#I'm trying something different with the style

[tazcrosblade]

I don't really know how to post this without sounding like a boot licker for the artificial intelligence, but here's my take on it. AI isn't going to really do anything for you that you couldn't do yourself. It doesn't have any access to information on the internet, in books, or in self-help books, that you couldn't also get access to. So in a way

number one: the AI provides a way to search and consolidate information that has become increasingly hard to do (try googling anything these days and all you get is AI generated results anyways).

Number 2: the ai, the internet, even Tumblr are just tools that you could use to find answers. Obviously if you're in a Mental Health situation, using AI rather than seeking professional help can be dangerous. Treating it like the be all end all of answers, especially for things like health or mental health, is so naive as to border on st*pid.

Number 3: you only get out of the AI what you put in, if you ask it for help it's just going to give you generic answers. But if you know how to use the AI as a tool, it can be useful.

Basically what I'm saying is telling the ai you are my therapist solve all my problems will only get you so far. But if you've ever tried, for example, taking all of the texts from a fight you're having with someone and plugging them into the AI and asking it to continue the conversation and give you different ways things could have been phrased or to summarize the issues into bullet points so you can more specifically focus on what's going on. Couples therapy in effect. I have found the AI to be extremely helpful as a neutral third party during conflict, almost like a mediator or a counselor. Sometimes phrasing your thoughts or breaking down what a person's telling you can be extremely difficult. The AIS we use are not general artificial intelligence they are large language models, the only thing they can do is talk and analyze text. Don't expect the AI to work like a therapist would work. Use it as a tool for, analyzing journal entries, breaking down a big long message someone has sent you into more manageable bites so you don't get overwhelmed by your personal emotional attachment to what's being said.

When my partner and I are having conflict I will often complain to the ai, and tell it to be brutally honest with me. It sometimes tells me the things that my partner is too shy to tell me, or I'm too self-centered to think for myself. And because it's coming from a computer, it's easier to take it for what it is which is just a single take on the situation.

Will the AI cure your depression? No.

Will the AI give you the same tips everyone gives you? Yes, literally that's what it's designed for

If you know how to use the AI to analyze a situation or generate a bunch of ideas, if you use the AI and prompt it to tell you the hard truth or to be critical of someone's actions or to give an explanation for why somebody might have done something, it can be a good tool to help guide some of your thoughts and mental exploration of a situation.

AI is not a therapist. It is not trained. Any information it gives is suspect.

But that doesn't mean as a data analysis tool, a stand-in for the person you're having an argument for, or a straw man to help run potential arguments past (while telling it to be rude short or selfish in its responses) can be a good therapy style tool for people who may not be able to afford professional help, but feel as though they need assistance in unpacking their own thoughts or phrasing things in a certain way or understanding something somebody is telling them.

guys. please

[arnaerr]

2024 summary

Each year, I want to write some kind of summary, but each year, I get too overwhelmed with the holidays season to do so. This time, I came prepared, so I wrote this text a bit earlier bc I knew that by now I will be a sleepy shrimp.

2024 was one of the toughest years for me, if not the hardest one so far. Dealing with the lay-off and long term unemployment took a hard toll on me and my mental health, but I'm still here despite it all, and I'm still creating. Really happy that I finally managed to find a job and can finally rest from grinding portfolio work and fighting for my life. Somehow this year turned out to be the most productive too. Something-something, strong emotions (even negative ones) are the best fuel for the inspiration.

This year, I focused more on my brushwork so I can bring my ideas to reality faster and avoid hurting my hand more - and I'm quite satisfied with the results, my hand's pain is almost inexistent at this point. Dance classes, crochet, and playing Elden Ring with the controller also helped to gently strengthen my hands so they are better at handling painting for a longer time now. I also tried to make my works more complex and thought through in general, focused more on the storytelling aspect and more interesting composition decisions. Really liked playing around with this stuff and can't wait to experiment even more. For a long time, I thought that my art has value only if it's being realistic and generic in terms of the game industry style. It took me a long time to acknowledge and accept this, as well as the fact how my painting style is a reflection of myself; I'm quite timid and shy in nature, and it also applied to my painting approach, I was always afraid to do bold brushstrokes, going wild with colours, showing my feelings through my art, expressing myself openly. And I feel like this year, I learned to be not afraid of who I am, not to try to hide my impressionistic approach to the painting behind smooth and "proper" brushwork. I'm not trying to fit into the standard anymore; sure, it would make my life easier in terms of finding an art job quicker and being more popular on social media if I had a more generic art style. But it feels so much better to allow myself to be who I am.

Elden Ring obsession was like the breath of the fresh air. For the several times this year, I was so, so close to having a severe art block, to losing myself in commissions & portfolio work, to losing the wonder the act of creation gives me. Elden Ring made me feel very inspired, gave me the courage to try to draw many things I was afraid to draw before; I really enjoy being a part of this fan community, and I've met so many wonderful and talented people throughout last months that it constantly fuels my inspiration; artists, writers, cosplayers, lore enthusiasts. In the last couple of years, I approach my social media profiles like a personal blog of sorts, not focusing on the painting only. And I really enjoyed sharing different sides of my hobbies with you, writing mini essays with the game analysis, and discussing it all in comments in DMs.

I couldn't survive this year without your support, and I'm forever grateful. Every like, reshare, and comment brightens my day. Special thanks to the people who bought my prints, donated, or joined my Patreon - you literally saved me. The fact that I had to rely on social media as the main source of income for so long did some damage to the ways how I view my own art, sometimes I feel too sensitive about numbers and algorithms and start to view my art as a content that has to be popular - I'm slowly but surely try to go away from this and to reconnect with my art once again; I want my art to be even more personal and detached from the popular needs; I need to get weirder.

Sometimes it feels surreal that so many people are interested in me and what I do.

Hoping for gentler times in 2025. Thank you

[where-does-the-heart-lie]

Hey, Love your artstyle a lot!! My friend got me to be brave and ask (English isn't my first language 🫠😶‍🌫️) How did you find your artstyle? How do you feel about your art? What do you want people to feel when they see your art??? Sorry for all the questions BUT I need to understand why your art feels so special to me 🥹 I really love your asl art! Thanks for seeing this post! Hope I'm not crossing any lines! Feel free to just skip the questions!

Hello! That makes me very happy to hear that you enjoy my artstyle! I love it too :)))

I found my artstyle little by little over many years. Every so often I find something in my style that I don’t like, or I find something that I enjoy in someone else’s style and I try out something different to fix or incorporate those ideas! And if I find I like how it turned out, then I continue the changes until I don’t like it anymore. Many trends in my art has come and gone and what’s left from all that is what I have now :)

At the moment my biggest inspirations are arcane’s style, hagushka’s, and sokt0pus.

I feel like im very proud of where i am with my art. I find that my style has become very consistent and when i look back at my art from a year ago, i think it doesnt look too much different than what i have now. Which for me, says that my style has found itself in a place where i havent noticed something i dont like about it in a while. And that makes me happy :)

I am also proud of how good i am at creating different face shapes. My style has come a long way to be able to make a multitude of faces look good in it and it makes me happy that i can draw anyone’s face fairly easily.

And finally i am proud of how three dimensional my art currently looks. It’s very difficult to achieve that, and ive still got a long way to go, but making art look 3d is something ive recently tried to work on and im proud with how far ive come on that front.

I dont have a set way i want people to feel when they look at my art, i dont think. Because of how many different tones i draw in, It would be inaccurate to say a blanket feeling. Some trending tones in my artwork though tend to by melancholy, joy, or sorrow.

Thanks for your lovely questions! Im glad you enjoy my art :))

[trolagygirl2022]

Kpop in 2025

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3 of Swords, Knight of Cups, 6 of Swords, 5 of Pentacles, The Moon, King of Swords, 5 of Cups, 9 of Cups

Yikes... I feel like the industry is going to get even more downhill unfortunately. The Knight of Cups and 6 of Swords tells me that they're still going to chase for Western validation but it might be more excessive than how they're doing now? I'm seeing people losing interest in it because it'll feel generic and not like the K in Kpop if that makes sense? Like if 60% of songs are in English I'm seeing it becoming higher and there'll be many attempts to try and break into the market but people will feel like the industry has changed so much into something that they can't recognize anymore. Instead of music people will feel like the industry is just a factoring for experimenting which song can go Tiktok viral the fastest. I'm seeing a lack of originality, get ready to hear a lot about plagiarism accusations. I'm seeing a lot of companies getting lazy and are focused a lottt on the western industry. In 2023 and 2024 they were testing the waters with the mimicking of different styles but it's most likely going to be more and more obvious in 2025 to the point where it might be considered plagiarism? I'm seeing a lot of disappointment here and a lot of fans will feel hurt and betrayed. Is it possible that there'll be a lot more controversies next year? I keep seeing people sad and heartbroken. I feel like the facade idols have is going to struggle to stick next year as some of your faves could possibly get exposed to not be who they claim to be 🌚

lıllılı.ıllı.ılılıılıllılı.ıllı.ılılıılıllılı.ıllı.ılılıılıllılı.ıllı.ılılıılıllılı.ıllı.ılılıı

[theinstagrahame]

I'd say that at least part of the challenge for people switching from D&D to MH2e is that it's so radically different from D&D. Like the core mechanic is way simpler (fewer stats, very predictable dice rolling, and fewer dice to manage), but there is a core philosophy that's not present at D&D tables.

PbtA games in general are way simpler, but they also shift the burden of the game from the GM to the whole table in a way that's really alien if you're used to telling a DM what you want to do, then waiting for them to adjudicate. The plot in a D&D game happens around the player, while they mostly react. Roll to see if you notice traps that were there all along. Roll to see how fast you are in combat, which just started around you. Roll to see if you can make the NPC like you, based on their predetermined stats.

PbtA Moves tell players how to interact with the world, and are designed to push narrative forward. Roll to do a thing, and the GM tells you how the world reacts. You messed up that lock pick roll? Probably means there were traps, that makes sense. Trying to sway that NPC to your cause? Mixed success means you need to give them something in exchange. Combat happens? Deal harm as established.

I'm not as big into D&D's style of play, but I can see where people find the transition hard. The Dragon Game bills itself as the archetypal TTRPG, so when you try something new, everything that does it differently is a weird experience because you have all the expectations from your first one.

So moving from combat-focused D&D to emotional MH2e is practically a foreign language. But I think it's mostly because players coming from the trad table are expecting things to be more complex than they need to be.

it drives me insane that monsterhearts is treated as this pretentious avant garde thing by certain people who don't play games outside of 5e. it's an excellent game, it's very well designed. but it's ultimately a game with a straightforward unified mechanic, where you always know what your target number is, that uses one type of die, that emulates like... cw shows. it's extremely accessible and the way people who refuse to dip their toes past the D&D™️ talk about it you'd think it involved calculus like first edition traveler or some shit

[ramshackle-ramblings]

Spelldrive Club

"I'm sure Leona would just sign it if you asked him," Epel said. "You've already been to Spelldrive, after all."

"Or," Alise said slowly, drawing out the word. "You could ask him." She offered the paper to Epel.

"Or," he drawled mockingly. "You could. Honestly, why don't you like him? Leona's great."

She pulled the paper back and stared at it. "Maybe I could bribe Ruggie into doing it?"

"Bribe Ruggie into doing what, exactly?" Someone purred from behind them.

Alise glared at Epel, who shrugged in response and gave her a cheeky grin. "Guess you gotta just ask," he said.

She sighed and turned, looking up at Leona. "I've been told I have to try out all the clubs, and get the club leader's signatures to prove I did. It seems kind of silly, really, since I can't even play Spelldrive. I'd just be a nuisance to everyone that's there to actually practice." She held the crumpled paper out to him by way of proof. "And I've technically already been to a club meeting. So, will you sign the paper for me?"

"Sure, I'll sign it," Leona took the paper from her, and folded it neatly and slid it into his pocket. "After you come to Spelldrive."

"I've already been!" She tried to snatch at the paper before it disappeared, but he swatted her hand away with a grin.

"You sat on the bleachers. That doesn't count."

Alise crossed her arms and glared up at Leona, bristling with irritation. "It's my paper."

"And I'll give it back to you signed," he promised, ruffling her hair as he walked past. "Come ready to participate."

---

"I still don't understand the point of this," Alise grumbled to Epel that afternoon as they walked toward the Spelldrive field. "I'm just gonna sit on the bleachers and be bored."

"Bored?" Epel countered. "Really? I remember your last visit a little different. Anyway, Leona said you'd be playing."

"Not exactly. He said I'd be participating, whatever that means. I'm probably gonna be handing out snacks and water during breaks or something stupid like that."

"Hey, you're here," Ruggie greeted them at the entrance to the field. "Why?"

Alise explained the whole thing to him, and he seemed to find it endlessly hilarious.

"Right, boys, no need for brooms. We're grounded today," Leona announced when the club had gathered. "No magic, either."

A wave of grumbles washed over the assembled students. "What's the point, then?"

"The point," Leona growled, "is to get you familiar with how the disk moves naturally, so you can control it better magically."

Alise suspected that it was a bullshit answer that he'd come up with on the spot. But it seemed to satisfy enough of the club that they argued the validity of it with their less convinced clubmates. Leona divided the club into teams, including Alise, and had them pulling out practice goals to set up a smaller playing area, since they would be running, not flying.

It was essentially just frisbee, with goals. Alise wasn't tall enough to catch the disk from standing, but she was more than happy to take advantage of the equipment, the stadium itself, and occasionally teammates to launch herself through the air and into path of the disk or other players. Ruggie was more than happy to serve as a launchpad, and giggled every time their team ended up with another point because of it.

---

Alise ran in front of Leona and past him, one, two, three steps up the pillar just beyond.

"Yes! Yes!" Epel cheered from the other side of the field. "I love it when she does that! I have got to learn how!"

 She pushed herself off the pillar, twisting in the air to catch the disc before Leona could. He snatched the girl out of the air in front of him instead, grabbing the back of her shirt. Alise squealed, flinging the disc at the goal before he could grab it.

"We said no flying, kitten," Leona chuckled, setting her on her feet with a grin.

"I wasn't flying,"  she told him. "I was falling. With style."

---

Leona flattened the paper against the pillar, signing it and handing it to Alise.

"Thanks," she said, folding it more or less along the existing fold lines.

"Should we expect to see you again?" he asked, watching her cram the paper into a pocket.

"For Spelldrive?" She snorted. "I don't think so."

[ane-doodles]

Abut this 2024... Thanks to everyone

I wanted to sit down and write something for this end of the year full of surprises, please be patient with me because I am relying on a translator for this.

I recently decided to take a look at my blog posts this year, and boy have I seen some great things! Not only a significant improvement in my art, but seeing how I've dared to try new things and all the wonderful gifts I've received from all of you.

Starting with the fact that I probably wouldn't be here fulfilling my dreams and sharing my art if it weren't for all of you. Thanks to everyone who chipped in to help me with my PC, thanks to you I still have my job as a designer (hey surprise, I was the most active designer in the company this year :D), it has allowed me to do my research for my thesis, it has allowed me to dedicate myself to commissions as I have wanted for years and above all it has allowed me to share my art and improve significantly. Thank you.

I also want to thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday this year!! It was a bit of a complicated date at home and I spent weeks preparing my massive drawing attack (pt1 and pt2) … but I'm happy that everyone enjoyed it. Special thanks to the wonderful people who made me drawings QwQ, I promise to put them in my album one day. (There are a few more drawings missing from my pendrive, thanks to you too)

Special thanks also to everyone who attacked me during artfight!! I never expected so many people to shoot me with so much art, so many different styles that I really appreciate (my mom says she wants to frame some of them haha). I also got the chance to attack a lot of people with art, it was fun and I got to experiment a lot with coloring techniques and learned to draw faster. (Special mention to the last drawing which is a gif and should be appreciated properly, loviu <3)

Thanks also to all of you who have enjoyed my little comics. These have been pure experiment, trial and error… And seeing your comments has brought me a happiness that I can't describe (I want to talk about this later in another post, in the meantime let's continue with my cheesy stuff)

Special thanks to @/the-one-who-lambs (I'm embarrassed to tag >///<)who made me take up one of my old hobbies that I had abandoned years ago, now I have two giant bags of stuffing in my room for future use :3

Special mention to all of you who decided to commission me for art this year… You have been a special blessing in my home. Thanks to you and those who sometimes stop by my redbubble store I have been able to help out around the house and yesterday (after more than nine years) I was able to take my family out to eat and buy new clothes for the new year. Thank you.

And well, to finish I also want to thank all the friends, artists and in general everyone I have met during this year. In my life I never thought I would get to talk to someone behind the screen, much less with people I don't know in person or that I admire… It's still difficult for me but little by little I have been learning and I have gathered the courage for small conversations and interactions. I have received words of encouragement, questions, casual conversations, compliments and advice, and I can't think of anything that I value more than this, especially for someone who rarely leaves home but enjoys sharing their art with the world.

This year I have experienced so many new things that I can hardly imagine what surprises next year will bring. In the meantime I promise to put more effort into my art! try new things! try to interact more! (please be patient with me) and above all have fun with all of you.

Thank you all very much

[haztobegood]

⭐️ Annual Writing Self-Evaluation 2024 ⭐️

1. Number of stories posted to AO3: 16

2. Word count posted for the year: 43,087

3. Fandoms I wrote for: One Direction, BBC Radio 1 RPF, Music RPF (The Snuts)

4. Pairings: so many!

Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles & Louis Tomlinson

Louis Tomlinson/Jack Cochrane

OT5 girl direction

Zayn Malik/Louis Tomlinson

Niall Horan/Greg James & Nick Grimshaw/Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson & Zayn Malik/Liam Payne

Zayn Malik/Harry Styles

5. Story with the most: Kudos: Figure This Out Bookmarks: Figure This Out Comments: Louis and the no good, very bad day

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): Stronger Than the Tide was written for the @1daroaceficfest this year. I started writing a different fic but that one got to be much longer than I had time to write, so I quickly changed course, found new inspiration, and wrote this one so fast. This one proved to me that my fics don't have to be long and complicated to be very meaningful.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why): I am honestly super proud of everything I posted this year. I feel more confident in my abilities and enjoyed writing so much that I couldn't single any out.

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received: This year I took a writing course and practiced what I'd learned while writing a horror story. Sisterhood is so different than anything I've posted before, so I was a bit nervous to post it. The comments were really great, especially this one from @disgruntledkittenface, "Jinny, I'm so impressed! Your prose is so evocative, and the story gave me chills. You gave such a full, rounded picture of the setting and all of the girls' relationships that I felt like I was there. I admit, I hesitated when I saw the cannibalism tag, but I'm really glad I read this!"

9. A time when writing was really, really hard: This spring was difficult. March and April are always busy and stressful, and then I broke my ankle, had two surgeries, and moved back in with my parents while I healed. Toward the end of May I really wanted to write for @wankersday so I forced myself to try despite some severe writer's block. I drafted Louis and the no good, very bad day entirely on my phone while lying on a couch.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: The ace of clubs in Stronger Than the Tide was my favorite surprise. This wasn't a part of the original draft at all, but while editing it felt like something was missing to indicate that the cave was siren!Harry's home, so I added Harry's collection of human objects. Because this was an ace/aro fic it felt right to put an ace card in. I found out after that the ace of clubs can represent growth and tending to relationships, which fit the theme perfectly.

Louis looked around the empty cave awkwardly. The bright sunlight illuminated some shiny objects laid out on natural ledges in the stone walls that he hadn’t noticed the last time. He slid his hands into the pockets of his red trackies and wandered closer. Shiny agates, broken seashells, smooth sea glass. A fork with a bent tine, dried wildflowers, a bobbin of old thread. A collection of jewelry. A large scallop shell filled with coins from all over the world. A corked bottle with a piece of paper rolled inside. Louis reached out and picked up a single red playing card. He turned it over: the ace of clubs. “That’s my collection. When I find something unique I save it.” Louis had been so intrigued by the items he hadn’t heard Harry come out of the cave. He set the card down carefully where he'd found it. “You keep your collection here in a cave?” “The cave is my home.”

More under the cut.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: Niall naming Louis' soulmate goose after Bruce Springsteen in Louis and the no good, very bad day will always make me laugh

Niall and Louis walk down the pavement, with the goose strutting a few feet behind Louis, beak held high. “Did you name him?” Niall asks. “What?” “The goose. Did you name him?” “Why would I do that? He’s not a pet.” “Because he’ll be with you for an unknown amount of time. Seems like he should have a name. Like Horace. Or Lionel. Or Bruce! Bruce the Goose.” The goose lets out a short burst of little honks in what Louis can only describe as a happy goose noise. Louis shakes his head. “No. I’m not naming my Soulmate Goose. He’ll hopefully be gone in a few days and then I can get on with my life.” Honk! Niall says, “Maybe. But I’ve heard that some people are stuck with their Soulmate Goose for almost a year.”

12. How did you grow as a writer this year: This year I took a writing course because I wanted to intentionally work on writing as a craft. I learned a lot from the course and enjoyed dedicating time to practicing and improving my skill.

13. How do you hope to grow next year: I am working on a Pride and Prejudice adaptation and learning a lot from studying the source material. Taking a deep dive into such an iconic novel is teaching me a great deal about what makes that story and its characters so compelling.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): @lululawrence's @wordplayfics was a huge inspiration. I wrote 5 fics, 3 of which had been sitting in my drafts folder for years. I had so much fun seeing where each random word would take me each week.

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: Greg twisting his ankle in The Grundy County Corn Maze Incident was inspired by breaking my own ankle. Unfortunately the strong Irish man that helped me get to a car was not Niall . And The Kiss of Sleep that I wrote for @1dtrickortreatfest was inspired by the one and only time I tried melatonin.

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: Keep all your unfinished drafts, even if it seems unlikely you will ever finish them. You never know when the inspiration will strike.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: I signed up as an author for @onedirectionbigbang for the first time this year! I am also an artist for two others and can't wait to see what these collaborations will bring

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read.

I tag @disgruntledkittenface @lululawrence @allwaswell16 @voulezloux @red-pandaaa @reminiscingintherain @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed @homosociallyyours @justanothershadeofblue @uhoh-but-yeah-alright and anyone else that wants to do this!

Past years (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)

[solidaritygaming-fanblog]

NEEED MORE from the liml jimmy and esmp joel au omgomgggg

heeheheheheh alright here u go... also im calling this au officially Tick of the Hourglass (until I find a better name). So welcome to the world baby tothau

LIML! JIMMY AND ESMP! JOEL:

I don't have much for them sadly. I think L!Jimmy is the happiest out of all the main cast, specifically because he buckles down and stays optimistic. He does have a couple moments where he breaks down, but he's able to recover. I can't decide wether or not for him to remember his final death, and to what degree (memories getting hazy and unrelaiable the closer to his death, clear up until the moment of impact, remembering tripping or going up there and nothing else). E!Joel is in a weird position- here's someone who looks like one of his friends, walks, talks, acts exactly like him- but isn't this worlds version of him. He is trying to find out how to get L!Jimmy back to his home, but at the same time want's him to stay. E!Jimmy lowkey hates him, and has been missing for a while (two weeks when L!Jimmy appears). This version of Jimmy is nice to him (like his version used to be) and loves his empire, and he feels guilty. He purposefully hinders himself from making progress on finding L!Jimmy a way home just so they can be together longer. He hides the existance of Tumble Town and the whole toy joke from L!Jimmy, and acitverly threatens anyone who trys to bring it up.

Ultimately, L!Jimmy finds one of the old dolls, and remarks on it looking like him. There's a bit of confrontation before Joel breaks down and tells him everything about E!Jimmy- the toy stuff, Tumble Town, how he's been missing. L!Jimmy is shocked, but after getting over, he immediately begins instructing E!Joel on how to repair their relationship once E!Jimmy is found/returns. Maybe E!Joel even takes L!Jimmy on a trip to Tumble Town (with copious amounts of disguising of course, the two Jimmy's look nearly identical which helps nothing) so he can understand E!Jimmy more.

ESMP! JIMMY AND LIML! JOEL:

Oh god. I can't even communicate the thoughts I have about them with words. Okay lets try

Both of them are extremely secretive about their pasts. All E!Jimmy knows is that L!Joel looks incredibly different (different eye color and streak color, different styles, different height) and that something happened to his Jimmy. Something maybe bad (doesn't know all the details) that made him burst out sobbing and tackle E!Jimmy into a hug when they first recovered from being tossed into the Twixt (what i'm calling the vanilla world they got marooned). And all L!Joel knows about E!Jimmy is that hes jumpy and very obivously traumatized. He doesn't like taking of his jacket (hiding any seams or articulated limbs) and has mentioned (a few times) someone or someones who made his life a living hell.

Eventually, after going on a rampage when E!Jimmy dies in front of him, E!Jimmy tells L!Joel that he want's to help him but can't if he doesn't know what happened. So L!Joel tells him all about Limited Life. Like everything. Even seeing L!Jimmy die and going crazy. E!Jimmy is shocked, but glad L!Joel told him, and actually avoids a few behavoirs after this (IE STANDING NEAR LARGE DROPS. JOEL'S HEAD NEARLY EXPLODED A FEW TIMES FROM STRESS)

It takes a couple days, but E!Jimmy (while checking some of L!Joel's wounds) finally tells him about Empires. He's really vague at first, just an overview like "oh, yeah, i got bullied and my body was literally transformed against my will", but L!Joel gets him cornered (idk in which way. physical or metaphoricaly) and makes him say everything. And boy does he say EVERYTHING. He breaks down sobbing (because no ones shown this level of caring for him in a bit) and tells him all about the toy stuff and his relationship with E!Joel. How he just wanted to be close to him and hoped that if he took the jokes, it would make them friends, but instead E!Joel just kept hurting him, and he couldn't ever fight back.

Long story short L!Joel gives multiple run downs to E!Jimmy on how to stand his ground and clearly draw his boundires. They're each others rock, each others constant only thing. It's incredibly adorable.

Woah that took me nearly an hour! I'm going to go make ramen and dumplings (its 1:30 am in my time zone rn). I hope this is enough lmao

[itsbenedict]

Games I Played In 2024 And Whether Or Not I Thought They Were Good (Part 1/?)

It's that time of year again! I wasted far too much time playing videogames, but at least I can tell you which of those videogames were worth playing and which ones weren't. Again!

(2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)

The Roottrees are Dead

It's... the comparisons that leapt to mind immediately were "like Her Story, but also like Return of the Obra Dinn", which it turns out were the two direct inspirations so that makes total sense. Your job is to piece together a huge, sprawling family tree, identifying the names, faces, relationships, and occupations of everyone therein. How? You've got a search engine you can enter search terms into, and bring up various webpages and documents detailing the lives of the Roottrees. As you fill in the blanks and make guesses, the game will confirm them in batches, Obra Dinn-style.

This core gameplay is already really engrossing, but along the way you'll pick up hints of a mystery underlying the Roottree family history, and figure out a bonus objective on top of just filling out the whole tree. It's extremely cool and unique, and The Fluteknees are Bread.

Bounty of One

This one was recommended to me by my kid brother. It's... fairly brainless? It's a roguelike where you're in an infinite empty desert, enemies come in from the sides of the screen to try and kill you, and if you shoot them you get powerups and money for upgrades. The character auto-aims at the nearest enemy while not moving, so all you have to worry about is dodging and selecting upgrades.

It's pretty fun! Lots of different toys with synergies that let you snowball in a few different directions. I find it great for like, putting on to give my hands something to do while I'm watching a show or listening to a podcast or something. Not too much else to say about it.

Misericorde

There's been a murder in a convent in 1400s England. The abbey's anchoress, the only person with an alibi (due to having been locked in a room her entire life), is tasked with covertly investigating by the Mother Superior, who believes the rest of the nuns are keeping secrets from her and covering things up.

She doesn't know the half of it.

Misericorde, currently unfinished, is chapter 1 of an episodic mystery VN, which is the only reason it's not my game of the year. It's got several strengths:

A great sense of atmosphere, with an extensive D&B-infused soundtrack that really gets across the protagonist's unease without being unpleasant to listen to.

Exceptional character designs, which manage to be distinctive and full of personality despite being in black and white and having every character be a nun wearing the exact same outfit the exact same way.

A dedication to historical accuracy, not flinching away from the realities and attitudes that would be present in a medieval English convent. Hedwig, our protagonist, is the stuffiest and most pedantic theology nerd of them all, and is constantly astonished by the irreverent-to-downright-debauched behavior of her "peers", largely forced into this life by circumstance. A really unique, harrowing, and sometimes hilarious perspective.

Despite this, impressively gay.

Good writing. Like good writing good writing. Not just structurally but on the prose level. Very important for a game that's 90% reading.

I'm not entirely sure how well the mystery aspect of it will shake out, since it's still in the setup phase and the whole thing isn't out yet, but all that aside, it's a joy to read anyway. Also Darcy is in it.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC

Yeah, I know. I shouldn't be rewarding Game Freak for their shitty business model and half-baked games. And you know what? You shouldn't either. These were bad.

Gameplay-wise... total nothingburgers. You know how Paldea was this ugly empty wasteland of airbrushed textures with no rewards for exploration, sprinkled with random pokémon spawns and trainer battles? They did another one of those. Two of those, kinda. The second one's Blueberry Academy map had a little more visual variety but ultimately was exactly as empty and unrewarding to explore as before. Zero-effort design as always.

The base game of SV had, I think, the best story a mainline pokémon game has ever had. They broke out the "dramatic legendary stuff", "fight an evil Team", and "do a Pokémon League journey" components into their own parallel things, and managed to make all of them more compelling than they've ever been.

The DLC... uh, doesn't, really. There's a couple fun new characters- Carmine and Kieran are entertainingly fucked-up- but Carmine gets sidelined almost immediately, and Kieran is the only thing the game has going for it storywise through the whole DLC. His story's kind of effective, but it can't carry the whole thing, and all the stuff about Ogerpon and Terapagos is underbaked and disjointed and anticlimactic. You're not really missing anything if you skip it. So skip it.

Cluefinders series

Did anyone else play these edutainment point-and-click adventure games as a kid? Sort of... Indiana Jones by way of Scooby-Doo? These were my jam back in the day, and I went back to them to see how they held up. And the answer is... uh, there's a surprising range of quality!

I ended up having way more to say about these than I thought I would, so here's a separate post about them. Overall, I don't know that I'd recommend any of them, unless you're an actual elementary schooler who needs to learn math and stuff.

And if you are- hey! You should not be reading my blog! This is not a website for children! I say swear words on here! Kind of a lot of them, actually! Your mom's gonna be mad at me, and neither of us want that!

Project Killdance

This was a... kind of cool tactics/action game? It's kind of Superhot but a deckbuilder, and that's... not really to its benefit. Copy-pasting my review from itch.io:

This is really polished and has some super cool moments, but I'm kind of hung up on... the core mechanic of it being at odds with the rest of the design. The tense action where you have to decide moment-by-moment how to not die that turn is great, and the action economy is a good abstraction for it... but ultimately, success or failure hinges almost entirely on Did You Have Enough Basic Moves In Hand. The overriding concern is always "is a bullet about to hit me?", and the answer is almost always "yes", and the solution is always "play a move"- which means, if you don't have one, all the rest of your planning doesn't matter, and you're dead.  Other deckbuilders have this core problem, of course, but they usually smooth over it with a health system that gives you a certain tolerance for failure. When it's an iterative system, building your deck properly you can lower the chance of being forced to take hits on your turn, and the outer game loop is about managing that risk. But... in a game like this, where a single failure means death, any significant random failure rate is a feel-bad. And the failure rate varies with the level design: the less cover, the more movement you need to be doing, but the incremental deckbuilder thing locks you into a certain proportion of offense to defense, forcing you to mulligan over and over to find viable hands. I do like the action economy aspect- keeping an eye on your AP and moves-in-hand to ensure you don't get stuck taking a breath at the wrong time is a good tactical challenge. The question is how to preserve that core challenge- making the most of limited and unpredictable options- without creating as many situations where all roads lead to dead. Maybe... separate decks for moves and attacks? Or the ability to slash enemy projectiles out of the air? More cover options in the level design? I'm not sure exactly what the right solution is, but I think you want something to cut down on "a big guy with a machine gun is immediately firing at you turn one and your opening hand doesn't let you move, RIP" moments. (Also- is there any significance to those Corrupted cards that sometimes show up in longer levels? I thought maybe relying on them gave you a bad ending, but I played through twice without using Corrupted cards the second time, and got the same outcome. Just a catchup mechanic for if you find yourself in a stalemate, or is there something else going on there?)

It's very short and manageable (and free), though- I think this is like, a prototype of something larger they're working on? Its length mean its flaws don't really get too annoying, and it's very stylish and fun when it works.

Pokémon Infinite Fusion

This was fantastic. This is the best Pokémon game, I think. The concept: You can take any two pokémon, and fuse them. Into one of two new fused pokémon, depending on which is the base and which is the head. It gets extremely wild extremely fast.

But more importantly, the game is very good. It's got so many QoL features! They've got HMs, but every HM in the game has a sidequest associated with it that earns you an item that substitutes for the HM- so you get the sort of teambuilding and moveset tradeoffs, but they're temporary, encouraging you to try out new stuff instead of locking you into the stuff that runs the HMs you need. And there's a proper speedup function, and there's these sidequests with really nice rewards in every town...

It's also hard to overstate how many custom fusion sprites there are. There's a huge community filling out a dex of the things, and more often than not there'll be a custom graphic for whichever unholy combo you come up with. The odds have presumably only risen over time, as the game's been continually updating since I played it. The stuff you can make is crazy cool.

My favorite is Honchvire. He is going to kill you to death.

Spiritfall

It's sort of... Hades meets Super Smash Bros. It's hard to come up with anything more to say than that, mechanically- that's exactly what it is. The combat system is a Smash-style platform fighter, but it's a roguelike where you acquire synergistic boons from different gods over the course of the run, and unlock different weapons with different movesets (and slight upgrades to said weapons) through the metaprogression.

And it works! If that concept sounds fun to you, then hey: it is! It's gorgeously animated, well-balanced, and has lots of optional challenges. It didn't really need to innovate- it smashed two known formulas for success together, executed with care and polish, and bam, the result is successful. Fun Video Game.

(Story's kinda nothing- a few months later, I literally can't remember if it had one. Some vague thing about souls and a sealed blight and you have to save the world or something? Didn't seem to be trying too hard, and didn't really need to.)

-

I got, um... 23 more games on this list, so I'll talk about the rest later.

[cheapsweets]

Was meaning to respond to this much, much earlier, but the last part of the year has been a thing, and I kinda crashed out hard as soon as I didn't have the weekly deadline 😅

Regarding these specific prompts, while I tended to enjoy the weeks where we were focused on one specific critter, I did honestly have a blast with this one - a really nice variety of creatures which is unusual, and we got some good descriptions for most of them too.

I'm honestly surprised that the Chraekhret didn't end up being a remora, but I must say, I always love the descriptions where it seems so obvious what the creature is once I know, but that I had honestly no idea when I was drawing from the prompt (Fatrihrukh, I'm looking at you 🐙🦑)

Looking at it a little wider, it honestly feels weird that I was drawing at least once a week, for over a year... I had a lot of fun, and it gave me something to focus on during a few times when I really needed it...

It's been interesting seeing my progression as the weeks progress, and I feel like drawing in a physical medium a) really helped me improve, and b) made sure I dropped any anxiety about getting things perfect/making mistakes. Coming to terms this year that making mistakes is how I learn best has made me enjoy the whole process a lot more.

I was vaguelly hoping to develop a 'style' out of this whole thing, but I ended up doing a lot more experimenting with different mediums and styles than I was expecting, so I think the real win for me is knowing that I can use drawing to communicate ideas (and also, you know, just being able to enjoy drawing for its own sake too!)

I've also got at least one drawing that I want to go back and ink, so hopefully I'll be posting that up at some point in the new year.

I wanted to say a big thank you for @maniculum for running these challenges (I know you front-loaded a lot of the work, but you still had to collate them every week and always had something interesting to say about each of the entries), really enjoyed it and really appreciate it! Also thank you to everyone else who took part, for showcasing your awesome art, for commenting, for being inspiring, and giving me pointers/recommendations here and there too (including the art books)!

If you've read this far, I'm also planning on posting a couple of art prompts myself, using the Exquisite Biome game system. It's not going to be weekly, and probably won't have a specific deadline on it, but if anyone else wants to have a go, I'll try and collate them as they come in 😊 Hopefully you don't mind me tagging you when I get the prompts posted up - at the very least, if you're note interested in drawing the prompts you might find more details about the game interesting!

Bestiaryposting Results: The Maritime Finale

This is definitely the last one of these, as it's rounding up a bunch of sea creatures I've missed. I assume by this point everyone who sees this knows what it's about, but just in case: https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting. (I'll get the rest of the entries on there soon.)

The entry people are working from is here:

The one for next week does not exist. (Also I apologize if I seem rushed, this is a busy week for me.)

Art below the cut!

@pomrania (link to post here) has us off on a weird start with their interpretation of the Fatrihrukh. I don't have any particular nostalgia for rage-face comics (I was online during that era, just not in circles where they were common), but honestly this made me smile. Also I like imagining some fisherman on a dock, still sitting in a normal pose and holding his fishing rod, just full-throat screaming at the sky, apparently apropos of nothing in particular. This is a fun one, is what I'm saying.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has an uncanny ability to make me think, "sure, that looks like an animal that could be real" even when they're drawing something like Fish With Tentacles, which I am 99% sure is not a thing. Though if fish did have tentacles, they would look like that. This is of course also the Fatrihrukh; apparently people like that one.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has done the whole set. A lot of these turned out really well -- I think the Ormlalaehr is stealing the show here, but the Bursgaenga is pretty darn cute. The linked post has details on each of them, which I recommend checking out. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) continues to impress with their delightful art style. Love the little space-invader Magtlegyegs, and the Lungyoggeas are just... wild. Extremely cool looking. (Also, thank you for providing alt text.)

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) joins the broad consensus that if you're only drawing one of these, it's the Fatrihrukh. I love the (medieval-art-appropriate) choice to give it human-like parts since the entry doesn't say otherwise. The colors are also really pretty; I like the effect on the background.

Okay. Aberdeen Bestiary. No illustrations for this one -- this whole section is just blocks of text.

Ahrmegyaeb

The wording is ambiguous as to whether whales and dolphins also do this -- but the creature in question is the seal. I have no idea how this works; either baby seals are way smaller than I think or I have completely the wrong idea about how seal mouths look.

Bursgaenga

This one is of course the scarus or escarius, which does not exist. Bestiary.ca notes that Scarus is a genus of parrotfish in modern taxonomy, and that the Rackham translation of Pliny the Elder has decided they are wrasse. No idea how well that reflects medieval understanding.

Chraekhret

Another one that doesn't exist, the echenais. Apparently Pliny has heard of some magical applications in love-charms, litigation, and obstetrics. The fish that anchors ships is a good addition to a fantasy setting, I think.

Dhrakyetor

Naturally the fish that looks like a serpent is the eel. More spontaneous generation, too, which is always nice. I swear I've heard that "giant eels in the Ganges" line somewhere before, but can't place it.

Eavbechtgi

Here we have the lamprey. I kind of wonder if this "head vs. tail" thing has something to do with its unusual head shape?

Fatrihrukh

Honestly I probably should have redacted the "many-footed" thing, because the name given is polippus, which... yeah, that actually tracks. I thought maybe this was the result of someone not bothering to actually count the limbs on an octopus, but it's apparently an obsolete umbrella term for octopus, squid, cuttlefish... all manner of tentacled cephalopod.

Griggkhraz

This is the torpedo, which is some fun etymology. The modern usage of torpedo is inherited from non-self-propelled naval mines, which were named after this torpedo, an electric ray. (Presumably they named mines after it because it hides itself & zaps you if you accidentally step on it.) The rays were named for their effect on people whom they zap: torpidus, 'numb'. This is of course cognate with English torpid. Which is a strange word to be cognate with the thing you shoot at boats.

Also:

...if a torpedo from the Indian sea is touched by a spear or rod, even from a considerable distance, the muscles of the fisherman's arms, even if they are very strong, grow numb...

Would that work if it were a metal rod?

Hretchngin

This is the crab. I did not know all of that about crabs, especially the basil thing.

Khaboghrad

Meet the sea urchin. That's why it specifies "the maritime kind" -- the other kind of urchin is a hedgehog. I don't know why the author calls it "worthless and contemptible", especially since they go on to say it can do this really cool thing. Just seems unnecessarily mean.

Lungyoggea

This one is just shellfish. All of them, apparently. The words given are conca and concle -- Latin concha covers shellfish in general.

Magtlegyeg

Naturally the pearl-bearing shellfish is the oyster, but I love the imagery of oysters going ashore to be fertilized by dew from heaven. The idea of going out at night to watch the oysters migrate onto land and catch the dew is another thing I'm taking note of for a fantasy setting.

Nolthrigyo

Someone probably clocked this one: it's the murex snail, source of the famous "tyrian purple" dye.

Ormlalaehr

Really pushing the definition of "fish" here is... the tortoise. Technically also the turtle, I guess, since the author specifies that this includes land and sea varieties. This is, I think, one that makes total sense once you know what it is, so we're moving on to our last one, which is also really pushing the "what is a fish" envelope...

Riggmungku

This is the frog, also obvious once you see it. The fact that it's being called a fish really throws you off, though, I think.

And that's the whole lot. This has been fun, but I'm also glad to have it completed. (Well, completed with the exception of any responses to this one I've missed or that came in late.) Thanks to everyone who's been looking in on this project -- thanks doubly to everyone who contributed -- and thanks triply to the handful of people who drew something practically every week.

[cryptidcave-dweller]

When your older brother is still shorter than you despite him having years to grow up

Diego: You haven't grown at all!

Five: I'm sick of it- It's always the same damn joke every time I visit you!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 3: Enveloping Feelings.

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 4)

[soybean-official]

It's going to hurt every time

[icewindandboringhorror]

Little bright colored outfit with a fun vest ~

(shoes from ebay like 10 years ago. everything else is thrifted)

[sysig]

I think the world is so wonderful... (Patreon)