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softcoregamer · 4 years ago

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DRAGON QUEST XI S: ECHOES OF AN ELUSIVE AGE - DEFINITIVE EDITION

I've never played a Dragon Quest game before, so all I had to go on with this game was the pretty looking graphics and charming character art by the Dragonball guy, which- combined with having a hankering for a JRPG, a genre I haven't played since probably the Digital Devil Saga games (minus an abandoned most-of-the-way-done playthrough of SMT3 and a partial of one of the Megadimension Neptunias) was enough to sell me on it. I'm having a tough time determining if it was worth it.

(spoilers)

The story starts off very weak. Your glowing hand marks you as the chosen one, you have to collect glowing orbs to defeat the dark lord. It's like the story of a generic videogame you'd see in the background of a movie. They do throw in a little novelty to keep you on your toes- you present yourself to the king and he throws you in the dungeon, you go back to your hometown and travel back in time for some reason- but I really never warmed to the setting. It's just a collection of cliches and cute gimmicks, like the town of people who speak in haikus, the town of people who speak in rhyming couplets (you're stuck with these people for the bulk of the exposition at the start of act 2, which is a nightmare) and the town of- ugh- Italians. There's no sense of these places being places. It's just a nice pleasant fairytale kingdom of the kind that's normally mentioned in Snow White or whatever as the place the handsome prince comes from, except here you spend dozens of hours trudging through it looking for glowing tree roots and orbs. The big problem in Gallopolis is that the sultan's son isn't brave enough for god's sake. Acts 2 and 3 pick things up, and there's some neat reveals- I like that the lil red star you've been seeing in the sky right from the start was the stain of the original hero's failure to slay the villain, literally hanging over the entire setting all this time. Also the annoying act 1 scene where you get handed the name of the villain and an orb quest in an exposition dump is retroactively improved by the fact that the exposition isn't quite correct. Act 3 reintroducing time travel and actually being thoughtful about it was welcome as well, but sadly that has the effect of making you redo story points you already did since, logically, you're back in time to where you haven't done them yet. Sometimes this comes across as getting a do-over to get a more positive outcome for something that previously ended more tragically, in keeping with the way time travel is explained in-universe as essentially reloading an earlier save (and, as revealed in the end, continuing in a separate save slot). The 8th party member's act 3 quest is a standout here. In reading discussion of the game I've seen people insist on referring to this character as 8, presumably to preserve the plot twist of his existence, so I guess I'll do it too. But more often than not, act 3 quests consist of just doing the same stuff as act 2 again, in a somewhat more curt manner. This sticks in the craw after so much of act 2 already consisted of just doing the same stuff as act 1 again. The party members aren't much better, for the most part. The first three people you meet all say "ah, you're the Luminary, I was sent to help you" and there isn't much to them beyond that for a long time. Sylvando has a lot of personality, which is probably partly why he's become the game's big meme character, but it gets grating and he is insanely trite. The Dark Lord takes over the world and purges the unclean, and Sylvando's overriding concern is that he wants people to laugh and smile more. It's like he takes advantage of the fact that I need him for his boat to get my goat by acting like a fucking teletubby. Things pick way up when you meet Rab, and the 8th party member is genuinely really good. Even the early-game party members end up having their moments (Erik's backstory was pretty fun) but the game really doesn't put its best foot forward with these characters. Not that it needs to; for the first few I was just glad to be getting some help in combat. The combat is excellent in this game, when it gets going. I played with the "draconian quest" tougher enemies mode on, and I turned it off right at the act 2 end boss. The difficulty curve flowed really well this way, with act 3 enemies not feeling noticeably less tough than "draconian" act 2 enemies. The abilities and spells you get are carefully balanced so that it's very difficult to put together a perfect 4-person party, you're always missing something. This means the fact that you can change your line-up midfight isn't just a nice quality of life feature, it's a potentially vital mechanic. They tread a fine line where sometimes needing to swap people out during the battle doesn't mean the characters themselves feel useless; everyone is capable of some extremely tough stuff. And on the other end of the scale, enemy damage is heavy enough that buffing your attack and using big-damage abilities vs healing or defending can be a properly difficult choice; a heavy hit or a big heal at the right time can turn the tide of an entire battle, as can your big hitter suddenly getting put to sleep or your healer getting knocked out. Again, this is all with the caveat that I had "draconian quest" on for the first 2/3 of the game, from what I've heard combat without it is insanely easy. My big gripe with the combat is that there's very little in the way of tooltips. What's this enemy's magic resistance? Does my Sap have a better chance of landing if I up my Magical Might, or does that just increase spell damage? Does Oomphle affect Quadraslash? If I increase my agility will it go up by enough that I can take my turn ahead of these enemies? Does agility even do that? Does using abilities and spells mean I go later in the turn order vs generic attacks and defending? You just have to guess at all this; the wiki has some info on enemy stats but I don't know where they're getting it from other than datamining. There's an entire bestiary with almost no useful information which is functionally just a model viewer for all 700+ enemies. The only way to know anything is to experiment, which I guess at least adds some purpose to combat when you've filled out the bestiary for an area but still have to grid encounters- which will be required at some point, because fighting is the only way you get xp and money. There is also too much RNG. Critical hits being rare and certain attacks having a chance to cause Confusion or whatever is fine (although I'd prefer for attacks which are labelled as having a chance to inflict status effects to actually inflict the status effect way more often than they do) but why the fuck does the resurrection spell have a 50% success rate? Under what possible circumstances would I be using that spell other than needing my dead teammate back right now? Same for all the abilities on the skill tree that say "doesn't connect very often, but when it does it can cause a critical hit" OK that "CAN" is telling me that this ability which doesn't often connect won't even necessarily crit if it does. Why would I choose this ability? To handicap myself? How is this going to help me defeat the Timewyrm? All that said, when the combat is good it's really good, and whenever I lose a fight I'm thinking "I can win that next time if I do XYZ". The 2D battles are much less fun because the pace is much slower and there are no cute animations to liven it up, but it's always satisfying when the "flash" of an enemy taking damage becomes the "flash" of them disappearing, and you know you have slayed yet another blob. Non-combat gameplay is a mixed bag. The early-game fun of running around looking for new enemies to fight and fill out the bestiary wears off hard once act 2 begins and everything is either a reskin or a glowing-eyes "vicious" version of something you've already fought, and many maps are fairly sparse with just the odd treasure chest and locked door to liven up your path to the next area. That said, there are also several areas and dungeons which make a minigame out of traversing them; the Eerie Eyrie and the Battleground were standouts for me. Especially the remixed version of Eerie Eyrie you go to later on, where you get a flying mount to ride around. Crafting is surprisingly involved, with a whole minigame around it and hundreds of recipes to find all over the place. In most cases you can just use money in lieu of ingredients, which means minimal farming is required to get a lot out of the system, and the recipes with ingredients that can't be bought feel special instead of bullshit. In terms of items and recipes there really is a deluge of content- there are recipe books all over the place, with new ones available even in the last couple of maps that open up in the entire game, and there's an undeniable cookie-clicker rush you get from getting better at crafting and taking something you could barely get to +1 all the way to +3. I play games like this as a magpie, accumulating items with nice pictures and effects that make me do a 😲 face, and DQ11 certainly delivers. This even extends to character advancement, with Hidden Goodies incentivizing picking skills you might not want otherwise, and entire new skill trees opening up as quest rewards.

Overall, DQ11 is a good combat system with loot and progression systems that are well-executed enough to feel rewarding after 100 hours, all wrapped up in a style and tone that is not up my alley at all. A good litmus test for how much you'd like the game is probably: watch this scene and if you think it's the most epic thing you've ever seen then Dragon Quest 11 is for you.

#game review #dragon quest

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tamersmile888 · 4 years ago

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Life Is Strange 2: The Sims 4 Challenge Behind The Sims Lot 2

When I created this challenge, I was doing the challenge and making the rules up as I went. That way I could see what was possible and what would be harder to achieve. I took into consideration those who liked using cheats and those who didn't. I also considered how long it would take and if that was something a player would want to slug through.

If I would have known that in order to complete this Lot, I'd have to repair and upgrade every single appliance and plumbing system in the house...I would have maybe picked a smaller house instead of this 3 story mansion with multiple bathrooms, TV's and computers. Even though it took a very long time to complete, I really love this house and the renovations I made to it. (Which I now have to fix because I'm just now seeing that some of the roof trim is the wrong color...Oopsies...) Fun Fact: I was going to include beds in the upgrade but they had a million beds so I decided to drop that idea. But it is a bonus if you want to add it to the list. I did upgrade Sean's bed so he could get more energized while sleeping.

Daniel came in and started cleaning up on his own. He's so cute! Also, this made it tough for me to neglect him for Abraham in this storyline, therefore, I kind of cheated in the background and made sure he and Sean had some brother time. I couldn't help it. I felt horrible.

This Lot was much easier because Sean and Daniel were a lot happier. They could shower, eat good meals that weren't just lying around on a park bench, and take nice long jogs in a wealthy neighborhood. I got this house from the gallery. I'll write a separate blog telling you were I got some of my lots from so you can download them too if you'd like.

This is actually a gas station I got from the gallery that I temporarily made into a "hardware store."

If you've played LIS 2, you know Sean is an artist who draws in his sketchbook to record his journey. In my head, I'm thinking, "I wish I could do something like that. I guess he's just going to have to create random paintings. We'll pretend this is his journal." Little did I know....

I had no sims could paint from reference. I was praising the Lord for this amazing discovery because this was exactly what I needed. Sean could actually draw what was right in front of him and build a collection that truly captures his experience. I'm so thankful. This little touch made a huge difference. Thank you God! Thank you Sims team!

School was not meant to be a part of this challenge. I thought I could get away with them missing school entirely, but...something cruel happened instead.

If you neglect to send your child to school long enough, they will get whisked away in glittery purple dust never to be seen again. Thank God for autosave! I did manage to get him back, and all was well again. I guess because nothing happened in Lot 1, I didn't think it would be a problem, but I was wrong. And the homeschooling plot was born. So please remember to send your sims to school. I'm not sure if the same thing will happen to Sean, but I wasn't taking any chances.

Proof that Esteban is in fact still alive. I wanted to show footage of him coming up to the house and knocking on the door, but I forgot to take screenshots of that. Then he started calling instead, checking up on them. Esteban relax. Your boys are fine. You'll see them in a couple of months. Please step away from the set of this movie you made me make because you raised your boys to be great chefs with hardly a level 1 cooking skill.

The frog plotline was also supposed to be a thing. I wanted Sean to eventually catch a frog with Daniel so they could have a pet like Mushroom in the original LIS 2. Since I don't have Cats and Dogs because I'm playing base game only, a frog was the next best option. Plus, it feels right giving them a pet from the wild. Sadly, I forgot about this plot entirely.

Thank God for the Hot-Headed trait. It kicked in right when I needed it. Fun Fact: My first attempt at creating Sean was...not so good. I'm so glad I tried a lot harder this time. I originally gave him the outdoor trait, but then I thought it was insensitive. He was only outdoors because he was forced to be, not by choice. So then the next time I made Sean I gave him the Hot-Headed trait and it kicked in most of the time I needed to. I didn't even need to be mean to anyone, which is good because I really don't like clicking the mean interactions...

Like here. He is fuming. I didn't even think sims could fume. He did this all on his own. It's one of my favorite screenshots of Sean because it's one of the more realistic emotional expressions I've seen.

(I had to redo this scene because I forgot to put Sean's easel back into this inventory lol)

Conclusion: The hardest part of this lot was the nonstop repairs and the overload of upgrades. I did enjoy spending time in this house though. I also found out that if you get a high enough handiness skill you can upgrade your TV to have the music channel! There are so many cool treasures hidden in base game! If you find yourself getting bored, explore. You never know what you might find.

God Bless! Love, Charly

#LifeIsStrange2TheSims4Challenge #LifeIsStrange2 #TheSims4 #SeanDiaz #DanielDiaz #tamersmile #gaming #basegameonly #TheSims4Basegame

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luccie-eclair · 5 years ago

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Honest TLK Review

I'll preface with the fact that I was just like everyone else, ready to tear this movie apart. I'm named after a character from the movie because my dad loves it so much. He even drove down to visit for the weekend so we could go see it tonight. I saw the trailer and I wasn't completely sold on it because, like many of you, I thought the expressions looked dry. I also was unsure about Beyonce being casted (I know, a black person not being big into Bey is rare). I also though that the timing of its return (the fact that it's around the same time the copyright would run out) was suspicious. I was very suspicious of this movie.

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It was good. Genuinely, I enjoyed every minute of it. That's not to say that I didn't have a few nitpick issues with it such as:

Yes, I did have an issue with some of the expressions. OVERALL, facial expressions were actually very good and the few snapshots that we saw in trailer just showed the not so great of it. To elaborate, there were many moments were I could very clearly see exactly what the characters were going through. It's mostly in the eyes, I think. However, in The Scene, I honestly wanted to laugh at how almost neutral Simba looked being that it was such a heartbreaking scene. That's the worst of it. Honest.

There were moments where I thought the music was entirely too loud and it almost drowned out the voices.

I saw absolutely no reason for Bey to have a riff 30 seconds into Can You Feel.

There were a few lines where I felt the voice director could've asked to redo lines, particularly with the kids. But they're kids and they did a pretty good job regardless.

The great parts!!!!

Scar's scene with the hyenas was genuinely eerie. I feel bad to say it, but a little girl sitting in front of me burst into tears at how scary it was. It was good.

Beyonce and Donald's voices complimented each other very well.

Despite my few gripes about some of the facial expressions, there were a lot of moments when they were really great.

You could tell that (despite this whole thing with the copyright which I think is more of a corporate issue, not a film production issue) the production team: cast, crew, director, producer, music team, everyone. Put so much heart into this movie despite getting ripped before it was even released.

The scenery was gorgeous. Beyond gorgeous. It was practically picturesque. I loved looking at the background. They worked so hard on it and anyone who even looks at it negatively can catch these hands.

Sidenote on the scenery: look for Mickey heads.

I honestly was SUPER suspicious about Bey being in this movie. I thought that was a super cheap move to get views especially since she has such a huge, dedicated fanbase. I really thought she was gonna outshine the entire cast because she's Beyonce. I will happily admit that I was wrong. I don't feel like she outdid the other performers.

The original was definitely funny, but I thought this one had a lot more fun moments. I think Zazu, Timon, and Pumbaa had more opportunities to shine has comic relief.

I don't want to spoil anymore, even though it is the same movie, but I could go on about things I really enjoyed. I actually would recommend that people see it and give it a chance. I know it's easy to take what media and other people say about it for face value, but let me be one to tell you:

That moment when the title screen comes in after The Circle of Life? The entire theatre cheered.

When the end credits came? Everyone was so happy.

This movie is for people who watched the bright, colorful movie as children and have grown up. I completely agree, not EVERY movie needs a LA remake. The "live action" is different from the original, yes. But if you're just gonna redo every single moment, every single line of animated movie? What is the point of a remake if you don't add or change something?

#the lion king #tlk #the lion king remake #the lion king review #the lion king live action

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rebelwheels-blog · 6 years ago

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You Are The Universe Experiencing Itself

January 30, 2018

Do not become / A “new you”. / This year, / Become / A better You.

Hello there, loyal readers. This update is going to have quite a quantity of information shared with you all, so be prepared not to be able to read all of this in one sitting. I’ll have headings as I usually do so that if there is something anyone wants to skip over, it’s easier to do so.

Hair and Color

More than two months ago, I decided that I needed a change. I’d had my red hair for so long, then ended up growing it out for various reasons, and I feel like having dyed hair makes it easier for strangers to come up to me and start a conversation. So, I booked an appointment with my hairdresser. Well, not my usual hairdresser, as he moved to another salon, but this one was friends with my trusted hairdresser. Plus, she did my dad’s hair, so I figured why not?

I wrote this a while back to post as another entry, but ended up not publishing it because, well, we’ll get to that later.

November 12, 2018

Got my hair cut and colored today. I have been deliberating on getting my hair cut lately as my hairdresser moved salons, and It’s about a half hour away… My hair has been kind of a touchy subject lately. But my dad convinced me that I was beginning to look a little too shaggy, or as he so eloquently put It, “homeless”. So, I booked an appointment with Annie, who cuts his hair and my grandmother’s, but today was our first time doing my hair. She’s a really cool individual plus she’s friends with my hairdresser so I figured I’d give her a try.

I’m really glad I did! She did an absolutely amazing job! My head fell only about three times and getting it colored was painless. Between her being careful but confident, and my Spinraza strengthened muscles, and Dad when he was needed, the three of us made a good team.

Originally, I was just going to do blue highlights. I’ve missed having my hair as a talking point for strangers, and I didn’t want to do red again, so I figured why not do something totally seemingly out of character?! I’ve thought about doing crazy colors before, but I have the confidence of a… Okay, everything has more confidence than I do when it comes to my appearance or personality. Anyway, I’ve been slowly trying to get back to my old cheerful self that did what she wanted to do because It made her happy, not because she wanted to Impress someone other than herself.

So that’s what I did.

When Annie showed me the shade of blue that I was thinking of doing, it was on a ring of other colors as well. In noticing this, an Idea was forming in my head, with the conversation that I had with my grandmother playing in the background.

“May I see the purple?” I asked with curiosity.

Who said I only had to have one color highlighted into my hair?

That’s how I ended up with glorious highlights of blue and purple.

It wasn’t until about two months later that I got to refresh my glorious cosmic hair, as my hairdresser had gotten sick the day I was originally going to redo it, and then I got sick on the day I rebooked with her. Which leads me into my next heading.

A Spin On Colds

Yes, that’s right, ladies and gentlemen, I got sick recently. Directly after Christmas, in fact. It was rather an interesting holiday this year as my grandfather came down with something right before my aunt flew in from New Jersey. So instead of spending Christmas with my grandparents like we have every year prior, my aunt and I slept over at my dad’s, so I wasn’t near germs. I have, I’m sorry, I had managed to stay healthy and not get sick for almost two years this coming February. However, after three late nights, and exhibiting much more energy than I have for quite a few years, my body ended up giving in to the sick life. This time, though, something was different. This time, I didn’t go downhill like I always do. This time, I got a regular old head cold.

Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either. That first morning when my sore throat began to break, I coughed, and I sounded like I was drowning. Just like every sickness I’ve had to endure since I first started this seemingly endless battle with my own body back in 2015. My dad sounded more irritated than I can describe when he heard this cough first thing that morning, but nonetheless turned me on my side like I do every morning to get my glug out and set up my nebulizer to give me a treatment. Granted, I believe it may have been an hour that it took to get this stuff out, but the thing is, I got it out. And it stayed out. It would come back a bit every so often and if I didn’t keep up with my decongestants along with my nebulizer treatments, I’d end up getting really stuffy and would feel an allergy tickle in my sore throat, but it never went beyond this. One of the days, though, my throat hurt so much that I had to use my phone to communicate by having it read off the words I was typing. Luckily, that only lasted for one day. The day after that, it still didn’t feel great and I had to periodically have my phone talk for me, but this was all normal. No drowning in my own lungs, no wishing it would all just end, no epic depression after realizing I was sick again. Just felt… Sick.

Now, this is something absolutely huge in my life because I now know that if I do get sick, this is all that will happen. I now don’t have to live in constant paranoia that if I get sick, I might die. Why have I come to this conclusion? How could I possibly know that this wasn’t just a fluke and that this wasn’t just a coincidence? Well, first off, I don’t believe in coincidences. Secondly, I would have to have absolutely no knowledge of my own body to think that this situation will not replicate itself. Every single time I got sick before, it didn’t matter if it was from pain, stress, fatigue, whatever, I would end up going downhill and not being able to breathe without extreme fear of drowning without my Bipap. This time, I spent one full day with my breathing helper and I was actually able to eat. Which was absolutely amazing since my appetite has been rather small since my fifth Spinraza injection, resulting in me eating less and less which most likely did not help my body fight off this cold in the first place. Since I got over my sickness about a week and a half after coming down with it, my appetite has luckily increased. Dinner isn’t fun trying to get down still, but the rest of the day I am actually eating.

I cannot vocalize enough how grateful I am for being able to say that Spinraza has absolutely turned my life on its axis. If it weren’t for this incredible medication, I do not believe that my cold would have simply stayed as a cold the way it is supposed to.

A week ago, I did finally end up getting my hair redone and I am absolutely in love with it again as I actually went back to my pixie cut.

Cue cheesy smile

Written in the Stars

Even though Christmas was not at all what we had anticipated, there were a few good things that came out of it. I managed to send my friend in New Jersey a home made present created by yours truly, which in turn showed me that I can actually sew with a needle and thread now. I got photos with Santa and his wife who travel around my grandparent’s neighborhood with the fire department and a fireman came up to me with a hat saying I could come work for them any time I wished. I was buzzing by the end of that night even when I knew we couldn’t have our normal Christmas Eve dinner together. My family discovered that our long-time friends and neighbors were our secret Santa that did the 12 Days of Christmas with a gift waiting outside our front door every day from the fourteenth of December to the twenty-fifth. But what really made an impact on me this Christmas was what was in my stocking. A book. But not just any book, no, this book was a book of poetry. Light Filters In written by Caroline Kaufman was in my stocking and when I read the poem written on page eleven, I felt as though I was reading my own thoughts. For the first time, what I had been trying to explain to others, but mostly myself, was written down in this two-hundred poem book created by a female the same age as I am.

Poetry has been a fairly large interest of mine since I had to write my poem for class which I added to my video for the SMA Video Contest. Especially once my dad introduced me to The Doors when he made me watch the movie with Val Kilmer starring as Jim Morrison. That man made me want to write more poetry, then I read Ms. Kaufman’s poetry and I decide that I will follow in her footsteps, but with my own spin of my tires. So far, I have twenty-three poems written and I am not stopping there. Especially when all of this made me realize that I have been writing poetry for most of my life without even being conscious of it. I’ve always loved trying to write songs, but I could never figure out a chorus. I thought poetry had to rhyme, but I realized that this is a fallacy. Which has opened a portal that I never knew existed.

Which kind of brings me to my next topic, which is going to be under this heading because this is all pretty connected.

As I mentioned earlier, I entered a contest that was to explain what it is like living with SMA for me. I placed fourth, but I had and have absolutely no idea how to promote my creations. However, the first, second, and third place winners did. The reason why I am bringing this up is due to an email I received a few weeks back. Writing this down is not easy, even though I never knew him personally, he was and is a part of the SMA family and participated in the same contest I decided to partake in. Ryan Cotter, the third-place winner, passed away at the beginning of December due to complications caused by the disease we both endure. He was 17 years old and excited to attend college after he graduated this year and was accepted to Arizona State University’s Digital Culture degree program as he was fascinated by the creation of videos and luckily, he had the utilities to allow him to experiment and fulfill his want to create with technology.

Now, I have had this information in my possession for a few weeks now and I honestly have no idea where to pocket it. Hence this update being much later than I had intended. I am about to confess something that may or may not end up bringing hate mail in my comments or inbox, but I feel like this information needs to be out there. Ryan ended up impacting me in a way that I never imagined I could be impacted.

I never liked being around, associated with, or promoting the fact that I am apart of a disabled community. I never wanted to do the video contest as it ended up making me relive my darkest moments. I never made it all the way through each video that was also entered into the contest because I could not bare to see others like me. I never like the fact that I am disabled and never want anyone to acknowledge that I am unless it involves my limitations as I’ll end up beating myself up over something I cannot do if it is brought to my attention.

All of these things kept me from watching Ryan Cottor’s video before he passed. All of these things kept me from discovering that he and I had a lot in common and that we could have developed a friendship. All because I was selfish and did what I get angry at everyone else for doing. Judging someone before I get to know them. Due to this, I have been a big ball of guilty energy. I know that I cannot change the past, I know it’s a bit too late to ask for forgiveness, but I would give every injection I have had of Spinraza to him if it meant he could have lived the life he should have lived. However, this is only something that can happen in my imagination, so what I will do to try and set things right is to allow myself to become a better version of myself. Isn’t that what everyone else does this time of year? Make new years resolutions? Well this is mine.

I promise to become a better version of myself that has theories to suit facts instead of facts to suit theories. To know absolutely everything I can about a situation before believing I already do. To be an advocate for the disabled community that will not sugarcoat the truth to make it easier to swallow.

I may appear cynical at times, but the reality behind having such a debilitating disease is not a kind one. However, there are those like Ryan who would never allow that to be his reality, which allowed him to live life the way he wanted to. Not all of us are that fearless, but we can strive to be. The way I will strive to be fearless is to put together a book of poetry written by yours truly. Becoming an even better writer is what I will work on this year. I have taken my six months off, now it’s time to work. I don’t know if I will go to college, I don’t know if I will suddenly be able to walk with Spinraza leading the way like Venom does for Eddie when he heals him after his motorcycle accident, I don’t know if a celestial anomaly will hit the earth while I sleep and wipe out humanity’s only home, I don’t know if I will ever pluck up the courage to tell someone I love them, I don’t know if the next time I get sick that I will be able to get well again. None of us have any guarantees in this world, so we have to live it without fear and with an understanding that our lives are our own, to not let anyone else take anything away from it and only add to it.

I will be trying to add to this blog at least every week from now on. That way it will be easier to keep track of new advances in my strength and so forth.

I warned you this would be a long one. Thank you for reading until the end. If anyone has any questions, or just wants to chat, I will have all my contact information in my bio of my blog.

As this entry began with a poem, it will also end with one.

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ikkydikky · 7 years ago

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Here it comes! Time for an end of the year “Here’s what I drew this year” list. Mainly just to archive my art now for future’s sake and tell myself my thought process and how I felt about it now.

I’m skipping over sketches and going straight to stuff that was finished and polished and I’ll explain each image as we go. Buckle up boys its going to be a long one.

We’re going to go to the first image I did this year and explain how things went from there!

Drawing #1, Scrubbed off Katia Managan

March 3rd 2017

Art is actually kind of hard when you don’t know what form, line consistency, anatomy, or any of those things are! In fact I only know about two of them right now! And how to put into practice one of them! This image shows what its really like to start out with base-nothing. The idea is cute! And I’ll probably redo it later on when I am probably a years worth better. It marks however the first thing I really posted online. To me, that makes it special.

Drawing #2, Sigrid, but smug.

September 9th, 2017

BIG gap between the two! And not a lot of improvement, or maybe a lot of improvement? Who knows. I think this image was the first thing I did digitally that I put up for other people to see, and it was exciting! There’s absolutely no construction to this. Prior to this image being done I was basically drawing people’s heads and circles. Like, pages upon pages of circle grinding to actually know how to draw a circle digitally.

The main reason why there was such a gap between March and September was due to me graduating high school. I basically didn’t feel like drawing at all when I already had the work load of school ontop of me. But the art starts coming a lot faster now. Yes you can see there was a huge prequel influence.

Drawing #3, Blushin Bob

September 29th, 2017

Art is something that you can really do a lot of, but you can easily get burnt out on. Animal crossing is actually one of my favorite games out there, and to try to pay tribute I drew this. Not uh, not exactly my favorite.

This image has me trying basically 3 new things I’ve never done before. Shading, clothes, fur tufts, and bodies. Yeah. Not exactly my best job at any of those. The shadows are, very inconsistent and its clear I didn’t really know how to do it properly. The fur is atrocious with it looking like spiked tumors, and the shirt rides up way too high like hes wearing a shirt thats way too short! Also he might be a bit too skinny.

This is kind of an image that broke me. At the time I was trying to fix every error when I just couldn’t, from the arm in the first attempt being god awful, to how the shading and shirt looks. I genuinely think this is the worst image in my library, and I knew it at the time since I drew nothing for all of October. You know. The month that’s meant to be the most inspiring artistically?

Drawing #4, Gondola The Peaceful Giant

November 12th, 2017

This was actually just a shitty paint up I did of a sketch practicing perspective. It was mainly for a draw thread on 8chan’s /v/ and probably my only work I’ve posted to an image board. I think generally doing art for anonymous people is a bit thankless. Its great for practicing but it really gives back no validation.

Keep in your memory these clouds, I’ll be talking about those later.

Drawing #5, Bunny, The space mechanic.

November 12th, 2017

This character was a mistake, not the drawing but the character! This is my first actual tabletop character and boy I flubbed it. But this is art retrospective. Not roleplay retrospective. Anyway. A portrait done with a new pen style that I don’t think worked out too well. It comes off a bit too rough and gritty. But it makes for unique coloring when it comes to painting. I’ll actually have some more to say about that in a bit too! This also marks the point where I really got into drawing again. See. The table top group I’m in rewards you for drawing pictures of your characters, no matter how shitty it is, as long as you do your best, you get a reward in game. Its actually a really, really neat system!

Drawing #6, Oh dear god why.

November 16th, 2017

This is going to be a reoccurring character, so. Lets get to talking about it here. This character was as far as I know, a joke character made by a friend that got turned into a full blown character for a campaign, she is nonsensical, random, actually crazy, and worst of all, vibrantly colored. She is the Deviant Art Sparkledog as a character. Which funny enough, is her character name. This was my first attempt at really going ‘sexy’ and ‘nude’. And actually I think Sparkledog is a perfect candidate for it because its already cringy and god awful to look at! So it hides my bad attempts at a sexy lady behind an already cringy character. Thanks friend.

Anyway to talk about the art its self. It was done with no ref or pose. And I think it kind of shows. Everything’s proportionate to a degree but something about the perspective of the whole thing feels... off. Of course the background is just slapped together with glue but I mean on the character. She’s laying on the ground but not in a way that I think is possible or comfortable.

This also goes as my second attempt at fur, it’s, better. But definitely not good. Ontop of that this is probably my first attempt at an actual muzzle! Pic below related.

Muzzles are really hard to do. For some reason. If you ever read Loomis’ Fun with a Pencil it becomes slightly easier, but it also kind of isn’t. A month later and I still struggle with them, A lot of my joke sketches I often forgo any sort of attempt at drawing a muzzle and go for round head shapes, this works out if the character’s species is a prey type, as the eyes for herbivores are often on the side of the head, while for predators, its facing dead ahead. On another note, apparently I can just *do legs* with almost ease. I’ll touch on this more in a bit.

Drawing #7, A background for the end.

December 2nd, 2017

Tabletop is a wonderful thing, art groups are also an amazing experience to ever be apart of. The group I’ve been with has been an amazing experience for me artistically as I’ve learned to grow so much more. This is an image I did as soon as I woke up on my birthday. Friend A. did the character sketch. Friend b. did the coloring of the characters, and I got to practice something that I’ve wanted to do for ages.

Environmental art.

Ontop of character art and such, one thing that always draws my attention is environment art. Its something you can always get lost in. Your eyes can search to every corner imagining what it would be like to be there. Genuinely amazing works of art is often environment art.

Its also time we talk about the clouds. I hope you remembered them from the gondola picture. See. Clouds are all about layers, and layers, and layers. Especially when done in a thunder storm. They’re something I might recommend painting if you ever want to start out! I do however think the clouds in the gondola image work a lot better. But I think that might be from the several things I did to trick myself to think they look better.

And that’s all there really is to say on this image. Which is a problem. I learned a bit more about perspective and how floors work when under character’s feet... and how to do lightning kind of. But there isn’t much else. If I were to do this more I’d probably add another cliff to the background. A mountain, a landscape just beyond the fog, because it seems unfinished as it stands.

Drawing #8, Oh dear god why, Revengeance.

December 5th? 2017

Probably the only unfinished image that gets posted! So lets talk about it. I think fur is my least favorite detail to make ever.Yet it also is my favorite when its done. The tail also might not be the best but its league’s better than my first attempt! But lets talk about the main thing about this image.

PAWS.

I don’t have a thing for paws, or feet, that’s not my kink. I think footjobs are sort of appealing sure but I don’t care much for it. so this was my first attempt at paws, and I think I did damn well. However, digitigrade legs are something I still have an issue with, and I am working towards fixing that. I don’t think furry characters look great when their legs are humans, but with paws. As well I think legs are the easiest part of the body to draw in some ways, that might just be me.

The face also is a bit of a mistake? Its better than its.. original incarnation...

[NOT EVEN THE DEAD KNOW PEACE FROM THIS EVIL]

Animal faces with human features is the proper way to do things, but human faces with animal features is... Hell incarnate.

Also that ass took me like 30 tries to get right god damn.

Drawing #9, The last hoot for today.

December 18th, 2017

The last one for today. Some point after Christmas I’ll post probably another three drawings. But this is the final one. Lets talk about a few things about myself.

Art style is all about inspiration. You pick up inspiration from everywhere. Specifically from art styles you really, genuinely enjoy. You might have noticed the art style at first was I Wanna Be The Kazerad and then to something completely different from Kazerad but not distinct from anyone else. This is the process I think to finding your own art style. Emulation.

You might also noticed I ditched aliased (pixely) lines in favor of smooth lines, this was because I was having a tiny issue with drawing at large scale. For some reason I always liked zooming in real close on my 2000x2000 canvas and drawing tiny little things. The bunny picture is a really good example of this. He only took up the tiny corner of my much, much larger canvas. Speaking of his part of this post, lets get into color.

There’s been 3 ways I colored things, the first was plain flats, second was with a sort of homemade crayon brush (Ala Bunny and Gondola), and third was a unique way in how I did the eyes of this image. Looking at them closer you can see theres, actually a lot of rich detail in them!

This was a pretty easy thing to do and it has such amazing results that, I want to do a full image using it just to try it. For how I did it, I use krita, and how it handles gigantic brushes is like most art programs, by automatically raising the spacing between each ‘use’ (for a lack of a better term.)

Here’s what the blue part looks like with a white background behind it and the layer count to make this beside it. (Only one of them visible.)

It also kind of hits close to to another artist I’ve been following pretty closely as of lately. (And more recently on tumblr.)

You might not have heard of @jamdrawers , and you should definitely check them out if you haven’t. They are someone who, in my eyes, has such a wonderful art style. Other artists that do a style with pixelly, aliased lines don’t even come close in my opinion. I bring jam up here because of a few things, the art style he presents has thoroughly inspired me to pick back up trying to draw in aliased lines again, and because going forward I’ll continue looking to him for inspiration. Also if you read this jam tell winrarphile I said thanks for getting me into your art.

Now, when it comes to the owl its self. I regret not adding a thicker outline to all of her character, and instead kept it to just the head shape, as well I do think she comes out a bit bland. Of course color wise its to keep in theme with the rest of the table top groups color theme. But outline wise? Definitely needs work. I tried a ‘hair style’ for her but that didn’t really work out either. So I kept it to the three feathers at the top of the head. I also think I spent more time on this image than I did any other, to quote myself “I’ll finish this owl up in about an hour or two”, which quickly lead to 8 days instead, just through procrastination.

Don’t do something in art if you really don’t want to do it. You can easily, easily get fatigued and burnt out with out delay, but among this procrastination came other sketches that, I don’t think I’ll post here, but helped me learn hands somewhat. So there is that.

Thus ends this posts governing topic. If you read this whole thing, good job. If you didn’t and skimmed to the end. That’s fine too! I understand I got a bit wordy but, I genuinely wanted to lay out my thoughts about all this.

In conclusion, I think the rate at which I’m getting better is decent, Mistakes are being ironed out each new drawing I take on. Each study and figure drawing adds onto the many experiences I’ll use for later in my artistic career, and I think the rate at which I’m drawing is far too slow for my own tastes, as such its a goal for the upcoming year to get a lot faster with finishing each drawing so I can quickly move onto the next. Thank you for reading this.

Have a noid chewin’ some pizza as a reward for coming down to the end.

#art #my art #kazerad #prequel #long winded spiel

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comicteaparty · 7 years ago

Text

December 21st, 2017 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on December 21st, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PST. The chat focused on Legendary Beings Ara & Celi by NAAN.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. Today we are discussing Legendary Beings Ara & Celi by NAAN~! (https://tapas.io/series/AraandCeli) For those new to CTP, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer so pay them no mind if you wish~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! Each chat a top comment will be picked and featured on an ad for this chat, so let’s have a great discussion~!

With that said, let us begin with this first question~!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

I thought the opening was pretty strong since it started with a lot of tension

made me excited to see where that was going to lead up to

snuffysam

The opening scene was a really strong hook, agreed.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

hook! yeah that's the word for it

NAAN

slips in here, nobody notice me vibrating

✨Tenor✨

-Flops on NAAN!- :D

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

OLLEH

snuffysam

NAAN alert!

hey everyone!

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

hai

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

hiiiii NAAN~!

✨Tenor✨

UUUGH I don't have a fav sceeeeene. I've pretty much enjoyed the whole trip so far x3

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah the opening scene was definitely very interesting. especially in terms of scale because when looking back in retrospect you can see the difference in terms of epicness? i cant think of a good word

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah, the art style is really something

NAAN

Hello, hello!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

*notices no vibrating lives in blissful ignorance *

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hi there!

Kabocha

I'm gonna agree with Draco! The opening scene was my favorite so far -- mostly because Angels vs Demons is often pretty cool

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Great to see ya @NAAN(edited)

And yeah, that opening was spectaculat

Kabocha

also, I really got very curious about the nature of Ara and Celi themselves, so I'm looking forward to finding out more about them. (They're both intriguing and a little scary...)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

That scene of everyone doing battle in outer space

NAAN

screams on all these thoughts so far

snuffysam

I think the opening scene also helps bring the other scenes up- because while you're reading through the comic, the thought that this sort of scene may happen again in the future is always in the background.

NAAN

"Intriguing and scary" - this made me laugh so hard

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

is this character's art style intentional

MathTans the Pun Prince

Hello. ^^ I think my fave was actually when Ara said that Miyara wasn't a chosen one, this is just the way things happened to turn out.

NAAN

MY FAVE PANEL

snuffysam

I love when the art style changes like that. really shows that sort of emotion

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

yes

snuffysam

@MathTans the Pun Prince that was an incredible line, yeah

MathTans the Pun Prince

I like how the art style stays that way until Miyara comes to terms with her emotion.

NAAN

I do that on purpose @snuffysam, so that makes me happy to hear(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

@math yes definitely i have to say that is my fave scene actually. i really like how the toning was used and it had a spectacular atmosphere

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

snuffysam

the most recent scene, where ara is explaining miyara's role, is also a strong contender for the best

Kabocha

I am extremely curious to find out what exactly Miyara did in the past to Ara, though. "Surely you don't expect me to forget what she did then!" Gyaaaaaaaaaaaah, I'm expecting something sordid

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I wish I had found out about this comic sooner

Do you plan on returnnig to it someday, NAAN?

I'd love to share live updates of the comic as new pages are rolled out

NAAN

@MathTans the Pun Prince one of my favorite lines to write. And it was a new edit too. I'd written something else previously.

MathTans the Pun Prince

Oh, cool. Interesting how these edits can play into things.

Maybe it happened during one of her supposed blackouts?

(The thing that was done in the past I mean.)

NAAN

Oh yes, I will be returning to it once I graduate in May! It's on hiatus bc of grad school, and that + insanity of graphic design makes for no comics.

Kabocha

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa grad school. D: D: D:

snuffysam

real life always finds a way to butt its head into comics (edited)

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yis :<

sorry if i get distracted, i'm lining a page atm too

MathTans the Pun Prince

Related to the blackouts, the dad's a cool character.

NAAN

@Kabocha and @MathTans the Pun Prince your questions are related -- no spoilers but a hint: the blackouts are related, but it didn't happen during

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah, i liked her dad a lot too

he was different than i expected, in a good way

MathTans the Pun Prince

He had stealth skillz.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

and i liked that she cared about his well being

Kabocha

oh, also, this page amused me too:

NAAN

also @Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨ the screenshots you posted, I find it enlightening and heartwarming (for me) -- because I'd submitted the comic to a collective once, and most people HATED those XD

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i liked how he just shrugged to the fact she stayed home from school XD

NAAN

also, fujiro is a lot of fun to write ad you will definitely see more of him ; ))))

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yaaaay~!

MathTans the Pun Prince

I'm guessing when he has his somewhat scary wife to deal with, he takes things in stride.

NAAN

also yes @Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨ those panels were intentional. (sorry I missed this question, so many comments brEEZING)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thats mean math. that is clearly best wife. O_O how can you not like the waifu?

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

we need more sudden/funny art shifts

cause I feel like they work when done right

NAAN

the panel that Kabocha posted, can you all read the tiny text? I've always worried you can't see that

Kabocha

yeah, it's readable on my computer

MathTans the Pun Prince

Heh. I dunno. She has strange vibes, even the friend picked up on that.

snuffysam

not at the scale discord shows for thumbnails, but if I click it I can read it yes

MathTans the Pun Prince

What snuffy said, aye.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah I can read it~!

NAAN

oh good! it's meant to be small, hehe. i've been going through the pages today for future lettering edits and that was one of them

especially for print

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah the tiny text is readable even on my tiny screen

NAAN

i'm a huge believer in shifting the art between humorous / dramatic, just because it lightens the tension. like a small break before continuing

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes i agree it can definitely be used to lighten the tension for sure

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

hahah, it reminds me of old school clamp

that technique

NAAN

old school clamp was a huge influence on wee bab NAAN (edited)

MathTans the Pun Prince

I'm kind of bad for noticing techniques. ^.^

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

heehee

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah, i love old school clamp~

snuffysam

oh yeah, i guess it is kind of clamp-y

NAAN

I got something related to the waifu~ exclusive, 2nd chapter back cover for the printed edition

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

OMG

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

lol omg XD

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Cute!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thats is adorable~!

NAAN

may be quiet now, feels like she's derailing the entire discussion(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

nah dont worry about it. sometimes it happens cause i think most ppl are multitasking at the same time.

i wanna say i really like how wyda(sp?) looks. like of all the things in the comic that struck me as the most clamp like

but in the good way of course

where i got all nostalgic

MathTans the Pun Prince

I'm so bad with names too. ^.^

NAAN

;w; sniffs

wyda is an extremely new character to the cast, compared to the others. I created her recently when I realized some parts of the story needed reworking

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

I'm kind abad with names as well

NAAN

she ended up being a good foil for ara imo, when I wrote her voice separately

snuffysam

Did you redo old pages at some point, or are you just referring to scripting things?

NAAN

so she stay wyda, u stay

re: wyda, I mean script. HOWEVER, save for the last...3 pages of the first chapter, that was entirely redone

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

gonna go afk for a bit to respond to some friends in pm

Kabocha

So, how is her name pronounced? for some reason I was imagining Wyda's name to be pronounced as "Vida"(edited)

NAAN

originally hosted it on comic genesis, and when I moved to comicdish, I just decded to redo them.

some of the pages even then, were redone for the print edition

let me show you

snuffysam

and I think you're working on a new site too, iirc?

NAAN

some of the old ones on comicdish before I edited/redid them for the print version (later the actual official thing, christ so many edits)

Yep! I am, hosted at ac.jadinerhinestudios.com (I goofed up in domain registrations, so it's a subdomain for now) @snuffysam People are helping me with the code for it, haha(edited)

snuffysam

cool! yeah, whatever works, ha ha.

NAAN

@Kabocha Her name comes from a part of a classmate's name, so Wee-dah. (Or Wí-dah)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. Though reluctant and rather unwilling, Miyara accepts her destiny and chooses to become one of Ara’s “bodies.” How do you think these new powers will affect Miyara’s life? Will everything go back to the way it was (relatively speaking) or will she, as was ominously mention, lose things she once had? What about her “episodes” that cause her to violently punch her father? Will she be over them or will they continue? What are her episodes anyway and do they relate to her status as one of Ara’s chosen?

NAAN

oh snap, it's a goodie

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

you know what's hard about this is that we didn't really see much of her life before

so we don't have much to compare it to

so we'd have to mostly make assumptions based on the little bit we do know that what comes from here after is new

MathTans the Pun Prince

Well, she seems to have lost her ability to dream with this, that's an interesting side effect. I feel like Miyara will TRY to have everything the way it was, even though she can't, which will cause issues.

snuffysam

It was an interesting choice that the "episodes" weren't even mentioned until after the museum scene...

MathTans the Pun Prince

As to the episodes thing, I feel like that's not linked to the chosen thing directly. Might play a role in having her somewhere she doesn't remember going.

Her dad could also have been joking? Like, it's a bit of an odd time to bring that up. Or maybe dad can sense what's going on, that's why he said it?

Kabocha

I think Miyara's screwed. (lol) I think it was mentioned in Ch3/World 3 that Miyara's episodes are related to how her powers aren't like, fully bound to her quite yet? So she's not in a good position as a human, magical girl, or incarnation of an angel's power. SUCKS TO BE YOU MIYARA.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

lolol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i wonder if her episodes are actually dreams tho? cause what if they arent full dreams so keep happening

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

I was thinking maybe they were memories of her past life or something

MathTans the Pun Prince

Oy, what if she has dreams but they're not really dreams. o.O

Kabocha

The impression I got is that Miyara's human life will basically be subsumed by her life as Ara's servant -- but interestingly, the key that she was given in ch 3 seems to have both an angel and a demon wing...? o_o Is Miyara the link between Ara and Celi somehow?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Why wouldn't Celi want there to be a link then? What with the killing and all.

snuffysam

So far, it seems this magical girl stuff has only made Miyara's life worse. Will it eventually get better when she fully fills that role?

Kabocha

Because if there's a link between her and Ara, that means something's going to be pulled into balance, maybe?

or at least, that's what I would assume. Things seem to be off kilter between Ara and Celi themselves. And Celi's kind of nuts.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Indeed

MathTans the Pun Prince

I feel like Miyara's life was a little off the wall in the first place. Perversely, this might calm her down, giving her an outlet for her more crazy side.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah~

true~!

MathTans the Pun Prince

Celi needs a hug.

(I don't think Miyara will be in the mood to give her one.)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Relievant

Kabocha

Miyara will probably try to kill Celi as payback lol But Celi will then be like "Nope, listen, you can't pay attention to Ara, she's not as good as you think she is. Either you go along with me (since you're no longer easy to kill), or I'll basically make sure your life ends horribly right here."

...also maybe I'm starting down the path to crack theories.

MathTans the Pun Prince

That's a bit of a contradiction though, if she's not easy to kill and ending her life.

Maybe someone should take out a new life insurance policy.

Kabocha

Nah, it'd be an empty threat.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol Math

Kabocha

'cause if Miyara still is in the dark about a lot of stuff, Celi would then have that on her side.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Have comics ever delt with insurance before?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Does Celi need bodies too, maybe? Or did she at some time in the past, and it went badly, so she's jealous...?

snuffysam

Maybe she's trying to get by without them

NAAN

(bad cell camera, but couldn't resist)

snuffysam

lol NICE

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

nah celi is evil. evil sustains you O_O

MathTans the Pun Prince

Heh, nice.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I love it @NAAN XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

Ara respects Celi still though. Why respect evil...?

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

cause there has to be balance in the force

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe its also sort of villain respect. you know when like arch rivals are like "ah yes this is a worthy opponent"

Kabocha

Celi tried to rebel against the creator in the beginning. So it's easy enough to say that Celi is EXTREMELY powerful. Maybe that's part of what makes Celi crazy though.

Ara had to split herself into different bodies, while Celi kept it all in.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh thats definitely an interesting theory

that they started the same but couldnt handle all dat power

snuffysam

maybe keeping all your power inside you makes you stronger, but it's a riskier move somehow

Kabocha

That could also be why Ara has some level of respect for Celi -- they were once the same.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

i like that theory

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Me too

Kabocha

OR you shouldn't disrespect something that powerful, because that means you're gonna get cocky and THEY WILL KILL YOU FOR SURE

MathTans the Pun Prince

Hmm! I like that theory. Celi just needs to let it all out... maybe she can't? Maybe that's why she doesn't like Ara, she got the shorter end of the stick?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

or maybe ara is just nice and is fond of respect, politeness, and good manners

which is why miyara is clearly her mortal enemy in that respect

MathTans the Pun Prince

Heh. Gotta teach Miyara table manners in Book 4.

The loss of temper felt realistic. Also shows that Ara has flaws and a breaking point.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah~

NAAN

so many theories, so many good ones

MathTans the Pun Prince

(All of them wrong, but good theories. )

snuffysam

just because a theory is completely bonkers doesn't mean it isn't good

Kabocha

Indeed. :'3

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

they said allah at one point, i was wondering if there's an islam backing to the story or if that was them capturing several religions in one invocation

Kabocha

Well, Celi did ask "Which creator" at the start, didn't she?

snuffysam

I think there were multiple religions referenced on that page

Kabocha

(sorry I've now decided CELI IS MY FAVORITE)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

i'm gonna do some stuff AFK, if I don't make it back in time thanks for having me!

snuffysam

see ya!

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

bye super~!

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Bye-Bye!

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah, it seemed to be a mixture of religions~ they mentioned jinns too

in one of the invocations

NAAN

@Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨ thank you for coming and for all your feedback!

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

You're welcome! It was great checking out your comic @NAAN

Cute illustration too X3

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i actually enjoyed that is referenced a mixture of religions. it made it a lot more interesting to me and made me want to know how everything works together. like whats the worlds explanation for tying them all together

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah I enjoy the mixture feeling as well

MathTans the Pun Prince

OMG, NAAN, you drew something that fast? O.o

NAAN

I can sketch stuff like this pretty quickly XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

I's impressed.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

was curious what the inspiration behind the religious portions of the story were~

NAAN

so long as I don't pay attention to proportions, though lmao

oh! this I can answer, it's not necessarily a huge spoiler i've said it to some people, but I'd really like to try to interpret/show how different religions interpret the idea of an angel + devil (or other beings like the jinn)

like how angels in Buddhism are called dakini -- skydancers

cue the show opening for skydancers the toy(edited)

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

oooh~ that's really neat

NAAN

i want to try showing diff religions through that too, but that's a slight back seat haha. too epic for me

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

hahah that'll keep me reading to see how you incorporate the different ideologies

Kabocha

bwahahahahaha

MathTans the Pun Prince

Mmm, that's interesting. Ambitious.

snuffysam

so essentially these characters are beings that were interpreted by different religions and cultures throughout history?

NAAN

most of them are my own take/understanding, some may be the literal interpretation by diff religions and cultures, yes ^^ (the latter because sometimes you just have to, especially when it's a religion that has had bare representation)

water angels are going to be punk aesthetics

and they won't subscribe to one religion, it's p "whatever mang"

snuffysam

oh ok, cool

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

religious mythos is pretty untapped beyond christianity in western stories so it'll be nice to see something that uses a broader scale(edited)

NAAN

@Kabocha good celi go౦ԁ cEli thats some goodceli rightthere rightthere if i do ƽaү so my self i say so thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ НO0ОଠOOOOOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ Good shiz

snuffysam

lol next question time

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. Ara mentions that she needs 11 bodies to survive. Will we meet these other bodies in some form (whether flashback, astral projection, etc.)? If so, what do you think they’re like? If you don’t think they’ll meet, why not? Speaking of bodies, who is Samsa? Is it Miyara? Somehow Miyara and not Miyara? Is it someone else entirely?

the question was summoned

NAAN

@🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄 yep! that's what I'd like to do, since even I get bored XD;;

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

spooky finger wave

MathTans the Pun Prince

Were the other bodies even human, necessarily?

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

snuffysam

@MathTans the Pun Prince you mean, like, one's a dog?

NAAN

an example of some of the water punk angels, sans wings

snuffysam

cute!

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

oooooh, they look bad ass~!

MathTans the Pun Prince

Yeah, or a dolphin or something. Like, we're not the only intelligence on the planet.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

those are some awesome designs

snuffysam

i mean that's a possibility. i feel like most of the other bodies are probably human though.

Kabocha

Also ooh, I like the punk angels!

MathTans the Pun Prince

Extending a little less then, would they be female?

snuffysam

hmm that's a trickier one to answer

the prototypical magical girl leagues are typically filled with... like... girls

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im curious about the fact that when wyda came ara mentioned something about having trouble "with the one here ." so does that mean that theyre in different cities? different times? other planets

snuffysam

but I suppose there's nothing saying a boy can't be one of them

MathTans the Pun Prince

And would they also be as young as Miyara? Like, maybe one was an 80 year old woman. And she's passed away, hence why we might not be meeting her.

bends all the rules

NAAN

nyuck nyuck

@snuffysam there's a hint in my DA gallery

MathTans the Pun Prince

It might be fun to meet some ghosts.

snuffysam

the story's themes are pretty multicultural as far as the mystical beings go, yet so far we've stuck to Japan for the human side. so I'm thinking the other bodies will be from other countries.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i would be really interested in seeing an 80 year old magical angel girl XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

Miyara did have that one panel where she was old and missing her juice.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

me too XD

80yr old magical girl for the win

snuffysam

I suppose if the magical girls get old and die eventually, that explains why Ara needed a new one right now?

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

but do we know for sure they age

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

idk if they get old. im unclear but it kind of sounds like theyre giving up their physical bodies for a higher purpose

Kabocha

They might not live long enough

snuffysam

true true. that could be one of the things Miyara loses

MathTans the Pun Prince

They live long enough to get new threads.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

they're really just energy dolls that get eaten

you are my eleven energy pod meals

Kabocha

See, this is why we should deal with celi instead

MathTans the Pun Prince

At least with her, you know where you stand?

(In front of a firing squad?)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im getting suspicious that Kabocha is trying to bring us to the dark side

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

kabo must like the dark side

as long as it's not an angels vs. demon where the demons are right story

MathTans the Pun Prince

Hah! NAAN, you're hilarious.

Also, so fast.

Kabocha

Hey, I don't trust Ara very much. I'll trust Celi, who wants to kill everyone instead. At least we know where she stands

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

to be fair i dont trust ara that much either. i feel ara is very much a use them and lose them sort of person cause omg higher purpose yadda yadda yadda

not to say i think celi is right, just i imagine theres a little bit of ara sucks as motivation

MathTans the Pun Prince

Ara is, I think, not used to pushback.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yeah i don't trust ara either

ara seems too high strung and emotional to be logically rational

snuffysam

But Miyara could be the one to change her ways

MathTans the Pun Prince

(Maybe that's why she picked Miyara on some level. She needs someone to challenge her.)

snuffysam

exactly

MathTans the Pun Prince

wavelengths

As far as Samsa goes, I think that's a type of fried food. Or possibly the person Miyara turns into when she has episodes.

(Episodes when she craves fried foods.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the impression i get is samsa was a past life or something

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

i was confused by the samsa thing

snuffysam

maybe she

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

but my assumption is that i'm meant to be at this point

snuffysam

's the 80yr old who died

that Miyara is replacing

Kabocha

I feel like Celi's been slowly destroying Ara's spare bodies.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

if thats the case why cant celi touch miyara now as ara stated?

Kabocha

but if Ara is the Universe. And she has multiple bodies... does that make each body a parallel universe?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Hm, maybe Samsa is a past life, and that's what Miyara's reliving when she has episodes.

NAAN

whispers into the wind 'there's a hint in chapter three ~re: samsa~

tiny

MathTans the Pun Prince

Haaha, now I want to see all the characters in short shorts.

NAAN

they can be more comfortable than a short dress, that's for sure 8'D

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

samsa is the beetle?(edited)

Kabocha

"I am the obscure object of desire, that which gods eye; my unkown origin I am she of transcendence I am she of dirt I contain the knowledge of Good and Evil but she has allowed the Living God ---"

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

"The Egyptian god Khepri, Ra as the rising sun, was often depicted as a scarab beetle"

is it related to that, lol

MathTans the Pun Prince

(When I do an image search on "samsa", I still just get fried food. Maybe it thinks I typed "samosa".)

Kabocha

I actually thought "Samsa" was short for "Samsara"

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh good

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

oh noice~!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i thought i was the only one who thought samsara XD

NAAN

@🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄 no beetles involved, sadly

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

when i saw samsa

NAAN

cockroaches though

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

I kept thinking of samson

shot

Kabocha

:'3

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

tear for no beetles

NAAN

dedication in reading and transcribing what it says on page 3, Kabocha XD

Kabocha

You hide stuff in little details

>:3 so it's a good hunt

MathTans the Pun Prince

Check behind the fridge.

NAAN

nah, that's where fujiro's hiding from nonka

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

lolol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont think theres a lot of space behind the fridge for that O_O

MathTans the Pun Prince

You're not thinking 5th dimensionally. (That's where all the other bodies are, in the 5th dimension.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah i see my mistake XD

so i wonder what this promise samsa made was O_O that miyara cant escape

like the slavery promise

the i hate celi too promise

MathTans the Pun Prince

The you can have my first born child promise.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

looooooooool

make them babies

MathTans the Pun Prince

smol Celi?

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

thinking teen preg is highly improbable in this XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

Art Gallery is not the best place to pick up guys.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

d'aaaaaw

Kabocha

The art gallery is a good way to pick up incarnations of oneself though

and targets for murder.

MathTans the Pun Prince

"Oh look, I'm in that painting of 50 years ago. ... ... Waaaaait."

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

it's like that episode of yugioh

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah these are super cute pics~!

QUESTION 4. The comic opens showing a war between Celi and Ara. While it’s implied that Ara won the battle, what exactly happened is unclear. What do you think the spell that stopped Celi was? What was the war about/what exactly are Celi’s goal? Who is Celi to Ara? Why has Celi returned only now?(edited)

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

yus ;3;

i assumed it was a good vs. evil battle

MathTans the Pun Prince

Could be chaos vs order. Maybe Celi wants to sow chaos.

Kabocha

At first, yeah, I was like, "ooh, Lucifer analogue"

but if it's chaos vs order, then Celi and Ara are inextricably linked :3

ONE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT THE OTHER

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

maybe

it's inside someone's head

the inner battle of the mind

MathTans the Pun Prince

Maybe the goal is to devour the other and have one being for both then.

(I make up weird theories a lot.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tbh i was leaning towards celi is trying to destory the system and isnt a fan of the ara angel thing and the servant stuff. and celi just mad cause she somehow feels used.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

aaaaah yeah that's my leaning as well

because that's generally what i assume with angels vs demons

NAAN

(aw man, they're inversed. oh wELL)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

lol omg XDXD

MathTans the Pun Prince

I want to believe. ^.^

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i wonder where celi has been this whole time

cause i wouldve assumed imprisoned but ara seemed surprised

well not surprised

but definitely didnt have a concrete when

MathTans the Pun Prince

That's a good question. Why not attack Miyara when she was younger and less able to defend herself? I don't think they exist out of time...

Kabocha

Celi shows up when she wants.

But tbh I think she's more likely to show up where/when Ara exists

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

great now all i can picture is celi sitting back and talking about how everyone needs to chill out and how time is a construct of man to control ppl and how the sheeple need to wake up

Kabocha

see, I was imagining something more... Cartman like

"Screw you guys, I do what I want!"

MathTans the Pun Prince

Celi's been on the talk show circuit.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmm but back more on track, is it possible that by ara scoping out miyara that somehow summoned celi in and of itself. cause they both get a fair shot at the bodies.

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

i don't think celi actually wants her dead

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and so it goes like Ara: Ah man you killed the body this time. Celi: I know right. Well see you next century. Good luck~!

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

but to use her

MathTans the Pun Prince

Could be. Actually, does Celi have minions? Why take action when you can send underlings?

Maybe the underlings failed? (All they did was make her eat lots of buns.)

Kabocha

Celi prefers to do things herself. ;3

besides, why share the power. It's so much better in one body

MathTans the Pun Prince

Celi originally wanted her dead. Unless that was all an act to get her in Ara's clutches. O.o

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

idk tho cause in that opening scene it kind of seemed multiple ppl were fighting each other vs. attacking just celi

MathTans the Pun Prince

(The big twist is they've been working together the whole time...)

"So the plan is I attack, you save her, you get the body, I get the soul?"

NAAN

( having too much fun with these, let me know if it gets annoying though )

reads and still vibrates in the meantime

MathTans the Pun Prince

OMG, not annoying at all. You're so good.

Also, I know my theory doesn't really hold water because of the whole transformation thing. ^.^

NAAN

I like everyone's theories for celi's purpose especially. She does have a good reason....( of course i think it's good, i wrote it lmao )

MathTans the Pun Prince

'Tis better to die as the girl you were, than to become a slave to my sister...

Kabocha

of course Miyara would enjoy Kafka lol

is she slowly gonna become a bug

is that how people will see her from now on?

slowly, Miyara becomes a creature beyond her ken -- but yet pitiable somehow.

MathTans the Pun Prince

I think that'd bug her.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Kabocha

Come now, let's not ANTagonize with bad puns

NAAN

tis better to roach her than to rooster her(edited)

i tried

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

someone better tell her that shes truly looking like the pest she is if she starts looking like a bug

mostly ara

MathTans the Pun Prince

Puns is, like, actually my name though. ^.^ Flea now.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so on a different note im curious what wyda's relationship to ara is

like how do they know each other

did they meet at starbucks

MathTans the Pun Prince

Good point. There's fire deities and water deities, maybe they all have parties?

Oh, maybe Wyda was an old body of hers?

Or maybe she simply officiates at the weddings.

Kabocha

"Yo, I heard you like Caramel Macchiatos -- wanna fight your evil twin sister together?"

Wydanno the answers

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

loooool

MathTans the Pun Prince

There was that interesting parallel conversation too, like Wyda wasn't going to stick around for the heavy stuff.

Kabocha

Well, I'm pretty sure she's seen what happens when people are Celi-ng their soul to Ara.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well it does sound like wyda just mostly came to "witness," whatever that means in this context

but why would there need to be a witness

is it like getting married for real XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

They exchange magic rings. There's many tears.

Kabocha

Hey, wait

is... Is Ara wearing two rings on one hand

DAMMIT IT ALL COMES BACK TO ZENCHAV

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

looooool omg noooooo

MathTans the Pun Prince

Familiar ring to it?

Kabocha

but serious question -- is it "Celi" pronounced "Seli" -- or is it "Celi" pronounced "Sealy"

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

i keep reading it as sealy

MathTans the Pun Prince

Miyara climbs out of a well "I have seen the cursed video tape!"

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so before we close out does anyone have any final thoughts they want to share?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Huh, I read it as Seli.

Kabocha

I kept reading it "seli" ahaha

(hence the "Selling" pun)

MathTans the Pun Prince

Falling sequences were well done, I'll toss that out there.

NAAN

I would pronounce it "seli" -- however, I usually tell people to pronounce it as ce-lai, because my understanding has been that Americans don't know how to pronounce spanish sounding words right. and then it turns out, everyone's pronouncing it correctly anyway! XD for real though, the pronounciations of the names isn't so much a big thing? unless it's like wyda, where it's there haha (I did like the vida idea though)

🎄🌟Draco ⭐ Plato 🌟🎄

i thought the falling sequence was done really well as well

Kabocha

Ahahaha, well, with Wyda, I went all german on it so I mean

'cause I keep seeing german pop up in comic

NAAN

That would be a good presumption though! And probably if the comic were translated into German, that'd happen XD(edited)

I keep saying the f sound anytime I see someone with a germanic sounding last name though (like Justin Verlander, pfft)

Kabocha

Ahahaha

Kabocha

Well, in any case, I do look forward to seeing how the comic progresses once you're done with grad school

MathTans the Pun Prince

Well, here's hoping Miyara comes to terms with whatever she needs to come to terms with.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party is now complete~! Thank you everyone so much for joining this week’s chat~! That being said, if you would like to continue discussing the comic, we encourage you to do so~! We want to give a big thank you to NAAN, as well, for volunteering Legendary Beings Ara & Celi for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support NAAN’s efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at [email protected].

With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on Cosmic Fish by Cosmographia. Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (December 28th) from 5PM to 7PM PST~! Until then~! Comic: http://cosmicfishes.com/

#ctparchive #comic tea party #comicteaparty #ctp #start faire #startfaire #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #comic bookclub #bookclub #legendary beings ara & celi #NAAN

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ualscout · 6 years ago

Text

Captain's Log: No One

I did roughly 8 hours of field research for this project. If that doesn’t show how hyped I was, I don’t know what does.

We were told to go to the British Museum to take notes and sketches of artifacts that interested us. We’d then incorporate our research into our first animatic by centering/including the artifact in a story. The British Museum is a pretty fukken big museum, host to artifacts from cultures all over the world. I was gonna be there a while.

My first area of interest was the Ancient Egypt section. Even thought it was packed, I took a lot of sketches and notes on stuff I could picture as the centerpiece of a story- a means of congregating or hosting. For instance, a lot of libations bowls that would be used by many people a day who visited a temple took my interest, or the towering sarcophagi that looked way too big for only one person. I initially didn’t want the artifact to become the character, but to assist the characters interacting with it. That way, I could tell a story around it.

My next stop was the Ancient Greece section. As a kid, I knew everything about greek mythos. It’s a religion not only with multiple gods, but fatally flawed gods is so interesting to me. I took a lot of notes, but most of the notes ended up being around the story as opposed to the aesthetic of the artifact. The Greeks shared an area with the Romans, so I took some notes there as well. I moved onto Ancient Asia. There was a lot of interesting material, I liked to look at the jade crystal carvings and imagine the cronch from biting down on one. They had interesting masks, but not too much stood out to me in there. As I spent more time in the museum, the more monotonous everything got. I don’t think it’s the cultures being repetitive, but it does show how humanity fixates on very similar topics, even beyond cultural barriers. Kind of like parallel evolution. Where I really started to find my spark was Ancient Europe and Scandinavia. Aesthetically and mythologically, I love vikings. Pagan traditions are really cool as well, it all just seems so foreign to me (we don’t learn much about it in American schools). Stuff was interesting me again, but nothing was really catching my eye… Until I was being ushered out of the museum at closing time. I saw a deer skull, the antlers still attached, with holes drilled in.

It was from Star Carr. Made of red deer skull, it served as a headpiece and is among the oldest evidences of shamanic religion. It seemed so unsettling in an ancient and earthy way on its own, the idea of someone wearing it intrigued me. Coming home, I started on three base ideas to bring into class. The first was using an ancient viking mirror as a gateway between an eldritch horror and a young adult who’s distant grandmother just passed away and received the mirror as inheritance… except the eldritch horror acts like an elderly guy with clearly racist beliefs but trying to seem like he doesn’t. They talk by fogging up the mirror and writing.

The second was two people arguing over who would win in a fight: a person on horseback or a centaur. Inspired by the fact that any times centaurs are featured in art, they’re always fighting a human. Even after writing a rough script for it, I don’t know who would win.

The last idea was using the mask I found. I liked the idea of it holding an ancient spirit tasked with protecting a humanity that has long since forgotten its existence. I also liked the idea of it being able to possess other living creatures. Not sure if I wanted it to be horror or not, but it would certainly be unsettling. You can probably tell which idea I went with.

Today, we wrote a script. This is the only area I have any expertise in. My script ended up being 10 or so pages of screen direction and character building, but I finished the dialogue as well.

The story follows three hikers who venture into some Scandinavian woods on a backpacking trip. Haak is the most serious and the leader, he has the most survival skills out of the group. Maya is the prankster of the crew, but is just as experienced as Haak. Robyn is the physically weakest character, often scared by everything and unnerved by the surroundings. The characters leave their car and enter the woods, but not before trying to make sense of the cryptic writing on the worn and torn trailhead. Robyn is the only one who seems to pay any mind to it. As the group start, a narrator that could be Robyn starts speaking about “tales for a trip through the woods.” The tips start out as actual advice one would use for a backpacking trip, like packing extra food and always having a map, but slowly get more cryptic and unsettling. The characters make their way through the assortment of settings in the woods, focusing more on the nature around them instead of what the group is doing. As the tips get more cryptic, saying stuff like “it may seem like the trees are following you, they’re just keeping an eye on you” and “be grateful you don’t know what’s under the dirt, pray you never find out,” the forest seems to retaliate against the characters. For instance, they get lost and double cross an area they’ve already been in, get haunted by the eyes on the birch trees, and more. Eventually, it all leads up to a normal bear attack being an Ursa Major, a bear with stars in its pelt and no need to hold a solid corporeal form. Haak and Maya get struck down by the bear after supposedly subduing it. As it’s coming for Robyn, Robyn backs up into the form that was following from beginning. The head is out of shot, but it puts a strange headpiece on Robyn, and allows Robyn to fight back against the bear. Once the fight is over, Robyn is faced with the ancient spirit who saved them- a towering, scraggly figure made of twigs and forest materials. It’s creepy to look at, and was framed at the start to be the creature tormenting the group. The creature reaches out and touches Robyn’s forehead, using their body to say verbally “no one believes in you, you should believe in yourself, too.” In Robyn’s voice. The next scene happens where the group dropped the car off, Haak blinking back to consciousness. Somehow, Robyn saved them, and Haak passes out again knowing they’ll be okay. Help arrives as Robyn looks back at No One for the final time as the spirit disappears into the forest.

The idea is how humans have interacted with and continue to interact with nature. The reality is the forest provides, but it does not protect. People putting faith in the old gods to protect them is a tradition long dead with history, but the idea of this god still holding onto life for the soul purpose of protecting those who may wander into its domain is a very human story, even if it’s behind a creepy mask with origins we don’t entirely understand. It’s inspired by my love of hiking and nature, I actually work in the summer as a camp counselor at a ranch that takes our campers backpacking on the weekends. Each of the human characters show some kind of recurring theme I see in the people I go on these hikes with, and some are named after them. I think drawing the sets and characters for this will be pretty fun, I look forward to it.

Character design is up next. I started with Robyn, the rest of the characters would follow in style.

I wanted Robyn to have a very childish look, but not dumb childish. Like a smart bookworm who has no idea how to survive outside a library, much less civilization. However, Robyn couldn’t look like they thrived in society either. They should be a shy nerd who’s out of their element everywhere, not just in the wild, which just makes being in the outdoors that much more terrible. I also wanted Robyn to come off as genderless so anyone could relate to them. The story isn’t about their gender or age (even though in cannon the characters are in college/university/living on their own, but the style still makes them look like children… oh well) it’s about the forest and how they interact with it.

I had a hard time getting a grip on the style I wanted, everything seemed so forced and I was never happy with what I drew. I kept erasing and redoing and changing without keeping anything. About halfway through the day, I was still only half a character sketch page done and feeling quite hopeless. I realized I was trying to be perfect on a sheet that wasn’t supposed to be. It Sucked… but I figured out the style I wanted. The t-shirt and swishy basketball shorts is the epitome of beginner hiker attire. I stopped caring so much about the quality of the drawings and just started drawing action poses.

The next most important character would be No One. I had a lot more fun playing with No One’s design, probably because I didn’t have to make it look human. I wanted to make them look imposing, scary, but made of the environment. Like, with clothes of moss and litchin. Almost stitched together. I played with making them tall, wider, hunched over, in layers. The hardest choice I had to make was the horn shape. I pulled a lot of references from different horned creatures even though the original skull was a red deer.

Eventually, I came up with final designs for both. I made up Haak and Maya while storyboarding, their designs were simple and based on real people, like their personalities. No worries ‘bout that. Their character models followed the base Robyn’s exploration found.

Next, storyboarding. I spent so much goddamn time in storyboarding. Not too much happened, but I did like plotting out everything. I realized I can pretty easily plot out the setting and where the characters are in relation to each other then manipulate the camera as needed. Pretty nifty. The only problem is 1. Im bad at drawing and 2. Drawing the same thing over and over again kinda sucks. I spent a lot of time designing the varying backgrounds the characters would walk through and played with how the forest would interact with them. For instance, what if a path suddenly changed or wasn’t visible on the second cross through? What if you could see the reflections of eyes in the cave shadows before the characters entered?

The idea originally started over the summer. I was hiking through a birch forest and noticed the markings on the white bark looked a lot like eyes… what if they were watching while you passed by? I let this fuel my imagination and inspire the script. I liked playing with where mystery or malice could hide in the forest, which is a lot of places. Sure, people generally feel threatened by the animals, but the terrain is arguably more dangerous. I didn’t want to introduce a wildlife enemy until the climax, or it would just make it less impactful. If a wild animal is revealed to be evil, it gives another face to the force tormenting them, which takes away from the little cameo No One gets at the start.

Nothing really important happened over the storyboarding period. Just little epiphanies. I realized I got better at drawing the characters and much quicker at it as time went on. I spent a lot of time editing shots and order, which is why the storyboards are messy AF. Made me feel kind of self conscious because everyone at my table had works of art for storyboards, but whatever. They’re supposed to be tools. I also made the very stupid choice to go over every single goddamn board in digital. It was hell. Next time, I’ll probably do everything digitally…

Capturing audio was hard not only because of the location but because of the season. For instance, I need cricket sounds, nature sounds, car sounds (that I could control), and quiet crisp sounds. Too bad I go to school and live on a street that’s triangulated by a fire station, police station, and hospital. And everyone seems to be lighting things on fire, getting crimed, or dying.

I got what sounds I could, but I had a fun time recording with everyone. It was the first time the class was forced out of their comfort zones and made to talk to the people outside their tables. It was a welcome change and I met some cool people. We would talk about what sounds we needed in our stories and whenever we realized how to get that sound it was a group epiphany with excitement. Too bad nowhere in Camberwell is quiet.

Instead of having one of them narrate my lines, I just did them myself at home with my own microphone. It was just easier because I knew what tone I wanted this character to be. In terms of pitch, I just edited it in Audacity. The quality of it didn’t matter, because it wasn’t supposed to be exactly human. I played with it being lower pitched, but if I wanted to make it seem like Robyn was the real narrator, I would need it to be higher. It sounds pretty close to what I wanted- hollow, indifferent, but all-knowing and wise beyond the years the voice should belong to.

I knew from the start I wanted one of two songs in the soundtrack, even though Joe said no songs… sorry, but I envisioned it with this music, it wasn’t structured around it but it was structured with it. Both are the instrumentals behind the songs, so there’s no words, but I did make a playlist of music I wanted to inspire this animatic with at the start. Both songs were at the top. The first song is “Welcome Home, Son” by Radical Face. It’s got a steady beat, good organic guitar, piano, and what sounds like bells. It’s got a REI feel to it (and I’m realizing now that you don’t know what REI is, probably… but I’m keeping the comparison because it’s true) which is kind of like adventuring somewhere greater than yourself, understanding the greatness of it, being slightly scared of it. Like you’re on a quest with no destination. Like facing the mortality and insignificance of yourself in this vast and wondrous world, but instead of fleeing in fear or rejecting the fear, accepting it and finding a home in it. The background vocals add to the feeling of humanity that’s not quite ‘human’ but when tested it tended to mess up the dialogue. The sound of bells and wind chimes was nice, like a feeling of emptiness or forgotten home. Just all around a great song. Also there’s a wind sound effect, like it’s blowing through the trees outside the mouth of a cave. I just think it’s neat and put it at the beginning.

The other song was “New Slang” by The Shins. It has a similar feeling to “Welcome Home, Son” but not quite as adventurous. Much like the song lyrics say, “Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth, only I don’t know how they got out, dear…” it’s about returning home with a bittersweet feeling, somewhere you don’t quite belong, but desperately want to. The simple guitar strumming and bass feel melancholy, and the calm electric guitar (never thought I’d say that pair of words together) just make it seem like an amble through the old woods in the backyard of your childhood home, visiting the old treehouse, and sitting in it alone as you remember back to when you weren’t alone in it and much smaller. The simplicity of the song adds less of a dramatic tone and a more organic and realistic one. It’s also more comforting than “Welcome Home, Son” due to less swells and changes in the sounds. It also has background vocals, but they’re much more human and less dramatic, they almost sound like a mourning wolf separated from his pack, but his calls go unanswered. The thing is the runtime is 1/2 that of “Welcome Home, Son”… The middle section, when edited, made up about 4 minutes.

youtube

I played with both and enjoyed both results a lot. The music starts as they enter the forest and the narration starts, following them as they go on their adventure. It’s supposed to show that time’s passing like a montage, but also ends up showing how the danger is real and haunting when Ursa Major awakens in the bear.

My biggest issue while editing the animatic was sound design after the music cuts out. It ends at the perfect moment and even follows the story beats of the end, but after that I just had the haunting silence of the forest and the sound of the nature around the characters in which I had to put a dramatic fight scene. I didn’t want to bring the music back until No One revealed themselves to Robyn to show the connection had finally been made, but the fight scene between Robyn and Ursa Major was so empty… It felt like I was just layering bear grunts and damage sounds over dynamic shots, but it wasn’t translating as tense, it was just awkward. I also had trouble with selecting what sounds were real. Robyn doesn’t make any verbal sound, the only sound to come from Robyn is their footfalls and how they interact with the environment. I should have made more steady rules with how Robyn and the other characters are present outside of the middle montage.

Actually while I’m writing this I realized I could restart the music and have it cut back out once No One takes back their face… fuck.

So, what did I learn from this? That I storyboarded way too fucking much and made way too many fucking characters. I was told all throughout diagnostic to be free and reach for the stars, especially in communication, but the reality is in trying to tell the story I wanted I ended up drowning myself in work.

I really loved writing this story, though. That’s my favorite part of anything. Writing is the ONLY skill I have over everyone else, and I WILL flex on everyone when I get the chance. It was just too big of a story for right now. I mean, I got everything from a single deer skull, it didn’t seem like much at the time… Maybe when I’m better at all of this, I’ll revisit it and make it more like I pictured in my head. I felt like epiphanies kept coming to me as I was writing the script, but as time went on and I had to plan it, I would get too caught up in the details. I love preproduction though. Like, a lot. That’s for sure my favorite part of making animation and film. Just figuring out where everything goes and how it all works together is just so satisfying and I really enjoy it. A bonus is it doesn’t have to look like Perfect Art, either. The fact that it doesn’t look perfect is one of my greatest insecurities, but it’s something I’ll have to get over, and it’s easier to get over it if it’s forgivable/expected. I know once we do actual animation, it’ll just be harder to make longer stories and I won’t know how to cut down on it all… but whatever. I’ve always had a problem writing too much, so that’s just something I’ll have to learn to manage. I’ll try and do better next time. I was really tempted to make this a comedy, like I always do, but I didn’t. I made something serious for once, and it didn’t end up as I imagined, but it got close enough.

That’s a victory Royale.

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blaqueandstuff · 8 years ago

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Creating Venus

Another bit on how I went and created an illustration.

This picture continues the want to redo my original pictures of the Incarna from the RPG Exalted. In doing this one, I wanted to keep with some of the ideas in the original picture I did with Saturn and make it have aspects that look like it’s a coherent series of pictures. This being said, things did shift a bit. I think her proportions are a tad different from Saturn (less bobble-headed) and I think it’s my choice to show her outfit how it was that did it. I’ll get to that later.

Anyhow, for reference, the original illustration that this is working with is this one here:

There’s a few things that motivated this one originally. The first was a sort of glittery star motif to her robes, a relaxed look, a pretty sexy pose, very long hair and little ribbons floating around her. That said, I think some things didn’t work out here that i wanted to do better in a pass through again. She’s more cute that sexy here (which I think doesn’t fit how i see Venus). And I think that while I like the qipao look to her outfit, it could have done more to look more relaxed/loose. I also just kind of threw-together her “Halo” background symbol thing. I thought Morning Star and so wanted to do a picture of that but it looks too much like a sun a result. So I wanted to do something else.

First was figuring out her pose and I did some iteration, re-iteration and such. I ended up settling on a few, plus some design ideas. Have about half a dozen of those, but this sketch sort of summed things up nicely. Note the goal for round eyes and her hair being a tad more whispy in this one. Her outfit was a bit more qipao still too.

I really liked the one in the upper-right and went with something like that. I think I could have done more with that particular pose but I got lost in the way I guess in the sketch. I kind of liked it for having a pillar/thing she was leaning on too. This would let me incorporate one of her symbols (the Pillar) into the drawing, which I couldn’t do before.

This done, I hashed out some pillar designs and such. Originally I had this idea of it covered in flowers and prayer strips too, which looked rad but got way bogged down I think. You’ll see this in many of the early steps here.

From here I moved to Clip Studio and did most the rest of the necessary work. I started with some inking of Venus herself, plus putting the Pillar on its own layer with some Masks at work let me work on everything in tact. This added a lot of extra back-and-forth but it saved a shitload of time later on. So learn to use Masks folks. They’re your friends.

The censorship ribbon isn’t quite done but I was working more or less with Barbie anatomy anyhow since this isn’t meant to be pornographic, just kind of eluding to the fact that Venus is sexy. The thing that slowed things down a lot here were her legs, though. I wanted to get her knees in there since otherwise they kind of got infinitely long in a way that annoyed me. You can see the detail on the pillar here too is pretty absurd. It gets worse.

With a simple gradient background I start to blcok in the flats. The ribbons have some tangents but those are fixable later. Since Venus’ color is blue I wanted that to be the main color of her outfit, but have her and the trim be warm to make them stand out a bit. I also start working on her symbol here, which for this one is a clam shell, referencing Venus on Earth and the birth of Aphrodite in the Theogeny.

I also did a new starscape for this picture specifically, complete with constellations. I think I could have made the constellations a tad brighter, but in the end, it looks fine.

I then introduce the transparency effect of her ribbon, plus the background. I tweaked the shell at this point too, since the square for the symbol isn’t working like it did for Saturn’s omega. I go with an oval frame this time, since it actually creates a neat pearl-like shape to fit the shell anyhow.

Next is shading. I start with mostly blocking in the base colors here. This includes replacing black lines with colored one sand such. This is important for things like giving shape to her breasts, giving the angle of her leg positioning more than just implied depth and all that. I also introduce the wrinkles in her robes, which are simpler than Saturn I admit for being more ro less open and straight. The Charms on the pillar though are becoming a mess at this point. If I wanted to keep things simple I could have stopped here to be honest. I like how a lot of color and anatomy look in this flat style, but well, I press on wanting gradients. Because I’m crazy.

Gradients more or less consume the rest of the drawing. I give her a softer figure, I add texture to the pillar. I get rid of the Charms since they’re causing too many tangents and too busy in the area there anyhow. When it all comes through, we end up with the final picture mor orless. Only took like forty layers and half a dozen masks.

Some things I think of note is I had to tweak a bit at the last minute. I tapered her waist a bit more than in the earlier picture to add more a swoosh to her figure. And as you can see, the talismans are gone from the Pillar. It makes it much simpler to color, but I think makes the picture look a lot cleaner too. I also “thickened” the patterning on her ribbon in front of her since well, keeping her SFW.

And that’s that really. Fun project in the end and I think good work with anatomy and all that. I could have done better, but something to maybe try my hand at again with this character in a while yet.

For a bonus, here’s the Pillar on its own. Two shading layers were used just to let me do this one. For anyone curious, the text reads, “’Love endures,’ she said.”

And stuff.

#exalted #digital art #clip studio pro #character design #fantasy art

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dumbfrickinlit · 5 years ago

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#sircius - #mainquest character

The sun has long since set when the frail figure hunched over the cluttered desk finishes paging through his 9th book for the evening. It’s another tome on rare herbal medicines, and it was no more helpful than the last one he’d barreled through roughly 30 minutes ago.

The elderly man - a tiefling named Sircius - fidgets in his chair and moves to seize the next book atop the tall stack sat on the floor next to him: an encyclopedia on rare and extraordinary curses. He spares no time as his hands move quick to peel open the pages and his eyes begin to fly across the text, intently observant of every key word or phrase which may be of interest to him.

While his eyes scrutinize the book’s contents, his concentration wanders elsewhere; and as if to punctuate the thought at the forefront of his mind, a ragged breath cuts the potent silence, and Sircius instantly turns his head to look at the younger man laying on the bed just a few feet from him.

His son’s face, as dormant as ever, greets him in return. And although his son, Malerus’ stirring has changed his appearance none, Sircius cannot help but worry if the brief disturbance - uncommon for his son - is a sign of something worse.

Something, he's beginning to worry, he may not be able to stop.

Profile.

Sircius Emberos. Male. 69 years old. School of Divination Wizard. Sage background. Tiefling. True-Neutral alignment. Character strengths: incredibly loyal and protective of those he truly cares about, lets knowledge and reason dictate his actions, cautious, intelligent. Character flaws: cold, distant, stubborn, holds a general disdain for those less intelligent than him, holds no regard for laws or morality when it comes to his interests and the safety of his loved ones.

Sircius Ebmeros and my experience playing him.

There’s perhaps more to Sircius Ebmeros and what he means to me than what lies on the surface.

He was my first-ever character - both for D&D and as a genuine “OC” for me to put actual time and effort into - and with him I really wanted to break the mold, as I knew he would make the first impression for what I could do as both a character conceptualizer and a roleplayer.

My honest perception is that most people gravitate towards starting with and/or playing characters who are very close to themselves in their own personality (which is not a bad thing at all; it offers a transition into roleplaying for those uninitiated to it, and for those with no priority or interest in roleplaying, it’s simply more fun for them); this is very much something I did not want to do. So instead of making my first character an unexciting, passive, amicable, and all-around-cooperative young human female - a definite and obvious reflection of myself - I decided to make Sircius: a temperamental, demanding, isolate, unsociable old tiefling -- who, on the upside, is incredibly smart and cares deeply about family. I decided when making him (and as I do for all characters I create) that every character has a problem, and Sircius’ would be his incredibly ill son. And as the campaign was already lacking a genuine problem to unite our characters, this gave our first chapter a goal: to find Sircius’ son Malerus a cure to his inscrutable disease. Along the way, Sircius Fireball’d a fellow party member, was shot in the kneecap by another, and was threatened more times that I can count about how he needed to behave and play nice with everyone else. So it probably goes without saying that playing Sircius can be exhausting. I constantly have to shut everyone out, turn away help, and pretend to be fine on my own when as a player and a character I know very well that I’m not. It’s difficult sometimes to remain true to Sircius’ character and instigate disagreements within the party, but I have always tried to do so with taste, and never so frequently as to call into question Sircius’ place in the group. Sometimes this means on the rare occasion sacrificing the integrity of the character (i.e. making a call that I’m not wholly convinced Sircius would do), but I find it absolutely necessarily for the continuation of the story. At the end of the day we are all here to play and adventure with each-other, and I would much rather try to reason Sircius into doing something he wouldn’t normally do than leave the party fractured or disbanded because I wanted to stay ~true to the character~. I mean, what kind of story would that be? Not a good one.

So I’m left playing a totally hard-headed, widowed husband, whose only family remaining is his deathly-ill son and a grandson hundreds of miles away from him. And as ridiculously painful as that might sound to play... I actually enjoy it. -- Most of the time, I really do. Some of my most cherished memories I have of D&D are the few deep conversations I’ve had as him with other characters. When someone has finally managed to crack Sircius’ shell it’s incredibly cathartic to let his more compassionate, vulnerable side show. And I’m immensely thankful for those moments because they make him feel like a genuinely likable character despite his obvious flaws - and not just some anal-retentive asshole that everyone has to put up with. Over time, Sircius became more and more palatable as a character as the events of the story unfolded. Eventually Sircius and the party obtained the “miracle cure” that they had sought out. They then returned to the tiefling’s home to revive the ill Malerus. Things did not work out as planned, however, as although the cure resuscitated his son, it also left him both in an essentially vegetative state and made him completely unreceptive to magic, basically making his new condition unquestionably and emphatically incurable.

Now, let me clear up before continuing any further that the result of the miracle cure was never intended by any of us or the DM to be what it was. The cure was always meant to succeed, but as a bit of fun on the DM’s part (I believe), two side-effects were added via rolling on Orrex’s Net Libram of Random Magical Effects. What was rolled was possibly the most depressing and horrifying result I can think of. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry when this all happened. Quickly realizing how grim of an outcome this was, the DM set to rectify this.

The unfortunate effects of the cure were kept canon (a reroll was never done, which in retrospect I would have appreciated), but instead of leaving Malerus (and by proxy, Sircius) to his exceptionally dark fate, a cleric - the father of one of the other party members, Eleniel, in fact - gave up his life in order to restore Malerus’. While I can appreciate this as it added drama to the story and changed Sircius’ character and his relationship with Eleniel, the unfortunate rolls on the Net Libram still leave a bad taste in my mouth to this day. It’s something I try to forget about - and often I leave it out of conversation concerning Sircius and the campaign because of how exceptionally dark it is. It’s a little to “real,” and for reasons that I’ll get to later, was very hard for me to accept when it originally happened.

But all of that aside, those events helped shape Sircius into who he is currently. With the full revival of his son, Sircius’ temperament cooled substantially and allowed him to possess and practice gratitude towards his fellow companions. It also gave myself narrative reason to keep Sircius in the story, which worked especially well in Chapter 2 when the party reunited to help Eleniel (whom Sircius now obviously owed after the sacrifice of her father). Because of this his character has developed and established itself well in my mind.

So, it’s probably crazy for me to say now that all of this - Sircius’ story and everything that he has theoretically ever been through - might change in the future. Crazy, maybe, but not unwelcome.

Mainquest is being heavily considered (and by “heavily considered” I mean basically approved but pending until we get around to it) for a “reboot” down the line. Various reasons have been cited; the most pertinent being the inconsistency of the party and DM (this is a campaign that’s seen 3 different players come and go and also had a DM switch starting in Chapter 2). The DM also seeks to refine and revitalize the story. For us, it’s the campaign that’s seen the most mess, so there’s an innate desire to redo it “right.”

Will this change Sircius as a character? Possibly. Will this change the events that shape him? Likely. But I’m ok with that. Actually, I’m looking forward to it. I enjoy the idea of getting a chance to play as Sircius again and to re-experience and refine his transition from unsociable recluse to.... well, someone tolerable, haha. I would even be up for a more somber take on Malerus’ arc.

You see, what I have neglected to acknowledge leading up to this point - and I suppose if you’ve bothered to read this far you have earned the right to know - is the inspiration for Sircius’ plight; something completely unintended by me until I realized it far too late.

And this is where it gets almost unnecessarily heavy, so feel free to back out here.

During the time I created and played Sircius, I was dealing with problems in my own life -- problems of a kind which I had never faced before.

I was struggling to cope with a friend’s (the very best friend I had at the time and perhaps will ever have) diminishing medical condition. ALS. We didn’t know at the time; a diagnosis was never made clear until months and months after things started unfolding. To us, she was just slowly losing her ability to do everything for no apparent reason. And it was exceptionally painful for me -- losing her, like that. Being there, but not. I couldn’t fathom the thought of people dying who were important to me -- especially someone who was so important to me as she was.

So it’s too disgustingly easy now for me to see the overlap between my life and Sircius’. The only thing that really separates us is how the story ends. Malerus got to live, and my friend eventually passed away. -- I guess Sircius was always meant to be the fantasy I could never have in reality.

Since then I’ve learned to cope, to appreciate my best friends’ life for what it was, and to try and let go. -- Very different from Sircius’ experience. But I’m starting to think that an alternative ending to Malerus’ story - with him passing away - wouldn’t be as bad as I originally thought. Would it be a hero’s story? No. Of course not. But Sircius could then serve as a conduit for something more important, I think.

Maybe. Maybe not. It could be an absolutely terrible idea. -- Also a hell of a lot of pressure on me and my DM to make it work. But I’d at least like to make note of it here: I am not so opposed to anti-stories as I once was.

And so that is my long-winded experience playing Sircius Ebmeros: the grouch of a tiefling who turned out to be something a little bit more. Perhaps he will change in the future in story and/or character, but for now, this is how he remains.

#d&d #sircius #character bio

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