#Return to the Mountain

[daily-odile]

sorry i was gone for a while i just got back from the mountains

[illustratus]

Watchful Peace, The Return of the King by John Howe

[theworldsoftolkein]

[floralstorms]

Last view before a late arrival

[ashildrs]

this song eats at my skin

[biscuitboba]

I will never be normal about how zoro can't seem to take his eyes off his captain like even though luffy is stronger than him?? Like i've talked about this many many times before (probably) but the way he keeps an eye on luffy, making sure that luffy is okay??? Zoro and his luffy-oriented brain i swear... like how he is always trying to make sure that his captain is fine 24/7, i'm just-

Like for example, when he is waiting/looking out for luffy's arrival in jaya arc. (Also happened in adventure of nebulandia!)

Or him keeping an eye on luffy in punk hazard. Watching his captain from a perfect & safe distance.

Or it's also about how zoro likes to check on his captain. Voicing his concern, making sure that nothing is wrong with his captain by directly asking luffy about it (if he notices anything unusual from luffy)

Also thinking about zoro and his priority when it comes to luffy (luffy aka his number one priority, really)

Zoro and his worry wart side when it comes to his 'idiot' captain (tbh if i have to put all the panels (from the manga) for every time zoro worries about his beloved captain here, i don't think i can, cause it's zoro)

Like i just think it is crazy how much he cares for his captain, like yeah every single one of the strawhats are like that too, but with zoro it is very visible every. single. time. Like oda really shoved it into our face?? like yeah, zolu my absolute beloved<333

bonus, lil sanuso in the corner<3

[nelkcats]

The Ghost King Wants To Rest!

After years of discovering about his immortality and living through the death and reincarnation of his loved ones, Danny was tired. The world had changed: it had destroyed, rebuilt, reboot, he honestly lost the thread over the years.

Although he could admit that it was interesting to see the evolution, the arrival of heroes on his "original" dimension. And maybe he forced Technus to build him a radio that would alert him to space-related issues there...

He was thrilled when Martian Manhunter was heralded as a hero (Superman was a pretty cool alien yes, but too... human?), though that was basically all the news he had of current civilization (not that he needed further)

The years passed and at the end he decided to live out his retirement on earth out of nostalgia (and by that he means Clockwork got his ass out of the Realms for a break) in what was once Amity a long time ago, he built a nice cabin in the mountains and settled there.

His relationship with Clockwork had evolved over the years, and Danny understood that his mentor (sometimes father) was very concerned that immortality would negatively affect him.

Seeing how he locked himself in his castle for the first few years after Jazz death didn't help alleviate his fears. So Danny didn't complain when the ghost threw him to Earth on that dimension (besides, it had Aliens now! and he missed Amity...even if it was not Amity anymore)

But people won't stop pestering him during his retirement! "Save us" "Help us balance the world, chosen one" "Play with me, let cause chaos!" And more ridiculous phrases. Can the horned boy and wizards leave him alone!? He just wanted to rest!

He couldn't even ask his loved ones for help because their reincarnations didn't recognize him (or did, and made fun of his situation).

On the other hand, Justice League Dark and Klarion have spent years trying to bring the powerful entity that lives in the mountains to their side but nothing works! Why is it so intent on pretending to be an old man with an appearance of 20!?

[douxmae]

Okay guys you’ve seen baby MK, now it’s time for…

Baby monkeys!

[tomswifty-fr]

[duskspring]

What if ghouls followed their summoner back into the pit as soon as they died? Like when the Papas were assassinated, left and right ghouls just vanished into thin air.

Omega had been tidying up his and Terzo’s room before dissolving into a pile of dust himself.

Pebble and Ivy were helping some siblings in the garden. The sunlight had them covered in a pleasant warmth, all smiling and laughing together when they suddenly disappeared.

Ifrit was in the middle of flirting with a cardinal when his words were abruptly cut off.

Some were resummoned by Copia; Dew, Aether and Mountain, considered to still have potential in one way or another. No one ever heard from the others again, and the three that returned refuse to speak about that day.

[wearenotclosed]

Made last night and thought it looked nice, need to play more risk of rain returns but uni assessments are killing me

^^^ reference image/gif

[knarme-art]

@recom-week

RETURN TO PANDORA MONTH

DAY 1 - MOUNT DESIGN (1.12.2024)

Ikran Series - Ngulya, Kxasi's Ikran

Name meaning - 'gray air' Bonded to - Kxasi of the Kxayltirey people Age / sex - nearing an older adult's prime, female About - Ngulya's psyche has a calming, comforting effect on Kxasi. She enjoys complex tasks that require good memory, making her an ideal companion to Kxasi, who is very ambitious and energetic.

Above: Only minimally shaded, mostly flat color reference missing the glow effects on the bioluminescent markings.

Above: Ngulya's bioluminescence in dim lighting

Above: Ngulya's bioluminescense in night lighting

History of Ngulya's design

Above: February 18th in 2023 - Here you also see Kxasi's old design. The purplish-gray look and orangeish/reddish bioluminescense have been a part of my vision for Ngulya from the very beginning.

Above: March 9nth in 2023 - Here is my first take for a full reference for Ngulya. This is the point where the pale head and neck became iconic traits to the otherwise dark purple design.

I've always been torn between oranges/browns and actual purples for many of the color areas in this design, as you see from that earlier color draft.

Above: This year, I wanted to finally make proper ikran templates for the sake of more comfortable designing of all my ikran characters.

This is an early version of the final template set I created, and two different drafts of Ngulya.

Sadly I never saved these drafts, so these are just badly compressed screenshots from my Bluesky and Twitter accounts.

The one on the right is my last draft before beginning work on the final one, as I started to be happy with the markings.

The orange one on the left of the 2nd image is not Ngulya, but a draft for another ikran entirely.

Above: For a very long time, I could not make the bioluminescent highlight markings fit anywhere into this design, so I almost called it 'done' in this stage.

The color pallette was more brown than purple. It was a really hard decision to tweak the pallette once more, so I could make it all good-looking with the highlight color.

About my thought process...

I create my ikran OC designs entirely via body/emotional/visual synesthesia. This intuitive process doesn't contain conscious thought, but rather letting an 'inner eye' show me things.

This method lets me get ideas I couldn't otherwise get, unlike when combining my old clichés in a calculated manner etc. Instead of such calculated process, instead I succumb to a more dreamlike intuition where my brain can just fire whatever.

For these ikran, I must feel like I am them, to create their appearances. For the same character, like Kxasi, even for a long period of time, I've been getting the same results with this process...

I imagine the na'vi during their 'Iknimaya' (or equivalent), the type of feeling I would have about them as a person, as if they stood in front of me.

Then, I imagine I'm indeed an ikran looking at them, - what kind of a mental and emotional being would I be, to feel particularly drawn to this na'vi? I imagine the feelings.

These feelings inform me of the ikran's whole design, as well as personality.

Kxasi's ikran Ngulya is a character I can understand, put myself into, imagine her feelings and personality/temperament from the inside, and how she'd feel even when connected with Kxasi's consciousness via tsaheylu.

I can also imagine how Kxasi feels connected to her.

Their personalities contrast each other. Kxasi is hot-headed and energetic, while Ngulya is a calming presence. Usually, Ngulya even discourages Kxasi's antagonistic impulses when they're connected.

However, if overwhelmed by the need to protect, Ngulya's mind will be drunken on quite the berserker's adrenaline, - also affecting Kxasi that same way. Their minds will melt into one demonic entity with the sole goal of turning someone into minced meat. This can be triggered by putting their loved ones or personal home etc. in danger.

Ngulya resembles my favorite, now-deceased dog Lola a lot by her personality. Her 'feel' is very much like what Lola was, even though I did not intentionally create her in Lola's image.

She's funny and silly like Lola, obsessive and persistent in tasks like Lola, has basically endless energy to run (fly), hunt and play, - and there is a soft comforting energy to her. She's also fiercely territorial and protective, - just like Lola... I definitely see her as a Pisces, like that dog was, also.

[melit0n]

"Let the tides carry you back to me." has always been among one of my favourite lines in Telomeres, and so, having listened to it again recently, a little idea popped into my head. Let me explain:

While ocean tides/currents is a very common metaphor, there's an underlying meaning to it. The ocean is a beautiful, but somewhat cruel place: tides can leave you stranded on a sandbank, or sweap you away before you even know it.

To put it in short, no object or creature that goes into the ocean comes out the same. For the tides to carry something back to you, something you've lost, it will be and always will be changed: eroded.

The cliffside will fall, the cave will crumble, etc etc.

With this in mind, we're yet again greeted with another example of Vessel asking for something he can't truly have. The person he wants will not be the same as they were before; they "collapse" into him, breaking apart, but still, to him, it's "the start of something."

His memory is warped, they are warped, and it'll stay that way.

However, what I would like to add is that, in DYWTYLM, it's theorised that instead of Vessel speaking to a second person, he's instead talking to himself.

Of course, this makes the song itself much more emotional (to me). Finding love for yourself is one of the hardest things you can do, but it has to be done to find love in others.

With that idea (stay with me here), the lyrics "Do you roll with the waves? Or do you duck into deep blue safety?" match up (generally) with Telomeres, which is mostly interpretated as being towards someone else.

So, what if some lines in Telemores are directed to himself as well?

Keep in mind, the tides don't just erode and carry objects (sediment), they also reflect. The Atlantic is one big mirror, and Vessel is staring into it's "deep blue safety" wondering what, or, rather, who, he was before he was Vessel.

Overall, the album name, "This Place Will Become Your Tomb", either being directed at Vessel or Vessel to Sleep (and being a Halo quote lmao), is more metaphorical than literal.

Who he was before Vessel sits in that coffin, not his physical body.

[void-writing]

Escape from Flower Fruit Mountain

"What can you do? You were all trapped. Either you all die in Peng’s hands or the celestial flames burn you all alive. You never should’ve sent your brothers inside. There’s no exit, no - wait.

There was a way out. The transportation circle in your room you never quite got to erasing."

Chapter 15 of "Queen of the Mountain" by @centuryberry

[froopa-coopa]

spending some time in Scotland, obv had to sketch jmart again on their scottish honeymoon

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

from david j. skal's something in the blood: the untold story of bram stoker, the man who wrote dracula, on the staged reading stoker had done of dracula for copyright reasons (a common practice at the time):

Although Stoker really did believe Dracula had theatrical possibilities, his adaptation was perfunctory and his dramaturgy not quite ready for prime time. The breathless exposition he puts in the mouth of Jonathan Harker to avoid the difficulties of putting a carriage ride through the Carpathian Mountains on a proscenium stage is a prime example. "Well, this is a pretty nice state of things," Jonathan exclaims after being dropped off on Dracula's doorstep. "After a drive through solid darkness with an unknown man whose face I have not seen and who has in his hand the strength of twenty men and who can drive a pack of wolves by holding up his hand; who visits mysterious blue flames and wouldn't speak a word that he could help, to be left here in the dark before a--a ruin. Upon my life I'm beginning my professional experience in a romantic way!"