#humans are such a wild card

[iturbide]

So about your concept fire emblem (especially the part about the reversal of the stereotypical Divine Dragon and Evil Dragon dichotomy) I bring tribute. congrats you have created brainrot.

maybe the reason why the MC's Divine is called Ultimate Evil is bc it's a more introverted sort. so the MC's Divine doesn't really attend to outside dragon stuff, but still knows what's going on (my current idea is they're a oracle/All-Seeing Eye type. they may not particularly fully comprehend or have context for what they see, but they most certainly see it).

bc of that, the other Divines are wary of the MC's Divine, (as in "you haven't left your continent in 700 years HOW do you know everything that's going on in MY nation") and their peoples noticed. cue growth and sharing info, and then people notice that ALL their deities are wary of This One Place And It's God, and THAT snowballs into calling it Arbiter of Fate(derogatory), and decades/hundreds of year later, the start of the game begins.

you know what I accept this tribute with extreme gratitude because it actually plays perfectly into a long-running trend I have in my original magic systems involving premonition and the ability to see the future.

Which is that it's not light magic that does it: it's dark.

Think about it: the future is eternally uncertain. There are countless branching pathways based on decisions both large and small: until those choices are made, there's no guaranteed outcome for anything. Predicting the future is like trying to see down a dark path stretching out before you, watching shadows move in the distance and trying to see where they go and what they're doing. If you shine a light down there, you're going to chase those shadows away -- and that may well make it seem like there's only one path, one possibility, one assured outcome. But if, instead, you let your eyes adjust, pay attention to those shadows, you can find a wealth of other tracks going elsewhere, and leading to an entirely different future.

So this Arbiter of Fate is potentially a Dark Dragon of some sort, and is pretty good at taking things it knows about other Divines from past experience/interactions, weighing that against these possible future outcomes, and making plans based off of that despite not directly interacting with any other Dragon's land or people. There might not be a guarantee that their plans will be needed, but it's at least based a solid foundation. And particularly in cases where a neighboring Divine had been, say, gearing up to invade to claim more territory, only to find defenses already raised and an army waiting to meet them...well, that's not going to go over terribly well.

It might not just be that other nations interacting with each other share notes and realize that their Divines seem to have either beef with or a keen suspicion of this other nation. It could be that one (or more) starts a targeted smear campaign against a nation that has never posed a threat before. They raised an army, they must be planning to invade (says the nation that was planning exactly that but then hit an unexpected wall): they're warmongers, they're conquerors, they can't be trusted, and all our Divines clearly agree. And because of that overall agreement among the other Divines, it becomes a rumor that spreads, and spreads...and finally becomes ingrained as though it were fact, even though it's a lie concocted by a nation that had intended to conquer but failed before they could begin due to another Divine's foresight.

[angryducktimemachine]

OC Shenanigans. You just know it was all Matthäus Idea.

I also thought it'd be quite the fun exercise in drawing people interacting with each other - and it certainly was!

[ID: a digital drawing of Jeremy, Friederick, Matthäus and Machuriel, the artists OCs. Jeremy is in the upper right corner, leaning out of a window, grabbing Friedericks right hand with both of his. He's a Halfling with light brown skin and dark hair with lighter ends. He looks worried. Friederick is a gnome with light skin and brown hair in a long braid. He's holding onto Matthäus ankle with his left hand and doesn't look happy about it. Matthäus is a three headed Ratfolk with brown fur. He's dangling by his ankle and has his tail wrapped around Friedericks leg as he's curiously looking at Machuriel. Machuriel is standing on ground level so that they are at eye level with Matthäus. They are a Diathim with white glowing skin and blonde, curly hair held back by a headband. They are smiling and booping Matthäus nose with their left hand. The background is a light beige with black borders that are broken up by the characters. /End ID]

[tohwitchesduels]

WILD CARD OF WITCHES DUELS - Battle 60: Amity Blight vs Luz Noceda - exclusive Witches Duel, the "Lumity Edition💅"

Disclaimer: This is not a popularity contest or which character you prefer, in this tournament, you decide who is stronger/better/smarter/etc. opponent.

Extra Disclaimer: To reassure the shippers that shall come across this post, Luz and Amity ARE NOT forced to battle each other. They're not doing this with heavy heart, against their will, or with any hard feelings behind it. This isn't a grudge, or a major fight within the couple, or a break-up, not at all. This is their 💖DATE💖. Luz and Amity are fine fighting in this duel because to them it's essentially their date. They promised each other they will see each other in the finals and here they are. They're both each other's biggest cheerleader in this battle while also going all out and having a lot of fun while doing this. This is essentially the anniversary of the first time they got to know their true selves to one another and they're making it very cheesy, and sappy, and all way round beautiful.

Hence I'm telling you TO NOT make them tie. In the end, this is still a duel and there can be only one winner. Luz and Amity don't mind who it will be in the end as they're happy either way so DO NOT try to make them tie. If I catch any of you telling people in the notes to make them tie, I'm blocking you and re-doing the post all over again without your input. If Lumity ties they're both disqualified from the tournament and all their previous battles are completely erased. Let the girls have fun and pick who's the better fighter between them, even if you love them both. To them, it doesn't matter who wins or who loses, as long as both of them remain in the tournament. Now onto the battle.

information for both opponents under the cut to those who don't know what they can do in their battle:

Because of how lengthy both of their profiles I won't be getting into deeper details on what they can do and just put links in their names:

Amity Blight:

Amity Blight naturally specializes in Abomination Magic the most, but she does so capacity in knowing spells of other tracks like Plants and Illusion, but it's very limited.

Amity and Luz are girlfriends who love each other very much and by the time of this tournament, their relationship is as strong as ever. They both promised each other to meet in the finals and Amity is more than happy that she managed to keep her promise despite the odds. Nonetheless, both girls are having fun and flexing and don't necessarily have a clear desire to win. Their battle is a dance and the winner gets the kisses 💜💜💜

Amity is a very skilled, talented, cool-headed, and pragmatic fighter. Hardly does she lose composure when battling even strong opponents, displaying plenty of agility and athleticism (as shown in her battle with Hunter and Grom, which is also given considering she was a former captain of the grudgby team at Hexside), and can be both a powerhouse using plenty of strength or a mastermind coming up with tricks on the fly while outsmarting her opponents with her skillset. Very dangerous, and even more so once she puts more passion into her battle. Hardly there are any weak spots or flaws in her battling style, but she can still be overpowered. Abomination Magic in particular feels to be weaker than Construction Magic for example, and it can be rendered useless when dealing in an environment with no mud. Granted Amity holds abomination goo with her so at most, she's going to be weakened. Amity is capable of controlling any slime or mud she comes in contact with.

Amity does wield a Palisman named Ghost and according to herself, she's a "safe flyer". This means she's overall pretty proficient and skilled in her flying capabilities, but at the same time, it means she's not a real aerial ace like Luz or Hunter for example. She's skilled enough to not easily fall off by herself, but as proven in her battles with Hunter (both EL and TTT), she's not fast enough to necessarily avoid being hit in midair. Granted she can still be faster than average and have better reflexes than average, but still not enough to beat some real aerial aces. She is proficient in staff-wielding, being capable of using it to enhance her own spells.

Also yes I'm putting Lumity pictures everywhere and everywhere.

Luz Noceda:

Here are the links to three separate character profile pages for Luz as she just has this many. Here you go

Luz and Amity are girlfriends and their relationship is healthy and stable at the moment of this tournament. They're both enjoying themselves here without the care of who wins and who loses because both of them are the queens who are winning, making this battle an absolute delight, very cheesy and very sappy and very adorable you'll get diabetes. No drama whatsoever, just having fun sparring with her girlfriend with everyone watching cause why not? Yes, they're gay💅, keep scrolling.

Luz Noceda, the protagonist of our story, is one and only. Unlike other competitors, Luz is a rare example of a jack of all trades who does not specialize in one specific magical track and studies all of them. Normally, Luz specializes in glyphs but according to the lore of my own tournament which happens after the final battle with Belos, Luz no longer has access to glyphs. However, she now does have a magical staff that allows her to still be able to cast spells just fine as proven by Owlbert in Young Blood, Old Souls. Now, since my rules specify how at times you're not allowed to use palismen in the battle, Luz is capable of avoiding this rule thanks to String Bean's shape-shifting nature, as String Bean possibly could transform into an accessory that would allow Luz to cast a spell like everyone is none the wiser, or maybe even shape-shift into an instrument to mimic bard magic (even though Luz has no vibration based spells). Outside of that Luz would also have access to some other supporting artifacts.

When it comes to Luz's fighting style, she in general prefers to outsmart and outpower her opponents with the raw strength of her magic. Luz has come far ever since she started to learn magic, currently with String Bean by her side she certainly is now more accustomed to spell-casting. Luz is quite proficient with magic now coming up with new creative ways to utilise her magic. She also now has more experience in combat meaning she's more willing to take down her opponents head-on. Luz can however be pretty reckless and impulsive when approaching her opponents, biting more than she can chew and sometimes jumping without thinking. Luz can however be quick on her feet and easily recover and come up with new ways to get an upper hand during battles.

Luz possesses now her own palisman as we all know it which happens to be none other than String Bean. String Bean showed that with her presence, Luz could be even stronger than she used to be, and Luz had plenty of experience with Owlbert beforehand to know how to use a witch's staff. Luz is a true aerial ace as Eda's Requiem episode proves as she could've won the race if it wasn't for King. She of course also knows how to correctly cast spells with staff alone and can use it in combat. String Bean also has a unique ability of shape-shifting, which allows her to take on features of other creatures and use them to her advantage. Granted she can't change size with the ability so all animals will be miniature, but it can come in handy nonetheless, and she could possibly change String Bean into other objects (like jewelry or instruments) in case she can't use witch's staff.

Luz shall be allowed a multitude of tools to help her out during battles. One of them happens to be a crystal ball from her oracle class. Luz can use it to conjure up a single ghost that can be used to help Luz aid in the battle and also predict Luz's future. The ghost is usually chill but rather helpful. It's intangible meaning it's immune to physical attacks for the most part (but can be dispelled with special attacks) and can phase through solid objects to get to its opponents and be capable of touching them to inflict harm.

Another tool Luz would be allowed to use is tea leaves from oracle class which would also help her learn about her opponents, what they're capable of, and what they're going to do.

Luz is also equipped with a training wand in case she needs another source of magic to cast spells from. It's like a hidden dagger if someone would take her sword (as in her staff, I'm clearly alluding to Sasha Waybright's example) away.

Another tool Luz is free to use is her iconic bat which Luz can use for offensive purposes. Luz is allowed to have and use other weapons like a mace and a sword to aid her in the time of her need.

And of course, how could I not forget that Luz also has fireworks to help her in a fight to add more to her firepower.

While Luz doesn't have beast-keeping magic at all, she does seem to have an affinity to be able to tame most of the wild beasts as presented throughout the entire show with her knowledge and attitude. This means Luz is not really affected much by beast-keepers sending animals in her direction unless they're directly under the command of their masters (as in like pets. Sometimes some beasts are untamed and would not follow even the beast-keeper).

Luz also has brought snakes to her battle as she managed to tame them just enough so they would not attack her but certainly would attack her opponents. They're not venomous though considering now pressed any charges when Luz brought them to school. She will bring a few of them.

Another animal that Luz would bring with her to the battlefield are spiders. They're mostly used to just scare people during the fight by pouring them all over her opponents. Can be used as a great distraction. She has quite big number of them and she can even naturally attract them as seen in TtT. The spiders are also not harmful and Luz is not phased by them either.

Smoke Potion - Another tool Luz would be granted to use is a smoke potion she could brew as seen in the First Day. Luz could potentially utilize it as a smokescreen or suffocation attempt.

[bronzewool]

Imagining alien vampire bf coming from a sector of pure darkness and the human crew trying to navigate through space where there is no light or heat. It’s a brave new frontier. Nothing should be able to survive here and yet there are things on their radar, something scuttling on the hull. It’s both exciting for an explorer and fucking terrifying because whatever is out there doesn’t like them.

Vampire bf is cold to the touch, a wall of ice with clammy skin and blue lips. He looks like a corpse on ice and he yearns for blood, not just to keep his vital functions going, but because he’s oh so cold. He barely moves when hungry and falls into a deep sleep without blood that tiny human has to wake him from lest he falls back into a coma. What is a vampire doing in the coldest place in the cosmos if he needs heat to function? Who put him in the locked tomb? And why does the entire planet need so much protection to stop anyone from opening the iron coffin?

Vampire loves his human and their delicious hot blood, warming his insides and making him strong for short periods of time until his next meal. He clings to his human while he feeds, seeking as much skin on skin contact as possible. The blood rushes to his shriveled groin and fills with heat. He is aroused during their feeding sessions and needs more heat. He wants to sink into his warm human, like sinking into a nice hot bath, fucking him until they’re both burning hot with passion. He also likes when human fucks him, spilling his own release into his core.

Meanwhile, tiny human is not impressed when he’s just trying to sleep in his bunk, only to wake up in the fucking iron coffin this fucker kept for some reason! His companion coiled around him like a constricting snake and purring. Fuck off!

[lovecanbesostrange]

What I would love to get from Marvel would be a 5 issue mini series for Rogue & Mystique.

I don't have a specific plot in mind, but the general idea would be that Mystique does a thing and Rogue reluctantly joins her.

Raven deals in information, she knows things, she has spy-experience and she has been made aware of something bad happening. It's not world-ending or universe-altering. It doesn't even have to be specifically anti-mutant. It can be some mostly white collar crime that would lead to a lot people suffering, noticeably mutants though. It could also be a political move with lots of backroom whispers, some long con for legislation that in the end would be easily turned into something anti-mutant (that looks appealing at first with a "what harm could possibly come from this"). But that demands a lot of complicated or convuluted explanations. And truth is the plot only needs to make a bare minimum of sense, because the heart of the story is the personal relationship.

The important part would be the outcome of it all. It has to be somewhat time sensitive. The proper channels or any news campaign would take too long. There is no threat to punch outright, Mystique is following a trail and infiltration works best. But well Raven is gonna be Raven and she doesn't care about breaking rules and using unethical means. So at first it looks like Mystique did a typical Mystique-thing and oh look, someone was hurt. Rogue can have a dramatic sigh about it, tells her fur babies to look after Gambit and goes after her.

The first important emotional beat is how the reader already knows more than Rogue and can see how Mystique lets her believe this is all a villain plot at first. If others see her as the bad guy? So be it. Don't care. But Rogue realizes something is up and she does give Mystique the benefit of the doubt (obligatory dead-pan about how this has not turned out well in the past). This comes full circle in the end though. When the threat is neutralized, there is some rumble, there needs to be a scapegoat or baddie for the public news and oh look, it will seem like terrorist Mystique did a bad thing. The truth is buried. But Rogue will know. And she can see that Mystique takes on this position, because this is the optimal outcome.

[Yeah, sorry, this is why I don't write things. There needs to be an actual somewhat political plot happening. Can be flimsy, but making enough sense. And I don't know any details for this.]

Something I need desperately is that every issue uses at least one of Mystique's identities. They need to be mentioned, at least one used to get her access somewhere. We need to revive the running gag of Mystique having more jobs than Barbie. Number one on this list, bring back top model Ronnie Lake. But for the lols, her old credentials from the Daily Bugle still work. Stuff like that. I am a fan of the times when the very many personas Raven has portrayed backfire in a way that she loses her own self. Make this part of the fun, but also the drama.

Also I demand at least one flashback to Brotherhood of Evil Mutants times. A hilarious crime they did together. It is absolutely allowed to tonally clash with the rest, it should read a bit like a relic from a different era. Otherwise flashbacks are important, to either give a commentary on scenes that have happened within the comics or to make this a complicated emotional mess, because they both remember happy family times. Because yes, those do exist. But also maybe I just want to pinpoint when it all went south. When Mystique stabbed Rogue during the Dream's End crossover.

(Bishop The Last X-Man #16 by Lobdell, Derenick, Massengill)

Yeah, Rogue got to stab her back, but up until here, there was always a connection despite being on opposite sides. Still, despite how cartoonishly evil Mystique was in that storyline, this is a thing that did happen. And I would be here for a lightly comical talk about it. (This is much worse than when Mystique shot Rogue, that actually helped save her life in the end, so...)

On the flipside, while Mystique uses her curated list of personalities, Rogue gets to call up her new hero buddies, non-X-Men edition. Most of all I want her to hit up Johnny Storm, because they were so close as Avengers, it's hilarious. And then she introduces Mystique in her alias. (We should not involve Dazzler, that is a bridge too far; also leave Carol out of this, it's for the best. Nobody wants to remember Michael Barnett ever existed.) This is also where Mystique takes a look at the people in Rogue's life and she will opinions on who she would accept as her son- or daughter-in-law more instead of Gambit. The pay-off by the end has to be that Mystique says something very nice about him though and then threatens to kill Rogue if she ever tells him. Very important.

Kinda wanna get back to here in a way:

(X-Men (1991) #94 by Davis, Kavanagh, Farmer, Javins)

[anna-pineappel]

This happened in cards against humanity…

[incorrect-lord-of-the-rings]

Alright! It's almost ready! My beta testers are currently helping the finishing touches of Cards Against Hobbits (i think i'll call it that... I'll do a poll I guess) and I'm almost ready to put it out. After I finish reading the Silmarillion I'll put out the expansion pack. Idk when that will be. BUT I'm hoping Cards Against LOTR will be out this week, hopefully so you guys can purchase it with my birthday promo code discount! I'll do a hobbit gift thing (hopefully lol). Anyway, love y'all, and hope this gets on Etsy soon!

[titanclashbattleofthegods]

[nanamivnemesis]

DID NOT KNOW APPLES TO APPLES COULD GET THIS WILD

[a-koschyei]

i need to make a koschei rancidness meter because whew if the man isn't checked ? yea the range truly is verse and dynamic dependent.... and will determine if i permit him to live so choose wisely

[dipstar1489]

Realistic Art

Realized I still have digital access to Christopher Hart’s “Figure It Out Human Proportions” and decided to try some of the step by step instructions to help improve and expand my art skills. Planning on giving each of my characters their own distinct art style.

[akkivee]

honobono not being seen at all in this drama track means she’s the wild card, we don’t know what side she falls on but you know who else we don’t know how they quite fit into the bigger picture????? bad ass temple so they’re the wild cards of the six divisions—

[nickv47]

The NFC North is completely done as of “SUPER” Wild Card weekend, and then some at this point. BUT, I just wanted to bust out Captain Pancake, Chicago Bears superfan, to say a belated thanks to Lovie for the Texans win and number one pick!

Links to my shops here!

[astrowarr]

after watching several povs, there's something so striking about the way mumbo died.

he dies at home, first of all, which is notable in its own right because so much of his time was spent running about, usually in pursuit of kills. he dies with grian, too— to a thing grian created, no less, but it isn't actually grian's fault for once.

mumbo dies in that tall tower and when lightning strikes, from all across the server, everyone looks. their eyes land on that tower, and everyone is watching. even in grian's perspective, you can see everyone at renwood mound, lined up and staring. those at the bamlands looked on too.

they didn't see mumbo die, but they saw grian's grief. grian, who, throughout this season, has seemed cruel and untouchable to those outside of his circle due to his involvement with and knowledge of the wild cards. they watch grian immediately crumble under the weight of mumbo's death; several of them even explicitly comment, "look at grian, he's grieving, he's in mourning."

i like to think that, until that moment, grian was almost god-like in their minds; now, though, he's the quintessential concept of humanity. grief can be religious if you do it right, after all. even beyond the grian aspect though, isn't this just the most despairing omen of what's to come?

i mean, there's something about this image of a man fallen from grace, crying out as he holds the mangled corpse of his friend in the home they made together, high in the sky, on display for all the world to bear witness to. and the world did bear witness, be it with pity, horror, joy... it doesn't matter, because they saw.

the canary curse has been broken, but this was a fittingly foreboding, tone-setting image that did a stunning job filling its shoes

[nateconnolly]

40,000 years ago, early humans painted hands on the wall of a cave. This morning, my baby cousin began finger painting. All of recorded history happened between these two paintings of human hands. The Nazca Lines and the Mona Lisa. The first TransAtlantic flight and the first voyage to the Moon. Humanity invented the wheel, the telescope, and the nuclear bomb. We eradicated wild poliovirus types 2 and 3. We discovered radio waves, dinosaurs, and the laws of thermodynamics. Freedom Riders crossed the South. Hippies burned their draft cards. Countless genocides, scientific advancements, migrations, and rebellions. More than a hundred billion humans lived and died between these two paintings—one on a sheet of paper, and one on the inside of a cave. At the dawn of time, ancient humans stretched out their hands. And this morning, a child reached back. 

[walking-loather]

Will never forget being a kid and telling someone i was south african only to have them ask:

"Did you have clothes in africa?"

"Had you ever had a bath before coming to Australia?"

"Did you live in a house with walls and bricks?"

Like. Yeah, I guess we were 8... But also i feel like a lot of people's understanding of "Africa" has never really progressed past that point.