#I adore how this one turned out

[elodee]

HERMIT A DAY MAY - DAY 31

ReNDoG x Borderlands

For Rendog I chose the first-person looter shooter video game series Borderlands!

Ren's base this season reminds me a lot of Borderlands (at least so far). With its desolate landscape, eccentric naming conventions, and industrial buildings put in place by a morally questionable mega-conglomerate, it would fit right in as a setting in one of these games.

Borderlands is an incredibly fun (and funny) game series that I highly recommend playing if you've never picked it up before. However, the games have a lot of adult humor and are very violent, though the violence is played for laughs. If you're familiar with the character Deadpool, Borderlands has a very similar energy.

To learn more about Borderlands and see my style references, continue below the cut.

@hermitadaymay

(Congratulations on crushing the Gamers Outreach fundraiser goal!)

Borderlands is a series of first person looter shooter games set in an open world with a procedurally generated weapon system. The plot of the games follows a group of protagonists with various abilities who complete missions and explore the planet (usually a place called Pandora) in order to find and unlock a fabled treasure trove called a Vault. These Vault Hunters (shoutout Iskall) are not exactly heroes, but as the player you have the option to help people along the way.

There is a lot more to the Vault Hunters' adventures throughout the games that just looking for treasure. Each game has an engaging plot and memorable characters, but the the core gameplay for the entire series is this: shoot, kill, loot a badass new gun, rinse and repeat.

Borderlands is a blast to play and no two playthroughs are exactly the same. It's also great fun to play with your friends and has an excellent multiplayer mode. The series also has a unique aesthetic that makes it look like you're playing in a 3D comic book. The effect is really cool.

Style references:

The games take place mostly on Pandora, a desert planet which has a lot of abandoned industrial buildings and machinery from various intergalactic corporations. Most of what the companies left behind have since been looted and incorporated into ramshackle towns populated by the locals.

This is Handsome Jack, the primary antagonist from the second game. The games use hand-drawn textures for the characters, which create the comic book-like feel.

The Borderlands title design.

[gomzdrawfr]

Fish talk.

Price likes rainbow trout that he cooked himself in garlic and butter in a ration tin over an open fire. Nothin better than trout you caught, gutted and cooked yourself on the river bank. Bonus points for a bottle of something cold and hoppy to go along with it while he eats it on the river bank, still wearing his wellies and waders.

For Nik, it's calamari and grilled sea bass with a glass of white wine, maybe a sauvignon blanc from France, in some swanky hotel on the Adriatic coast. Just sitting there in beige chinos, an open shirt and bare feet, skin still warm from where he was basking in the sun all day, not even checking the bill before he pays for it.

Fish recipes by the one and only, now visualised (somewhat) hehe

bonus of my reaction:

[bassicallymaestra]

Sebastian's Moving Castle

I was very inspired by @choccy-milky and @myokk's Ghibli artwork and this has been in my head for a while 😂 It was so much fun redrawing this scene

[tanasha-not-yet]

can you draw a singetail ✨️

stole your boy . and your dragon .

[sentientstump]

merging asks in one

(i still take requests btw!👍🏼 give🤲🏼)

[critter-catch-them-all-fella]

Presenting Shifting Spirits Ingo as a child thinking about Amtrak plushie featuring my hand-drawn doodle-texture that I haven’t had the energy for for awhile. If you look closer (wich please PLEASE do if you have the time), the doodles where all made with his future/fate in mind!!!

A version without the train and a version of the the doodles at the add blending mode to be the most visible bellow :p the train plush was a part of this work since the sketch but the image admittedly doesn’t match the effort I put into the rest of the piece lol.

[remedyspoison]

Hypno's third eye and psychic abilities actually being a curse that's tormented him since childhood? At first it haunted him and caused several sleepless nights where he was tormented by an entity nobody could understand but over time he learned to live with it, even embrace it and use the chokehold it had over him to do magicky stuff? Now he's considered a master of the 'dark arts' and has big strong powers? But some days it hits him harder than usual? Consumed him entirely? Bonus points if his watch is a magic relic that helps seal the crazy away? He's very strong and powerful and everybody around him is lucky he's a chill guy??

[kzyitart]

[feroluce]

For reasons to be expanded upon at a later date (because I love the little bits about Boothill and possible paranoia/betrayal canon gives us so very dearly HNGH) I think Boothill like... He won't let himself fall into disrepair or anything of course, but he reeeeeeeeeeally does not like letting other people poke around at his body. It's a necessary evil to him. He does whatever maintenance and repairs he can himself. He started out with a massive knowledge deficit, simply because he didn't really have any exposure to that kind of technology until he left Aeragan-Epharshal, but he's taught himself a lot since then, he worked really hard at it!

Anyway, the point being, Boothill generally isn't super trusting of people.

But I think he would come to make an exception for Himeko, since he trusts Dan Heng a lot, and Himeko is one of Dan Heng's once-in-a-lifetime dearly beloved companions.

Himeko is so unflappable, I don't think she would even bat an eye about anything he throws at her, either. Like she enters the Parlor Car one morning (she's always the first one up) and Boothill is already there, waiting for her.

"Mornin', Madam Navigator."

"Good morning, Mr. Boothill."

And despite the fact that he blatantly broke into the Express (Pom-Pom is NOT happy about this JDKSAJDSKL), Boothill tips his hat, greets her politely, and is nothing but respectful when he says he has a favor to ask of her. Except it won't stay a favor long, of course- he has every intention of paying it back.

Himeko never agrees to things blindly, but she does bring up that all the knowledge Boothill contributed during the Charmony Festival was essential to preventing the universe from being pulled into Ena's Dream. And they were able to hold onto the Jade Abacus because Boothill used Tiernan's burial relic to summon the Galaxy Rangers instead. The Astral Express owes him a debt of gratitude, and besides, he's a friend of Dan Heng's. Of course she'll try to help him.

Boothill fidgets a bit, quickly brushes off the thanks, and tells Himeko he's having a problem with error codes. He keeps getting the same one, seemingly at random times, but the darn thing has no obvious cause. Dan Heng mentioned Himeko had been the one to rebuild the Astral Express. He knows it ain't the same, but it's not like he's askin' for any major repairs or nothin'. He was wonderin' if she could just take a look, maybe offer him some insight, since she seems to be somethin' of a mechanical wonder.

So Himeko walks him back to a another car, where she goes to tinker with machines without them crowding her bedroom. It's all neatly laid out and organized, and it only takes a second for Himeko to locate some specific device with a long cord. Instead of plugging it in herself, she holds the end of it out to him, like an offer rather than a demand, and Boothill visibly relaxes a bit. He still eyes it just a little warily for a second, but he accepts and plugs it into the port on his side.

Himeko pulls up the list of all recent errors, and they really are all the same. Boothill has had multiple temperature alarms over the past couple of weeks since the Charmony Festival, and they know it's not the environment, because Penacony is mostly dreamscape and kept mild year-round. The long-forgotten natural deserts are too far away.

Boothill is staring from the corner of his one good eye, so Himeko turns the hologram to let him see what she's doing easier. They don't appear to be false alarms. His internal temperature spikes and then slowly lowers again, high enough that if it lasted it would eventually cause damage.

One option is for her to start rooting through personal data, figuring out what he was doing at the time of each code, and tracing cause and correlation.

Instead, Himeko reads out the timestamps, and asks Boothill if he minds sharing what was happening around him when it occured.

Two weeks ago: He and Dan Heng went to explore Dreamflux Reef and found a bar- nice place, good atmosphere. Woman runnin’ it was a doll. Boothill left fer not even two minutes to get them drinks (Dan Heng knows like nothin’ about liquor, Madam Navigator, can you believe this guy) and when he came back, someone had already stolen his seat and was hittin’ on Dan Heng! Dan Heng didn't even care, just shooed ‘em off. Boothill laughed and said not to let him get in his way if he wanted to meet someone. Dan Heng looked at him like he'd grown a second head. Why would he want to leave with someone else, when he came here to be with Boothill?

Twelve days ago: While laying low- er, just rustlin’ up some grub- in the Moment of Blue, Boothill passed Dan Heng with March and Caelus playin’ on the beach, buildin’ sandcastles and the like. When he passed by again almost two hours later, they were still out there, with Dan Heng pullin’ March through the water on her inner tube and Caelus hangin’ off the back of it. He swam so fast! You'd think he was part water snake or somethin’. He looked happier ‘n a cat in a sunbeam… He has a nice smile, doesn't he?

Eleven days ago: Boothill was killin’ time in Dreamflux Reef when he turned the corner down a shady alley and saw Dan Heng, surrounded by three men demandin’ “protection money.” None of ‘em stood a chance, they were all on the ground before Boothill even blinked! So cool! Boothill wants to see that spear of his closeup- Anyway, Dan Heng stepped on one of ‘em on his way out, hahaha! Boothill stepped on the same guy a second time as he hurried to catch up.

Eight days ago: Here on the Express, actually. Boothill had mentioned bein’ curious about the archives, and Dan Heng personally invited him.

(“I remember that day, I saw you in the hall.” “Was there any problem with the heating that day?” “No, none. I don't think the temperature has anything to do with these error codes. I have a different theory, keep going.” “If ya say so.”)

Boothill was fascinated by an entry on aeons, and from a single question he asked about Lan, the two of ‘em ended up talkin’ fer hours. About aeons and Paths and Emanators, Acheron and Self-Annihilators, the Sea of Nihility, Tiernan, the Nameless and the Galaxy Rangers, their burial relics and their customs. Dan Heng finally just started writin’ and editin’ the entries in real time, with Boothill pointin’ things out and tellin’ him what to add in. They were at it so late that Boothill ended up sleepin' on a couch in one of the cars.

He'd figured there had to be something to make Dan Heng chatty- he'd caught just a glimpse of it that first night they met, sittin’ at the bar in the Reverie together. He'll have to ask about the archives more often, if it gets him all revved up like that.

One week ago: After that night of energetic discussion, Dan Heng was apparently hyped up, because after he'd downed some of Himeko's coffee (“You had some too, right? What did you think of it?” “It was great, even better'n chewin’ bullets!” "Thank you! That was my newest brew, I can't wait for everyone else to try it.") he actually asked Boothill to go hunting with him. Boothill asked who their target was, and was surprised when Dan Heng pulled out photos that looked like they were from March's camera, of all things, instead of a bounty or wanted poster.

And as he sat there, studying these pictures, Dan Heng explained that he wanted to hunt down these specific memory zone memes to record them into the archives. Planets with so much memoria are a rarity, especially with the Stellaron's activity thrown into the mix, which has surely affected the local “wildlife.” He might not get another opportunity like this for a long time. And Boothill had talked last night about his extensive expertise in tracking and hunting, so he should have plenty to offer here, Dan Heng would like to learn from his experience and see how he does things!

And oh, Madam Navigator, by the time Dan Heng was done speakin', his eyes were practically sparklin'! Just lit up like the sun! Boothill could scarcely believe it! The two of them couldn't even wait another day, they set out that very morning. It had been a long, long while since Boothill had tracked someone- er, somethin’- without the intent to capture or kill. It was…actually really nice. Nostalgic, but in a good way. It might even have been his favorite day on Penacony…so…far…

Boothill trails off as a couple of realizations crash into him. All the temperature alarms he's spoken about thus far- they've all happened in the company of Dan Heng. And now that he's thinking about it, he's pretty sure even the ones he hasn't yet talked about were with him, too. Dan Heng has been responsible for all of his error codes, every. single. one.

The screen in front of Himeko suddenly refreshes to the top of the list, displaying a new notification for the current time. Alert! Core temperature above normal range.

Himeko's knowing smile is sly as a snake.

Wwwwwelp, would ya look at the time, Boothill has some errands to meet, people to run, y’know how it is, he should really get goin'-

“Oh, Mr. Boothill? About that favor.” And Boothill jolts to a stop in the doorway because fudge, he can't just leave without hearing her out. He'd given his word. He has no problem running out on someone he thinks deserves it, but Himeko really had been kind to him to try and help him out. Her voice is just as knowing as her smile, Boothill can't turn around to look at her, or else he knows he won't be able to disguise the sound of his cooling fans kicking on.

“Don't make Dan Heng wait too long, ok~?”

“Y-Yes, ma'am.”

[azudarlings]

thinking about jon and tim again.. their stupid situationship friendship during their research era with tim flirting with jon and maybe there was something there in the spending time together during lunch breaks and semi dates and dragging jon out of his shell to socialize for once aka taking him to get drinks and bothering jon during work

all that tentative yet receptive awkwardness turning into something way more distant as soon as jon got promoted (over sasha, which tim is still very bitter about)

like yes, they could talk now, but it wasn’t near the same. and tim seems to be the only one who either notices or cares between the two of them that their relationship is way more stilted and different than before

its not like tim can really do anything about it now, not when jon is acting like that. refusing to talk or say anything, refusing to trust them. and of course, tim can’t help but feel bitter about that, too

just talk to him, sasha says. as if it was ever that easy when it came to jonathan sims.

[wigglesdtuff]

The looking glass so shiny and new how quickly the glamour fades...

[dysfunctionalcreature]

idk about yall but one of my most ever favorite aftg headcanons is that Andrew is really good with kids, and in the future when Aaron and Katelyn settle down and have kids, their kids will absolutely adore "Uncle Andrew", and he'll happily suffer through whatever sort of play the kids want to do with an as genuine and un-menacing smile on his face as he can manage, whenever he and Neil (and Kevin) come to visit

[swan2swan]

Just give it time, Sammy. Give it time.

[kakyogay]

slibermoog my bleoved

[billythephoneguy]

You look rather stupid like that <3

[themintman]

N e ways here's Jack's actual design for the au I posted about the other day lmao

Love this sorrowful lizard.