. Actually, I think Adobe have made Photoshop CS2 available for free now, so you know what, just…get Photoshop. Be kind to yourself.

DISCLAIMER: THIS TUTORIAL IS DESIGNED FOR PHOTOSHOP CS6 BUT *SHOULD* BE TRANSFERABLE TO MOST IF NOT ALL OTHER VERSIONS. THIS GUIDE IS *NOT* SO ANY OF YOU WANKERS CAN STEAL MY PSD, BUT BY ALL MEANS FEEL FREE TO FOLLOW IT TO THE LETTER TO LEARN THE PROCESS.

STEP 1: CREATING THE R SHAPE

If you’ve ever seen shitty, zero-effort-made Rocket merch, you already know that the legit Rocket R has a very specific shape that cannot be mirrored using any old font. You want the real deal. I pulled an image of the R off Google, and traced it using the Pen Tool to create a Vector Image. Delete the reference layer, you no longer need it. You can learn how to use the Pen Tool here.

STEP 2: ADD THE OUTLINE TO THE R

Next we want to set the Fill of the R layer to 0%. You can find the Fill slider in the Layers pallet. The R will magically disappear! Why did we make the R disappear? And if we wanted it to disappear, why not set the Opacity to 0% instead? We’re about to find out.

In the toolbar, go to Layer > Layer Style > Stroke. Toggle with the thickness and colour, and you have a snazzy outline of your choosing! Eh? Ehhhh? How did I make the white inner stroke? Simple. Duplicate the R layer and repeat the process, only setting Stroke to Inner rather than Outer. Again, adjust colour and size as you wish. 

STEP 3: ADD YOUR SNAZZY BACKGROUND BITS (THE RED DROP SHADOW AND ALL THE SPIKY SHIT)

For the red drop shadow, literally all I did was duplicate the R for a third time, disable the layer effects on the bottom-most copy, pump the Fill back up to 100%, change the colour of the vector shape to red and used the Move tool to drag it where I wanted it. The spiky shit is literally just bog-standard default shapes made with the Custom Shape Tool.

STEP 4: CREATE THE LAYER MASK.

Duplicate the R a fourth and final time, this time changing the colour to white. Make sure this layer sits below your two Stroke layers. Rename it “Base” for your own ease going forward, right-click the layer and hit Rasterize. This will convert the vector to a standard pixel image.

Next, you want to make a Folder, by hitting the little Folder symbol in the Layers Pallet. Name this Folder “Art”. This Folder needs to be directly above the Layer we just named “Base”.

Equip the Magic Wand Tool and click on our Rasterized R to Select it (you’ll see a janky flashing outline surrounding the shape), then click on the Folder we just made. Hit the Layer Mask symbol at the very bottom of the Layer Pallet—it looks like a rectangle with a circle in the middle of it.

Paste your art within the Art Folder. Notice how none of the image displays outside of the R shape? Innit great? Resize and move your art as needed using Free Transform and play around with Filters if that’s your jam.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

MAKE YOUR ICON TEMPLATE TO SUIT YOUR PURPOSE BEFORE YOU GO STICKING SHIT IN THERE AND PERFECTING YOUR ICONS. MAKE SURE IT’S THE SIZE YOU PREFER FROM THE START. Make sure to crop your Canvas close as possible to the shape without lopping any pixels off. This way you can make your icons SUPER FAST without the need for any faffing around resizing every time. Make sure to save your icons in PNG format to preserve both image quality and opacity.