#i just thought the uniform colors were unique

[mythologicalmormon]

In light of recent events and my brother having a talk in sacrament tomorrow, I was reminded of a talk that I gave last year that focused on diversity and I thought y’all might appreciate it.

There is a story Jesus told about a Jewish man who was severely injured and left on the side of a road. Various travelers saw him and ignored him, including a Jewish priest. Although the injured man was of the same creed as the priest, the priest continued on his way with no regard for his fellow man. Eventually, a Samaritan man walked by. Now, Samaritans and Jews detested one another. The Samaritan’s preexisting bias would dictate that he, upon seeing the man was a Jew, ignore him as the previous travelers had. However, the Samaritan saw the man suffering and decided to help him no matter their personal and cultural differences. The Samaritan did what the other travelers chose not to and demonstrated true caring for one’s neighbors without regard for bias. The parable of the good Samaritan provides a valuable example for us. Would you take time out of your day to help someone in need, even if they belonged to a group of people whom you dislike or disapprove of? Are you willing to sacrifice your prejudice in an effort to help people belong in the church?

Our Heavenly Father loves diversity. When he created the earth, He did not make everything uniform and identical. He made millions of distinctive and unique species, plants, and other incredible creations. From seahorses to raccoons to peregrine falcons, the creatures on this earth are each special. The same goes for people. The assorted characteristics that differentiate us also make us human. Some of us are short, some of us are gay, some like reading, and others can wiggle their ears. God doesn’t love us in spite of our diversity, but because of it. He loves diversity. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have made each one of us one-of-a-kind. He wants all of us to belong and to appreciate that which makes us special, just as He does.

Even within the church there is exceptional diversity. In the talk that I am referencing, The Doctrine of Belonging, Elder D. Todd Christofferson says quote “As the long prophesied latter-day gathering of the Lord’s covenant people gains momentum, the Church will truly be composed of members from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.” When the church was restored, the first members were all white and of European heritage. But diversity is the natural result of having a widespread group, and as the church became more vast, so did the diversity within it. There are millions of members in this church that are of varying colors, backgrounds, genders, and sexualities. There are members who speak languages from the obscure to the well-known. There are members who have medical and mental health problems and members who speak with a stutter or a lisp. Our differences don’t make us less of God’s children, but some among us will belittle and alienate members who are unlike them. God invites all of his children and all of their diversity to partake in his covenants and return to him. We should follow in His example by loving diversity and striving to make everyone know that they belong in our Savior’s church.

Helping people feel and know that they belong in the church requires everyone to let go of their preconceived notions, judgments, and biases. Each and every one of us has prejudices. We discriminate based on serious things such aswhether or not a person has gone to prison or who someone voted for in an election, and we discriminate based on simple things like what music someone listens to or what type of clothes someone wears. Prejudice is often nothing more than a sweeping generalization that misrepresents a group of people. Within church culture, prejudice is unfortunately common and it is counterproductive to helping people feel like they belong in the kingdom of God. The general handbook for the church states, “Prejudice is not consistent with the revealed word of God. Favor or disfavor with God depends on devotion to Him and His commandments, not on the color of a person’s skin or other attributes. The Church calls on all people to abandon attitudes and actions of prejudice toward any group or individual.” When we are prejudiced against a person, we have a mental block that prevents us from helping that child of God feel like they belong. Prejudice gives way to unjustified judgment, which in turn can lead to members of the church feeling out of place in the one setting where they should feel completely at ease.

Everyone in this room, including myself, judges people. We judge people for how they dress when they attend church, how many children they have, how short or long their hair is, or how eloquently they speak, among other things. We may keep our judgment to ourselves, speak it behind someone’s back, or even tell it to their face. Elder Christofferson remarked on this, saying, quote “We may unwittingly impose expectations on others – or even ourselves – that are not the Lord’s expectations. We may communicate in subtle ways that the worth of a soul is based on certain achievements or callings”. In what subtle – or not so subtle- ways do you convey your judgments? When someone who does something you disapprove of walks into a room do you turn your body away from them and avoid including them?

As often as we may cast judgment upon others, it is not our place to do so. Judging our brothers and sisters both within these walls and outside them only splits the kingdom of God. We all sin and we all sin differently. There is a saying: Don’t judge others because they choose to sin differently than you do. Who are we to judge the sins of others? Just because we have opinions on proper etiquette, behavior, and beliefs it doesn’t mean that it is our place to enforce them. They remain opinions only. We will not always know all the details about a situation. We don’t know the circumstances surrounding why a couple has no children. We don’t know if the brother who doesn’t make eye contact has autism or another disorder that makes eye contact difficult. We don’t know what may have happened behind closed doors before a divorce. We don’t know if the sister who uses her phone during class needs to use it to be able to focus. Judging our neighbors can, and frequently does, drive our beloved brothers and sisters away from the church, whereas loving our neighbors as Jesus loves us will help them to know that they belong here with us.

Elder Christofferson also stated, quote, “It is a sad irony when someone, feeling he or she doesn’t meet the ideal in all aspects of life, concludes that he or she doesn’t belong in the very organization designed by God to help us progress toward the ideal”. Perfection does not happen in this life, and yet in church culture we often make it seem as if perfection is a prerequisite for salvation.Such an unreasonable expectation creates an unnecessary divide in the church. We do not have to do certain things to belong in this church. Every single person on this earth belongs in Heavenly Father’s kingdom, no matter their past sins, current situations, and future mistakes.

There are things that people believe are “required” to be a worthy disciple. Regarding the passing of the sacrament, some hold the belief that every young man must be clean shaven, devoid of jewlery, have short hair, and wear a white shirt and tie. The Lord, however has made it a simple act of reverence and service, with the only requirement being that, “Those who administer the sacrament should be well groomed and clean. They should not wear clothing or jewelry that might detract from the worship and covenant making that are the purpose of the sacrament.” This is an example of a church culture misconception and is only one of many others which are geared towards being perfect in this life. Every worthy and able young man has been asked to prepare for and serve a mission. However, serving a mission is not a requirement to hold the priesthood and to serve the Lord throughout their lives. We have been given free agency, and it is not our place to judge when an individual chooses not to serve a mission or when a missionary returns home early. Some members cannot fathom saying no to a calling even if they know that their personal circumstances would clearly be incompatible with the calling at that time. How are our sisters and brothers within the church supposed to know that they belong when we make them feel like they have to be this picture-perfect human being?

If we want to gather Israel, we cannot only minister to those whom we feel comfortable with. Our baptismal covenants did not say to “Bear our friends’ burdens and only our friends' burdens; mourn with only those whom we feel comfortable with; comfort only those whom we like.” They said to, “bear other’s burdens, that they may be light, mourn with those that mourn; and comfort those in need of comfort.” The language in our baptismal covenants does not exclude any of God’s children, so why do we?

When you see someone who doesn’t seem to be included, make a point to talk to them. If a brother or sister stops attending church, reach out to them. Show those around you that they belong, even if it means that you have to step out of your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to be a voice for others when there’s an untoward joke or when someone is being talked about behind their back. Love those in need of love, even those nobody spares a glance for. Be like our Savior in all that you do, and you will show those around you how much they belong.

[hetagrammy]

Sitting in Dublin Airport for hours made me realize that the Aer Lingus uniforms are kinda cute

[headspace-hotel]

so many of us haven't seen it

we don't encounter it, we can't imagine it, we can't get out of the tomb of apathy because we haven't seen the wonders just beyond their line of sight

I talk about this all the time, but it's because I think about it all the time

There are likely thousands of plants native to the area you live in, and chances are you have never even seen most of them, in your entire life.

Not even rare orchids that only bloom at midnight on a blood moon or some shit—regular flowers. Weeds. They have been systematically eliminated from every single place you ever set foot in, and you have to have a special hobby or line of work to ever even rest your eyes upon the flowers that used to bloom for no one on every hill, or in every valley, or beside every stream

There are a few hundred birds that live where I live. I have never seen most of them before. I have never seen a Kentucky Warbler, and I have lived in Kentucky for what...twenty years?

I have never seen a rosy maple moth. When I saw one on the internet, I didn't even think it was real.

I've become a deeply weird person over the past couple years. Tasting even a little bit of the Wonders changes you. I wouldn't have thought blue bees were real, or the fantastically rainbow-colored dogbane beetles.

I have seen the world beyond the wasteland, and that glimpse makes you crazy.

You or I may have never seen a truly mature tree. A fraction of a percent of the old growth forest of the Eastern USA remains. Once there were tulip poplars over 6 feet in diameter and sycamores well over 10 feet in diameter. Only a few remain, in secret locations. Imagine walking through a forest where the tree trunks are over 3-4 feet wide.

The forest where I work is 100 years old. That's a baby forest.

Knowing that, being aware of that, it's maddening.

Central Kentucky has disproportionately few endemic plants. Almost none. Central Kentucky was the first area west of the Appalachians settled by European colonizers. The Bluegrass was once described as having the most peculiar plant life anywhere in the East, but now, there are no species known that are unique to that area.

Colonization destroyed the canebrakes. (Did you know that we had vast forests of bamboo full of carnivorous plants?) The bamboo is barely hanging on. It destroyed the sycamores so enormous you could use the hollow center of one as a stable for animals. It introduced invasive grasses to feed cattle and horses. It destroyed the rich lush topsoil. Most of the ancient oaks were cut down or died when housing developments were built on top of their roots.

What happened to the endemic species, never recorded in books of herbs, never sketched by a European naturalist.

Either gone forever...or hiding in a sinkhole on a backroad somewhere, not even yet discovered.

So much has been lost for eternity. So much still could be lost.

Some days it's hard not to wail and scream. There are herbicides in your drinking water. When you spread honey on toast, you likely also spread neonicotinoid pesticides, which testing has confirmed to be present in something like 45% of honey. In many areas, insects are immersed in the presence of chemicals designed to kill them in every drop of water, every leaf, every square inch of soil.

When games, animations, and illustrations envision the outdoors, they cover the ground with a short, uniform carpet of green, because that is what we see, no matter where we go: turfgrass cut by a lawn mower. Where I live, there are no natural environments that resemble this, remotely. The closest thing we have to turf-forming grass is our wealth of native sedges, most of which are rare or endangered.

I talked to a man who had devoted his life to studying the American bamboo, Arundinaria gigantea, and he had never seen a canebrake larger than 200x500 feet. Canebrakes once covered ten million acres, and now the bamboo exists in short, straggly clumps instead of dense bamboo forests up to 40 feet tall.

I want to cry and scream. The grief will tear me to pieces. I live in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, surrounded by people who can't even grieve, because they have been so completely severed from everything that was lost that they don't even know it was real.

It hurts. It hurts, and we have to live with it. It hurts, and the grief is all-consuming.

There is the agony, and there are the Wonders. Both are true at the same time. It is because nothing around us is standing still; everything in nature is always moving, iterating, becoming. Something is pulling and nudging at our species, urging us to move, to iterate, to become.

So much has been lost. Even more is not lost.

The trees, the bamboo, the sedges, the Kentucky warblers and rosy maple moths.

They are not lost. We are lost.

This is the hard part. The grief is hard, but this is somehow harder for us. We are lost, and it is time to come home.

Not to a physical place, but to a way of living: interconnected, mutualistic, interdependent. Symbiosis. In the forest, no one is separate from anyone else, everyone is linked and dependent on the community. Trees help each other, they support each other, they protect and shelter and feed one another and all living things, and together they are a forest. I don't really consider myself religious, but I have to reserve something in my head for how it felt to realize what Forest was.

When I noticed the little plants popping up in the sidewalk cracks and gravel paths, the tough weeds holding on in the lawns and pavement, something in my brain began to change dramatically and permanently.

They're still here. The trees. Even in the pavement and lawns. The dandelions have come, adapting rapidly, helping the bees hold on. The wildflower seeds are still sprouting in this depleted ground. Waiting for us to recognize them. Life is everywhere. The Forest is everywhere. It felt like they were waiting. We're here. We have not abandoned you. We are resilience, persistence, survival, adaptation. This is not death. This is Chaos. Come home. Come home. Come home.

I saved little plants from the roadside and tended them in plastic cups. I didn't think it would work. I don't know why I tried. I was acting as something bigger than only myself, responding to a call that moves throughout all of nature. But they survived, and growing and tending to my little plants and trees, I—understood.

I don't know if I believe in God, but I believe in Something, whatever it was that seemed to whisper like a secret: Welcome home, Caretaker.

And honestly, truth shone through then from relics of religion I hadn't touched in ages; God put Adam in a garden, not a suburb, a mall, or a Walmart. This is who you are. Not a Consumer, but a Caretaker.

And when the threat of the Flood loomed, God told Noah to start building a fucking boat.

In ecology, the plants we know as "weeds" are pioneer species: the first species to return to an area after a natural disaster or mass extinction. They survive in the harshest conditions, and prepare the land for regeneration. This is who you must become.

Look to the Dandelion—in just a few hundred years on this continent, Dandelion has risen to the highest calling of a Weed: first survive where the others can't, and then help the others survive. If the human species is to survive, you must be a weed species. You must adapt relentlessly, resist eradication, and protect and nurture other life forms by your very nature. You must be tough as nails, and make the world a gentler place through your survival.

Have you heard the saying that grief is love with no place to go?

That's the hard part.

We must grieve, but it is not yet time to grieve. It is time to love.

[xuterboo]

Good time everyone!

The cutting and analysis of images continues, and today my hands finally reached the Lost Paradise.

Let's meet our beauties!

Let's start with the broken king. Lost Paradise has quite a motley crew. Also, everything on the clothes is very scattered. Lucifer is wearing a strict black suit and a white striped shirt. An interesting observation: for Luci, both when he was still an angel and when he fell, The chest is open, emphasizing the scar. And he did not appear because of a fall from heaven. The scar was probably received before these events. (Fight for Seraphim's place?)

As shown in Liouifer's stories, his snake is alive, or rather, can come to life and move on its own.

I just want to throw in one thought: the biblical seraphim were created only to fly next to God and sing into his ears that he is so wonderful. This means that all Seraphim, including Luci, have a beautiful voice)

Well first of all, gooooospaby, how I love this dragon!!

And secondly, doesn’t it seem strange to anyone that the staff of Gamigin (the dragon) are different from Gamigin (the demon)? As you know, Gamigin (dragon) devoured the demon who slept with him, and apparently the dragon's pearl greatly changed the staff.

The gamigin himself is dressed in formal attire. But the casual look of directional sleeves makes the look looser. And also sneakers. Sneakers, damn it. Okay, if he likes it, then I won't mind. Blue color evokes pleasant and gentle sensations, but also helps reduce the desire to sleep. Nice contrast between Gamigin's activity and tenderness

Marbas... His clothes are more like ordinary clothes in a mental hospital, but the factory did not have white fabric, and they took some kind of black one. I still don’t quite understand why he would chain himself in this during a fight. This is inconvenient and even dangerous. Either I don't understand something, or I don't understand something. But nevertheless, he has a very interesting design.

No shoes. My pants are constantly falling down (my friend: Was it too weak to lower my pants any lower?) I have a long-sleeve shirt that reveals my shoulders almost completely. Acts as a straitjacket, but looks good in everyday life. (I hope it doesn't hurt for him to walk😔)

My sunshine Morax!☺️ I love him so much, I just can’t 🥹

He already has a more strict form of someone like a general. It can be assumed that he is more responsible for the military part of Lost Paradise .

He is probably in the same position as Glasialabolas (I hope I wrote it correctly), but as we have already noticed, PL is a more modest country than in Hades. Origin unknown. Most likely born in LP

He's covered in bandages. God, please give him a rest. Tie him down, but let him recover.

Next up is Buer. One of two demons, behind which there is some kind of creature. You can guess from his clothes that he is from Tartarus. But with feet stained with the gold of the Tartarus River, his origins are confirmed.

Dressed in a kimono of gold, red and black. In China these colors mean wealth (who would doubt it), joy and prosperity. (Buer makes me feel like he is a Chinese healer living high in the mountains. Healing, only those who have a pure soul, hee hee hee)

Also, according to official data from the Belphegor event, I am adding Batin to this collection, since he was born in the Lost Paradise.

He is a laid back lover of travel. Like most of the demons of Paradise Lost, he is dressed in black. Apparently in Nifelheim, Batin is also something of a general. In every country, one way or another there is a demon responsible for the troops, but in Gehenna this is not visible, since everyone has the same uniform.

I'm not entirely sure what culture Paradise Lost represents, as there's a lot going on there. I think this is the people who came together piece by piece from other countries. They brought something of their own to the new lands, combining knowledge with others, and this is how they turned out to be a unique nation. Friendly and quiet by nature. But as soon as you get to know them better, you will immediately see the warmth,which they emit. Although there is another facet that is in the shadows - their cruelty and indifference. It is shown when Adu or their loved ones.

The text turned out longer than I thought. OK...Thank you for reading! Write your interesting observations or thoughts about Paradise Lost!

[hughiecampbelle]

Gen V Preference: Wearing Something Tight/Skimpy

Requested: Could I request the gen v reacting to you wearing something tight/ skimpy? I love how you did this with the boys ty💖 - anon

A/N: I hope you like it my love!!! My fave Luke was so sweet and I just know Jordan would get this look in their eyes omg!!! Also Emma would be so funny!!!! Feedback is always appreciated!! 💕

Luke would melt. You wear baggier clothes, cool and unique, but pretty modest. He's immediately speechless. It's your first time sneaking off campus, breaking curfew, and going clubbing. You borrowed something from your roommate, thankful they had the appropriate clothes for this sort of outing. When you walked towards his car you felt silly, stupid even, pulling at the hemlines of your outfit. Luke wears that goofy smile you recognize, the one that says he's all bubbly, no thoughts. He won't say anything outright besides you look great, but once you're dancing he can't keep his hands off of you. He loves what he sees and, selfishly, wishes to see more. To Andre and Jordan though, he goes on and on about how he wants to devour you, how starstruck he is, how fantastic you look.

Jordan's words come out compulsively. They see you at one of the many galas and just can't help themselves. Cate helped you get ready, realizing you'd never been to one of these things. They hand you a drink, immediately looking you up and down. They have no shame at this moment. Their mouth moves before they realize it. You hadn't realized they'd take this much of a notice over what you were wearing. You and Jordan even had a similar style: baggy, oversized, street style. They loved your outfits and said so a few times. Tonight, you were wearing something tight, skimpy, something that totally wasn't you. They liked it, though. They made sure you knew you have a good body and should show it off more often, that if they were you they'd walk around naked. Why waste the money on clothes? You just roll your eyes, used to the unabashed way Jordan speaks. They're upfront about everything, including this.

Andre can't keep his hands off you. He's instantly jealous of anyone who might even think about looking in your direction. You got mock-ups of your suit for after you graduate and you wanted to show everyone. Brink was the one to share it with you, to tell you that The Seven was interested in you, a sophomore. It was unheard of. There was still some necessary tweaking, mostly colors and fabric, but you loved it regardless. It was, however, a little more form fitting than you were used to. Or a lot. Your clothes were fashionably oversized. That's what you liked. Superheroes couldn't go around wearing baggy jeans and sweatshirts. He's mesmerized when he sees you, his hands all over you. While you talk about your meeting with Brink, he kisses you, leading you to the bed. If you'd known he was going to act like this, you would have made his visit the last. You still had Luke and Cate to show.

Cate is speechless. All smiles. You agreed to come out with her friends, to party with them at one of the off-campus frats. When you showed up, you were basically wearing nothing. You thought that's what you were supposed to wear, like it was the uniform of frats. Suddenly everyone had their eyes on you. People kept coming up to you, wanting to get you a drink, talk to you, get your attention. In the years you'd been at God U you'd never had this sort of reaction. Cate later explains, though she loves your usual fashion, it leaves everything to the imagination. This, however, shows off what they'd been wanting. She thinks you look amazing. Truly, you should do this more often. Used to the attention, Cate makes sure it's just the two of you. She gets you all to herself. She's not as handsy as Andre would be, but she definitely looks at you like she's hungry and you're forbidden fruit.

Marie stumbles her way through a compliment, backtracking to explain she doesn't want to sexualize you, before apologizing for the entire encounter. You and Marie agreed to go out clubbing with Luke and his friends as long as the other came along. While Emma dressed Marie, you found something tight and skimpy at the bottom of your suitcases. She's only ever seen you in baggy clothes so when you met up at the staircase in the freshman dorm, she was flabbergasted. On the walk to the cars she tries to compliment you, your body, heat rushing to her face, before she apologizes, unsure of what to say, how to say it. She absolutely adores what she sees (how could she not?), but she doesn't want to make you uncomfortable or scare you back into your oversized sweatshirts. You laugh, thanking her, even doing a playful spin. You admit you're not used to it, showing so much off, but it isn't a bad feeling. Just new.

Emma states it outright: oh my god you're hot! She says it like she's surprised. And she is. If she had known you were hiding that kind of body underneath sweatshirts and baggy pants, she would have insisted you throw on the smallest outfit you could find. She laughs, saying if she looked like you, she'd wear nothing. Emma is pretty up front about her feelings and, though you love her, she has little social awareness. The two of you are sitting in your theater class while she says this. It was your group's day to show off your skit and the only matching outfits you had were tight, black, and skimpy. She was so distracted by the curves and outlines of your body, she didn't notice you'd grown uncomfortable, self-conscious. She later apologizes, realizing just how loud she was and how much attention she was calling to you. She stands by her statement though, you should definitely, at least once, walk through the campus naked.

Sam has no idea what to do or say. You and him had both been locked away. Since escaping, you've been under Emma's care. She lent you both clothes. While Sam got her oversized sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, you were given a smaller outfit. Tight. It's all she'd given you, throwing clothes at the two of you before she went to class. Do I look stupid? You ask, coming out and showing him. It's been years since you've worn clothes that weren't sweatshirts and sweatpants. It wasn't as warm, but you didn't entirely hate it. Sam just shrugs, taking you in. He hadn't had a crush since he was a kid, back in elementary school, but looking at you now, in this outfit, he could feel butterflies in his stomach. He gets this crooked smile, kinda goofy looking, that tells you he likes what he sees. He's shy in your presence, too, like now you're all he can think about it. When you ask if you should change, his no is immediate.

[bayothemayo]

If requests are available, can I please request head canons for an Akira kurusu with a s/o that's is a persona user but under the terms, of the s.e.e.s. Later on his s/o invites him over to their room then goes out for a bit then finds the evoker??

P.s I genuinely love you're writing .

Akira Kurusu x S.E.E.S! Reader Headcannons

Warning: Swearing

Note: The reader doesn't know that Akira is a Phantom Thief but has suspicions.

He doesn't know that you were a persona user, due to him thinking that the only way to summon a persona is ripping off the mask and that the Metaverse is the only place where shadows can exist. So he was essentially clueless even if you two dated for a while.

When you invited him to your house to hang out he was excited, he was excited to see what your room was like and to see your personality shine through it.

And indeed it had your personality and your likes slapped all over it. Posters of your favorite band/game/movie and some of the items you own in your favorite color.

You have to excuse yourself to get something you left downstairs, so Akira was left alone in your room.

Akira just stood there awkwardly, he didn't want to snoop around but something caught his eye.

There was a sliver case peeking out under your bed, the blanket almost covering it.

It caught his interest. He kneels down and takes the case out under your bed. He wanted to respect your privacy but curiosity got the better of him.

He carefully open the case, and he immediately saw something that shook him to the core.

A fucking gun.

A unique-looking gun at that. Another thing that caught his eye was the red armband that was sitting there, waiting to be worn again. He didn't want to touch it in case you noticed that it moved once you opened the case. But he can see the letters S.E being shown while the rest of the letters are hidden.

There was something else that caught his eye, but it was a lot more innocent compare to the gun.

It was a group picture with people, a dog, and a robot? that he doesn't recognize other than you of course. The people in the picture were wearing a school uniform. You looked younger in the picture so Akira can guess that this picture was taken years ago.

"Oh shit I can explain!" You quickly shouted when you saw Akira looking at your Evoker case. You thought that you had hidden the case better.

"...Why do you have a gun?"

"It's not a gun it's an Evoker!" You try to explain but it didn't really help with another. You quickly responded, "Look, let me explain, and hope this won't change your opinion of me." You then explain on how you had gotten this Evoker, S.E.E.S the Dark Hour, the shadows, and a little bit of your teammates. You didn't tell him about the more... sensitive parts when you were part of the S.E.E.S. It took a while for Akira to process the information because he was shocked that there were other Persona users and something similar to the Metaverse. Akira did feel bad that you had to explain this to him which is probably one of the most private parts of your life. So Akira spoke up.

"(Y/N)," Akira said softly, "thank you for telling me this. To make things fair, I want to tell you a secret." Akira then mentally prepared himself for your reaction, "I am the leader of the Phantom Thieves."

Silence fills the room. You sigh as you run your fingers through your hair, "I had my suspicions...and I had a feeling that you were more special than others." You put your hand on his cheek, "You are being careful with being a Phantom Theif right?"

"Yes, I am..." Akira put his hand over yours.

You stay silent and then you spoke, "I want to join you guys." Akira stiffens but then slowly nods. Despite him not wanting you to join, you already have experience with shadows. More than him actually. So he reluctantly let you join.

You Had Join The Phantom Thieves!

Akira let you tell the others what you had told him.

When you all got to the Metaverse and started to fight the shadows, he (and the others) got a heart attack when you put the Evoker to your head. He felt a little better when your Persona came out instead of your brain bits.

It is going to take a while for him to get used to it, maybe never.

Despite you having more experience, he is still a little protective over you.

...and maybe gets a little flustered when you are being a badass.

[1-800-deactivatednearu]

woag character design notes

[i.d.: a drawn line up of the half life vr ai characters, from left to right, gordon, dr. coomer, tommy, bubby, gman, and benrey. /end i.d.]

yeah i skipped some guys , i dont draw some of them enough to have much unique designs and some of them are a png of a dog

trust me i am just surprised as the rest of yall that i am doing hlvrai art . design notes below (very long, mind your step)

gordon:

wow this guy dont got no head

i didnt want to give gordon a face because of how unexact the person is as the fandom engages with it. is it wayne rtvs? (well as presented to an audience, yes) is it gordon freeman? (well as seen from an in game perspective, yes) is it a whole new guy entirely? (well as

i cut the confusion and took it a whole new direction: guillotine

hlvrai being treated as a very broken game is fun to me as a design perspective, so if you (the audience) are not supposed to see his face, what happens when you see it anyways? missing texture time

there are eyes drawn over because i did not have confidence in my expressions at first and then it grew on me

i think if i were to draw (and i have drawn) an actual person under the mask i would still censor the eyes because that is where the vr headset sits!!

(i do not like putting an actual flesh to gordon though)

though i really like seeing how other people interpret gordon hlvrai it is not . my gordon ? we are talking about the same guy . but this is my gordo . i made this one . this guy my guy . maybe i should draw other gordon designs

i can draw the hev suit from memory and it is also the entire reason why i can render metal confidently

i liked how people changed the lambda to read ai :] i also have no clue if i wrote the lambda correctly

(i did, i just checked)

dr coomer:

as much as i draw/drew him i find it more fun to not stick to one set design :)

so a lot of my takes on dr coomer tend to jump from idea to idea, especially from what other people are doing, though they could be fitted to the left and right designs!

the left design is mainly based off what i saw in fandom spaces

we see rounder shapes, making for a more friendly and welcoming appearance

i think of this as straying from the more professional uniform of the actual scientist models

enter swimming shorts and bright yellow socks, for some reason

so now he kind of looks like a cool science teacher :)

it might be the lab coat

the right design is mainly based off thumbnails for hlvrai itself

these use a more angular appearance

i want to push how comically buff he is because of strength he shows at times, especially since his left design seems to completely down play it as a comically not buff man who is still very strong

the shadows on right design coomer get so much more harsh and exaggerated because i have comic books on the mind :)

he really does look like a dehydrated comic book character huh

tommy:

stick bug (he gets it from his dad) (this thought process is explained at gman section)

i pushed a lot of the saturation of colours in her design because i think tommy gets to be a little silly with it

fun art story of the day! when you color, try messing with hue! you might notice you can get away with a lot as long as your values are about right

i like pushing this with white because you can get away with a lot of things reading as “off white”

old faithful for me is cool shadows with a warm transition colour to keep things visually interesting

i keep making white objects the trans flag

happy pride

tommys design looks a little like a school boy, with the tucked in button up shirt+suspenders+shorts+jacket tied around the waist . and the primary colours . but like it is really fun to dress up so brightly

i actually was strongly inspired by medieval babies if that is a weird descriptor? i wanted him to both be a middle aged man but also a young adult

do not be like tommy, who has their finger on the trigger of the gun while not even looking at where it is pointing and good god he is squeezing the trigger . top ten firearm safety of all time

bubby:

the absurd part is that i think bubby is tall . he is just between tommy and gman who are exaggeratedly lanky .

i wanted to make bubby a pointy kinda guy, so he is the only one actually wearing the lab coat proper . and the only one actually wearing dress socks but not even wearing dress shoes

i wanted to give him a novelty tie but i was running low on ideas and running high on boreds so we dont get a tie

he does have crocs though!! in attack mode!!

i do think we all kind of saw his model and collectively decided it works for him because i have honestly not seen major divergences from his model?

gman:

stick bug

i wanted to stress the more spooky and unknowable nature of him and took it in the dark souls direction of “make bigger than player character”

maked too bigger

he cannot walk through any doorways but you will have to crane your neck to look up at him

in the opposite direction of tommy, i pulled a lot of the saturation in gmans design

it feels important to make them both not fully match the rest of the slightly less broken npcs because there was so much work to make them look cool so i have to respect that

actually a lot of gmans and tommys designs are made in opposite to one another

gman has a largely stationary face and very stiff line work

while tommy is pushed to expressive as possible

thats pretty fun, way to go me

benrey:

benrey also has two designs

and in both of these i keep getting too lazy to use a reference so  the vests are super plain (forgetting the badge and black mesa logo) . i think the helmet is supposed to be darker actually .

the design ethos of benrey was “built like a brick shithouse”

a friend of mine took this cooler and interpreted it as a shield/wall/barrier as a physical (and narrative) obstacle

again the first uses fandom designs

most notably the overcast shadow (seen in video thumbnails but i never noticed it or understood why so many people did it until someone pointed it out to me)

i think hlvrai is such a great medium because it acknowledges it is a game and is able to play into that to great effect! i think the shadow is fun to imagine as solid black as a small reminder of the impossibility of the space :]

benrey is a smug cat in the body of a human . to be honest . and this is the full range of emotion i have ever drawn him with

the second was mostly because as fun as taking creative liberties are, i just really wanted to see benrey as is: the half life security guard model in all its slight wonk :]

i actually do prefer this design . it is a little more uncanny because i choose the worst translations of the model . i like it because it is a little more uncanny !

that can be said for like . every single design in this line up huh .

[rosedere]

Flames of deception

(Rollo Flamme x Fem! Reader)

CW: implied noncon, implied stalking, Drugging, writer did not play Glomas-

-

“You aren't at all who you say you are (Name)”

 Facing the antique fireplace, you didn't turn around towards him, merely focusing on the embers shooting to life in the fireplace, illuminating the dark winter sky outside.

“What if I wasn't anyway?” You simply slipped out, rolling your eyes.

"Are you going to tell my parents or what?”

Rollo only watched you, his eyes illuminated by the fiery embers of the coals.

His eyes were on you like a target meets an arrow.

Rollo stayed looking at you with silent judgment. Good, you hated being bossed around by him anyway, only being chosen to be apart of the student council because of your unique lack of ties to twisted wonderland. It seemed they had to pick you for being so unique, as the council put it.

At least you could go back to being invisible.

 “I find it most entertaining,” he chuckled, still sitting firmly in his armchair before him in the cavernous room.

“You (name) the unmagical prefect with a secret,” he grabbed his colored handkerchief promptly moving it in front of his mouth.

“I never kept anything a secret anyway,” 

“You just never asked,” you shrugged, keeping your hands clasped in front of your uniform.

The silence befell the room once more.

 ”Why so much anger (name)”

He leaned in, seeming like he was going to get up from his seat.

But instead of hearing his feet firmly stand up on the ancient mahogany wood beneath him, you felt his hands reach your hips.

stiffening, you only turned to the side to then feel the bottom of your robe lift up abruptly.

”Just as I thought,” he began to tsk; You only tried to pick up your now exposed underwear, only for Rollo to swat your hands away.

”You fucking pervert; get your hands off of me,” you yelled.

You were about to slap his wrist when you felt the smoldering heat radiating from his hands.

Pulling back with haste, your hand closest to the hand using fire magic was convulsing, trying to fan the now-burn blossoming on your tender skin.

Rollo only smiled up towards you, his expression contorting into a sunken darkness.

”So, on top of using foul language, the intel I’ve received might also be true about you,” he shook his head back and forth with a nasty glare of judgment.

”Unless, when I take your very feminine-looking underwear off, I see you told me the truth, then I will only reduce your punishment for doubting you.” His fingers began to curl under the waistband of your underwear.

You mentally cursed yourself for not wearing your boxers today; every damn day you wore those things, but you woke up later than usual.

“Well? Not even trying to fight the allegations before you.”

 He gripped the top of your underwear.

”Maybe you secretly get a thrill thinking about me looking at your bare fruit.”

He only snickered as the blush grew on your face as you tried, in vain, to pull your robe over your thighs.

 ”hoping someone comes in to see you so exposed; the magic-less prefect of Nobel College.”

 "S-stop,” you finally snapped; you didn't care who he was anymore.

You kicked behind you blindly, aiming for his seated knee, causing a blowback between the two of you. 

 Eyes stunned, he looked up at you, but you didn't stay long enough for him to say anything, bolting past him into the hallways, covering yourself once more.

Coming to the barren hallway with the antique decor and brown wooden walls, you finally caught your breath.

He wouldn't be crazy enough to follow you, possibly…

Looking around, you didn't see any student council members in the area at all. You pondered to yourself, assuming he had probably sent them away for the evening since it was the winter break anyway.

Only you and him remained strangely enough.

Shaking your head, you went down the isolated staircase you’d taken many times. The polished wooden steps leading down to a secluded courtyard at the bottom were your destination.

or what should have been where you ended up.

You didn't miss your step; you felt your foot land on the third step to the landing in the chambered staircase.

But the next minute, you felt someone grab you from your side.

It was supposed to be impossible. There was a wall there.

but unbeknownst to you in your time at Nobel Bell College The school council president had extensive knowledge of all the corridors and passageways that had been in the school before Fluer City was founded.

Fighting in desperation, you were no match for the person in the wall as you felt your mouth become covered with a handkerchief. You tried to claw into the thick material draped around his forearm to let go, but this only led to a fiercer fight as he pressed the handkerchief into your face. 

The smell coming off of it was putrid as you tried your best to resist inhaling and taking shallow breaths, but unfortunately you succumbed to the smell.

You just felt a horrible wave of drowsiness overcome your eyes.

Your limbs went weak, and your tongue was numb within your mouth, unable to protest anymore. You only felt yourself being carried back up the horrid stairs you had just come down from below.

 

-

 

Rollo knew from the start you were a female.

The hesitancy to strip for gym class in front of the others because you were “too embarrassed” by a scar you had on your chest.

The few times he did see you wear your robes tighter, he could see the volumptious form your hips had as you swayed, going back and forth  carrying on with duties in the council room.

He was already quite fond of you, already seemingly docile like he was, keeping to yourself in the side courtyard beyond the statue of the righteous judge.

 And, of course, having no filthy magic in your blood.

It was just a bonus when he found out you were female.

He only knew since he waited patiently behind a statue in the walls of the dressing room for athletics.

He heard you walk in his breath, baited in anticipation, as he saw you look around to be sure no one was around.

After a couple of seconds, you carefully took your hair down from under your hat, followed by unbuttoning and shifting your robes.

The finale, he thought.

He hoped his observations were right; to be wedded to a magicless being would be his dream come true.

Submissive and ready to start a family with him to begin his purification.

his eyes lingering on your chest as you finally reached the last layer of your uniform.

And, of course, a plain binder and laced corset were what he was greeted with.

 Your chest carefully wrapped underneath it, saddened that there wasn't more underneath. He got his wish when he saw you strip your lower robes.

You wore laced underwear, which is only seen in the most famous boutiques in the city.

It seemed you wanted to look cute sometimes, he thought to himself with a smile.

In that moment, he had decided to betray his values.

Why tell everyone the magicless prefect was a girl? They would all salivate over you, and he’d never have a chance to be with the one he knew was the key to purifying the magic from twisted wonderland.

He knew he had until winter break to convince you to be his.

but it was clear you weren't interested in any of that. Yet.

”I'm sorry it had to be this way (Name)”

Rollo stood over your unconscious self as you lay against a wooden pillar in the beloved clock tower.

bounded in scarlet ropes against the worn pillar, he began to undress you as he had when you were in that room all those months ago.

Carefully peeling your numerous layers on top of your torso, finally reaching your tender, exposed chest, he undid your binder and corset.

Your plumb breast being exposed to him; it was unbelievable, he was able to see your symbol of being a woman.

He told himself it wasn't weird to stare, as you would be his bride soon.

but he had to feel you.

He reached for your slowly rising chest as he felt your squishy mound underneath his palm.

It was heaven.

 Too heavenly.

A touch became a squeeze, a squeeze turned into a kiss, and eventually you were completely naked as Rollo began to let his hands wander.

After an hour of coitus together, he realized what he had done.

 laid underneath a blanket he had brought, still bare and unconscious.

He only laid beside you in the cold tower, heaving from the energy it took him.

But it was okay, he told himself he knew you wanted this.

You were just as lonely as him in this world. No one understood you as much as Rollo flamme did.

Suddenly, he heard you mumble.

 It seems someone was awake.

 -

Note: btw I wasnt lying literally only know Rollo is based off my favorite disney movie 😭

Btw Requested by: Sallade on AO3 <3

[poorwritingandstalecoffee]

in vita, in media morte sumus. Ch.1

WC: 2K

Note: New series popping out! I really have no idea the direction of this series or how many chapters will be included. Also, updates will likely be spread out since I am in the middle of the semester. Therefore, patience will be greatly appreciated with how quickly I can shell out chapters. Also, this is only the second extended work I've done, so once again, patience and kindness are very much appreciated.

Note: Also, Desdemona is 19-20 years old. The terms of her education at Nevermore will be explained in the upcoming chapters. HINT: Nevermore has blended into a high school/college atmosphere for Outcasts using alternating schedules.

BUZZZ!

*Rustling* 

“I.D.? … Hmm, here for the Addams girl?”

“What gave it away? The black or the black?”

“Tish, play nice, my love.” 

“Ohh, a playful little barb never hurt anybody, dear. Now, where is our little dagger, hmm?”

“Right this way,” the guard grumbled with his head down. He pulled the radio to his mouth. “Open cell block 394.”

BUZZ! 

Their banter reached your ears before you reached the end of the hall. It made you want to claw your ears to bloody shreds and stuff them down the throat of the guard that would not stop picking at his fucking fingers—flicking dirt from underneath the dead nailbed with the toothpick. Swipe, dig, flick. Swipe, dig, flick! Nothing like family to incite you into a murder spree.

Morticia and Gomez turned a corner and met you at the halfway point between cell block 394 and cell block 394-C. “Aahh! Our little dagger! Look at you in your little red uniform,” said Gomez, clapping his hands as if to seal the finality of his joy.

Morticia smirked at you and murmured, “Only the best for an Adams.” She winked at you behind the bars separating the cell blocks, making your lip twitch. 

Despite your distaste for her overtly sweet manner, you did appreciate her respect for your reputation that has awarded you such an unmatched level of security—a uniquely colored uniform and private cell block, in fact—and fear that wafted off those you passed, including the guard who has yet to remove his eyes from your form. You suppose rightly so since you did have the propensity to pounce on those inside the prison with teeth slashing into their pliable flesh, even if your hands were permanently locked into a steel cage. 

You watched the guard pocket his dirty toothpick and slowly speak into his radio while eyes remained watchful of you, “Open the gate.” 

The security light overhead flashed green while the gate buzzed open from a remote control center, and you stepped through the threshold. You sighed and walked up to your mother and father. “Hello, parents. Did you get bored of trying to act like you could still procreate and decide to pay your eldest a visit finally?”

“Desdemona!” Morticia shrieked. 

Gomez chuckled and touched her back to quell her growing frustration. “Easy, Tish, she’s just warming up for the day. You didn’t mean it, did you, my little hellion?”

“Oh, I don’t know. How serious are you about breaking me out of here?” You narrowed your eyes at him while all four of you, including the guard, walked back to the entrance. As the four of you stepped outside the prisoner living quarters, Gomez turned and gestured toward the guard, who was hesitantly moving toward you with a set of keys jingling in his unsteady hands. You watched him fit the correct key into the lock of the steel cage and turn the little knobs inside, releasing the pressure from the cuffs and letting them bounce apart from your wrists before the box snapped open and thudded to the ground. Your brow raised while you rubbed at your sore wrists. Giving a cursory glance at the guard, you thought, ehh, there’s better prey than you, little piggy. 

You turned toward your father and mother as they said, “Dead serious, darling.” You smirked and followed them to the car. Lurch let you all in, moved into the driver's seat, and put the pedal on the floor, leaving dust and gravel flying in your wake with the prison and the shaking guard fading into little dark spots.

Turning back to your parents, you said, “So, who did you kill, poison, or bribe to get my indefinite sentence halted?” 

Morticia and Gomez stopped fawning over each other and whispering like teenagers about their little escapades in their youth that were similar to this one. They turned to you, and Morticia said with a familiar smirk, “A certain judge might have suddenly come to the belief that were you not immediately released, his bowels might begin imploding on him, causing massive internal bleeding that would quickly escalate to extreme bloodloss and sudden death.”

You raised your brow, thinking, gross, definitely not your style. Then again, yours and your parents’ signatures have never quite aligned. Have they? “And he agreed to that?”

“Well…a little give was admittedly needed on our part, little dagger. No justice system would simply allow a famed serial murderer to walk without some sort of agreed-upon rehabilitation plan. That is what our little friend informed us." Gomez said this with palms up and a placating smile, knowing you would add in that you could have done it without having to bend your will, albeit coming away with messier hands and the smell of blood on you. 

Scoffing, you looked out the window, knowing whatever they agreed to put you through would not be to your liking, which would most certainly make your parents smirk with satisfaction—Morticia, anyway. Your relationship with your parents has always been a complicated one. “So, what will this forced rehabilitation plan look like, hmm?”

You could practically feel Morticia buzzing with selfish glee as she slowly said it, letting her lips form each word wholly before dropping them before you to splatter into the carpeted floorboard under your feet. “You're going to attend school with your younger sister, Dezzy. Our old alma mater, Nevermore Academy.”

“WHAT?” You barely registered that she used that stupid, loathsome nickname because all you could hear was your blood ringing through your ears. Your heartbeat sped up, imagining you mingling with petty little tweens and other teenagers as they giggled, cursed, sweated, cried, and chatted with one another. Their germs and fluids mixing as bodies inevitably tangled, writhed, and pulled at one another while they threw away all of their intellectual capacities for brief moments of desire and ecstasy. You don’t know how Wednesday does it every day. God, I hope that place hasn’t changed her, you thought. 

“Oh, come now, Dezzy–

“I told you never to call me that! You know how I feel about that fucking nickname!” You screamed, images of you trapped and bashing your fists against the underside of the musty floorboards while tears streamed down your cheeks, listening to the girls chanting Dezzy! Dezzy! The scared little baby! above you flashed in your eyes. You blinked the memories away and looked at Morticia out of the corner of your eyes with betrayal and disappointment. She never fucking learns, you thought.

Morticia was always startled at your outbursts, the level of fury you could hurl at her in a second. Like the flip of a match, you exploded on her, which never fails to leave her speechless and hurt. She looked to Gomez for support but found him nudging his head towards you as a signal to apologize; Morticia, come on. She looked at you as you stared out the window, watching the foliage blur into greens and browns. Sighing, she thought, fucking stupid, you remember why she hates that name, hell you walked in on them doing it, Morticia! Leaning her head towards you, she tries to get your attention again and slowly says, “I’m sorry darling, I- I know, I shouldn’t have said that. It slipped out before I knew what I was saying, little dagger. Desdemona darling…” she waited for you to look at her, “forgive me?”

You studied her expression, saw the plea in her eyes, and remembered how she ripped out the floorboards, picked you up from that dark, spider-infested place, and held you in her arms. While you cried and clung to her, she held you and screamed how could you? What is wrong with you? You’re fucking monsters! to the group of blushing girls caught red-handed. You remember how she stormed into the headmaster’s office, demanding an explanation for why he didn’t protect you, why those girls were left unsupervised, why he let you go so long without a single friendship made at that damned school? Above all, you remember her vowing never to bring her daughter back to that hellhole and that he could say goodbye to his reputation and credentials as an educator. You recall as she carried you out of there, hearing her swearing on her mother’s grave that he and those girls would pay severely for making her baby scream and cry out in fear. Ohh, how you could hear her chanting something deadly in her spell room while Gomez talked with strange men about visiting the families of those unfortunate, monstrous people, and finally, you remember seeing four little dolls that looked so like the condemned from that school wind up on your mother’s desk in gruesome conditions with pins and burned bodies.

“Okay, fine, I forgive you—but only for the nickname, not for this nightmare you are about to put me through,” you grumbled and leaned your head on the back of the seat. 

Morticia smiled and forced herself not to reach out and clasp your hands because she knew how alike her daughters could be. Instead, she grasped Gomez’s arm and said, “Nevermore is a charming little gothic wonderland! We swear it is not like other schools; Nevermore is a place for freaks, ghouls, werewolves, vampires, and gothics alike. Tell her, Gomez.”

“Tish is right, my little dagger. Nevermore is unlike any school; it was founded by Faulkner himself, after all. The principal there is devoted to ensuring every student feels welcome…especially after what happened last year, the school has become more like a family of goths and freaks that protects its own.” 

“How touching,” you said, your voice dripping with sarcasm in response to their sickly sweet praises of the school. You looked out the window and saw the beginnings of a massive castle-like structure forming in the distance. Turning to your parents, you sighed, “Well, if I am to spend the rest of my sentence here, at least tell me more of this famous school and its esteemed principal that you’re so giddy to bore me over—quickly though, otherwise my ears might burst with anymore prolonged exposure to your insane joy.”

Morticia frowned at the word sentence and watched you smirk at her facial expression. Sighing, she thought, sometimes you and Wednesday are too alike before going into detail with Gomez about the academy’s history and the unfortunate events of last year. The tales of the raving monster they called the Hyde and its evil commander, how they ravaged the town, the school, and everyone that came unsuspectingly into their path—they were gruesome. Morticia and Gomez smirked at the unmistakable growing spark of curiosity and thrill in your eyes. An Adams through and through. They told you how Wednesday and her band of misfits were crucial to stopping the Hyde and its evil commander, Mrs. Thornhill, and how Wednesday’s known skill for potionmaking ended up saving the principal with one of her concocted antidotes. Indeed, what a tale of misery, murder, and mystery it was. Agatha Christie would be pleased, you thought. 

…

Staring up at the gothic architecture, in all its dark, sullen glory, you thought it impressive. At least your parents were not wrong about the appearance and atmosphere of the place. Nevermore is most certainly a school reserved for only the best of freaks and goths; you could see students roaming about under the gables, curved archways, gargoyles, and on the marbled and grassy surfaces of the quad and the lawn surrounding the gothic concrete creature. It looked more like an overdone mansion than a school. Students dressed in matching dark purple and blue uniforms, some with black glasses, others with mixed expressions of glee, curiosity, suspicion, or dread, and carrying books, backpacks, trinkets, or all three; it made them look like little characters from a story that were hiding powers and ambiguous morality. 

Making your way through the school entrance with your parents on your heels and gossiping about the glorious days of their youth—yuck!—you came face to face with the gold plaque of Principal Weems. You could hear her typing away on her laptop and talking on the phone about a banquet, or was it a dance? Her voice was distinctly sweet yet deep—how dark could it go?—and smoothly rich, the voice of someone who was not afraid to demand respect and authority she likely felt she was rightly due…and of someone who was used to receiving it promptly, with haste…someone who rarely found herself matched and challenged. Hmm, you might actually have some fun here, Des. With that thought, you knocked sharply on her door, hearing her voice come to a halt before she murmured a short apology and goodbye, followed by a short silence and then the rhythmic, steady click of her heels as she approached the other side of the wooden barrier. 

[lostzephyrus]

Very much kinda ranty post because I don’t know how to word things well so I apologize in advance!

Due to seeing a lot of it on my Twitter feed(or maybe its just me and I’m on LilyTWT) I wanted to try a hand at making like.. my own Fan-Made Hunter!Lily concept; but my idea did mainly stem from a post I saw on Twitter which sparked my idea for it.

If I recall correctly it was a “Headless Horseman” type design that they were thinking- and instead of doing the traditional “Headless Horseman” where its a pumpkin for a head or nothing there, I wanted to do my own little unique spin on it but I could not figure out what I wanted to do and the first thing that came to my mind was… fire? I still don’t fully understand why myself.

But on top of that I also gave her Satyr legs that are the resemble that—and are the same color as—the horse Simon rode. I thought it would be a cool idea to give her some semblance of a horse in her design due to the whole Horseman design concept without giving her a Centaur Body or a full on horse.

I—of course—kept Simon’s helmet within her design as its one of the biggest parts of her character, and one of the only ways I think that she is still able to keep Simon apart of her. I like to think of it as a way that she can keep the flames somewhat under control- as without the helmet they’d be like a wildfire.

Her outfit has also been changed from that of a cheerleading uniform to now a jockey’s uniform!

I don’t really have much else to say... and I don’t want this post to get even longer(and possibly more confusing) but here is what I came up with! :

Thanks to one of my friends on Discord she also has a name! “The Equestrian”

I also have been trying to think of what her abilities might be so those are still under work </3

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

EAH was one of my very favorite cartoons as a kid, and I've been enjoying it's renaissance very much, so REDESIGNS!!! (I've done a bunch over a couple months and put them on Instagram, but I figured I'd move them here cause Instagram sucks, so if you've seen them before over there that's why)

I think the original designs are aesthetically pleasing, but they're not super practical for the characters- case in point! Gay icon Darling Charming

I'm gonna put all my design notes under the cut so if you don't care about that carry on, have a nice day

Darlings original design is fun, but it doesn't serve an obvious purpose, at least not that I can see. She clearly wears armor on the outside of her outfit, the Marie Antoinette poof is a bit strange to me, and she has very little visually tying her to Dexter and Daring. I wanted to emphasize her secrecy, but also her passion for puzzle solving, riddles, combat tactics, ect. when she's around the people she trusts (as if the queer metaphor wasn't obvious enough)

Here are some details that just make me happy

-First, the hair. I knew I wanted to give the White Knight a more unique look, and I wanted to simplify it overall. I LOVE the original armor, but it would be a huge pain to animate, and I don't have the patience for that, so I went for a masquerade-ball-three-musketeers-vibe. The braided bun is still a fancy, regal style, but it's a lot easier for her to manage in her uniform

-I tried to synthesize the color schemes of the Charming siblings. They all have a pit of yellow, a bit of pinkish red, a bit of blue. The twins lean heavy into yellow and blue, with splashes of red where thematically appropriate. Darling doesn't really communicate with Daring much, so she has the least amount of red. I think having more muted colors in comparison to her brothers also emphasizes the fact that she's hiding herself. She is very much defying her family with her ambitions, and she has to work hard to keep it under wraps. Sort of related, I gave her a tooth gap, because it's a cute design detail, but also to act as a "flaw" to contrast with Daring. Daring's primary physical trait is his ungodly perfect teeth, so I thought it'd be fun to give her an "imperfect" trait, like Dexter and his glasses. There's nothing actually wrong with them, but it's a failure to reach the insane expectations that the Charming family has cultivated over the generations. Basically the Charmings are petty and I feel bad for the youngest generation.

-Speaking of concealment! There are a couple bits that I thought would be fun to hide throughout her outfit. First, the skirt is flowy enough and the shirt is positioned just right so that you can't tell, but she has pieces of leather armor on at all times. She saves the plates for wonderland. She also wears gloves to hide the callouses on her fingers from swordfighting! She also probably keeps knives in her hair somewhere. Pulling a small switchblade out of the base of her bun just seems like something she would do

-Final thing, I gave her a scar! From what I can tell, she's always been very rough-and-tumble, so I gave her a scar over her brow. She likes to pretend it's from a Mysterious Incident to mess with her friends, but really she was wrestling Daring when they were like, 4 and 6, and she bonked her face into a table. She got over it real fast, but Daring got a long lecture about it, and that's when he started getting over-protective about her

[adobe-outdesign]

oooo how about the krawk next? aka the forever wooden spoon award holder

Krawks for many years were known as a status symbol pet alongside Draiks, due to being a restricted pet—instead of just being able to create one, you either had to shell out of a lot of money to get a morphing potion, or shell out a lot of money to obtain a Krawk petpet. Thankfully, re-releases in recent years have helped make Krawks fairly obtainable.

Which is good, as I always thought having a petpet that becomes a Neopet is a really unique and fun idea, but making it near-impossible to get the pet in question...is not.

Visually, Krawks are basically alligators/crocodiles, but features like them being bipedal and having back spikes (sometimes portrayed more like fur, it's not very consistent) along with their markings help give them some flavor. I like the very reptile-like head shape in particular with the jagged mouth as well as the spots.

The base colors are pretty good, though not terribly consistent—the blue has cyan accents, the green has darker accents, the yellow has lighter accents, and the red is super low-contrast. Still, not a huge deal, as they look good regardless.

Not much changed with Krawks post-customization, other than them gaining larger pupils and losing their foot claws/sass. The customized version looks better overall in terms of linework and shading, and the anatomy has been improved in areas like the legs and arms.

Favorite Colours:

Camouflage: Taking the crocodile traits to their natural conclusion, the camouflage Krawk looks great. I love the natural muted palette contrasted with the bright yellow and green eye, and how the color subtly shifts from green to brown. The spots are nice and don't feel too uniform. It's also nice how this color improves the basic shading with more highlights and more shadows, making for a fantastic colour overall.

Maraquan: Krawks are at least semi-aquatic as is, but the Maraquan Krawk takes it to its logical conclusion by dropping the legs in favor of a tail and some fins. I like how the back spines have become sea dragon-esq camouflage, how the eye lost its iris and uses a light yellow against the darker teal base for contrast, and how the markings look very natural (kind of like the camo Krawk above).

The customized version is alright, but the UC/styled is definitely better here. Not only does it have a really nice subtle scale texture to it, but the subtle changes to the head anatomy really make it. The back spines also look less cluttered, the pose is more dynamic, and the hands are proper fins.

Royal: While nothing usual for the color, the royal Krawks look pretty darn nice. Both versions are equal in design, having similar outfits, staffs, etc., and both fit the Krawk's design nicely. I think I prefer the Royalgirl over all, but the Royalboy has the better palette with the complimentary yellows.

The UC/styled versions are once again the best ones, as a lot got lost in translation, like how the converted Royalgirl lacks eyeliner and hair for no reason, or how the staffs are way too big, or how the Royalboy's beard is distressingly detailed. The poses and slightly unique anatomy are also great and give them some extra personality.

BONUS: Another unfortunate victim of conversion, the UC/styled Tyrannian Krawk is (most likely) a dimetrodon, complete with a semi-quadrupedal pose and huge back fine. The converted version not only screws up details like the claws, but also is forced to be fully bipedal and lose things like the eyebrow ridges and shorter head spikes. A shame. The original still looks great though. Only complaint with both is that the colors are messy; too many shades of orange and brown tossed together with too little consistency, and barely visible striping that should've been like two times lighter.

[silvantransthranduiltrash]

To elaborate on my “mirkwood is one of the only places where the veil isn’t” post:

So, in this au the Valar and Maiar are responsible for the veil, though not out of malice. It’s more subconscious/accidental than anything.

See, when the elves came to be, they were a lot more diverse than what you see portrayed in the books. It wasn’t just skin and hair color that differed from elf to elf (though even then without the veil there’s a lot more variety of skin and hair color) but also body shape and body parts.

You had elves who’s teeth were sharp like wolves, who’s eyes had black instead of white, who had a pair of extra limbs, or horns, or tails. Whose tongues were forked, who’se finger tips turned black.

They still maintained a relative humanoid shape, after all they were the first children and were supposed to look similar to the humans, but there was definitely more to the elves both physically and mentally.

And this was all in Eru’s plan.

But the valar. They have this idea that everything has to be perfect. That everything has to be uniform. Like i said, it’s not malicious, it’s just that they think that everything has to be perfect in order for eru’s plans to come to fruition.

So when the valar and maiar came across the elves, who were all so diverse and unique, it’s not that they thought “wow, this is bad” it’s that they thought “wow, this is a mess”.

When the elves came to valinor or they settled in Melian’s girdle the valar and maiar tried to make everything “perfect”, so to speak. They themselves adapted to have a humanoid form in order to relate to the elves better. And subconsciously, their influence passed over the elves in their care. So all the elflings were being born lacking the colorful traits of their ancestors. they became plain, so to speak.

But the valar and maia influence did not stop there, oh no. Even morgoth helped inadvertently.

And over valinor and through middle earth a veil emerged that hid all that the powerful spirits considered “not right” from the eyes of elves, dwarves and humans alike.

Well, everywhere except where the silvans and avari dwelt, that is. They not only kept their unique characteristics, but they also became the only ones to see the world for what it is.

Eru never planned for the valar to take the elves away to valinor in the beginning, so as a reward or a curse, depending on how you view it, eru let the elves who refused valar or maiar influence see.

And it’s not just the elven characteristics that are hidden by the veil. No, so are ghosts and other creatures that don’t align with the valar and maiar.

Now there are two worlds that live side by side, but one is blind to the other. Except for in places like Mirkwood.

[mikodrawnnarratives]

my redesign(s) for Kira! This webtoon has been on my mind so much lately and i couldn't not do anything for it

So much more in depth stuff is below for anyone who also read Antistalker and disliked anything about it

So, I don't actually mind many of the designs in canon, the biggest complaint I have being. Everyone looks the same. Like, EVERYONE has the same hairstyle and skintone. Which is white. Of course its white.

The uniforms don't help much with the samey look a lot of the characters have. I have my own redesign for Yulai in the works since he looks almost exactly like August but with blue hair, but I decided what if the uniforms in my version weren't actually uniforms. Like, the school had a couple colors that if you wore them u were fine.

You have the option to wear fancier stuff w suits an what not but thats only to show ur class. After all, in a school that puts humans, werewolves, and vampires in the same space, not everyone is gonna have the same economic status to allow purchasing a uniform, or multiple. Though that being said I do like the canon uniforms, they were very unique and you could TELL the same creativity just wasn't there when the main three went to Black Moon.

My version would have a looser dress code to really highlight the priviledge the school filled with elite Vampires has. I think their name was White Moon? Or smthn. But they could have been really exaggerated in how identical and eerie they are in comparison to the warmth at Red Moon.

Anyway were was I.. PANTS for kira. Get RID of the skirt RID OF IT I SAY and add some patches cuz that hints at her new financial situation. Can't afford new pants so when she gets tears she patches them up.

(i didn't bother changing her shoes cuz there really isn't anything wrong with them. I like a lot of the outfits in s1 even if i think the writing could be better. Though, i think it would be interesting if she had Good Shoes for school and changed into worse ones at home, so that she always has her best for when she's keeping order. In mine, she's being paid for her efforts to keep the school sane. That way, she has at least one income to explain living on her own as a sophomore.)

I also looked at a bunch of pics of wolf cuts bc I liked the idea of giving her more hints in her design that she isn't HUMAN.

She had a knife at the very beginning but then a bird took it and its no were to be seen for the rest of the series??? idk abt that chief. Let her keep her weapons! She's the president of the displinary committee for fucks sake!

I kept her hair pins bc of course i kept her pins. She's much more covered now since I wanted more references to the fact she's part vampire, and that includes having more parts of her hair white. I tried to keep it equal amounts white and black so that she has equal parts of her mom and dad.

I changed up her bangs mainly because everyone has them and I thought they were a cute style. The way I have her hair rn makes it really easy to subtly shift them into doggo ears

I drew my design as close as possible to canon's style and made a ver. with canon's colors. I switched were the eyepatch is cuz thats an uper important detail i have in my rewrite. In mine, ever since Kira discovered her powers allowing her to control werewolves, or however I change the mechanics of that power, she has that werewolf puberty awakening and one of her eyes reflects this.

She gets the orange eye and KEEPS IT. But from then on she hides it with an eye contact, even if she doesn't know why. It's just something she knows she should do and the reason came from her memories she's lost

If you pay attention, one eye is less saturated than the other when both eyes are red, in mine. I think it would have been just so much more clever to have had it be a secret she's kept up until the injury over her eye heals + her getting her memories back

She's removed the eye contact cuz with her eye covered up, theres no point in it. And by the time she doesn't need the eye patch anymore, she remembers enough to be like "well fuck this I'm not hiding anymore."

I ALSO redesigned her past self! Before she meets august. She purposefully dies her hair to avoid daily suspicion that she's a "half breed"

If she had her hair mostly white, it would be pretty obvious she's her mother's daughter, so its kept more black like her father's to avoid suspicion. But that doesn't mean she isn't still singled out.

When she meets August and befriends him, eventually she cuts her hair with his help, trying to get a layered hair cut without having to go to a salon, and it ends up very uneven.

The reason I wanted her past self to look different than her current is because in MINE there is/would be an emphasis on how much Kira has changed since August was last with her. He idolizes the idea of his childhood best friend that he saved but made the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE for by removing himself from her life, so she would be safe!! He was still manipulated by his father into that specific choice in mine, but the idea this was the best course of action still remains

August thinks that when Kira remembers again, she's gonna revert to how she was before the incident, before it all. But she's not really that girl anymore. She's picked up skills in fighting, become Punisher Volkov, she had to sell her family's house at 14 so she could get an affordable place farther away, she has to deal with her abusive grandfather's bullshit just so that she can keep his monthly checks she receives. She has had so much on her plate. And she's also made so many new friends, deep friendships, built a community, a strong support system, and gotten stronger.

And who she was before didn't have all that. I feel like canon could have easily gone this route in canon! Kira said she wanted to clarify the past so she could move forward! She wanted closure and she deserves it! But August's behavior never went corrected. He's back in her life again and she's back to her old crush. Season 2 tries to address Kira's life now, how different it is compared to her rich life before, but it tells us the solution is for her to MOVE IN WITH AUGUST oh HE'LL SAVE HER and EVERYTHING WILL BE BACK TO HOW IT WAS

No. Give August the lesson that things have changed. He can take that and either move forward with how Kira is now, or forget any romantic interest with her. She's not who he thinks she is.

anyway thank you for reading my info dump <3 I'm insane about kira and how much potential was lost in s2

just. vokivormok really flushed so much down the toilet. probably had too many plot points to figure out how to resolve BUT I HAD FAITH IN EMM they should have taken more time b4 season 2...

[meadow-roses]

Meet the Family - Part 3

This scene is around three years old, and was started as a character study/exploration for Grace and her friends to get a feel for how they are involved in Felix’s backstory plot. This is not a scene in the actual story and a lot of the “plot” is not canon, but I thought it would be fun to share with you guys! Enjoy!

Part 1 * Part 2 * Part 3 * Part 4

*******

Dinner with Grandma. A very normal family event. Why Grace was taking him to meet her Grandma before her parents was making Felix rather curious, but he had baked a batch of cookies and gone over his alibi in preparation for all the nosy old lady questions.  He was nervous, but he was ready.

He had offered to do the driving, but Grace had politely declined. He was still recovering from an accident, she said, and she was happy to drive for him. Felix felt the familiar tinge of guilt at her belief in his lie, but he had shrugged it off with a smile and thanks. Hopefully soon the world would be safe enough for the truth to not be dangerous. 

Felix watched the city pass by out the window of Grace's old-fashioned car. He realized, as each turn brought them closer to the more shady parts of town, he really should have asked her where they were going and given the address to someone just in case. Although, if Grace wasn't to be trusted it would be unlikely she'd give him the correct address. Kidnappers aren't known for being particularly honest people. And while he trusted Grace, his agent wasn't going to be happy about this. 

The city looked very different here in the outskirt neighborhoods. Instead of the uniform rows of identical houses, exact replicas of each other down to the matching hedges underneath the front window, the homes here were all unique, reflecting the personalities of the people who lived inside. A hodgepodge of shapes and sizes in various states of repair, their roofs were dwarfed by the colossal skyline of the rest of the city behind it. They drove past disheveled apartment complexes, cozy looking cottages tucked behind fairytale gardens, homes of painted wood, plastic homes with their faded colors, metal homes with rusted tin roofs, some that looked inviting while some… that didn't. 

He shifted his grip on the arboform tub of cookies in his lap. He could trust her, right?

"Speedbump!" Grace called out cheerfully as the wheels hit a bump of cement in the road.

The little blue vehicle jostled its passengers against their seatbelts as it tumbled itself up and over. Felix was watching the street signs pass by, making careful note of their route so far. It had been a long time since he had last been in this section of the city- on this specific street actually. He wondered who was living in Edward's house now, and if they would have taken down the ridiculous looking flamingo in the front lawn. 

Oddly enough, he realized after a moment's thought, it had actually been only a little over two years since it had all started. Strange how much could fit into such a small amount of time. 

"Well, here we are," Grace said, gently easing down on the brakes as she turned into a cracked asphalt driveway. 

The car shuddered and lurched in protest until it finally came to a stop. Felix made a mental note to remember to take a look at her rotors. 

Grace turned the key in the ignition and shot him a grin before jumping out the door. An exceptionally wide grin, Felix thought, as he opened his own door. She must be really excited for me to meet her grandma. 

Felix slammed the car door shut and took a look around. 

He had been here before, to the house next door. He stood for a moment staring at the faded lawn flamingo with its plastic santa hat. Someone had added sunglasses and drawn a mustache over its beak. That was… weird.

"You coming?" Grace called from halfway up the walk. 

"Uh, yeah!"

He caught up to Grace at the front door. She looked *really* happy now, practically bouncing on her heels with excitement. 

"I forgot to mention this earlier," She said, overemphasizing her hand gestures. "But Grandma invited over some extended family for a quick goodbye party and because they wanted to meet you too. I hope that's okay?"

Felix tried not to express the sudden twist of apprehension he felt in his stomach. They were Grace's family. He *did* actually want to meet them- maybe with a bit more time to prepare himself- but surely it would be fine.

"Oh yeah, that's fine," he said. 

"You sure?" Grace asked, her hand on the doorknob.

"Yeah! A little more warning would be nice, I'm not sure if I'll have enough cookies," Felix laughed nervously. "But I would like to meet your family."

Alarm bells were going off in the back of his head, but he ignored them. If this was an ambush why would she have warned him ahead of time?

"Great!" Grace grinned. "Let me know if you want to leave, sometimes they can be a little much."

Felix grimaced internally and wondered what exactly that meant as Grace turned to knock on the door. Maybe he had enough time to text the address to his mom, but it was already too late. Grace had skipped the knocking step altogether. She punched a four-digit code into the lock- too fast for Felix to catch the combination- and threw the heavy front door open. 

"We're here!" She announced loudly as the door banged against the opposite wall.

Felix heard shouts and the sound of chairs squealing across the floor and footsteps thundering down stairs. It sounded like a few more than just "some" extra people. 

He clutched the container of cookies closer to his chest as Grace beamed in expectation. 

He was prepared to be assaulted by an exuberant crowd of loud, running people, but instead they filtered into the room from the various hallways and down the staircase completely silently. This he found was almost more intimidating, especially paired with their curious, friendly smiles. 

Not a single person entering the room looked like they could be directly related to Grace, or even to each other for that matter. 

The alarm bells in the back of his head took this as an opportunity to remind him of their presence. 

Once he was thoroughly surrounded, Grace put a hand on his shoulder and gestured wide to the crowd.

"Everyone, this is Felix! Felix, this is my family!"

Felix made his best attempt at a smile and waved to the group with his free hand. 

"Uh, hello. I brought… cookies." He held out the tub of cookies to the crowd as though it were a peace offering to a group of uncertain natives. 

The crowd of people made no move to accept this offering.

 Felix threw a glance in Grace's direction to find her practically glaring at the group of people arranged in front of them. 

She mouthed the question, "*What are you doing*?" 

The members of the crowd smiled broader in response.

Felix threw another uncertain glance in Grace's direction, but the moment he took his eye off of them the situation changed. 

The two people standing directly in front of Felix stumbled to the side with shouts of alarm, attempting, and failing, to shield their heads from the cane waving wildly in the air. 

The lady on the other end looked particularly fierce, glaring at the startled assembly behind wisps of unruly curls.

"What in the world are you all doing?" She shouted, making a point to catch a tall blonde man over the top of his head with a solid thunk. "Are you trying to terrify that poor man?"

Felix was feeling like the old lady with the walking stick was far more intimidating than the silently smiling crowd.

Huffing, she slammed the cane down on the floor in front of her and threw one last glare around the room.

Grace made a wide gesture around the room. "What the heck are you guys doing?"

"I don't know," the blonde man said, wincing and rubbing the top of his head. "We were told to not be intimidating, so I suggested we try being quiet and friendly. Like making friends with a cat."

"Seriously?" A woman towards the back of the group asked as she crossed her arms.

Grace threw her hands in the air in exasperation. 

The man shrugged apologetically in Felix's direction.

"That was, not what I was expecting for sure," Felix said, choosing his words as he spoke. "But I do appreciate the gesture."

This situation was nothing like the one he had been imagining and mentally preparing himself for. 

None of the people in the group seemed like they could be secretly malicious as they all chimed an apology and the old lady nodded approvingly. 

He realized how tightly he was holding the container of cookies and loosened his grip, allowing the feeling to rush back into his fingers.

"Um, I made cookies," he tried again, hesitantly offering the tub to who he assumed was Grace's grandma. 

"I wasn't expecting this large a group so I'm not sure there will be enough but-"

She cut him off with a smile and wave of her hand.

"Don't worry about that. You're our guest here and we made plenty of food. You can hand that to Lyra if you'd like and she can take it to the kitchen, or I suppose you could continue hugging it like a teddy bear."

Sheepishly Felix handed the tupperware to the girl that stepped forward.

She had long, silky, black hair and amber-gold eyes set in a completely expressionless face that seemed familiar somehow. She accepted the tub and was gone the next moment, slipping between two people and through the doorway into the kitchen.

With the tub of cookies relinquished, Felix awkwardly shoved his hands into his pockets.

"So you're Felix then," the old lady said, taking several steps closer. 

Grace beamed.

"Uh, yeah." Felix held a hand out to shake. "Nice to meet you."

"My name is Kate," she said, giving his hand a strong but firm shake. "But most everyone calls me Grandma. You're welcome to do the same." 

"Thank you."

"Well," she said with a sharp inhale of satisfaction. "Make yourself at home, ask a lot of questions, tell a lot of stories, and have a good time. Don't let these wackos strange introduction bother you too much."

Felix gave an awkward laugh, unsure of how else he was supposed to respond.

Kate gestured down the hallway towards an open doorway. "Go on everyone, to the den. Let's not make things weird by just standing around in the doorway!"

Grace grabbed Felix's hand and led him at a brisk, excited pace to the indicated room.

“Come on guys, I want to do introductions!" She called over her shoulder to the others. 

Kate took up the rear with a well pleased smile on her wrinkled face.

She hardly seemed to need the cane, Felix noted. He wondered if she carried it mainly to hit the unruly youngsters.

[norcani]

people complaining abt art direction/style in the new game...like you can like it or not, but saying its "not dragon age" is silly, the games have been aesthetically a mess for a long time.

dao... maybe uncharitable but it was just generic (dark) fantasy, any piece of it individually could be in any other fantasy property. it did not have a strong visual identity. even it's unique monsters darkspawn look generic (other entires tried to fix this but made them look worse imo). its my favorite game but nothing much to look at.

da2 tried to carve a visual identity, you might like it or dislike it (i personally dislike it) but you cant deny it tried. much more stylized look, a lot of things were complete reworked to be more unique to da, like the darkspawn, the robes and uniforms for the chantry/templars. grey wardens have an unique look now (ironically i kind of liked how dao made them look identityless i feel like it fit them but i get why you might want to have a grey warden look tm) , elves look completely different suddenly

dai tried to find a happy medium with the two while also going for a more realistic approach. it took a lot of the concepts of da2 forward while trying to make it look natural. elves have some mildly different features and bigger ears, but mostly look like humans again. more unique faction armors and coloring but no comedically huge shoulderpads or spikes, etc etc... characters faces were just generic "realistic" though not especially good at it. they looked fine.

dav no matter what it looked like would never look like a da game becaue there is no such look... i was first put off by it too but then thought that stylization in general is good, and it definitely looks better in motion....

id say it has the potential to be the best looking most coherent dragon age but thats not really saying much since they range from "okay" to "nothing". saying something doesnt look like dragon age is nonsense though.