#IT'S COLOR CODED TOO I SIMPLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND...........

[hansoeii]

Hullo! I’ve been watching a bunch of your Timelapses and I was wondering how do you always come up with the colours for your pieces? They’re always so cohesive and pleasing to look at (I almost exclusively work in greyscale so if I’m using colour it’s always a lucky guess and it never looks quite right)

Hey there!

I have to be honest that most of the time I don't actually know what I'm doing and that I have no idea how most of my pieces are gonna turn out. My work process is usually based on "Fuck around and find out", haha. I'm happy to know that it apparently doesn't come across that way, though.

A lot of it comes very naturally to me simply because I've been drawing non-stop for so long, but I can give you some small tips that really help me:

1. Have as many references as possible!

Here's what my reference sheet looked like for the Jayvik piece:

It helped me a lot to understand the overall color scheme I wanted to convey. Lots of very cold tones, pinks and very light blues and greens. These colours sorround Jayce and Viktor throughout all of season 2 and I wanted to keep them, especially since in my piece they are lying in the glowing hexcore.

Don't shy away from using references, get as many as you possibly can! Look at other poeple's art too and try to understand how they work with colours.

2. Work with complementary colours!

Since I paint a lot of romantic illustrations I want them to look pleasing and comforting, which I can accomplish by using complementary colours! You see this a lot with couples that are blue and red coded, for example. And I wanted to do the same thing in the Jayvik piece! For that I used the highlights in their hair!

Viktor's highlights are a soft pink hue.

While Jayce's are a soft blue hue.

The colour wheel works perfect for figuring out if two colors compliment each other because they are literally right across from one another!

3. It doesn't have to be true to life.

Pretty self-explanatory, but I thought I'd add it in here anyways. It's important to understand how colour and light works, but you don't always have to follow the rules. Does the rim light look cool but it makes zero sense? Who cares! Keep the cool rim light! Just have fun and fuck around.

4. A little trick to make your life easier!

I'm not excatly the best at colour theory, I still struggle with it quite a bit, but here's a little trick I like to use from time to time:

If you want all your colours to look coherent, take one specific color as your flat colour. Choose a hue that you would like your piece to have. Like this:

Now you choose whatever colours your characters have and paint them in. For example, here are the skin colours I chose for Jayce and Viktor:

Looks off, right? These colours don't fit the overall piece at all. So what do we do?

Turn down the opacity! It's that easy, wahoo!

I went from 100 Opacity to 72 for this specific illustration. And look at that!

It's so much nicer already! Now you know what colours to use as your actual flats! Just repeat this with every other part of your illustration and you'll have a great starting point. :)

I really hope this was helpful! I'm not an actual teacher and I don't have a proper illustration degree, so some things might not be completely accurate, but I thought I'd try my hand at this anyways!

[hauntingrabbits]

Happy Batman day! Went back and finished the last batch of the MLP AU I had sketched way back in May.

Part 1, Part 2

More info under the cut!

Enigma/The Riddler (Edward Nygma)

Intelligence and puzzle-solving are deeply valued among sphinxes, and those who fall short of their standards are often ridiculed and cast out. Among some (prejudiced) Sphinxes, other sapient, non-Sphinx species such as ponies are looked down-upon or seen as fundamentally inferior for not putting as much stock in puzzles and the like as sphinxes do.

Enigma, though considered a prodigy for his remarkable intelligence and skill with puzzles even among his fellow Sphinxes, was ostracized when a pony unfamiliar with Sphinx culture (a younger Sundown traveling Equestria for his training), humiliated Enigma by unraveling a puzzle of his that was meant to be judged as his final submission in a prestigious event, permanently staining his reputation and wounding his massive ego.

After years of quiet ridicule from his peers and his own growing obsession over the event, Enigma eventually snapped and fled to Gotham for revenge. His contempt has since spread far beyond that of the original pony he wished to prove his superiority over, and he now makes all of Gotham the target of his obsessive schemes, constantly trying to prove his superiority and feed his ego by putting ponies through his elaborate puzzles and riddle-based traps. He sees Batpony’s skill and determination in foiling him as both an inherent challenge to and a slight against his own abilities, reminding him far too much of that original pony from so long ago. 

Other notes:

-Apparently sphinxes in MLP have pony heads instead of human heads which makes sense I guess but it threw me through such a loop man.

-Whilst traversing the wiki I ended up with the same problem I had with chimeras in the first post where only one ever shows up in the series and there's no other info on them. So I made stuff up again.

- I imagine Sphinxes live a very long time, so the event Enigma was embarrassed at would probably take a long time to roll around again and he'd be forced to stew with his anger and wounded ego for far too long. I'm not sure what the puzzle was exactly or how Sundown dismantled it, but I imagine he did something extremely simple that a Sphinx would never have thought of (a la that software engineering joke), making it feel far more unfair and humiliating than if he'd solved in the intended way.

-His naturally crooked tail settles into the shape of a question mark, and the pattern on his arm is meant to look like a stylized question mark wrapping around his forearm (the "dot" is the white of his paw).

2. Miss Friday (Miss Tuesday)

Enigma’s teenaged assistant, Miss Friday seems to be the only pony the sphinx enjoys (or perhaps simply tolerates) the company of. Beyond her having met Enigma in Tartarus during their simultaneous imprisonments, the exact origins of her relationship to and exceptional status with her boss are a bit of a riddle in of themselves. Regardless, the two seem to have something of a mutual understanding, and Miss Friday’s mental prowess and dubious moral code are more than a match for Enigma’s own.

Other Notes:

-Yes this is a "The horse's name was Friday" joke. I'm sorry it was just too good to pass up.

-Miss Tuesday already sounded like a MLP name, but the horse named Friday thing was just too perfect for somebody who works under a guy who's whole thing is riddles. Also I relistened to the BTAA episode where she's introduced while coloring her and I noticed they reference His Girl Friday several times, so fun coincidence?

-The candy-striped leg patterns are based on her canon costume's striped pants & are meant to mirror the Riddler's wrapped leg pattern. The dark patterns on her face are supposed to be reminiscent of eye bags.

3. Mania (Bat-Mite)

Bat-Pony’s self-proclaimed biggest fan, Mania is a Draconequus embodying the spirit of obsession. Normally he watches the hero from his own dimension, but at times he tries to insert himself into the narrative or help Sundown fight, both to varying degrees of success. Though he genuinely adores Bat-Pony, Mania is usually more of a hindrance than a help, and can even be directly antagonistic at times when his obsession goes too far. 

Other notes:

-Similar issue to Chimeras and Sphinxes, only two Draconequuses (Draconequui?) show up in the series, one being Discord (embodying chaos), the other being a comics-only villain known as Cosmos (embodying malice), but honestly what little we're given worked super well for the character anyway. Discord seems to come from his own unique plane of existence/dimension and Cosmos has similarly strange origins; both have penchants for causing mischief with incredible reality-warping powers; and both embody non-physical concepts. Bat-Mite being a reality warping 5th dimensional creature obsessed with Batman was surprisingly easy to adapt.

-He has the head of a pony, a ferret-like body, two front rat paws, mite antennae, an insectoid wing, a bat wing, a pigeon foot, a chevrotain (mouse deer) foot, and a monkey tail. I tried to have him mostly made up of animals that were very small, seen as mischievous, and/or seen as pests.

4. Poison Ivy (Pamela Isley)

Said to be more plant than pony, Poison Ivy is the self-proclaimed princess of the Green. Though once a regular Earth pony, she began to spiral after receiving her cutie mark and fully coming into her powerful natural attunement to plant life. Fleeing into the nearby forests on the outskirts of Gotham, she wasn’t seen again until many years later when Gotham’s city refurbishment and expansion efforts began to encroach on the forests borders, where she reemerged with strange new powerful magic and retaliated violently.

Though she isn’t recognized politically or physically as an alicorn, plants grow from the flesh of her body in the pattern of a horn and wings characteristic of those born into or bestowed with royalty, and the strange natural magic that accompanies them seems to almost rival that of a true alicorn’s.

Other notes:

-I dont really have anything to add to this one I just thought a false alicorn would be a cool concept.

-the whole alicorn royalty thing is very strange to think about isnt it? I feel like the ruling class having such insane amounts of physical and magical power probably has much more pressing ramifications than ever was, would, or should be addressed in a kids show but they are fun to think about.

-Her actual name is Poison Ivy, yes. It sounded like a pony name. I don't know what that says about her parents.

-The leaf wings are folded down in the graphic but I think they are flighted, or at the very least useful for gliding and expressing emotions.

5. Saltbrine (Oswald Cobblepot)

Short, stout, and flightless, Saltbrine’s moniker of “The Penguin” has its origins in the taunts of his peers from his youth. Though the title has persisted into the current day, it’s often spoken with far more fear and trepidation throughout the alleys and backstreets of Gotham than ridicule. Saltbrine owns two of Gothams most well-known businesses, one being the luxurious, high-class Iceberg Lounge…and the other being the organized crime syndicate the former acts as a front for.

Other notes:

-Again don't have much to add to this one. One of my favorite designs though, I love the giant beak face.

-The bird half is actually based on a puffin, because a penguin felt too on the nose for Oswald and too strange for a hippogriff (I couldn't get the wings or face to look right at all either). I feel like the title being an insult works a little better if he's not literally half-penguin.

-he's the same color my club penguin avatar used to be (RIP)

[nebulatrifid]

This is a certified post from a former robotics club Kid:

Viktor 100% builds things in very sketchy ways based on the fact that he was mostly self taught/had questionable mentors. I can say with certainty that this man invents his own wire color codes for each individual electronic he works on and it drives Jayce crazy. I imagine a scenario where Viktor uses two black wires instead of one red and one black and Jayce is dying inside but too nice to say anything. And btw, in Viktor's special code, the black wire stripped at a 45⁰ angle is the ground wire. Viktor will leave wires exposed to the point where it is a hazard but isn't sure what the big deal is since "we do it in the under city all the time Jayce." His soldering jobs are terrible. His circuits are held together with a hope and a dream and defy all known laws of physics. His wire organization game is top tier though. Viktor once managed to rig an electronic with all male components because he couldn't find the female ones. Jayce is beside himself. Viktor doesn't understand the problem. It works, no?

Viktor also meets Jinx and the two have a lengthy discussion about how no one understands their process. Wiring and electric standards are for nerds. They simply want to make art.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

How to Improve your Writing

Rick Riordan's Writing Tips

Rick Riordan:

Taste is subjective, and opinions differ about what "good writing" looks like. Most of us have read a bestseller or two and wondered, "How did this thing get published?" Nevertheless, I would argue that most work does not get published unless it demonstrates a certain level of technical competence. The grammar is correct. The prose is readable. I would further argue that most manuscripts are rejected because the writing is not technically competent. The manuscript never stands a chance because the writer simply doesn't know the craft of writing well enough. If you write well, you have already set yourself apart from 99% of what agents and editors see every day. Below are some notes on what I call "sentence level competence" — the ability to craft prose at the most basic level. These tips reflect the most common problems I've observed in unpublished manuscripts.

Sentence-Level Competence

Sentence focus — the subjects of all clauses should be appropriate to the content of the sentence.

Favor the concrete over the abstract, the antecedent over the pronoun.

Example: It was a sunny day. (the subject "it" is boring and vague.)

Better: The sky was brilliant blue. (Here the subject is sky, which is what the sentence was supposed to be about.)

If you are writing a sentence about a guy named Fred, the subject in the sentence should be (surprise!) Fred.

Exercise

Go through a page of prose and underline your own subjects.

How many are abstract?

How many of your sentences are truly focused?

Modifiers

Be sure the modifier refers to the right thing.

The modifier should refer to the closest noun.

Confusing modifiers will trip up the reader, consciously or subconsciously.

By the same token, pronouns should have clear antecedents.

Always place the modifier as close to the subject as possible.

Example: Can you help other writers who are writing books like me? (I got this question recently. I understand what the person is saying, but 'like me' follows the word 'books' so he is implying, without meaning to, that there are people producing books that look like him.)

Better: Can you help other writers like me who are writing books?

Exercise

Color-code a page of your manuscript, making each phrase and clause a different color.

Match up dependent clauses and phrases with their modifiers.

Avoid getting your modifier too far away from the thing being modified.

Deft Description

Choose your details carefully.

A description should be vivid, but surgically precise.

The detail must be given for a reason, and have a logical connection to the plot or advancement of character.

Avoid long "grocery lists" of details.

For a paragraph-length description, offer a uniting theme — an extended metaphor — to give the details cohesion.

Example: He was six feet tall, three hundred pounds, with brown hair, small brown eyes, a big nose and big fists. He wore jeans and a muscle shirt. He looked angry. (this is way too much description for the reader to keep track of, and it is offered as a random list)

Better: He looked like a rhino, ready to charge. (then you can pick a few details that reinforce the image of a rhino)

Exercise

Go through a chapter and delete all adjectives and adverbs.

Read through, then add some back in sparingly.

You may find you can do with less than before.

Parallelism

Clauses or phrases that are part of a list should be similar in structure.

Unparallel constructions are awkward and difficult to read, even if the reader can't put her finger on the exact problem.

Example: He likes dogs, hiking in the woods and reads books a lot. (Dogs is a single noun, hiking in the woods is a participial phrase, reads books a lot is a simple predicate. These are all totally different things. Make them the same, and the sentence will flow much better.)

Better: He likes walking his dog, hiking in the woods, and reading lots of books.

Exercise

Try constructing your descriptions in parallel units — absolutes, infinitives, adjectives.

Source ⚜ Writing Notes & References

[belphies-cowgirl]

little things they do for you

word count: 900+

content warning: mentions of body image (if I am missing anything please let me know and I will add it!)

Lucifer

invites you into his study whenever he gets a new record. he prefers listening to it with you in his arms. also, he'll play the piano for you if you ask him.

will praise you for minor or major accomplishments. even if you don't think something deserves praise he gives it to you anyways. he's so proud of his human. 

wakes you up gently by rubbing your back or your shoulder. sometimes if you've stayed up late studying or working he peppers your face with gentle kisses (he will drag you out of bed lovingly if he needs to)

Mammon

will hype you up and be your partner in crime. will indulge in creating chaos or doing something stupid with you. you have his full support and he'd do anything for you, even if it results in him getting strung up by Lucifer. he'll happily take the blame and punishments for you. 

will let you have control over the radio and heat/ac settings in his car. will let you put your feet up on the dashboard too. he bought a car charger for you in case you forget to bring yours and he'll order for you in the drive-thru (has what you want memorized, but still asks if you want something else) 

helps you with chores. does laundry with you and carries your laundry basket (cleans out the lint trap for you too) does the dishes with you, he washes while you dry or vice versa. moves furniture for you while you vacuum (let him woo you by showing off his strength) want to rearrange your room at 3 am? he'll help you. 

Levi

if you're into cosplay he'll make outfits for you. he'll make sure it fits perfectly and has some wiggle room for comfort.

will let you sit on his lap and help you get through hard levels or help you find new areas and items. will guide your hand with his while doing so and praise you. 

if you're anxious about something he'll try anything to ease some of your anxiety. he'll give your hand reassuring squeezes or talk you through a breathing exercise or simply listen to you talk about what's making you anxious. he'll look up more ways to deal with anxiety and practice them with you. 

Satan

texts you quotes from books or poems that remind him of you or when he wants to be romantic. he sometimes takes inspiration from romance novels when planning a date. also surprises you with flowers for no reason. 

will help you study or write an essay. teaches you how to color code, organize, find proper resources, and reassures you that you're doing a good job. he'll be patient and adapt his techniques to any learning style you prefer. 

will spend hours with you in a bookstore, and carry any books you want to buy. if you like to spend a decent amount of time in certain genre aisles, he'll grab books you can't reach or just be content standing near you while you look through the books. 

Asmo

want an outfit that didn't come in your size or was sold out? he'll somehow get it for you or make one for you. need some alterations done? say less. see something you like but you're low on funds? say less. 

have any pain, discomfort, or trouble relaxing? he's got heating pads, pain relievers, an aroma diffuser, bath salts, anything you can think of for pain relief or relaxation. he also gives really good massages. 

will help you with any insecurities you may have. reassuring words, compliments, and sticky notes on any mirrors to remind you that you're beautiful and are worthy of so much more than you think you deserve. will buy you products that help enhance your natural beauty. he'll also help you take care of yourself with little reminders or help you establish and keep up with a daily routine.

Beel

lets you wear his clothes if you're having one of those days where you just want to hide your body or just want to feel super comfy and smell like him.

he reminds you to eat every day. he understands if it's hard sometimes for you to eat at least 3 meals a day or eat when you're not feeling well. will ask if you'd like some of his food or if he can make you anything. will also let you steal food off his plate. 

will support you and keep you motivated if you want to work out. he'll get on the treadmill next to you or go for a walk with you. anything you want to do he'll do it with you. shares his water bottle with you if yours is empty. will make smoothies, protein shakes, or trail mix with you. he'll encourage body positivity, but won't cross any boundaries or make you uncomfortable. 

Belphie

gives you space and understands if you don't want to take a nap with him or cuddle. will offer to let you borrow one of his blankets or pillows to sleep with instead.

will comfort you if you have nightmares or trouble sleeping. don't feel secure after a nightmare? he'll hold you close or act like a weighted blanket for you. 

lets you kick him in your sleep and he'll adapt to any of your sleeping positions. want to sleep like a starfish with one leg up on the wall? that's fine, he'll make room for you and find a different way to cuddle.

✄ ——————————————————————

feel free to comment, reblog, shoot me a message, or an ask <3

please do not use my work as your own! 

[babyangelsky]

Color (and Fabric) Coded boys in love get happy endings!

All I have been wanting for the past two months is to see a colorful pattern on Tongrak's body so I could know that his love for Mahasamut is real.

AND THE FINALE GAVE IT TO ME IMMEDIATELY! Look at those blue stripes!

But...

It is not yet time for sunshine and roses. The shirt has solid pockets on its front, and one of those pockets is over Rak's heart. He loves Mahasamut, he's loved him this whole time, but his fear of love and what it means and what it can do to people is still guarding his heart.

He rejects Mut's confession. He desperately attempts to draw up another agreement to shield himself from the love being offered to him, not that it would work anyway. It isn't even needed. His fear has already created a barrier between them just like the frame of the sliding glass doors is.

Mut crosses it as he tries to make Rak understand that what he feels for him is sincere and that none of this was ever about the money. He asks Rak how much he has to pay to get his love and gives all the money back in an absolutely devastating parallel to when Rak offered him increasing amounts of money back on the island to speak central dialect with him.

Only this time, it doesn't work. Rak refuses Mut and his love and physically pushes him back on his side of the barrier.

Tongrak's fear is too great and Mahsamut turns and leaves because as he told Mook, it's not all up to him. He said he would accept a rejection and he does.

He sits at Rak's table and comes to terms with everything and this shot is so brilliant because it's showing us that the house itself and what it represents is a barrier. He followed Tongrak and basically walked away from his life and who he is and we can see that.

There's a pillar and glass between Mut and the multicolored light on the left. The light that's being reflected on the water.

And when he finally leaves, he does so back in his own colorful patterned shirt.

He says goodbye to his friends and his niece and he finally breaks down listening to Meena and her mother talk about how much Tongrak loves romances and the number 8 and its significance to him and it's heartbreaking.

Mahasamut has been bearing all this like a champ but he's only human and all of this is too much. He earned that breakdown and I'm glad he got to be comforted by his baby girl in her colorful patterned dress.

It's incredibly fitting that when we finally see Tongrak wear a color other than black or white is when he comes close to losing Mahasamut's bracelet and really fully realizes what he rejected and threw away.

Even more fitting? The colorful garbage truck.

He hasn't lost the bracelet, of course. Ain't no way Vivi was letting it be thrown away and in not doing so, she finally gets through to Tongrak and gets him to verbalize his fears. She comforts and reassures him and asks him what he's going to do and encourages him to be brave.

And it works!

Look at the difference between Tongrak the first and second time he arrives on the island. This is a man who knows where he is and what he's about!

He doesn't know what to say to Mahasamut or where to even begin but he knows that it's on him to make things clear and he's so scared the whole time but he still tries.

He shows up in front of Mahasamut again and again in his solid textures and again and again he fails. He wants to explain himself to Mahsamut so badly but he simply cannot find the words and he needs to because Mut is hurting and tender and trying to protect himself.

BUT MY BOY AIN'T NO QUITTER!

He finds the words and a way to apologize and explain himself to Mut and he goes to wait on that beach in his textured PATTERNED shirt with no more solid pockets over his heart.

AND MAHASAMUT DOES A CHAMPIONSHIP BL RUN AND THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM DISAPPEARS!

Tongrak is still so scared but he musters up all the bravery he can and apologizes face to face and finally FINALLY gives Mahasamut the words that matter.

Tongrak overcame his fear, put on his man's patterns, and finally allowed himself to love and think about a future with the love of his life.

"Home to me is you."

COLOR AND FABRIC CODED BOYS IN LOVE GET HAPPY ENDINGS!

[howlsofbloodhounds]

I don't have any headcanons to drop but instead a question.

What do you think Killer is even experimenting on or for? For what purpose? I need ideas 😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈

I just need to an excuse to draw Killer in a lab coat so bad

Probably things to do with Determination, strange souls, and of course; codes. He will probably try to find a way to see if any other monster can naturally develop levels of Determination by placing them in scenarios that directly mirror his experiences; aka he will probably torture them psychologically.

He could try to convince them to do something that goes against their beliefs and self concept. If someone deeply values loyalty, he will experiment with what it takes to make them do something to betray whoever or whatever they’re loyal to, or the other way around.

If someone values kindness, he will tempt them into doing or saying unkind things—or anything that makes them believe others are being unkind to them to provoke paranoia. (Drug use? To induce hallucinations and then make them believe certain things are true?)

A lot of this is curiosity, and fulfillment of sadism and power. But a lot of it may be reenactment to either make sense of what happened to him, or to see if it can be replicated, or simply to prove that there’s truly nothing he could’ve done to change anything—like. If even weaker lesser things like the test subjects fell for what he fell for, then it’s proof he was weak before and therefore couldn’t have done anything, but he’s stronger now because he wouldn’t fall for such easy cheap tricks.

The next most obvious may be messing around with fusion, soul fusion. Taking and mixing and matching, seeing what could or couldn’t result from it. And if it’s possible to force a fusion.

Uh. When it comes things like humans, he will definitely try to understand their anatomy—and he will also probably experiment with pain and death. How much can a human or monster body and soul take before death? He might carefully time and measure these things. He will probably come up with various creative methods and ways to kill—what is the easiest, the fastest, the slowest, the most painful.

He will probably take advantage of his Reset, Load and Save here too. Will they be able to recognize that they have died before? Will they feel deju vu? Will they just think they’ve been drugged or gone insane? Will they not notice at all?

He will likely test a lot of these things on himself as well. How much can this body and soul take before it collapses. He might be fascinated to realize that his tolerance for death and pain far exceeds most normal people, and if this remains true while he experiments on other versions of himself as well, perhaps this would only fuel his sense of superiority.

He may mock and criticize victims for crying and being dramatic—either because he’s being an asshole, or because he’s genuinely so far removed from these concepts that it doesn’t get why they’re all screaming and blubbering. They aren’t dead yet, and they’ll be fine by the next Reset.

Or alternatively, he may be curious and fascinated by their reactions—and deliberately do and say things to gain reactions and responses. If he’s experimenting on someone he’s found himself kinda sort liking, such as Color for example, perhaps he’d do the traditionally comforting actions—petting their head, kissing their forehead, gently rubbing or patting limbs while dissecting, praising them, telling them how pretty and beautiful they are bloody/crying/tied down/being good for him/etc, perhaps promising itll be over soon and they’ll feel better soon.

I think it’d be cool if he somehow finds a way to dissect a soul like it’s a heart.

And those are all the ideas I have right now. Im not a scientist person, so everyone feel free to chime in!

{ @toffeebrew }

[signanothername]

I’m wondering if you think Killer would try using Color’s soul as an experiment because of Color having like 6 souls stuck inside him and stuff and then the interest of Killers side of wanting to understand more of souls and their codes, maybe using Color as an experiment or something sometimes for funsies, idk, thought it’d be nice to talk about. (maybe with or without permission from Color)

Oooooh nice point

Tho it also raises the question, does Color have a soul left to begin with? Cause he was already on the verge of death before absorbing the 6 souls and basically getting thrown to the void cause of it, at this point he’s technically dead, it’s only the six souls that keep him truly “alive” in a sense, and it’s shown in how if he uses too much power that it’ll basically actually kill him, at least (i honestly don’t remember if his soul was ever truly talked about in canon, so if you guys know do let me know, i definitely need a bit of a refresher and deep dive into Othertale’s lore again)

But that’s a topic for another time that i’m gonna explore hopefully cause the contrast between a technically souless Color who is extremely emotional and feels very deeply and Killer with a soul that isn’t doing its supposed job and not being able to feel anything at all is really fun >:)

So we’re just gonna assume that Color has a soul of his own for the sake of this ask shhzhshhs (not that it would differ the answer I have much)

Ok so i feel like it really just depends on the stage Killer’s in and at which timeline we talking, like are we talking Killer still works under Nightmare or are we talking he was saved and is now with Color?

If he’s still under Nightmare, then i feel like Stage 2 Killer would try to get his hands on it without permission, and while i believe Killer kills anyone he wants the soul of to take their soul to do as he pleases with it, i feel like he’d make the exception for Color to keep him alive if he did get his hands on it, (I think of a stage 2 Killer who’s still under Nightmare as a bit possessive of Color in the sense that Color is an off limits personal matter in his life) which is arguably worse considering Color would have to feel and endure Killer poking at his soul, and we can talk about how dark that can get but i’ll spare you the details

While if we’re talking about stage 2 while he’s now living with Color, he’d still definitely try to get his hands on it, whether with or without Color’s permission is something I feel really depends on Killer, like i can see Killer sometimes trying to get his hands on it without Color’s permission, other times he’d simply ask, cause at that point Killer’s trying to learn how to be better, considering Killer himself had endured the invasive way Nightmare always touches his soul and influences it by his magic, so i think Color’s polite way of actually asking for permission from Killer for his soul would definitely rub off on him

which I’d like to believe Color would most likely refuse to give Killer his soul cause the thought of his soul being experimented on isn’t really comfortable, but I can see Color actually giving Killer the permission to study his soul by simple observation rather than actual experimentation

Stage 1 would absolutely refuse regardless of the timeline, even when curious, cause that’s his best friend y’know?

But regardless, I can see Killer and Color fight over this very reason of Killer’s curiosity for souls, but here’s a very interesting question, can Killer actually get his hands on Color’s soul without his permission? When Color is just a lot stronger than Killer in every aspect?

Killer will simply never win a fight again Color, Color might be hesitant to fight and is generally trying to be careful with his powers, but he still holds the power to crush Killer like he’s nothing, so if anything, Killer will only be able to get his hand on Color’s soul if he outsmarts him >:)

[lostintransist]

Liaison | Part 6 | Galas, Business, and Backroom Deals

Check out part one here. Up to chapter 34/38 on AO3.

Blinking hard at the computer didn’t change the fact the words had all become unreadable. You had started work at four am and hadn’t left your chair since. The phone showed 10:23 AM if you squinted. Pushing away from the computer you shuffled to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

As the last of the liquid ability to keep going dripped into your cup Kate finds you.

“Ah, Liaison. I’m glad I found you. I’ve cleared your schedule for the day. Go and grab your bag.” Kate dressed simply in jeans and flannel.

“What do you even do here Kate?”

Kate smirked at your exhausted question. “I coordinate teams on the ground. While you line up jobs for the team now I keep them all moving to the goals once we work the jobs.”

“Why did you clear my schedule then?” You focus the majority of your energy on the task of moving your coffee to a to-go cup and adding the prescribed amount of creamer.

“Because you’ve been with us long enough that Shepherd and I agree you can start taking on the networking parties.” The grin Kate has wouldn’t look out of place on a crocodile.

“And if I don’t want to be the face of the 141?” You mumble the question into your coffee. Kate hears you anyway.

“Too bad, you’ll be getting a £50,000 yearly raise and a company card for expenses.”

Spit takes with hot coffee should lead to a fine for whoever made the coffee come out of your nose. You cough until you can breathe again.

“Now much is my raise?” You stare at Kate with wide eyes, mouth agape.

“You heard me. Now go and get your stuff we have a lot to get done today. I’ll wait for you in the lobby.”

Hurrying down the hall you pack up your computer and ensure your workspace is clear. Firing off a quick text to König you head back down the hall.

<I’m getting a raise, so that’s cool. But now I have to go to parties 🤮

A reply pops up on your screen before you can reach the lobby.

>I would rather shoot myself in the head.

<While I understand the sentiment I’m going to like the chance to drink while working.

When you move close enough to see the lobby you see Harold, face red and chin quivering, talking with Kate who leans over the high counter.

“You okay Harold?”

Kate spins around to look at you while Harold sits in his chair, head disappearing below the eye line.

“He got some bad news about his family, ready to go?” Kate replies for him. She ushers you through the front door. You look over your shoulder, seeing nothing amiss.

“Where are we headed first?” You climb into the right side of the car, still uncomfortable with UK cars despite being here a year.

“You are getting a makeover today. Facial, massage, hair colored, among other things and then we are going to get you several dresses. Your first party is on Friday. I will be going with you and introducing you to a few people. Word that you work for us won’t take long to get around. Most people there will already have your number in their phone, so adding a pretty face to the number should help us get more jobs.” Kate drove as she spoke, slipping into traffic with ease.

“Kitty is going to be your hair stylist, she also does makeup. She is good at keeping her mouth shut and because of that has some high-priority clientele. Lana is going to provide your massage and Tia is going to give you a facial. We will be done at their salon in about two hours, which will leave plenty of time to get some dresses and shoes. The ladies will work at the same time to get everything done in time.”

You take note of the names Kate mentions and write them down in a small notebook along with what each woman does. This had been your trick to keeping jobs and people straight as you learn about them. Writing them helps everything stick and allows you to update your spreadsheets.

Kate always struck you as someone who tried to be ‘one of the guys’. Being on a first-name basis with women who fell into more traditionally female-coded jobs felt out of character. You tuck the incongruence into your mental folder on Kate. She did manage the liaison position before you, and if you are forced to go to parties then Kate must have had as well. You wonder if you can get a suit along with the dresses you are slated for.

The turn into the parking structure takes you by surprise, the oh-shit handle becoming one with your hand. Kate drives a bit wild, nothing like the controlled sedation of Harold. Though, as you think on it she drives much better than most of the team. You end up in a car with them for one reason or another from time to time.

Riding the elevator in silence you notice, maybe for the first time that you had several inches on Kate. Her large presence and the fact you slouched in your chair most of the time had left you with the impression you stood at nearly the same height.

When the ding of the elevator alerted you to the arrival of the correct floor you catch sight of a beautiful woman with bright pink hair standing behind the counter.

“Hi, Kate! Is this your new liaison?”

You wave as Kate introduces you.

“And remind me what we are getting ready for today?”

“Galas, business, and backroom deals like always Kitty.”

They laughed as if this were a commonly shared joke.

The next two hours should have been calming. All of your knots are attacked and obliterated by Lana. You must keep a neutral face when Tia is working on removing layers of dead skin. Kitty gives you what she calls low lights. You have no idea what that means but once all the women step from the room you rush to clothe yourself. Kate enters the room without knocking as you are halfway through getting your jeans on.

“Do you have any nicer underwear?” she pulls a face at your cotton undies and plain t-shirt bra.

“No? I don’t need them.” You wiggle your pants over your hips and ass, buttoning them and grabbing your shirt.

“You will, I will add that to our list of items to pick up.”

“If no one will be seeing them then I don’t need them.”

“Not your call, plus the nice underwear makes the clothes sit better, I promise.”

“I can’t imagine you getting all fancy for parties like this.”

“Oh trust me,” a wry tone, “It was not a walk in the park for me.”

Once your shirt is settled back in place you follow Kate into the proper salon area. Kitty has you sit in her chair. She drapes a gown over your clothes and gives you a light trim with some shaping. Kitty talks with Kate for most of the visit.

“What is the feeling you are going for on Friday’s party?”

“Classy, we need to introduce her and let her settle in people’s minds as one of ours before we start making waves.”

“Okay, send me a picture once you have the dress picked out and I will work with my associate Emma to get everything ready. Since there will be two of you I will be needing help.”

Hair cut, face scrubbed, nails buffed and shined, thoroughly assaulted you follow Kate back to the elevator. Going down two floors you are interested to see a high-end shop. The woman dressed all in black greats Kate with an air of self-importance, glancing you over before dismissing you mentally.

You can do no more than try on a dress and present it to Kate and the mistress of the shop before you are ordered back to try on another. After the twelfth dress, you send a message to König. The picture you send him is flattering, the floor-length ballgown hugged your breasts and flowed down in an elegant A-line.

<You wanted to be a sniper right?

>Ja.

<Any chance you could arrange to take me out before I have to try one more gown?

>Nein. You are friend.

The only reply you can think to send is a picture of you flipping him the bird.

@nicroyal02

Part 5 | Part 7

Masterlist

[ghostofskywalker]

Secret Weapon

Peggy Carter/Fem!Reader

Fictober 2024 Day 12 of 31

Words: 887

Summary: Your girlfriend works too hard, and sometimes it takes a little bit of convincing to get her to put her files down for the night.

Peggy Carter Masterlist

Your girlfriend worked too much, there was no denying that. Well, unless if you were talking to her (or most of her coworkers). But to you, the Jarvises, and most (normal) people you met, the kinds of days she put in and the hours she worked were simply too much for one person to handle. 

Even at home, it seemed that sometimes she was unable to step away from the SSR. You understood why it might be hard, especially because she’s gotten involved in some high-profile (and dangerous) cases before, but you also knew that it would have negative effects on her if she continued to burn the candle at both the ends the way she was. 

Like right now, the coffee table in your living room had been taken over by maps, blueprints, case files, photographs, and countless other documents that you weren’t even sure she was allowed to take home in the first place. It was well past nightfall, and honestly, there was nothing you want more right now than to go to bed. Technically, you could do just that if you wanted. However, you couldn’t bear to leave your girlfriend out here all by herself, especially when you could tell she was trying to hide how tired she actually was. 

“Peggy, are you going to come to bed with me?” you asked from the kitchen as you poured yourself a glass of water. The best case scenario here was that she agreed right now, and in less than an hour the two of you would have your arms curled around each other as you dozed off to dreamland. 

“In a few moments,” was her response, and you had known her long enough to understand that while she might mean well when she said that, it wouldn’t actually happen. 

But instead of trying to talk her into putting everything away right now, you had a different idea, one that she might think was a low blow, but was usually about 90% effective at getting whatever you wanted. 

A few minutes later, things were starting to take shape. You had changed into your pajamas from the clothes you wore around the house - forgoing the robe you usually kept on at this time of year. Maybe this particular outfit was shorter than the things you wore on casual days, and maybe the top was a little bit lower-cut than you tended to favor, but you felt that a small amount of your body heat was a valuable sacrifice, especially if it got Peggy to actually put her work away and take care of herself. 

When you sat down next to her on the couch, she didn’t really pay you much attention at first, her eyes darting across a map of New York City that had certain color coded routes traced over it. “I think it’s bedtime love,” you said gently. 

Peggy shook her head. “I’ll meet you in there, I’ve got one more thing to figure out.”

You could see the bags under her eyes, there was no way you were going to agree to that. So you took it one step further. “Peg,” you pushed, cuddling up closer to her and leaning your head on her shoulder. “Please?” 

She was silent, still intently staring at the map. 

You were definitely playing a little dirty when you placed your lips on her neck, but you knew it would get a reaction. And as expected, the sigh that escaped Peggy’s mouth definitely proved that she was at least partially paying attention to you. 

As your hand wandered to her waist, she finally responded. “Are you doing this to get my to go to bed with you?” 

Trying to look as though you did not have any kind of ulterior motive, you shook your head. “I can’t kiss my gorgeous girlfriend?” 

It was when she turned to face you that she noticed the top you were wearing, and her eyes widened slightly as she took in the sight, some non-work related thoughts clearly running through her head. 

You pulled her in slightly so that your lips could meet, and you could tell that she was coming around to your proposition faster than she wanted to admit. It only took a few moments before she was practically in your lap, and the kisses you shared grew needier by the moment. 

You pulled away right as Peggy moved to deepen things, and you could hear a small whine escape her mouth. “Why don’t you come to bed with me?” you asked. “I’ll help you clean up here, and then we can continue if you’d like.” 

You could practically see the mental battle that took place in her mind, between her brain and heart (and maybe a little bit of her lust coming to your aid). When she nodded in agreement to your words, you couldn’t help the smile that crossed your face. 

“Come on,” you said, kissing her once more. “Let’s get to bed.” 

The two of you were so wrapped up in each other that you completely forgot to put all the documents and evidence back into their respective folders, but you didn’t care. Once the two of you were cuddled up together, that became something you could deal with tomorrow. Right now, there were more important things to do.

- the end -

i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!

[highfantasy-soul]

I think a fundamental misunderstanding of morality is so prevalent in Star Wars discourse and I wish more people would think in complex nuance rather than 'this side is right and if you listen to a single thing the OTHER side says, then you're falling to evilness'.

I don't think Osha listening to Qimir's side of the story and understanding it is 'her seeing she's like this evil person, and so deciding she might as well be evil too!'.

I don't see Qimir as evil. I don't see the jedi as good. So where are we when we analyze character choices?

Fighting for freedom and choice is not inherently evil (see: The Rebel Alliance). You have to dig deeper than 'I don't like the Jedi code' when determining if that person rejecting a super high-control cult is doing so to harm others or simply seek freedom for themselves or the galaxy.

Is it possible to fight against the Jedi for evil reasons? Yeah (see: Palpatine). But that's not the ONLY option.

It feeds into this idea that once you 'identify' the 'good guys' in a situation, you need to back them uncritically and to listen at all to those you're 'identified' as the 'bad guys' means you're falling to corruption and evilness. That's just...a terrible way to 1) engage with media, and 2) engage with the world.

You could have been wrong when you identified the 'good guys'. But if you never listen to the things the 'other' side says, if you dehumanize them to the point where even when they're making valid points, you shut them down simply because 'well, you're the bad guy, so it's physically impossible for you to have any 'right' things to say at all', you stagnate as a person/group and corruption thrives in your ranks and the conflict between you and 'the bad guys' will never end. Not to mention, you miss out on a lot of good philosophy when we're talking about media analysis.

It's about actually looking at what people are saying and doing critically, with as little bias as possible, that will help you make your way to 'the truth' of the matter. If you've decided you're going to put on rose-colored glasses when you look at all the decisions made by 'the good guys' and piss-colored glasses for all actions taken by 'the bad guys', then you're going to miss the actual path forward.

Sometimes, NO ONE is 'the good guy' and sometimes, NO ONE is 'the evil guy'. What we CAN do is look at everything, the effects of their actions, their philosophies, and analyze it dispassionately to try to glean some lessons from it. After all, this is a fake world filled with fake people - acknowledging Qimir might have some valid criticisms of the Jedi order isn't putting a dictator in charge of your real-life country. This isn't a life or death situation here, so maybe take a breath and realize it's ok to sympathize and understand characters in fiction who might have done things we consider to be bad.

But it's also correct to say that the way we conceptualize morality in media CAN impact how we interact with our real world. That's why I think it's so important to expose people to the idea that there isn't a clear 'good side' and clear 'bad side' you can neatly separate all people into in a safe environment such as storytelling. You cannot separate real people into 'orcs' or 'hobbits' in the real world and I think a lot of people with their purity politics are forgetting that. Is it easier to dehumanize those who do things that harm others? Yeah. Is that good storytelling to make a clear and irredeemable enemy? It can be! But it's not the ONLY way to tell a story.

Seriously, look into some more 'lit fic' stories and you'll see that the common 'good vs evil' storytelling of fantasy/fantasy adjacent genres isn't the only way to write a compelling and meaningful story. Everyone can have good traits, everyone can have bad traits, and some traits can flip flop depending on the situation. Most importantly, identifying with the antagonist and certain traits they posses DOES NOT MAKE YOU A BAD PERSON!!!!

I guess the tl;dr of this is that it's ok to not be able to identify the 'good guys' or the 'bad guys' - it's ok to look at the characters and say 'boy, this is messy' and leave your moral judgement at that. There's no law that says you have to correctly identify the perfect people in fiction and if you get it wrong, you're punished somehow. Release yourself of that expectation and I think you'll find engaging with media a much more rewarding and eye-opening experience that can help you learn things about yourself and others that you can take into the real world in a non-combative manner.

Black vs White morality is not the only dynamic available in media and it's time we reminded ourselves of that, especially when looking at Star Wars.

[eresia-catara]

whats the significance of Guido having red hair?

Sorry anon I took this long things have been a little rough lately, but do know that this answer has been in the back of my mind constantly.

So, I'm not saying this is what dgr actually meant because I am not an expert in this field (I talk as if I were an expert in any field lol) so I'm writing this as my personal interpretation jsksj but anyway here's the deal:

pre-raphaelite art developed inside a cultural context that was rediscovering irrationality in all its forms and was fascinated with all that was exotic — meaning, all that is far away, both in time and space. This, especially going towards the northern regions of Europe, meant a special interest in the Middle Ages (far away in time and, due to the prejudices of previous Enlightenement, maximally superstitious/magical = irrational). This means that when we read a pre-raphaelite painting we have to be strongly focused on symbolisms, because that's what their art was: a thought, a message, conveyed through a set of elements that redirected the mind to something else, something more that is beyond what we see. Art is a means to an end, simply put; it's never the point.

Now, a recurring symbol in this art is women with long red hair, such as

Hair in general has always been strictly linked to the essence of a person, going from personality to their position in life. For example, in Mediterranean territories, brown hair is the most common, so if a person has a different color it means they are uncommon in a way or another. In this perspective, in the Middle Ages blonde was usually associated with purity (we can see that the virgin Mary was usually depicted as blonde, but women in poetry were also described as blonde). Red was more often associated with force, be it good or bad. In the Bible, David has red hair because he is destined to great things, but also Saul and Caiaphas are described that way and they were inspired by the devil. In art, Judas has red hair, and when he kisses Jesus, he too has red hair. Red hair is ambivalent, it is however preeminently irrational and goes beyond the earthly dimention; if a person has red hair it essentially means 'hey look out! this person brings consequences'.

And what about hair that is long? Long hair is associated with women, and as it's also associated with sensuality (since hair was considered a main instrument of seduction), women often kept it up as a form of modesty. Thus long hair that is not tied up stands out, again, like the colour red. It tells us the person is not common, they are special in some way (at least in art, because in society you were simply considered a wh0re if you weren't young enough lol), they stand apart from the crowd because they do not follow conventions.

This also makes long red hair extremely sensual, for example.

If we go to dgr's painting where Guido has long red hair, well, the picture speaks loudly, to the 19th century observer. Guido brings consequences, he stands not among the commons because he, as a being, does not conform to social codes and formalities and conventions. He is an irrational force, in the sense that what he brings cannot be understood through analytical thinking and Reason and science but rather through a synthetical approach (what I mean is: imagine a set of stairs, where the bottom is absolute ignorance and the top is absolute knowledge. Analytical thinking means understanding step by step as you go up, synthetical is like being teleported from the bottom directly to the top). And in fact what does Guido have that is so special? He is the friend that found out Dante's talent, he's the means through which Dante achieved divinely-willed (not profane, not rational) glory, he's an omen (irrational). Guido brought a consequence: Dante. And by having him read Guinizzelli's poems we have a temporal continuity from the old masters to the new ones, from old art to new art, from old knowledge to new knowledge.

but do we also have to exclude the possibility that Guido is simply sexy haha

[charrfie]

I know you might not do this but maybe you could doodle your take on a baby Spamton?

So, this is actually an extremely compelling prompt because it gives me an opportunity to talk about a certain hc of mine that I've not really gone in depth with at all!! Here is your baby spammy, I'll talk more in depth under the cut!

The spamton I've drawn here is roughly a week or so old, despite how he might look. This is because addisons are manufactured in factories rather than born, and their creation warrants almost immediate functionality. To put in simpler terms: addisons are created to serve a purpose from the get-go, and a newborn infant who can't operate without excessive help simply won't fit the bill. Because of this, addisons are created at a child stage where they're able to moderately comprehend the world around them, the basics of marketing, and how to take care of themselves. The reason for addisons not being manufactured as adults from the start is for multiple reasons:

It's not cost effective, both in terms of the code that must be written and material that must be produced (as adults are obviously bigger)

The child phase in itself is critical for the addison in many regards. This is key for their development in their marketing style, preferences, and personalities. It gives them a developmental buffer

It provides the addison with more insight into other, younger demographics that can't be programmed into them otherwise (think of actual modern day corporations trying to market to kids/teens... it feels incredibly forced, out of touch, and usually very behind the times)

Generally there are sets of 5 addisons in one batch produced (and it's worth noting that while colors vary in each set, white is a fairly uncommon addison color). These sets which are manufactured simultaneously, while not biologically related, are the closest an addison has to a family. This family system will go on to assist one another in the basics of survival once they're put out on the streets as well as establishing themselves. From those unfamiliar with addisons and their creation, it might seem rather cruel to kick "newborns" out and immediately expect them to understand how to fend for themselves, but it's a normal part of their lifestyle that doesn't put too much stress on the average addison. Addisons are also provided free housing in specifically allotted apartments up until they are deemed old enough to reach an expected amount of success; they are then moved to another sector of apartments and must meet a certain quota for rent at the very least. It's at the point of their moving that some family sets seperate from one another, though some choose to stay together and will be grouped into apartments appropriately.

Thanks for the request! The quick rundown on addison manufacturing probably wasn't expected but I hope it's interesting :^D

[here-there-were-dragons]

just read the new hatchling skin rules and am having Some Type Of Initial Emotional Reaction and am now writing down said Initial Emotional Reaction uncensored as i currently Strongly Feel A Type Of Way and Require Venting. i cannot word this more politely. i do not have the capability to render this rage into polite borderline corporate-speak for the sake of the damn rules that act like anything short of apologizing for being alive to make up for having even the most constructive understanding friendly criticism or even personal mild non-critical dislike of something like a color or a breed is tantamount to personal targeted hatemail. i cannot wait until i cool into calm bitterness later because if i think about this enough to write about it again i will just go right back to being furious and the fact that everyone ielse who's complaining is focusing entirely on the lolita fashion thing and not on in my opinion the far more significant and offensive part is pissing me off even more. extremely angry unedited ranting ahead

fr having it's own "female presenting nipples" moment right now, not that i'm particularly surprised, they've been a prime example of "conservative protestantism in a lefty-language veneer" for a long while now.

"don't adultify" is such a fucking vague and easily selectively interpreted rule, not to mention insulting for a number of reasons,

but putting that part aside the whole idea of "nothing that suggests that the dragon is an adult in a young body" is. look, i'm not exactly fond of the "adult who looks like an anime schoolgirl" trope myself, but i fail to see how in the absolute FUCK having it be canon in-universe that it is both possible and legal for someone to be forced to stay as a child permanently, is somehow LESS creepy than just saying eternal youth dragons have dwarfism. also, fuck you to anyone with dwarfism apparently i guess?

and "no zombie baby dragons" is just stupid. even fucking minecraft has baby zombies, and microsoft has steadily butchered that game into one of the most t for toddler babymode things on earth this side of cocomelon.

and "no scars on hatchlings" so fuck you to any kids with scars too apparently, even though that's way more common than anyone seems to realize. you hear that, kids? if you're under 18 and have scars your very existence is too obscene for public view. 13+ year olds will be irreparably traumatized if they have to know you exist at all! fuck you disabled kids and fuck you amputee kids and fuck you any kids that have suffered anything ever at all for not appearing as a perfect unspoiled image of conservative christian child-doll innocent purity. flight rising staff says your body and existence is inherently too nsfw to even be acknowledged as existing much less visually seen. everyone knows REAL children don't get damaged at all, and if they do then they're too horrifying and defective at their job of Being A Child Properly to exist in public spaces! how dare ugly things that might make us uncomfortable with their existence by contradicting out ideals about aesthetic moral purity be allowed where good respectable normal people can see them!

i don't say any of these words lightly, and i'm very much not the type to go around calling people whatever-ists and in fact find that kind of thing extremely annoying, useless, reductive, and more or less only ever see it used as a blunt cudgel to shame people into line so they don't question you, and have historically found it especially annoying when people pull out the accusations-of-ism card on fr staff over things that are far more likely just completely understandable (if dubiously competent) issues of certain things simply not occurring to someone on code and design level due to lack of sufficient exposure to the idea, and have always been of the belief of giving them the benefit of doubt (even if often that just means i think they either most likely made an understandable mistake that i would likely also make, or, when i'm feeling less kind, that they're simply not particularly competent rather than actively hostile) so understand how much it means coming from me when i say- flight rising staff, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, fuck you, you ableist batch of pricks, so far up your own asses with your performative veneer of vaguely lefty-flavored language that you don't realize how fundamentally extremely conservative all of your actual beliefs underlying them are. for every update you make that i approve of there's another that does twice as much damage as the good update fixed (and i'm starting to wonder if you maybe know what you're doing with that too-always batching the fucked up shit on the tail end of some big thing you know people will be excited about, always hiding these controversial moderation changes under something shiny and new, to the point that now i dread any new good update that genuinely seems a step in the right direction and/or is something we've been wanting for awhile because i'm just constantly expecting the knife hidden behind the footnotes afterwards, the fucking "ban tiktok/gay marriage/strip rights from this population/end net neutrality/whatever/ect" clause stapled onto the end of a bill about something entirely unrelated functionally holding a change people want hostage until they allow the fucked up part through. i've been here most of the site's 10+ years and i've seen this sort of thing happen far, far too often.) and every year the shit that gets pulled on the management and moderation end of things makes me more and more almost glad i've never had an income to spend on this, and the fact that apparently the moderation behind every single other petsite in existence is somehow significantly worse fucking astounds me. the only reason i stay around here is because It's Free Dragon Pictures, because it's literally the only actually good petsite game i've ever played and not gotten sick of within a week or so (and really the only good low-energy game i've ever played in general, which i'm increasingly convinced is in spite of it's management), and because somehow, despite all of this shit, i still genuinely love the game itself, because unfortunately by some accident of creation it seems they apparently stumbled purely by coincidence into making an actually good game idea no one else quite has. and after all the fuckery that gets constantly pulled, i refuse to believe the game being good is anything other than, much like many of the of the incidents i think they're unfairly accused of malice and -ism over, an accident.

Disabled children too obscene to fucking exist. fuck you. good to know half the child population's existence requires a trigger warning to even be allowed to be acknowledged as existing to you. good to know if the heart surgery i had when i was 11 had left any visible external scars i would be considered inherently too obscene to exist to you. good to know if the overhealed and benignly potentially cancerous scar on my back from whatever actually happened when i was a toddler (i don't trust either of my parents to ever be accurate about something like that) was in a more visible spot you would demand i have a trigger warning to post selfies online. good to know if any of the shit that's broken me emotionally left visible physical marks you would think it was good and right for me to be forcibly hidden from good normal people's view and considered too taboo for even the slightest discussion without hiding it with makeup and lies, just so i don't make good, lucky, undamaged, normal people uncomfortable, god fucking forbid. should we hide the gays too, since they also make so many people uncomfy? i imagine it won't be long before disabled adults are too obscene for your polite societytm sensibilities too. i've had the feeling for a long time that amputee and disabled skins were living on borrowed time with your rules, kept technically not explicitly dissalowed where all other forms of injury and ""body horror"" are banned simply out of fear of the backlash it would cause to include them, and well. the doomsday clock on that one just got a little bit closer to midnight, huh?

the only reason i wasn't a (physically, visibly, externally) scarred kid was pure sheer fucking luck. the only reason you weren't a physically scarred kid too is pure sheer fucking luck. the only reason you're not some type of disfigured or ugly or amputated or visibly injured or whatnot is pure sheer fucking luck. you're lucky. nothing more. if having to contend with that fact-the fact of how easily it could have gone a different way and there is nothing they would be able to do about it- makes good normal tm people uncomfortable, then well, get the fuck used to it, other people children very much fucking included don't exist to cater to the aesthetic sensibilities of a lucky perfect few. the only thing that separates you from the damaged ones you find too obscene is a bad day and an unlucky hand. and one day, even if you were lucky enough to escape being damaged when you were young, you and i will both be just like them too.

more festival skin winners slots is good. elemental swords sound fun.

[witchofthesouls]

I've had prime predacons on the brain, do they have mating habits? Do they lay eggs? Since predaking is the leader of the last 3 predacons does that mean he gets first dibs if a lady dragon/predacon shows up or would it be a battle of suitors? Do predacons make good parents even with the fact they're technically clones and only have vague genetic memories of their culture to pass on?

I got sooooooo many thoughts about Predacons and their influence on Cybertron's modern-day frame-schematics, especially with that throw-away line about Seekers. Like I'm running away with it~!! 🏃‍♀️

Seekerkin can trace their frame and coding quirks back to the Predacon species that delved into the Rust Sea. Unlike their exclusive land and air kith, the sea hunters were able to escape the catastrophic radiation by diving down into the depths.

These particular subspecies of Predacon passed many traits to their descendants, including but not limited to: the sexual dimorphism of larger, powerful femmes to agile, brightly-colored mechs, the trine-protocols and flocking mechanisms, multiples in carriage, prey-drives, and superior senses akin to beastformers and mechanimals.

The Wilder tribes still use vocalizations and have behaviors that can be traced back to their ancient kin and kith via oral traditions from Keepers. This leads to a lot of tension with the Seekerkin city-states that try to erase and rewrite the history of their frames.

While Vos is framed for their trine-protocols and being a strange breed of aerials onto itself, Praxus refined the hunting tactics and flocking behavior, and Polyhex's wetlands and underground labyrinths kept polished the traits that made them formidable sea predators.

The Predacons eschewed Prima's Call and his Guiding Hand for the established city-states to remain in the Wilds. Capable of speech and sharp intelligence, Predaking's kith were the apex predators of the sky, hunting down others for food, and were terrors to the young mecha prior to T-cogs.

This is due to claims of superiority. Unlike the other frames, they didn't require the immediate protection of the Primes. On top of their massive size and strength, flight and fire capabilities, advanced nanite colonies, thick armor, and heightened senses, the Predacons have a very unique quirk: collective unconscious.

Predacons are proud of their closeness to nature and beastly frames. In their opinion, they are the second closest to Primus, outside of the Thirteen, because of it. "A gift," they decree, by the Creator to give them such wild frames suited to the planet with the capabilities to shape it.

In the oral traditions of the Wilders, it's said some of their ancient kith could bend "cold fire" aka lightning. And that's why certain landmarks in the Wastelands still stand in defiance of Time and Prima's "Forceful" Hand. It was also said that they often crossed with "the Shadow of the Light" and the "Lord of Beasts."

Out of all the Primes, they respect the inescapable strength and spirit of Megatronus, Solus' forging and might, and Onyx for his understanding of their kind as he, too, ventured to the edges of extremes. "Lord of Beasts," indeed. They are creatures suited to an untamed Cybertron.

The social structures of the land hunters are very loose and minimal. Adults are mainly solitary creatures with exceptions to mating season, child-rearing, and seasonal gatherings to collectively mine volcanoes for minerals and guide massive storms to ignite new Energon nodes- preparations for the lean portion of the vorn.

The sea hunters are smaller and slimmer than their land-counterparts, so they have strong social ties of multiple generations to maximize the survival of their young, resource efficiency, and hunting tactics.

The mating behaviors of Predacons differ by their type, but there are similarities. Do they do not feel shame over cycles; heats and ruts are simply a fact of life. Much like beastformers, Predacons have reproductive heats.

There's courting gifts of fresh kills, raw ores, and chunks of minerals as well as showing off skills.

If there's an uncourted or unclaimed female in heat, then a Dance or a Mating Hunt will occur after competition has been bullied to back down. Females in heat are highly temperamental and incredibly aggressive, so those who wish to remain single and unmated would either cripple or kill persistent hunters.

Among the sea hunters, males show off their bright colors and hues to demonstrate health and virility as well as attempt to groom or nuzzle a female of a different pod/flock. It's common for a binary or triad of males to mate-nap a female from elsewhere: proving their tactics against her and her extended kin.

Whereas the males of the land hunters will show off strength by battling other males in the vicinity to prove their worthiness among his nearby neighbors before battling her for breeding rights.

If a female Predacon (or Seekerkin) was discovered, then Predaking would bully the other males to establish dominance before stepping up to plate to fight her.

Child-rearing is a shared responsibility. Nest building and bulking it with supplies. Keeping out intruders since baby Predacons cannot properly fly until they reach near mechling stage (adolescence).

Males can't produce sparkling-grade, so females are stuck in the nest until the newsparks gain their sight and actually climb out.

Mechs do help with a special tank in their frames that reguitates a melted slag of nutrients that helps boost the newsparks' systems.

Once the sparklings can eat more solid, the sire and carrier will take turns hunting and caring the nest.

Sea hunters have an easier time as child-rearing is more communal. Newsparks and sparklings are defended and supported by well-established adults guarding the shallow nursery reef, while hunters support the pod with an influx of food.

[respectthepetty]

Hello hello

I don't know if you talked about this before but is there a show that got colors so right that it WOW-ed you, as in they nailed it all from a to z?

Anon, I love this question. Do you understand? LOVE IT! I'm actually doing a colors award post in December because these shows are doing an amazing job with color coding this year. I'm always pleased with the colors I get, and last year's were a treat, but something about this year is feeding my soul DAILY, so allow me to take some small detours to highlight a few favorites before I answer your question:

I Cannot Reach You's color-coded bokeh effect is driving me mad with excitement each episode.

Destiny Seeker had consistent color-coding every episode, from beginning to end, with no missteps. 10/10 color coding. No notes.

Kiseki: Dear to Me and Never Let Me Go delivered consistent coding through the wardrobe of its couples that has me biting my knuckles simply thinking about them.

The Eighth Sense delivered on its dark versus light color dynamic during that phenomenal colorful kiss and the subway ride.

But Dark Blue Kiss will forever remain the best color exchange during a kiss for me.

Semantic Error could have snatched that top spot because everything was included in the color-coding adventure: lighting, wardrobe, props, TODO!

But if you know anything about me, the champion should come as no surprise because this show understood the assignment, and I devoured it each week with lengthy write-ups, so the winner was always gonna be . . .

Big Dragon

Its color-coding game is unbeatable from start to finish.

The houses, the lighting, the clothing, the phones, the hookups, EVERYTHING WAS COLOR-CODED!

And I'm a sucker for the color coding starting when the characters are kids.

Then those sweet sweet color exchanges! Ah, my heart is gonna explode!

And it wasn't just the colors. Big Dragon was feeding me symbolism every damn episode: Yin/Yang, Tiger/Dragon, Moon/Sun, Dark/Light. AND THE SIDES WERE IN ON IT TOO!

This show knew what it was doing, visually, thanks to cinematographer Ratchanon Kaeosaart who was also behind I Promised You the Moon, and it never missed! This is one of the reasons it instantly gained a top spot in my heart. This show didn't just wow me. It made me fall in love with it, easily, and I have been obnoxiously obsessed with it since.

NOW WHERE IS MY SECOND SEASON?!