#I've always loved maps and illustrations

[1863-project]

I've been thinking a lot lately about my experiences as an autistic adult and how difficult certain things actually have been for me, and one of the things that really hit me recently was how I can tell the patrons at the library I work at are judging me. They say things to me they'd never say to my co-workers, because my co-workers seem "normal" to them. But I can think of two different cases in the last year or so that really stand out to me that illustrate this.

The first was a patron who wanted the writing address of the governor of New Hampshire. I found it and went to write it down for her. She didn't want it that way, she wanted it printed. Of course, Wikipedia wasn't going to print well, and she was starting to get difficult about it, so I came up with a solution - I'd type it into a Word document and print it for her. I was excited that I'd come up with something, and I enthusiastically expressed this excitement by raising the volume of my voice. She decided I was "weird," told me so to my face, and left instead of letting me help her.

More recently, I showed similar excitement when showing a patron how to use Google Maps, excitedly reassuring her that we'd do it together and that I wasn't going to just tell her to do something she didn't know how to do. This patron told me my enthusiasm made me seem "like a schoolgirl." I deflated immediately, pointed out I was actually 34 years old, and did everything else with an extremely dampened mood.

Being an autistic adult in the workplace - or anywhere - is an uncomfortable experience. The first patron decided I was scary. The second patron infantilized me. The dichotomy of being an autistic adult is that some people decide you're uncanny and scary and some people decide you're actually a child. Both are microaggressions. Both are ableism. The third option is, of course, to mask so well they can't tell, and then get told "But you don't seem autistic!" when you drop the big reveal on them (if you do). There's no winning here.

I think, often, of Ingo and Emmet, autistic adults who, like me, are in the workplace, are really good at their jobs and take them seriously, and are really enthusiastic about what they do. I think about what sorts of things people must say to them, about the judgment they likely experience from passengers and trainers. I think about how gratifying it must be for them to repeatedly face trainers like Hilda, who only cares about battling and not who she's up against, because in those moments there's no judgment, just Pokemon battles. Just as my regular patrons who know me and are okay with me are a comfort to me, so too must their returning trainers be one to them, a beacon of acceptance in a world that refuses to understand.

I think sometimes about how I can't go into the tags for these characters that are just like me, because there's content that treats them the way the real world treats me. It isn't all of the things people make, but it's enough that I can't take the chance of looking myself, because you never know. It's been this way since 2010, and it shows no signs of stopping. I think about how all fandoms have this problem, about how many people experience this, and it hurts deep in my chest. I wish desperately for a kinder world in which people like me aren't treated as "weird" because we're enthusiastic about work, because we don't have volume control, because we can't mask, because we're not like most people.

I do what I've always done - I generally just talk about the things I like with trusted friends who also like the things I like. It's safer that way. I don't have to worry about stumbling upon the things I already experience in real life. If my friends find something safe, they bring it to me, a wonderful show of kindness and affection that I am always deeply grateful for.

I just wish I lived in a world that thought about how things affect people more, about how a respectful portrayal can give someone hope and help them love the person in the mirror. But every "unhinged" or "scary" depiction of normal autistic traits reminds me how far we still have to go, how Autism Speaks and other hate groups still dominate the narrative even as they fade into the background.

Everyone can do what they want in fandom, but it's supposed to be an inclusive space, not an alienating one, and I think it's good to be thoughtful. You never know who you may be helping or hurting.

[pastelcheckereddreams]

"I don't want to go to the safehouse alone. Guess I'll bring a pet to keep me company."

Are you surprised? Really, are you surprised?? This won't be a full series, I just wanted to do something for the kprewatch event and set maps are what I do best 🤷‍♀️ Especially because it involves watching the same episodes again and again very, very closely and going insane, which seems appropriate for all the brainrot VegasPete have caused me. The complete design:

Silly little observations below the cut, but also have this diagram that illustrates where all the scenes take place relative to the aerial shot from episode 11:

If you'd be interested in prints, let me know! I may end up having a crack at a more substantial safehouse piece. A front elevation view would be so interesting to put together.

Reblogs are encouraged, reposts are not. This piece is now crossposted to my instagram account here. Check out my cdrama set maps and other art at the links/socials below: The Untamed (ongoing): The Jingshi | The Hanshi | Lotus Pier Word of Honor: Four Seasons Manor (in progress) instagram | kofi | inprnt

A small note on my design choices/silly little observations: 1) The room where Pete is kept appears to be smaller and squarer than it is in the aerial shot. I'm guessing it's to accommodate the mood lighting and to give the room a more claustrophobic/cage-like feel. I've attempted to depict that empty space above relative to the dimensions of the birdseye view.

2) I'm not entirely sure there actually is a bit of a bump-out for the unseen room that makes up part of the main living space, but the apparent interior corner in the far right of this shot makes me think there might be:

3) There's fresh herbs growing in a planter by the fridge and I think we should all think about Vegas planting them and watering them and cooking with them:

4) There is one single shot of the bedroom where there might (a big might) be an armchair next to the bed at one point and I ran with it for personal headcanon reasons:

5) What is in this mystery room at the back of this shot?? There seems to be a welcome mat or something put down? Is that the true entryway?? A bathroom? A utility room? I don't know nearly enough about vernacular Thai architecture to make an accurate guess:

Anddd that's it, that's about all I've got for this blorbo house! As always, thank you for your support 🙏Feel free to yell about this location in the tags, I'd love to hear your thoughts and maybe improve my design.

[dinkythings]

Happy birthday Wandering Isle!

My homebrew D&D campaign, the very first I ever started running, turns 2 years old today - and it's showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. Looking back on everything my players and I have gone through together in this time, I know it'll always have a special place in my heart no matter what. At the risk of being an incredibly corny baby DM I just want to take a minute to celebrate this thing that's become so important to me.

I put a lot of love and time and energy into this story - as an artist that's kind of inevitable I suppose... I use pre-made materials to help me as well, but in the 2 years we've been playing I've made:

45 NPC portraits:

14 combat maps:

6 combat tokens:

Two city maps:

Two world maps:

Three full-party poster illustrations

... and dozens more random pieces of concept art and illustrations of my PCs, NPCs and the moments we've shared together.

In all, starting a campaign has been an incredible way to channel all of my creative energy, and I don't think I could ever do without nowadays. Happy 2nd birthday to From the Wandering Isle, here's to 2 more!

[goblincow]

401% FUNDED | ONLY 5 DAYS TO GO!!

Field Agent Handbooks: Observancy Dept. 1924–28

Sharpen your ESP skills and seek out suspicious activity as a pendulum-dowsing Field Agent

This set of four Field Agent Handbooks are an always-on solo RPG/LARP to play with when out and about. They’re created as in-world artefacts from the 1920s, made for you to note your observations about the world around you through a lens of suspicion. 

1924 – Revolution

We suspect the animal kingdom of plotting a revolution and you are here to help us understand their devices.

Our mission in the Observancy Department is to spot any such behaviour or signs of suspicious activity, note them down, and draw our conclusions.

Additional pages include:

Blank map with grid references

Table of potential signs of revolutionary activity

List of weather types and symbols for notation

1925 – Leviathan

The age of flight may still be in its infancy but we have heard worrying reports from our aeroplane and dirigible pilots of glimpses of giant beasts roaming the aether, just out of sight.

Our fresh mission is to observe the clouds, look for unusual shadows & formations, and attempt to discern the activity and anatomy of these sky-bound leviathan.

Additional pages include:

Common anatomy of leviathan (hypothesised)

Illustrated chart with types of clouds and symbols for notation

Illustrated chart for estimating distance to horizon

Table to identify the Beaufort Number for the wind

List of weather types and symbols for notation

1926 – Communication

While we looked upward, we didn't think to concern ourselves with the growing cacophony in our very own gardens, forests, and fields.

Our mission turns to our leafy neighbours to see if we can understand their speech and intuit their meaning throughout each season.

Additional pages include: 

Signs and shapes to look out for

Size estimation chart

List of weather types and symbols for notation

1928 – Giants

From the landscape sprung the flowers, but who formed the landscape? Newly uncovered texts indicate the folklore might be true and giants may have indeed roamed and shaped the earth.

Our mission is to lower our gaze to the ground to identify oddly shaped mounds, mimetoliths (rocks resembling faces), gouged earth, and suspicious urban planning decisions. Under the hills there may be sleeping colossus.

Additional pages include:

Signs to look out for

Common rock types

How to draw landforms & rocks in an isometric fashion

I wanted to shine a light on this project because I met Luke at Dragonmeet in December '23 and fell in love with the way he thinks about RPGs, graphic design and play/ritual/thinking-the-world in his games!

I can't recommend this project enough and I've been waiting excitedly to support it and see it succeed! It really represents everything I think is special about RPGs and the things I also want to explore in this design space *and art movement* and if you have any interest in TTRPGs beyond the scope of dungeon games, Luke is making some of the freshest and most evocative design you can find in the entire medium.

Everything you see here is directly from the kickstarter. Go back it! I promise you'll be glad you did, there are few more unique and inspiring things you could spend your money on in TTRPGs right now!

[leidensygdom]

well @voidsteeth has given me the power to ramble a bit more. PLEASE ignore the cat in that picture, for some goddamn reason it's the only way tumblr let me post this goddamn picture. it's a nice kitty, mind you

Up above, some really loose logo/main pic ideas for it! Excuse my terrible handwriting. Let me do it bullet-point format since it helps my adhd pin down stuff

So, it's gonna be a RPG. I wanna figure some fun gimmick and I surprisingly have a bunch of that well fleshed out! (Part of it revolving the elemental system, concerning Flesh/Memory/Mind/Matter/Soul). I'm not a huge fan of the repetitive encounter "smash everything in front of you" format. I'm going to be using RPG Maker MZ. My partner has a lot of experience with that, which should help a lot!

Inspired by a bit of a mix of classic JRPGs and more recent indie RPGs, specially Rpg Maker stuff. I've been raised watching my dad play the old Final Fantasy games (which I love dearly, specially IX, X and VII), but I've ended up loving the more recent indie scene myself (OFF, Oneshot, Undertale/Deltarune, Everhood)

(I'm gonna be playing more RPG Maker games to help with inspiration and knowing how much I can bend the system- Please feel free to recommend me some!)

Set in a sort of high fantasy setting, and it takes a bunch of stuff from the one I run my current DnD campaign in. I think it will feel familiar to DnD/PF players, but I'm going all in with my own worldbuilding! I wanna set myself apart from these.

I want to have a sort of in-game illustrated encyclopedia because I really dig that. I liked the way OFF used images here and there to add to the lore. I just love the idea of being able to collect pages and learn more on the way. I've sketched the ones for the elements already!

Themes will spin around friendship and human connection, eldritch horror flavoured stuff, and some temporal shenanigans too. It will also tackle on the importance of understanding the past- The story will put some focus on how people are too busy pillaging a ruined city to understand what actually destroyed it in the first place. Which, well, it's the kinda thing to have consequences.

I'm planning to work on this on my free time, and once it has a nice shape (and perhaps a playable demo), I may consider having a Kickstarter to complete it. I'm fairly confident I can handle (with enough time) most of the parts of it. I just need to get a bit familiar with pixel art (for the maps). I used to do that ages ago! I'm also familiar enough with programming and have done small web-games in the past.

The one thing I am absolutely not qualified enough for is music. I wanna try honing my skills but- Oh boy. (on that note, if you know of small musicians that are open for commissions, do let me know! Just as a very preliminary view)

also you can bet this is gonna be really LGBTQ+ themed. I wanna also take the chance to maybe sprinkle in some of my heritage's stuff, I've wanted to do that for ages!

I'm of course always open for specific questions about this. I'm really excited to work on it and help my mental health on the way. I'll do my best to share some concept art, mock ups and such as I get it more fleshed out! I have some enemies pinned down and I think people will really enjoy these designs : )

[sillystringsimpsons]

THE D'AMICO CRIME FAMILY RELATIONSHIP MAP.

Content warnings: brief mention of sexual abuse, cartoon imagery of blood, cigars, cigarettes, discussion of struggling to transition, discussion of physical trauma. This AU is centred around a criminal organisation and by default involves mature themes.

Over hours, through a painstaking design process, I created an illustrated map detailing the relationships between frontal characters in my Simpsons alternate universe, The Good Ones. A lot of love and effort has been put into this, so I hope you guys like it! If there are any characters you'd like to see drawn, just let me know.

More info and close ups of icons beneath cut!

I know I always say this, but interactions, especially questions would mean SOSOSOSOSOSOSO much to me, as I've put so much thought into this and would LOVE to yap to interested people about it. I know art is done for oneself, but it feels really good to share my creations and hyperfixations with the Simpsons community :)

For every character, I drew a little icon and wrote a line of dialogue, in order to give some inside into their personality and traits in a concise way. A few further explanations and elaborations are given below!

Valentina 'Tits' Albertini Her icon is a visual pun, featuring two Great Tits drawn in the colours of the transgender flag.

Aside from Memphis, Valentina is the only other explicitly genderqueer character in the AU's focus (Lucy-Mae is heavily implied to fall under the nonbinary umbrella, but she never personally feels the need to explore it further, and is happy with identifying as female). Her former nickname was a play on how ballsy of a person she is within the mafia - though Cora is a wildcard, she makes very rash decisions: Valentina is both calculated and bold, and her current nickname is a crude (fittingly), but well-spirited adaptation introduced by Memphis. After coming out, she experiences backlash from Tony, who is concerned her late transition will impact the image of the mob. Memphis, being a trans man, asks him why Valentina is any different from himself, and in the heat of the moment, Tony exclaims that half the people in their own family have no idea that he's transgender, which leads to some tension between the two. Tits' main character arc revolves around her exploration of gender and gender expression, and the character that plays the biggest role in it is Tony's son, Michele (purposefully drawing parallels between Tony and Memphis' own relationship, and showing social change between generations).

Michele 'Softfoot Mikey' D'Amico His icon is a nod to his (in this AU) love of ballet, and how he uses it to his advantage in his role as an underboss.

Michele is a simple evolution on Tony's canon son, Michael D'Amico. In this AU, he's been aged up to 23, and instead of having an unconventional love for cooking, has an unconventional love for ballet dance. Most all of his other traits have been kept the same, however, aside from the obvious fact that he's more rational and mature than his in-canon counterpart. He's straight, but is portrayed as very effeminate - and comfortably so. Mikey really just is a girlboss who never fails to (sometimes literally) slay.

Cora 'Connie the Howler' Mezzasalma Her icon plays on her nickname, portraying a dog with some of her key characteristics, such as a matching necklace given to her by her adoptive brother, as well as a splatter of blood - presumably from one of her usual 'errors'. Her nickname refers to the colloquial term howler, meaning a laughable mistake.

Frankie's awkward adoptive sister of Greek origin, Cora was initially made with the sole purpose of providing a dynamic for Frankie, outside of his relationship with Johnny (which is still the primary relationship explored), but she really grew as a character. Initially I made the name 'Connie the Howler' on the fly as a sort of female version of 'Frankie the Squealer', but I ended up actually putting the effort in to rationalise it and bring it into her character. The result was an awesome little dynamic between two characters who were equally stupid, but in very different ways. She may be responsible for a number of incorrect hits, as well as a good few accidental deaths and injuries, but at the end of the day, she's a silly girl at heart who really synergises with her brother's anxious energy.

Maximus 'Legs' Legman & Luis 'Louie' Walters Both of their icons refer to an car accident the both of them got into, wherein Legs, ironically, suffered severe damage to his legs (resulting in the amputation of his left one), and Louie underwent significant cranial trauma.

The two do admittedly have a closer relationship because of the shared experience, though they both experience significant impacts. Notably, Louie develops Broca's aphasia (yes, I know the injury is on the wrong side, that's my bad), a form of non-fluent aphasia where one's quality of speech and grammatical structure is significantly diminished - even though the words are in your head, you cannot get them out, usually due to damage to the area of the brain responsible for the production of speech. Louie really struggles in the aftermath, and has a difficult time adapting to his disability. Thankfully, he's got his friend there to help him through it.

[sancta-seraphina]

Can yo u talk about some of the changes please? Just curious! but only if their not too spoilery

Hi anon,

I want to start this by saying I really did love the old 2019 version of Holiest. I think it's better now, but I loved that original version.

Actually, the longevity of the project is something a lot of people might not know about, so I wouldn't mind commenting on that, but after I answer the question.

About the chapters themselves:

One of the immediate changes for previous readers is that the entirety of the first chapter has been rewritten. It is much longer.

Chapters 2 through 5 have been reworked to accommodate for the removal of some characters (a separate topic).

Chapters 6, 7, and 8... I decided I didn't like, so those have been rewritten too. The content itself stayed the same. I just didn't like the writing, I felt it no longer reflected my writing style. I kept some things where I could suffer them, though. They also have some sparkly new scenes, which I will talk about below.

Chapter 9 is currently planned to be the same, however, I may just decide that I hate it. In which case, it will suffer the same fate as 6, 7, and 8 (same content, just rewritten).

As mentioned, a huge change was the removal of some of the characters who were, in my opinion, complicating and distracting from the story. This also included reducing the number of POVs (some scenes were simply rewritten to be from a different POV). Currently we have Lucifer as the main POV of the story for obvious reasons, with other scenes from the POV of Beelzebub, Jehoel, and newly, Metatron. The only thing that upsets me about this is that those characters who were removed were female, and my cast does not satisfy me in terms of having a lot of female characters.

Metatron is another significant change. Previously, he was only in three (3) scenes in the entire story, because I didn't actually need him until the last chapters despite him being so important (unlike The Harrowing, where he has a prominent role, Lord save us). But Metatron became really popular on my instagram, so I decided to work in more scenes with him and also to write from his POV [which you can get a preview of in today's excerpt].

The plot? Is the same. The worldbuilding? Also the same.

The map? I'm ignoring it (by which I mean procrastinating), BUT I've also made additional maps for the novel that can be previewed on my [patreon]. The illustrations? Uh, are not going to be the same and I'm kicking myself for it.

The method of publication? Totally different, it's no longer free—it's going to be a physical book now.

Anyways I hope that answered your question without spoiling too much.

The other thing that I wanted to discuss is the longevity of the project.

Although I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself right now to get the novel back out there, Holiest is nothing new, both to my long-term followers (hello to anyone who knew me in grad school or earlier, and also to all those who re-followed me upon changing blogs), and also to my life in general. It didn't have a name until 2016 or 2017 (I forget which), but my main character, yes I'm talking about Lucifer, literally dates back to 2007 and I still have my first drawing of him with that timestamp. Maybe I'll be brave enough to share it one day.

And the story has always had the same themes, even from its beginning days in '07, '08, and '09: with a heavy emphasis on mental illness/psychosis (of the devil in particular), angels in Hell, and Revelation-inspired visions/hallucinations.

As mentioned, the novel itself was completed in 2018 (I did not write during college/grad school due to lack of time, and I graduated in 2015. I do have endless artworks of the characters from throughout my time in college) and I began publishing in August of 2019. Also my patreon itself dates back to 2017.

But I like to take my time when creating, don't outsource my illustrations to others (please understand how much time art takes), and I am a company dancer in a ballet. So yes, it has been over five years now since first putting it online.

Anyways, although it's been updated, it is not changing in terms of what it is, it has been here for a VERY long time (which others can attest to), and it is also NOT going away.

[emyn-arnens]

Hi i was just wondering if there are any resources you recommend for writing fics? For names, maps, info about characters and places, anything like that.

I love your blog by the way and your fics are awesome!

Thanks, anon!

I've put together a list of some of my favorite resources that cover the topics you're asking about, with a few extra favorites thrown in. I’ve included both resources that stick purely to canon and worldbuilding resources that expand on canon but are not strictly canon (these are marked with an asterisk). There’s some overlap between some of these resources, but I’ve often found that if I can’t find what I need from one website, another one probably has what I’m looking for.

I’ve broken the resources down into general resources, Silm resources, and LOTR resources for ease of reading. It's a lengthy list, so I've put it below a read more.

And of course, although all of these are good, canon-based resources, it’s always best to verify the information against the source text and double check quotes and citations.

GENERAL RESOURCES

Sources not specific to Silm or LOTR.

Arms and Armour of the Eldar: This webpage lists relevant quotes from Tolkien’s writing about the weapons and armor of the Elves. It predominantly focuses on the First Age but does go into the Third Age.

@askmiddlearth: This blog is a great general reference for all things Tolkien. Although no longer active, the blog has many great guides about the people groups and cultures of Middle-earth, as well as a slew of information accessible from the blog’s tag list about events and time periods, places, races/people/cultures, characters, languages, and objects. 

The Atlas of Middle-earth: The Atlas of Middle-earth contains maps of Arda during the First, Second, and Third Ages. There are also maps focusing on the events of The Hobbit and LOTR, as well as thematic maps illustrating the landforms, climate, vegetation and population, and languages of Middle-earth. I have the physical copy of this because I use it all the time and love looking through it just for the sake of looking through it. If you don’t have a copy of this, you can find a lot of Karen Wynn Fonstad’s maps online. @askmiddlearth has shared a number of them on their blog.

Do note, though, the inconsistencies and errors in some of the maps, identified and listed at the Tolkien Gateway link above.

The Dwarrow Scholar*: The Dwarrow Scholar has many resources about Khuzdul and neo-Khuzdul (a fan-created expansion of the language heavily inspired by Semitic languages). The site also has worldbuilding resources covering Dwarven holidays, feasts, seasons, folklore, traditions, marriage customs, succession customs, food, naming conventions, and much more. 

Encyclopedia of Arda: The Encyclopedia of Arda has thousands of articles covering topics from Tolkien’s world. It also has a searchable chronicle to discover what happened on a particular date, a calendar to translate dates and events, a glossary of archaic and unusual words in Tolkien’s works, a lexicon of names (mainly in the Elvish languages), and more. 

Flora of Middle-earth: I don’t yet own this book, so I can’t personally speak to its usefulness, but it covers all of the plants mentioned or described in Tolkien’s work. It addresses climate zones and plant communities, plant morphology, plant identification, the Two Trees, and the plants of Middle-earth.

Henneth-Annûn Research Center: Henneth-Annûn is a goldmine for quickly finding all of the information given in canon about a character, place, thing, etc. You can search for timeline events, character bios, places, and things, and the site will display all relevant passages from the book that address your search term. There is also an A-Z index of characters, places, things, and events. (There is a full-text Boolean search as well, but at the time of posting this, it doesn’t work.)

LOTR Project: LOTR Project has created timelines and interactive maps for the events of the Silm, The Hobbit, and LOTR. The site has also compiled statistics on the demographics of Arda’s various people groups.

Parf Edhellen*: Parf Edhellen is a dictionary of all of Tolkien’s invented languages, with an emphasis on Elvish languages. Parf Edhellen imports other trusted Tolkien sites’ dictionaries into its own, so it has a vast number of words listed. You can filter your searches by language and time period (when Tolkien created/reworked the language), parts of speech, and the website they were taken from. There are reconstructions (fan-created words formed using Tolkien’s language rules) in the dictionary, but they can be filtered out if you would prefer not to use them.

RealElvish.net*: RealElvish.net provides a slew of resources about Tolkien’s languages (and for more languages than just Sindarin and Quenya), including name lists, phrasebooks, pronunciation guides, and word lists. The site’s Trustworthy Websites page is also worth perusing for links to more sites focusing on Tolkien’s languages.

Tolkien Gateway: Tolkien Gateway is well-known in the fandom as a Tolkien wiki with articles on almost anything you can imagine, but I want to highlight its Silm timeline (covering the days before days, the Years of the Trees, the First Age, and the Second Age), Third Age timeline, and Fourth Age timeline. All of the years listed in the timelines can be clicked on to get a more detailed breakdown of the events that happened that year, which is especially helpful when writing about Third Age events. 

SILM RESOURCES

Sources specifically focusing on the First and Second Ages, including Tolkien’s writings beyond the Silm.

@melestasflight's food and cuisine worldbuilding posts*: Melesta’s posts cover both Valinor and Beleriand.

@outofangband's societal and environmental worldbuilding posts*: Outofangband’s societal posts cover people groups in general, fashion, food, education, architecture, festivals, traditions, and more. Their environmental worldbuilding posts cover Beleriand’s flora and fauna, rivers and streams, lakes and springs, forests, marshes, geography, and more.

Silmarillion Writers’ Guild's character biographies: The SWG has an index of character biographies covering many of the characters in the Silm and Tolkien’s other First and Second Age writings. Very useful for a quick refresh about a character or for learning about more obscure characters. (Alternate link to the old site, which lists the characters in alphabetical order.)

LOTR RESOURCES

Sources specifically focused on LOTR and the Third and Fourth Ages.

The Logistics of Minas Tirith*: This short essay by Anders Blixt addresses the logistics of food supply to and distribution within Minas Tirith and poses possible solutions.

Shire of the Hobbits: Shire of the Hobbits has many resources about the Shire, including hobbit customs, typical food and drink, hobbit history, hobbit names and meanings, and a list of hobbit sayings. The site also has information about hobbit calendars and chronology, the various writings produced in the Shire, and the Shire’s geography.

The Religious Rituals of the Dúnedain of Gondor*: This essay by Michael R. Hickman explores canon information about the Dúnedain’s religious customs and ceremonies and uses that information to expand on how those religious customs and ceremonies might look in Fourth Age Gondor under Aragorn’s rule. I haven’t yet read all of the way through the essay, but it is well-cited, using an array of Tolkien’s texts on the subject.

Travel Times in Middle-earth*: This site has generic info about how long it would take to travel in Middle-earth (focusing on major Third Age locations), based on the mode of travel. There is also a table that lists the time it would take to travel from one location to another. The table is incomplete but still very helpful.

[dandelion-jester]

Writblr Intro:

Hello All!!!

I've been meaning to do a proper intro so better late then never!

Who Am I?

You can call me Dandelion. I'm 22 years old, I use they/them pronouns, I'm English and I am a queer, trans, neurodivergent fantasy writer. I've not had anything published yet but it's my aim.

I have a background in theatre and circus so performing arts tend to turn up in my work. I also love making maps and studying conlangs! I do a lot of art and reading as hobbies, but my favourite pass time is playing dnd!

What Do I Write?

I write mainly fantasy, but also scifi and historical fiction. I also dabble in poetry and I would like to learn how to write for games and screen at some point. For now though, it's all novel writing as far as the eye can see.

My favourite trope to write is found family (I blame all the dungeons and dragons I play). I also write a lot of queer characters and try to diversify my casts as much as possible. My work tends to be very character driven although I do love world building a lot, especially building different cultures and places. I'm best st dialogue and really struggle with building plots. I also have a deep love for history, specifically the 1700s and Anglo saxon - medieval Britain, so that's usually finds its way into my work as well.

You can find my work on Patreon here

What Do I Read?

Unsurprisingly, it's mostly fantasy. I used to read over 100 books a year, but university made me hit a massive reading slump which I've been slowly recovering from. So the main thing keeping me going right now is Robin Hobb, although ive only got a few of her books left! I also listen to a lot of audiobooks.

My WIPs:

Information on my current work is under the break!!

Feypocalypse

Feypocalypse is a queer, fantasy horror comic set in medieval England following the events of a Fey Apocalypse in the 1300s. It follows a group of knights trying to survive in a world that has been turned into a Fey hunting ground, whilst protecting the Changeling child they accidentally adopted. The current plan is eight issues, to be published on Patreon and then printed as a complete novel at the end! It will be written by myself and illustrated by my amazing co-creator @withlovefromthecrowss.

The Legend of The Rat Bastards (vols. 1 & 2)

Now available to read on my patreon!

I recently finished playing in a Curse of Strahd campaign that lasted about 2 years and was one of the best dnd experiences of my life. So of course, I decided to write it up in novel form so that I and the other players could always return to it. Our paladin was an extremely detailed note taker so I've been borrowing their notes. It's currently the longest piece of writing I’ve ever done and I add to it every day. It's from the pov of my character, a human necromancer called Sepulcrave who has a pretty crazy character arc and it's my current main WIP, even though its a personal project.

Eye of the Falcon King (working title)

A secondary-world medieval fantasy novel about identity, rebellion, and manipulation. In a world where some few people have the ability to shape-shift into birds, the king seeks out these people to be his personal servants, messengers and spies. Turik is a young boy able to turn into a falcon and becomes a member of the King's circle. But after a tragedy befalls his best friend it begins to become apparent that the king is not as benevolent as he seems and Turik must come to terms with the knowledge that his reality is a lie. This book is about breaking free from manipulative forces, the ways invisible disabilities are ignored and pushed aside, and mostly about how the monarchy is terrible. Also queer people because all my stories have queer characters.

Otherlings (working title)

It's 1875 and Eliza Farthing's twin brother Alexander has just reappeared in her life after seven years. Except he's not her twin, he's her changeling. And Eliza isn't always Eliza, sometimes he's Francis. The world's of the two twins - one fey, one queer - are about to become very intertwined against their wishes. The two have to fight against their family, the police, a morally corrupt scientist, inter-community distrust, and their own dislike for each other, or both of them will never regain the lives they so desperately need and desire. Also there's a circus. The book deals with identity, secrecy, hatred, and community. It's a book about found family, about accepting yourself and others, about not needing to be seen to exist and be worth something. Mostly it's about sticking together despite your differences.

So that's my current WIPs! I'll add more as I get them, but that's all for now! Thank you for taking an interest in my work and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me an ask :)

Tags I use

#legend of the rat bastards, #eye of the falcon king, #ask dandelion-jester #feypocalypse #otherlings novel

[halevren]

FHJY Spoilers || my live thoughts as I watch episode 8

I am playing tomodachi life as I watch this. if anyone is curious, I named my island Yorb Island. I just restarted it

IT'S OUR TIME IT'S OUR YEAR

The lip syncing

see you at basrars! goodnight everyone

"Confirmed to be dead" NO. she is confirmed to not be on the mortal plane, perhaps she simply is chilling in the astral realm (I don't want her to be actually dead she looks too lovely)

licking baby..... :(

the lobster bisque

"Gorgug's roots of never being good" CRYING

I feel adaine right now. I am in such a point where I am very antisocial

glassblowing!!!

This disadvantage stuff is actually making me stressed

There's something beautiful about the bad kids not really caring that Kristen doesn't have magic, they still love her. A true "would you still love me if I was a worm?" She has nothing to offer right now, and yet, her friends move her more than anything

Riz can't focus :(

LYDIA 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

OH NO.... ADAINE.....

A d100???????????????????

91?!?!!?! oh no

ADAINE?!!?!??

FLASH OF RED??????? HUH???? WHAT??? WHAT IS GOING ON??

Not Cassandra???? Familiar scream???

"Maybe it's not your fault at all"

"Yeah I definitely killed her..."

Fiendish aura??

"I out wretchrot on it!" "oh good..."

"I thought it was because he was a straight man wearing the pride armor"

"Are you talking about emo music...?"

Lala Embers..

AW DON'T CRY

I feel like the cup of tea..... would be the worst idea

"All drums welcome!"

"What the fuck are we doing?"

there's a nudity tent

There's nothing wrong with a body 🔥

CASSANDRA WAS MARRIED?

I can't wait to see all the theories after this episode

"I don't want to talk about it"

"Do you want a bardic" no one wants fig'd bardic 😭😭😭😭

oh thanks goodness he has meticulous notes

Theothantic silence

There's so much information being thrown at us

Gods could always remember dead goda

"I thought you were dead" oh my

Lucy was possessed...

AYDA MENTION!!!!

OH MY GOD AYDA MENTION!!!!! ADAINE MENTIONED AYDA!!!!

Alter Emo

"It's all natural, man"

"sexy"

BUCKY!!!!!!!!!! BUCKY BOY!!!!!

24 point starts have to be the red crystals

I love all this theorizing. This feels like a debriefing

"Wretchrot is so fucking god at his job."

Minor illustration running drills 😭😭😭😭

"That's my owl bear!!!!"

"8 foot Fabian on the field next week"

"You know how you see the unknown? You shine a light on it."

"Pop off my first prayer"

A 6TH LEVEL SPELL SLOT?

a lot of invisible naked people

I want to partake in this festival

FICUS

MURPH IMMEDIATELY PUTTING HIS HEAD IN HIS HANDS AFTER FIG TURNS INTO WANDA CHILDA 😭😭

not a mosh pit environment

4 1/2 long pipe??!!? ;!

"You wanna get fucking high?"

RUBEN

"Fig had to take a shit."

"Why are there so many naked old people at your house?" "I don't know man! I don't have anything to do with that."

Gorgug disliking Ruben is so good I can't stop giggling

MY CLERICAL GNOMANCE

There is. Something going on.

PRINCIPAL GRIX

RIP RUBEN???? DISINTEGRATE???

NEW MAP!!!

I can't believe Ruben is the front man of MCG

COUNTERSPELL

"don't do this...."

OH NO. OH GOD.

oh god.......... dildo lawnmower

"I've had sex before!"

IT WAS ALL UNDER THE TARP

NOOOOOO WILMA AND DIGBY!!!!!!! NOOOOO

"Ruthless... So they were into fucking machines?"

"These are your champions, Grix?!?!!?!"

"You're not perfect order."

Save the turtle!!!!!

yeah -5 movement. that's tough.

FABIAN TURN 🔥🔥

26 to hit 🔥🔥

they're all just from this summer 😭

"I'm in"

REMOTE ACCESS

That is a four!!!

GAMER POSE 😭

"We got him Porter."

The shoe rack

"Come with me!"

So many nude gnomes

MURPH CANCELLED A CRIT INTO A MISS

"♪I'M GONNA SAVE YOU♪"

DIMENSION DOOR

SO MUCH GOING ON WITH WANDA

"But that moment of terror does happen, 'cause I want him to feel it. I want him to know what would it feel like if the most important thing in his world disappeared."

LISTENING TO A PODCAST AT A MUSIC FESTIVAL

CLOBICA!!

He's not raging???? Let him rage!!!

Bypasses the shield?!?

STUNNED??

What A Day.

Can the air elemental go up Grix's butthole?

Intelligence saving throws

ALLY GOT THE 3 MUSKETEERS

D12 bardic??????

42 POINTS OF PSYCHIC DAMAGE?

NOOO CLOBICA

Rip Clobica

FOR THE LAWN AND FOR PLEASURE

HE BYPASSES'S GRIX'S SHIELD

Wilma and Digby to the rescue!

Kristen healing 🔥

11 points to Riz </3

33 POINTS OF FIRE DAMAGE?

the little mini displays of what's going on is so cool and cute I love them

Four parents on a battlefield is too many

MY CLERICAL GNOMANCE GIVING OUT BARDIC INSPIRATION

THE VULTURE

Gilearean!

THE COMPLICATED WOMEN PODCAST

I love the CW

BIG GRIX

I love Lou and Ally's energy together is so good

RIZ GUKGAK

"If I take 5 stress tokens—"

HE'S ABOUT TO WHAT? TAKE OVER WHO? RIZ NO!!!!!!!!!!!

NOOOOOOOO RIZ IS GETTING MIND CONTROLLED

"I'm mad at you for asking."

NOOO HE GOT A ONE NOOOOO

HE'S GONNA HIT THE TUBE

FINALLY HIS BAD ROLLS HELP

omg the vulture

"Yes. Abso-fucking-lutely, Brennan. Ally Beardsley is at a place of doubt and uncertainty with this move."

hey hirlie

OH MY GOD THE BACKDROP

THE CULTURE DIMENSION???

WHAT?????? WHAT????? THAT'S WHERE IT'S ENDING????????????

[chaosrealm]

2: My Love [Reiko x Aella]

Notes: HOLY FUCK, it's here! I didn't think I'd ever get this to a place where I was somewhat happy with it, but I finally have. I have one final part planned after this, which I've already teased. After that, I'll probably be writing much smaller-scale things for these two! (Part I, AO3 link) Description: Reiko was sent to tame Onaga, but hasn't returned. On General Shao's orders, Aella is sent after him to learn his fate. Words: 3.2k Tags/Warnings: Gore, Violence, Hurt/Comfort. (If there's anything else feel free to let me know)

To give, you must first take.  

The words from the writings of Aella’s ancestors had never resonated more than they did right now. To heal the wounded, she had to take from those who were fatally injured. Mercifully, she drained what was left of their life, even if they assured her they would be fine. While the General oversaw everything, he truly only cared if he had soldiers able to lift their weapons when the time came. Ever the stoic warrior, he always ordered her to do what had to be done.

Even if it was her duty, Aella feels the guilt weighing her down. Holding someone’s hand as they make a final plea to their gods, to live in their memories briefly, left her with an aching heart. This morning, it had been a Shokan who was consumed by illness. Aella had felt the joy of this Shokan celebrating a victory, their love for another, and then… nothing. An eerie silence was all that remained. Her other patient, a younger Outworlder, only had a few deep lacerations along their arms and abdomen. 

To prevent further blood loss and the fatigue that would surely follow, she hovered her hands over their wounds and watched as they disappeared underneath her glow. Thanking her over a dozen times, the soldier exclaims that this was the best they had felt in a long time — smiling as they left her tent to join the others in training. Aella then motioned to one of her assistants to take the Shokan’s body to be buried.  

To give, you must first take.  

With the last of her patients cared for, Aella strolled toward the General’s tent. Larger than any of the others, it also served as a war room, where all battle plans were made and soldiers were given their assignments. It was difficult to miss amongst the smaller, more rickety tents surrounding it.  

As she steps through the opening, she clears her throat. “General?” 

“Ah, Aella! I was just about to send for you,” He acknowledged her presence with a temporary smile, not taking his focus off the candle he was trying to light, “Have a seat.”

Aella observes the map of the Outworld before her, which features detailed watercolor illustrations of varying landmarks and cities. Her eyes were drawn to Mount Tsaagan near the center. She silently prays to whatever god would listen for Reiko’s safety and success. 

“As we all previously agreed upon, Reiko is to tame Onaga,” Shao huffed, giving up on the candle and pulling out his chair at the head of the table. Reluctantly, he takes a seat. “However, it has been quite a while, and he hasn’t sent any word back on his progress.”  

Although the General didn’t dare let his commanding exterior crumble in sight of the other troops, Aella knew his trembling hands meant worry wracked his nerves. And that his quivering lips held back what he actually wanted to say: He was scared for his son. His only son.  

Shao continues, sharpened claws tapping impatiently on the table, “I trust that if I send you after him, you’ll bring him back alive.” 

Aella’s mind races through endless possibilities as her eyes return to the map. What if Reiko’s dead? What if Onaga somehow escaped and intended to destroy all of Outworld? Would we be enough to tame such a mighty beast? 

No matter how many questions she goes through, she couldn’t bear standing idly by any longer. 

“I will do whatever it is you command of me,” Aella stands with a clenched fist over her heart. Deep down, she knew this could be a mission she never returned from, but if it meant she’d die fighting alongside Reiko, she would have it no other way. 

Shao chuckles, a weight lifted from his shoulders as he stands from the table. “Then you leave tonight for Mount Tsaagan. A horse will be waiting for you at the northern gate.”  

Striding back to her tent with an all too familiar tightness in her chest, she doesn’t allow herself a blink of shuteye. Instead, she passes the time by sharpening Fury, the sword Reiko had gifted her many moons ago. The memory felt like a lifetime ago, and now as she had taken to sharpening the other soldiers' weapons in her spare time, the only comfort she had in his absence was the sound of a whetstone against steel.

“Should it come to it,” the freshly sharpened steel mirrors her surroundings as she twirls it mindlessly. “I hope you withstand the King of Dragons, " she murmurs, sheathing the sword at her hip.  

—

As the sun descended past the bottom of the horizon, Aella climbed atop the horse left for her at the gate and set off for Mount Tsaagan. The squires had packed the saddlebags with the necessities; a tent, sleeping bag, and more than enough water to get her there and back. They threw in some nuts and berries, knowing most likely that she and Reiko would hunt for their food. 

The journey to the mountain itself was quiet and peaceful. Fireflies illuminated the dark trails, frogs croaked and crickets chirped along Outworld’s meandering rivers.  

But regardless of its tranquil beauty, she knew this journey could take at least several more days at her current pace. Days, hours, and minutes that she couldn’t stand to waste, as the thought of Reiko’s fate made her heart unbearably ache.  

Her mind still races through all possibilities, her thoughts echoing back at her as she tightens her hold on the reins. What if Reiko’s dead?

She grits her teeth and spurs the horse forward until there’s a trail of dust behind her. 

Aella stops to allow the horse to rest, feeding it some of the berries and letting it sip water out of her cupped hands. But what was supposed to be a three-day ride to Mount Tsaagan had only taken her several hours. The orange rays of the sun now peeked over the horizon, illuminating the peak of the enormous mountain before her. Standing at its base, she assesses what little she can see of the path up through her spyglass.  

Her gaze quickly scans the mountainside, and when she notices nothing of significance, she slips the spyglass back into its pouch. Then she leads the horse to a thick brush and hitches it to a tree, hoping it won’t be seen by anyone who happens to pass by. 

When she stands alone on the first of many carved stone steps, she takes in a deep breath of the fresh air. For Reiko, she would conquer this mountain.  

The trek up Mount Tsaagan is challenging, littered with crumbling pathways and plant overgrowth that she had to use her sword to cut through. Aella allowed herself a little downtime, stopping periodically to sip water from her canteen or to catch her breath. Her chiseled biceps and calves cried for rest, but she knew she couldn’t. Slowing down now could mean the death of the person she held dearest.  

—

The sun now beamed high in the sky, making the path upward more discernible. Upon her approach, she noticed an opening in the rocky wall and that the stone was seemingly untouched by time. 

The rocky walls were without a single crack or overgrown vine. It was as if some sort of magic had been maintaining it — making sure whatever was held within remained imprisoned there. Aella approached with one hand on the hilt of her sword, puzzled when she peered inside. It was a rather spacious cavern. The only light inside came from a hole in the ceiling, which she opted had to have happened recently. On the ground, she could see abnormally large chains strewn about, all of which had been broken off the wall they were anchored on.  

Before taking a step further, Aella unsheathes her sword and ignites her sorcery around the violet hilt. Something eerie lurks in the silence, and not even the bats hanging from the stalactites dare to make a noise.  

Aella cautiously steps further into the cavern, eyes surveying what little of her surroundings she can observe. She nears the center, where the chains seem to overlap. 

A deep, gravelly voice booms from the darkest corner, the ground rumbling as whoever the voice belongs to shifts in the darkness. The once-dormant flocks of bats screech as they swarm out of the cave, and stun Aella as she goes to shield her face. “Another mortal? You all are eager to die.” 

Aella falters before scaly talons capture her, and claws sharper than daggers dig into her chest as their hold around her tightens. She tries with all her power to maintain the grip on the hilt of her sword, but it’s a futile effort. Her heart sinks as she hears a small clang on the ground below. 

Glowing yellow eyes regard her with disgust as they notice her attire, “Your friend may have weakened me, but you will fare no better.”  

While attempting to squirm free, Aella scans what little of the cavern floor is visible. Ultimately, her eyes land on a dark corner, where she witnesses what Onaga had hinted toward. Across the cavern from them sat Reiko, slumped against the wall and covered in blood. His chest still heaved with unsteady breaths, saving what little strength he had left to stay alive.  

Right before her eyes, Aella’s fear had become a reality. But instead of panic, like she’d thought she would feel, she felt rage. The type of rage that made the blood coursing through her veins akin to fire. Her skin glows red, until the rage erupts and bursts her free from Onaga’s grasp. She falls unceremoniously to the ground as she hears him stagger, frustrated that he has been temporarily blinded.

Aella has no time to be surprised by this newfound ability, she instead uses it to her advantage and swiftly sprints toward Reiko, swiping up her sword as she runs by. 

Aella quickly glances back before returning her focus to him, “Reiko, can you hear me?”  

His head slowly tilts back, bloodshot silver eyes meeting hers, “Aella? What are—”  

“I truly don’t have time to explain! How bad are your wounds?” She shouts over Onaga’s growls, wincing as she hears claws swiping through the air. 

Even with dark bags weighing under his eyes, Reiko chuckles at her hastily assessing him, adjusting his limp arms to observe every cut or gash. Never in his thousands of years as a soldier had someone cared for him as much as she did. 

With a quick peck to his lips, she mutters, “Save your strength, I’ll be right back.”  

Turning away from him, she rushes back to the battle ahead of her. As she stands before the Dragon King, Aella meets his angry gaze. She digs her feet in as outraged roars rumble through the cavern. Onaga begins furiously swiping and punching almost immediately.

Aella narrowly escapes being hammered into the dirt, eventually dashing enough to plant her sword into the dragon king’s forearm. Not letting her grip on her sword falter, she leaps up and digs her armored feet into the scales of his flesh. Her red glow slithers from her fists and embeds into the weapon, directly flowing into the open wound.  

It digs deep into Onaga’s veins as he wails in pain, and he goes to swat her away, but before he can, his eyes glaze over red. Aella knew he was to be the General’s doomsday weapon, and now she was about to find out why.

Through gritted teeth, she rips the sword from his flesh only to bury it deeply again. She smirks as warm blood spews from the wound and coats her armor. Knowing she has taken more than enough to mend Reiko’s wounds; she diverts part of her magic toward him. She then shut her eyes, bracing herself for an onslaught of memories.  

Visions of steel clashing all around a wide-open battlefield, and the metallic scent of blood overwhelming. Dozens of corpses are slashed open with their organs on display for the world to see. Aella’s mind becomes overloaded with rage as she screams, a violent blood lust taking over all her senses. Her skull violently splits as though it’s trying to sprout horns, teeth aching to sharpen into fangs. It’s a pain so excruciating she fears she may morph into Onaga himself.  

Staggering on the edge of being devoured by hate, her vision unclouds from the red of fury. The pain subsides, but she can still feel herself reeling. It’s only when she hears a large crash behind her that she becomes alert again. Onaga had passed out, seemingly also overwhelmed by the sudden intrusion into his memories. 

The world around her is a blur as she falls to her knees, her sword clattering to the ground next to her. More visions of slaughter flash before her eyes as her lungs start to heave violently. She snaps out of it only when she feels a hand on her shoulder, and overcome with instinct, she flinches away from the touch.   

“Aella? Are you hurt?” Reiko coughs out, unsteadily sitting on his knees in front of her and putting his spear aside. 

Aella struggles to find words as her magic swirls around him, soothing and mending what’s left of his wounds. 

Reiko’s brows furrow as his gloved hand cups her cheek, “Aella?”  

Breathing slowly, her vision focuses on him, “I’m alright.”  

A lie, he knew, but he didn’t press her further on what she had seen, “The General sent you? Why?” 

“He was concerned for you, as was I. You are his best soldier, after all.” 

Reiko chuckles, “Something tells me he didn’t use those exact words.” His hands fall to his sides, a relieved sigh escaping his lips. “But I’m glad you’re here.” 

Aella chuckles, and for the few seconds it lasts, she admires the sight of him basking in her red glow before it retreats into her palms. 

But their trembling breaths are quickly cut short, as Onaga’s grumbles stir once more. Sharing an understanding nod, the soldiers stand ready once more with their weapons drawn.  

Rage swells within the Dragon King once more as he stands, roaring toward the ceiling. Charging in first, Aella slides behind the beast from between its legs. Hoping to somewhat bring him down to their size, she focuses the slashes and stabs of her sword on the back of Onaga’s knees and ankles. Just as he falls to one knee, he howls, and rears back one of his arms, sending her crashing into the stone walls behind them.  

The collision leaves a crater in the wall, and the stalactites above begin to crack. Reiko uses the opening to jump into action; a red glow emits from his feet, and he takes an enormous leap toward the beast before him. Focusing his aim on the gem lodged within Onaga’s chest, he thrusts his spear from his hands. As it pierces the surface, the jewel shatters like glass and falls to the ground below. Reiko’s eyes widen just as he is swiped out of the sky with a brutal backhand. He too lands against the wall, his clash leaving behind another indent.

Through dust and debris, the pair observe from opposite sides of the cavern as he pulls the spear from his chest, snapping it in half with ease and clutching wildly at the hole where the gem once was. He growls as its absence is quickly replaced as his flesh stretches to heal the void left behind.

Before Onaga could let out another growl, the stalactites began to descend upon him. With their fall, the hole in the ceiling had grown tenfold, and the sun now lit up the rocky environment around them. As still as statues, neither soldier makes a move until they are sure nothing else will fall from the sky.  

Aella begins to stand first, scanning the ground for her sword as she groans in pain. Retrieving her weapon from the rubble, she sheathes it before kneeling to evaluate her injuries. Every bone in her body ached, but when a sharp pain jolts through her side, she coils into herself.  

Pulling back the cloth of her armor reveals a hole in her side; a rock had pierced through and lodged itself deep within the wound. Luckily, the rock kept blood from leaking, so Aella cautiously placed the cloth back overtop. Right now, her top priority was making sure that Reiko was okay.

“Reiko?” wincing as she attempts to raise her voice, stumbling over the rubble, “Are you hurt?”  

No response.  

Her heart pounds in her chest as she forcibly tosses rocks out of her way, creating a more traversable path toward where she saw him last. 

“Reiko?!”  

“I’m fine, my light.” Out of the corner of her eye, Reiko stands, chuckling as he wipes away what little dust he can get off his glistening skin.  

She gestures toward Onaga, “What should we do with him?”  

In such a weakened state, he would surely listen to their proposition. But due to his size, getting Onaga to the General would be impossible. Instead, they opted that it would be best to restrain him amongst the ruins and wait until he woke up to see if he’d be more willing to listen.

Together, they use rocks and the remaining chains to restrain him. There are a few times when Aella grimaces in pain, and Reiko insists that she rests, but she hears none of it. Once the soldiers thoroughly secure Onaga’s hands and feet, they exit the remains of the cave for some much-needed fresh air.

She watches as Reiko sits on the edge overlooking the forest below, but hesitates to follow him. Leaning her weight against a rock, her heart races, and her head pounds against the walls of her skull. Something was severely wrong.  

He sighs, patting the space next to him, “Come here, rest your legs.”

Routine demanded they unwind after any battle, and truthfully, Reiko lived for the few moments of solace he got with Aella. To hold her, to be held by her, was something he would never forsake — something he wouldn’t and couldn’t ever say no to. Whether it was fighting alongside her or being greeted by her smiling face when he returned to her, it made victories like this one all the sweeter.  

Aella drags her feet toward him, smiling warmly at him as he beams up at her. She relaxes next to him, her hand in his — she felt weightless, almost lightheaded.  

Reiko squeezes her hand in his, pressing a kiss to her forehead, “We fought well today.”  

“The victory is yours, my treasure.” Aella murmurs, brushing her forehead against his.

For a moment, the breaths of crisp cold air calmed her nerves, and she felt relief as the adrenaline from battle began to fade. But her comfort is short-lived, as the rock abruptly reminds her of its presence once more. Faintly whimpering his name is all she can manage as her vision blurs.  

She hears Reiko's voice echo, asking her what’s wrong as her surroundings blur into darkness. Reiko rarely ever panics, but as he’s gently cradling her head, he can do nothing but watch in numb horror as she falls limp. His gaze scans her face as he lifts his other hand to check for a pulse. 

He breathes a panicked sigh when he finds one. Barely. 

A familiar voice reverberates from the rubble behind them, “If you wish to get her somewhere safe, then you’d best untie me.”

[diamondsheep]

Laterly I've been thinking about an OP AU in which all the Straw Hats are artists ? So i made a list of which type of artist all of them could be / what would they enjoy to draw 😅

I still don't know if this AU would be a modern AU or something like that but i wrote these ideas as if it were one but i could modify so it adjusts to canon lol

Anyway here !! Have my ideas ( later i will add more ) :

Luffy and Usopp could be art students that want to create a comic about pirates ( heh )

Luffy's artstyle probably is a little bit childish/ wonky but he is really good at creating characters ( based on his friends of course ) and along with Usopp ( who is really good at drawing ) both of them are extremely good at creating stories

Chopper is really good at drawing cute animal creatures and is pretty good at noticing anatomy inaccuracies, even though he is not the best at drawin humans lol, also he is a big fan of Luffy's and Usopp's comics

Zoro is Luffy's best friend who is obsessed with kendo but he is really good at designing fight scenes and weapons ( idk why but i was thinking that he could also be interested in traditional japanese art and Jinbei teaches him about it lol )

Sanji could be a culinary arts student but as hobby draws beautiful ocean illustrations and he is also pretty good at fashion design and  of course drawing food

Nami would be a cartographer of course lol, Luffy would ask her to draw treasure maps all the time for his comics

Robin could be an archeologist / history of art teacher, she tells the other straw hats legends about mysterious islands and interesting art facts about older civilizations, she is surprisingly good at drawing petroglyphs and drawing fossils ( Usopp, Luffy and Chopper love the latest)

Franky is a naval arquitect and of course Luffy asks him to design boats for him lol

Brook could still be a musician but he is really good at punk visual art, i think that maybe Luffy loves his posters and idk he could design comic covers and maybe bounty posters lol

Jinbei could like a tattoo artist or just an artist whose artstyle is based on traditional japanese art / tattoos and his specialty are sea creatures

As an extra : Law is Jinbei's client and one time Luffy saw the cool doctor with tattoos bring his own designs for a new tattoo and since then Luffy hasn't stopped bothering him ( Luffy saw a cool submarine design and some of his tattoos remind him of a Jolly Roger )

As always i gotta add a bit of ZoSan to this, so i thought about Sanji losing a bet to Nami and he had to get a tattoo designed and done by Zoro. So now Sanji has a tattoo based on Cooking utensils ( like knives). Sanji says that it is ugly but in reality he thinks that it is cool.

Normally both Zoro and Sanji insult each other's art but secretly they admire each other's art <3

Aaaand this is what i have at the moment 😅

[dial-a-dyke]

Do you know about Queering the Map?

Hey y'all! I wanna highlight a queer platform I've been really interested in recently, one that has gained popularity in the last couple months especially. You might recognize this heartbreaking and intimate excerpt from Gaza that's been circulating social media platforms in the last couple months:

I’ve always imagined you and me sitting out in the sun, hand and hand, free at last. We spoke of all the places we would go if we could. Yet you are gone now. If I had known that bombs raining down on us would take you from me, I would have gladly told the world how I adored you more than anything. I’m sorry I was a coward.

The post comes from queeringthemap.com which, according to their Instagram, "is a community-generated counter mapping platform for digitally archiving LGBTQ2IA+ experience in relation to physical space."

Basically, Queering the Map allows you to post your own queer memories from anywhere in the world, completely anonymous. Wanna mark where you and your girlfriend had your first date? Drop a pin. Wanna place yourself in the middle of the ocean as a metaphor for unrequited love? Drop a pin. Wanna reflect on being the only queer person in your town? Drop a pin.

There is no limit to what users can post - or what they can see. Every post that users have ever created is still on the site, serving as make-shift digital archive for queer memories. Posts are public to any user who visits the website, allowing people to browse the digital globe and the queer experiences people have shared.

Founded by Canadian artist Lucas LaRochelle in 2017, Queering the Map has connected countless LGBTQ2IA+ people from around the world. Some like to share their own memories, others find hope in reading others' posts, and some share the posts to other platforms for rhetorical purposes.

Take the excerpt above from Gaza, for example. It first began to circulate the web (to my knowledge) roughly a year ago, and then again in June after it was featured in a NYT article. Then, in October, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, and Tumblr users began sharing the screenshotted post to show solidarity with Palestinians - especially queer Palestinians. The Dyke Project used this excerpt and others from Gaza to display on bus advertising systems. Something about Queering the Map captivated attention in a unique way - something about it made people feel like it was the right place to turn in moments and feelings of tragedy and horror.

Other times, people share posts that simply spoke to them. Illustrator Aude Nasr brought some posts to life, helping us picture the moments people were trying to document. I've posted some of Nasr's art here.

I encourage you all to check out queeringthemap.com at some point, if not to post for yourself but to just see the beautiful, lively, and complicated memories someone, somewhere, wanted you to see. And to my queer siblings everywhere: I am constantly amazed by our desire to connect with each other, to defy borders and time, and to write our stories down.

Quick userguide:

Entering the website, users find themselves in a zoomed in location on the map. The water is blue, but the land is pink with dotted lines indicating borders between states or regions, and straight lines between countries. Using their mouse, one can scroll to zoom in or out. Memories are marked on the pink map by black location tags, which you can click on to view the specific memory a user shared for that location, or simply run your mouse over it for a smaller box to show the text. Zooming out too far, a user might see a black blob, no pink space in sight as so many memories have been posted to a particular region.

Were you familiar with Queering the Map before this post? What about before the last couple of months? What Queering the Map entry speaks to you? What does queer memory making mean to you?

Here's some posts I've been thinking about lately.

It gets better. When I first got here I was so unsure of myself and if I would be accepted. Now, I know I am loved, I am more sure and I have been accepted and embraced unlike ever before. Roll Pride baby!

came out to my daughter here while driving her to school, 6 years later and 6000km away she came out to me .

Came out to my folks. It didn’t go too well.

Was with the cutest guy I’d ever met

I’m from rafah and she’s from deir al balah, she got married later and i left gaza strip, to this day i think of you, to this day i wish to be back to sleep with you in the same bed, i want you to call for my name again, i wish if i can be with you again my heart. بحبك وبالرغم من الي صار دايما في بالي.

Idk how long I will live so I just want this to be my memory here before I die. I am not going to leave my home, come what may. My biggest regret is not kissing this one guy. He died two days back. We had told how much we like each other and I was too shy to kiss last time. He died in the bombing. I think a big part of me died too. And soon I will be dead. To younus, i will kiss you in heaven.

First kiss 16 years ago

One day, this sea will not divide us.

i hope your family knows i will love you until the day i die. i hope we meet in every life, no matter how many times you break my heart. Wo ai ni

故事从这里开始 : ) Un día te olvidaré, no importa que sea tan difícil. Me lo creo.

[sorenblr]

thoughts on Akihiko Yoshida? hes done several greatest game of all time contenders but I still don't know how 2 feel about him tbh

I would rank him highly, although I do think his best work belongs to a bygone era. I've always had a lot of affection for Yoshida as the Square-affiliated artist most likely to describe form with profuse hatching. The original Tactics Ogre cover is one of my favorite pieces of game art:

I think he produced his most compelling work around this period, in collaboration with Hiroshi Minagawa, and more generally prior to the onset of HD development. I don't know how deeply involved he was with the process (Minagawa is credited as supervisor in both cases), but between Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII, his designs have been treated to the most compelling applications of texture mapping in the medium.

I also love the lush storybook style he adopted for Four Heroes of Light, and I wish that quality had carried more cleanly into Bravely Default.

His contributions to FFXIV are obviously accomplished but they don't really stand out in my mind due to their proximity to so many other artists on that project working in a style that roughly approximates his own. I think that's something that has muddled my impression of his work over the past decade, the glut of designers seemingly trained in his style, or the new prominence of those who simply came up in the industry working in a comparable idiom, usually in the Ivalice games. The deliberately abstracted faces contrasted with baroque or luxuriously rendered dress, the almost exclusive use of earth tones etc. It's evident everywhere from certain of Kazuya Takahashi's key art in FFXVI to Naoki Ikushima's entire corpus of Yoshida-lite emulations, even Hideo Minaba's work on Granblue Fantasy.

At one point this was a perfect triangular complement to the sectors defined by Amano and Nomura, but as we recede further and further from any remaining stylistic imprint of the former and all the appealing extravagance is bled from the latter, a sort of repetitious sameness sets in. It's no fault of Yoshida's, and I think his own work still consistently outshines his "imitators", but it probably accounts for my cooler feelings of late.

As an aside, the guy has definitely indulged his predilections to a greater degree as time goes on. He's settled on an anatomical template for his female characters that I find vaguely disquieting, as evinced in this Tomb Raider illustration. That one has especially chitinous proportions, but most of it is basically just, like... hippy zettai ryoiki shit. A fetish so mild that it's one step removed from being really 'into' big titties. Guys with active accounts across multiple booru image boards will be cranking their shit to 2B for long and silent aeons, when even the memory of man is only a shadow over the wine-dark sea.

I would still like another game where he's allowed a fuller reign over design responsibilities. Like Nomura, he's reached a position of seniority that precludes him from designing anything beyond a few core characters and some key art, leaving the heft of the work to younger artists or middle-talents like Roberto Ferrari. Hopefully he'll be on tap for something other than Nier Automota phone games or FFXIV package illustrations or whatever the fuck Little Noah: Scion of Paradise is supposed to be. Damn, videogames are rough! This shit is not cooking!

[miyakuli]

Dordogne

Dordogne, ma belle Dordogne

Dordogne is a narrative and interactive game in which we travel through the memories of the young Mimi, on vacation in the South of France with her grandmother Nora. It's the first game from French studio Un Je Ne Sais Quoi, and it's already a great success that's sure to appeal to young and old alike, although it lacks a little depth on various levels.

❤ It's a visual slap in the face; the watercolor environments are gorgeous and reminiscent of postcard illustrations, the warm colors are comforting and the animations are charming. It's a real enchantment to explore the surroundings in this almost heavenly setting.

❤ The French dubbing is impeccable. The intonations are always spot on, but what's more, the voices are soft and pleasant to the ear. And since there are tape recordings to listen to from time to time, I found myself settling down and letting myself be lulled by the sound of their voices. ❤ The nostalgic feeling that emanates from the game is strong and touching. Whether it's in the daily summertime activities with grandma, or the fascination of discovery and exploration through Mimi's childlike eyes, or even with the vintage equipment used that will resonate with the oldest among us (team 90's here ;D). ❤ A discreet but relaxing soundtrack, which immerses us in the ambient sounds of the French countryside.

+/- Even if the themes addressed are not new (depression, grief, family conflicts…), they are nonetheless well handled and enough to touch hearts. I do find, however, that certain points are not developed enough and are cut short at the end (the question of the father, for example, or the story surrounding Renaud). +/- Paradoxically given its title, the game doesn't highlight the department's heritage enough for my taste. So, yes, we explore the richness of the area, with its rivers, caves and forests, and we also discover the legend of the Coulobre, the river dragon. But I was also expecting to learn about the history of the place (perhaps passed on by the grandmother), the local gastronomy (with the market), or maybe even local activities…the only thing I learned about the commune of Sarlat is that there's a market and that you can apparently go up in a hot-air balloon (as you can see them in the distance :p). +/- I love having a diary to fill with text, audio, photos and stickers, it's my thing :) The game then encourages you to explore and find all the collectibles you need to fill the pages as you wish. However, I find this option rather limited. In fact, the game is one long directional corridor, and you clearly can't explore the unlocked places on the map as you like, but above all, the areas where you can take sounds and photos are too rare. For a game that celebrates the adventurous spirit of our childhood, this is a real shame. +/- Some might criticize the gameplay for being too simplistic, with only a few puzzles or interactions with objects. Personally, I've found that these simple tasks (cooking, decorating a picnic, repairing a toy, etc.) are in harmony with the idea of recalling the sensations of the character's childhood. On the other hand, the game CONSTANTLY guides us through these actions (even though the keys are always the same), and we can't deactivate this help, so for the more adult audience, this is rather annoying. In my opinion, this takes away from the tactile memory aspect of the game, as we're not given the opportunity to find out for ourselves what gestures to make.

✖ Moving around with the controller can be a little clumsy. ✖ End credits with a single song, and the rest is done in absolute silence, not even little ambient sounds to accompany it all (yes I generally watch the credits in their entirety and I can tell you here that it was very long xD). ✖ A little too short, it would have deserved an extra hour to better conclude the story.

Dordogne offers incredible visual immersion, but arguably relies a little too much on it, being a little shaky in its scenario and gameplay ideas. Nevertheless, it's a pleasant getaway, which might tempt some to pack their suitcases and visit the place themselves. It may not completely satisfy the most avid of explorers, which is why I'd recommend the beautiful Season: A Letter to the Future game, which is in the same spirit of discovery and wandering.

➡ My Steam page