#like seriously i don't think some people understand how huge the discrepancy can be at times

[devsgames]

Every so often I'm reminded of how many people don't realize just how high the bar is for indie titles to actually make enough money or gain enough recognition to be sustainable.

Like someone will say "I think it's great that mildly successful indie titles exist that no one has heard of before, such as [multi-award winning indie game that was incredibly financially successful that has had coverage by multiple major news outlets]! It's so nice small indies exist" :)

[hapigairu]

I feel like there's a huge misunderstanding in the fandom on how much the church can and can't do. People claiming they have authority regarding what happens to Duscur and Sreng and pinning them as being involved/enabling the Duscur genocide and Sreng invasion when there's nothing in the text to prove that. It feels like a bunch of whataboutisms.

That's not me saying the church is perfect or above criticism. You could argue them being passive about the state of their branches, specifically the western church is a flaw and one that bites them more often than not; they only took action to investigate after Rhea had a second assassination attempt. But aside from that, yeah they don't hold much if at all any authority over the countries in Fodlan.

My apologies for the late response!

Yes, the discrepancies between what the games are trying to say and what some people choose to interpret it are... quite strange to say the least.

You can argue that it has a huge cultural and historical importance and therefore at least some manner of influence on the continent. And they do get money from nobles. Sure. But beyond that? Weeeell....

The Church has been kicked out of Adrestia about a century ago. If they held as much power as some people like to believe, things would have been way more tense between the Empire and the Church (they could have attempted to regain their authority by force, for example). But, while the Church has almost no presence there, Adrestian nobles are still welcome to Garreg Mach, be it to study, do research or teach.

Nobles do make donations to the Church but aren't obligated. When Thales slithered Arundel, he stopped giving money to the Church and the latter basically reacted like "Oh this is strange".

The Church doesn't intervene unless asked to or they are the target (ex: Lonato). And true, they could have taken a more active stance when it comes to dealing with the Western Church. But I don't know that it would have gone well, considering how much of a mess Faerghus' political landscape is and how much the Western Church loathes the Central Church. It's entirely possible the Central Church didn't want to cause any more turmoil by getting involved. Was it a mistake? In retrospect, sure. But, on the other hand, them meddling in Faerghus' affairs because things could get out of hand would likely have been taken very badly.

Also yes, they don't have the authority to tell the three countries' monarchs how to rule or who should rule next. And... they had nothing to do with the founding of the Leicester Alliance?

So yeah, the Church's position in Fodlan is rather complex and reducing it to "they're secretly ruling the continent" or "they don't do anything and are useless!" is inaccurate but also... uninteresting?

I guess some of this comes from the fact that religion is seen in a bad light in many parts of the world, which is absolutely understandable. So many people were slaughtered and oppressed, so many cultures have been practically destroyed, etc. all in the name of Christianity -to name one- and civilisation. Because of course, they both go hand in hand /s. But the Church of Seiros is not the Catholic Church, far from it.

Another reason I can think of is that in many video games (especially Japanese), religion is this big evil that is behind everything that is wrong in the world. You have the Yevon faith in Final Fantasy X, or the whole... Hyzante theocracy mess in Triangle Strategy. And, to a lesser extent -because they're not the main villains of the game-, the Witcher 3's cult of the Eternal Fire that worked with Radovid and murdered any sorceress or, later, non-human they could find for the crime of... existing (seriously, fuck the Eternal Fire and Radovid). So, the Church of Seiros not being the bad guys at all is probably counterintuitive to many people and a hard pill to swallow.

[transcending-chaos]

i'm the anon who asked about drawing bodies. when i first saw that i was a little intimidated (i shouldn't be discouraged), but i think i feel a little better about it. i would REALLY like to improve because i always love my results, even if it doesn't fit what i imagined, but it's hard to draw when i can only draw well at school. i don't know what it is, but when i draw at school it always turns out satisfactory. but when i'm at home it's like i'm drawing like a 9 year old.

…are you joking? Part of why I became an artist and went to art school was because everyone assumed that’s what I would do. I just drew a lot as a kid because I just liked it, I had no motivation in my younger years to actually pursue it as a career, but as I got closer to the end of high school, I started taking it seriously. I was kind of pushed into it, so I get that part.

I also totally understand the discrepancy between doing art in different environments and having two totally different perceived skill levels- only mine works in the reverse (where my stuff at home is often a lot better because it’s my own space and I also know where all of my supplies are thus I have what I need availiable). 

If I had to guess, it might not be your environment, it might be the social factor? Some people relax and work better when people are around; they can ask for critiques and changes or suggestions, which can lead to a better end product. Others like quiet or isolation so they can really focus in on their work without distraction (I happen to be someone that can go with both pretty easily, but then again I’m an ambivert). Depending on your level of comfort with others, you might just be more relaxed in one environment than the other. 

It also sounds like you’ve got more active support at school, whereas you might not have total access to that at home. If this is the case, try making connections with other artists/friends online. Ask for general thoughts, or if you’re really up for it, a full critique. Keep in mind that not every suggestion is worth taking, and the quality of critique you’ll get from people varies. I give crits from time to time online, but I tend to like doing it in person more because I can explain things better or find out how to best work with an individual (most of my classmates and I were pretty blunt with each other, we could go “your entire under-drawing’s perspective and proportions are completely wrong,” then explain why, then say “redo it all” along with suggestions of artists and reference to look at, and the person getting the crit would be like “shit, you right” then do their best to fix it. Doing this through the internet is kind of a bad idea and can make you seem like an asshole because text doesn’t carry the same tone, intonation, or empathetic weight as voice, and thereby can result in huge arguments and misunderstandings).

If the social factor isn’t what’s wrong, then take stock of your materials. What kinds of paper do you usually like drawing on? Where do you have access to it? What type of drawing media? Paints? Markers? Just find out what you may be missing and, if you can afford it, try getting some. Media makes a huge difference sometimes, hell, there are sometimes where I can’t draw anything good because of the pencil I’m using (I switched to a mechanical one during college and I don’t think I can go back to using a regular one unless absolutely necessary). 

If that’s not the case either, then try just playing? Like, stop having so many expectations on yourself when it comes to drawing all the time. Some of my favorite things I’ve done are pieces where I was just playing around with digital coloring:

These are all just doodles of my character, Ephraim, that I love drawing a lot because I find doing so cathartic. Are they perfect? No, there’s drawing issues with the proportions and anatomy. Do I care? No, they were meant for fun, and that’s why there’s something about them that looks better than work I produced under stress. Heck, my teacher liked what I was doing for fun so much better than what I was doing for my thesis that I had to change my entire thesis two weeks from the end. Granted, yes, I can see why, but it goes to show that sometimes, dumb things you do for fun can lead to better things that only keep getting better as you grow. Play with techniques, play with textures, play with anything and everything. HAVE. FUN. You don’t have to always make art for an audience or market, sometimes just make it for you.