#i never intended to post this but since i haven't posted art in a while

[rockdrop]

posing practice from months ago (i forced them into it)

[a2zillustration]

Farewell

Not "farewell," but "see you later."

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[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]

[[ All Croissant Adventures (app) ]]

...Time to blather on under the cut. I've got thank yous, some notes about potential future comics, and if you scroll to the end of the post, I've decided to compile Croissant Adventures into a physical book. It's mostly for me, so I can hold all TWO HUNDRED AND FIVE of these strips in my hands, as a brick, but if you'd like to own a copy as well, I'll have a link to the preorders down below. If this is where you're going to stop reading, I'll extend a quick heartfelt thanks to you for joining me on this adventure!

Thank you, reader.

This is undeniably the largest project I've ever tackled in my art career; it was never supposed to be this big, and I expected maybe a handful of people to read it, at most. Instead, it became this massive project that I've been working on for ten months straight, and in the end these characters meant so much to me. I'm incredibly grateful for everyone who's bothered to read my little comic strips, whether it was just one or two, or if you've been here since the beginning, following Croissant's adventure from the minute they plummeted off the nautiloid. Thank you so much for being here and supporting this project. Thank you to everyone who left kind words and comments, sent me asks about Croissant, liked or reblogged these posts, or just read these and enjoyed them! While I was determined to finish this project no matter what happened, you certainly made it all the more fun and kept me excited to tell you the next part of Croissant's story.

Thank you, Larian.

If by some chance someone at Larian ever happens to see these, I also want to give an immense thank you to everyone who was a part of making this game. I don't play that many games these days, but BG3 rocketed to the top of my all-time favorite games almost immediately. (It was also the game that made me feel the most out of anything I've ever played; I got legitimately depressed for a few days during my run don't worry I'm fine now we're all good haha). You can tell there was so much work, and so much love involved in this game's development, and I'm so happy the studio has been rewarded with multiple awards in recognition of that dedication to making a fantastic game. Thank you again for sharing this story with us, and I can't wait to see what the studio does in the future.

Is this goodbye?

I'm hoping this is less of a "goodbye," and more of a "see you later." I'll probably take a bit of a break, since I've put off other projects for months, and art fight is happening, but I have many more things I'd like to add to Croissant's story! I have yet to play the epilogue, and I intend to illustrate parts of that depending on what happens. I also have a handful of comics for post-game Breadweave, in addition to some scenes I thought would've happened in-game but weren't canon so I left them out of the original story. (If I haven't gotten to these in a few months and you find yourself wondering about Croissant again, my ask box is always open, feel free to give me a good kick to get me back into their story, lol).

...A book?

I said I never intended this project to be so large, and I meant it. But now that I'm sitting here with two hundred and five Baldur's Gate 3 Tav comics, I really wanted to compile them into a physical book for me to hold. This is mostly for me, but if you'd also like one, I'll have a preorder available in my shop until the end of July.

✨✨✨ Croissant Adventures Preorder ✨✨✨

If you made it to the end of this post, I can only thank you again, from the bottom of my heart. I hope Croissant's story brought you joy, and if you're able to play BG3, I hope that you're having just as much fun in your own tavs' stories.

[elitadream]

Hi guys~! ⛅👋

Long time no see! Much longer than I ever intended, in fact. Truth be told, I wanted to make a public post sooner, but I've had a lot to catch up on in terms of notifications and messages since logging back in a few days ago. I've also made some changes that I will address shortly, but first of all I wanted to thank those of you who have reached out with so much care and understanding during my absence. Adjusting has been a slow and fragile process for me -still is-, and I sadly haven't responded directly to everyone yet because of it, but I wanted to say how much I appreciate your patience and support nonetheless. 🥹 🙏

Long story short, I was gone for five months due to a huge burnout, then progressively found my spark again somewhere along the way and have since mostly recovered. It was my wonderful friend @drones-of-innocence who reached out to me outside of Tumblr, and her sense of initiative is largely the reason why I managed to make this post in a somewhat reasonable delay. 😅💖 With that said however, I must also mention that I've deleted a lot of stuff from my page and have removed most of my work from the public eye as well. This may seem quite drastic and frankly a little unsettling, but I assure you that it was a thoroughly considered and reasoned decision! The thing is that I was still getting lots of notes on these drawings everyday and… To put it simply, I didn't want that anymore. 🙇‍♀️ Experiencing popularity was very detrimental to me in the long run and I needed to put an end to it for the sake of my own wellbeing; at least for now.

Which brings me to my next point.

After mulling it over for a while, I've decided that I would not be returning as an active creator in the Mario community this time around. 👐 Making fanart for this franchise (with such a high and continuously maintained degree of involvement) had a lot to do with my health's decline and I've come to realize that I wanted to direct my focus elsewhere going forward. For that reason, there are things which I know will never be repeated again in the future, both in regards to my art and online presence in general, but that's alright. Things change, as they do and should. I'm looking forward to reuniting with folks and would be very happy to stay in touch with those of you who wish to message me privately. Like my lovely pal @istadris said, what matters most about any fandom are the friends you make in it. ☺️

And speaking of which-

@ody-and-fanatu That's so sweet of you, thank you! 💗 I'm glad you've enjoyed my contribution to the fandom. It was fun while it lasted! 💫 My visual ideas may be gone from my page, but most of my written posts and replies are still there for anyone who wants to revisit those at least, so there's that! And I'd also like to answer some of the asks I still have in my inbox at some point. Knowing that you hold my art in such high regard makes really happy! 🥰 Unfortunately, the other account that I have is reserved for my professional work and I prefer to keep them separate from one other, but the good thing is that I intend to go back to this blog occasionally. Hoping to see you around! Cheers! 🥂

@heiressofdoodles Thanks, I appreciate that! ✨ I'm honestly doing much better than I was earlier this Spring. Back then, I was running on empty and on the verge of crashing without even knowing it. Being in constant physical pain was one thing, but feeling mentally and emotionally drained on a daily basis was another entirely, and something had to be done. It took me a moment to really figure out what was wrong, but thankfully I realized very quickly what was causing it and applied the breaks with all my might. One of my main priorities now is to be more alert and respect my own boundaries to make sure that this never happens again. 🥲

@keakruiser Thank you. 🙏💐 I'm just glad to have found my footing again. Feels good to be able to create freely.^^ Hope you're doing well too!

Special thanks also to @pianokantzart, @jelly-fish-wishes, @katlyntheartist, @triniji and @wahooitsamee for their kind words. 🫂 Your graciousness and consideration means a lot to me. 💝

As for all the nice people who sent me anon comments and well wishes, I tried to summarize my thoughts as best I could in this update, but if there's anything else you'd like to say or know, don't hesitate to ask me anytime! Now that I feel like myself again, I think I'm gonna hang out on Tumblr for a little bit. I'll be excited to see what you guys have been up to in the meantime! 🤗 Wishing you all a very good day and pleasant Fall. 🍂

-elita 🌸

[stringlessau]

IT'S STRINGLESS' 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY (+ early concept art compilation)

Posting this dumbass little video to start off the day since we have a lot of little gifts for our awesome community today.

One of those things is something i've been wanting to do for a very long while: posting a lot of the original concept art for stringless (since ive always enjoyed seeing other people's early concepts) some of these i have posted massively before, some are completely unseen, so it'll be fun

This one is the page that started it all, his design is at the same time largely unchanged and also completely different

All i have to say is that it originally said (regarding spamton and swatch) "they bicker like an old married couple" but then i thought about it and i changed it so theyre literally just married

Didnt mean to make swatchton, made it anyway lmfao

Right after that, i got working on neo designs, I wanted to make him really scary looking, the original concept was to make him look skeletal and generally for him to look insane and like he had been reanimated from the dead, but a lot of people had told me over time that they didn't really like the design, I was very defensive over it but I ended up taking criticism and i actually really like the new neo, it balances the uncanniness of the original design with the sleekness of my new art

Payton was a natural next step, without someone to sell the thorn ring there'd be no neo, so although his design visually stayed almost the same, he went through a lot of color revisions (thanks mostly to @maskedalterego, who helped me to nail his final color palette), he suggested the gloves, and helped me to balance the saturation of the design since really I've never had a good eye for color.

His final design, color wise, was just me experimenting using the colors of my sona at the time on him, which I was hesitant to do but was so happy with the palette that I kept it.

It's interesting that he was originally intended to be the pink addison (since he sells one of the snowgrave required rings), and the reason he ended up being the blue addison was corey beepington (and the eviction notice short which I have taken one too many concepts from), this still influenced me to make his outfit pink initially, which still is a huge part of his character design

That exact same night, I created concept art for Raster (weirdly, I was sure I created them before Payton, but it might be because I was generally uninterested in Payton earlier on), their design is also largely unchanged, I just got better with shapes and color, I also ended up changing their cheek markings after seeing some swatchton fanchild art by ne0nbandit

A first until now, the first concepts for payton neo were made on paper

I took very long on this design, and I only updated it every few weeks to make tweaks because I felt the concept was too good but my execution didnt make it justice

I'm very proud of how the design looks now, as of the latest neo redesigns, I feel I could finally make this idea justice

Swatch's design went through some last minute changes, I wanted to use this color palette for swatch to contrast with spamton, but decided against it, then i changed their hair to be longer, to make their Stringless design distinct from their regular Deltarune design

Historically, these two are pretty important, the first pieces of art I ever made featuring Rakhin's old design, when he wasn't part of stringless and I was just befriending rope (he made me Payton fanart first, fell in love with his style), the contrast is beautiful

Now to finish this post, here's some unseen Snowgrave route art I made over the time Stringless has been in development, they're all pretty quick sketches, but i love them nonetheless

Thanks everyone for the insane reception this AU has gotten, I haven't been feeling very good this whole year for a huge amount of reasons I can't get into, but Stringless and its community always helps me to remember why I do the things I do

Thanks for everyone's comments and everyone's kindness, thanks especially to @theropeaaa , for being the literal other half of this AU, without whom I couldn't have ever done the Stringless pages, @maskedalterego for helping me and listening to my ramblings since the start, @scamp-boxx for being this AU's biggest hype man (the first ever comment on the first spamton concept art was by them, and they helped me nail so much of the snowgrave route), @boykisserwoah and @weirdohno , for also being here from the start and making an absolutely insane amount of fanart oh my god, @gutamajunk , for motivating me to create Raster, and writing several story outlines on the first days of stringless that were the foundation for the pages, and diaryous milch and rory, our friends that have helped with character designs, story ideas, voice acting and have generally been instrumental to what stringless is today

THANKS EVERYONE <3

-Nick

[microcosmia]

Bo Tang Reincarnates as a Woman AU (pt 1)

I've thought about this a ton more since I first posted and might write something for it...maybe...I haven't written anything in so long lmao idk if I remember how esp cause I'm struggling a bit with the transition of reincarnated-baby-Bo who has no sense of self (baby) to adolescent-Bo who realizes he's in a woman's body now and What Does He Do Now??

Bo, like, reincarnates-reincarnates. As a baby. Technically, he's older than Cheong Myeong this time around (only counting this life) which is a TRIP

"Dongsaeng-nim, didn't anyone ever tell you to respect your elders, I know the venerable masters of Mount Hua would NEVER allow their students the impropriety..."

"Bo-ya, this venerable master is still your elder and will still gladly teach you about respecting YOUR elders, a Lady Tang or not"

Jan Tang and Bo's reincarnation (I've been calling her Bao Tang, using the character for "treasure") are twins

There's this whole thing where for a while, Bo is VERY UPSET thinking that he was supposed to be reincarnated in Jan's body, there's a lot of angst, but this is also where Bo starts to kind of notice his internalize misogyny - he gets this moment of thinking "Wait but what does it matter what body I reincarnated to? I can still DO things, I'm still a better martial artist than, like, ALL of Bao Tang's cousins!" and then this thinking slowly starts to encompass all other women around him

Fun fact tho, that's the body he's supposed to be in. It is as the ancestors intended. (Because he ticked them off and they felt this was a suitable punishment)

Also, kids start developing a sense of "self" at just over a year old - like, they can look in a mirror and be like "oh it a person" and I just keep imagining little 16 month old Bo looking in the mirror, seeing himself as Bao and FREAKING OUT

The Tangs have to remove all the mirrors in the main house, it continues until Bao is like 4 and can actually start conceptualizing WHAT she's seeing and WHY is doesn't feel right

It isn't really until Bao's about 10 that she CONCIOUSLY realizes that she's actually Bo Tang - or that she starts recalling his memories VIVIDLY

There's a weird period where Bo is then thinking, wait, am I Bao Tang? Am I Bo Tang? What's going on? Because Bo grew up as Bao. He has all her memories AND his past memories and though the memories as Bo are stronger, is that only because he's an adult? Did he kill the actual Bao? Supplant her soul? Could a body retain memories?

Basically, Bo hits that middle-school crisis of self earlier than most; it's still about as pretty as that tho (which is to say, not at all)

Admist all of this, she's also showing an alarming aptitude for the Tang style arts (especially the hidden weapons) and Gun-Ak is suuuuuuuper torn because yeah Jan's good, but Bao is BETTER

The elders sense this weakness. They will not allow it. So begins the dance of power a LOT earlier - and Bao's life is subtly threatened whenever they want to put Gun-Ak in his place

Which Gun-Ak is susceptible to, because tho he doesn't think much of a "woman's place" he does love his daughter - more importantly, he knows his lady wife loves their daughter FEROCIOUSLY, and well, happy wife happy life, right?

Bo's new mom, calling her Fen Hui in my head, is Not About her daughter being used as a hostage against Gun-Ak and Even Less About Gun-Ak being so passive with the elders

She was also raised for bigger and better things than being a broodmare and she thinks it's about time she reminded her lord husband about how she was the seal on a deal the Tangs struck with her family for their oh-so-important exotic herbs

Gun-Ak is low-key terrified of his wife, he also loves her as well as he knows how, but is going to learn that it isn't as well as he should

Fen Hui basically tells Gun-Ak that he can either afford their daughter the same training he gives their sons or she'll have her family renege on their deal AND spread not-untrue rumors about how the Tangs treat their women

Sichuan bows to the Tangs because of their power, but the family isn't necessarily TRUSTED because aren't poisons and hidden weapons assassination arts? They certainly aren't righteous arts. Maybe the Tangs aren't a Great Sect yet because they're really a Deviant Sect...

Anyway, it would be EASY for Fen Hui to sway public opinion. Also. All the other Tang wives would 100% be in on it.

Gun-Ak caves and agrees to train Bao

The elders hear and start a smear campaign. It's so successful that Gun-Ak is forced to send Bao away "into disgraced exile" to protect her

Fen Hui starts her Revenge Plot

Bo is like, yes, finally, peace and quiet it is time for a Training Arc and merrily nopes off to some distant Tang estate (maybe it's Fen Hui's family's estate?)

Aaaaaaaand that's where he learns about what's become of the Mount Hua Sect in general and the Plum Blossom Sword Saint in particular

Not to say Bo hasn't thought of his hyung-nim but it's been more like, "He promised to look after these no-good descendents of mine, where'd he get off to???" Or to be like, "Ugh I have so much work to do to catch up to hyung-nim now! And I'm a woman! What if he doesn't recognize me?? He never looked at women in the past! I must make sure I'm strong enough to catch his attention!"

So learning that Cheong Myeong died right after his fight with Cheonma is a Revelation that Bo is Not Super Happy to have

Why wasn't CM in the afterlife? He would have come to find his Bo-ya, surely! Was he cursed? His soul trapped by some evil of the demonic sect right as he cut their leader down?

So Bo is asking ALL these questions and people in the family are like, Baby's First Crush! (but why did it have to be the PBSS????)

(The family is right, but also somehow wrong at the same time)

Bo obviously returns at some point (dramatically) when the Mt. Hua crew is there (thinking right after CM gives Elder Oe his come-uppance). Thinking it was part of Gun-Ak's bet with the elders - if CM beats their candidate for Vice Head, then Gun-Ak's eldest daughter gets to return from "seclusion" with no malicious plots to welcome her back.

It's chaos from there.

I'm still working on this, but if anyone has ideas, feel free to add them!

[ihavedonenothingright]

Captive Prince: Historical References and Naming Conventions

Hi all! I've had this idea in my head for a while now, and I finally had some time (and an Ancient Greek dictionary), so I figured I'd give it a shot. I've always been fascinated by Pacat's worldbuilding, particularly the naming conventions, and as a classicist myself, I wanted to dissect them. So that's what this is. My focus is mainly going to be on Akielos since I don't have as in-depth a knowledge of French, but I'll go through some Veretian names too (je n'ai pas étudié le français depuis deux années, mais Arles… je voudrais parler d'Arles…)

I'm not approaching this with any kind of formal, academic structure, so if something wonky gets through, please let me know! And lastly, I have no idea how many of these are intentional on Pacat's part. This analysis is less about authorial intent and more about how the associations inherent in these names can lend to our interpretation of the work. I'll also be doing this analysis over a few different posts since there is a lot I want to cover. For post #1:

Country Names

This post will solely feature Vere and Akielos since that's already a lot, but I will tackle Patras et. al. later on. There's some very interesting stuff there that I would be remiss not to look at. Of our subjects for today, Vere is the simpler, and the one I am absolutely certain Pacat intended, so I'll start with it.

Vere

Disclaimer: I am in love with this choice. The word itself is actually a Classical Latin adverb derived from the adjective "vērus," meaning "true," and in Latin it's spelled "vērē" (though you will not see those macrons in extant texts, those are a modern pronunciation and differentiation aid). Vērē can be translated a handful of ways; often it's used for emphasis, and in that case it's usually translated as "indeed," but "truly," "rightly," "exactly," and "truthfully" all work in different contexts. Extrapolate vērus and its derivatives for around a thousand years and you get the Old French word "verai" (ouah c'est vrai !) which means, well, "true."

It's also close in spelling and pronunciation to the modern French "verre," which means "glass," which isn't entirely relevant, but is cool. It makes me think of shiny, fragile displays of opulence like the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles. 

The first reason I really like this name is that it calls back to Artes, the Roman-inspired kingdom that we're told once encompassed all of Vere and Akielos, while still fitting current Veretian (aka half-old-half-modern French) grammar and pronunciation. The second is, naturally, that it fits so well into the series' themes of truth, deception, and verisimilitude. The second we're introduced to Vere, and by extension Laurent, there's a subtle hint there that both he and his country are, at their core, more real, genuine, and truthful than Damen and Akielos. We're already building towards Damen's Kings Rising line, "I have never known a truer man." Even if you don't recognize the Latin, your brain will make the connection between Vere and verisimilitude later. It's perfect, 10/10 Pacat, could not have done it better.

And just for fun: a Latin example!

Commentarii de Bello Civili, 2:27. Latin and English available here. 

Hi, sive vere quam habuerant opinionem ad eum perferunt, sive etiam auribus Vari serviunt…

Loeb Translation: "Whether they convey to him the opinion that they really held, or whether they only flatter his ears…" (165)

Slightly more literal translation (by me): "Whether these ones truly convey to him the opinion as they held it, or rather are subservient to Varius' ears…"

Akielos

The name "Akielos" is a lot more… nebulous. I don't know if there is a Greek print of Captive Prince, but my guess is it would be spelled Άκιελος (modern Greek speakers please weigh in, I'm only a year or so into Ancient Greek so I haven't really touched accent marks). That doesn't map neatly to any modern or ancient greek word—at least that I know of. What is does remind me of is Ἀχιλῆος (Achileos) from Ἀχιλλεύς (Achilleus), aka, Achilles. They're so close that I actually realized lately I had unconsciously been pronouncing Akielos as "Akileos" for a while; and in fact, this makes the Veretian spelling "Achelos" make a bit more sense. English and French both use a hard "ch" to represent χ in Greek words; so I imagine, in universe, that the word might actually be spelled Άχιελος. It wouldn't even surprise me if this was the way Pacat originally wanted to spell it, but had to change it for ease of comprehension.

I did have some other interpretations of the name, but I think this is the strongest. Because in addition to the obvious association, the name Ἀχιλλεύς is thought to be derived from the words ἄχος, "distress/grief" and λαός, "people," making it either "the grief" or "grief of/to the people" depending on who you ask (you rely on cases for that sort of distinction in Greek and they're not exactly present here. iykyk).

I really like the idea of Akielos being associated with grief; we're first introduced to it as a country in mourning, and then later on, as the cause of grief in Delfeur. And then you have the association with Achilles, himself a prolific brother killer, who Pacat references later in 'The Fall of Inachtos,' our in-universe Iliad. Insane levels of grief on grief on grief. Plus, because it looks closer to the genitive form, I automatically associate it with the opening line of the Iliad:

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος

menin aeide thea Peleiadeo Achileos

Sing, goddess, the anger of Achilles, Peleus' son

So we can throw a little rage into the equation. As a treat. 

Also important to note that the -os there is a masculine ending. It doesn't have the most bearing, but it does mean that if we want to be strictly accurate to Ancient (and modern!) Greek grammar, I have to throw a quick article in front of it, making our final "how do the Akielons spell Akielos?" answer: ὁ Άχιελος ("ho Achielos"). The ὁ here is equivalent to le in French, with the major distinction being that in French, you don't typically need an article in front of a proper noun, whereas you do in Greek.

That's it for today's analysis! See you guys next time around for Patras, Artes, and (maybe) Arles, Ios, and Delfeur/Delpha.

Part 2 >>

[cj-the-random-artist]

If not too much to ask how did Leshy and Annamer become a couple in ur AU? Am curious how they ended up having a kid that uncle Lamb baby sits ouo (love your art and AU btw ❤️)

I wanna just. Scribble out an answer to this today cuz it's been sitting in my box here for a couple of weeks now and I wanted to do some sketches to go with it but I haven't had the time and I don't think I will for a while so I'm just gonna write out my answer to it here:

Starting from like, the earliest relevant context, Annamer is from Darkwood, and grew up in a village that kind of sort of worshipped Leshy. Like they weren't technically part of his cult but they were also technically worshippers so the crusaders from the Old Faith basically left them alone. Anyways. Annamer was found in the ruins of his village after having basically burned the whole thing to the ground (it was an accident, and they ran away when it happened and returned days later. They still feel quite guilty about the whole thing, especially given that anyone who survived was taken directly to Leshy's cult as a recruit and / or sacrificed) and Lambert took him in. It took months for Annamer to like, come to terms with everything, but when they eventually did, Lambert placed them working in the farms, since he had a lot of experience gardening. Then, a few months after that, Annamer had basically ascended Lambert's ranks and become one of their Disciples, and this is when Leshy joined the cult.

When Leshy joined, he (like all the other Bishops, honestly, maaaaaaybe save for Shamura) spent a good several days just. In his shelter. Avoiding everyone and everything. Having difficulty adjusting. And Lambert had intended to take it upon themself to help him adjust, as they had done with Narinder, but... at this point, they were having a hard time not resenting the Bishops and they couldn't face Leshy for fear that they would take out their frustrations on him, so Annamer volunteered to be the one to help Leshy get adjusted.

It took a while for Leshy and Annamer to actually get accustomed to each other, but they were friends within a few months and then became romantically involved after about five or so years. In my mind, Leshy caught feelings first, which he was kind of confused about cuz he is very grey aroace in my mind and hasn't had a legitimate crush in a very long time, but Annamer is very demi aroace to me so they needed a good few years and a very solid relationship established before they ever fell for Leshy. It worked out that they both took a hot minute to realize they had feeling for each other. But nevertheless, they eventually got together and then got married after a good couple of years of like, dating / courting.

As for their kid, her name is Jular, I do have a design for her... somewhere... so I'll post it later if I remember to... but basically she was kind of. An accident. Leshy and Annamer were never intentionally trying for kids, they both give me very like, semi-irresponsible, just-here-for-a-good-time energy, so I do think Jular was not intentional. But she was a pleasant surprise, they're very glad they had her and they both got really excited about being parents once they figured out that it was gonna happen. That said, Leshy and Annamer both have day jobs, so they do, at times, have to leave her in the care of either the cultists who work as teachers / caretakers, or the care of one of their family members (so, Lambert or one of the other Bishops, or potentially also Webber once he's old enough or Aym and Baal if they're around). But they do also spend as much time with her as they can, I think they come to really enjoy the little family that they have.

I do have... theoretically, more thoughts on this subject, and I actually have thought about making some Leshycat specific comics, but idk when I'm gonna have the time (or, admittedly, commitment) to really sit down and realize my ideas, so... I hope these several paragraphs suffice as an answer. I continue to have the internal back-and-forth with myself of oh, I wanna like, make more AU stuff, or even just talk more about my thoughts on it, cuz I have way more thoughts about this AU than what I post, but... like... also... I haven't actually done that. But that's a tangent for another time.

Anyways- I'm glad you like my AU! It makes me happy that this silly AU and the comics I've made about it are things that other people... actually like. I really have been making this AU... entirely for myself, which I think is part of why I've been approaching it so non-committal-y, but it truly makes me happy that other people like it. So thank you :D

[rapha-reads]

Things from Interview With The Vampire s02e04 (ep11) I noticed:

[Edit 1: Actually this turned into a live-commenting, sorry]

[Edit 2: Keep in mind, I haven't read the books, so all of these observations are born from the show itself and the few (lots of) spoilers and narrative plot points I've gleaned here and there.]

Both Claudia and Louis are so bored with the coven. Or maybe bored isn't the word, but... Done? Frustrated and annoyed? Restless? Louis because he never intended to join and so cares not all for all their internal affairs. Claudia because she thought she'd finally have the life she wanted and instead is being forced to relive the tragedy of her life day after day.

And Armand rejoices in drawing them further apart, scolding and punishing Claudia while begging scraps from Louis.

And he's soooo jealous. The face he makes when Louis starts explaining what Dreamstat feels like is priceless.

Also, personal theory: either Louis is indeed suffering psychotic breaks after psychotic breaks, or just manifesting his own version of Lestat because he doesn't want to let go. Or Lestat can astral project and has been stalking Louis from the moment they left New Orleans.

The coven is tearing itself apart. And normally I'd add "and Armand isn't even seeing it/taking it seriously yet" but given that the whole of them are unreliable narrators and that Armand is a shady ass bitch whose only agenda is himself, I'd say he's well aware and purposefully making it worse.

I can't make sense of Santiago yet, though. Is he jealous? Ambitious? Is he fond of Claudia? Does he hate her? He definitely hates Louis, but is it just jealousy or real antipathy? Oh, but Louis is still my precious special kitten and that speech about Paris, art and modernity, as a contemporary culture student, made me vibrate a little out of my chair, and Santiago clowning him makes me want to claw his face. We get it, you hate him and you think he's pretentious, now can you shut up and let us talk a bit more about the art scene in Paris post-WW2 and why Louis is absolutely right, Picasso isn't all that impressive in the end? Thanks. Bacon tho, Bacon is interesting. My contemporary art teacher last year was excruciatingly boring, but he had a boner for both Louise Bourgeois and Bacon and we spent several hours on them (and not nearly enough about Mapplethorne, alas). Anyway. I feel ya, Lou. I have been called pretentious too for simply getting excited about art, culture and folkore.

I'm rooting for Louis and Claudia to kill them all off and run away to Italy. I know it won't happen, but one can dream, eh.

Is Armand messing up with both Daniel by getting into his mind and Louis by switching the photos? Interesting. Two people who have a shitton of issues stuck with a sadistic, insecure and bitter control freak who's been pulling the threads since way before anyone realises. And Louis is so lost in his trauma and grief and anger, he trusts Armand and doesn't see what's happening and been happening to him for 70 years, while Daniel is just a sad, sick old man who thinks he knows his life and what his future entails. Armand is definitely having fun.

"Je n'aime pas fenêtre quand fermée" is NOT FRENCH, MY EARS. I will be picky, I don't care for artistic licence. Correct sentence would be "je n'aime pas les fenêtres quand elles sont fermées". Admittedly, if it goes into a song, you'd have to respect the length of the line and all those musical measures. But still. You could shorten the numbers of syllables by dropping the language register: "j'aime pas les f'nêtres quand elles sont fermées" ; from 12 or 13 to 9, the original line being 8 or 9. Depending on whether you say "je-n'ai-me-pas" or "je-n'aim-pas" and "fe-nê-tres" or "fe-nêtres". Anyway. I'm sure the writers had those discussions (I hope; hey, AMC, hire me, I'm a good proofreader and I speak 5 languages).

Me: oh, Louis isn't even bothering now, he's directly talking to... Wait, is Lestat eating that photo? If it's Dreamstat: the hell is going on in your head, Louis? If it's Astral Lestat: that is certainly a choice, my friend.

"Barely Balthasar", LMAO, Lestat I fucking love you. Poor Balthasar always gets forgotten in adaptations. Nope, we're not here to talk R&J, moving on.

Armand: "this is my tragic backstory. Feel pity for me. I'm the good guy." Me: yeaaah, how much of this is actually real? And, uh, no, like Lestat said: ha! You're a storyteller and a conman, Armand. You weave your story to pluck at the heart's threads of your audience, modulating it to their sensibilities to better serve your own interests and your plans. What are those interests, these plans? Hell if I know. But I absolutely do not trust you at all.

HANDS OFF CLAUDIA OR I'LL BITE

"The wilderness that is our daughter" have I said lately how much I love Lestat.

Oh, hello, the Loustat scene on the bench just broke my heart, which is funny if you consider that that's just Louis breaking up with himself. Also, do we consider Louis knew about the initials in the pocket, and Dreamstat is saying what Louis wants him to say, or is it another unreliable narrator Louis, or is it Lestat himself...?

Aw, going from the Loumand scene on the bench to "toxic gay divorce with body count" sure is a tonal shift. Lmao. You're losing your touch, Armand. Louis' awakening. Daniel's awakening... San Francisco next, that will be fun. Excited to see how they've changed that part, knowing it's the red thread of the first book.

...

Oooh, that got long. Apologies. I really need to sit and read those books.

[sclki-op]

Hello!! How are you doing? I hope your day is well when you read this message.

I'm reaching out to say, THANK YOU!! For being my main (and only) source of Smozo 🫶

Originally, I wanted to share some HCS abt smozo with you cuz I saw your post about it, but then I couldn't think up anything for them 😭 it's quite a pain when I love this rare pair, but I just can't think of anything that they would do!

So, I've come to ask, if you would share some HCS abt them?

Truly, I'm in a deep hole that I dug myself in... Being a smozo fan is wonderful yet painful 😖 though, that's to be expected of most rare pairs, but for Smozo it's like a dry desert with one lake nearby. (Your lovely works of them)

I've never thought of them before, so I just grew curious and had a look through your ao3 acc (I'm a huge stalker/j) and ended up reading every fic and comic you've made and went through all your art works there... This is actually my first time interacting with you excluding a comment I've made on one of your fics a year ago I think? You've made a new perspective of them for me and now I'm a huge Smozo fan 🫶

I was actually surprised when you said you weren't a writer, (no offense, I promise 😞) your fics are really well structured and I love rereading them!

I usually don't interact much, so this is like a rant about how much I appreciate your work. I hope you know that I'll always be a fan of your gorgeous art work and lovely fics! 💗

Hii! I’m doing good, thanks 💛

Aah I’m glad that you like my art and fics! Thank you so much for following me on this little journey :D

Guess I'll just add a bunch of random facts because it's hard to think of something I haven't already shared under other asks or in my art/fics haha

– Smoker and Zoro like to spar for the fun of it. Since Zoro gains a big advantage after he learns how to use haki, they fight the traditional way to make it even – fists and weapons and nothing else

– The worst of angst is kept on Smoker’s behalf. Zoro gets himself almost killed too often… (staring intently at sabaody. and then at wano. just imagine Smoker already having a piece of Zoro's vivre card by then. what's with that scene with grim reaper? a possible clinical death?? I'm going insane as I'm writing snippets for that. poor man...(I haven't gotten to those chapters yet but I was eager for spoilers from that specific scene))

– I like to think that Smoker tends to be very attentive to the other’s mood and body language, never missing an opportunity to take care of things. The thoughtfulness. And I do think that under all that gruffness hides a man of a soft heart that becomes eager to give affection the moment he learns that it belongs in the thing the two of them have

– While Smoker's pretty reserved and held back and needs time to fully unwind to start initiating things, Zoro's much more open and straightforward in his attention towards him. Never wastes time beating around the bush

– Robin was the first person to find out about their thing and will be the only one until so much later. I actually intended to draw another page for my 'first kiss' comic with Zoro realising he was being watched but I never got to finish that

Sanji almost pieces the puzzle together shortly after the events of Punk Hazard and confronts Zoro about it. Who explains everything himself

___

Oh I can absolutely understand because that's how it felt during the first year of my searching and waiting for any smozo content at all... Back then I barely posted online (and it was a BIG no for me to share ship art) so I only scribbled something small down occasionally and stored it in a folder. I wrongly assumed that no one would be interested in seeing these two haha. Now I have a reason to share my view of them, draw and write all the little scenarios I came up with and also get to discuss all of it with others :D

Thank you so much for your high praise, it means a lot to know that someone enjoys things I make!!

[daeva-agas]

Speaking of the Senshi/Shitennou pairs. I was kind of curious why those stones in particular, right. Kunzite and zoisite are so unusual that I think only gemstone aficionados know them, and even though jadeite and nephrite are somewhat more commonly known names IIRC it still made people mess up the mineral names back in the day.

Well, uh, so, it was alleged that Takeuchi-sensei chose them to match the character and personalities of the senshi they're partnered with, so... Excuse me while I go overthink this and have a meltdown in suffering.

In the first place, supposedly the "inner senshi" are officially meant to be called "guardians"/"guardian deities" (守護 or 守護神). Haven't seen the raws, so I can't confirm, but that's what the JP media says. The term "Shitennou", as many are already aware of, are originally a term used to refer to a set of 4 Buddhist guardian deities.

If true then it just feels like they're all intended to be perfectly matching sets from the start, and it just never made it into the story.

I read that Sailor Moon was originally meant to just end with the Dark Kingdom plot, so maybe sensei intended to have a Romeo and Juliet sad ending where everyone just dies in the end?

These are all based on Japanese gemology guides (same as what I used to research for the Shitennou knight titles), since I imagine it's more likely to be the one Takeuchi-sensei had access to. These may differ from international ones.

(Warning: Long post)

In the manga sensei specified that the zoisite is the blue one, that's also known as "tanzanite". The blue variety of zoisite, among other things, means "calm and intelligence".

The connection to Ami/Mercury's character is very straightforward and obvious.

In terms of romance, a zoisite also means "subdued expressions of love". It really makes me think of how gentle this pair looks in the splash art sensei drew.

Kunzite means "premonition of a lover". It's specifically oh dang when I saw this because Minako was "special" among the senshi in the way that her character vibes are based on "love" (because Venus, goddess of love), rather than the original elemental name attached to the planet. It fits enough to make you pause and wonder if this it truly a coincidence.

The planet venus originally has the element of "gold/metal". The gold is reflected in her design somewhat, but her senshi identity is more related to "love". The other girls' names matches their planets' element names. E.g Jupiter = mokusei = wood, Ki(no) = wood/tree. Mercury = suisei = water, Mizu(no) = water.

Also Venus's relationship with Kunzite ended up being the one who got the most hints actually shown in the manga, so... I do wonder.

The two jades are less overly specific like this, especially Nephrite, but well.

Jadeite is the native jade from Japan, and has been long used to make magatama since ancient times. As such it's always seen as a deeply spiritual stone, that can protect against and/or ward off evil. A perfect match for Rei, who is a miko. One wonders if sensei chose the stone because of Rei being a miko, or if she made Rei a miko after choosing this name for the one matched with her.

Edit: Japanese Wiki claims Rei being a miko was based on Takeuchi-sensei's personal experience as a part time miko. So then Jadeite had to have been named/chosen to fit her, if this theory is true.

Not to mention that Akuryou Taisan, the evil-banishing spell, is something that she uses quite often.

Nephrite is the most confusing one here, because I'm not really able to find the connection. That's why I initially had strong doubts about the rumour/claim about the gemstone names' connection to the senshi.

In the gemology guide that I referenced, its meaning is "charm of maturity". I suppose Mako has always felt like she's older than the other girls, because her hobbies (cooking and home decor) feels really motherly.

Other than that and the stone being a deep green colour similar to Jupiter's senshi outfit I'm not entirely sure. (in the manga, sensei says nephrites are "always deep green" even though IRL that's not the case)

----

Just my additional comments after reading everything that I did:

In terms of colour, I like to think Jadeite is a red jade. Not just to match Rei, but in the manga Jadeite's stone is always coloured the darkest (it's almost all-black). Of all the various jades, red is one of the darker-toned ones.

The shading can be arbitrary, especially if sensei was just tracing from reference photos. Dark green jadeite also exist, so for all I know this is intended to be green too.

But if I use the logic that the stones are matched with the girls' character, I think red just fits the best. In gemstone language the red jade means "tenacity" and "willpower". Green jades tends to be associated with things like harmony, prosperity, luck, and so on. It doesn't feel very Rei-like.

Also, the nephrite jade being a "soft jade", it's associated with very cuddly meanings such as "warm" or "gentle", which makes me laugh even more than the "wisdom" one.

Unless, again, these words are more attached to the matching girls' character, rather than the guy in question, because yes I think Mako is definitely very warm and gentle and fluffy and very huggable.

Although other-coloured zoisite varieties were said to have different meaning, it looks like blue is the predominant zoisite colour in Japan. A lot of Japanese gem sites tend to automatically just say "it's blue" while describing zoisite, even though there's obviously other colours out there.

Sensei did specify it's "blue zoisite, a.k.a tanzanite" in the manga, so I think she's aware of the other colours having different meanings attached. Some articles also had mentioned Takeuchi-sensei's family runs a jewellery store?

I wonder if this is why Crystal went with the gemstone's healing properties for Zoi's title though, because the gemstone words overlaps too much with Mercury in a very in-the-face way. The other meanings are Hope, Mystery, Pride, and Noble, and maybe those don't make very good title names? Like, the only viable one is probably Hope, though I feel like it would be even more confusing if Crystal said Zoi is the "Knight of Hope" or whatever.

Another thing about Kunzite is that its meaning also include "pure and everlasting love", but the website caveated this that this is a saintly kind of love (for the gem's association with Holy Mother Mary). So it's not necessarily something to get overly excited about in terms of SenShi headcanoning, but, well, it's there.

"Shitennou" in Japanese pop culture is generally used to just mean "4 very important people", so it didn't have to actually mean anything. Like, a few samurai in history had their "shitennou", who are just the best 4 generals serving under them. Most famous being the Tokugawa shitennou, but other samurai lords actually have their own so-called shitennou. It's just that if the senshi are officially named "Guardians", then this changes the context.

[ani-coolgirl]

Wincest Reverse Bang 2024

I realize I never made a proper post for this to make it easy to find. This isn't an "official" post, but copying the Bang's format makes me feel like in some distant alternate universe, this came together on time.

Title: Where I Lay My Head Artist: deeranger Author: ani_coolgirl Rating: E Warnings/Spoilers: Rape/Non-Con, Torture, Harm to animals (off screen), Suicidal Thoughts (full tags/warnings on Ao3) Summary: After failing to complete the trials and close the gates to Hell, Sam is left in a weakened state, the ritual putting him just shy of death's door. Dean steps up to take care of his ailing brother, but Sam senses there's something off with the whole situation, something he can't quite put his finger on. Sickly and isolated, Sam tugs on the threads of doubt, and soon his life of recovery in the bunker—and his brother's sanity—start unraveling around him.

Art: Tumblr Fic: Ao3

While I'd had this idea kicking around my head for a while, Dee's art it was what really helped it come together. The scene that goes with the art is actually the first thing I wrote. Unfortunately, the fic didn't come together in a timely manner, which is why you won't find the fic listed on the Reverse Bang masterpost. Maybe I'll tell the long, sordid tale of why this was one day, but really it can be summed up thusly: I started late, couldn't keep the word count under control, panicked, had a teeny tiny mental breakdown involving very little sleep, and then eventually vomited the fic onto the screen. Since it was already late, I had the story betaed (it was originally going to be published warts and all, with hasty edits made after the fact), which, along with my decision to post a chapter at a time, made it even later. The extra polish was totally worth it, however.

I intended for this story to be around 10k words at most. It ended up almost four times that, which just goes to show you why planning, scheduling, and commitment is important (and an understanding of your own process and shortcomings). I, of course, haven't learned anything from this whole debacle, but perhaps someone else might. This wasn't my first event, but it was the first time I finished so late, so I'm swearing off events for a while. I love engaging with the fandom, but I hate potentially stressing out/disappointing others because I can't keep to a schedule, which really puts a damper on the whole thing.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the fic, the art, and my madness reflected onto Sam and Dean--it's their fault really, when you think about it.

[violet-prism-creatively]

my 2024 year in fandom 

I started off the year by creating my whump sideblog @violets-whumperflies (January 3). I've been into whump for a long time, but never got up the courage to be part of the community and post my own stuff until then. 

My spring was marked by the resurgence of my interest in The Owl House and Avatar the Last Airbender, fueled by the mutual square/triangle/pentagon of hell groupchat. Thank you to Lilac (@itslilacmoon), Crush (@crushpunchh), Aru (@watery-melon-baller), and Never (rip). Chatting with you guys about fandoms and the struggles of college life made my spring a bit more joyful. 

I also participated in two Nimona fan events this year, courtesy of the wonderful @zyrafowe-sny! Nimona Week was a fun burst of springtime energy and the Nimona Big Bang kept me making art throughout the year. Shoutout also to the WIP Wednesday community that encouraged me to write!

New fandoms this year! In May, I finally got around to reading The Locked Tomb series and loved it. I annotated the ebooks of HtN and NtN while reading on a plane, which helped me keep track of my theories and showed some fun reactions that I "liveblogged."

July was a tough month for me in my personal life, and I turned to fic to cope. I somehow stumbled upon Batfam hurt/comfort and kind of got obsessed. Eventually, this extended to actually reading some comics. I haven't posted about this fandom a lot since it doesn't "fit my brand" on tumblr, but I suppose this is the "inflict posts about new fandoms on your mutuals" website. 

In early December, one of my friends got me into Epic: The Musical. Since then, I've already published two fics for it, because it wouldn't let go of my brain. I even revived the old tiktok account I had before tumblr to do cosplay. And it was perfect timing to get into the fandom because the last saga released on Christmas! 

Fics published this year: 

this rot leaking from my eyes (The Owl House, febuwhump, Feb 8)

Refined (Avatar the Last Airbender, final chapter Aug 18)

Study of a Monster (Nimona, whumptober, Oct 5)

Can you make it back to Ithaca? [No] [Yes, but it's no longer you] (Epic, Dec 10)

The blood on your hands (is something you can't lose) (Epic, Dec 29)

Fics started writing that I intend to finish:

Batfam whump 

tlt college au 

toh luz hurt/comfort 

Abandoned projects: 

we're going to ignore these... 

Another update on my personal life: Remember my girlfriend? They're now my queerplatonic partner! They figured out that they're ace and nonbinary and now we're both leaning into our aspec identities. I think this is also reflected in my fandom interests, where I drifted away from shipping and towards platonic and familial dynamics. My new favorite dynamic is "whatever they have going on between them is not romantic or sexual but infinitely stronger and weirder." 

If you read all this, thanks! Whether you're a longtime mutual or randomly stumbled upon this post, I appreciate you!

[nervarts]

I apologize for the inconsistent posting, I haven't been able to do much art wise. But since I'm here, I've been meaning to introduce a character I haven't drawn since 2019. :o

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Jovana (she doesn't have a last name). She comes from a roleplay I have with a friend from Discord since 2018. She's a knight and the new leader of the Royal Guard of Felorion, the country where the story takes place. She's the female protagonist; the male protagonist is a crown prince named Isaac, whose father was murdered by his elder, illegitimate brother in a coup. She serves that brother, King Edric.

Here's a bio (It's going to be a long read):

Age: 20.

Personality: On first impression, Jovana is an exemplary figure among the ranks. She is courteous, fearless, disciplined, and above all: loyal to the king— despite his dubious actions. Down to Earth and surprisingly inquisitive. In contrast to her cold exterior, she is calm and reserved. Supposedly concealing a rare, gentler side to her persona.

Abilities: Proficient in sword-fighting; she carries a broadsword with her most of the time. However, she can also wield spears and without armor, can engage on hand-to-hand combat. She is notably strong.

Weaknesses/Negative traits: Can be killed as any other mortal: through stabs, deeps cuts and severe blunt force trauma. She is secretive and can be ruthless, especially towards enemies of the king. Jovana has acrophobia, though she loathes admitting it.

Backstory: Much of Jovana's history is a mystery among her comrades. Her reactions are rather unpleasant when they attempt to delve into her personal life. However, when she arrived to the country, she could barely speak the native language. Based from her accent and race, many speculated Jovana came from Va’sha, a region located hundreds of leagues away oversea. A nation undergoing through grim times. Theories varied from the search for a greater life to a more unpleasant reason as to why she moved. To the point of believing “Jovana” was her pseudonym. The one who seemed to know the truth was the first person who took her under their wing: Edric.

Jovana has been under his care a day after she arrived to Felorion. The day he claimed the throne through a coup, Jovana was dubbed as his personal guard. While suspicions arose to their relationship, she was mostly favored because of her fighting skills. Ever since the overthrow, Jovana was devoted to the new king. Killing every last member of the previous lineage if necessary.

-->Also, just to be sure: no, this is not Griffith and no, I didn't reference Griffith. I have never seen or read Berserk and I don't intend to (not because the story is bad, but due to the fact that I can't tolerate gore among other things). Just because a character happens to be a curly-haired knight doesn't mean I am ripping off Griffith. Please spare me the BS. This is not to be mean, it's just this happened a lot on Instagram and it's one of the reasons why I stopped drawing Jovana. But lately, she's been on my mind a lot and I had to draw her again.

[thetruearchmagos]

On Shields, Armour, And Vehicles With Both

Ever since making this post a while back, I haven't stopped thinking of how I might try to 'balance' shields and armour, and I've come up with two ideas. Here they are.

Tagging @oddcryptidwrites @theprissythumbelina @nerdexer @caxycreations @hessdalen-globe

@kckramer @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling

Author's Note; the following post is stupidly, incredibly long winded, and occasionally employs some language most sane people will never come across. I'm sorry.

What The Shield Is

The short answer here, is very expensive. That pretty much answers the question of why so few non-UC militaries used it until recently, which is neat, but the United Commonwealth famously doesn't give to shits about cost if it makes for better-enough-than-everyone-else's equipment.

The long answer, and the more relevant one, is that the actual equipment involved in shielding armoured vehicles is bulky and heavy, which means that as far as volume and weight goes the balance between armour and shielding is still in the latter's favour, but to a significantly lower degree than my first plans implied. 'Protective Field Projectors', to use the in-world terminology, are basically the size and profile of the sorts of cameras they use to make films;

But with stuff coming out of the 'lens' rather than coming in. Full, all-aspect protection will require several individual projectors, especially if you intend on layering them.

Bumping up the weight and volume constraints also applies to the auxiliary equipment that the projectors need to operate. In particular, I'm taking a page out of all good sci-fi and demanding the use of thermal energy regulation systems to shed the monumental amount of energy these shields output both to operate normally and especially when having to take hits in combat. These, plus some pretty beefy power generation requirements, and all the wiring needed to connect these sub-systems, will all put a pretty nasty penalty on including a truly top-shelf shield system on your vehicle.

A small note to end this section, but since I intend for technology to develop pretty quickly in the 20 or so years that the 'great wars' take place over, I absolutely expect for miniaturisation and optimisation to significantly improve the technology surrounding these 'field projectors'. All the same, there's a reason the competition between protection and weaponry is an 'arms race', and the constant ramping up of the anti-shield threat will mean even improved protection systems will struggle mightily to keep pace, and sheer mass of system will be important.

What The Shield Does

And yet, if shields were truly universally indomitable, all these significant restrictions would merely take shielded vehicles down a peg, not give good ol' heavy metal (or ceramic) a lease on life. This is where specifying the types of munition that shields operate best against might be helpful.

For a brief intro into the world of modern 'Anti-Tank', most weapons seeking to kill armoured vehicles rely on either kinetic energy or chemical energy penetrators. These are, respectively;

The former relies on concentrating a massive amount of kinetic energy into a single, hardened point in the form of that 'long rod', while the latter uses an explosive to deform a conical shape of metal into a fast moving, 'semi-liquid' jet.

The actual distinction as far as this armour-shields thing is concerned will be that shields will perform highly effectively against shaped charges. The most 'state of the art' ground vehicle mounted shield systems can effectively pre-detonate the warhead at a significant stand-off distance from the vehicle, and the resulting premature stream will have its penetrative capacity weakened by the resulting 'air gap' and be gradually broken up by successive layers of shields in that space between the point of detonation and the hull.

The real distinguishing point here is how shields work, which I'm going to explain as briefly as I can, and keeping Magic System talk to a minimum. The flat plane projected by a 'field projector' works sort of like a belt, coming out one side, being spread out and 'held' at points in the air in front of it, then coming back in.

This physical field is what the warhead impacts, but it's important to note that the field almost never actually tries to outright stop what's hitting it. At the speeds and amounts of energy modern weaponry produces, the sudden spike of energy shot through the projector mechanisms that stopping something dead would entail could very well 'flare out' that delicate machinery and render it useless, regardless of whether the incoming threat was stopped or not, and that's before factoring in the damage this would have on the shield's cooling system.

When it comes to shaped charges, the resistance required just to detonate the warhead a good distance away would hardly overpower even the earliest shields to enter actual service, and by layering shields and carefully tailoring their 'degree of resistance' you can sorta get the same effect that Explosive Reactive Armour and composite armour provides in breaking up the resulting jet.

Kinetic penetrators, however, can punch with such an overwhelming amount of energy that even successive layers of modern shielding can be overcome by the most top-shelf penetrators, failing in sequence to preserve the projector itself.

This is not helped by the presence of certain 'Magi-materials' in the 12 Worlds whose properties take those desired in penetrators (density, hardness, and strength) and dial them up to 11. In short, if someone really wants to punch through shields, they can, and they will, as long as they can put together a good enough APFSDS shot.

This, then, is where armour comes in.

The same fucky-wucky 'Magic-ifieid' materials science that makes things like the aforementioned long rod penetrator possible have led to quick some buggery in the world of modern armour, making it leagues better than the options available in real life. 'Face hardened crystal plate', for example, can withstand immense amounts of force without cracking, and is now widely used across the UC's frontline combat vehicles.

Now, time for caveats. Firstly, this is not to say that shields will have absolutely no effect on kinetic penetrators. Depending on the angle they impact at, the resistance the shield offers before failing might be enough to induce a 'tumble' in the penetrator's flight profile, which can undermine its penetrative performance once it hits the hull. That being the case, once it does hit the hull, let's just say you'll be wishing you had the armour between the long rod and yourself.

Secondly, the fact that I've buffed armour to hell and back raises the question of why, then, one would bother investing in shields at all. The short answer to this is that armour's weight and impact on internal volume poses limits on 'how much' of it you can have, and where on the vehicle it goes. The long answer, is below.

The One With The Other

We've settled how shields and armour each function individually, but in order to figure out what the actual state of protection looks like on the battlefield, we still have to consider what the threats out there actually look like. The answer is... complicated.

To make a reference to current-day threats to armoured vehicles, the short answer, as I see it, is this; on a modern battlefield, you are far, far more likely to encounter someone slinging shaped charges in your direction, than kinetic darts, be it in the form of shells, missiles, or even drones once those become a thing.

You see, here's something I didn't mention previously about the distinction between these two classes of ordnance; kinetic penetrators rely on impacting a target at speed, which requires them being shot out of a high velocity cannon and means that their performance is (to a degree) reduced with range. Shaped charges, on the other hand, could detonate standing still and inflict the exact same amount of damage - literally, in the case of the sorts of mines which use such warheads.

This property makes a shaped charge warhead much easier to deliver onto a target's forehead than a kinetic penetrator, increasing the variety of potential delivery mechanisms.

Since, then, shaped charges are the more prevalent threat of the two, it makes sense to invest quite heavily in a highly effective and cost efficient defence against them in the form of shields. Kinetic penetrators thus become a more specialised but still highly lethal threat, which creates a need for a capability which can perform its mission in the face of their presence - in short, a heavily armoured vehicle.

Handily for me, the prevalence of shields itself also requires that at least some effort be put into fielding the kinetic penetrators that're best suited to knocking them out.

So... How Do We Use It?

Of course, how, precisely, the two 'swords' on the one hand and the two 'shields' (heh) on the other interact in practice is contingent on a host of other factors, and these capabilities themselves are just small inputs into the much larger picture of military competition. Nonetheless, I shall at least try to answer this question specifically in the case of the United Commonwealth Army, which first introduced shields into the world of land warfare and has developed that technology to its greatest extent.

The whole force structure of the UCA's deployable field force is divided into categories according to the types and intensities of conflict each is expected to engage in. 'Light forces' include both the Airborne Corps and other rapidly mobile troops lacking in heavy equipment, and is designed for rapid intervention into emerging crises the Worlds over on a moment's notice. 'Armoured forces', on the other hand, is comprised of said heavy equipment in excess, slow to move but nigh unstoppable when it does, and serves to duke it out with similarly well armed belligerents in open battle.

The needs of these various 'classes' of troop thus inform the types of capability they need or are willing to part with, and for the purposes of this discussion 'protection' tends to be the first thing on the chopping block. For example, 'Skyjumpers' (name pending) patrolling an urban area in the midst of intense civil unrest are a lot less likely to be shot at by state of the art missiles or guns than an armoured battalion fighting another, and so Airborne troops were late to adopt the earliest, bulkiest models of shield projector, and even now employ only light shielding against obsolete systems and small arms. The amount of mass and volume dedicated to shields generally increases with the actual mass and size of the vehicles in question, though actual hard armour is typically excluded.

Now to turn to the subject that began this whole rant and the original post above, the actual 'heavily armoured', high intensity forces themselves. For reference to some terms I'll be using, here's a common graphic that defines the traits of most ground vehicles;

Let's start with some commonalities. Everything in this weight class is tracked, and working with a much higher 'base' / minimum weight and volume limit than the stuff above. The threats posed by an actual organised and equipped enemy army are much more vigorous than what insurgents can offer, and the UC's response to that is to place an absolute premium on protection across the vehicle fleet. Finally, considerations such as NBC protection, optics, and communications should be pretty much standard across all vehicles here.

We can now turn to the differences that set our vehicles apart, and it's here that we come across another simplified dichotomy to add to this list; you can either have a big weapon and lots of protection, or infantry and some protection, but not both.

The need to bring along infantry in a vehicle makes things challenging. "About eight passengers with baggage" comes out to a helluva lot of internal volume, which is what makes including a 'big gun' with its turret and ammunition highly impractical. The sheer size that this class of vehicles will grow to also limits the amount of protection that can be included to a greater extent that sheer tonnage might imply.

On the flip side, going with only crew members leaves significantly more room for whatever weapon system you have in mind as well as protection, though some trade offs will still be needed. As for what specific weapon we're using, the size and weight needed to operate a high velocity cannon needed to deal with shielded targets nicely coincides with the availability of both in this infantry-less vehicle - a missile armed vehicle is certainly possible, but the versatility of cannons outside of just shooting kinetic penetrators means they can deal with a wider variety of targets than highly specialised missiles which, in the UC, can be brought into battle by a variety of other vehicles. (And no, they don't try and launch missiles from guns, but that's a long topic for another time.)

Now that the relative physical characteristics of these two categories of vehicle are pretty well defined, we can now ask how these considerations shape the 'protection schemes' of either.

For the infantry transports, creatively called Armoured Infantry Transports (AITs) in the UCA, actual armour has been largely cut down in favour of doubling down on shields. This, again, ties into the much greater prevalence of shaped charge based threats to armoured vehicles, especially in the hands of enemy infantry that AITs can expect to get up close and personal with.

For the similarly creatively named Armoured Combat Vehicles (ACVs), or 'guntracks', these can afford to have both armour and shields, and in bulk. Armour is concentrated on the turret and in the front facing aspect of a guntrack, but while AIT shields cover all angles equally, guntracks especially concentrate their shields on the side and rear, which usually lack the special composite plates reserved for the front.

A Final Note On Shields

It should be kept in mind that everything in the post above should be taken to apply specifically and exclusively to ground vehicles and their shields. The actual 'protective field' technology was, in fact, equally pioneered by the UC Navy, and the sheer scale and mass that they have to work with has resulted in significantly realities for how shields can function, and different courses of action and adaptation.

[queerchildwhoistrappped]

(Help I sent the original post to the drafts and now I can't find it). Sooooo... I may have fallen into the Forsaken rabbit hole and now I want to rant on my main blog about my OCs. Also, I should probably mention that my OCs are not finished yet, but that's okay! I'll find them some day! And, well, I am reposting these because I originally posted them to communities, but I want to spend the disease of these little guys everywhere. (Also, post 1 was posted to 2 communities while post 2 was only posted to one). Also, this is going to be a very long one, so prepare for no one to read this!

Post 1: Here is some concept art of my OCs! (I know that OCs aren't very commonly found in this group, but I'm going to share these two idiots because I need to spread them to other people.) This is technically a wip, but I'm still going to share it. Also, I do need some help with in-game stuff because I'm stumped. I am going to an info dump because this doesn't really have any info.

The one with a wolf headband and braids is Coco, and they are a survivor. They use they/them pronouns, but they have memory loss, so the other survivors use he/they pronouns for them (which is funny because they have never been a boy). I think they could attack the killer with their axe, but idk what else I want to do. I think I want them to have 3 abilities, but I have no ideas for other 2.

The other OC is Azazel and they are a killer. They use they/them pronouns, but since they also have memory loss, the killers use she/her pronouns. It isn't in the art, but I gave them a weird red spawn looking halo that is coming out of their crooked neck. I imagine they could rip it out to attack a survivor, but maybe they could get bleeding 1 for 3 seconds. And idk for the rest of their abilities, so I need help.

Also, I'm thinking of creating another oc that is a helper. All I have is that they are a girl and she would have probably worked at a bakery before Forsaken but that's all I have so far. And if you have read this far, thank you for listening to my very long info dump!

Post 2: Since it seemed like people liked the last post I made about these silly little guys, I decided to do some more! And I figured out some in-game ideas I have for them!

So, I mentioned an idea for a healer OC, and I made her! As you can see, her name is Drina, and what I have for her so far is that she can give people pies, but how she does it is that you have to click the ability twice on a person because once you set the pie down, it cannot be removed and can only be eaten by the person you clicked on (yes you can click on killers, that's why you have to do it twice so you don't misclick on a killer). I haven't really come up with any lore for her yet, so any ideas would be appreciated! I do think that she would get along pretty well with Elliot, and while not really trusting Coco, would still try and be kind to them. Also, I just want to say that I based her off of Kyoko from Block Tales and I love that about her!

And lastly, Coco! I haven't really thought of anything for them, but I have thought of an idea for 1 of the 2 abilities I want to give them. I'm thinking of a block/parry idea that works very similarly to Guest's block (edit: I forgot to add that I imagine that they would block/parry using their axe). And I love showing how messed up they are in the head! I feel like both of them and 007n7 would relate to each other a lot, because 007n7 isn't trusted by the rest due to him being a former hacker and dad of c00lkid, and Coco isn't really trusted by the rest because they look and kind of act like a killer, so people don't try and get to know the two of them very well; but that doesn't mean that 007n7 isn't also kind of weary of Coco.

Also, some fun facts I feel like I should add. 1: Both Drina and Coco are dark skinned, but because of me drawing in black and white, I keep their skin white in my drawing. 2: I do not intend to do any OC x Canon, specifically because of the fact that 1: both Coco and Azazel are 16, even though they both don't remember that and 2: both Coco and Azazel are aromantic/asexual (Azazel is kind of iffy on that, but I don't really want to get into that rn); and while Drina is an adult and either straight or bisexual, I haven't decided yet, I still don't want to ship her or any of my other OCs with the canon characters. Sorry for rambling again, I just wanted to get this all out while I still have motivation.

(Also, trying out tags for the first time, let's see what happens!)

[immoralimmortals]

Assigning the Akatsuki movies that tend to really disturb people, because they are a disturbing bunch.

A word of caution: the films mentioned are very intense, some of which closer to endurance tests than narratives. These pairings are not recommendations to see these movies. If you seek any out, research the content. I am not adding individual content warnings for the films themselves since I'm only pairing them with characters (you are free to inquire for those or for spoilers if you want to know more)

General content warning for the post itself for unsavory mentions of various kinds of violence.

Pain: Come and See

Lauded by some as the only war film that is not accidentally pro-war or pro-military propaganda. It is a story about children, children who are vessels of the narrative to, as the title says, show you the horrors and agony of warfare on the human spirit.

Konan: Martyrs

A French extreme horror film that breaks your heart as you watch women's spirits get broken. It is painfully empathetic and gut punches you over and over. It relies on you caring about the characters for its impact and it succeeds. What is the great worth of having suffered?

(Despite having a very spiritual aspect l, it is too heartfelt of a film to give Hidan, though considered)

Obito: Perfect Blue

Twisty, turny story about identities and lies. Plays with the idea of innocence and self control like how a cat plays with a butterfly with a broken wing. It's a beautiful movie but it's also going to make you really unhappy.

Zetsu: Beyond the Black Rainbow

This is a slow, methodical film about invasiveness and brainwashing. The color pallet is stark, contrasted mostly by bright whites and dark shades, with the occasional blood red thrown in to throw you off. Some of the imagery is very unnatural-seeming and nightmarish. This is the sort of movie you'd like to put on if you want to do the opposite of whatever meditation would be.

Hidan: Mai-chan's Daily Life

If you know this movie/manga at all, my reasoning is what it says on the tin. Girl gets dismembered and killed over and over as an immortal. She kind of likes it? It's a really nasty one that jumps to being so over the top and silly. I haven't seen this one and have no deeper thoughts on it.

...I guess if I really want to keep with the theme of movies I've actually seen, I'd then go with The Devils, which is based on a real life event. It's about the interplay between religion, sexuality, and political freedom, and it gets really, really violent and makes me go

Kakuzu: The Night of the Hunter

This one is actually just legitimately a very good movie that happens to hurt you deep in your soul. Two kids of the Great Depression are confided to by their dad before his execution that he stole several thousand dollars from a bank. A priest he meets in prison tracks down the children, worms his way into the love of not only their widowed mother but of the community, and tries to convince them to give the money to him as God intended.

This is a very influential film from the 1950s that while not often recognized by name, has been cited as inspiration for some of the most notable filmmakers in recent time. It is less traditionally disturbing and more that you are made to walk alongside these children as they enter a money-hungry nightmare.

Deidara: Tetsuo the Iron Man

This film is an art piece. I don't mean that in a way which denotes that it is pleasant but in a way where I appreciate and recognize every choice was very, very purposeful. This is a movie with such industrial, inhuman sound design. It is loud and visceral and made to make you feel like you got in a car accident. It's also deeply homoerotic??? So bonus points! Also has some genuinely incredible visual effects. I am sick to my stomach.

Sasori: Audition

I love this movie. Ohhhh it hurts me. It makes me sick. I'm never watching it again. The premise is a man lies about the purpose of an audition, which is not a movie role but to select a potential wife. It doesn't strike him as possible that an actress might catch onto his script that plays out.

The ending scene. This is why it's for Sasori. Such a sweet smile and soothing voice while dismembering someone with piano wire.

Kisame: Ichi the Killer

I'm setting aside the very, very overt sexual text of this movie to focus on what it's trying to say about the enjoyment of violence. It is a bizarrely lighthearted film about two opposites. As YouTuber NyxFears (May Leitz) has put it:

Guy 1: This is a party, I love killing people! Yay! :D

Guy 2: I'm terrified, I hate that I'm violent! Why are we doing this!

It is an incredibly fun yakuza film that also makes you frown really hard at some bits as it becomes really morally questionable.

Itachi: The Handmaiden

Another genuinely excellent movie where the point of it is to throw your soul into a rock tumbler so you can experience the full spectrum of human emotion! It is not only gorgeously made and pleasing to the eye, but it also relies upon your attachment to the regality and poise a character holds, which I think is a similar feeling I give to Itachi when I think about him. It is a cathartic tale that makes you believe love is real by making you, as the audience, suffer to get there as the characters do.