#magic sword. cool staff. sorted

[sadlazzle]

reached malenia. u guys rlly didn’t gas her up for nothin huh. this bitch really hasn’t known defeat

[artbysconnor]

The DnD party from Wildlife SMP in Episode 1! I just couldn't help trying my hand at these designs, since it combines two of my favorite things currently (Dungeons and Dragons and the Life Series) . Lizzie - Goliath Champion Fighter

BigB - Halfling Circle of Dreams Druid

Ren - Fairy College of Lore Bard

Jimmy - Half-Elf Oath of Redemption (Or Oath of Glory?) Paladin

See below for design notes!

Lizzie:

I knew Lizzie would be a Goliath, and was torn between giving her a martial class or making her a War Cleric. In the end, party composition won out, and she ended up a Champion Fighter, but I kept the half skirt design from her cleric thumbnails and gave her a big ol' mace. Given her pink hair is so iconic I didn't want to go full bald, so I made her hair long along the scalp and tied into two buns and a ponytail (not realistic, but it works in the drawing so I'm sticking with it!). I tried to put butterfly wings in her tattoos by her eyes, and added some flowers to further the fairy vibes on her armor and bring in the light blues from her skin as well.

BigB:

I probably was the least sure about what race and class I wanted to go with for BigB. He fluctuated between a Twilight Cleric and a Druid, and between Gnome, Dwarf, and Halfling. I ended up going with a Halfling to match his easygoing attitude, and leaned into his association with the Pale Garden as perhaps a caretaker and watchful hand over the Fey-like landscape as a Dream Druid. I knew I wanted his staff to reflect that by containing a creaking heart, but I also made his armor woven bark from the exteriors of the black and white trees, with flickers of the orange creaking magic within it, and kept his palette somewhat subdued and faded compared to his more saturated normal palette.

Ren:

Our bard Ren is probably the least detailed here on account of scale, but I put just the same amount of thought into his clothes, too! I wanted to work in little details that make use of materials that would be big for his small racial size as a fairy, such as a button for a poleyn, sewing pins for tuning pegs on his lute, and oversized ribbon ties on his costume. The main costume (a doublet and flouncy pants) is inspired by flashy, slashed Renaissance fashions - I think they suit a bard with a bragadocious energy like Ren. I added a tiny 'wolf pelt' as a cape that was probably a rat or perhaps an ermine, and his sunglasses are cut and polished crystal.

Jimmy:

Jimmy, our normal-sized normal man, was always a paladin in my mind. I wanted to put him in predominantly pretty heavy plate armor, almost like he's trying to protect himself at all costs, and pull in references to canaries and birds with the wing motif and feathered plume on the helmet and cloak clasp (and sword, which is now hidden behind BigB). The gold linear details both reinforce the pieces and provide a flash of yellow in his design to balance the cool blues and silvers, and his unpictured shield in my mind has the image of a great golden bird being pierced through the heart by an arrow or spear of some sort - a tragic house crest that Jimmy seeks to bring to glory.

[felassan]

Just poring over some of the new images. ◕‿◕

I like the overall shape of the dragon, its wings and silhouette, like it's maintaining this theme, two. It particularly reminds me of the DAII cover, with the figures of other characters being present in the dragon's wings. the pattern in the background gives the impression of a sunburst or explosion/outwards burst of energy (there's been lots of that going around in promo images for DA:TV over the years hasn't there). :D chunks of rock float around, which by now is associated with Fadey stuff (floating rocks in the Fade), the barrier (Veil) crumbling in key arts, and reality warping in places like Arlathan Forest. the dragon, open-mouthed, golden-eyed and ready to breathe fire, recalls the dragons on the Dragon Age vinyl arts, two, especially with its general position, and the dragon in this screenshot/scene. in the background at the bottom you can even see a hint of the 'concentric circles' pattern that represents the Veil.

I love that this group shot truly does include the whole team, including Assan and Manfred. I wonder if they will come into the field too if we select Davrin or Emmrich to come out with us respectively? We saw Assan capably fighting darkspawn in the character trailer, and in this image Manfred is helping fend the monsters off. Does Manfred carry Emmrich's stuff in his lil backpack..? 🥺 and I wonder what the purpose of Manfred's goggles are. Visually they set him apart from other skeleton/undead-type enemies and make it so you don't have to peer into empty the eyesockets of a skull, but also they're green (necromancy magic color) and we see Emmrich doing magic on them here. Are they part of the enchantment keeping him animated? also happy to see Varric in this one even though he is not one of the 7 companions. also, Bianca is still here. RIP

Taash looks so cool. :D Even her weapons are gold. her upper body armor in this piece has the aesthetic to me of like a dragon's ribbed armored chest and underside. I like that her weapons are unique generally, and from each other too. her dual-wielding like this as [I presume] a warrior differentiates her from Rook who if a warrior would be sword and shield or twohanded. her gauntlets look like they have dragon teeth or spines on them (the sticky-out parts that are not scale-like).

Davrin is at Rook's right hand. ♡ the floating triangles near Bellara show that she is using her magical device. I wonder what the white sphere part of Neve's wand/staff is. like, in this particular image it gives me the impression of a big pearl. Lucanis' eyes are glowing, like we see here, in that way that seems to hint that something interesting is going on there. overall it's cool to see all the team and cast together like this, working together heroically to stave off doom.

some of the monsters the group are fighting at least are red lyrium darkspawn. the ones with 'shark fin'-shaped headpieces are the same kind as the one at that link. are the rest all darkspawn too (there are different types of darkspawn ofc), or are there some walking dead mixed in there? (lol at the one Varric has just shot in the face). the non-sharkhead ones seem to be these guys from concept art. the prominence of darkspawn in this key art give the impression that we will fight a lot of red lyrium darkspawn in this game and that the threat they pose, including the Blight, is a significant part of the game's storyline.

at the center of it all and at the forefront is Rook. in a nice bit of poetic mirroring (the Wolf and the Rook), they too stand on a rocky outcropping, also with the knife - just like this. the knife is blue here.. blue lyrium influence? the very ground on which they stand bursts with energy. I wonder if Rook's outfit here is sort of their default, iconic look, like the Champion of Kirkwall armor for Hawke etc? I love that they have a cape and the point of their helmet gives them a bird-like feel. (omg.. we can have capes in this game fr). they have the Veilguard symbol on their chest. and could they be canonically left-handed..? :)

[hopeymchope]

Just for fun I decided to think of some Danganronpa characters class weapons, see if you can add any more or make any changes:

Makoto: Revolvers.

Kirigiri: Daggers.

Celeste: Metal claws

Sakura: Giant Kanabo.

Asahina: Harpoon gun.

Toko: Giant scissor.

Togami: Regal lance.

Ishimaru: Quarter staff.

Mondo: Pickaxe.

Hifuni: Miniature tank.

Hagakure: Magic staff.

Chihiro: Power armor.

Note: For the unaware, this is a follow-up to my take on how Hope's Peak's 78th class would react to being thrust into service at the Last Defense Academy.

I think these are pretty excellent!

Makoto using revolvers? Natural extension of the truth bullet/chamber system, very cool.

Celeste's claws really seem like a great way to build off that full-finger-ring thing she wears, too.

And Chihiro having Power Armor as a reference to their desire for strength? Fantastic. Far more brilliant than anything I would've thought of.

Perhaps Sakura's kanabo should actually be TWO kanabos, to really embrace the Sakura's Revenge reference to the fullest. :)

I admit I don't really get the Mondo/Pickaxe thing. Shouldn't he be given a motorcycle just like Takemaru Yakushiji has for his weapon... ?

I also don't really understand the Hifumi idea — maybe he should be piloting a small mech, something akin to "Robo Justice." :)

The idea of Hagakure getting faux-magic could turn out pretty funny. Of course it suits his talent set, but it's also taps into his irrational fear of occult stuff. He can be freaked out even as he wields his own weapon!

I do see you skipped a few members of the class, though. So let me try to offer my own suggestions for the remaining four.

Leon Kuwata: Baseball-launching gatling gun, referencing both his talent and execution.

Mukuro Ikusaba: Infinite combat knives. So she can slash with them, sure, but also throw them endlessly and have them constantly respawn in her hands—similar to Darumi's weapon in THL.

Sayaka Maizono: I can picture her getting a microphone that lets her do some kind of singing/musical BLAST attack that spreads out from her in a circle. Sort of a commentary on both the help and harm her career can cause. Or alternatively, we could just give her a sword covered in sticky gold leaf. :P

Junko Enoshima: I think the time has come for her to wield that insect glaive... :)

[howlingday]

Jaune: Making my way down a dark cellar towards the basement of the school to find a weapon or staff I can use to channel my mana. Apparently, not having one of these can reduce your spell. Casting efficiency by upwards of seventy percent only. dragons and deities can use magic without these items and not suffer a loss in efficiency. As I reached the bottom, I see a vast network of buildings, support beams, and towers. It goes on for what appears to be hundreds of miles and is hundreds of feet up. My best guess is that they use some type of magic to do this. I'm looking through all these weapons that are also cool. You have giant great swords. You have spear swords. You have regular sword, swords and more swords so cool.

Come to me.

Turning his head to the left and looking over. He sees an old chest that's falling apart from rotten wood rusted locks and what smells like dead rodents. He had no idea what was calling him, only that it did getting up and making his way over, opening the chest. He found a cool sort inside. Picking It up, he felt something strange and went through it as it transformed into a scythe.

What do you think any thing to add to it.

Honestly, nothing I can really add to it. I think it's fine as it is. Might even be better than what I provided.

[sir-virtem]

once again I thought about gravity sorcery and by extension the redmane... they're as, a whole, kind of dissapointing, not that they're bad or something, but their execution... they could had being better done.

I don't think is the first time I complain about this, but even then

In Sellia gravity and night sorcery were studied

Sellia had alabaster/onyx lords as teachers

Gaius, Ogha and Radahn studied in Sellia gravity magic

Sellians, like Lusat, move to Raya Lucaria to study in the Olivinus conspectus. They also learnt Lazuli sorceries.

The Knight that followed Radahn seem to had study there too.

After the battle of Aeonia the Knights in Caelid became into the Redmane to stop the scarlet rot.

All of this is great, they're battle hardened warriors, bu also scholars!... so why the knight only use 2 gravity attacks, both of which aren't spells at all, same the soldiers use fire pots, like they could se gravity fans or som magic pots. One can says is because fire ward off scarlet rot but even then.

The cuckos kinght, their homologus in Liurnia, the soldiers use glintstone stones as a convenient range attack, while the knights shift between a magic phalanx and scholar armament, similarly are assisted by bluntstone.

When we first face Radahn he use could movement like, repulsion/atraction/starcry, gravity waves gravity spin and some sort of gravuty phalanx; We meet alabaster/onyx lord using gravity well, atraction/repulsion and rain of meteor. In the DLC we meet Gaius who use gravity sling, gravity spin abd I think remember he use some of the new spells & Then we face Radahn again he use gravity spin, that cool gravity slash combo, gravity waves and that gravity sling/phalanx assault variant.

All that is great, is amazing, but that give caelid, the redmane, the place were the gravity users dwell, the short stick of things.

They could had Redmane Knight with sword use Cragblade and the one with spear Gravity Phalanx/Sling, while keep the soldiers with the glintstone/gravity rocks like cuckos does (also I don't remember redmane actually use the redmane's flame at all), accompany them with some nox monk/priestess variant with staff of loss or heriodoto sorceress turning invisible here and there and casting night shard and night ambush. Wouldn't be out of place, would still be thematic aproppiated.

It's what one should expect, due their lore, of the people living in a magic region, even if is now a lepra swamp, it should had being a magic region.

Maybe they throw to much stuff into the mix for caelid, like still it's a fun zone with a lot variety, but as result removes expectation upon Radahn and Gaius as gravity Knights.

We knew Radahn was gravity knight before we fought him, but we there wasn't an actual build up to it in the sense that we didn't really know how gravity knight before hand beside... they're good archers???.

Gaius didn't even had build up to him as far I remember, and is after we face him we find some spells that told us... that he duel radahn at some point??? like Gravity Sorcery kind of spin around Radahn, yeah he is a graviry user and thats cool, but other sorceries told us about other characters beside their demigods or talk about their corresponding sorceries.

Is understandable that a boss spells talk about their boss, makes sense that Cold sorcery mention Ranni teacher because she passed the spell to the carians and magma speak about Rykard because he create it. But Radahn didn't create gravity sorcery, neither is the reason is around, ofc there isn't much about Radahn but all this make us miss info about sellia and gravity sorcery as consecuence... make them kind of empty and in part cause to doubt regarding Gaius and Radahn abilities as gravity users...

[katyspersonal]

I don't believe I am going to make much SOTE progress today, especially since this traitor @fantomette22 is apparently asleep/busy and can't help me right now -_- So yeah, some extra stuff before bed

1) It is interesting to think of an implication of this item.. damn, apparently there WILL be places where you are stuck but can't teleport or something? :p Okay then.. Sacrificial Twig + this shit it is, then?

2) They continue with the "monkeys are trying to comprehend magic" lore!

! Onze is the Demihuman swordsman I fought in the Belurat Gaol earlier! The sword is dropped by a Demihuman Queen you fight in Cerulean Coast! I mean, yeah, even in the base game there was a Demihuman in Weeping Penunsula who used a Glintstone Staff, but damn..

3) Miyazaki: Yeah DLC area map will be like the size of Limgrave :)

Also Miyazaki:

Me: Girl you ok? 💀💀💀

4) I love the woman with Sulyvahn's blades, but I can't defeat the woman with Sulyvahn's blades ;-;

Maybe eventually.....

5) WAIT gdhyyf it is like, a symbol of moon and flame or something?????

This is adorable gfhgfhgggb I know it makes sense, but aww

6) I already screamed about it at Fantomette, but

HOLY SHIIIIIT SHE WAS FUCKING RIGHT ABOUT DRAGONS FASCISM THIS WHOLE TIME WHEN WE QUESTIONED WHY WOULD DRAGON COMMUNION BE A THING IF GODWYN BEFRIENDED ANCIENT DRAGONS THE ANSWER IS THAT ANCIENT DRAGONS FUCKING HATED GREYOLL-TYPE DRAGONS I REPEAT THEY HATED THE "IMPURE" OFFSPRING OFF THEIR SPECIES WHAT THE FUUUUUCK AAAAAAA

7) There is a new Carian Knight! And it is a big deal since they were "no more than a dozen"! Cool!!!

And it is a girl! However I am curious.. Moongrum, Moonrothyll... why their names start with 'moon'? Are they siblings? Or maybe Carian Knights had ancestry thing going on so those born with expectation to be raised as Carian Knight had 'moon' names in advance? Or they assume 'moon' name as new one upon entering a service (least likely since we already can recall exception)? Arghhhh

8) Okay this was actually an important one for me personally! So basically @jarognieva asked me whether I've met Queelign and I said I had no idea who it was. So greeeat, I've missed an invader -_- She said he was at Belurat and I checked but he never appeared, so I assumed he is one of those invaders that vanish after the boss of the area is defeated. (Who thought it was a good idea? I bet I've missed a cool drop... ;-; ) However, she added that he also invades in another place but she would not tell where! I didn't mind that and continued exploring the DLC as usual. So, after defeating that red bear beast at last (horaaaay!!!), I decided to check a distinct building on that map, and GUESS WHO I'VE MET?????

THE FUCKING GUY HIMSELF LOL!!! OF COURSE HE HAS A FUCKING PETRUS HAIRSTYLE LMAOOOOOOO GGJHJGJJ

So basically bro talked shit (that all 'graceless' shall meet death in Messmer's flame), that already made me REALLY want to kill him as if this cursed hairstyle wasn't enough gghghg . And he also called us 'graceless heathen' upon death lol. But it ACTUALLY clicked when he dropped an item, like:

Okay all 6 of you already had enough of my lunatic ravings about how much I abhor this specific type of attitude, as well as my theories on Messmer's motivations being rooted in purism of religious kind when anon asked about my expectations for him (I haven't met him yet so schhhh). But it is.. more than that. Miyazaki hates this sort of people too, especially he consistenyly bullies clerics in his works. Just.. read this description

Like not only this gave me some STRONG hatred for this character already, but also reminded me of one of the reasons I ended up loving Miyazaki's works so much to begin with. Shit like this just makes me feel understood, and without exagerration, reading this gave me HUMANITY RESTORED effect after I was feeling low because of a certain spoiler 😔 Honestly.. I don't care how many dramatic blonde twinks he will do dirty with a random plot twist, but as long as he addresses his disdain for this kind of people in his works I'll always love his games. Like I know it sounds oddly emotional but you need to be familiar with his other works to understand vfhgjbghb My faith in him as a creator straight up got restored, it is a personal detail for me!

9) So I figured that Ascetics are dropping pieces of their set.. I had suspicions, yeah, but now I am just sad ggjhhhjj I don't want to grind these guys *ends up doing it anyway probably*

10) For some reason I am starting to really like that hornsent guy who drafts maps of Miquella's crosses! Knowing Soulsborne tho I guess I just need to wait for something bad to happen to him -_-

11) Some people (all two of them) legit thank me for showing these item descriptions because they can't play the DLC themselves, but the players they watch don't stop to read items lore! Okay.... I guess I'll continue, heheh;

[tiredassmage]

25: What specialization best represents your Rook?

Thank you so much! I even have cool weapon shots to go with this one, lol!

[50 questions for Rook! (Non-spoiler Edition)]

Minerva I intend to build with the Slayer specialization because... women with epic giant axes, tbh. What more do I need to say? xD But also because she's inspired by a dragon hunter oc I had several years ago, and giant weapons seem appropriate for fighting some of Thedas's most giant beasties! It's also been hella fun so far. She's not far enough along yet to actually be within the specializations yet, but the Weapons area skills around it that lead into this specialization chain have been so much fun already. Thank you Veilguard for giving me a fun time playing Warrior for the first time in this series, lol! I hadn't been entirely married to a damage type to hone in on with her just yet, but the burning weapons on takedown effect with the dragon hunter inspiration? Heavily leaning into the fire theme, I think!

Also, of my 3 started Rooks so far, she's 1 of 2 whose specialization doesn't match their faction, lol, which is a lot of fun, I think. Min is a Grey Warden! And she's the only one I have action photomode shots of so far, lol, which is both because I simply had that much fun with how her build's going and bc I... might've not thought about it for the first 2 because I was busy doing story, lol.

But we'll give them some love, too, because I'm feeling self-indulgent <3 [Slightly more spoilery nature for the boys' pics because they're from cutscenes]

Tyr's my Rogue, and a Duelist. Tbf, I'd already pretty much determined he was going to be m first + main + most likely canon Rook, but the second they dropped dual wielding melee Rogue, there was absolutely no other way he'd ever have been played unless I'd absolutely sucked at the build, which thankfully wasn't the case because I adored it. It was everything I needed and wanted from a gameplay perspective + what I wanted to replicate the fighting style I'd imagined for him.

Right up until they'd released the backstory tidbits, I'd been on the fence between setting him up as a Shadow Dragon or an Antivan Crow, after all, so it just worked out that the Shadows fit his backstory better, but his fighting style is still heavily aligned with what likely influences the image of the Crows. (And as a bonus fun fact, when I'd put him in Inquisition for fun, I think he would've ended up with Josephine, so another little fun dueling moment for him, lol.)

Heavily a necrotic damage + stagger & takedown build. Not just because they have epic, powerful detonations with his beloved Neve, but that was certainly a cherry on top! xD

Which leaves us with Theo, who is ironically the only one who seems to have listened to the memo about the faction-theming with the specializations for all the other listening he hasn't done, according to Viago's complaints. xD Theo's my sword & orb Spellblade, who - as you may guess from that - also nearly ended up as a Rogue and who I might play around with a Rogue build for one day. Outside of DAV, Theo's original training was as a dual-dagger type rogue who started to dabble in learning about magic after one of his early jobs went a little sideways and had him on bedrest for a while. And Theo simply could not take staying completely idle like that for long. Sort of as a happy accident then because purple's kind of his color, it's worked really well that this is a heavily-lighting damage focused build and I think his hotbar is... completely shock & lightning based skills atm. And they are so pretty. As a backup, I've got a little necrotic damage going on with his staff usually.

I'd really just told myself I wasn't allowed to play two duelists back to back. xD Maybe if I go with a Rogue rebuild, I'll give saboteur a try? He gets along well with Bellara and Emmrich because he... well, Viago would probably say he's the type that can't leave well enough alone even when it's going to bite his hand, but at its best, it's curiosity with how to make odd things work. His DAV edition in particular can be quite a bit emotionally... charged, but he's also kind of the epitome of an improviser. The only direction to move is forward, and Theo's adaptable enough to tackle that with a sledgehammer or a lockpick as the situation calls for.

[freysfiction]

After reading all your lore, I have to say I'm super intirgued to know more about the world of Tirras Savehys! Your art is amazing and I love reading the accompanying writing!

The lore about Versihillin Staff is probably my favorite! I LOVE mage stuff, and negation magic is always a cool concept to explore! Are you able to share more about how the Verdishil mages preform their feared magic?

Ahh, thank you so much!! It's quite fun building a world!

The Verdihsil Warriors are a unique one. All of those who successfully pact with Verdihsil are tattooed - typically on the arms. It's those tattoos, along with a 'conduit' of sorts, that allow his Anti-Magic to be utilized. For his swordsman, that conduit is their sword. For his mages, it's their staff. The overall design of the tattoos are unique, but the flow is usually similar - the "contracting" symbol somewhere and the rest of the design flowing from there. One example:

The mages have it a bit harder than their swordsman counterparts, however, as spellcasting is a "force of will", as scholars put it. And, because Verdy's magic is a 'negative' energy, trying to force-will such spells takes a lot of practice!

The Verdihsil Warriors are often employed as mage hunters for these abilities, keeping other spellcasters in check.

Whew, that was longer than I thought it'd be... but I hope that answered your question!

[harpagornis]

MTG Analysis: Archons part 2

a while back I wrote an extensive article on the archons of Magic: The Gathering. Since I don't feel like making a fool reboot (and I can't add more images to that article) I've decided to make a sequel article dealing with the archons we haven't reviewed yet.

Archon of Coronation

Released in Commander Legends this archon hails from the plane of Fiora. Given what a political clusterfuck that plane is, I don't know what the archons political stance is, but I suppose they support whoever's in charge (currently Marquesa).

This is the first archon with an actual bird steed (unless we count Ornitharch's flock of birds?) which makes it stand out quite a lot. I also like the pure black face, so eerie for a White card. I guess it could be mask like a robber's mask, which makes it funnier in my opinion.

Archon of Cruelty

Introduced in Modern Horizons 2 this one is the first non-White, mono-Black archon, which I quite dislike since it plays into the whole "Black if evil" shenigans. As we previously discussed, Archons represent the cruel side of White mana, so this makes even less sense flavourfully.

The design at least it's interesting, with a hooved carnivore like a mesonichian with bat wings as steeds. The exact plane where it lives is not clear, but judging by the Bolas horns it might either be from the Meditation Realm (which would make it the only living thing besides the imprisoned dragon twins there) or Amonkhet, which has no precedent for archons but enough for angel-fuckery. Maybe Bolas meddled with it and that's why it's mono-Black?

Guardian Archon

(Apologies for image quality, it was the only large pic I could find without the card)

Debuting in Strixhaven: Commander, this owl ridding archon has a quill-end like shield, which I find it quite adorable for a sinister force of violent order. The pen might be mightier than the sword... which is why its a shield instead of a weapon. Clever girl/boy/non-binary!

Archon of the Wild Rose

We return to Eldraine with this imposing white-stag riding archon. Like previous Eldraine archons it looks quite luminous and ghostly and we actually have a reason why! Accroding to the D&D tie-in monster manual, Eldraine archons are actually deceased knights. They live at the boundaries of the wilds, marking the border between the human and fae realms. Human knights often pick up a fight with an archon in order to expand the humans' domain, which is fruitless as the archons don't get to decide where the boundaries are. Silly humans.

The return to Eldraine also introduces the card Archon's Glory, showing an archon flaring before what I assume is one of Ashiok's nightmare thingies. Not much to say except it looks pretty cool.

Ezrim

We conclude this sequel with the second legendary archon, Ezrim. From Ravnica, Ezrim started as an Azorius archon, before quitting because the other archons were apparently too much for him. He then went on to found a truth cult (ironic considering mythological archons are all about keeping the illusion of the material world) until it grew into a detective agency. He is a major character in the Murders at Karlov Manor storyline; not a lot of quirks but has quite a presence. We also see through him that an archon and steed can momentarily seperate... which he uses to file paperwork. Neat.

I like the use of browns in his depiction, like a very subdued gold. Besides the trenchcoat - working wonders to hide his face btw - he wilds a blue staff, which I assume he uses to unvield the truth. His steed is some sort of sharp toothed bull with two tails and four wings; it isn't described in detail in the story, I'm assuming because either the final design wasn't ready when it was written or because it's simply not easy to described

And that's it for now

Creative has made Archons quite a rare creature type, and have played quite a bit since we last sank our teeth, subverting both the MTG rule as White's bad side and the mythological role as masters of illusion.

Let's see what the future holds.

[sayakxmi]

[Magi reread; special edition] Episode 3: Magician of Creation [Part 1]

I swear, sometimes Magi is called just magician of creation, and sometimes it's magician of world creation, and tbh the latter is a mouthful, but sounds so much cooler.

Hole in the sky.

It's a reference to something, except I don't remember what I'm referencing, just know that I am referencing it.

It might be Pokemon, actually.

Good news, everybody. Jamil dies in this episode.

"When you get your flute back, can you introduce me and Ugo?" I'm still so salty it hasn't happened. Don't worry, guy, I'll fix it in that rewrite.

The perspective in this series never ceases to amaze me. To be fair, Aladdin and Alibaba stand a bit lower, but still, man.

I wanted to focus on Aladdin getting wrecked but

Morgiana did a cool spin after killing Aladdin.

Jamil: -appears- Me: oh, just die already

His going on his dumb classist spiel, literally nobody cares.

Don't get excited, Jamil. You're about to be put in your place.

"I can't believe I was scared of this guy." He doesn't say it here, tho we can probably asume it's what he's thinking. What he actually ends up saying is "You must've seen something awful." and then goes to talk how it's too late to go back, cuz it's the dungeon, and they're all putting their lives on the line etc. But it's still kinda interesting. In the manga Alibaba actually mocks Jamil, then talks how it's a dungeon, but in the anime he almost comes off as if he's actually feeling sorry for the guy.

On a semi-related note, I really like this expression. Idk why. I feel like this is how Alibaba feels about 98% of the cast. They're all fucking weirdos, how did he get himself involved in any of this?

I can't believe Aladdin's dead.

Damn, that was some jump. Very fancy, 10/10. I've mentioned that I love Balbadd's Royal Swordplay? And also, again, Jamil, why are you telling him what you're gonna do? I know you're dumb, but seriously.

Aww, yes.

AWWW, YESSSSS

In the manga he barely avoids it, in the anime he sort of counters her.

That actually looks pretty cool.

Alibaba just got wrecked, nobody's surprised. But do you ever think how much of this series is Alibaba getting wrecked?

As I was saying. But also, in the anime he's trying to protect himself, as much as he can at least, while in the manga I got the impression that he couldn't move. Which was, frankly, pretty understandable given how hard he was hit.

Somebody give her a break.

Also I've suddenly remembered that Jamil is voiced by the same guy Aomine from Kuroko no Basuke's voiced. Aomine was way cooler.

Also, what's up with the most importantTM members of a King's Household meeting them through trying to kill them (whether they wanted to do it or not). Makes me wonder if the Kous also had such Funny first meetings with them, lmao.

Also, that's a very cool moment - as Morgiana raises the sword, it transitions into the staff raised by Aladdin, 10/10.

Wheee.

That's a pretty nice shot, actually.

Ok, but, like, in the anime Alibaba at least sits up (with Aladdin's help). In the manga he was laying on the floor for a bit there. Like, a chapter or two.

Deoxyribonucleic acid-coded if you ask me. Missing em, nitrogenous bases, but close enough.

He looks like a magical girl.

Notre Empire playing again. Man, was it seriously playing So Often?

Letz gooooo

Gdi, I'm a corvid at heart, I see shiny stuff and I'm just OMG this is so pretty. But this is so pretty :/

Finally! Aladdin being done with Jamil's bullshit!

This does look pretty cool.

You know, it's kind of hilarious when you have these two serious as shit, and then there's Alibaba like "what the actual fuck is going on". Mood.

And with this optimistic shot we're ending this post, becaues I'm almost at the photo limit.

Ok, but you gotta admit, it looks cool. RIP Morgiana.

[inhurtandincomfort]

Wait this is so cool. Okay, I'm thinking like genshin-style bc those are the animations I'm most familiar with.

Eldwin's would be flexing his left hand and rotating the wrist, tugging his glove or sleeves, and creating some sort of small, harmless magic in his hand, like a small flame or an orb of light. Maybe frost. Just a little something.

Jowan's would be one those like. when the alchemist pulls out a potion, gives it a little swivel and it "explodes" with a little puff of smoke? Yeah he'd have that. Maybe a butterfly flying around him, and taking notes in a little notebook, or maybe cleaning his goggles or putting on ear defenders (they're dragon-grade, you know!)

Ancassius' would be him twirling his sword or pistol like a show off. Maybe pulling out a pocket-mirror and checking his hair. And drinking from a glass bottle he apparently pulled out of nowhere. (Beidou my queen)

Destrian would pluck leaves from xyr hair or twigs from between their horns. Lean on a staff casually until they almost fall over. If they have wings then she'd stretch them, maybe with a yawn.

Mordwen would just be yawning, or falling asleep where she stood and jolting awake. Maybe twirl her hair. She's super lazy and perpetually bored so she's not gonna do much. Maybe hold back the encroaching shadow or something idk.

What would your OC’s idle animations look like?

[invisiblekatanaartwork]

Artist’s Blog #170 - Krull (1983)

The Love Child of Star Wars, GI Joe, Conan, and Excalibur is Born!

Sometimes I hit play on something I know I’ve heard of—but couldn’t tell you where from. That’s Krull. A space fantasy/sword & sorcery mashup that feels like Star Wars, the G.I. Joe cartoon, Conan the Destroyer and/or Conan the Barbarian, and Excalibur all had a love child and ended up with a PG rating. You’d think with all that in the pot it would be something epic. Instead, what we get is a strange blend of cool visuals, over-the-top fantasy lingo, and a plot that could’ve been trimmed by at least 30 minutes. Grab your switchblade ninja stars – we’ll talk more later – and hop on your horses for a ride into sci-fi barbarian land in Krull from 1983.

Krull’s Legend & the Setup

Krull kicks off with a prophecy: a woman of ancient name will marry a man who becomes king, and their son will rule the galaxy. Cool setup. But from there, it’s basically the tale of Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall) trying to rescue Princess Lyssa (Lysette Anthony) after she’s kidnapped by alien creatures called the Slayers. They’re working for the Beast, the movie’s main villain, who’s hiding out in a castle that disappears and reappears in a different place every day. Sounds like Super Mario Bros. meets The Legend of Zelda if you ask me and, at this point, I’m still interested in the adventure. Not to say that I didn’t stay that way.

The Glaive: Krull’s Legendary Weapon – An Overhyped Switchblade Ninja Star?

Before Colwyn can go full hero mode, he has to retrieve a legendary weapon called the Glaive. Let me just say—this is basically a switchblade ninja star. It looks cool in concept but it is one of the dumbest weapons I’ve seen play such a major role in a fantasy movie. You wait and wait to see it used and when it finally gets screen time, it’s a huge letdown. The idea is that it’s magical, and Colwyn can call it back like a Jedi summoning his lightsaber—but the whole thing just falls flat. In most movies like this, there is an Excalibur of some sort. Another film with a legendary weapon is The Shaolin Master Killer featuring “some fighting sticks he made himself”, or a 3-section staff. I can appreciate Krull’s approach to something fresh but, they could have done a better job with this.

The Companions: Straight Outta Oz

One of the stronger parts of the film is the gang Colwyn gathers on his quest. There’s a blind seer, an elderly wise man, a cowardly shape-shifter who can turn into animals, and a stoic Cyclops who can see his own death. That Cyclops lore was actually kind of fascinating to me. Supposedly, his people traded one of their eyes for the power to see the future, only to be tricked into only seeing their own demise. I’ve never heard this before. Anyway, the whole structure felt like The Wizard of Oz—each new character joins in a weird little side quest, adding their quirks to the group. The blind seer lives in what looks like a green cave ripped straight from Emerald City too.

The Slayers: Space Stormtroopers with Terrible Aim

The bad guys—the Slayers—are little alien-like warriors that shoot lasers. They’re basically medieval Stormtroopers. They die like zombies, retreating into the earth with these wriggly little body snatchers inside of them. This part of Krull reminded me a little of Jason Goes to Hell. Let’s get back to the stormtrooper idea though. Their aim is just as bad as Stormtroopers. You’d think with laser staff weapons they could at least hit something. Nope, they miss almost every time just like Vader’s boys did. For the record, I am 100% a Star Wars fan – my daughter is named after Anakin Skywalker – so, I’m not trashing the empire’s soldiers. Read more about these fan theories here. That’s really what I’m getting at, I guess – there’s been a lot of thought given to the idea of how bad of shots storm troopers were.

The Widow of the Web: Best Character in the Movie

The names of everything are classic over-the-top fantasy: “The Great Swamp,” “The Widow of the Web,” “The Black Fortress.” It’s never just a desert. It’s “The Desert of Lost Souls During the Final Sign of the Two Moons” or something ridiculous like that. Let’s talk about the “Widow of the Web” though because this was cool. She lives in a giant spiderweb, controls an hourglass filled with red sand, and hangs out with an actual giant spider. She’s decked out in black robes, mysterious, dangerous, and haunting in the best way. When she gives the old man a handful of red sand and tells him that when it runs out, his life ends—honestly, that was one of the most creative plot devices in the whole movie. She could’ve been her own movie honestly.

I did have a concern with the character though. She explains to the old man that finds her and seeks her help that she had killed their son. In a way, this plays into the black widow spider theme I guess but, it really didn’t make sense to me – it just seemed out of left field. From my memory, she explained that the child reminded her of him or something. You can tell from foreshadowing that there was something between these two but, that was surprisingly, and it seemed thrown together. She elaborated that he didn’t see her as beautiful any longer but her mirror (I guess that she was cursed to stare into) showed how the old man saw her. When this happened, she turned young and beautiful in the mirror’s reflection. This was just an altogether strange and unneeded conversation.

Cool Scenes & Filler Fatigue in Krull

I’ll give Krull this—the landscapes are beautiful. Forests, mountains, swamps—it looks like they shot on location, and it helps ground the fantasy in something real. There’s a scene with a herd of horses running through the mountains that was mesmerizing. I’ve seen a horse run but watching a whole pack like that was powerful. You wouldn’t want to be in front of it, I’ll say that. But man, Krull is full of filler. Long stretches of guys running across fields, scenes of hands dramatically reaching out for the Glaive (again and again), and characters just staring off into space. Reread the previous paragraph – spider ladies telling strange tales and looking in mirrors. You could cut a good half hour and not miss anything. On a side note, if the Dragon Ball Z condensed stuff is still on YouTube, this is the best example of what I mean.

The Final Battle: A Green-Screen Mess

As cool as some parts were, the final 20 minutes completely fell apart. Not because the story sucked but, because of green screen overload. There’s a clear outline around every character, and when the fire horses start flying through the air, it looks like a budget Christmas movie. For instance, you know the scenes where there’s a cheap Santa sleigh effect? That’s what I mean by the flying fire-hooved horses green screen effect. The final showdown with the Beast is laughable, bad costume, bad choreography, and a lot of smoke to hide all the flaws. Colwyn finally gets the power to shoot fire out of his hands by – holy dog crap - taking it from Lyssa’s hand! I don’t know, it felt like they just threw that in to wrap things up. Again, the special effects here were rough but to their credit, they did fit with the overall fell of Krull.

Final Thoughts on Krull

Krull was an ok watch but, I also won’t ever watch it again. It’s a weird blend of sci-fi, sword and sorcery, PG fantasy, and unintentional camp. It held my attention which is saying a lot. Sometimes these old flicks just can’t do it. The Cyclops lore and the Widow of the Web were the highlights for me. Everything else felt like a less polished version of stuff you’ve already seen in Star Wars, Conan, and The Wizard of Oz. Would I Recommend It? Only if you’re into 1980s fantasy obscurities and want to see what happens when you combine several genres into one film. I feel like there’s a fandom out there for Krull though – if so, chime in and let me know what you think. I invite you personally to follow my art journey on social media, visit my website, read more of my blogs on odd films, and consider supporting and buying my art here. Peace.

[weatherman667]

Dragon's Dogma and Elden Ring

I'm going to keep beating this dead horse until it comes back to life.

Dragon's Dogma has the epitome of real-time video game controls. No video game has come close to it, not even it's sequel.

You start with 3 classes, Fighter (STR), Strider (AGL), and Mage (INT).

Fighter has a sword+shield.

Strider has daggers and a bow, combining the rogue/thief with the archer.

Mage has tier 1 and 2 attack magics, along with support and healing magics.

Each class has a line upgrade, along with each pair having a hybrid.

Warrior: Swaps out the shield for a two-handed weapon.

Sorcerer: Swaps the healing skills for a bigger staff and tier-3 spells.

Ranger: Swaps out the short bow for a long one.

Magic Knight: Swaps out the shield for either a great shield, or a staff. This either gives them great support skills, or tier 1 and 2 magic attacks.

Magic Archer: Swaps out the bow for a magic bow. All of the magic arrows are homing to at least some degree. Or you can swap the bow for a staff, combing a rogue with a mage.

Assassin: Allows you to pick some combination of sword or daggers, or shield or bow. This includes a cool shield skill where you use the enemy attack to knock you away.

Not every game needs classes, and the better games often treat classes as a starting point, not a limitation.

Face buttons:

[]: Light attack.

/\: Heavy attack.

O: Dodge

X: Jump

Shoulder Buttons:

R1: Primary Skills: This remaps [], /\, and O to 3 equipable weapon skills.

R2: Grab. If they are small enough, you can pick the enemy up. You can pick up allies to get them out of trouble. You can pick up NPC's you have to escort. If the enemy is big enough, you can climb them, or at least weigh them down. If there's a nearby cliff, you hold the button to hold onto the cliff. This drains your stamina. If you are holding L1 with a bow, you loose.

L1: Secondary Skills: Ready your shield or nock and draw your bow. This remaps [], /\, O to 3 different equipable skills for your secondary weapons. For one-weapon characters, like mages and warriors, this just gives you 3 more.

L2: Sheathe/Draw: This is important to threaten NPC's into not falling in love with you. Also important for being in cities.

This control system not only combines colossus climbs with normal hack-and-slash gameplay, but also gives you an incredible variety of skills.

I say this because Elden Ring TRIES to give you skills, rather than just relying on light and heavy attacks.

And for whatever reason removes your drop criticals, and limits you to one skill that you can't even equip, but have to use the ashes of dead men to modify the spirit of your weapon.

The game also desperately needs some sort of passive LP regen, even if it's 1 per minute, (at 10 Mind).

Elden Ring also completely lacks any sort of climbing system, to the point you will have to do the 30 year old system of trying to figure out what part of the cliff can be jumped on to get to the shiny thing at the top. I remember doing this with WoW, trying to get to the top of Iron Forge.

[blueskittlesart]

Hello! Just a quick question do you have any helpful hints on combo weapons for TOTK?

gibdo bones seem broken at first but don't use them on anything except arrows because they break after one hit. other than that my general rule is to sort inventory by highest attack power and then just fuse the strongest horn or whatever to whatever the fuck im holding. i have seen a lot of success with lizalfos tails attached to polearms. basically makes a whip. im also partial to boss boko horns bc theyre easy to get but strong as fuck. don't even bother picking up stalkoblin arms, the highish base atk may entice you but they're flimsy as shit and will only survive like 3 hits. double-weapon fusions seem cool at first but are lame in practice. the second you get a magic rod or staff fuse a ruby to it, ice puzzles are so so so easy when you can just hold your little stick near them until they melt. hoard octo balloons and bomb flowers like your life depends on it because fusing them to a shield and then sheildsurfing lets you enter bullet time from flat ground which is cracked as hell. the second the master sword recharges in your inventory fuse your strongest shit to it bc otherwise you will try to equip it mid-battle and forget that it's only like twice as strong as it could be. thats all ive got

[daily-fantasy-ideas]

Had a new idea for a kind of bastard spellcaster, the Invoker:

Invoking the power of other beings is not something particularly strange in the world of spell-casting, there are in fact numerous (typically at least somewhat religious) varieties of spellcasters whose primary method of casting involves invoking the abilities of some higher power.

Now invokers on the other hand are seen as different. Unlike with the other invocative casters, there is no exchange or communication between the one invoking and the one whose power is being invoked.

To do this invoker requires a remnant of some powerful thing (most often biofacts are used), for example, a mythic hero's strand of hair, a dragon's scale, the fragment of a legendary sword, or a divine's blood droplet suspended in glass.

In order to invoke the power contained within the remnants collected most invokers use a three-staged magical device.

Stage one is the holder where the remains physically go, they're often suspended within an open casing of some sort so they can be swapped in and out with ease.

Stage two is a connector inscribed with the words of rituals that connect the remains to the final stage of the device.

Stage three is the casting head, this is from where the invoked power is sent out and made a tangible force in the world

An example of one of these devices could be a traditional-looking wizard staff with the remnants placed at the top, with the ritual words inscribed upon the shaft of the staff, with a sharpened point acting as the casting head at the staff's base.

An alternative example could be could involve a waist bag-esq holder for the remnant with an inscribed leather cord connecting the holder to a swand acting as the casting head.

Additionally, while most people upon gaining new knowledge and experience of the world increase their own power and become stronger and better people for it, invokers can instead pour this developmental potential into the remnants they possess to increase the power and number of feats remnants are able to perform.¹

Further, if needed an invoker can also pour their own life force into a remnant to give it a temporary boost.²

Additional idea stuff I couldn't add in the main text.

¹ Yes that is just me saying they can level up the remnants instead of themselves, but it's a bit of a gamble as they might not get something good from it (at first at least).

²Yes that is just me saying they can sacrifice health for more powerful abilities, but again it's a gamble but one which can be rerolled if the invoker has placed levels into certain skills. The amount of health sacrificed is also proportional to the power boost gained.

The particular method of invocation used by invokers is descended from a school of assassination spells that sapped people's power at range to either weaken or kill them.

Invoking too much from one entity into short of a timespan can weaken the entity's power temporarily.

Invoking the power of just like some normal guy can drain them so much power that they die.

The things that the remnants are taken from might become aware that their power is being invoked.

Invocation can go massively wrong and the invoked power can turn explicitly against the invoker.

Sometimes the things being invoked will attempt to take revenge against the invokers, by either destroying them or manipulating them with the promise of more power.

Some invoked entities are actually just fine being invoked, as the invoker might actually be spreading their will.

Some people technically fall under the label of invoker but they gain the permission of those who they invoke, these types of invoker are more rare and less disliked and more simply seen as weird.

There can be remnants of intangible things such as forces, these too can be invoked.

The dead can be invoked.

The invoked power of most dead things is generally less potent than the invoked power of those that live.

This idea was created entirely because the word "invoke" sounds cool to me, everything else just kinda spiralled out from that