#and get super wordy

[entropyvoid]

Golden Hour (+ lineart below cut)

I took a picture of the lines for once and did some basic crappy photo editing on my phone, so you could probably print this out and use it as a coloring page or something if you so wish lol. Do with it what you will.

[hannahssimblr]

She’s on the bed, lamp on, curtains still open to the winter scene outside. The lights of Roskilde glitter in the distance. I expect to find her emotional, like in a movie, where the girl throws herself upon the bed sobbing, mopping her face with tissues. Astrid is impassive. She watches me enter her bedroom and says nothing. 

“Are you… alright?”

“There is something wrong with Mia. This is what she does. I’m fine, yes.” Indifferent and cool again, it is obvious she has remembered who she is supposed to be.

“Okay, because to be honest, that was a lot.” Rather intense piano noises float through the house and through the gaps in the door. Mia, beating the keys. 

“It’s not true, by the way, those things she said about me throwing the Matador board. I haven’t done that since I was a child.”

“We’ve all done that at one point, I’d say.” I sit down with her and hold her foot. Those stripy woollen socks are rough in my hand. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about it.”

“I’m not embarrassed. I just said I haven’t done it since I was a child, so I don’t associate myself with it.”

“Oh, right.”

She pauses and looks out the window for a while, eyes glazed with thoughts. “I don’t come home very much anymore because of her,” she says, then. “She’s so insufferable.”

“It’s fairly obvious you two don’t get along.”

“Well, never have.”

“Any reason?”

“No, she just hates me. She’s always resented me for being born. She loved being the youngest, and now she’s furious with me. So much so that she’ll never forgive me for being alive, I’m sure.”

“Ah.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” she says, turning those piercing eyes on me. “You were the youngest once, too. I’m certain you’d never act like this towards your sister.”

“Well, there were different dynamics. It’s not like Ivy stole my place in the family, or whatever. I didn’t get any joy out of being the only child. There was nothing she could take away from me.”

“It must be different with girls.” Mia launches into an especially insane passage of her piece and Astrid purses her lips. A little slice of the version I saw downstairs seeping out. “She’s so annoying. Horrible, jealous, and annoying. I can’t wait to go back to Berlin and get away from her.”

“A couple more days is all,” I say. “You can try your best to be civil, you know? Or just avoid her if it’s that bad.”

“It is that bad. She makes it impossible to be civil, I–” she bunches her fists into her eyes as the music crashes on, distracting from her train of thought. “Could you go down there and tell her to shut up, please?”

I laugh. “In those words?”

“Yes. I don’t care. Just make sure she stops playing so that I’m not tormented by her, even in my private space.”

“You really want that?”

“Yes.”

I hesitate. “It’s a bit awkward, no?”

“You can tell her I said it. I don’t care. Just make her stop. She knows she’s doing it to get to me. It’s one of her sly tricks. If it is you that tells her, she may actually listen.”

I leave and make my way down to the study, where Mia has left the door open. The sounds of the piano pour out into the hallway, rising and falling, tinkling chromatics, music that makes me feel like droplets of water are spilling down my back. An audio sensory feeling I’ve only had before from those special songs in my playlists. It’s nice, whatever it is, so for moments I stand in the door and watch her play. Her hands on the keyboard are fluid, fast. She sees me, but pretends not to. We both wait until she has finished, the last notes ringing out, giving way to quiet.

Still, with her face turned away, she hooks her thick hair behind her ears, chin high and proud. “She’s sent you here to make me stop.”

Awkward now, obviously. “Sorry.”

Mia hacks out a laugh. “She’s always hated when I play.”

“I thought it was very good.”

She looks at me now, guarded eyes searching my face for mocking or insincerity. “Well, it is my job to be good.”

“Yes, well,” I step inside and gently pull the door behind me. “I knew, like, on some level, you’d be good, with your degree and all, but hearing it in person is different.”

Her eyes follow me across the room toward an armchair by the window. “Thank you.”

“What was that song?”

“Liszt.”

“Ah.”

“You like his work?”

“Um,” I sit down, a good view of the keyboard and all its worn ivories. “I liked that. I don’t know his other stuff.”

“You say it like he’s released a series of pop albums.”

“Sorry, I don’t know the right way to talk about it. I just mostly thought that was cool, and kind of mad at the same time.”

“That was Hungarian Rhapsody. They aren’t all like that. I was just feeling a need to get out my frustration.”

“What else has he done?”

She purses her lips, and I know I’ve again said something the wrong way. Turning back to the piano, she plucks out a series of gentle notes while I follow her hands with rapt attention. “This is Liebestraum. Do you recognise it?”

“No.”

“It’s softer.”

The melody is lyrical, dreamy, flows like a heartfelt confession. Makes me feel like I’m longing for something. Reminds me I am pretty much always doing that, and isn’t that it? Life? Always yearning for the things you cannot have. “Jesus, you really are so good.” Mia just nods. “You know that, obviously,” I add. “I just wanted to repeat it.”

While she plays, and the lyrical sound fills the little room. Often, I have thought of the piano as something annoying, a sound that only meant my TV show or game would be interrupted. Something played reluctantly, the subject of a hundred arguments at home, but to listen to it like this is a pleasure. The swelling of sound, unexpected discord, then resolution. After the piece fades into silence like a dream fading to memory, I simply sit. 

“It’s complicated, isn’t it?” I say eventually. “It never really does what you think it’s going to do.”

“That’s why I like the romantics. They were breaking the rules and changing what music was.”

I nod, not knowing exactly what she means, but feeling as if I do. “My sister plays the piano.”

“Ah, yes?”

“Yeah, since she was six, though she’s not able to do all this.”

“You said she is eleven?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, no eleven-year-old can do this. Their hands are too small.”

I let out a small laugh, though Mia doesn’t seem to understand she was being funny. “Yeah,” I say, “well you’re right there. Hopefully, one day, she will.”

“If she works hard.”

“I don’t know about that. She’s pretty lazy.”

“Well, most people don’t want to play piano as kids. It’s a matter of making them do it because you can see the potential. I was serious always, I suppose, but for me it was all I really liked to do. I didn’t have other things I cared so much about.”

“Well, I’d love if she was good enough to play like that. I think I’d just sit and listen all day.”

Mia doesn’t know what to say. My compliments have made her uncomfortable. 

“Hey, so you do concerts on stage, right? That’s your job?”

“Yes.”

“Have you played in Berlin?”

“Not yet. I will be in the summer. I’m playing Rach 2 with the Berlin Phil.”

“Oh.”

A small eye roll, making fun of herself. “Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto, I mean. With the Berlin Philharmonic. They are an orchestra.”

“Ah, so a whole big thing.”

“Yes, I suppose.”

“Do you think if I brought my sister to that, you could talk to her about music and stuff?”

A smile tugs at her lips. “Yes, of course. I could give her a tour of the concert hall. I could let her try the piano and bring her backstage to show her what it is like.”

“You have that kind of power?”

“I am the soloist, Jude. I can do whatever I like.”

“Wow, yes, I mean, that’d be amazing. She would love that so much. That’s really kind of you.”

She shrugs and turns back to the piano, just to look at it instead of having to look at me. Perhaps remembering who I am by association. The boyfriend of the enemy. “If you want, you can tell Astrid I have finished playing. Tell her you told me to shut up, and I did.”

“I’m sorry, Mia. I really didn’t want to have to ask you.”

She flips her hair and stares up at a seascape painting, propped against the wall above the piano. “I’m sure she has told you already her version of things. About how horrible I am.”

“She hasn’t. She really doesn’t talk about that kind of thing with me. All I knew before coming here is that she has two sisters and a nephew.”

“Oh, so she’s still like that.”

“Like what?”

“Completely detached. That’s nice to know.”

I don’t know what to say. 

“You know it’s true what I was saying about her in the kitchen? She’ll tell you I was lying, but I wasn’t. She really did throw the board. She wanted to throw it tonight, but she remembered you were there.”

“It’s fine, really. I don’t care who threw the board.” 

“You don’t think it’s completely childish? That she acts like a twelve-year-old all the time?”

I massage my palm with my thumb. “What is it between you two, anyway? Is this just normal sibling stuff, or is there something else?”

“Something else.”

“Like, I dunno. Did you both like the same boy or something?”

Mia turns to face me, eyes incredulous. “That’s what you think? Sisters are fighting, so it must be something to do with us, men! They couldn’t possibly have anything else to be upset about?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, sorry.”

“It’s because Astrid gets everything she wants. Always has. She was six during our parents’ divorce, and she’s the one that cried the most about it. She learned that if she cried enough, she’d get whatever she wanted, just to make her shut up.”

“Mia, I mean, she was a small child.”

“You know she got her own bedroom? I had to share with Pernille, who was always using the phone to call her friends and her stupid boyfriends as I was trying to sleep, and smoking weed out the window. The smell gave me a headache. I hate that kind of thing. Astrid got her own room and all the toys she wanted. Oh, and this!” She throws her hand toward the piano. “I was the talented one. I worked hardest, and all I ever heard about was how Astrid was drawing such pretty pictures, that frankly, weren’t even that good. Everyone was just pretending. She thinks she’s so wonderful now, but it’s all based on lies. Everyone gave her an opinion of herself that was entirely unwarranted.”

“She’s good, though. You can’t deny that. They’re putting her ceramics in galleries.”

“Confidence and good looks get you everywhere. She knows it. God,” she scoffs, tension in her body as though decades of pent up fury is forcing its way to the surface. “And we worried so much about her, did you know? After that whole thing with the photographer. Do you think she ever apologised for that? No. She didn’t care. She only cares about herself.”

“The photographer?”

“Oh, God, of course you don’t know about that, either. You don’t know about any of it. I assumed she was in a normal relationship with you, seeing as you’re here, but it seems I was wrong. Do you know anything about her?”

I hesitate. “Not about her past.”

“She brought you here without telling you a thing about her? How weird. She’s so weird.”

“Well, in fairness, I was the one that asked to come. I didn’t want to go home for Christmas. She didn’t really have an option but to say yes.”

Rolling her eyes. “Okay, well, of course. The photographer was a man she met when she was seventeen. After the disaster with N–” she freezes. “You know about Nicklas?”

My heart skips. “No.”

“I shouldn’t be telling you this,” she says, before telling me anyway. “He lived nearby. Our mothers are friends. Helle, from today, would come here all the time for coffee and to talk. They were pregnant together, and then Astrid was born, and two weeks later, Nicklas. They grew up together. Helle took him with her to our house and let him play with us, and he and Astrid started school together at once. 

“Then, as they grew up, they would play together all the time. Climbing trees in the garden and things. He would cycle to see her and wait on the doorstep. So many times, I would come home to find him there waiting for her to come outside. I suppose he was her best friend or something.”

“And then?”

“Oh, then she was fourteen, and realised she was pretty. She befriended a group of horrible girls at school, who laughed too loudly at things just to make you feel excluded, and tried to get the attention of boys. Nicklas joined in with those boys, the ones that played football outside of school, just so she would pay attention to him again. It was sad, really. We all felt bad for him because he was so obviously having feelings for her. He was a teenage boy.

“And then one day…” Mia shrugs. “She finally came around. It was like she saw sense for the first time. Or maybe she liked how much he liked her. They dated when they were sixteen. He was so happy. She was happy. She was laughing all the time and holding hands and kissing in front of everybody. Helle and our mom were happy, too, because they’d always secretly wished for it. It was, I suppose, their idea of meant-to-be.”

“Obviously it wasn’t though, seeing as I’m here now.”

Mia shakes her head. “No, obviously not. They were together for a few months. I don’t know, not many. Then one day he broke up with her.”

“Why?”

“Maybe he realised the fantasy was better than the reality, I don’t know. She is not so easy to deal with. I’m sure there came a point where he had enough, and I can’t blame him. It devastated her. Oh, just crying all the time,” she rolls her eyes. “It was terrible, the turmoil. Locked up there in her bedroom all the time, refusing to eat. It was because she always thought she was better than him, and that she was doing him a great favour by being his girlfriend. She could not take it when he was the one to end things. At least that’s what I think about it. Poor little Astrid.”

I shouldn’t know about this. If Astrid had wanted me to know it, she would have told me, and yet I find myself unable to let it go. Like a starving man, grabbing at whatever he can get. Forcing my guilt aside for more. Yet the more I hear, the more my body protests. A sick feeling. Tightness in my chest, palms prickling with sweat. I swallow. “So, she got over it, right?”

“Hm.”

“This was, what, four, five years ago? Enough time to let it go, surely.”

“I haven’t asked her. I hope so, but it did something to her. She’s been strange ever since. Having strange relationships.”

“Like the photographer.”

“Oh, yes, that was the whole point. Him. He was one outcome of this. Astrid, and her need to show Nicklas she didn’t need him by dating all kinds of men. Never single, but always with this strange attitude, so closed off, acting like someone else. We worried. And then, oh, god, then came the holiday with a friend of hers and her parents to France. On the beach, she met this man who told her she could be a model. She believed him. He was twenty-nine, or something. Completely inappropriate. The parents of her school friend had to call our mother, panicked and upset because Astrid hadn’t come back to the hotel one evening. Turns out she was with this man and his friends, drinking, by the way, and–”

“No, hang on,” I say, guts churning, now. “I actually don’t think I can know any more. I don’t want to hear this.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Well, she won’t tell you on her own.”

“I know, it’s… maybe it’s one of those things better left in the past.” I want to stand up and leave. Go outside into the freezing wind and swallow lungfuls of it until I stop feeling so hot, but that’d be a weird thing to do. I’d have to explain myself. I sit, leg jumping as Mia stares at me, squinting her eyes like I’m a passage from a book she cannot decipher.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I think, really. I don’t want to know.”

“I know everything about her, Jude. You can ask me.”

A lurching feeling, like getting sick. “No, no. I want to respect… it’s not right that I know. I don’t want to. It might change things.”

She frowns. After a moment, her interest wanes, and she simply shrugs. “Okay,” she turns back to the piano, and picks another piece to play. 

Beginning // Prev // Next

[cheekinpermission]

hello! I was just wondering, do you have any advice for getting so many gems in Twst? Also thank you for your wonderful art, I enjoy looking forward to see what you draw next :D

Buy them

Just kidding! I've only made one purchase for TWST. It was less than $10 and was way back in the beginning for some kind of deal or something.

My 16k gem stash is the product of two years of grinding and selective pulls. I really wish I could say I had some kind of hack but that's really it. I'll talk about how I approach spending resources in the game, though, if anyone finds that useful.

As per usual, I ramble so it'll be under the cut!

1. Pick a favorite character

HEAR ME OUT I KNOW ITS HARD BECAUSE ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE GREAT! But it helps a lot if you're limiting who you're willing to pull for instead of every pretty card that comes out.

Personally, Riddle is my favorite (+ Grim but he's not really a concern card wise) so I'm committed to getting all of his cards. I'd really hate if I couldn't get one of his cards that I really want because I spent my keys / gems on a card that I only kind of wanted. So that's something to think about if it helps keep things in perspective.

All my Riddles!! (I definitely don't have a favorite Riddle shhh)

For example, I absolutely love Ortho's Fairy Gala card. I think it's one of the prettiest in the game! But I didn't pull for it because Ortho isn't a favorite character of mine.

It works the opposite, too. Kalim, Vil, and Ruggie are among my favorites but I've passed on a lot of their cards for one reason or another. I passed on Tsum Kalim because I didn't like the groovy, I passed on Silk Adorned Vil because I didn't like that it didn't have an attached vignette, and I passed on Camp Vargas Ruggie because I didn't like the event itself. While I really love these characters, I'm picky about which ones I'll pull so I don't miss out on a better one later.

For characters that I like quite a bit (top 5 ish), I'll use their free ten set you get on their birthday to try and pull for them. If I don't get them within those ten pulls, I accept it and move on.

I also want to say that this method has allowed to me to get pretty much every card that I've actually wanted. I can even pull for characters that aren't among my favorites (e.g. Idia who has THE BEST SSRS FOR SOME REASON??) and still have a big gem safety net.

I don't pull super often, I don't think, but I've gotten everything I've wanted so I think it's a fair trade-off.

Given my gem stash, you might be able to get away with collecting for a dorm but it'd have to be one of the tiny ones (Scarabia would be excellent because Jamil has almost no SSRs rip)

2. Plan ahead of time using JP TWST events

One of the biggest advantages of JP TWST releasing events way before Eng TWST is that we know what's coming ahead of time so we can plan accordingly. Obviously, this won't work if you're trying to save gems on the Japanese server.

You'll have to be okay with spoilers for the English server, too. At least enough to know if a character you like is in the event. I like to look at the card art and groovies, personally, as those will influence my decision if I'm on the fence.

SPOILERS FOR JP TWST EVENTS

I know which cards that I need to save for in the future:

Riddle’s Swimear SR

Ruggie’s Clubwear SSR

Rollo's SSR (pending available keys)

Riddle's Bloomquet SSR

Vil's Luxe Couture SSR

Vil and Malleus's Tsum SSR (pending groovies)

While we don't have a definitive schedule for a lot of these, a lot of them you can kind of guess.

For example, Riddle's Swimwear SR is part of Stitch's event which seems pretty summer-y to me. It'll likely come out in June or July of this year. Clubwear cards come relatively quickly so I'm anticipating Ruggie's Clubwear SSR fairly soon, too. Gotta make sure I'm saving right now for those bad boys.

Rollo and Riddle will probably come around the same time (Aug-Nov) so I've got a bit of time to build up my collection of keys again.

The others just got released in Japan so they'll take awhile before they reach us and I'm not too worried about them just yet.

SPOILERS DONE!

I think of it like going to the grocery store with a shopping list. Stick to the list and you know you can't overspend!

3. Don't pull for dorm cards

"That's easy for you to say, Cheekin. Riddle is your favorite character and you can get his dorm card for free at the beginning of the game!!"

Why, yes. Yes, you can. Thanks, Riddle!

(Ngl I might've caved and done it for Riddle but ONLY Riddle because he's my fave :D)

Now that all of the dorm uniforms have been released, dorm showcases aren't really a thing but in the event that they do a re-run I would avoid spending keys / gems on them. Same goes for the standard show case. Neither are worth it, IMO.

Dorm uniform cards will always be in the SSR pool regardless of the event, so I think it's better to just take your chances and collect them slowly overtime. Of course, the odds of getting the one you want aren't super high but you'll amass quite a few dorm cards just by pulling for event cards anyways. You're bound to get one you like eventually.

For reference, I've gotten Dorm Idia, Ortho, Vil, Jamil THREE TIMES, Kalim, Azul, Ruggie, Jack, Trey TWICE and Deuce TWICE as a byproduct of pulling for event cards. I wasn't trying to get them but they're here now and I love them for it <3

---

And that's about it! Nothing too groundbreaking. The biggest thing is knowing when to stop. Sometimes when I'm on that gacha grind high and I want to pull just cause it's been awhile since I've gotten an SSR, I'll tell myself to do it later because 99% of the time I'll just forget and it'll never happen!

I have been burned by too many gacha games in the past that I refuse to let it happen to me again in TWST (cough Obey Me COUGH)

Here are all my SSRs so you can judge for yourself how effective it is. (Or if its worth it)

I genuinely have no clue what the average number of SSR's a player who has been playing for over 2 years like me has, but I'm comfortable with what I've got. I've gotten all the cards I've wanted and most of the cards I was interested in so I think it's worth it.

tldr: be selective about your pulling, plan ahead, and resist the urge to pull constantly

Thank you for your kind words about my art!! (And if anyone got to the end of all this WORD VOMIT thanks for listening! Reading. Whatever.)

[mechahero]

There's a whoooole bunch of undead guys in Motor City! And while I can't go over every single one of them, here's a small selection of zombies you'll see here! You don't have to use the nicknames for them though, we are all aware of how dumb they sound.

YOU try coming up with a way to tell different zombies apart without sounding like a complete dumbass though. >:/

ROMEROS- Your classic zombie. Slow, shambling and trouble in large crowds. These guys outnumber most of the zombie types here 2 to 1. Compared the zombies they're named after, they're far more smarter than them. While you won't catch them using a rock to bash open a window, you'll at the very least be able to hold normal conversations with them as they're well... normal people still more or less!

You could always ask one what brought them back and sometimes they'll tell that it was due to a satellite that came back from Venus. Don't take it to heart though, it's mostly a joke.

LANDERS- Said to be the victims of a disease (probably rabies or mad cow disease or something, we don't fricking know), these zombies are bit uh... complicated. These guys take the longest to get back on track and get them acting like the humans they used to be. It's no fault of their own obviously, but man is their particular strain of zombification a complete BITCH to work with. It makes them bitey, spew-y and all around JERKS the first few months of unlife.

They're alright once you get them back down to normal but you really gotta stick it out through those months to do it. And the kicker? They can only make more of themselves via biting. Or if they've got a cold and are inconsiderate enough to not cover their mouths when they sneeze. Not that you'll catch any of the ones here biting people though. That's rude and they're more likely to be chowing down on junk food than people. They looove stuff like Ding Dongs and stuff like that.

Not every Lander is the same though, since some of them seem to act completely differently to the regular Landers. One of them snuck up on me the other day, it wasn't fun.

TRAINRUNNERS- Okay, forget what I said about the Landers. THESE guys are complicated. Kind of, I mean. They're fast, super durable for the most part and their strain is also spread through bite and boy, does it spread FAST. It's probably for the best that there's so few of them living here. That's nothing against them, of course but uh... it's not fun to deal with?

And if takes a while to get a Lander back on track, then it takes even longer for a Trainrunner. Which is not as pleasant as you can imagine when they get out of control but hey, we push through. Some of them are kind of prickly people to deal with though. We're not sure if that's because of the way their strain affects their brains or if some of them are natural born jerks. But either way, if you see some literally rotten looking people with varicose like veins and wearing sunglasses (their eyes ARE kind of gross looking), then you're seeing a Trainrunner. Just be cool around them and you'll be okay.

I dunno who originally coined their nickname though. We don't even have trains here?

NEWDEADS- A sort of catchall term for zombies that don't fit in the standard definition of zombie but are similar enough to their regular counterparts to qualify as one. It's not too uncommon to see a Newdead with a pulse (That's me!) but as long as they have a couple of traits seen in either Romeros, Landers, or Trainrunners, they can count as a Newdead. The one difference between a Newdead and the other zombie types though is that Newdeads don't have to worry about losing control and going on a complete rampage just to eat some dang flesh. Newdeads are kind of like humans the most? But also kind of not? They're stuck in a weird in between of being both and neither.

Don't ask how a zombie can have a pulse though. Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense but we're all made and sometimes rot and decompose in different ways and you'll break your brain trying to understand it so don't fricking question it. We're all kind of dead and that's just it! :>

Anyways, that should be just about every type of zombie seen here mostly! Might have missed a few but I can always edit this thing. Or just make new pamphlets. Either one. Next one's going to be about vampires and let me tell you that one's gonna be wayyyy easier! Well bye! ^_^b <- (me giving you a thumbs up)

[lucalicatteart]

Finally finished my weird hanging painting thing (originally a secondhand partially-done 'paint by numbers' kit that I found at a thrift store and kept to repurpose lol)! Imagery somewhat based in my own worldbuilding projects, and text written in my constructed language for one of my fantasy species, but also vaguely inspired by old tapestries and illuminated manuscripts and etc. I've never been great at neat clean patterning or text, but it looks cool from afar, and I always enjoy making "props" or things that are somewhat like real objects that might could exist in my world. :0

(additional pictures/info under the readmore)

-

Here's what it was originally! I probably didn't have to actually have a river running down the middle because it further makes the composition of the whole thing weird (various connected yet separate locations and things happening, instead of one unified event being portrayed), but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fully cover up the already existing paint that was there.. and I can also kind of justify it by going with a more "all the imagery is just symbolic so it doesn't have to make exact sense" approach lol.. How is one half of the grass green and the other is suddenly snowy? shhhh.. it's not literal.. shhh...

Made a vague sketch, then painted over it, and then added more distinct lines in black pen. Center image first and border second.

The very last thing was the text, which actually took forever to translate because my conlang is still only like.. partially done, and some of the grammar is not worked out exactly how I would like it to be, so a few sentences I had to think about for a long time before just going "eh, this is probably not how I would do it if I considered it more, but I'll go with it for now" lol . I also am not entirely satisfied with all of the characters for the writing system, but again, it's good enough for a quick project, it doesn't have to be 100% accurate and perfect because it's a fake language that nobody knows anyway lol.

I thought about breaking down the text and translation here like I have for some of the tidbits of Avirrekava (the language) in things I've posted in the past, but I think it would take too long and is not interesting to anyone but me ghghj, so for the sake of getting the post out quickly, I shall not spend an hour typing All That lol.

The general jist of the writing though is that it's just about the Avirre'thel being cast out from the other elves, after abandoning their magic for immortality as a means to truly attain perfection (an important concept in elven culture), the usual, blah blah blah, but how it's Actually A Good Thing, because the gods are wrong and immortality is Cool actually and they like the shitty frozen lands they were sent to, so it's fine that everyone else is being a Hater about it lol

Lastly, here's a few photos outside in the sun to TRY and show the gold detailing actually shimmering or showing up! It really doesn't come through in photos, but there's plenty of little golden spots to highlight light or Importance.

Mostly the fire, the pink sparkle that represents magic, the red drop that represents blood, the light behind Inaashi's hands and head (common symbol for the elven religion/one of their main gods, shout out to anyone who read the ancient elven religion post and recognized that lol), the sun, and the symbol for the Avirre'thel/country of Navyete at the very top. I did a few other gold bits, but they're not highlighted because they're Significant, more just that it looked more symmetrical to have some gold on the border too lol.

Other things of note: The animals are not actually significant to Avirre'thel culture really, I just wanted to put a cat and a bird because I like them lol. (I also wanted to have a few funny looking creatures, as I was slightly trying to go with the 'in some old medieval painting the anatomy and perspective is very weird' vibe, though I think some of the other parts of it look too Normal to pull it off entirely). Same with the four leaf clover, which means nothing in their culture - but these are the only areas where stuff was just added self-indulgently .

Bligabata (giant cabbage that grows along rivers in Navyete) making an appearance! The architecture of the building IS based on actual concepts for ancient elven/older Avirre'thel architecture and metalwork. The Avirre'thel who's turning away from Inaashi/elves/magic and collecting blood, is doing so in a Special Bowl, as is part of their culture (collecting it in the hands, or just in a normal vessel would be disrespectful, they have Specific Bowls which is the only thing blood can be kept in, etc.).

The figure that represents Jhevona (and thus, a closer connection to magic, celestial imagery, etc.) is in weird ugly teal, which is not necessarily a color or design associated with them, as I don't have much common culture (like clothing) worked out for Northern Jhevona (who the avirre'thel would have come into contact with) yet, BUT everyone else is in more Typical colors (a northern elf in green, Inaashi in lavender + white + blue, an Avirre'thel in darker purples and reds).

Some things, like the four figures in the corners, and the two people + fish in the stream, do not currently have a meaning, but in-world they would.. Like, I could make up lore for how they're culturally significant and it would be true because I am god of the world, but I don't have anything currently. But just know.. they DO mean something, I just haven't decided it yet, maybe kind of fill in as I go, come up with a meaning later lol. Probably along the lines of an old myth from the ancient elven religion, a story, etc.

-

I don't know, probably other stuff, but that's my Trying To Keep It Short rambling for now lol. I'm just glad I finally finished this! For how vaguely sloppy it is up close (everything being completely freehanded, only used rulers once when doing the initial sketch and lining where the border should be + my hands are shaky + the canvas is bumpy + my handwriting is scratchy and terrible + etc. etc.) it still took a REALLY long time, even when not trying to make it all perfect. Especially if including the text translation + writing, which took like 3+ hours itself.

Maybe all the asymmetry/lack of things being centered is NOT because I was too lazy to measure anything, but is actually because in-universe, it's a practice illustration made by some young apprentice who has to work on little canvases for years before he can be trusted will a full sized mural or tapestry. It's his first week on the job! of course he's uncoordinated! don't laugh at him!!! lol

[doubleedgemode]

I wanted to go on a drawing spree yesterday, but I could only muster these two before dozing off.

First one, even if I'm not that sure about how I drew her face shape in this angle (and most importantly I forgot her neck and torso bandages OOPS) I do really like how most of the drawing came out. And at least it isn't a bland bust this time, though I'm pretty sure I've already drawn a pose like this before. (Oh no the next drawing is a 3/4 bust again..)

Second, yesterday I saw an artist draw some of the coolest redesigns ever for a different media piece, and thought about the many awesome gg redesigns I often see so I wanted to give A.B.A a spin... Except I was out of ideas so most of this drawing is her regular design haha. I got too tired to even try to attempt to draw the rest of the body and half-assed the key but I like the vibes and pose (even if I.. think I made her neck a bit too long? Old habits die hard... Necks are my enemies when drawing!)

I like the idea of her having a key take on the classic frankenstein bolts (though wait, her head key is referred to as a screw. Would this also be a screw or key shaped bolts??-)

[candycryptids]

Hiya! I hope you're doing well today! I love your characters and how you've structered their bios! Since Chuusday is listed first, is she technically your official WOL or is it someone else? Do you canonically have a WOL in the first place?

Also, I find it SO sweet that you and one of your partners both play FFXIV and have characters paired together ;w; Did you meet ingame or long before either of you started playing? Either way I wish you both the best!!! <3 - gardenofballads 🌻

Awaaaah! Im doing pretty ok!!! Taking time to answer this as a wind down from Emerald Weapon Ex Brain Soupage. And I’m so glad! ;W; I think I butchered one of those “Get To Know An OC” thingies- uhh… oh [this one] actually! I chopped a lot out and I think added a couple different thingums instead because there was so much to that that it felt overwhelming to try to look at let alone fill out LOL but it was a really good jumping off point uvu;

And!!! Hilariously Chuu was my First XIV Character, so she’s dear to my heart for being the first one- but she very quickly made it known being the WOL even as an AU was something of a Joke (Her character showed great reluctance and even frustration at having to do So Much World Saving, maybe a side-effect of me rushing through MSQ to catch up with my other spouse [Who plays Talia, though they’ve got less time for XIV these days ;0;] and the rest of my friends who were all EndGame already at the time in Shadowbringers fhdjfjsjfs.) So I made…… many alts. Throwing spaghetti at the wall but I have SEVERE side-character/NPC brain and kept making “supporting cast” types =w=; it actually took me like. 3? Alts before making an ACTUAL WoL with my husband (Ishi’li and Kizuna) (as of Right Meow, they’re in post ARR, but we’ve been working on Keathan and Tuesday together because Keathan was… Keathan’s first character in xiv XD so we’ve been jaunting through the story together and experiencing every inch of it so we can pick and choose what The Boys™ get up to when we wanna focus on them x3)

🥰 I knew both speece during at least high school- but I actually knew Keathan as early as Elementary school hehe 😌 tho the speece didn’t proper marry until… i’unno, 2017? (For frustrating legal reasons, I’m not legally married, but. As it goes. Someday we’ll have money to visit the one state that has legal poly marriages. Also I struggle to remember our wedding year 🫢)

Since managing to make a Co-WoL with my husband I’ve managed to make one other Alt meant to be a Solo-WoL (Mochiie) but I have to really wrinkle my brain to sink time into playing him, since I’m trying to take screenshots throughout the story at what I find to be inspiring beats xD And even still he has an alt-universe where he’s just a side-character for the ‘Main Timeline’ (where there’s a bunch of spaghetti and like 8+ confirmed WoL’s and the Msq entourage looks HILARIOUS in canon, someday I’ll get all the data together and take pictures, but I think it’ll cook what’s left of my brain x’3) [it’s less concrete than anything I’ve posted about before or I’d try to explain it ;v;’ it’s just interesting mostly to see how the story gets stretched to fit around a larger community of heroes than a solo guy shouldering the whole burden lmfao.]

🌸🌸🌸…. I also hope you’re having a lovely week @gardenofballads !!!! I am tossing flower petals into the air around you !!! Thank you for the ask and well wishes n kind words 🥺💖 🌸🌸🌸

[kirbles]

gale and lae'zel truly one of the most underrated friendships out of the group i think

[rosemary-is-in-pesterquest]

hi im trying to finish homestuck now and like. you're telling me people don't pay attention to the silly gay girlies but instead pay it all to karkat??

i have sat through so much karkat that i'm utterly sick of him and his words!! and yet i still love the conversations between the goober maryam and the silly lalonde kan is SUCH a dork i love her sm

Yah tbh I never understood why people complained about rosemary’s dialog just because they speak Big Words but then they’ll be fond of how much Karkat talks and I can barely understand what he says half the time 😭

[tacticalkevlar]

@wolfskrieger liked for a starter + Main Verse and Yaga.

She had been traveling. Taking a break from her vendetta, it wasn't going anywhere. He would still be on the run if she took a few days for herself. Yaga had been passing the area when the forest practically called to her. Practically, the nice way of saying it had yelled at her to stop. Something about it was pulling her attention. Something in it was pulling her in.

Getting rather deep into the forest, she looked around. In this area, blood had once soaked the forest floor. Oh, it has stories to tell. That's what dragged her here. Was this private property? She hadn't seen any no trespassing signs or fences telling her to stay out. She would stay the night and see if anything conjured up for her. Once in a while, she could see the stories the land wanted to tell. Other times, it just gave a strong feeling and faded after a specific date.

Not to be rude to any resting grounds of any spirits, she moved her camp away and up on a slope. Allowing her a full view of the area. Sundown was close enough she wouldn't be waiting long. Pulling a snack from her backpack, she waited, watching the land. She did finally hear something, but it wasn't any spirit. It was a man with an aura about him. An aura she had never seen before, new shades. Watching him, curious about what he was doing out here.

When did she make herself known? Did she make herself known? That was the real question. Or he would look over here and see her...Which is exactly what happened. Yaga stood, waiting to figure out if this was a fight or flight moment. She didn't really have any bird shapes learned. So it's more like a fight or run away and hope he loses track of her moment.

[wow-an-unfunny-joke]

My English teacher asked me ‘do you think the antoganist can be a hero’ and I don’t think she was prepared for the ESSAY (like two paragraphs) I wrote

[shidraoftheworldpillar]

So I started hyperfixating on biblically accurate angels again so now y'all gotta deal with my own versions of each type of angel just so yall know this is probably not bibically accurate lol

Seraphim: big serpents made out of pure golden light. they have six pure white wings, two on its head and four on its body, the wings have many pupiless blue eyes on them. They dance around God's form in intricate patterns, singing his praises in otherworldly voices. They can compress their forms into more humanoid ones when interacting with lesser beings, one pair of wings folded up in a way that makes them look like a feathery robe, another completely covering their head, and the third used to fly and interact with stuff (like arms)

Cherubim: humanoid with four heads, a man, a bull, a lion, and an eagle. The eagle head is on their chest (their robes are very low cut so the eagle doesn't get a beak full of fabric) they have four white wings with fiery orange tips, they have the legs of an ungulate (like a satyr or however you spell it) and cow tails. They can't change into a monstrous form much like a traditional chimera but with more wings and fire. They are the secret service of god, acting as his body guards.

Ophanim: 3-4 interconnected and spinning golden rings with eight white wings and many many eyes, with one big eye in the center which the rings rotate around. Like the seraphim they can compress their forms, with the center eye and one ring acting as the 'head' with four wings around it, one ring acts as a halo, and the other two are wrapped around the torso. One pair of wings stay unchanged so they can fly and the 8th pair turns into a pair of arms.

Second choir

Dominions: they have the face of an owl, big manes and wings made of stars with pristine robes that look like the northern lights. They uphold the laws of the universe and make sure the second and third choir are doing their jobs.

Powers: they have two heron heads with rabbit ears and rabbits feet, with the tail of a scorpion. They are ever vigilant, four eyes and ears always watching for danger and ready for action. They have wings of steel with feathers as sharp as swords (in fact many heavenly weapons are made with the feathers of a power). They serve as heavens military and fight off any stupid demons that dare cross them. They are often seen holding a spear and a shield.

Virtues: graceful beings with the legs of a deer and wings made of leaves, with antlers intertwined with plants (the specific plant depends on the individual). They have four eyes, one for each element (a blue eye, a silver eye, a brown eye, and an orange eye) they rule over nature and maintain its balance

third choir

Principalities: spider like angels with eight fluffy limbs (four arms, four legs) and six eyes. They watch over human settlements which could be a small town or an entire country. Sometimes they have very colorful wings that look like stained glass, the bigger and more powerful their territory is, the bigger their wings are.

Archangels: individuals who act out God's will in the mortal world. mostly human with a single pair of wings, the color depending on the individual. 12 total.

Angels: anything that doesn't fit in the other categories, includes guardian angels and angels of death. Really just humans with wings, but their appearance depending on the type. Usually trained by an archangel

[despair-tv]

INTRO TV

Hello hello! Welcome to my blog! Let's get some things outta the way–

My pronouns? He/they

My main blog? @ikeytv

My age? Adult

I made an entire sideblog for danganronpa cuz I was embarrassed lol

BYF

I block:

Terfs/radfems

Anyone who ships incest/pedo

I hope you understand.

If you read all this, have a nice day! 🌸💜

[mikkeneko]

y'know who's a really good exploration of that last addition. Ciaphas Cain from the W40K books

the problem with knowing things about battle tactics is that an ever-increasing subset of popular media becomes impossible to enjoy properly because you have to sit there like 'wow Captain Protagonist good to know all those dead people on your own side are a direct result of your total lack of anything resembling brains'

[mxmade-up]

Sort of redesign of an old character of mine

[causticsunshine]

.