#She doesn't know she could have other options if she changed her goals. or. she doesn't want the other options bc What would it be for then

[carryhatchet]

It's crazy how the incest stuff negates any support system Cathy has. like technically she has someone offering her an out from her abusive husband but choosing that also means choosing this other terrible thing. like. she's trying to get as far away from the past abuse as she can (while still holding onto so much anger) but she's escaping into new abuse (connected to holding onto anger???) and trusting. deciding. believing that it will aid her in achieving her goals, and then she can go from there. this belief of indestructibility bc what does she have if not that??? how could she stand to keep going while stuck between these options if she didn't separate herself entirely from them. the only people offering her escapes are just asking if she'd please come get abused by them instead of the current guy and every option is still better than how she was raised

[magici-if]

Attention, viewers. The following program contains content suitable for mature audiences aged 16 and above. Viewer discretion is advised.

[DEMO COMING SOON][FAQ] [RO ASKS MASTERPOST]

MAGICI: WORLDSTAR INTRO POST

A flyer falls at your feet.

Ever wanted to become the best mage in the world? Ever wanted to become famous while at it?

Well, according to this flyer, by applying for this magic academy-turned-talent show, you can.

A chance to develop your magic affinities, get a free higher education from a renowned academy, meet people from all over the world, win the grand prize of 300 000 kubos , AND become mindblowingly famous?

Sign-me-up.

Friends, mentors, rivals, lovers? In the end, the top only has space for one.

Will you be the one standing there?

But more importantly, what will you do to get there?

Find the answers to these questions and more in the third season of:

Magici: Worldstar - Where dreams become Magic.

A ✧ Spellbound ✧ Entertainment© Production

APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED. CATCH US ON CHANNEL 4!

In a world where magic is alive and widespread, you're one of the few lucky ones who can say they have actual powers instead of the weak energy most people possess. That's because you've had your Awakening, the extraordinary event in which that fragile energy becomes magic.

Unfortunately, Magic Academies are expensive and hard to get into, so you've never had the resources to truly hone your powers.

That changes when you find out that one of the most famous and respected magic academies in the world, Magici Academy, is letting anyone* apply.

How? By joining the famous magic talent show, Magici: Worldstar, you get a free education at the Academy. The catch? Every week, you risk being eliminated**, effectively shattering the dream of a lifetime.

Will you excel, or will you be eliminated, perhaps by the viewers or because you weren't on par with your fellow contestants?

*(See full requirements at MagiciWorldstar.com)

**Continued enrolment subject to Academy approval.

KEEP READING FOR FEATURES AND ROS.

Fully design your MC: pick your magic affinity, tv persona, gender identity, pronouns, sexuality, name, fashion style, personal goals, body mods, and many more!

Pick who gets eliminated by answering to polls!

Romance one of 6 ROs, or pursue casual flings

Will you focus on honing your magic, getting your grades up, winning the talent show, or simply charming the viewers?

Will you learn to control your powers, or succumb in this new and stressful environment?

Affect how the viewers, teachers, teammates, judges, and fellow students perceive you.

Affect how well your team does in the talent show, as well as the relationships between your teammates

Possibly win a talent show and get crazy rich and famous

Become the viewers' sweetheart... or a pain in the ass ^^

Play matchmaker with your class-/teammates ❤︎

❤︎ Romantic Options:

[RO appearances here] (not a rickroll this time I swear)

Martin: He comes from a long lineage of strong mages. Always the family's black sheep, he seeks to make his family proud and finally show them he's worthy of his last name. A gentle but intimidating giant, he doesn't want to get too close to his fellow contestants, can you break down his walls?

Tropes: Stoic, Slow-Burn, Forced Proximity, Roommates, Afraid to Commit, Idiots in Love

Demetra: This one is a mystery. Your brother's best friend, whom you've seen walking around your home since you were a teenager; however, she never made an effort to get to know you. When you see her at the Academy, you realise you know nothing about who she is. She says her only motivation to be on the show is knowledge, but will you show her she can find something other than that?

Tropes: Rivals to Lovers, Brother's Best Friend, Idiots in Love, Everyone Can See It

Evander: Evander is a gifted individual with a big talent for magic, but he's lazy. The definition of "He's smart but he doesn't apply himself", he could care less about being in the academy. Their family has managed to force convince them to be on the show, the fame and money a big incentive. What they secretly hope is that he'll come home as a new person and grow up. You won't fix them, but you can sure seduce them. ;)

Tropes: First Love, Fish Out of Water, Oblivious to Love, Pining

Harley: A social butterfly, it seems somehow she's already friends with everyone at the Academy. Growing up around musicians made her love for music grow, as well as awaken her powers. She joined the show to make important connections and to get her name out there both as a talented musician and a powerful mage. Will you be just another friend for her or will you become her muse? 𝄞

Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Soft Love, Roommates, Idiots In love, Mutual Pining

Echo: Echo is extremely shy and often lost in her own thoughts. Her unique powers make her an intimidating rival and a strong teammate. However, she joined the show for a specific reason: she seeks to learn more about her unusual affinities. Other than that she hasn't really been interested in getting to know anyone. Maybe you'll be the exception and get to know the real Echo. ❤︎

Tropes: Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Idiots In Love, Strangers to Lovers, Hesitant, Crush on MC

Dominic: He is one of the judges at Magici: Worldstar, as well as a professor at the Academy. He is just another judge, and you're just another contestant. Nothing to see here. :)

Tropes: Forbidden Love, Fell In Love with The Wrong Person, Lovers in Denial

possible flings 👀 Other contestants:

Bleon: They already have a reputation as a prankster around the Academy, having competed in Magici: Worldstar's first season. Loved by the student body, hated by the professors, but you'll be sure to like this menace.

Bruno: A shy but friendly presence in your team, he looks forward to getting to know you. After a quick conversation, you already know he aspires to become a respected landscape engineer by perfecting his ability to build and shape landscapes.

Brynn: She aspires to become a Nature Guardian, and to preserve harmony between humans and nature. It is slightly interesting then, that she seems to dislike you the moment she sets her eyes on you.

Chianti: He holds a little secret. Well, not anymore, 'cause I'm about to tell you. He's just had his Awakening, a mere few months before his admission to the show. Will you help him develop his affinities or turn the other way, until he gets eliminated?

Nora: After losing her father to a magic-related incident, she understands that even the strongest healers can't save themselves. She dreams of becoming a mage healer, but also a Guardian, thanks to her rare affinity combination.

Rahim: A disciplined and focused mage, no one in his family has had an Awakening. He hopes he'll be able to get far in the show or to at least stay long enough to develop his powers.

[DEMO COMING SOON... STAY TUNED]

ATTENTION VIEWERS: THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ABOVE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AS THE PROJECT "MAGICI: WORLDSTAR" IS A WORK IN PROGRESS.

✧ Magici: Worldstar is a contemporary fantasy romantic drama IF, a first part to the Magici series.✧ Reblogs/asks are crazy appreciated !!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I told my parents to get a divorce?

So, I (26M) live with my sister (19) and parents (67F and 63M) due to financial circumstances (that usamerican economy, eh?). The things described with my parents have been going on since I was in pampers.

My parents fight all the time. Over little things. In nasty, insulting the person and belittling them types of ways. Everything my mom does that my dad doesn't fully agree with or think she's doing exactly how it should be done, he yells at her for it and things become a screaming match. Sometimes my mom just stops talking, or just responds "Okay." until my dad tires himself out or gets so frustrated that he drops the argument. And she'll do similar things to him.

I've talked to them both one-on-one before about how aggressive and explosive they are during arguments. I've tried to impress upon both of them that personal insults don't make people change. Problems need cooperative solutions, where both parties are working towards the goal, whether that's dinner at a certain time or laundry at a certain frequency.

My dad justifies himself because my mom is just too difficult to deal with, and doesn't listen no matter how much he tries to tell her about an issue (his words. Not reality in my eyes, because he's never *telling* her an issue, he's *yelling* an issue at her). He's under the impression his demands for her to change are cooperative and equally-involved.

My mom doesn't tend to comment on her behavior beyond "I know. I get frustrated, but I know" or some excuse or another for my dad's behavior (her go to is "But I don't want to hurt the child in his heart anymore than his childhood has". In my eyes, not her responsibility to heal my grandma's neglectful, piss-poor parenting, especially when my dad has no interest in therapy of any kind). She doesn't think cooperation is possible with my dad, and doesn't want to start that conversation. In her words, it could end in a fight, or he just won't do his half of the work, so she might as well do the full task and save herself the frustration.

This, again, has been going on since before I could wobble on my own two feet. I don't think either are going to change. I hate seeing my mom roll over, especially because having grown up with this *I thought it was normal for a relationship to be so mean.* I had to put in a lot of work and experience a lot of difficult lessons to unlearn that. And I hate seeing my dad so frustrated to the point of blowing his fuse over mundane topics like dishes and parking spots. I worry about his health, and his happiness. I worry about both of their happinesses. I hate the pettiness. I hate the disrespect and the refusal to hear each other out.

The breaking point was today, when during an argument my dad started berating my mom over leaving the shower towels out too long. Yes, the towels were starting to ripen. But he started saying (yelling. I could hear him from upstairs, door closed) that as a mother she should know better than to let towels, especially towels that go on your face and hands and stuff, grow bacteria, and that she's disgraceful for not changing the towels daily. (Towels that, mind y'all, he ALSO could be changing daily, since one of those two towels is "his" shower towel).

I've been at the end of my rope for years. Yes one option is just beg a friend to let me rent a room off one of them and try to make ends meet, but that still leaves my sister stuck in this mess, and now stuck in it alone. I'm not keen on doing that. So. Would I be the asshole if I told my parents I think it's time to seriously consider divorce? Or hell, is there another option?

What are these acronyms?

[everydayyoulovemeless]

Aa!! The Enclave reactions were so good!! The stuff you write always makes me so happy, if you enjoyed writing them you can always try to do the base companions or stuff! But no rush or anything, you get so many asks so remember to take breaks and drink water!

Fo4 Companions React to Sole Being With The Enclave

➼ Word Count » 1.0k ➼ Warnings » None ➼ Genre » Platonic/Romantic, Angst? ➼ A/N » You're so sweet!! I chugged a bottle in your honor <33 Fo4 Factions React To Sole Being With The Enclave

MacCready recognizes your dog tags the second you approach him in the Third Rail. The grimace on his face would be enough for anyone to interpret what he's thinking, but he'll take on the job anyway. Who's he to judge what others do? As long as he gets the caps you owe him. He's never been a big supporter of any of the major factions, but his memories of the Captial Wasteland ring loudly in the back of his mind as he travels with you. He'll be way more closed off than he'd normally be, mostly out of fear of what you could be capable of if he let anything you didn't like slip. You'll notice that he asks subtle questions about the faction, trying to get any hint of what your morals are or where you stand with them. You and he won't be any closer than his business allows. He'll escort you to where you need to be but don't expect to have him tell you anything personal. He's too afraid for his son to allow you to know anything more than necessary.

Nick will ask you outright what your goal with them is. Surely, they have people who'd be willing to find your son - so why come to him? He's not afraid of you, or the faction you associate yourself with, but he's very vocally against it. He views you the same way he'd view a member of the Brotherhood and, although the Enclave doesn't play a massive role in the Commonwealth, he's fairly certain they're not too accepting of synths either, or freedom. If you need help, he'll help you, but once the job's done he'll tell you to get out of town and not to come back. He does it more for your kid's sake than he does for you, though.

Cait may not be all that into their ideologies, but the power armor and the weapons give her a kick. As long as you let her in on some of the loot, you won't hear her complain all that much. It gives her an incentive to ruin those who ruined her. Put her in a suit of T-51 and she'll absolutely ravage any nearby raider camp. She's a killing machine once you put her behind the wheel, whether she agrees with the organization or not. You help make her feel a part of something and she'll gladly play her part.

Codsworth has mixed feelings on it.. on one hand, he's happy you’re still working with the US Government but on the other, he’s worried that it’s not the best option. They've definitely changed from when he remembers them and, although he's loyal to his country, he can't help but feel as if maybe they've taken things too far? He's very gentle in his approach to getting you to leave. It's a big decision and, he doesn't want you to feel pressured, but he also wants you to be someone your son could be proud of. Just.. think it over, won't you?

Piper will look into the symbol the following days after her interview with you. She’ll rummage through all sorts of logs and entries until she finally discovers what it represents. The next time you stroll into Diamond City, she's jabbing a finger into your chest and accusing you of all sorts of crimes and misdoings. If you think you can come into her home and take advantage of the citizens there, then you've got another thing coming. She'll warn you once to leave and if you don't, she won't hold anything back on the next paper she writes about you.

Curie is actually kinda excited about it. She's never had access to logs obtaining such interesting notions to the FEV and other experimentations that the Enclave has conducted. She may not agree with how they were gathered, but she'd be a fool to not recognize the sheer possibility that the research allows. She'll stick around long enough to get her hands on the notes, but she'll try to leave immediately after.

Strong both hates and loves it? He doesn’t like how they look, or the fact they use so many robots in their arsenal. But he loves how they spread the FEV. He thinks everyone should be a mutant and he'll gladly help out with that. Everything else he despises, though.

Hancock isn't familiar with the symbol, so he ignores it until he eventually decides to question you about it. He asks in a light-hearted way, nudging you with his elbow and pointing at the Enclave patch on your jacket. However, his face falls quickly once you begin to explain it. He's not sure how you thought that he'd ever be ok with someone like you. He'll try to play it off despite the obvious tension exuding from his person. When you least expect him, he'll try to stab you. It'll just be a quick jab. Something that'll get rid of you without you hurting too much. He'd started to grow fond of you after all, and there's a part that still cares for you somewhat.

Old Longfellow hasn’t ever been a fan of organizations with big power. He’s seen them abuse that power too many times to trust anything they say. So, when you come in with the symbol somewhere on you, he knows better than to say anything to you. He might not recognize the label, but he's not willing to take any chances and neither are most others in Far Harbor. The only one who will really speak to you in the small coastal town is Avery, but besides her, you're not going to get very far.

Gage doesn’t recognize your dog tags at all, but when you mention it in passing, his interest will peak. It's not a deal breaker at all, in fact, he's kinda relieved to hear you say that since it means you're a lot more capable than he initially thought. He hopes you have a high rank so that the gangs can have some extra firepower backing them up while they take over the rest of the park. Maybe you can deploy some of your men to help them out? Take over the Commonwealth as allies? He'll support the Enclave as long as he and the other raiders benefit from doing so.

[alyona11]

Hi! So I am very new to Hadestown and I am watching the bootleg. I really love the dynamic between Hades and Persephone, but there is one thing that kind of rub me in not so good way, is Hey Little Song Bird implied that Hades and Eurydice slept together? I am seeing a lot of interpretation and it genuinely confused the hell out of me asdfghk

Hi! Well, tbf it's a tricky question, but the short answer is that Hadestown suggests that something might have happened behind closed doors. The rest is up to audience and actor's interpretation.

For example, Anaïs Mitchell often mentions in Working On a Song that in early workshops she often went with the idea that Hades cheats and pretty regularly even though these affairs mean nothing to him since the only person he loves is Persephone. It even had a cut song:

In her early drafts/productions of Hadestown you can often get the vibe that from her point of view it doesn't matter as much because they are eternal beings and love each other since the world began so does it even matter for them?

However, by NYTW this story line was cut apart from Persephone's line in How Long:

"I don't mind if you look at other girls, now and then"

"The girl means nothing to me"

"I know"

Plus the staging in NYTW Papers and Hades' protective peacock behavior with Eurydice around Orpheus in the scene also gives you a thought that they might have had an affair? Plus some bits like the fact that she has a line in Why We Build a Wall and her words "But don't you see? That's different with me!" - "Different than who? They thought they were different too!" Could also be interpreted as Hades suggesting some special conditions by granting her a role of a romantic interest. Whether the interest is real or not and did he use it or not is again up to your interpretation of NYTW Hades. He is more of a morally dubious guy (as all ht Hades are) so it's more up to you to either believe he would have cheated to put Persephone in her place or would just use showing off Eurydice as a brutal way to get Persephone's interest.

As for Broadway, I think it's still suggested and you can find profs in the lyrics but I think that they are what they are - suggestive and leave you to interprete it whichever way you feel comfortable. I think the biggest suggestion remains in Flowers with the line:

'I trembled when he laid me out

"You won’t feel a thing," he said, "when you go down"'

Which kinda can have a death meaning and sex meaning, tbf someone could have written a good article on how those topics are connected in Hadestown. So here, again chose one of the two or both.

But again, Broadway also changed the lyrics in How Long and the whole staging in Papers so it's less suggestive.

My personal opinion based on Broadway production is that it all depends on how the actor plays it and whether you believe this particular Hades is the type to sleep with Eurydice to get Persephone's attention and prove he is still attractive or he is more of a person who doesn't care about having the affair and his only goal is to get Persephone to react somehow by composing such a messed up hurtful plan. Personally, I prefer the second option maybe because I'm a pussy or maybe because I see Hades (whom I mostly base on Patrick Page ht Broadway previews) like a person who is desperate to get Persephone's attention in such a radical way like a cat pushing objects from your table to see your reaction. He wants to be stopped, he wants any reaction from Persephone. He even touches her by the shoulder before going into the office like "Look!! Look! I'm absolutely totally leaving! To cheat! See! Hey come on! I'll even take off my tie to show that I'm serious! Don't you wanna stop me???". Seems kinda way too extra to me. Like he could have just gotten to the office after parading a pretty girl in front of her and it would be understood that it's for an affair. But he takes so much time to make sure she understands that he can find himself someone when all he wants is for her to come back to him with open arms. I'm not sure he has the guts to actually damage his relationship to an irreversible degree (considering Broadway Hades is never stated as a cheater before the Eurydice sub-plot). Like it's one thing to take a mortal before her time and parade her in front of your wife (because what is a mortal life after all?) as a "replacement" and it's the other way to actually cheat on her and deal with the fact that she might never forgive him again if it is a deal-breaker for her considering they seem to be true to each other for all these years.

One interesting thing to note here as well is how Hades actors play the reaction to Persephone's line in How Long:

"He has the kind if love that you and I once had"

Because his instant reaction is "OH SHIT once had?? Does she think I don't love her still?? OH SHIT I BROUGHT THE GIRL THIS IS WHY SHE MIGHT THINK THAT", so he answers to that:

"The girl means nothing to me!"

Depending on the actor and she show the line sounds either scared, confused, angry, undignified etc. So it's once again up to you to interprete why he reacts this way: is he angry because she suggested he would actually cheated on her? Is he angry because she called him out on that affair? Is he confused and scared because she thinks he doesn't love her anymore because of his foolish decision to tease her in such a cruel way?

That's up to you.

P.S. I think one of the most interesting studies of the subject and Hades' character that I've read in a fic for that matter was the Songbird chapter of Winters Nigh and Summers O're. You can check it out, but I will warn you that it's probably one of the heaviest chapters of that fic in the emotional sense and it has explicit parts (don't worry, nothing bad happens to Eurydice. Well...apart from dying, I guess), so check out the warnings if you decide to read it.

[dejasenti99]

well hi :3 welcome to deja’s skinblending guide. this is my first full written tutorial so excuse me if its not very good LAWL before we get started, here's the tools i'll be using

sims4studio

tray importer

photoshop 2022 (theres cracked version everywhere on tumblr)

blender 4.1

sims 4 ripper

blender + the ripper aren't required to make skins, plenty of people don't go that extra step, but i love using it for placement help

okay lets fuckin go gamers heres my very in depth process for making my ocs skins

miss dolly is gonna be our model today. she already has a skin but im gonna add some little details for the sake of example + some tats cause ive been meaning to anyway.

so when i first get started on making someone a skin, ill find a good base to use and then add details from other categories like nosemasks, eyebags, contours, etc.

my fav skin creators are @sims3melancholic and @thisisthem. my bases are usually thisisthem, and then i'll pick through a couple s3m skins and make notes on my phone about what parts i wanna take off of them (like, say, i like how a certain s3m skin's nose looks. i'll use that instead of a nosemask)

my goal when im gathering things i wanna add is to free up as many slots as i can. id rather add cheshire's freckles onto her skin than use up the freckle slot in skin details that i could use for something else, yknow?

ill repeat this process for makeup next. obviously im not giving my ocs permanent full glam, but some lipsticks can add better texture, you can get highlights/blush from........the blush section LOL and i love using this obscurus eyeliner at a low-ish opacity

just adds an extra level of detail i love. i think what keeps my sims looking consistent next to each other is that i tend to use some of the same details all across the board

make sure for all makeup/skin detail/tattoo category swatches you use, you make note of what swatch it exactly is. when you go into s4s to export the file, you're gonna have to manually select it and if u cant remember what skintone u chose out it can be annoying :/

note that she is completely nakey aside from her piercings while i pick what im gonna use for her skin! no clothing but u can keep on their hair. this is so we have a clear view of everything (and i mean EVERYTHING) for blender.

after you make sure u save the sim/household to ur gallery, you can close out of cas and save ur game! i forgot to do this bc im a fucking idiot but its okay bc you will not. its not REALLY necessary to do this as long as you know exactly what packages you need to locate for texture exporting

step one is done!!!! close out ur game

i have a million fucking characters so i made a deja senti skinblending folder to keep it all organized :-)

this is what it looks like inside. gives u a pretty good overview of what ur gonna be doing tbh. the 't' folder is all the textures we're about to export

thankfully i do have a version of dahlia saved in my gallery so even tho i didnt go it before i closed my game i can still show u what to do in tray importer lol. i have multiple sims in one household, so i narrowed it down by going up top and selecting dahlia / human / and her everyday outfit.

since im gonna give her this blush, i right click and hit open w package viewer so itll find it and open s4s for me

anime wow sound. im gonna change the color manually in photoshop so it doesnt matter to me what swatch i export. hit that green export button under the list of diffuse/shadow/etc (u dont need to worry about all those options, just diffuse) and save it to ur folder!

once ur done gathering ur textures ur good to close out of tray importer and s4s(we'll come back to s4s later tho)

thats step two! the quickest step lawl

this is where i start being a little extra. u dont have to rip ur sim and use blender if u dont want to, but i think it can rly help bc the default sim in s4s doesn't have ur sims facial features and can make ur skins look wonky/wont give an accurate representation of how itll look in game. this cuts out having to go in game/out of game over and over to check

so in simripper once u load up ur sim, the important part is to make sure u have it set to export the dae with separate meshes. once thats done u can import it into blender and there's plenty of other tutorials out there how to use simripper n all that.

so once u get the dae loaded into blender im gonna send u on a little side quest over to this ask i answered where i explain how i separate eyes from the head mesh. next thing ur gonna open is photoshop! or whatever u have thats similar

say hi to flat dahlia. u should have ur own guy but flat open now too :-) along with everything else ur gonna combine. in my case its blush and a titty mask. im gonna start w the blush so i zoomed into her face in blender. i went into the blush file and copied, then back into my base skin file and pasted into place with crtl+shift+v

please do not be like me. make sure u rename ur layers as you copy and paste them into the main skin file. do this because it DOES matter what order ur layers are in. u dont want to put ur highlight under ur nose mask cause the nose mask will just cover the highlight etc etc. i already lost what layer the new blush i added is. what is wrong w me

so when u have ur first detail pasted on and in place, ur gonna save the base skin file as a psd. then go into blender, and in the little textures window ur gonna replace the diffuse file ur dae came loaded with with ur new psd file

u should see the change u made but mine was super subtle so im gonna show it to u when i put on the cleavage overlay

when it comes to stuff like this, ur obviously gonna want to pick the closest to ur skintone swatch as u can. i did not do this, because again, im an idiot

mine is way too pale LAWL whoops. we can fix this tho

i add a hue/saturation adjustment and make it a clipping mask using that square w the arrow so the adjustment will ONLY affect the mask

from there i just make little adjustments until the color match up is as perfect as i can make it. for example for this, ik that it needs to be a little warmer and a little more saturated, so im gonna bump the hue and saturation sliders to the right and it was pretty much perfect

tiddies with no mask > with mask no adjustments > with mask and adjustments

and ur gonna go ahead and repeat that process with every single thing u wanna add to ur skin.

so as for tattoos! this is another thing ur gonna wanna rename the layers for because depending on how heavily ur sims can be tatted it can get A LOT

here's psyche's neat little tattoo folder. its separated into where the tattoo is and then

what it is

i find all my tattoo inspo on pinterest using flash sheets/keywords in the search. my ocs usually have sub-boards that i hoard inspo in for them specifically. dahlia doesnt have one bc ive never seen her as the most tattooed person, but i think she'd have some at least

this process is pretty much the same as putting on skin details! its all about adjusting to what u like. for example, i like when my sims tattoos are a little faded and a bit blurred at the edges cause it looks a little more real

when it comes to images i find on pinterest, ill save the image and first try to make it as clean as i can

for example, this lil guy

a curve mask made the whites brighter and the blacks darker as u can see. then ill go into filter > reduce noise to soften the harsh edges

then i flatten it, copy and paste to the skin file, n place it wherever i want it to go :-)

louder anime wow!!!

okay so now ur gonna want to make sure u .psd file is saved (it should be bc we've been checking our progress w blender) and then merge the visible layers (NOT flatten, merge visible. we need the transparency around the skin to be in tact)

ur done in photoshop and blender!!! good job :-)

step whatever number we're on. back into s4s!

ur focus is over here. make sure the option filled is the top one, and then hit the cas button

this menu will open, ur gonna go up to part type and find the option skin details, forehead. pick the first forehead wrinkle option that appears and hit 'next.' itll prompt you to save ur new file n give it a name, i usually just make it my sim's name cause i have a folder in my mods folder for specifically my cc

remember wayyyy back when we were exporting the skin details? ur gonna go back to that same section and hit 'import' instead of export. select ur skin's .png file, and poof !

ur skin :DD it looks great man good job

this part is EXTREMELY important. go up to the warehouse tab

in the 'data' section ur gonna see a box at the top labeled 'filter.' thats where i typed in 'compos' just so it would show me JUST the compositionmethod section since theres a lot of shit in there lawl. yours is initially gonna say '3,' but we're gonna change it to '0' mind you, this is because MY skins are all alpha. maxis match overlays do not show up on my skins because my comp method is set to 0, meaning it has top priority essentially.

after you do that, you can hit save and place that .package file you created into your mods folder!!! and GUESS WHAT BESTIE UR DONE!!!!! U DID IT :DDDD

of course, as always, you can always dm me if youre stuck on anything or need any more clarification. i am always open to help as much as i can. i rly hope this helped :-)

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Just started Medjed arc of P5R; here are my current thoughts on the characters I know so far:

Joker: Look, I know people say he's a "self-insert" but I really, really see a few very distinct personality traits in him. He's lost in thought a lot. He zones out. He's really goal-driven. He's clever. He's a risk-taker. He's wary of consequences. He takes a little while to trust people, especially adults. He's suspicious and easily annoyed. He's on your side. He wants to help. He's a snarky little shit. His compassion is as much his defiance as his bitter disdain. He's hesitant. He's confident. He's bluffing. His respect is earned. His assistance isn't. He's free. He's chained. He's larger than life. He's a dumbass dork of a teenager. Incredibly fun character to play as, 10/10. I love that you can actually see him becoming more confident as time goes on. His dialogue options also become sillier/snarkier/more teasing as he becomes closer with people. It's just fun. I have a lot more thoughts on him but I'm going to stop here. I'd love to do a bit of an analysis on him once I finish the game - I'd like to go back through his main story dialogue options and his idle and specific scene animations. Plus, they seriously popped off with his character design. There's so much I could say about that alone.

Ryuji: Ryuji, my beloved. I wish you were less horny in uncomfortable ways in some scenes - I think, as well as Atlus not knowing what teenage girls are like, they also have not... spoken to people raised by single mothers, or mothers who got out of an abusive relationship... but anyways, asides from that, I love Ryuji. I think his desire for popularity makes a lot of sense - he's only ever stood out in a bad way. He just wants to be liked, you know? And he doesn't think he's enough the way he is. He's trying his best. I need him to shut up so bad but also I hope he never shuts up, you know. He's genuinely so funny, and he's the most ride or die of anyone. Ryuji gets angry on everyone's behalf when they can't muster up their own anger yet. Everyone say thank you, Ryuji.

Morgana: I do not get the hate for this not-cat; he's so funny to me. He's becoming a little more aligned to the thieves' morality, which is probably for the best since at the beginning he was definitely down with accidental murder and totally open about his pragmatism. He actually encourages this in Joker. It's just funny. I love my emotional support not-cat bestie who sits in my desk at school then tells me to go strike shady deals with random people in back alleys. You can definitely see a change in Morgana though; he's becoming more excited about helping people for the sake of it (like Joker, he too has gained purpose), but he's also becoming more insecure.

Ann: She remains my favourite of the Thieves. If Ryuji is the original drive and Morgana the original method, then she is the original conviction. The strength to stand with victims. The desire to force those who hurt others to understand the feelings of said victims. She has the rawest fucking lines at the end of the Kamoshida arc. She loves Shiho so much, and I really feel like her and Joker are on the same page when it comes to things deeper than their surface level interests. Get you a friend like Ann fr. It's a shame that later scenes have her mostly just getting mad at the guys when they uhhh... act like horny guys towards her. Feels bad man, especially because I love the aspect of her character that wants to be more comfortable with her sexuality and have that be on her terms. <- That's really cool, actually! Why couldn't we do more with that...? As a note though, I seriously love her admiration towards female cartoon villains and that one mean girl model. I think that's so funny and also such a mood. I do not believe for one second that Ann is straight. I hope she becomes the sexy and confidant morally-ambiguous thief of her dreams, and also that she gets a girlfriend. It's what she deserves.

Yusuke: He's so dramatic. Do you expect me not to love him? I really loved his conflict during Madarame's arc - those revelations were absolutely brutal, and Yusuke really handled things well, all things considered. Again, like Ann, there were some raw lines in there. But then, of course, the slump on the other end, when the adrenaline wears off. That Yusuke's painting only showed the dark side of desire tells me that he is still grappling with the effects of all these reveals. He has a lot to process.

Makoto: I just think she's so cute. Her design is adorable. She's such a sweetheart. On the flip side though, while I don't find her as intimidating as the game seems to, I definitely would not want her mad at me. While, as I mentioned before, I found the lead up to her joining the thieves to be a little janky, the actual moment was great. I love that she has a support system now. She really needed that. I hope there are more scenes with her in group settings tbh. While I'm enjoying her one-on-one dynamics with Ryuji and Ann, I do feel like she doesn't really... gel with the group as well as, say, Yusuke did. I think they need to drag her out to more activities lol.

Sojiro: I still don't know yet? He seems like the tough love sort. I do enjoy getting to learn random coffee trivia from him, and it seems like he cares in a kind of gruff way. He also gets a lot of suspicious people coming by. Guess I'll find out more later.

Maruki: Again, I don't know much still. He's endearing and dorky. That salt bae thing still lives rent-free in my head. I feel his frustration with not being able to help more. I get it man. I will say though, the fact that we get to see scenes with the thieves and Maruki, with no Joker present, is... odd.

Kasumi: I... I don't know how to feel. She's too nice. She's too polite. All of her scenes are so weirdly convenient. I like her just fine, but there's something seriously off. I almost feel like she's an outlier on purpose, like she doesn't blend into the world. Unlike Maruki, who is new to Royal but blends into the story quite nicely, Kasumi really stands out, to the point it kind of feels like that was the intention. She is adorable, though, I won't deny that, and I do want her to succeed and all, I just... hm. I don't know how to feel about her.

Akechi: I could fix him (smack him upside the head). <- okay but seriously, he is so obviously suspicious, he so obviously knows about Joker, he's such a smarmy little shit. I would despise him irl, but he's absolutely the funniest character in the game right now. Everything he says has me either cackling or my jaw dropping at the fucking audacity. He's also really interesting to me. Love a character whose every line means three things rolled into one. He feels dangerous and weirdly endearing at the same time. What the hell is his problem (affectionate + derogatory).

Yoshida: YOSHIDA MY ABSOLUTE BELOVED. I love him so far. He's my favourite confidant right now. He just makes me so happy man I love him so much. Yoshida takes the hard road and he's got the conviction, but you need support from people to really turn your life around. Hey, that's kind of what the game is about, yeah?

Takemi: Oh I love her confidant so far. I don't know that she's one of my favourites, character-wise, but I was especially taken with her dedication to that medicine, and Joker's response to her saying that she doesn't suit everyone coming to her for medical help by countering her with an "it suits you". Very sweet. I'm getting close to finishing her confidant; I just need to level up charm.

Mishima: I'm almost done his confidant too! I actually enjoy Mishima's character. I feel like his downward spiral made a lot of sense, and I like that he's both helpful and made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I especially like that he's pulling himself out of that fame mentality by himself, without his heart being changed. We just gave his shadow something to think on.

Kawakami: Idk how I feel about this, but the perks are good. I'm curious about her though.

Sae: She seems dedicated to her job. Forming a confidant with her during the interrogation was something I did not expect and had me going "ohohoho". But man, some of the stuff she says to Makoto is way out of line... I'm glad she's at least aware as soon as it leaves her mouth, and I cannot imagine the constant stress and scrutiny she's under but... still. Girl. :/

Iwai: I'm going to properly start his confidant soon. He's cool. I feel like he's not nearly as scary as he makes himself out to be.

Ohya: Don't know much about her so far, but she's a disaster, and I will always enjoy a good disaster woman.

Lala: SHE'S PERFECT. I wish there was a mechanic where you could get advice from Lala-chan. She's looking out for everybody. She's good. :)

Chihaya: She told me I'm gonna die... :(

[copperbadge]

Hi Sam, how did you come to the conclusion you should be tested for neurodivergence? I've been reading a lot of Temple Grandin (Visual Thinking is fantastic) and see so much of myself in her books. But, I, too, am, let's just say well into adulthood, and I don't know if my life would change that much with a diagnosis. The only thing I can think of doing with a diagnosis is telling my siblings and childhood bullies that they picked on someone who had a reason for being "weird." But it doesn't change anything. Beyond the medication, did you find any solace? Thank you for sharing your journey.

I was just thinking I should do a post about this....

I don't recall the specifics and have never been able to find the post again, but sometime prior to 2019 I made a joke about having a short attention span, and someone said something like "Oh, did you finally get a diagnosis?" and I said haha no, I don't have ADHD, and a bunch of readers went, "Uh, you very clearly do." Some of them added that they thought I knew and was just being discreet about it. (As if I have ever been discreet about anything in my life.)

So I figured, okay, probably there's some level of neurodivergence there, given that my mother and siblings all have various diagnoses, and my father was clearly autistic. (Knowing what we know now about how ADHD can mask as other mental illnesses, there's a strong chance this comes from my maternal grandmother, who was the person in the family I was most like when she was alive.) I tried a couple of times to get evaluated and always had either slow or nonexistent responses from the clinics I reached out to, so I stopped trying. I had a ton of coping mechanisms in place and was in a good spot in my life, so I thought honestly, what would it change?

But by the end of 2021, while I was still in a pretty good financial place, and my career was doing well, I could tell that if things kept up as they were I was going to tank my job purely through being unable to get through a day doing productive work the way I used to.

I thought, well, if this is ADHD and it's getting worse because the whole fucking world is on fire, I have two options: I can assume I have it and just do the reading and figure shit out on my own, or I can get evaluated, get professional advice, and possibly get medicated. That seemed like the best return on investment, so that's what I worked on. My goal was primarily medication, because I didn't see myself being able to change much else about my situation on my own. And, truthfully, medication has been the biggest change -- I actually have an essay about that queued for the anniversary of my starting Adderall. But while it hasn't been a massive life-altering world-shattering change, all of this was worth it purely for the medication.

Uh, momentary sidebar in my memoir: there are downsides to having a diagnosed disability -- discrimination, legal barriers to certain things like holding government jobs or adopting, etc. Those have to be weighed when you're considering evaluation. If you think you may have autism, there's not necessarily an advantage to having a formal diagnosis unless you need accommodations; if you think you may have ADHD, the huge advantage is access to medication, which doesn't exist for autism as far as I'm aware. So your particular flavor of neurodivergence might dictate whether you get a diagnosis, or whether you just start operating on the assumption you have it. Both are valid, I think, it really depends on what's going on in your life and what you want to change.

Anyway, I have been doing other research, reading journal articles and pop psychology and talking to people, and that's been good, but even if I had none of that, the medication has been so helpful in getting me back on an even keel and then making life even better.

This sounds kind of weird to say but I'm not generally someone who needs a lot of solace. There is some relief in knowing that at least some of my fuckups in life weren't something I could have prevented by simply having more strength of character or working harder, and that's nice, but it's something I could have had without a formal diagnosis -- just like you could simply tell your siblings and bullies you have a diagnosis. (Being real, I doubt they'd care; bullies gonna bully whether you had a reason to be weird or not, and none of that would have been your fault regardless of your neurology. But it's all very situational, as I'm sure you know.) I wasn't badly bullied as a kid and there's nobody really to...tell, in the sense you're thinking of. But I didn't get into it for emotional solace; I got into it to fix a life that was, albeit extremely slowly, starting to fall apart. So if you're someone, as most people are, who derives emotional satisfaction or catharsis from having the diagnosis, I think it probably would be pretty helpful. But even if you aren't, like me, if you can get medication or accomodations, I think it's worth it.

[reddtea]

I've revisited some of my old batman art seeing if I can improve both on style and design. I had this idea that Ivy should start off as a politician like Dent and I really liked the idea of her and Harvey being together, with eachother being a big part of the other's spiral into villainy. /// So here's the thought...Pam and Harvey are politicians who both want to see Gotham prosper though have different ideas of what that looks like, Pam thinks that by building more parks and public gardens they could start to pave a better future by making the city nicer for children as well as wanting to put out policies to control pollution. Harvey's approach to improving the city is by funding better education and social services to better empower the poor and put laws in place to protect workers. Both looking to tax the rich to fund these projects which get's the court of owl's attention. Both of them pay dearly for their views as Harvey gets kidnapped and tortured (half of his face is cut off) and he's given an options of either running away with Pam or doing exactly what they say if he doesn't want Pam hurt. Harvey tries to convince Pam to leave Gotham to drop it all and get away when they can. Pamela refuses after everything they've worked for and with Bruce backing them they're going to make Gotham a better place. Harvey tells her what really happened to him and why half his face is gone and why he thinks Gotham is a lost cause, hoping that it might be able to change her mind. Though the owls are watching and they take out Pamela for being too stubborn to leave and for knowing about them. When they take Pamela they murder her and dispose of her body in a swamp. Harvey knows Pam is missing though he's not sure if she dead or held hostage by the owls, all he knows is that it was likely his fault that she's gone. His paranoia of owls gets worse in her absence, without any way of communicating with them he has no way of knowing if he's doing right by them or if Pam can be saved if she's being kept as a bargaining chip. Harvey hates being made a pawn of the owls he wants to quit the political race but Bruce tells him he needs to keep at it, though he's not sure if he could trust Bruce or anyone for the possibility they might be an owl. So he choses to lock up a government building with a bunch of people trapped inside and set it on fire to eliminate any owls that might be there and to maybe see Pam again if she's already dead. When Pam is killed she is resurrected by swamp thing from there she's left confused, months (maybe little more than a year? idk) have passed since she was killed. She returns lost and confused and she goes to Bruce to figure out what happened since she was gone and Bruce turns her away at the door, so she's left to piece it all together herself.

She's heartbroken at the news that Harvey died in a fire and she makes it her goal to wipe out the people who hurt Harvey and killed her. She resents Bruce for being a bad friend and not looking out for Harvey when he needed him, believing that if he'd turn his back on her he must've done the same to Harvey while she was gone. /// I'm a big fan of the idea of villains starting off as normal to good people and then bad circumstances changing them. I don't like redeemable at all but resentful? vengeful? good stuff. I always felt like Harvey is kind of aimless after the transformation like the multipersonality bpd mr hyde takes over and that's it and Ivy just never had a legit evil motive other than "nature's great and men are trash" and her being paired with Quinn doesn't really do much for her character than making her "Harley's cute supportive not abusive lesbian girlfriend" Which no hate on gays but Ivy is really just an accessory to Harley's "men are trash I date girls now".

[1495-gauge]

There's a dead man wandering the wastes. He wears nothing of the clans, his own symbols unusual and foreign.

He's lost, and the zoroark thus have claim.

They watch.

Lost, roaming, hungry. They've seen it all before, know every sign. He barely shivers anymore. He doesn't see them, settled into the fog as they are.

They watch as he stumbles into other pokemon, getting chased off, too slow and clumsy. Stupid.

They watch as he walks with no clear goal. Through land that is not his.

The thing about ghosts, about staying past death, is there are rules.

They shepherd him until the flickering light of the clan's lanterns are visible on the horizon. There must always be an option. They set their trap.

A kit, illusioned to look frail and hurt, buried half in the snow. No human could resist scooping it up and wringing its neck. They know. They've seen.

And the man stops. Croons. Leans down, takes the kit in his arms, gentle. They watch as he tucks the kit into his coat. They watch as every touch he lays upon it is soft. They watch as he turns to the lights, and starts taking the kit towards it.

Inviting a massacre.

So very stupid.

Sharing his precious body heat to bring a trophy, how foul.

It is night, which means there is no one outside when he reaches the camp. This is changed by his howls.

The zoroark don't understand words.

They understand intent.

The man does not cry for victory.

They watch.

Clan members stumble out of their tents. Woken, with spears.

They see the stupid man, and they point their weapons at him.

His booming voice falters. The clan speaks a tune the zoroark have always heard: back, back, beast, monster, wrong, dangerous, evil.

Back, back.

Get out.

The man cries again, help, help, hurt child. A child has been hurt. It needs help.

And like a zoroark, he is exiled from the camp in seconds.

Unlike a zoroark, he does not try to burn it down.

He tucks the kit more firmly into his coat, and resumes his aimless travel.

They watch.

He finds some too-small winter berries. He feeds two to the kit, pockets the rest. He does not bother for himself.

They are... curious.

A kit or two slips out of the mist. Play the eager foolish mutt, like the garish things begging at clan heels. He kneels, and gives the rest of his meager food away but one. One, which goes not to him, but the kit again.

The zorua pretend that they don't know the fog rolling in is full of claws. They yap and pull at his clothing, urging him into the woods. He follows. Stupid.

The zorua lead him to the den.

The first kit slips out of his arms, illusion falling away. It slips into the mist, convenes with them. A burgeoning mass of confused hatred.

He does not run.

Stupid. If they knew the word, it would be kind.

The Mother wakes.

.

Iridia shivers. Not from the cold, not even in the pitch of a new moon.

Unintelligible almost-words ring in her ears. A human sort of emotion choking behind the animal tongue.

It has been a long time since the zoroark have gotten so bold as to encroach upon the camp.

In a strange form, too. Too tall, too long. Dressed in no clothes she'd ever seen. Its illusion falling apart at the seams — reflective eyes, even the glimmer of a third. White hands. Blood dripping from the everpresent spiritual wounds.

Its own mane bursting from its chest.

Something was very, very wrong with it.

Iridia isn't a fool. She had seen the fogbank surrounding the camp. If they were to send their elders here to die, she would have no part in it. She knows better than to invite that malice.

It would be a trap, either way.

Still, she mourns. The hatred, its festering. She thinks of the senile zoroark, and she does not sleep.

[the-badger-mole]

Thought I would help with the year of content as well :)

Besides Zuko, what would be your preference as Katara's love interest? I know she had a crush on Jet. He did use her in season 1 but he was sadly killed off in season 2 before he could fully redeem himself. Poor Jet. I think Haru is a decent guy and they were friendly but the romance aspect is lacking. Would you go with the OC route? Would Aang be an option of his writing was better?

It would never be Aang. Even if he had a good growth arc, unless his dynamic with Katara was changed, I wouldn't want to see them together. And if they change both his arc and his dynamic with Katara, he'd be a completely different character who just so happened to be named Aang...okay, sure I'd ship Katara with some other guy named Aang. Why not.

For real though, if we're going just on guys in the show, I don't really long-term ship her with anyone except Zuko. I think Jet would be the likeliest option, but just because I like him doesn't mean I think he'd be the best boyfriend for her long term. I feel like eventually their goals and ideals would pull them in separate directions. I could get behind them being good friends , though. I have paired Katara with an OC, but he doesn't even get any speaking lines in that fic. If I were to put Katara with a fleshed out OC, he would probably just a mix of Zuko and Jet with less baggage. Haru would be a bit too bland for her. (That feels mean. I don't dislike Haru, I just feel like he's the wrong match for Katara. Although, interestingly, I like the idea of him and Toph together).

[elbdot]

just saw your opinions on the champs, So what's your opinions on the rivals you know?

I played all mainline games from Gen 6 to Gen 9 except for the Diamond/Pearl remakes, so we have the XY-Gang, Brendan, Hau, Gladion, the 3 Galar rivals and Nemona.

Obviously I am very biased and love Hau and Gladion the most out of the bunch, but when it comes to the ROLE of being an ACTUAL Rival, I'd say Nemona's the most competent out of the bunch. I like that she's already a Champion-class trainer when you start out and that she's just incredibly eager to watch you grow, sensing a worthy opponent in you. She's so obsessed with battles and your progress as a trainer that you can't tell if she's crushing on you or if she is just THAT obsessed with finally getting a rival on her skill-level.

Brendan I don't really have an opinion on, the XY-Gang I think we all agree on is the most forgettable set of rivals, but I don't hate them either. They're just there.

I know y'all gonna behead me for this but I'm not a huge fan of the Gen 8 rivals. Hop just makes me SAD. I wish they would've handled his story differently, because his decision to become a Professor in the end feels like a sad plan B rather than him actually discovering a PASSION for the profession, there was no build-up for it. He keeps losing battles and you feel sorry for him because YOU are the cause of him basically giving up his dream of becoming Champion. Him changing course to become a Professor doesn't feel like a happy conclusion and more like him having no other option but to give up his original goal.

Bede is a PIECE OF SHIT but in a GOOD WAY. But the most frustrating part about him is that he HAS an interesting story going on - but you're just not a part of that. SWSH constantly manages to make you feel like an NPC. You are not involved in the conflicts of the characters. Bede fucks up all on his own and pays the price and you're just kind of a bystander. His story keeps unfolding OFF-SCREEN and we just get to see tiny scraps of it and it made me SO FREAKING FRUSTRATED, you're not really a part of his story so you don't even feel like you're his rival at all! And lastly...Marnie. OOF...here we go...I'M SO SORRY YOU GUYS, BUT- Marnie is probably the most boring rival out of them all. There's just nothing to her. I CANNOT for the life of me understand why people love her so much. I've seen arguments of her having a "great storyline" but that's like saying "oh I REALLY enjoyed THIS particular crumb of salted cracker" that is the entire storyline of SWSH. It's paperthin. It holds NO substance. She wants to bring attention to her hometown, good for her. But her ambition didn't grab me, her popularity ingame surrounding Team Yell didn't really make sense to me and her highlight of her arc is...cheering for you. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOW Not to mention her outfit is just as much of a clash of concepts as her character. It's like they couldn't make up their mind if she should be the next cute Lillie in a sweet pink dress or the next edgy Gladion in a leather jacket, so they did BOTH but WITHOUT IT ACTUALLY BEING REFLECTED IN HER PERSONALITY or it being INTERESTING SHE'S JUST CUTE-LOOKING AND THAT'S IT THERE I SAID IT

Oh my god everybody's gonna hate me SO MUCH for this opinion oH GOD - I've been holding these thoughts in for TOO LONG, I HAVE to let them out now Like NO OFFENSE to anyone liking her - SWSH definitely has some of the best character designs in terms of trainers and despite having almost NOTHING to offer story-wise, these designs still managed to carry the entire generation somehow, even with the majority of characters showing little to no personality due to the poor writing. I think people are just attached to an IDEA of what she COULD have been rather than what she actually is ingame.

And the same goes for me with Guzma tbh because I'm more attached to the version I made up rather than what is actually reflected in the game LMAO I took the crumbs I got and RAN WITH THEM

[sora-of-uranus]

I've been thinking about seer powers and just what it all includes cuss the show kinda died before we could properly learn. Obviously Ethan can see the future, and I think the past? But what else, what more is there?

In fiction and older mythologys 'seer's or other prophetic people normally invoke a god of some kind so I think it would be intresting if Ethan found a spirit of a god from the old religion. I'm not saying he becomes religious, more aware of supernatrual forces that we might perceive as gods. I think the forces he'd most likely worship are 'life' 'death' and 'nature'. Obvious and a bit lame I know, but life and death are a cycle and are essentially the withered the past and the ever growing future. With nature, its a mixture of the two and connects him to his friends.

Another thing is (at least in western mythologys) A LOT of phrophetic people end up having problems with their eyes, either becoming blind or loosing them. It's obvious Irony, but I do think it would be intresting that Ethans normal vision changes the longer he's awakened his powers. Maybe its to the extent of needing glasses and eventually going fully blind, although I think a more intresting take would be for Ethan to be more aware of supernatrual elements with either a 'aura' arround non-humans and magic artifacts. Another option would be to see 'fate striken objects' or things like the red strings of fate. Just small bits of the future that he KNOWS exist and he can't change, but play no obvious goal to himself.

The more he uses his visions the stronger they can get. Things like being able to walk arround them, letting them stay for longer, maybe even hearing peoples thoughts whilst in the vision. I think an intresting idea would be that he could 'retrigger' a vision if he really forces it, but it leaves him with a migrane as it takes a lot of mental energy. Maybe even physical. The gang starts carrying sweets on them so he can atleast get a small sugar rush so that he doesn't collapse or get to shakey.

One last thing that I think would be sick, though holds no purpose to his powers, is whilst he's dreaming he has 'visions'. BUT these visions arn't always focused on him or his life. Sometimes they arn't even happening during his life time. This leads to him writing multiple note books of his preminitions like Nostradamus or the good omens Agnes Nutter. He predicts all sorts of things and eventually his books become marveled for their 99% accuracy. I think it would be cool to see a reverse of this where he has flashback visisons and he's in history class and the teachers all "and we will never know what Agatha Christie did for those 11 days she vanished" and he has to physicall fight the urge to shout that HE knows because HE saw her in his dreams. His history essays are always exciting to read because he pulls a LOT of facts outa his arse by accident.

[vandal-flower]

Chapter 4 - So This Is Love

Blue Roses With Gold Lining

The day has ended and you recall Madam Gertrude's wise words. Wake up to a morning to a new routine and most importantly, a courtroom meeting held by the prince.

MALE LEAD: Michael Kaiser

W.C.: 2.2 words

WARNINGS:

Mentions of children, child abuse & neglect, reader takes a bathe, 'prostitute' is used x3, fatherless behavior from Michael.

I.¹ - ll.² - lll.³ - V.⁵ - VI⁶

"To the very point of having his child."

These eight words rung in your head while resting on your bed in your personal chambers. It reminds you like how your mother would reprimand you to not gag about hearing of how the ministers got their 'connections' in high places. Disgusting.

Having a child is sacred. The whole act of trying to have a child is sacred, it is supposed to show the bond between a woman and a man. It is supposed to show the love between these two people.

It's all in the name of love.

A sick and twisted version of it.

These women participating in this competition would have the prince's child to show how he 'loves' them so much, how they 'love' him so much. But in the end would neglect their own child, abuse their own child, once the prince abandons them.

And she knows this. The queen knows this. She has to.

There is a possibility that she is experienced in this. Why else would she give birth to Michael. Out of love? That's a foolish mindset to have.

It was to win.

To win the little game they play. The gamble which they bet their life on. Throw the dice and pray to whichever deity you pray to in order to win, or take it in your own hands. What's even worse is that the child's gender adds more tension.

A girl to sell off.

A boy to achieve greatness.

An heir to keep the royal bloodline flowing. To make a name in history.

To make a name in history...

History...

His story...

You wouldn't lie to yourself and say you never wanted your name to be written down in some book, but just your name. Having your good deeds written down as well would be great, but you can't be greedy now.

But the only thing keeping these shenanigans going is greed.

Focus (Name), you need to focus.

You can stress and think about the things at the back of your mind later, you have to focus on what you need to do. Remember what Madam Gertrude told you.

First, keep to yourself, but listen to the conversations of others that could be of benefit to you.

You could learn the secrets of others and their plans. You need to be one step ahead.

Second, don't raise your voice unless you want to look like a fool.

You could draw unwanted attention and could let others poke around you to make you look like a fool even more. Don't shout, but be loud enough to be heard.

Third, don't boast about your achievements. Even if you achieve something greater than the rest, that doesn't mean you are an inch away from death. Be proud of what you have done, but don't let it get into your head.

Fourth, act cautiously and carefully. You need to be aware of your surroundings and make sure your plans are planned cautiously and carefully. The last thing you want is for someone to know what you're doing.

Fifth, become allies to people who vow not to betray you. Finding people who's trust could be an asset to you can get you places. Befriending them could at least lead you to an advantage.

Sixth and finally, win the loyalty of the prince, not his heart. Even if a king says he loves you, he still has his concubines. His loyalty can last for years and is of great power and a weapon to slaughter your enemies.

Madam Gertrude must of had strong faith of you to tell you this. Your main goal is to survive, as well as Michael's little task for you.

You yawn and rub your eyes. It's the end of the day, of course you would be tired, especially from the events that happened today. You change into a night gown to sleep. It's a good thing your head servant packed the one you wanted instead of your parents' option. You'll thank her when you see her.

Before drifting off to sleep, you take one last look at the blue roses outside the window.

You wonder if you could take a closer look at them.

You wake up to one of the servants gently patting you on the back. Had it not been for this damn competition, you would've ignored and gone back to sleep. Even though you clearly need it, you can't let your intrusive thoughts gain power over you and win. You are in this mess because of it. You recall smacking away Michael's hand when he was touching you yesterday.

Definitely intrusive thoughts.

You sit up straight and look at the servant, she avoids eye contact by look down at the floor. You assume she is timid since all the servants you have at home look directly at you, but you remember how looking at people of great royalty can be considered a crime.

You must not forget that this place has the most prideful people to ever exist. One look at them and they turn it into a court case meant for first degree murder. People who act like that are sensitive, you think.

"Your grace, the prince has called for all the women participating in the competition to meet at the courtroom. He advices to be swift and to not be late.", she tells you, still looking at the floor.

"Thank you for informing me, you are dismissed.", you tell her, getting up from the bed and stretching before entering the bathroom.

"Um, your grace, I apologize for stopping you from what you are doing but...", she stammers through her words, but manages to catch your attention.

"Yes?"

"Servants are supposed to bathe you, not yourself. It is a must for all servants to treat the people staying in the palace to be treated with our utmost care."

Pardon.

You look at her wide-eyed. What do mean servants are supposed to bathe you? How was this normal? How can such rule cease to exist? You might as well abandon the logic you brought from home, because it honestly sounds ridiculous!

You take a deep breath and look at her. "Thank you for informing me once again, may you please prepare the bath for me."

"Of course your grace."

You enter the bathroom with her following you behind. She made sure the water was not too hot or too cold, just right. You undressed while she did so, removing your night gown and folding it to put it on top of the counter.

"Your bath is ready your grace.", she alerts you.

As you slowly entered the bathtub, she grabbed soap and a sponge to wash you.

If you could describe the overall experience in one word, it would be uncomfortable.

The silence was louder than anything you have ever heard in your life. You would rather hear bees buzzing, birds chirping, dogs barking, cats meowing for five minutes everyday, than go through this experience once everyday.

When she was done bathing you, she dressed you up and applied some make-up to you as well. The last thing she did was combing your hair. She made sure to get rid of the knots without hurting you.

A miracle worker you think.

One could argue that the servants are trained to give the best treatment to their guests, but you don't care. You rather have her do your hair for the rest of your life than anyone else.

By the time she was done with everything, she smiles to herself, proud of her work. "Your grace, why don't you go to the mirror to see how you look, I hope it is to your liking."

When you saw yourself, you were astonished.

The common phrase, 'Pain is Beauty, and Beauty is Pain.', somehow threw itself out of the window. Sure it is true to an extent, but at the end of the day it really depends how far you'll go in order to reach such beauty.

"Beautiful, thank you miss."

"My pleasure your grace. You should be at the courtroom right now, you should not be late."

Oh right. The meeting the prince held in the courtroom.

"Thank you for reminding me, have a good day!"

And like that you speed walked to the courtroom, making sure not to trip and fall on the way. Now that you think about it, telling a servant to have a good day isn't normal, but in they are still human and are forced to endure the scumbags in the palace, not to voice any complaint for the whole day. Why not give them a little kindness to start their day.

You enter the courtroom to see a ten women, Maria and Berdine being the two women you saw first. Seems not all of them have arrived despite being told to be swift.

Maria, who was standing with Berdine, waved her hands at you to grab your attention when she noticed you.

"(Name) you look absolutely stunning!"

"Oh, thank you. You look beautiful as well, you too Berdine.

"Why thank you!"

"Thank you (Name), though I am quite concerned. "

You and Maria turn to Berdine. "The others were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago, what's taking them so long?", she said to herself agitated.

"What if they just woke up, or are busy doing their make-up, or just busy doing something.", Maria said, smiling about her sudden assumptions. "I mean, after yesterday, who would want to be insult by the prince."

Or taken to his chambers to make a deal with him only to be sealed with a kiss. On the lips.

You recall the kiss from yesterday and how it felt. He has a terrible personality, comparable to garbage, but he is handsome. Surely you can let it slide just once...

No! Focus (Name)! You can't let some snotty prince's good looking self get into your head.

Your face becomes flushed and feels hot, catching the attention from the two women beside you.

"(Name), you are burning up are you sick, should we take you to your chambers?", Maria asked, her eyes large like jewels staring at you. "No need to be worried about me Marie, you too Berdine.", you look at her worried face. "I'm just embarrassed about yesterday that's all."

Berdine looks at you with an assuring look,"I'm sure you will be alright, I mean it's already the second day."

Before the three of you could continue talking, you were interrupted by three more women entering the courtroom, one of them being Morrigan. Two of the other women were whispering to her, attempting to calm her down.

"Calm down Morrigan."

"He's just playing with her, no need to mind her."

"But that bloody wench was clinging onto him like some prostitute, how the hell can I accept that?!"

Her face was red in anger as she tightly clenched her hands, her nails long enough that it could've cut her palms. Berdine stood forward and asked what had happened. The two women looked at each other worryingly before looking at her.

"One of the women who is also participating in the competition was found talking to the prince."

"And clinging onto his arm, like a prostitute, she was even bad mouthing us, all of us, saying she is better and how she'll win-"

"ENOUGH!"

Morrigan yelled, she then straightened her posture. "I, Morrigan Ernaline, will make sure that wench, little pest will be the first to die by my hand." Some women were unsettled of how she smiled at the thought of killing the suspected woman.

The doors suddenly opened to the prince and the woman herself. She clinged onto his arm, her breasts nearly falling out of her dress. No wonder they called her a prostitute. She nearly looked like one. Her pink hair and eyes don't help her situation at all, she may seem innocent, but her actions could tell a different story. The prince however...

Looked as if he was disappointed.

"You may get off me now.", he said with a disinterested tone. You almost feel hurt by how he sounds. "Oh, forgive me your majesty, you are just so handsome and strong that I could not help myself." She lets go off him, before kissing him on the cheek and walking off.

All of you are stunned.

Who does this woman think she is?!

Her actions towards the prince won't leave him guessing, but make him want to be away from her. Such act is probably to show she is better than us. Michael doesn't bother to wipe off the remains of the kiss, instead sighs to himself and smiles to himself.

"At least one of you are making a move on me, as aspected." "I called all of you here to explain how some of you are lacking."

Lacking?

"Some of you lack confidence, some have to learn their place, deflate your ego, and most importantly, abandon your old logic.", he said, his tone was condescending that some women flinched.

"Don't cry over spilled milk now, I won't make me any softer towards you, instead, show your affections or become someone of great use to me."

"It's your choice, princesses."

Some women just looked at the prince with shock, some smiled to themselves, others remained silent, but you couldn't care less. In order to gain his loyalty, you have to be of use to him. But you don't want him to use you, no. You want him to be of use to you.

This is how you will show him your affections.

How you want to show Michael Kaiser your affections and gain his loyalty.

Tagging:

@lightoftheamethyst

@kimura-uzuri

@kascar-chronicle

I apologize for taking so long, I was extremely busy and exams are coming up. My inbox is still open and just ask to be tagged in later chapters.

[sunfudge]

I really do hope Sunday joins the Nameless. I think putting him on that train would help him heal from Everything

Also I wanna see him get involved in the Trailblaze Trio's shenanigans so bad

I agree! I really think he'd get along with Dan Heng, also I don't think March would give him a moment of peace either which would be so funny to watch lol I need to see her call him every single day of the week apart from Sunday

I have a lot of new thoughts about Astral Express Sunday that I want to put into a big post, but I also haven't had the time to as of yet because of work

To be brief about how I feel, I've been thinking about it a whole lot and one of the things I love most is how the members of the Express are reborn in a way which ties very well into Sunday's character.

Dan Heng doesn't want to be associated with the actions of his prior incarnation and is following a new path with the crew, March 7th doesn't know her past but is happy to travel with the express and live as she is now learning more about herself along the way, Welt comes from another world entirely and is now treading a new path in his current universe, the Trailblazer has had their memories wiped by Kafka and are discovering themselves aboard the Express, and Himeko started this all by paving the way for members of the Express to move forward via fixing the train. Sunday moving forward from his past and joining the Express really fits in with the crew, and even Dan Heng himself told him not to be shackled by the past, something he would really understand

Also the 'you have a noble soul...' ;_;

Sunday can't go back to the way things were prior to the Penacony storyline, that's over. His entire life has changed. The life he lived before is gone. He has no option but to move forward towards a new future which is exactly what he can do with the Express.

Robin has been able to travel to other planets, meet a wide array of people and form her view on the world based on those experiences. It's one reason why they have such differing viewpoints. Meanwhile, Sunday has been caged in the Dreamscape, rarely venturing into reality (as we see Robin encouraging him to please spend more time in reality in one of her letters) and the only views he was exposed to since childhood were that of Gopher Wood who had a vested interest in shoving the teachings of Order on him the moment he noticed his uncertainty, his kindness and his hatred of suffering, and pinpointed this as a weakness. This is especially evident when Sunday says, about the Dove, that he wants the bird to live 'no matter what'.

Joining the Express would give Sunday the chance to really experience reality. It fits into the idea of him being the bird that can't fly - what better way to spread his wings than with them? With how his reply to Robin saying they were meant to fly into the sky together was 'If only... I could...' him joining the crew would make me actually cry like a fucking baby lol

It would give him the chance to travel to various worlds just as Robin has, to meet different people with different perspectives on life, and then decide for himself what he believes based on his own life experiences and not on the grooming of his adoptive father. If it is a Paradise he wishes for, and he says he still wants to achieve that goal at the end of 2.3, then maybe he'll find one in travelling to help others.

I still really believe that the Death of a Crow readable is from Elio about Sunday, however knowing that Elio and the rest of the Hunters try to aid the Express, and with Firefly calling them the dark to the Astral Express's light, I wouldn't be surprised if the poem itself was about Sunday joining the Astral Express instead of the Stellaron Hunters. Elio's aim is to support the Express, so him pushing Sunday towards joining the Express would be in line with the Stellaron Hunters and what they've always done throughout the story - provided us with their help.

Sunday has had rebirth themes around him for such a long time now that him totally changing outfit and walking a new path to travel the stars when he's only ever been stuck in the Dreamscape, now being able to create a new life for himself, would be very fitting. Sunday's lightcone animation has him saying 'the end is also the beginning', along with the description for his sticker which also points towards rebirth.

ALSO the whole fallen angel rebirth thing, etcetera etcetera, right down to Jade offering him a deal that's super comparable to the forbidden fruit, but that's pretty clear, yet I thought I'd throw it in there

In my opinion, the Astral Express would welcome him. They thought he was trying to resurrect Ena at first, but they then realised he wanted to create a world without suffering. He was also willing to listen to what the Astral Express had to say, and I really think he would welcome them challenging his views. I do believe they'd welcome him with open arms, as someone who is willing to move on from his past.

Also Sunday talks about the Trailblaze like this

So there's that too

I... really want this to happen lol. And I'm so happy current leaks point very strongly towards it

[heelycular-manslaughter]

Hellbreak, a game i'm making thats inspired by some stuff, has some stuff that has been made for it. a cool one is

Dire, Goddess of the Arsenal

they/them and it/its

Vein, Goddess of Violence and sister to Erylis, was very good at her role in the pantheon. The goddess gave mortals blood to spew, as well as arteries for it to spew from. The organic structures of mortals were partially formed by her simply as material for art pieces. Being the goddess of violence, she was very good at whipping up conflict in mortalkind and godkind alike. She was such a natural at creating targets that she inevitably made herself one. Mortals had learned from her, outgrew her in collective bloodlust, and created an arsenal large enough to overwhelm a god. Vein joyfully died via thousands of bruising hammers and piercing blades. After her death, the world of violence changed. With an arsenal large enough to kill a god, the collective desolation-energy formed Dire, Goddess of the Arsenal. The world of violence was now defined by fear; if an arsenal could simply grow large enough to kill the goddess of violence, then the simple role of violence was not enough.

Thousands of blades interlock to create their form, never decreased in size for the comfort of mortals. Even when granting boons, it will most often only bestow them via an image of its hand.

Dire is cold, the beating blood of its predecessor now staining the thousand blades forming its body. To them, violence is a tool for growth, for control. They know the exact number of blades that belie its body, but understand that mortals are more afraid of the uncountable.

Dire is willing to help runners out, although not all runners are very happy to accept support from it. Hell was largely a product of Dire’s influence, after all. Many runners have the ultimate goal to kill Dire, or somehow revive Vein, but ultimately, an arsenal is still a tool to achieve those goals. Dire doesn't see runners as much of a threat, and it recognizes itself as a tool as well, utilized by anyone with access to them.

Core Mechanics: Boon Weapons

Dire will gift you partially formed weapons, which start with only one available action. To switch between weapons, you'll need to spend a Cast.

yea this is just a reference to my other game. this also made me start making a mech game called Arsenal just cause I liked the idea of each goddess representing a definition of violence and the corresponding games delving further into each definition

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