#it's still uniquely “their” face that they used as a default for a long time

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

I realize that half of Morph's role in X-Men 97 is shape-shifting into character cameos, but consider:

Exiles Morph, whose main personality trait is that he is very much himself all the time (sometimes to the point of being rude or obnoxious), usually doesn't shift fully into other people when impersonating them for a gag or to give himself extra abilities. He usually only hides his true form completely when he is doing sneaky shapeshifter deception stuff (which isn't that often).

I want a second season character arc for X-Men 97 Morph where they realize that a lot of their shapeshifting completely into other people is basically "hiding" behind other mutants that they view as better and more powerful, and that they CAN access whatever physical abilities as a shapeshifter while still mostly maintaining their true form. Like they don't have to turn fully into Angel to give themself wings. They can grow huge muscles or metal skin or claws, or all at the same time and they can do this while still being largely themself. And this is both a power level-up, and an increase in self-confidence.

[battlekidx2]

I'm making this post purely to shout out some incredibly talented fanfic writers from the Hazbin Hotel fandom and my favorite works of theirs.

Did anyone ask me for this? No. Will I post it anyway? Absolutely. The writers in this fandom are too good.

The first fanfic writer I want to shout out is @prince-liest (ao3 link)

I absolutely love their get cared for idiot (Alastor) series (not the official name but they called it that in one of their asks jokingly so it's now the default in my head).

Knock, Knock! It's Your Worst Fucking Nightmare! (this fic gets it!!!! This is what I meant when I said Alastor is growing a heart and part of him is raging against it. He still has ulterior motives and a massive amount of pride and part of him feels like that growing fondness is getting in the way, but he can't stop it. I need to stop before this becomes a long ramble. I've written a couple thousand words on this idea, but this fic is just a better use of your time than any meta I could ever write and way more entertaining :D )

Happily Ever After, and Other Shit Nepotism Can't Buy

The Last Bus Stop in Hell, Now Boarding (Please look at the tags for content warning. Angel and Alastor body swap story.)

They're amazing at balancing on that razor's edge with Alastor where there's a heart in there (really deep) and he's unintentionally growing attached to the hazbin crew, but he doesn't lose his edge. He's still manipulative and an asshole and can easily be the scariest guy in any room. He's in hell for a reason. A+ characterization at all times.

They're so good at writing the complicated dynamics he has with the residents, especially Charlie, and I enjoy how they expand on Alastor's potential dynamic with Angel Dust.

Anything they write from Lucifer's POV is gold too! My favorites are:

Take Two and Leave a Voicemail!

The Care and Keeping of Homo Angelus

I am also 100% here for their Aro!Alastor agenda and I'm enjoying their fic I Love Her, I Love Her Not so far!

The second person I want to shout out is @grayintogreen (ao3 link)

Their series Red Roses and Dead Things consistently gut punches me.

Just like Princeliest, they are also fantastic at balancing on that razor's edge with Alastor. A+ characterization for everyone and I love how they write HuskerDust. It's so soft, especially in the aftermath fic for Learn that Even Death May Die called If My Love Is Tomorrow, I've Forgotten Yesterday (that fic hurt in the best way).

The way they explore the aftermath of Learn that Even Death May Die is incredibly impactful. They capture the unique grief that comes from the reality that there are some things you won't get closure for so well that it's painful.

I can't say enough good things about their series. Genuinely go read it.

I found @lediz-watches (ao3 link) before the first season of Hazbin Hotel dropped (I've been a fan of the hellaverse for a few years now and have been enthralled with the Hazbin Hotel pilot since I first watched it in 2020) and I really enjoy their fics.

My favorite is Suffering Kindness. I love the Charlie and Alastor dynamic they explore in this story. I think I'm just a sucker for the Charlie and Alastor dynamic in general, but this fic hits all the right notes for me. (written pre-season 1 but man is it good. 100% recommend)

LeDiz also has a lot of one-shots/collections of one-shots that are very fun.

The Cure for Inexorable Boredom

Dollface (one-shots about Alastor theories. My favorite is the 3rd one. So fascinating!)

Choice Words (one of the few explorations of Alastor and Vaggie's dynamic that I've found in the fandom)

Don't Say It

I have to shout out @ckret2 (ao3 link) and their phenomenal fic You’ve Got a Face for Radio. This is such an amazing aroace!Alastor fic. (Embarrassingly it was this fic that made me realize I was most likely aroace myself. I’d had fleeting moments of suspecting it but it wasn’t until I saw my experiences laid out in a character explicitly written to be aroace that I put the puzzle pieces together. -_- some of these passages were too relatable.) I cannot express how much I love this fic.

I also like their fics Dumpster Baby and Bitter Grapes.

I have one last writer I want to mention because this is getting really long (whoops). The last one is tiredoflofteranditsshit and their Assume He Has a Heart series (because my favorite character and how I interpret them was not obvious enough already with the fics/authors I've recommended. I had to make it more obvious).

These fics are massive (17k and 26k words) and so much fun. Definitely worth the read. Yet another series that follows up season 1 and explores Alastor’s growing connections and how he lies to himself and pushes against it. Love this series and there’s a lot to sink your teeth into :D

[luciawithoutj]

Hey hi hello!

I have some things to say about new merch and jo merch in general so this is gonna be a litrle longer post and actually I think I should cange my semiotics theme (which is already about jo) about how bad their merch design is.

First of all little disclaimer: this is all my humble opionion based on what I learned in my one year of being graphic design student and an artist and designer on the internet for last 4-5 years. Before going to uni I learned most of about art and graphic design stuff by reading books and watching tons of yt videos. Second of all this critic is just coming from place of love for this band because I see so mucb potential and they could do some amazing merch designs if they give it a chance and I am fully aware how expensive the touring is and why they had to cut the quality of merch products.

So far my favorite jo band merch designs are cds (that probably required some designer to make), condoms (because they are really funny, genius, nicely designed and unique merch that fit the vibe of the band and matches their songs as well) and the new tshirt from last merch drop (which design is made by one slovenian fanartist : link.

Main reason that made me want to speak up is seeing that this merch drop will only have 100 products (my friend said that could mean 20-ish shirts per size) which how big this fandom has gotten in last year is pretty really dam limited. For a limited product I am really disappointed and I hoped for more. For such a limited product that design is the most default design they could have gone for and I am so sorry for Damon because his work is goregous, amazing, breathtaking and I could talk about it for ages and how inspiring it is but this shirt design isn't serving.

If they wanted to do bare minimum of design with those 5 images here is some of my ideas (unfortunately I don't have time to visually show them to yall on a mock ups because of finals that I should be studying for instead of writing this so try to imagine what I am trying to say and demonstrate). First is just simple instead of white choose black shirt or even better a thisrt. If you want it to go a stepp further is using their name logo font (font name is Avaline btw if anyone wants to download and use it for their designs :))) and either put it how they did when they promoted the everybody's waiting or to write idk therapy sessions or anything related to the band or it can even be some inside joke.

Something like this would make design just a bit more intersting but still bare minimum but amazing for regular merch. If they want to go a step further but want to keep the long sleeves (this idea was suggested by few people I talked too) they could put pictures vertically on the sleeves. I would find it a bit cooler if it is on the right sleeve out-side and then they put their band logo (the heart one) on the left side of the shirt where people's hearts normally are.

After exams I would definitely like to try to make some designs and just limit myself with this 5 pictures and play with typography and photoshoop to make something interesting.

Another I want to mentioned is how in my humble opinion if you are gonna sell limited edition either make it really pretty or good quality or really cursed and funny with inside jokes.

I think people (and me first) would eat tshirts (but also other merch designs) with some cursed designs or just texts that say "sparklative" or "slay pose" or "I feel SloveNACE" (this 3 were suggested by amazing people in tumblr discord server) or even let Jan photoshoop their faces on most random picture. This 5 guys with their gen z humour could make and do some hilarious merch like how amazing idea the condoms are.

Last thing I want to say is how many amazingly talented fans are. I mean even Damon was so shocked and moved by amount of talent and art made in this community. Furthermore I know (some of them as online friends and mutuals, others as just artists from same fandom) who are also either graphic design students or they work in art/graphic design/entertainment fields and some of them (including myself) would be so happy to even make few merch designs or art for them for freee or for a ticket for their show. Personally I would die from happiness if I get a chance to work with my favorite band that inspires me so much everyday to the point people at my uni think I am from Slovenia and know slovenian because of how much I include them in my uni work and how much fanart and designs I made because of them in last 6 months.

I just think there is so much potential guys might not be aware of (Idk honestly because who knows what is going on backstage in their lives). But yeah they could have even asked Damon to help them with composition of the pictures on that shirt or even hire Racik to make some pretty art or any fanartist honestly. Here is just few links of my favorite fanartists who also do a lot of graphic design related stuff (and also some of them sell their products on their own websites/redbubble/etsy/inprint/etc) :

Tia <3

Roxanne

Vic

jo.kam_ (previously mentioned her design)

Lemon

yelecx

Racik (ofc)

There is probably more but my brain for hell of it won't remember any names so feel free to add in the comments or tags more artists <3

I could probably go more in depth and give more ideas how to improve merch designs the cheapest and best way as possible but still trying to keep the quality good as it needs to be. I know there is still gonna be people fighting for this shirts and people are still gonna buy their merch but just it hurts my art/designer soul seeing this bad designs when there is so much potential and they have amazing fans and amazing crew and they work with so many talnted people and they themselves are so talented and their music inspired so many and so much.

Thanks everyone for coming to my TedTalk. <3

Actually now I am thinking and from just talking about jo work from design and semiotics perspective for that semiotics seminar I could just focus on their merch design and go more in detail about it and if yall want when it is done and I translate it in english I could share it here for people who want to read about it. Let me know I guess.

Also if someone is interested my art and design insta is lucia.without.j and my redbubble is lucia-without-j and my dms are always open if someone wants to chat or complain about anything art, design, joker out or any other fandom I am in related.

P. S. I am so sorry for any spelling mistakes and if what I said doesn't make sense. English isn't my first language.

[babyrdie]

Achilles if he was the Champion on Olympus instead of Theseus and Asterius, inspired by a fic (by @baejax-the-great) I read recently.

I ended up drawing Achilles because I wanted to train more metal and Patroclus in this fic doesn't have much metal in his design. Maybe I'll try to do Patroclus too, but I can't promise anything because trying to imitate Hades has already taken me a long time for a train.

I tried to use Hades' style as a kind of observation study. Honestly, I already knew it was going to be difficult all along because I don't have stylization as my strong point, and also the style of this game seemed so unique that it gave me the impression that it would be difficult to replicate. All said and done, it really is. Even if I cheated by establishing a firmer pose on Achilles to avoid the need to draw a good gesture, it doesn't change that the rest is still outside my comfort area.

My conclusion was: the head is the hardest part for me, which I didn't expect. My facial style is very different from Hades' style, so it complicates my life. Plus, using just one brush for the whole thing is surprisingly good. I should practice gesturing instead of avoiding it.

And here I'm going to put some notes about Hades' style that helped me try to replicate it, but that's it: in Jen Zee's case, perceiving characteristic X is more complicated than doing characteristic X! I still think I need to train a lot to really be able to replicate it, especially in the head area. I don't know if this counts as a tutorial of sorts? But that's it, expect lots of images and explanations from here on in this post.

SHAPES

You can easily see "geometric" aspects of the drawing. It's easy to "disassemble" characters into shapes, which is a kind of basic concept often used in drawings.

I think that trying to be "sharp" is a good thing, as most of the shapes I saw on the characters were more sharp than rounded.

I got the impression that Jen Zee focuses on the macro and then goes to the micro, not micro for macro. In other words, she first establishes a visible and well-made shape and then cares about details.

This is very good in terms of anatomy, because a common mistake artists make, for example, is to care too much about detailing things like the face and muscles instead of creating a well-done silhouette. It turns out that the detailed parts are realistic, but the character as a whole has questionable anatomy. Typical case of a perfect face, but too big or small for the body.

I think the most obvious example of Hades' style is its hair. There is no separation of hair strand by strand, but rather making a large, recognizable shape that will later be further molded.

LINEART

The line is always black. Don't paint!

Lineweight: the outer line is thick but the inner lines are thin. There isn't much more line weight variation other than that.

It's mostly consistent but, in some parts, it's purposely interrupted or less polished. It's nothing so noticeable that if you do it completely polished it will greatly affect the result, but if you intend to get as close as possible I would advise you to purposefully "fail" in some parts.

Even with these "flaws", it's a CONFIDENT lineart. This means that you will have more luck copying the style of making your drawings in firm, quick strokes at once rather than slowly retouching stroke by stroke. Draw a line and if it looks bad, just do it again. I don't recommend drawing over it to fix it.

I don't know if this fits in line, but I'll put it here. There are some random lines of striking colors here and there. At first glance, you don't even notice them, although they actually help the drawing stand out, but they are there.

COLORING

Color blocking is your friend.

Don't use blending tools, and use a hard brush and hard eraser. I used one of CSP's default brushes for the entire drawing. It's a style that doesn't require fancy brushes.

From what I saw, Jen Zee doesn't paint this style in grayscale but directly in color. If your fear is getting the color wrong, using layers is a faithful companion because it's easy to change a specific part.

It's IMPOSSIBLE to do the Hades style without inking, which is that part where in the traditional drawing you would apply the ink. In Hades, this is visible in the parts that are shaded black.

Inking is MAINLY used in areas where there is less light, such as the neck, but it's also widely used on metal surfaces.

Don't insist on gradients and blurring the drawing! The shadows here are more solid, quite easy to point out where they start and where they end. In some parts, the transition is made by putting an "edge" on the shadow in a tone that is between the shadow tone and the base tone, not by blending. In others, there is no transition at all. Faces, in particular, seemingly have no transitions.

In the illuminated parts, I particularly found it easier to use rubber to shape them. First paint straight and then start erasing and making the shapes.

Highlights are very important in this style, and they are generally in a more saturated tone.

It seemed easier to follow the order of base color > lighting than base color > shading. That is, first paint in the darkest tone and then add lighter tones instead of painting light and then making it dark.

-Use of complementary colors and analogous colors in certain palettes.

Color picking can make you a little insecure about the base colors, but trust the process because color theory is crazy. The base skin tone of Achilles in Hades is a yellow that is strange at first glance, but together with the other added tones it simply looks like a normal tan. Believe me, I was surprised at first! But, sure, it doesn't all have to be color-picking.

SOME EXAMPLES IN IMAGES

And now trying to explain what I already said, but visually. If you look at the images, I recommend zooming in. Very simple images because some of them were actually loose studies and not something made with the intention of posting so don't expect anything beautiful lol

[ocprompts]

I only followed recently so you don't have to use these if you've done something too similar before. also you can rephrase them if they're awkwardly phrased.

Why is your OC named what they're named? Is there a different reason in-universe than out-of-universe?

Does your OC consider themself a cat person or a dog person?

If your OC was a pokemon gym leader, what type would they specialize in?

How does your OC decorate their room?

Does your OC share their room with anyone? A sibling, a partner, a pet..?

How many pillows does your OC sleep with?

Does your OC have an outfit that they never or almost never wear, but still keep?

What is the most illegal thing your OC has done?

Has your OC's favorite color ever changed? How?

Can your OC solve a Rubik's cube?

Does your OC collect anything?

What does/did your OC do with their old school work?

Does your OC prefer to sleep with their door open or closed?

How many times can your OC wear an article of clothing before they decide to wash it? And how does this compare to how actually dirty it is?

What does your OC have hung on the front of their fridge?

If your OC was a magical girl (gender neutral), what would their theme color be?

What kind of animal(s) are/were your OCs stuffed toys?

Is your OC any good at keeping plants alive?

How many ties does your OC own, and how often do they actually wear them?

Has your OC ever had any dental issues?

What kind of animal represents your OC, is it the same animal they think represents them, and is it their favorite animal?

Is your OC a fan of glow-in-the-dark items?

If your OC's life/story was a game, what kind of game would it be?

What books does your OC own, and why?

How much spam email does your OC get? And is it their own fault for signing up for it?

Does your OC have any mail subscriptions?

How many YouTube channels is your OC subscribed to?

How does your OC organize their phone gallery?

How often does your OC get a new phone?

What OS does your OC use on their computer? Did they pick it specifically, or did they just get a random computer and stick with whatever the default OS was?

How hard would it be to crack your OC's password?

How easily does your OC remember their own password(s)?

What age did your OC stop trick-or-treating? Dressing up?

When did your OC stop believing in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy?

How much money did your OC get from the tooth fairy when they lost a tooth?

Does your OC know how to make flower crowns?

Does your OC like hiking?

How good is your OC at remembering dates like birthdays and anniversaries?

Does your OC have the same political views as their parents? How have they affected each other?

What is your OC's favorite ice cream flavor?

When ordering a drink or treat, does your OC get small, medium, or large?

Does your OC like eating mushrooms?

Is there any birthday or Christmas gift that your OC is guaranteed to love?

Where does your OC get their groceries?

How well does your OC drive, and how does that compare to how well they think they can drive?

Does/did your OC make or buy their Halloween costumes?

Were your OC's Halloween costumes "normal" things, or were they weird or unique?

How big were your OC's birthday parties?

How often does your OC move houses?

Does your OC like garage sales?

Can your OC change a tire?

Who raised your OC when they were growing up?

How good is your OC at estimating distances, sizes, and measurements?

If you were trapped in an elevator with your OC, how long could you stand each other, and who would break first?

Does your OC have a good poker face?

How messy is your OC's bedroom?

How big are/were your OC's classes in school?

What is/was your OC's favorite school subject?

How is/was your OC's relationship with their teachers?

How bad do the holes in your OC's socks have to be for them to get rid of them?

How many pairs of shoes does your OC own?

Is your OC a hat person?

Has your OC won any awards or medals, and if so, what for?

What music genre(s) does your OC prefer?

How often does your OC buy things they immediately regret?

How often does your OC see wild animals?

What's the biggest animal your OC thinks they could take in a fight, and what's the biggest animal they could actually take in a fight?

How often does your OC lie?

What is your OC's preferred method of payment? Cash, credit, debit, cheque, bank transfer, app like paypal..?

How much money would it take to get your OC to kill someone?

What is your OC's sleep schedule like?

How well does your OC get along with their siblings?

How far is your OC willing to bend their morals for someone they love?

If someone close to your OC became a zombie, would your OC be able to shoot them?

How would your OC fare in a zombie apocalypse?

How is your OC at spelling?

How many languages does your OC speak?

How good is your OC's immune system?

At a carnival, what kind of food would your OC get?

Does your OC consider candy "food"?

What are your OC's favorite and least favorite household chores?

How does your OC feel about sex jokes?

What's your OC's alcohol tolerance like?

Does/did your OC decorate their locker in school?

If money wasn't an issue, what would your OC spend their days doing?

Does your OC enjoy puzzles like crosswords and sudoku?

How much facial hair can your OC grow?

How much jewelry does your OC wear?

How many piercings does your OC have?

How often does your OC need to use the bathroom?

How much does your OC care what others think of them?

Does your OC usually pick heads or tails?

What's your OC's rock-paper-scissors strategy?

Does your OC like shopping?

Why does your OC style their hair the way they do?

How does your OC feel about bugs?

Does your OC know how to perform CPR?

Has your OC ever been to the hospital? What for?

How many seconds does your OC allow for the 3/5/10-second-rule?

Does your OC keep broken, used, or worn-out items for sentimental reasons?

What makes a place "home" for your OC?

hi im literally in love with you <2

[adobe-outdesign]

Pteri or grarrl review when you have the time? Whichever out of the two you most feel like doing

(I can do both in two parts, but for right now I'll do the Pteri.)

The Pteri is one of several bird Neopets, but surprisingly all of the other birds are specific, distinct species (penguin, owl, etc.), making the Pteri surprisingly unique for just being a normal songbird. Another thing that's unique is that the Pteri has a long non-feathered tail, almost like a Zafara; a very unique addition for a bird and one that gives it a lot more flavor than it would have otherwise.

In terms of design, the Pteri uses a simple three-color palette; base color on top, creamy accents on the underbelly and inside wing, and a complimentary shade of yellow for the beak and feet. The eyes also have these unique fire-y markings to them that accent the underbelly. My only real issue with the design is that the two head feathers don't share the same shape as any of the other feathers, and look both too long and too thin to be read as just fluff. Otherwise, it's a solid design.

The Pteri hasn't changed much through conversion, outside of gaining more distinct chest fluff and slightly longer, fuller wings. I like the overall rounded shape of the original a bit more, but I also really like the 3/4s few the converted is in; having it be front-facing in the older artwork makes the details of the design harder to see. (Also, a moment of appreciation that they just subtly cupped the converted Pteri's wing instead of trying to give it hands or something. Hissi, take notes.)

Favorite Colours:

Faerie: The Faerie Pteri is simply beautiful, and everyone knows it. Instead of having butterfly wings tacked onto it, it instead runs with the bird idea by adding extra feathers to the tail, kind of like a mini peacock, and also adding more to the head and wings. It uses a gorgeous yellow as its primary color and accents it with white, orange, red, and purple, with the colors radiating outward in layers. The design also compliments the natural eye markings with additional markings around the entire eye as well as on the head and tail, and adds some lovely eye spots on the tail as well.

The converted version technically follows the same design as the original, minus the additional eye markings, but honestly the UC/styled pose shows off the markings better and has more flow to boot, making it far superior by default.

Darigan: Unlike Faerie, the converted Darigan Pteri doesn't look that great. The design is technically accurate to the original, but trying to make those features work on the default body shape just isn't happening, and a lot of detail got lost in the shading and highlights in the process.

However, the UC/styled version is really cool. It's one of the few tan Darigan pets that I don't wish were purple, with black accents for the finest feathers and red eyes for contrast. The long feathers and more raptor-like body shape really work well, and the talons on the hind feet are accented by the beak and various spikes. I also appreciate the subtle spotting.

Valentine: Not as fancy as the other two, but the Valentine's Pteri is quite nice; a mostly pink body with a subtle white gradient that transitions into heart markings. Like most good Valentine pets, it subtly integrates hearts into areas like the chest feathers, head feathers, and eye markings, and doesn't feel overly cluttered. I do think that the tail should've also been a heart, and something about the face reads as faintly sunburned to me, but it's still a nice color overall.

BONUS: The mutant Pteri is one of those mutants that's just a little too busy to be one of my all-time favs, but I do like it a lot. The cockatrice-esq body shape is super distinct and looks appropriately mutant-ish, and the teal, yellow, and red palette works great; not to mention the actual art quality is really good as well, with some lovely shading and linework. I do feel like the details should've been trimmed back—lose the long arm fingers, lose the red things on the tail (maybe just keep the final cream segment red instead), drop the patterning, maybe even make the wing feathers cream to break up the design a bit. Still, pretty good overall.

[luffyvace]

Rengoku x reader headcanons

I LOVE RENGOKUUU

yippie

ummm idk what to make reader so i’m just gonna default to gn 😭😋

enjoy 🤪

okkk so..!

he’s the best boyfriend ever without question

his mama raised him right so he’s a gentleman

he thinks the traditional flowers and sweets is decent but he likes to put a unique spin on it!

oh your worried for your family because demons lurk nearyour hometown?

well never fear! he planted wisteria trees around it!!

oh you like sweets?

DO YOU LIKE SWEET POTATOES?

he’s sharing w you 100% (for those who don’t know his canon fav food is sweet potatoes)

he’d take you on dates spontaneously

after you reminded him that couples date

he knows but kinda forgot since he was never focused much on romance before you

if your not a hashira he wants you as his sugoku

but his training..😭😭

he would be heavily motivational

but he won’t really ease up on you because you have to be strong if you want to survive powerful demons

he does this because he cares, please understand 😭

his love languages are quality time and gift giving

he always brings you back gifts because he knows you worry

or he’ll send them through his kisagi crow to you to arrive before he does

he does this to let you know he’s alive

it’s a real scary relief

but he’s really thoughtful with his gifts so it makes you smile in the end

whenever your together he’ll value and cherish that time forever

sometimes you’ll catch him staring at you with the kindest eyes and most loving smile ever

just watching you as you train or go about your daily life

it warms your heart so much

speak of warm-

MANS GIVES OFF NATURAL BODY HEAT

so..!

perfect cuddler!

you’ll crisp in summer tho :)

have fun! :D

if you develop your own breathing style he’ll be very interested in it and proud of you for creating your own!!

praise is a never ending thing with this man!!

if your a hashira he’d love to spar without holding back to push you both to your limits

you’d spend time at each other’s hashira houses a lot

relaxing in your kimonos as you soak in the warm sunlight

or watch a beautiful sunrise/sunset together

he’d love to go shopping with you on your free time!!

hashira’s can get paid as much as they want but he’d still insist on buying everything for you like the gentleman he is

he such a doting and sweet lover!

rengoku goes straight for personality when it comes to his partner

anyone, really

hes not one to judge :)

therefore your beautiful personality reflects onto your face like sunlight, making it shimmer and glow in through his eyes

rengoku would be a pretty good cook

i feel he observed his mother as she did and picked up on a lot of things

he also keeps his place clean, he doesn’t buy anything he knows he won’t use so it’s mostly sentimental stuff that means something to him

pictures of his family

gifts from friends

everything you’ve ever gave him

he doesn’t mean it in a creepy way

its endearing in his eyes 😅

writes love letters to you if you ever have to be away from him for a long time

the rest of the hashira’s and kagaya think you guys are adorable <33

rengoku wouldn’t mind at all if you like pda

he’d initiate it himself occasionally

neither of you get obnoxious with it

unless you do

mitsuri wouldn’t mind

but the rest?

“😅😃”

is their reaction

you think it’s funny tho

they still love you two dw

but you love each other more

♥︎♥︎♥︎

you can prob tell but this is demon slayer reader btw lol

im sooo happy with how these turned out this gotta be my best work yet it’s adorable 💗

[just7frogsinapeoplesuit]

Finally reading the Locked Tomb series because for once it wasn't taken out of the library! Thoughts one book one (spoiler free):

- I loved that our point of view is a character who is completely clueless about everything that's happening. It felt like assembling a puzzle with most of the pieces missing. Very fun. I wish more authors did this. I can definitely see how other people could find it frustrating, though, especially considering that we're still mostly in the dark at the end of the book.

- The foreshadowing is done perfectly. We are never given too much information at once and rarely the whole picture, so even if you figure something out early on there's an extra layer to it during the Big Reveal that would only be noticeable on a re-read.

- Love the setting and the characters. They're unique and interesting and I'm excited to see where it goes from here. Science fantasy is a woefully underused genre.

- A lot of the characters' names are too long to be used in full all the time. I'm already bad with names, I cannot remember a large cast of people whose names are 4+ syllables, and it makes reading feel clunky when we have both "Protesilaus" and "Nonagesimus" multiple times on one page.

- The necromancer and cavalier of the 8th house are uncle and nephew, but the (younger-looking?) nephew is older by what seems to be a significant amount. I know this is completely possible, especially in a knights-and-lords society, but I feel like there should have been a sentence somewhere to acknowledge that their roles and ages don't match up as expected because it got confusing.

- The horror is really fun and creative, except for the blood writing and flickering lights in the scenes with the 4th teens which felt jarringly campy. Possibly that will be explained in a later book, or Muir was just having fun with tropes.

- Gideon's commentary sometimes breaks the immersion of the setting, which is otherwise done really well. For example, early in the book she describes her acne as "pizza face" when we know for a fact she's never encountered pizza and probably doesn't even know what dairy is. I don't think there's a way to justify her learning about whole types of food and a colorful assortment of swears and slang from magazines but not things like the concept of swimming and the existence of showers, which are clearly common in the places her magazines are from. The Autism in me wants to be bothered by this, but being funny is objectively the best reason to break the 4th wall a bit and she is very funny. Gideon is just the Locked Tomb Bugs Bunny.

- Re: immersion, my favorite detail is that Gideon's default unit of measurement is bodies. 10/10.

- My one real issue: the prose randomly switches between casual language Gideon would use and words that are about 3 levels more obscure than necessary. I could understand the obscure vocab if the word choice added something, but most of the time it doesn't and sometimes it's actually less applicable. I shouldn't have to look up words that fell out of the common lexicon over a century ago just to learn that what's being said is something like "this guy acts like a knight", and it doesn't make sense with Gideon as our POV. There is no way she's consistently thinking "deliquesce" instead of "melt away", especially not as part of a description that used "clusterfuck" two sentences earlier. Sometimes this shift happens midsentence and we get stuff like "a lahar of gunge"*. My spellchecker doesn't recognize either of those as words, because one is only used by volcano scientists and the other is so casual it's not in most dictionaries. Part of me is delighted by the choice to just chuck the whole English language into one book, but the inconsistent way it was executed made reading feel awkward and cumbersome at times, and having to somewhat frequently look up words that weren't actually adding anything got frustrating (I even looked up words I knew because sometimes the context made me think I had to be mistaking them for something else). I know it's not just me, because people regularly tell me I use words that are too obscure and I've had to learn to tone it down. I definitely wouldn't recommend this series to anyone with less than a solid "college level" vocabulary, and I think Muir's editor should've had a conversation along the lines of "most people are not immersed in worldbuilding research and/or in love with their thesaurus".

Overall, this was a fun read and I'm looking forward to the next two!

* Upon further reflection I think this one in particular is just a localization issue, since Muir is from New Zealand where lahars have historically been a threat and "gunge" is of UK origin. I'm guessing both words are much more commonplace in NZ than here in the US so if that's the case it's actually a fantastic bit of imagery I was too American to appreciate

EDIT: I just came across one of those "what's your English vocabulary size" tests and effortlessly got the highest possible score (which is apparently not at all common going by other people's results in the notes) so I feel further validated that the obscure vocab point is not me.

[angedemystere]

You know what’s the most tragic part of Judas storyline on The Chosen? Part of Judas always felt like he didn't belong in the group, and he was kinda right. Jesus had high hopes for all his apostles except Judas.

Watch out, I got a long reply to this!

I don't feel that so much about Judas in season 3. It would've been nice to see him getting close to a couple of the disciples, like we see with John and Thomas. Even so, he was involved with the group from the start. It's more in season 4 I can see how he doesn't seem to be as "in tune" with the group.

But here's something to keep in mind: this idea that Jesus had "high hopes" for everyone except Judas may be something we, the audience who knows the story, are projecting.

In terms of being supported or elevated, sure, Simon Peter and John have had special attention, but I'm pretty sure Judas has had as many one-on-one onscreen moments with Jesus as most of the disciples. And ALL the disciples struggle on some level with Jesus's mission and identity. That's a huge part of the story that's not unique to Judas.

What I see the show doing is showing how, yes, Jesus is not holding Judas's hand through every moment whenever Judas wants to improve the ministry through fiscal strategy. But Judas is also failing to internalize the things Jesus has said point blank. He tells Judas to think back to the Sermon on the Mount. Judas doesn't follow up on this; instead he goes to Hadad, his former mentor, for advice. Yes, Judas is a tragic and very relatable figure.

But let's not pretend Jesus is orchestrating Judas's downfall or letting it happen through neglect. He's given Judas many opportunities to better understand the mission, as have other disciples (Simon Z, John). Judas is getting in his own way to that understanding. He keeps defaulting to what he thinks he knows and how things should be done and is frustrated when his input is exposed as faulty.

Judas keeps thinking in worldly terms - and that makes sense. Most of us think in worldly terms. Christians often think in worldly terms without realizing it. That's why we have to keep going back to prayer, to Scripture, and putting aside how we would do things to focus on how God wants us to do things.

The very first experience Judas had as a disciple of Jesus was the two-by-two mission where they did not take anything, ANYTHING, with them. This approach taught them to fully trust in God's provision, and they continued to do that when they reunited. Judas doesn't fully internalize the lesson, or he finds God's degree of provision unsatisfying when he keeps thinking about bringing about an earthly kingdom with Jesus on an earthly throne.

And this attitude is not singular to Judas - many Jews at that time thought the Messiah would drive out the Romans and establish a new Jewish kingdom on earth. John and Big James believe this, too - that's why they ask Jesus to sit "at your right and left hand." And what happens? Jesus is pissed. He's angry and frustrated and heartbroken because they think he's come to be an earthly king, not the kingdom of Heaven, despite everything he's been teaching them.

It just so happens that Judas isn't willing to revise that belief in the face of all the ways Jesus is renouncing that vision of the Messiah. The fact Judas still believes Jesus is the Messiah at this point is quite amazing.

I feel for Judas in his struggle and see how his character flaws are pushing him in a dangerous direction. As for Jesus, I think he shows his love for Judas in the show, even if he's not sitting Judas down for lengthy heart-to-heart chats.

[maeshelix]

HI HI... it's Leolithe here! FINALLY INTERACTING. I see you in the notes of my Lotus posts and i am DEATHLY curious to know your opinions on the Lotus system! Both as characters in general and also what you'd love and/or hate to see in their story. The idea of a Sentient AI mimic who is a system is so incredible to me, but I wonder if there's anything about Natah, Lotus or Margulis you would change?

Also, how many of you have played Warframe? Has everyone tried it or is it just not everyone's cup of tea? Should I direct my questions to specific people in the system? I'd love to hear more Lotus thoughts!! :3

Before we respond, here's a message from Rokoko:

LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOUR ART IS SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOD AND YOURE SO RIGHT ABOUT THE LOTUS OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG AAAAAAAAAAAAH 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃

Now, to answer your questions. I'll start with the last ones.

We've all played Warframe, and each have found something to enjoy in it.

We used to play it on the Switch, long before we found out we're we. Eventually stopped for reasons I can't remember. Probably because it was Warframe on the Switch. Lmao.

Recently ported our account to PC, which has been nice. Caught up on everything, so now we're just taking turns making frames and enjoying the loop. Learning how to mod. Deep in the grind. Ignoring rivens cause they scare us. The usual, I'm sure. Lmao.

Asking specific members for their opinions is fine. Just will take longer to get answered. Unless you're lucky. We can't really control who fronts, unfortunately. But you can still do it, if you're curious about one of us. They'll definitely appreciate the attention. Probably. Lmao.

On the Lotus, we absolutely love her. Love all three of them.

Zero loves Lotus and Natah the most. She's an AI, so she relates to their struggles, but we are all enamored with them.

Marguils' resolve, Natah's tenacity, Lotus' deducation. Their histories with Ballas. Their histories with the Orokin in general. Their histories with eachother. With Marguils' memory, her legacy, before she came back. Their love for the Tenno. Their children. Their dedication to protecting the origin system.

All three are amazing. Their plurality is very interesting, originally being a synthetic mimic with two different sets of memories in them. Eventually culminating in three different entities in one. It's unique and engaging.

Our favorite characters in Warframe, to be sure. They're amazing.

We'd love to seem their plurality be more noticable, in the future. We're all in on them being plural, but it is admittedly easy to miss. A line of dialogue unheard, a helmet left uninteracted, a line of text left unread, and you're probably not gonna know they're plural. We want them to start bickering during a mission. We want Lotus to be explaining something, ony the go silent for a time, then for Natah or Marguils to take over. We want some way to talk to them outside of missions, for character moments.

I don't know how likely any of these will be, personally. But we'd like to see them.

That's also what we'd change, honestly. The inability to change between the three was annoying, so we'd remove that from The New War. Or add a fourth option of "take turns". We want to see them interact. We want a blatenly in-your-face system.

We'd hate for Natah and Marguils to be forgotten, eventaully. For Lotus to be considered the default. For some convoluted story beat to fuse them all into one mind, as is annoyingly common in system stories. Since that's the only good end singlets can imagine for a system. Natah and Marguils getting forgotten would be disappointing and annoying, but if they all fused into one we'd probably drop Warframe immediately.

Hope these answers are good @leolithe. Don't know if I did a good job of expressing our love for this system but, we do truly love them. Thank you for the question.

[booktomoviebrawl]

We are not judging how bad the movie is, we are judging which adapted the book the worst. There are good movies that are bad adaptions.

Propaganda below the cut (spoilers may apply)

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (originally the Darren Shaw saga/The Vampire's Assistant):

Took on a much more early 2000s teen flick approach to a book that, while initially for younger audiences, had a lot of very dark and Intense moments. The casting was also fairly bad and it really went in a different direction from the novel.

Bad acting, weird script choices, not even Ken Watanabe & Salma Hayek could save it

Characterisation was nothing like the books and it couldn't decide if it was a comedy or horror

Seventh Son (originally The Spook's Apprentice):

The book is a dark fantasy book for children, with fantastical elements that ring true to folklore but still have their own distinct flair, really well written horror centered on the fact that the protagonist is still just a boy, and a very strong theme that the spook opposes the forces of darkness and evil with knowledge and wits rather than heroics. The series as a whole has a lot of digs at established powers, both the Church or the nobles. It also has a mentor that is showed as imperfect from the get-go because of sexist tropes, and a protagonist who criticizes it even at the beginning when he's just a boy. The movie makes the protagonist an adult, turns the spook from an old wise man who practices using a stick (peasant weapon!) to fight and throwing silver chains to immobilize supernatural creatures, into the SURVIVOR of an ORDER OF KNIGHTS, and generally removes all the slow creeping horror to turn it into generic shitty fantasy movie #493, with bad acting on top. And it bombed so bad it probably RUINED the Spook's series chances to ever get a good adaptation, damnit!

Mentor gets changed from being part of a long line of people with a cool fantasy job to a discount Templar, cool methods of handling monsters got reduced to just killing them, awesome assassin grandma changed to Default Movie Witch, and more! It's pretty much not the story anymore.

It takes pretty much nothing that I liked from the books with the initial premise and some names being pretty much the only things kept intact.

The plot and world were completely changed. Most of the changes make for a much more generic and, in my opinion, worse story. Spooks in the books are seventh sons of seventh sons who are trained to fight creatures of the dark because seventh sons of seventh sons are able to sense the supernatural. They are hired for jobs by ordinary people, usually exorcising ghosts or capturing creatures like boggarts and witches. In the movie, the Spooks are also seventh sons of seventh sons, but for some reason, they are an order of knights. In the books lot of people think Spooks are charlatans until they come face to face with a ghost or creature of the dark because the world is usually pretty ordinary and peaceful. The setting is inspired by Lancashire and the world feels pretty unique. The setting in the movie is Generic CGI Fantasy Land where everyone has American accents and big CGI monsters are everywhere.

The protagonist Tom and Alice, his friend and later love interest, were aged up like in the Percy Jackson movies. In the books, Tom starts out as a 12-year-old and grows up as the series continues. He starts out very uncertain and wants to stay on his family farm. He only becomes a Spook because he knows he has to get a job to ease the financial burden on his family. He grows into his role as a Spook's apprentice over time. Alice is a pretty interesting character in the books, she is naturally very talented as a witch but struggles with the darker side of her powers over the course of the series. In the movie, they became incredibly generic Hero and Love Interest characters with pretty much no personality and instantly fall in love.

Mother Malkin was a first-book villain, who was mostly only such a threat because Tom was an extremely inexperienced 12-year-old at this point who accidentally released her and didn't realise how dangerous she was. She was monstrous and decrepit and fed on blood. In the movie she is turned into a beautiful seductress and a world-ending threat who can turn into a dragon. They also made her the Spook's lover for some reason.

Tom's mother is a really cool character in the books who pushes him to become a Spook despite him being reluctant and plays a larger role in the later books. In the movie, Tom is the one who wants to be a Spook and his mother doesn't want him to.

I think the character who got it worst was the Spook himself, John Gregory. In the books, he is a former priest at the end of his career as a Spook, he is incredibly uptight and disciplined to an extent that other Spooks find over the top. For example, he has a rule of fasting before a battle that he makes his apprentices follow and he only kills as a last resort. He's tough but usually pretty fair to Tom and explains things to him so he doesn't get hurt. In the movie he is pretty much the complete opposite, he's a drunkard who spends the whole movie making getting angry and fighting and doesn't seem very interested in teaching Tom how to be a Spook. Also, the accent that Jeff Bridges uses is terrible.

I'm not sure the movie would be enjoyable if you hadn't read the books, having read them I hated it, but I feel like it would be mediocre at best even without the comparison. The acting is pretty bad despite the big-name cast. I think you could maybe enjoy it in a so bad it's good kind of way. The books were spooky and pretty charming from what I remember and I think if they had been adapted more accurately, preferably as a TV show, it could have been pretty good. Sorry this is such an essay, I've never hated an adaptation more. It's been a long time since I've both read the books and seen the movie, so if anyone wants to correct anything feel free.

[jadeglas]

Nico "Echo" Silva

(The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game by Massive Attack)

Nico "Echo" Silva is a 32-year-old non-sanctioned super living on the fringes of San Padua's underworld. He's a solitary figure known for his work as a shadow operative - a man who can get things done efficiently and discreetly, no questions asked.

Nico's most defining feature is his unique power of echolocation. This ability allows him to navigate and "see" using reflected sound, creating a constant overlay of sensory information that blends with his normal vision. This power has shaped both his professional life and how he perceives and interacts with the world around him. This power is always active, providing a constant stream of sensory information, appearing as a translucent, shifting web of lines and shapes that outlines objects and people in his environment. The echolocation imagery becomes more pronounced in noisy environments, obscuring his normal vision. In busy streets or crowded places, Nico sees a chaotic, pulsing landscape of sound-generated shapes overlaying the visual world. In quiet environments, the echolocation overlay becomes subtler, allowing Nico to see the world more normally. This leads him to prefer quiet spaces and times of day when there's less ambient noise. Nico's perception is a blend of sight and sound; his unique powers no longer allow him to separate the two senses fully. Still, they compensate for this by giving him an acute awareness of his surroundings, including objects and people out of his line of sight. This is how he "feels" the space around him, even with his eyes closed. In particularly noisy environments, Nico experiences sensory overload - the cacophony of visual noise, making it difficult for him to focus or navigate. Over time, though, Nico has developed control over his power, learning to focus on specific sounds or filter out others. He refers to this as "tuning" his perception, like adjusting the dial on a radio. In his work, Nico uses his echolocation to navigate in complete darkness, detect hidden threats, or eavesdrop on conversations from afar. Nico's unique way of perceiving the world contributes to his feelings of isolation. He also perceives people differently based on their voices or the sounds they make. A person's laugh and the cadence of their speech create distinct, recognizable patterns in his echolocation overlay. These two factors help explain his attraction to Mia's voice - her singing creates beautiful and soothing patterns in his echolocation vision.

Physically, Nico is an imposing presence at 6'2" with an athletic frame honed by years of combat and survival. His olive-toned, sun-weathered skin bears the marks of his dangerous lifestyle, with various scars crisscrossing his arms and torso. His face is strikingly handsome, with sharp cheekbones and a strong jawline, though a crooked nose hints at a violent past. His chestnut brown eyes are always alert and wary, constantly scanning his surroundings. His black hair is kept short. His hands are calloused and scarred, with long, dexterous fingers equally adept at wielding a weapon or picking a lock. His movements are fluid and purposeful, every step calculated and nearly silent. Despite his attractive features, an air of danger about him tends to keep others at a distance. His default expression is guarded, bordering on grim, with a tension in his jaw and shoulders that speaks of constant vigilance.

Born to Brazilian immigrants, Nico Silva's unique echolocation abilities manifested during a traumatic household accident when he was 8 years old. During a season of heavy rains, a flash flood hit the community of South American immigrants where Nico's family lived with a powerful rush of water that destroyed both properties and lives. Nico's powers allowed him to navigate through the murky water and find an escape route, while his parents and neighbors struggled in the fast-moving currents. His ability to "see" using reflected sound undoubtedly saved his life that day, but it came at a steep cost - his parents were gravely injured and never looked at their son the same way again. As a child, Nico was shunned, called a freak, and treated as an outcast in his neighborhood. The isolation and anger bred a fierce self-reliance and combative nature that landed him in juvie repeatedly as a teenager living on the streets. It was there that he first learned how to weaponize his powers for personal gain and protection.

Before encountering Mia, Nico lived a life of detached professionalism. He prided himself on his ability to remain emotionally uninvolved in his work, viewing attachments as dangerous liabilities. His reputation in the criminal underworld was that of a reliable, efficient operative who could be trusted to get the job done without unnecessary complications.

Nico's personal life was sparse and transient. He indulged only in fleeting physical pleasures, never allowing anyone to get close enough to breach the walls he'd built around himself. His apartment, while comfortable, was more of a base of operations than a home, reflecting his nomadic and guarded lifestyle.

Despite his hardened exterior, Nico adhered to a personal code of ethics. He avoided jobs that involved harming children and had a particular distaste for those who preyed on the vulnerable. This moral compass, however subtle, set him apart from many of his peers in the criminal world.

Professionally, Nico was at the top of his game. His unique abilities made him an asset to various factions in San Padua's underworld, allowing him to choose his jobs carefully and maintain a degree of independence rare in his line of work.

However, beneath his carefully constructed facade of detachment and control, Nico carried deep-seated emotional scars. Years of isolation and the nature of his work had left him feeling disconnected from the world around him. He had long since resigned himself to a life lived in the shadows, never expecting to find any form of genuine connection or emotional fulfillment.

Nico notices Mia when he overhears her singing one night as she's cleaning up The Edge after closing. He's enchanted by her voice and quickly develops intensely obsessive and possessive feelings for her. This obsession starts three months before the start of the story.

While he would never harm her, and he considers her health and happiness his highest priority, he has become jealous and protective of her to an alarming extent. When the story begins, he's comfortable, sometimes even eager, to violently punish those he deems a threat to Mia. He hasn't revealed his feelings to Mia yet, but he has been following her, protecting her, and otherwise discreetly invading her privacy. He's also become a regular at The Edge to get closer to her, and Mia knows him as Nick when he's there. In Mia, Nico hears the tenderness and beauty he's been so starved of - a resonance that echoes into the dark crevices of his calloused heart. For the first time in a long while, he feels genuinely compelled to use his gifts for something other than self-preservation. Mia represents light in his perpetual darkness; he'll risk everything to keep her safe.

Nico's central flaw is his belief that love and connection require control and invasion of privacy. He believes the only way to keep someone safe and show love is through constant surveillance and intervention, without their knowledge or consent. This stems from his own trauma and isolation, but it's ultimately harmful and unsustainable.

[fareehaandspaniards]

I am starting to collect all my headcanons about Gremia! This post is created to make my head empty again, so I can start create something new, but if anyone wants to read my Deep Dark Fantasies - enjoy xD

(traditionally a portrait! One day I will have portrait of EVERY character of BB, but for now I drew 7!)

Should I start by saying that creating an image of a character like Sir Gremia is an extremely fascinating endeavor, because 90% of his image is my personal fantasy and kinks, since the game gives almost no information about him?

What we have in the game:

An old generation Tomb Prospector, as he can be summoned to Ebraitas (and funnily enough, ONLY to her. He's not available ANYWHERE else in the game at all. Unique sir xd)

Default Face Model. Who knows if it was his face model that became the default because the developers decided not to bother, or if he had a different face but it was removed, but still he is the only npc without a mask with a default face. He has a slightly swarthy skin, long nose, protruding forward chin, age wrinkles, narrow lips, gray (maybe gray-blue?) eyes.

Wild fighting style - in my case, when I tried to summon Damian and Gremia to Ebraitas in turn, the difference was obvious xD If Damian walked around the enemy and kept a distance, throwing magic and sometimes getting hit, Gremia rushed into the fight and literally crushed the unfortunate Great One to the wall xd (what a man)

His name is !Sir! Gremia. How many other sirs are there in Bloodborne? Fucking zero. So he's got a title somewhere. Is he a current captain of Tomb Prospectors? (Tho they almost all died already I suppose?) Did he receive that title for his service? Is he noble from the beginning?

Okay, model, name, fighting style and church weapons, augur ebrietas, plus torch and...

(he's saying "That's all!" xd)

And now we can move on to the headcanons, since THAT character has been given a tribute in the form of listing his CANON traits, now we can throw in a LITTLE bit of my thoughts (I used to think that Edgar and other npcs with no lines or anything else were the peak of comedy, especially when the fans get a personality for all these dudes. But Sir Gremia is a new level. The poor man doesn't even have a face of his own lol).

So.

Let me start by saying that I changed his appearance a LITTLE bit. Basically changed his eye color to brown (I really want brown eyes, but I'll probably go back to the canonical gray version later Q_Q), and added a couple of scars and burn marks. And so I gave him short, dark, brown hair, and impressive musculature, since I have a headcanon that he spent ALL his free time working out and improving his physical form, as he saw it as the best way to survive. Periodically, the Church would make him read, if only to ensure he knew the Church's prayers and precepts, but Gremia would be extremely resistant to this endeavor, as he simply couldn't read (and didn't want to, I'll tell later why)

He was recruited into the Tomb Prospector ranks because of his fighting ability, physical strength and a great desire to be among them. It seems to me that Ludwig himself was responsible for recruiting the first generation of Tomb Prospectors, as his Holy Sword of Moonlight was retrieved from the dungeons, so as the first Church hunter, he may have been their commander for a while. That's exactly how I headcanoned it. And it was Ludwig who accepted Olek, Gremia and Damian into the squad, and the rest (naturally, there are also other Tomb Prospectors. Can't a task as extensive as pulling numerous goodies from the tombs of the Pthumerians and beyond be done by 3 men and one horse (Ludwig)). Gremia was a beggar, so poor that his main livelihood as a child was stealing, and later it became fights where bets were placed on people (this I borrow a bit from the movie "Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Downey Jr. Oh, and it's an interesting topic in general). Actually he could have become one of the hunters Gehrman mentored, I don't think it mattered to him what the origin of his charges was, but being Tomb Prospector is more prestigious, more expensive, more interesting. Besides, at that point, could Gremia have calculated that this case was safer? Hunting is fine, but hunters die in huge numbers, it seems to me. If we take a large city like Yharnam and imagine how many volunteers and common hunters could have died from disease/blood poisoning/beast curse/just a lack of fighting skills or a single mistake - it gets creepy. SO anyway he met Damian there, as a recruit to Tomb Prospectors.

Gremia was a very open-minded young man in his youth. As I wrote in a post with headcanons on Damian (here&lt;3), he is "what I think is what I say" type. He jokes constantly, VERY much, and comes up with a variety of puns, often ruining the atmosphere or the moment, but it's easier for him to accept reality and present himself to people that way. Through jokes, he distracts himself from the horror of what is happening around him. If in young Damian's vision this trait was extremely annoying, then I think by the time of the game events, Damian would really miss his goofiness, because when your life consists of suffering, disappointments and shattered dreams, this is the only way to distract yourself (I like to imagine how Gremia constantly grabbed all sorts of artifacts found by their squad in the tombs, and tried them on himself, and then laughed out loud).

He's a great fighter, which is probably obvious since he's still alive by the time the player arrives to the Chalice of Isz? He uses Rosmarinus and Augur of Ebrietas, but not a Call Beyond. Funny that Edgar has the same equipment as him except for Torch! I have a headcanon that Edgar doesn't accept Great Ones as something good or an idol, and I think Gremia isn't a woshipper as well. But if Edgar sorta hates hates them in my vision, Gremia would be afraid of them? He is not a scientist, so why couldn't he see them as something terrifying?

GREMIAN stuff! Gremia was all manly man - "I never cry", "you can cry on my shoulder", "you're like a girl", "long hair is for women" and so on, but inside, he was still a very vulnerable creature, most of all craving affection and the very "tenderness" that was "not for him". He could reproach Damian for being overly sensitive, for his long hair, because it was impractical, for being careful in battle and for the fact that he always stays somewhere behind instead of rushing forward with him, as befits a real warrior (the image of a "warrior" could be gained from the only fairy tale books Gremia was read as a child, and also from the "the strongest survives" principle. I think as man from the poorest stratum of Yharnam, Gremia couldn't read and only learned it as an adult, but with great difficulty). All these reproaches would make their relationship prickly, but calling Damian effeminate would Gremia think of him only more and more? And the jokes in which he would constantly mention how Damian reminds him of a girl would be incomprehensible to Damian himself, but would simply mean that Gremia is constantly thinking about it. Gremia is the type who will say "no homo" his whole life, whether it's accepting help on which his life depends, holding hands with a friend, in bed with lover or on his deathbed, etc. xd Also "If he's cute and I'm top, it's not gay" lol (funny how most Russian anecdotes are based on this very phrase. Ironically, our anecdotes have men getting laid all the time, and I find it a curious social phenomenon, since our older generation doesn't accept LGBT in ANY way but still finds funny those goofy anecdotes about two men fucking xD). Gremia:

Damian would be exactly a "girl" to him, as I said, even though Damian himself is only related to femininity by his caring nature and long hair? Gremia would just really like to patronize him, making him "weak" in his own mind, but Damian was too young to see feelings in silly undercurrents and constant rebukes. I headcanon that Damian came to Tomb Prospectors from being a librarian, i mean, in Byrgenwerth he was in charge of the book archive. And the fact that a bookworm was trying to become a fighter would have made Gremia extremely nervous at first - he would have tried to teach him (even though he didn't ask for it), rebuke him, show him how much better Gremia himself was with weapons and all that. All in all this attitude would lead to their open conflicts at first, which would piss Ludwig off immensely as a leader (who would suggest them find a room lol). But gradually, Gremia would finally be able to express, that by constantly pestering Damian, he's just trying to care and actually genuinely worried if he survives against the dead of the catacombs and what happens to him. Gremia does care, he just doesn't know how to show it.

Gradually Damian would improve his fighting, get used to it, stop keeping behind the rest of the team and being afraid, and start guarding Gremia himself, because he was a great friend and comrade for him, even though he sometimes behaved inappropriately. It would break the whole image that Gremia had formed of Damian, but it would fuel his interest. After all, usually the manliest men are the ones who dream of being protected and petted. That would be where the real "camaraderie" and partnership would begin, the time when they could be a better team. Soon would be discovered Chalice of Isz, and of course, by this particular couple. (I headcanon VERY strongly that in one of the missions a fire of love happened between them, either by adrenaline or generally flowing out of their relationship, and there was passion, but this incident they didn't discuss in any way, and Gremia was the first to brush it off that it wasn't all that serious, though he was waiting for Damian to deny it). Gremia's feelings at this point would be boiling like a huge brew in a red-hot cauldron, but he would be afraid to voice them, instead of this trying to flirt with Damian, whose thoughts were entirely occupied with young Micolash. But Gremia had no way of knowing that his best friend and partner would soon leave the service he had devoted a large part of his life to?

Some time after that, when the Choir was founded, Damian began to distance himself from Tomb Prospectors, spending more time with the scholars of the Choir and even receiving an offer to become one of them. Expeditions down into the endless labyrinths still continued, but it was no longer as idyllic as it used to be, and Damian started carrying around a beautiful talisman - a medallion with the image of Micolash' eye, already blue, a beautiful English tradition from the days of Victorian England :^) Like one of those:

Gremia and Damian's views on Ebraitas differed - Damian took Micolash's point of view, wanting to know the rest of the Great Ones, their nature and etc, and was generally respectful. While Gremia was afraid of them. He, a man of a down-to-earth mindset, would not accept a monster as an idol. And fear would not encourage him to worship, but rather repel him.

When Micolash made the decision to leave the Choir, Damian followed him and visited his former colleagues one last time, only to say goodbye and leave his armor. Gremia was shattered, and the Damian had no idea that their union meant absolutely everything to Gremia, and that he was in love. That's when their biggest conflict happened, a real drama where Gremia left the other with a dislocated jaw in response to his coldness, as well as saying lots of bad things to him, saying everything he felt (except his true feelings), and generally making Damian think he was hated. Maybe Damian would have tried to look deeper into his soul, but Gremia closed himself off too aggressively, and Damian had already pledged his loyalty to Micolash and he doesn't break promises. In general, both remained sure that they do not want to see each other. Gremia's heart was broken, but he could not express it in anything but a crushing everything around, and so after angry Damian left, he shed tears for a long time and closed himself off from everyone for a while.

WOW GUYS what a drama I created, good job me??????? I HOPE YOU ENJOY READING MY BRILLIANT FANFIC LOL

("Moments of unbridled imagination" says the pic)

No, really, I am sorry for all of this what you are reading, since it all just appeared from my head as I looked at sir Gremia. I feel for him and Damian with all of those at the same time:

ANYWAY

Gradually, Gremia would seal his poor heart and continue his service, finding an outlet in it. While Damian was busy with science (kidnapping people for Micolash, organizing the School of MensTits and caring for a fully grown but unstable man), Gremia seriously tried to find a hobby, any hobby that would take his mind off memories about Damian - so he learned how to read and generally began pestering the Choir scholars with inquisitive questions about the faith, tried to find a mate in Olek, studied the Church's weapons, and even had a few love affairs. But nothing seemed to get better. He enjoyed communicating with the children from the orphanage, whom the Choir continued to take in. And loved to talk with Edgar, as one of the many Choir guys and later someone who could see Damian through his spying mission. Gremia had even told him stories about Damian, under the pretense that he wanted to warn him, but ended up spilling Damian's entire youth to Edgar with some delicate details, exclusively moments unrelated to combat in any way. No, well, the fact that he can cook is extremely important to Edgar? (no). Also, Gremia taught Edgar how to fight (because Gremia VERY much wanted to, and Edgar couldn't say no), so Edgar inherited his fighting style.

During his service, he also realized his long-held dream - he was given the noble title of Sir. Although Gremia claimed to despise the aristocracy of Yharnam, he always wanted to feel "higher" than he was, so Ludwig knighted him with Laurence, and appointed him head of the Tomb Prospectos (sadly, there was soon almost no Tomb Prospectors left. But Gremia always wore the title proudly, and mentioned that he was "sir" every chance he got).

As he matured, Gremia was no longer so boastful about his manhood, but became more confident and relaxed, though his parade of jokes remained with him. The feelings he had for Damian, despite calling him a "traitor", no longer seemed strange or foolish, and he accepted them. Gremia had become a fine man, a true support and simply a good human, who had finally accepted his inner sensitivity and desire to nurture and mentor. (Left without Damian, he no longer worried about what the other one would think of him, so he let himself go, and simply wanted to become better for Damian, so that he might one day impress him or even win him back.)

Over the years, Gremia and Damian had forgiven each other for the last goodbye, and Gremia only wished that Damian would finally stop following Micolash and come back. Gremia and Damian crossed paths once, when Damian was taking care of provisions for the School of Mensis. They pointed their weapons at each other, but Gremia noticed for himself how much Damian had aged, how much he had changed, how much colder he had become. Damian felt a huge guilt towards his former comrade and asked if the Gremia held a grudge for all that happened between them. Gremia would have suggested Damian to leave Micolash, reminded him that the School of Mensis was an immoral fuck-up and Damian wasn't like that at all, and complained that they were almost the same age, only Gremia looked young, having earned only a couple of age wrinkles, while Damian had sand falling out of him (he would have definitely asked why Damian had a huge cage-shaped thing on his head and where the fuck are his eyebrows xd). But Damian is a man of his word, and so they would have drifted apart again, still as warring sides, Church and School of Mensis, only now knowing there was no offense between them. I can directly see this all right here, this is definitely going to become a fanfic when I start writing it.

When the Mensis ritual happened, when Rom became a Vacuous Spider, when Caryll disappeared, when Edgar died, when Damian lost everyone he knew, he thought he was alone. But Gremia was still waiting for him. I wrote once before in a post that Damian ended his life after Micolash died in a Nightmare, but I don't like that end of his life at all, and I didn't know that there was such a wonderful Gremia who LOVED him all his life (whoops how lucky Damian is!). So after visiting Micolash one last time and making sure that the aura of presence was gone from the mummy and the nightmare was over - a new dawn was beginning in Yharnam, this time a true dawn, the two of them could leave the city and finally live like normal people, at least at the end of their lives.

Happy end achieved yay!

Little headcanons I forgot to mention in all this writing:

When Gremia was seriously injured during a battle and was paralyzed and bedridden for a while, Damian would come to read to him. He would read everything from children's books to poems and ballads, and Gremia would listen intently, memorizing the stories and often falling asleep to his voice.

Micolash in this entire timeline and headcanon, if he ever had a romantic relationship with Damian, it was only in the School of Mensis. However, seeing Gremia's blatant interest, he would deliberately take Damian's attention back to himself. Not that he needed the attention badly. It was just that he needed to signify that Damian was his, perhaps even as a thing. That's the kind of person he is xd Well, how not to piss off such a susceptible Gremia who lights up like a torch? Gremia's excessive jealousy led to quarrels, and it was extremely amusing for Micolash to watch it. Ugh not nice xd When Damian left everything for Micolash, Gremia was just like that: (Why him and not me?!)

Gremia is almost permanently horny. It's such a character trait, I don't know what to say xd And because of that, his frequent fantasies led to him often secluding himself with exciting thoughts, often hiding very poorly that all his thoughts are specifically about Damian (if he saw Damian in a woman's dress, he would die I SWEAR (from the hardest boner in his whole life)

Ludwig was always there for all of Tomb Prospectors, but Gremia seeked his help more in love affairs, asking for advice - what to do with Damian, because Ludwig seemed to him very experienced man xD

WHOEVER you are thanks for reading my fanfic, if you are reading this line! xd Sorry for couple of russian memes, they are too expressive and perfect here. Sorry for sorry, I am tired and could think of it more, add more headcanons, connected with the GAME EVENTS but my head is fucking full, and if won't put my fantasies somewhere, I can't create something new ;_; Anyway I am not sure anyone would read all of this

lol

1:40 AM I am fucked up bye

[callsigned]

𝙽𝙸𝙺𝚃𝙾

𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑

nikto  grew  up  in  nihzny  novgorod,  russia.  though  the  city  was  named  gorky  in  his  actual  childhood,  it  was  renamed  when  in  1990  due  to  shifting  ideologies  at  the  time. 

he  had  no  pets  nor  siblings,  and  was  predominantly  raised  by  a  single  mother.  through  her  he  learned  how  to  read  people,  extract  favors,  and  provide  for  himself  -  all  skills  he  would  later  use  as  a  deep  cover  agent  for  fsb. 

he  was  a  bit  of  a  neighborhood  fixture,  because  he  made  it  his  business  to  know  what  was  going  on.  a  helpful  young  man  who  was  trusted  by  the  community  came  to  know  much  -  something  he  did  not  out  of  the  goodness  of  his  heart,  but  simply  because  he  could.  he  could  endear  himself  to  these  people  in  exchange  for  secrets,  for  protection  for  his  mother,  for  resources.  he  could  threaten  to  expose  secrets  to  start  a  domino  effect  of  relationships  falling  apart,  and  he  could  remain  kingpin  of  that  web  of  trust  and  lies  for  as  long  as  he  saw  fit.  he  could,  so  he  did. 

𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎

though  nikto  holds  little  regard  for  his  country's  state  at  the  public  national  level,  he  is  someone  who  enjoys  action,  and  being  able  to  make  a  tangible  difference.  his  skillsets  in  manipulating  people  and  circumstances  served  him  well  when  he  enlisted  with  the  fsb. 

his  tenure  with  them  was  effectively  cut  to  a  premature  end  after  he  was  betrayed  in  the  field,  and  was  taken  and  tortured  at  the  hands  of  zakhaev. 

this  torture  led  to  severe  disfigurement  in  his  face  and  body,  to  the  point  of  some  limbs  and  other  structures  needing  to  be  replaced.  a  cybernetic  spine  fused  biology  with  technology  and  allowed  nikto  to  become  a  highly  trained  cyborg,  with  both  bio  and  techno  aspects.  this  was  done  to  save  the  body  and  the  unique  skillset  he  had  -  his  mind,  however,  was  already  gone. 

with  both  de-personalization  and  de-realization,  nikto  often  thinks  of  the  world  as  being  something  he  is  not  a  part  of,  but  can  still  affect  and  control.  this  developed  as  a  dissociative  coping  mechanism  during  his  torture  but  became  something  he  simply…can't  control  anymore.

his  arrogance  and  charm  from  his  youth  have  taken  on  new  appearances,  but  remained  impactful  in  shaping  this  point  of  view.  when  lucid,  nikto  remembers  his  teammates  and  can  see  the  world  for  what  it  is.  when  having  an  episode  -  which  is  his  default,  more  often  than  not  -  nikto  thinks  of  those  around  him  as  being  projections  from  the  real  world,  brought  to  his  current  location  by  his  own  mind.  they  are  but  voices  in  the  radio  channel,  nothing  more,  nothing  less. 

𝚗𝚘𝚠

after  his  torture,  he  became  a  pmc  where  he  works  under  kortac  in  counter-terrorism  capacities.  long  gone  are  the  days  in  which  he  could  blend  into  a  city  and  do  deep  cover  work;  the  very  machinery  keeping  him  alive  now  marking  him  as  something  distinctly  other. 

when  not  in  all  his  armor,  he  most  closely  resembles  his  dark  side  mobile  skin.

most  of  his  internal  organs  are  not  bionic,  but  his  brain,  larynx,  and  several  large  musculoskeletal  structures  are,  such  as  his  spine,  pelvis,  right  thigh,  large  parts  of  his  skull,  right  arm,  etc.  he  does  have  mostly  organic  lips,  tongue,  his  original  eyes,  his  genitals  (because  he  does  still  need  to  eat,  albeit  much  less  frequently  than  most  humans  do,  and  a  colostomy  bag  was  not  an  option).  his  left  limbs  are  essentially  intact  as  well. 

he  often  has  his  touch  receptors  dialed  down,  which  does  not  help  with  his  dissociative  tendencies,  as  touch  and  general  physical  sensation  is  almost  numbed  out.  however,  it  is  helpful  (and  dangerous)  in  combat  scenarios.

he  was  6'5"  before  his  transformation;  now  he  is  6'7". 

[hollowsart]

My reviews of free art apps I'm testing on my phone:

NOTE: These are based on my preferences and opinions. I don't use a lot of apps and tend to stick to just 1. Please do not use this as a basis for whether or not you yourself should get the apps, it is best if you test them out yourself as they may be beneficial or even different for you and your set up.

Medibang Paint: 8/10 (not uninstalling, keeping for the files)

it was a 10/10 but then they updated and now it's not as great. lost another point when it started bugging out. Otherwise the app is extremely good. zooming, the image is still crisp, the strokes may be pixels, but I don't mind it. the UI is very clean and clear. you can see and understand the icons for each button and tool, easy access to everything you need + you are able to customize the brush settings and get some fun and unique textures out of it. it's super user and beginner friendly without the need for a "tutorial" to hold your hand in figuring out what things do and what they are.

I would gladly accept suggestions for free drawing apps similar to Medibang. or any cheap app that may cost money, because if Medibang refuses to behave, I may need to make a decision that I really would rather not make.

Ibis Paint X: 1/10

confusing UI. doesn't matter the DPI, you zoom in and every brush stroke is extremely blurry for some reason and that really messes with my eyes. extremely tedious to figure out, you would need to spend an extensive amount of time trying to find everything to understand the app. this app is like the opposite of Medibang. Even with the tutorial holding your hand to figure out what is what and where, it is still extremely confusing and unclear.

Autodesk Sketchbook: 2/10 (used to use you on kindle)

nothing like how it was on my kindle. on an older phone of mine it lagged so bad and had a different type of overall UI setup going for it, but I was able to at least draw something on that one despite the ungodly lag. this one? just as bad and unclear as Ibis Paint X, except the tools and settings are not scattered on the screen. you have to click an unclear button to find the brushes to change them and then another unclear button to customize them. the quality of the strokes are just about the same as Ibis Paint X in that they are extremely blurry.

Infinite Painter: 3/10

the UI is still sparse. a tutorial is shown telling you what is what and overall less tools visible than the previous 2 apps, this is unfortunate. However, the brushes are not blurry, but are pixelated like Medibang. a slight odd latency when making a stroke, not something I'm fond of, personally, but the selection of brushes aren't too bad, I suppose. Not for me tho. got distracted playing with the brushes and textures, but I don't think I'll be drawing anything. I would say if you're not put off by things here, you could probably get used to this and enjoy it. definitely better than the others listed besides Medibang.

the brush collage:

Clip Studio Paint: 1/10

first time trying this one out. took the longest to install. it takes a weirdly long time to start up?? definitely not a great first impression here. too clicky and sticky with the rotation, tedious to navigate to do anything. wow this app is not great. it looks horrible with the UI, too. clean screens are not good. it's off-putting. also it is by default recording me draw??? the heck? seems to be only 1 brush option, little to no actual customization of the brush. no clue where the layers were if there were any at all. overall?

Sketchbook Lite: 0/10

immediate ads. forces you into an ad that says 'start free trial then pay $14.99 a month uwu' instant hate. stroke quality is blurred, UI is WAY too empty. I like the dark mode, but YIKES. you exit out of the app for a sec and then back in and you are smacked in the face with the same invasive ads as you started out with. you are NOT getting my money that I do not even have to begin with. instant uninstall.

[inbarfink]

Clock Witch

Sometimes they are skittish old watchmakers with a knack for making wondrous contraptions, sometimes they are perfectionist implacable musicians who time everything to the second, sometimes they are steampunk travellers constantly on the run from a threat even they cannot explain. Whoever they are, Clock Witches have mastered control of one of the most elusive powers in the universe.

Clock Witches' Emotional Focus is the emotion of Anxiety. Their magic is inexorably tied to the stress that arises from the unstoppable, constant march of time - and thus they are among the few magic practitioners to master Time Magic. But despite that power of control they are stressed out about time just as much, if not more so then, the average person. The idea of being late, the years going by, the inevitability of death - no one knows it better or fears it more than the Clock Witch.

Clock Witches tend to be pressure-cookers of stress and nervous energy. But their Time Magic is still quite a source of pride for them, and that pride tends to translate into high expectations, perfectionism and a tendency to micromanage others with the precision of an atomic watch. Since their default state is already so high-strung, they actually function very well in high-pressure situations. Stress motivates them and Anxiety literally powers them, and despite their often skittish outer casing, they have an iron resolve ticking inside.

Still, even with their reputation for resilience, both the Time Magic the Clock Witches specialise in and the Anxiety that powers it are a dangerous substance that requires careful balance and precision from the Witch to prevent it from consuming them and their loved ones entirely. They must master it to avoid burning out in both body and mind. Some Clock Witches have indeed found that legendary precise balance that allows them to really live alongside their Anxiety - while others can be very good at helping others manage theirs while being terrible at taking their own advice.

With their unique powerset, nerves of steel, clockwork precision and endless energy, Clock Witches can make for valuable allies - but they are truly terrifying as enemies. Clock Witches tend to favour tactics of misdirection, psychological warfare and attrition. And despite their general impatiences towards trivial matters - they know real pain needs to last long. If you have made an enemy out of a Clock Witch, you may never actually see them face to face. Just feel their presence, just out of reach of your perception, moving along precise and overcomplicated schemes behind the scenes.

Since their control of Time Magic is channelled through the power of time-related stress, it is easier for a Clock Witch to move time forward or time-travel into the future than it is to go back in time, slow or stop time. It is not impossible for the Clock Witch to perform these feats, but it does require more skill and powers. Other Magic Users might tell you this proves that Clock Witchcraft just isn’t worth it but the Clock Witches think they’re just jealous. In addition to their unique Time powers, Clock Witches tend to be skilled in divination and transport spells. Their obsession with efficiency means they tend to know a lot of utility spells. They don’t tend to use Elemental Combat Magic often, but when they do, the have a strong Elemental Affinity to Metal, and sometimes Lightning.