#Link: no go to your well

[demiboydemon]

Banished to the well while he cleans the melted cutting board from the oven rack 😔

[rocketbirdie]

i don't want to lose you. i don't want to lose this

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

hope you feel better soon!

I am riddled with ailments, but I stay silly!

[raycatzdraws]

ribbonwood

[dundeey-art]

cliffjumper commission for @capbiscuit!

[luna-loveboop]

There is sooo much fun contrast between Breath of the Wild and Age of Calamity Link, and the one I can't stop laughing at is SHIELD SURFING it is ridiculous!

Like here's Shield surfing in Botw-

It's pretty, and if it's rainy I can slide even more. I do it for fun off a nearby hill if I have a shield to spare. I press Y or X to do a fancy kick or spin, and I can attack some monsters with it passing by. The greatest danger with shield surfing is Link hitting a rock, his shield breaking, and him dying or using a fairy/Mipha's grace. More likely he eats some a lot of apples. Outside of Link potentionally breaking a leg tho, it's fun! I once caught a horse in botw by shield surfing, I spun and accidentally flip-flopped onto her, named her Flip-flop in remembrance. If I do some kicks and jumps while shield surfing Link will even laugh and make happy sounds, which shows he's enjoying it. Fun happy times in botw while shield surfing :)

Then there's Shield surfing in Aoc-

Link screams HYAH! or some other raging and loud battle cry, as he hops on his shield and speeds, not towards, not around, but straight into whatever monsters stand in his way. The agonised cries of dying monsters fill the air as Link turns into a tunnel of pure deadly force. Is he going uphill? downhill? Doesn't matter, he's going, gravity has no hold on him. The worst case scenario you ask? Link shield surfs straight into a bomb barrel. Takes everything out quicker, and he loses half a heart from it. I finished an entire mission using only Link's shield surfing the other day. The game reminded me how to dodge bc it thought I forgot the other controls. I didn't need to dodge, just surf. Aoc Link doesn't go shield surfing for fun, he is on a mission and he becomes a whirling funnel of death.

And I mean all that literally by the way-

Botw Link: Shield surfs for fun and freedom while trying to survive! :D

Aoc Link: Shield surfs to KILL and destroy, he is out for blood

tbc I love Aoc Link he's a sweetheart just a very deadly one

And hey, looking at how the ability controls are explained in the game-

Botw- "Hop on your shield and slide down hills."

Aoc- "Link: One-Handed Weapons / Press X while running to shield surf."

So- in Botw it IS for fun- 'hop on'- whereas in Aoc shield surfing is an attack. hmm

..It makes sense I guess. Aoc Link killed the enemy, and Botw was the one who was killed- but it seems in the end Wild's the one who gets to live.

YEAH so anyways I actually cannot at the moment shield surf in Aoc without laughing bc he is so. so very violent.

I mean look! Look at the difference of scenes left behind after Link goes shield surfing (Botw, then Aoc)

An everybody-lives story is really a everybody-dies story for the enemy huh

[just-honey-dewd]

THE GENIUS VS THE MASTERMIND

Thinking about the recent Link Click MOD…. The second song had the album cover(?) referring to Lu Guang as a genius. Which made me spiral into critical thinking. So this post will be covering Lu Guang's relationship to the term "genius," the way it differentiates from "mastermind," and then how Liu Xiao makes for a good character foil for Lu Guang.

I’ve never thought that far enough to consider Lu Guang one because genius as a term reeks of an exceptionalism mindset that I don't really subscribe to. But coming off of that trailer with more consideration for the term, it paints a picture on my head of the kind of exceptionalism mindset Lu Guang has always been subjected to: whether it'd be for his mind, his appearance, or his vast knowledge of things.

I find it fascinating from a writing standpoint how Lu Guang can technically be considered a genius in his specialised field: the intrinsic understanding of timelines. For the context of his world, and with the limited base of reference we have of other time-based power users, Lu Guang might be in uncharted territory, and the nature of his abilities make him a cut above the populace. There are several interpretations of the word genius from many people, but I quite take to looking at the word's etymology itself for reference.

It originated in Rome and was defined as "tutelary or moral spirit" who guides and governs an individual through life.

The Latin version of the word meant "guardian deity or spirit which watches over each person from birth; spirit; incarnation; wit, talent." The noun is related to the Latin verbs "gignere" (to beget, to give birth to) and "generare" (to beget, to generate, to procreate). A person's "genius" dictated their unique personality and disposition, so it used to be that the term "genius" was used to define a spirit that inspired the talent in a person, rather than the talent itself.

It's not hard to consider Lu Guang as a moral spirit or guide for those closest to him. And it's also representative to me that he is not only a guardian deity to Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao Ling -- but also a spirit that possesses and guides himself when he dives back in time. So, yes, I've now taken a liking to describing him as a genius.

Which is where I get onto the other mystery man of the show...

The man of mystery, Liu Xiao— the mastermind.

It’s an oxymoron to me how he’s advertised as being behind the shadows, and spotlighted for how enigmatic he is. The most we know of him from now [2/06/2024] is that the environments around him go out of their way to tell you he's not to be trusted, that he's a red flag, and that he seemingly has a fascination with Lu Guang. Shout out to the PV trailer for showing off his haunting aura.

There's a lot of parallels he has to Lu Guang: both are adept at planning ahead, they are manipulators that haunt the narrative and each others' worlds, and they always know more than they let on. It's not even that other characters don't know they're mysterious -- but they recognise their distant and secretive dispositions.

I find it fascinating looking back at how easily Lu Guang never paid a glance at Liu Xiao in that previous iteration of the timeline, yet regarded Liu Xiao with familiarity in the Yingdu episodes.

So it could be suggested that in previous iterations, they would eventually meet Liu Xiao, but it was never in Bridon. Another thing to consider is that Lu Guang might've never noticed that Liu Xiao was at the airport, instead of ignoring him on purpose.

PV shows us this: Lu Guang seems unaware of Liu Xiao at the airport, but Liu Xiao is either aware of both Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang, aware of Cheng Xiaoshi (for his objective in Bridon), or aware of Lu Guang (perhaps as a long term threat to his objective).

While Yingdu arc shows us this:

[Lu Guang's heartbeat quickens]

LIU XIAO: You're not just tailing Cheng Xiaoshi now. I want you to keep an eye on Lu Guang. XIA FEI: You mean... LIU XIAO: What's the matter? Didn't you say you only get paid to do the job? LIU XIAO: Relax, I don't have any bad intentions. LIU XIAO, OFF-SCREEN: I'm getting curious.

This scene seems to indicate that Lu Guang's behaviour is enough of a variable for Liu Xiao to want to take him into account. But crucially, Lu Guang hadn't been on his radar. Which... makes little sense if he had been aware of the duo/Cheng Xiaoshi in previous timelines.

It's also kind of a headache if this is the same Liu Xiao seen later playing tetris with a high score that's dated at 12/09/2024

A lot of the time, the fun aspects of interrogating Liu Xiao's character comes down to trying to analyse what he doesn't already know: what isn't an absolute truth, and if he knows these truths.

I think a fun interpretation to me is that Liu Xiao has the broad strokes figured out, and -- through an unknown combination of means -- can predict the outcome of events, anticipate the intervention of third parties, and can quickly single out points of interest, pawns, and those he considers prey. But he's not omniscient in the same way Lu Guang is.

I think in a technical sense, Lu Guang has the vantage point of foresight and memory as the time seer, but Liu Xiao has the persistence and agility of a spider. Go to this post for a deeper analysis on Liu Xiao's PV.

In identifying the oppositional natures of Lu Guang and Liu Xiao, it can be read through through verses from the song "Train Trial," specifically lines like:

"The lights are down (oh?) I brought the darkness (wow)"

The character 光 in Lu Guang (陆光) means 'light.' And his corresponding verses:

"Give me a pair of eyes, where I can see all the joy and sadness Give me a pair of hands that I can cover the unpredictable darkness"

"Even if you want to get rid of my ropes, a hundred years won't be enough for you."

"Above me, the clock's hand turns"

"High places are cold, but it can't affect me"

If nothing else, we know that Lu Guang and Liu Xiao's objectives impede each other's. It's hard to say what Liu Xiao as a person truly believes in, but from all his appearances in and out of the show, what little can be gathered is that he has some deep connection to Cheng Weimin, has no true allies he won't betray for his objective, and consistently monitors Lu Guang.

UPDATED NOTES:

The interview with Li Haoling adds some extra information that might click with or disrupt my current notes:

Liu Xiao studied in Yingdu because it's in close proximity of Bahati: a school linked to supernatural abilities

Liu Xiao's interest in Cheng Weimin's case, as well as his own ability to "hear people's heartbeats," is tied to the concept that supernatural abilities can be taken away

Liu Xiao's objectives in Yingdu were to use Vein to locate Wang Qing to obtain Cheng Weimin's book, and to have Xia Fei monitor Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang due to Lu Guang's unusual heartbeat

Anyways, the point I've reached is Lu Guang is a rank below Liu Xiao probably due to limited political influence and power to influence the future the way he desires to -- even in spite of his vantage point. Quite like the knight and bishop chess pieces. Liu Xiao is deserving of his reputation of being several steps ahead of the game.

A genius isn't guaranteed to win against a sweet-talking manipulator who has determined the terms and conditions of his game longer than when the genius first learns it.

[darkcreamz95]

🐾 Igor in Boots 🐈‍⬛

✍️ Thank you Smarty for helping me with the Slovene name~ :D 👚 Thank you @j-restlessgeek for suggesting that Igor should wear a cape :3 🍉 Also if you have time, spare a click for Palestine here

English version under the cut :D

[cockroachesunite]

Go for broke AU part 2

☞ (Part 1) . (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5)

(masterpost)

[maespri]

psychology / media survey

hihihiii!! i know this is sooo random for my account, but a few months back i tried doing an informal survey about people and the psychology behind their connection to their favorite characters. unfortunately it didn't really work out. i decided to make a google form this time and give it another go ^-^

if you'd like to participate, i would seriously appreciate it SO much. it is completely anonymous and purely for me to have fun, totally informal and unofficial. it shouldn't take you more than 5-10 minutes.

here is the link if you're interested in helping a curious gal out!!

*IMPORTANT EDIT: if you ask me a specific question on your form, it will be answered HERE in this post whenever i get to it! thank you!

[nightrizer]

Your art is super gorgeous! inspirational really!

Do you have any tutorials or online classes that you learned about doing backgrounds? I really want to learn how to do backgrounds/landscape like you!! qwq

(Sorry if you get this a lot!!)

Thank you! ;u;

Something important that a lot of people don't seem to know is that backgrounds and illustration are the same. I don't think they should be considered separate parts of a drawing because it makes it harder to research and learn.

In my experience, whenever I try to research how to do backgrounds, most of the resources I find aren't very helpful. It's mostly stuff like how to paint rocks, trees, water, etc. which can help! But they only talk about rendering those things. You need to know about shape language, contrast, perspective, light/shadows, brushwork, and composition which illustration tutorials/courses give you. Every rock, tree, clump of weeds/grass, etc. need to fit together with everything else in the landscape.

So! From the top of my head, the online sources I learned from that helped me the most is Tyler Edlin on youtube. Specifically these videos:

Random tips:

color relativity is real and you should use more grey

think of painting like you're sculpting instead

Imply detail: your brushwork should be creating most of the details/texture, so you don't actually need to zoom in really far and render in tiny texture details with a 6px brush (detail is the least important part of the painting imo)

[blatantprinterpropaganda]

so far in the world of thamepo we've seen over and over that silently sacrificing your own happiness for the good of someone you love is ultimately never the way to go (thame tried it for the sake of the other mars members, jun for thame, and inevitably all the sacrifices po made for his ex who then promptly dumped him also feature in there), so my god, i hope that this well-intentioned lie of gam's comes to light at some point asap and she and pepper still get their happy end

[error-elf-206]

I'm actually kinda surprised there aren't any Grover in Tartarus fics, like obvs Percy and annabeth have had their Official stint, and theirs tons with just Percy or Percy with others and annabeths got her own (fics) for sure but? What about all three of em? The full trio mayhaps.

Just think about the art Grover could have. The Full Madness Of The Wild we could bare witness to. We've seen Percy go nuts in the depths already Give Me My Lord Of The Wild!!!!! I want to see Grover start biting of monster heads with his flat goat teeth and nobody else has even ever talked about the concept.

Would The Panic even have an effect in Tartarus? Would nature magic? Who Knows! But I Know I Want To.

MAKE. GROVER. GO. PIT. NUTS. FERAL. 2025.

[themortaldraw]

this is so lazily done lol but I wanted to doodle turnip four (he thinks he looks bad ass, the monsters they're fighting are laughing at him)

TURNIP FOR WHAT!!

[hyohaehyuk]

Lovingly gazing into your coworkers eyes while he's talking about the sexual and emotional tension of your characters is crazy 🙃

JA: Yeah, and then also playing that off against that tension and the aftermath of some of those fights. It suddenly rebuilds this sexual and emotional tension. Like you said, you get to explore the breadth of a relationship. But yeah, they’re each other’s endgame, aren’t they? In the books, they always come home to each other. I think it’s telling that that seems to be the denouement or the end of a lot of the novels: Louis and Lestat being petty and in love.

cut via wolfganglestat

transcriptions by greedandenby

Full video (unfortunately i can't find the original source so i am linking 2 videos posted by fans on yt):

Interview With The Vampire | Nicole Drum from Comicbook.com talks with Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid

[deiaiko]

You know that fanmade Cave game? Yeah, it makes me so unwell 😩🤲🥹❤️‍🩹

I can't read/write Japanese and I don't have twitter, but still I want to thank the creators for making and sharing it 🙏 Please accept my offering