#nothing to add OP this is perfect as-is

[xxxpu55yslay3rxxx]

So in other words, tumblr architecture enforces this shit lmao. This just verifies my crackpot theory that Tumblr rots your brain unless you are self aware about it.

Also I'd like to add, tumblr's commenting system sucks! Character limit that they don't tell you about, every single time you want to reply to anybody you have to tag them, making that shit look messy. Also for the fact that it just shows comments out of order sometimes. If ordered by latest first, you'll see recent comments on top sometimes even if you shouldn't.

Fuck it, let me be unhinged on the last line:

Tumblr ontologically fucking sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Google+ was better!!!!!!!!!! the less this site acts like tumblr and more like good social media, the better!!!!!!!!

i think tumblr structurally encourages pissing on the poor

epistemic confidence: medium. (i always wanted to say that). this is amateur sociology and so should be taken with quite a bit of salt. this is absolutely a just-so story.

i think part of the reason tumblr and other similar social media websites have such a problem with misinterpretation is that conversational repair works differently than other forms of communication.

if you're talking in a group of people (over voice or over 'synchronous' communications like irc/discord that encourage short messages and paying attention) and someone responds in a way that indicates they misinterpreted you, you can interrupt them. and importantly, everyone else in the conversation hears you interrupting them. on a traditional forum with linear posts, you can't interrupt them, but anyone that reads all the posts (which, granted, isn't everyone) will eventually see your clarifying reply.

but on tumblr, if you make a post, X reblogs it with a misinterpretation, and you reply/reblog correcting X's interpretation, you have no way of notifying everyone that saw it from X; people generally don't go back and reread the notes on old posts, unlike forums where you'd typically read the threads you participate in. so the misinterpretation spreads.

and of course there's the whole 'screenshot this post to make fun of it' thing (which i'm not immune to, although i'm trying to do it less). it's obvious that screenshotting part of a post makes it even easier to misinterpret it, and i suspect that at this point for some people the mere presence of the "underwater" filter is enough to prime a "this is a bad opinion, i should disagree with it" reflex! and you can't go "hang on, that's not what i meant".

anyway. don't take this as like an iron law of social media or a thing that is definitely 100% true. but it's something i've been thinking about.

[pipedreame]

𝐃𝐏𝐱𝐃𝐂 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭 — 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧

Jason finding Phantom severely injured and yet still making stupid quips and decides that he needs to save this dumbass and maybe keep him around forever. (He could easily convince Bruce to pseudo-adopt him since he’s the perfect fit for his usual strays.) He gets him taken care of and then tries to get to the bottom of what happened.

(Danny’s parents found out and tried to kill/capture him or the GIW got to him and he ended up fleeing and landing in Gotham worse for wear.)

He doesn’t really have anywhere to go since Amity is out of the question and Sam and Tucker still live there for another year as they finish high school and he’s not sure Jazz won’t try and force a mediation. He resolves to just living in the Ghost Zone for a while instead so he doesn’t have to worry about rent or shit but Jason gives him an alternative to stay with him instead.

Danny takes it.

“I mean sure, Ghost Boy, live with all the other spirits you’ve royaly pissed off if you really want to,” Jason rolled his eyes, “Or you could take me up on my offer and not have to worry about them trying to kick your ass and have backup when they do.”

(Danny may have given Jason the impression that he doesn’t love the idea of living in the GZ because of the ghosts being a bit hostile and not the fact that he’s the King-to-Be and doesn’t want to get harassed about it yet because he is Not Ready but Clockwork wants him to start preparing, lol.)

Queue the following Shenanigans and Drama: GIW getting their shit rocked by the JL once Bruce learns about what they’re doing, Ghost Rogues showing up at inopportune times and making the batfam realize how OP Danny really is (add some fun Fenton Gadgets for them to play with bc they haven’t had experiences with Ghosts before), Pit Rage (and possible Halfa!Jason) drama that Danny gets fixed as if it’s nothing, and ofc the eventual Ghost King Reveal that makes them all realize that Danny is somehow literally the most powerful being ever and they’ve seen him fall asleep in his oatmeal.

[atla-what-is-this-site]

Fixing Voltron's magic system FT. Sanderson's Laws of Magic (and examples from various famous media)

Firstly, let's begin with what the Alteans canonically can do. As seen throughout the series, two alteans shown actually manipulate quintessence. Another has super strength but no magic. A final is shown to have none. (poor Coran). It is implied the majority (if not all,) have these abilities. 

Quintessence manipulation seems to have one small limit:  When Allura uses the magic too much, she passes out. But remember: shes powering a giant ship. We never see Team Voltron going and getting gas or whatever, which means Allura is probably the sole supplier of power for the Castle. Which is an example of how OP this ability is, even with the limit.

Then we have super strength and shapeshifting, two other abilities that all (or i guess most, since Coran never shows any signs of having them) Alteans seem to have. These abilities seem to have little plot importance besides a few certain episodes. There is nothing inherently wrong with these abilities. However, when you pile them on top of (if I'm being completely honest,) a character who's already quite over-powered, I think you can understand why I'm not the biggest fan. 

We know quite a bit about Alteans. They're one of the most important species in the series. According to Allura, they're super-ambassadors, and they use their shapeshifting to better blend in. Their culture seems very intellectual-based, with Alchemists holding high places. They mixed magic and tech to make incredible ships like The Castle. 

This is where things tend to taper off. We get brief glimpses of what could be rules: Allura always places her hands on whatever shes infusing. Clearly, you must be Altean or of Altean Heritage. 

Now, let's take a look at Brandon Sanderson's laws of magic. 

Number One: "An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to how well the reader understands said magic." 

This means that if we want to solve problems with magic, we need to explain how that magic can solve our problems. So, for example, Harry Potter. Every spell that Harry uses is explained beforehand so that the audience knows what he's doing. It just wouldn't work if Harry went around Lumos-ing away, making the reader guess what the spell does. 

However, in The Lord of The Rings, Gandalf doesn't need to tell us anything, because he barely ever uses his magic for plot important things. Readers don't want to read three paragraphs explaining how he made his fireworks, when the story isn't about his fireworks.

Number Two: Limitations are more important than power.

What your magic system can do doesn't make it interesting. There's no power that hasn't been thought of. Infinite power makes it impossible to come up with a plot. The character could solve anything, meaning there's no point in telling about the solution to their problem. However, when you throw in weaknesses, costs and other limitations, you get a much more original and interesting idea. 

Picture that one scene from Aladdin, where Genie tells Aladdin about the three rules. (No playing with free will, no raising the dead, no wishing for more wishes.) It's a simple and easy to follow system, with limitations that make the plot more interesting. Aladdin can't make Jasmine fall in love with him magically, so he's forced to come up with other ways. 

Rule Three: Expand what you already have before you add something new. 

This one leans more on general worldbuilding, but what he's saying here is don't shove new ideas in your reader's face. Don't create new magics out of nowhere. Build on what you already have. 

There aren't many examples of this, luckily Voltron isn't really guilty of this, so elaboration isn't really needed.

Now, we'll take these and begin perfecting the magic system. 

First, what is Quintessence? Quintessence is, essentially, the animating factor. It's what makes living things alive. It's a form of energy. 

This isn't to say nonliving objects can't have it, but most don't, unless it's given to them. 

Quintessence is energy. It can't be created, nor destroyed. However, you can transfer it from one container to another. 

There are a few things you can do with it. Firstly, giving a living being quintessence can make them stronger. This is what Haggar does with Zarkon throughout the first two seasons.

Next, taking too much quintessence from someone will "de-animate" them. A.k.a. They die from lack of life. 

There is one third thing you can do with quintessence. It takes a lot of training and a bit of energy. But I imagine you could also make these huge shockwaves that just fucken decimate everything in a 300 foot radius. However this is more after-we-get-ridiculously-good type material.

Our limits are these: 1. You must draw energy from something, whether that be your own energy or someone else's. If you use too much of your own, you could pass out and die. 2. You must maintain contact with whatever you're imbuing with energy/drawing energy from. (The only exception is the shockwave. But the shockwave comes from your hands so..?) 3. Too much quintessence can become an addiction. Specific examples can be Zarkon and Haggar. 

A little interjection: While Alteans have a lot of quintessence, it can only power a small ship for a few hours. However, Altean ships have evolved to collect quintessence from bacteria that gathers on the ship's metal. This keeps the ships sanitary and also helps with efficiency. As well, ships often use Balmera crystals as a secondary source of power. Balmera crystals hold high levels of residual quintessence.

We can construct so many different plotlines that can't be solved with quintessence, or the limits can prevent solution. What if the person who needs healing is out of Allura's reach? What if she doesn't have enough energy?

That wasn't so hard, was it, VLD team?

[crystaldoodler]

A very long post of doodles relating to @theminecraftbee ‘s smallishsona AU (sorry for the tag again). I think of this AU while wandering Tartarus, so, I’ve had a lot of time to think. This post is really long and has a lot of rambling so, I’m putting it all under the cut. I’m sorry world I have too many words and rambles in me

First up, character designs!

I used primarily their mc skins for design, with only a few rl things thrown in. But, I didn’t bring them up so the colors are off a bit.

Starting off with Joel:

He’s following the persona protagonist tradition of mostly wearing the school uniform correctly, but with some minor embellishments. I’m still debating whether or not to add more, but w/e. His signature color is green.

Then Skizz and Impulse:

The greatest dichotomy of time to design, Impulse I knocked out on the second go, but I’ve done many iterations of Skizz and I still am not satisfied with this design. The ripped sleeves looked too out there (to me, at least) but nothing else seems to work so I settled for the shirt under uniform shirt look. Something I struggled with that these two emphasize is making them look like teenagers, and what they look like, and also keep to the anime style, and also my own incompetence with drawing facial features so It’s something all of these lack in. Impulse is yellow, and Skizz is blue.

Scar and Grian are next up, Scar’s facial Scar is from summoning his persona, because he stabbed himself in the face lol. Not much to say about these guys, I settled on orange for Scar and red for grian, which I am still struggling with beacause mumbo:

is ALSO red. So I guess they are just, both? red? If you look at the party select screens in persona though, the characters have pretty strong color coding, so I guess I’ll figure something out. If anyone is still reading: help. Anyway, mumbo wins the award for wearing the uniform the most normal (except for the tie)

Last but not least, Gem!

She’s wearing a longer skirt than the usual uniforms and also some big-ass boots. Also, she’s a sea monster thing? So, I was thinking, staring at SEES cool new uniform things and thinking about the Phantom Thieves and how cool their outfits are and realized the persona games have at least some design change to separate their daily looks from shadow hunting. Even if it is only glasses in p4 lol. So, I thought maybe weapon holsters? but, that seemed a little too generic. So! I decided to combine how I normally draw the hermits (and a lot of the fandom does) as having non-human traits as the big things setting their combat looks apart. It is both a) fun to draw, b) creates an eye catching and distinctive design for combat and c) is really funny. I thought it was funny so I drew a comic about it:

and here’s a sketch of what everyone looks like and also the transformation gives them very distinct eyes, for no reason other than I think it looks cool:

mumbo is a normal human btw (or at least, he appears to be)

Welp,that’s all I got. If I look at these drawings any longer I will hate them so here they are, yippee. Also, Bee/OP, sorry for exploding; I am into persona and hermitcraft right now so this AU is like a perfect storm to give me brain rot.

[theflyindutchwoman]

Wait, is she touching you? She's touching you, isn't she? Hey, you know what? If she offers you money for sex, I'm gonna win this bet. Look, I am down to do whatever you want. Yeah, you are.

| ANATOMY OF A SCENE - CHENFORD EDITION 4.07 - Fire Fight

What I love about this scene is how unassuming it appears to be : for all intents and purposes, this moment is meant to offset the more serious and dramatic part of the episode. Nothing else. And yet, it hides so many layers… One of them is how it actually gives us an aperçu of Tim and Lucy going undercover together at the end of the season. With the way they flirt here, it makes their practice kiss and all their display even more inevitable. And this is the perfect continuation of Lucy's last UC op, where she flirted with him to pass him the informations she had (and save his life). That their default mode while undercover is to flirt says everything… Those mission really gives them the cover and freedom they need to explore their feelings without revealing their hand. Having Tim go undercover, with Lucy as his handler, is also a perfect role reversal, where the student has become the master. He doesn't once question her expertise : he might protest but it's more out of habit than anything else. It's certainly never out of malice. Now add Tim's baggage when it comes to that line of work… And it brings out another layer. Interestingly though, this side is not explored. The aim here is to ease him into this, without triggering any bad memories the way Lucy's very first op did. This is a short stint, with no high stakes. And this explains why he doesn't protest much when Lucy suggests he goes undercover as Jake in the first place : the fun they have here might have played a part.

Lucy is definitely enjoying this way too much, instantly ragging on Tim's choice of clothes when he shows up at the rendezvous. They haven't even started yet and he looks done already. This is such a good reminder of their first dynamic : grumpy/sunshine. He just can't hide his smile, even in front of her, anymore - like when she recites the UC rules. The walls are down. Also, the fact that she had a jacket ready for him, clearly having expected this to happen, just shows how well she knows him.

But aside from all this fun, there's this undercurrent of tension that rises to the surface when Tim puts the jacket on… or when he lifts his shirt off, showing off his abs… The atmosphere here is so different than when she caught him wearing only a towel at Rachel's place. There is an awareness now that wasn't there yet. And it's even more intense with their close proximity. Or with Lucy having to touch him. It's just so intimate. The looks they exchange… It's electric. It's close to how it felt for a moment at Tim's place… Until he realises that she's placing the mic too high on his chest… Is it distraction? Is it on purpose? Either way, the way she rips off the tape, looking so smug, and his high-pitched scream are hilarious. Her sorry doesn't even sound sorry at all. #sorrynotsorry

And from there, it goes completely unhinged. Only these two would openly flirt and riling the other up while one of them is undercover. Now, to be fair, it started normally, with Lucy coaching Tim. But the second Aston began flirting with him, professionalism went out of the window. Then again, these are the same idiots who were making out 'for work', so maybe it is their definition of professionalism. Tim is trying to remain in-character but Lucy is having the time of her life, listening to their conversation. His smirk when Aston caresses his hand and Lucy comments on it, reminding him of their bet and how he might unwittingly help her win it if their mark keeps this up… They are so flirty here, openly, taking advantage of the situation… And that really lays the groundwork for Vegas. The fact that Lucy is basically whispering in his ear, that he can't see her, brings a certain level of intimacy… And while he is talking to Aston, his reactions are for Lucy. Like his big smile : sure, he is amused by their suspect's behavior, but I have a hard time believing that this isn't Lucy's comments that provoked it. There's such a double meaning to their dialogue… Like when he tells their suspect he is 'down to do whatever [she wants]', with Lucy instantly answering him with her iconic 'yeah you are'… She couldn't have said it in a more lusty tone.

This is all ambiguous, giving them plausible deniability. It allows them to act in a less than professional way, but without any repercussion. Almost as if they're testing the water. And it makes sense that Tim tries to take a step back after this mission, to reclaim some boundaries… Well, for a short while. All of this just comes back in full force when they have to go undercover as a couple… with no going back.

[whatwooshkai]

THOUGHTS ON THE TRANSFORMERS ONE TRAILER

had to take a while to get it together, but here we go:

-the voice acting: is okay. chris hemsworth is not a voice actor and it's glaringly apparent, for me that first scene loses some of its charm because of the awkward delivery. the rest of the voice acting is okay, nothing stellar, keegan michael key is doing a great job as usual, and it's not going to ruin the movie for me

-the animation: gorgeous. faces are kinda uncanny valley but the backgrounds??? the fact that they look kinda like the toys??? the way they move??? very very pretty, very very good. however, they did not give orion finials and that makes me mad. perfect personality for expressive kibble and they didn't do it

-CYBERTRON!!!!! I cannot wait to explore this planet. all sorts of different biomes, the mechanimals, the foliage?????? dude I'm already in love

-the characterizations: I like them! I cannot wait to see kicked puppy D-16 evolve into assertive and aggressive megatron. peppy and excitable orion pax into gentle and quiet optimus prime. GIVE ME THE SPIRAL

-bumblebee: idk I think they should've gone with someone else. I was hoping they'd add a new face or someone we haven't seen for a while, and when his character was introduced in the trailer my first thought was hot rod??? because that's the personality. I mean I can get behind it but I'd think they'd pick someone who's a lifelong friend of op's...

-THE QUINTESSONS???? I can't wait

-I'm not opposed to the lighthearted tone, obviously this is the first movie and takes place before the war, so it's going to be lighter. What I'm hoping for in the movie is for shit to get real and I wouldn't mind an unhappy ending

-I hope the humor is better in context

-I'm going to see it. it seems like they put a lot of work into it and while I'm apprehensive I'm excited for what this movie will be

[mystery-moose]

GAMES I PLAYED IN 2024: A LIST

Went looking through my Steam Replay thingy, and decided to type up some thoughts on my favorite games I played this year! Here they are in roughly chronological order:

Helldivers 2 rules. It nails the tone and atmosphere of its inspiration (the Paul Verhoeven masterwork Starship Troopers) so well that it renders me almost totally uninterested in the officially licensed and apparently quite good Starship Troopers games that came out recently! It's a perfectly absurdist, hilarious satire that's played so straight it almost becomes cool! Right up until you get into the game. Because yeah, when things go well, you can feel really cool and badass and like you're in an intense sci-fi war movie... but the real strength of Helldivers is its comedy, and I don't mean the writing. I mean the ragdolling, the constant, impossibly big explosions, the deaths that come fast and furious and reduce you to giblet gravy, and the respawn being a whole new, fresh Helldiver that airdrops in to replace the dead one. It either feels incredibly tense and tactical, or it feels like cartoon slapstick comedy, and there's almost no middle ground. It threads both needles simultaneously like no other game before.

Now, some folks might be mad when, say, the Democracy Space Station the entire community contributed to building does nothing but shell the shit out of whatever planet its orbiting, to the point that most missions on said planet become suicide runs that result in dozens of dead Helldivers. They might also be mad when the devs add mines with blast zones so large they kill Helldivers as much as enemies, or rocket launchers that airburst almost immediately and teamkill constantly, or a car with a manual transmission that handles like a drunk walrus when its tires get popped. But I think these things rule, because these things contribute to Helldivers greatest strengths: comedy and chaos.

I did fall off it for a few months, when it got a bit stale. There was a period where they nerfed a bunch of guns, and frankly I understand why they did, and equally understand why they rolled it back. The game has had controversies, live service problems, Sony-driven publisher nonsense and recently some microtransactions I thought were poorly priced, but on the whole? The galactic warfront has kept me in their discord just to know how things are going even when I'm not playing, and that's not something I do for basically any other game!

If you want a good time in co-op, and you like third-person shooting and some crackerjack production values, and you like to laugh (sometimes at yourself), you will love Helldivers 2!

Dragon's Dogma 2 is not a perfect game. It's not even close. It has a ton of issues with a lack of variety in its content, a story that struggles with pacing issues and maintaining interest, and some awkward AI that renders a number of skills less useful than they should be.

That being said, there is no other game like Dragon's Dogma. It is tactile and mechanically deep, with class customization built around a combat system that feels exceptionally satisfying to use. It has a genuine sense of multiplayer shenanigans and camaraderie in a single-player game, through its customizable NPCs that you summon from other players. It creates stories about being dragged away by wolves or carried away on the back of a griffon and ending up in another part of the world, encountering monsters fighting each other or attacking caravans... and there's truly nothing like emerging into a canyon, seeing a troll fighting a dragon, running down and climbing all over the beastie and stabbing it until it dies. The vibes are immaculate, and that carried me through most of the game on its own.

I still need to get through the ending (that's not an ending) and the new game plus (that's not a new game plus) but even without completing it, I have a lot of fondness for this weird, weird game. I wish parts of it were better -- like a LOT better -- and I still think it has content issues that could have been solved by another year or two in the oven... but god (and Capcom) willing, some DLC or an expansion will get us there. I'd purchase it in a heartbeat!

Halls of Torment and Death Must Die are two "bullet heaven" games I played this year! Halls of Torment is aping the aesthetic of Diablo 1 and 2, while Death Must Die (pictured above) is doing more of a pixelart, Hades-like kind of thing with its buffs and boons. They both have a heavy loot focus, and a lot of progression, but they're both satisfying in different ways. They're both in early access, but content-rich, and I'd recommend them both -- that is, if you've already played Vampire Survivors and exhausted it and wanted more. Vampire Survivors is, of course, still king of its genre.

Homeworld 3 is the most disappointed I've been by a game in years. Blackbird Interactive have done good work in the past, helped put together the excellent Homeworld Remastered Collection, made Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak which for my money still has immaculate vibes and an excellent aesthetic, and also put out Hardspace: Shipbreaker! They've made great games in the past! So how this game turned out the way it did... I can only blame Gearbox and their meddling, because holy god.

There are mechanical issues like ships not following orders correctly, the pathfinding being kind of nightmarish, and the gimmick of superstructures and cover almost never mattering outside of a handful of campaign moments. The season pass (because of course it had one) had a bizarre focus on a very odd co-op multiplayer run-based mode, for some reason, rather than skirmish multiplayer -- which also had a dearth of maps and modes at launch.

But all of that doesn't matter so much to me, because what matters to me when it comes to Homeworld is the vibes. The aesthetic. The ice-cool, clinical, sweeping sci-fi space opera. Less a focus on named characters and more a focus on grander civilizations, politics, or enemies. Even Deserts of Kharak, set on a single planet, captured these vibes. And instead we got... some of the most awkwardly animated, ham-handedly written, and cartoonish cutscenes I've seen in a game in a good while. When the villain shows up in a main character's dream sequence and vamps around like a Dreamworks villain about to break into song, that's when I put the game down. I still haven't gone back.

I preordered the goddamn collector's edition of this. I never do that! I should know better! But I made the mistake of thinking a pedigree and proven track record are enough to bet on. Frankly, I think they should be -- maybe Gearbox and their story consultants and brand managers are just poisonous. Regardless, this was a real king-size bummer for me this year. Homeworld is dead now -- I can't imagine it getting another swing after this. But believe me when I say it deserved better.

The Dead Space remake is, against all expectations, absolutely fantastic. There are some quibbles I have here and there; I think the new performances from the supporting cast are a little flat. I think Kyne in particular loses a lot of ambiguity. The story and characterization elsewhere has been made less cartoonish or obvious, but given that Dead Space is a pretty corny horror yarn, it loses some charm as a result. But other characters like Isaac and especially Nicole benefit tremendously from a rewrite, giving them agency and likability they did not have before, and the wrinkles they add in their relationship are fantastic.

And mechanically? Wow. The game has never played better, moved better, been structured better. Some areas feel different, more a sidegrade than an upgrade, but others, especially in the new dark sections? Awesomely spooky. I happily started a new game plus of this and I fully intend to go back to it every October like I do Dead Space 2. It's SO good. That we were denied a new sequel is proof positive that EA sucks eggs.

Space Marine 2 is a 7/10 action game from the Xbox 360 era, shined up and given some quality multiplayer features. I mean that as the highest compliment; we don't get many of those these days! It is one of the best representations of Warhammer as an aesthetic and a vibe, and mechanically it is incredibly satisfying. I don't think a parry and riposte has felt this good since Sifu or Sekiro, at least in terms of sound design and impact. And the multiplayer! Simple, effective, an satisfying, with fun separate progressions for co-op and PvP. Every part of this package is far better than it has any right to be, at every level. You don't need to be a Warhammer nerd to like this game, in fact it's a pretty neat introduction, but for super nerds or just sometimes fans like me? Certain setpieces are absolute cinema. Can't wait for that horde mode to hit next year!

If Homeworld 3 is the most I've been disappointed by a game, the Silent Hill 2 remake might be the most I've been surprised by one. I had zero expectations for this thing, given the developer's previous output, and Silent Hill 2 itself is one of those games that is genuinely Important Art. Not just on its own merits, but in how it influenced creatives in basically every other form of art there is. There's an argument to be made that Silent Hill 2 has quietly influenced more horror media than damn near anything else since 2002. And it earned that.

So when this remake turned out to be... like, actually great? And not just great, but restrained? Thoughtful, even? That's amazing. The core story remains the same, whole cutscenes lifted almost word for word, but the changes they do make are not made solely to be different or justify its existence; they're done purposefully, because time has passed, because the game now flows from its scenes and environments more fluidly. Because they wanted to add (or emphasize) certain aspects of characterization. And the scenes they do add are so in keeping with the rest that it's hard to tell where the new stuff begins and ends. Heck, even the new endings they added are kind of amazing!

This is the remake that Silent Hill 2 deserved. The original is still exceptional, and should be preserved, but if this is the only way someone can experience this story? That's okay. This has single-handedly made me interested in whatever Bloober Team makes next, and I hope that whatever it is, they can channel the talent that made this, rather than their previous output.

I have not yet completed Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but I can tell you now that it is good. Maybe not great! But good. Solid. It has mechanically dense and interesting combat, an exceptionally cool skill tree and class customization system, accessibility options out the wazoo, and some really great production values. It has fun characters (some more than others) and a really fun protagonist. Some of the writing can be... heavy-handed, I'll say. And some of it is obvious, or hammy, or kind of pat. It feels very different than past Dragon Age games, for better AND for worse. I'm gonna have a bunch of thoughts on it when I'm done, I can tell!

But as a showing for BioWare, to prove that they're still capable of putting out RPGs that matter? That their formula, as old as it is, still works? That they still belong in the conversation after Larian's Baldur's Gate 3? I think this is a tremendous success.

Maybe the ending will fumble the bag really badly. That's been known to happen in BioWare games! But even then, I'd still have had a lot of fun playing this thing.

And if nothing else? Man, the next Mass Effect is gonna be AWESOME. (If they're allowed to make it...)

I Am Your Beast is the latest game from Strange Scaffold, the folks what made El Paso, Elsewhere, Clickolding, Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator, and An Airport For Aliens Currently Run By Dogs. If nothing else, their title game is on point. My only experience with them was El Paso, a game written and performed by one of the main leads, Xalavier Nelson Jr. And let me tell you, that game put them on my radar.

And while El Paso, Elsewhere was a Max Payne pastiche, a game about relationships and a breakup and addiction and emotional catharsis filtered through slow-mo dives through windows shooting shotguns at werewolves, I Am Your Beast is a smaller, leaner production. It is about a guy who killed for the government, who doesn't wanna kill for the government anymore, and when they send men to make him do that, he kills them all. That's it, basically -- and yet the narrative, told entirely through voice acting and typography without a single animated cutscene or face in the entire game, is one of the most quietly confident and cathartic I've seen in a while. It's a revenge thriller, of the John Wick sort, but the simple humanity and humor that Xalavier and his fellow voice actors imbue into the characters in such a series of short scenes is really incredible. It's the sort of game I've kind of always wanted; a stylish riff on a popular subgenre of film that makes you feel like you're in it. Because for as much as video games ape movies, there's surprisingly few games that really do what this game does, or feel like how this game feels!

And mechanically? The game is a just a bit stiff, such that you can tell it didn't have as much money or time as maybe it could have used. But even with that, it is still fast and smooth and extremely satisfying. The game loads as fast as it moves, so when you fuck up, you can reset in less than a second and start right over, Super Meat Boy style. This is necessary, as it is a fast, score-based shooter that can demand a lot of you if you want to complete all the optional objectives, let alone S-rank everything. But really, the action IS the juice, the raw lizardbrain satisfaction of nailing headshot after headshot, running a route through a map that you've planned after numerous attempts and getting it just right, just perfect, with a little room for improvisation along the way. And your reward? Another great little bit of voice acting, some characterization, and another killer tune to vibe to as you shoot your way through another army of goons.

I Am Your Beast is very close to being the best possible version of itself, but even falling just short of that, it's still one of the absolute best games I've played this year, or any year. It's short, it's sweet, it's cathartic as hell, and it has one of the best final levels of any game I've played. I'm a sucker for when a song drops into gameplay, especially with lyrics, and boy they save that for a final level that's more a celebration than a challenge. This game kicks ass, and if you get anything from this list? I'd say get this one, for real.

Karate Survivor is another in the burgeoning subgenre of "bullet heaven," aka Vampire Survivors-clones. But this one is different, because it requires actual gameplay!

I jest, but this game does feel more active and more involving in terms of positioning than most games in this genre. Instead of building a suite of weapons that autofire, you're building a combo string that auto fires, and each attack goes in a specific direction with a specific arc of damage, and they're each part of different styles and different sequences that boost damage and add bonus effects when linked together and... you can see how there's some juice here!

But more importantly, Karate Survivor does something I did not expect: it made me feel like Jackie Chan. There are games that let you do a fight scene -- Sifu is one of my all-time favorite games, and that has some environmental stuff you can do, ottomans you can kick and bottles you can throw and tables to dive over, but it's all just a bit self-serious, a bit too cool. And that's good! I like those vibes! But a Jackie Chan movie, a good one? That has something different. There's an element of danger, of threat, of physicality and pain for sure, but there's also a distinct element throughout the choreography of slapstick comedy, of using the environment in creative ways.

And that's what this game does -- you have environmental interactions. You direct your karate man over to some bottles, and he'll automatically chuck them at the nearest enemy. He'll kick chairs and buckets, he'll pick up brooms and shovels and ladders, he'll kick out a support and send a shack tumbling down on his attackers. You can run up walls, you can throw open doors to smack dudes in the face (a move lifted directly from Rumble in the Bronx) and you can pole vault into locked rooms or across rooftops. The act of moving, of positioning yourself to funnel attackers and utilize the environment and grab whatever is laying around? That's Jackie Chan, baby. And no other game has really captured that feeling like this one has!

Karate Survivor fully justifies itself not as a clone of Vampire Survivors, but as its own game. It is unique, it has some excellent pixel art, it kicks ass, and best of all, it is very cheap. Absolutely check it out if you can!

Balatro is my game of the year. It kind of has to be. Yeah, I'm sure Astro Bot is incredible, I'll play it someday and love it death I'm sure. I hear that Indiana Jones game is shockingly excellent too! And Shadow of the Erdtree? I mean come on!

But you don't understand. You don't get it. I didn't either -- I thought I was over deckbuilding roguelikes, and the poker aesthetic? Who could care! I mean I like poker and all, but as a video game? Meh.

Then I watched someone play it for just a few minutes, and I knew I had to try it. Then I got it on mobile, and it was all over.

Balatro is a dopamine factory. Not in the same way that Vampire Survivors is, where it's all in the presentation and after a certain point the game sort of falls away and it's just flashing lights making brain chemicals happen. Balatro is a thinker. You gotta plan, you gotta react. You gotta play the right hands, get your cards in the proper order to maximize score. You gotta build your run on the fly, depending on the jokers you find. There is not a moment in Balatro that you are not making some meaningful decision, no matter how small or short. It has one of the best UI designs in games, with some really smart flourishes that make my pleasure centers light up like a Christmas tree. It is a game that you can break such that your high score is in scientific notation, but luck is also a factor, and you'll rarely see this unless you dig into seed science. It has a bunch of different decks that all radically change how you play, and a bunch of challenge modes that demand you play a certain way, and you're always unlocking one of the 150 jokers in the game that each completely change how you build your strategy.

Balatro is available on PC and mobile. Get it on both. You pay like fifteen bucks, and you get everything. No DLC, no microtransactions, no actual gambling, ever. The whole game. I've put at least fifty hours into this thing, probably more, and I'll put more into it in 2025. If I get the PC version, I might investigate the mod scene! People are adding new jokers that break the game even more! One-man developer LocalThunk is a baller, and I can't wait to see what he makes next, but if all he ever does is this? He's earned a spot in the history of this medium.

Balatro is the closest to a perfect game I've seen since Vampire Survivors. That two games this monumental by solo devs have come out so close together is proof enough to me that, for all its many MANY problems, we are in a golden age of video games. I sincerely hope it inspires tons of folks to make their own! So I can lose hundreds of hours to those, too.

[yanderes-galore]

Some Prompts to aid you on requests/ideas:

(If you have other suggestions, I'll add them)

[badaziraphaletakes]

Not the worst, but I just…excuse me? Did we watch the same show? Not going to assume op is nt but regardless of if they are or not, would be a good example of what I get from neurotypicals when I don’t react/respond to things the way they expect. I don’t understand how people can still think Aziraphale doesn’t love Crowley or is some kind of villain,

Perfect commentary, @ladybracknellssherry - nothing to add!

Thank you for the submission!

[crowlhoard]

Okay, I need to get this off my chest and calm down forever.

It's about the final of Murder Drones and how utterly underwhelming it is.

Of course, it has the absolute top tier animation and soundtrack, but those things only work when supplementing the story and not being used to cover up the lack of of a coherent story.

Basically it has a build-up of mystery-horror story, but turned out to be a comedic skit.

So I decided to do a Saberspark analysis in my head and got to the point where I question: "is there a way to make it better/fix it?"

So the perfect answer of "throw everything out, take the concepts, make the core tennets and rewrite it from scratch" is too much effort and basically equals to giving up on the show entirely.

So the answer has be within the rules of the show, with no absolute rules and rule of funny being allowed to be a way of plot progression. And with those limitations I settled on only one thing changed for the story to have a narrative conclusion.

Current answer to 'how to defeat the Solver' (just don't be a little b****) makes practically all plot lines of the show meaningless. There was no point in excursion to CFL, the danger never was that great, all the hosts were just being little b*****s. Nori's absence has no meaning, she was just sitting in a cave looking for an optional passive buff item, instead of just telling her daughter she inherited ungodly genetics, but it's okay as long as she is not being a little b**** about. Maybe that's why Solver could never control Doll, Yeva was around long enough to tell her to not be a little b****. (I'm sorry for repeating it so many times, but it's the one part that makes me slam my head harder than the teacher).

So instead, we can have V bring back the patch, that'll also would explain why she was absent for so long besides yeehawing on the sentinel on the above floor. Add the comedy by making patch literally taped back together (nothing beats the incredulous stupidity of bronko bus))).

Now, everything is the same until the end of the ping scene, Cyn is obviously OP, everything is scary, but before it kicks V out of the building, she drops the patch. And now, when she is about to strike V down, Uzi slams the patch into her head from behind.

And then we continue the same way the episode went, but now it makes sense why Cyn can be beaten down and can't overtake other hosts.

And boom, now the whole mystery delving and going to the labs has a pay-off, it wasn't just for the vibes, Nori wasn't just hiding away from her family for no actual reason. And the scene after credits still fits, because it keeps the Solver as an unknowable entity that can't be destroyed or truly defeated.

Of course it'll still feel rushed and somewhat underwhelming, but at least the main plot line of learning all those mysteries has a pay-off, a conclusion.

And now let me go, you hyperfixation brain worms!!!!

[honeyplus]

Expanding on yr hc on dami falling in love with shojo anime while growing up in the league: he would SOOO adore Lovely Complex to the point where every member of the league has the op memorized forever and solidified Damian's love of tall girls-and absolutely argue for HOURS on how peach girl could've shaped a whole gen of shojo manga if they treated their tan/darker skinned female protagonist better. He absolutely would stand on shojo animanga business!!!!!!

nothing to add this is perfect

[mj-ackerman]

Sorry if you already made a post about it but what are your thoughts on the "Anya loves Loid more than Yor" thing? I personally don't agree with it at all. I think Anya does try harder with Loid because she knows about Strix but not necessarily because she loves him a lot more than Yor.

Hello, yes I already made a post about this but only on Twitter hehe.

Regarding my thoughts about the "Anya loves Loid more than Yor" thing, I don't agree with it AT ALL. I believe Anya loves them both equally, there's was no competition and it SHOULDN'T be a competition as to who she loves the most. Anya also said it herself, she loves both her mama and papa because they're fun to be together and gave them BOTH a 100 perfect score

She even said that she likes it the best when she can be together with the both of them.

That's why she likes and enjoys their little family "ootings" so much because it's the time where she can spend time with both her mama and papa together.

I also didn't like how the post claimed that Anya is much closer to Loid just because he was the one who adopted her because that's not entirely true. While it's true that it was Loid who got Anya out of the orphanage, Anya quickly got along with Yor the day she became her mama, she was even comfortable enough to ask her if she wants to hold hands with her, it's just that Yor's thoughts about how she broke Yuri's ribs from hugging too tightly had scared her.

I also didn't like how OP reduced Yor's role and made it sounds like she was only chosen by Anya because of the fact that she was aware that Loid was looking for a wife when it wasn't the case. She chose Yor to be her mother because the idea of having a spy father and an assassin mother excites her. She was entertained by the thought of what adventures a spy and an assassin could bring in her life.

She loves head pats - Why yes, she do loves head pats, especially head pats from her papa because it's the only genuine sign of affection that he could afford to give her as of the moment.

And yes, Anya does try harder with Loid but it's not because she loves him more than she loves Yor. It's because she thinks that she gotta do her best and try harder in order to keep Loid and have him stay with her, with their family.

Anya doesn't really have to try hard for Yor's affection or to put an act to impress her because she knows very well that her mama will accept her and love her no matter what but it's different for Loid. While she's also aware that despite Twilight's cold demeanor, he's actually a big softie for her, she doesn't really understand what he feels about her because right now he's in a lot of denial. She even canonically questioned whether Loid loves/cares for her or not.

But with Yor, she already had that security to the point where she immediately even became her safe place, but again, she loves them both EQUALLY, it's just that for that reasons I mentioned, she gotta try harder for Loid.

I love the user's post & metas, they give good insights and character analysis and I do think it's not their intention to start a discourse regarding this matter, they were simply giving their opinion about it, it's just that the way they worded it was really bad. I think if they didn't said "Not even close" or had put the unnecessary add up of "there's a reason why anya let yor holds her hand but it's loid who hold and hug her" (I was disappointed by that statement because that's not true AT ALL, and for the record Loid haven't hug Anya yet, picking her up and holding her doesn't count as a hug btw) I think people wouldn't react the way they did.

It's actually fine if people likes Loid more than Yor, there's nothing wrong with that. I just hope whenever they praise him or build him up to be as a good father figure, they wouldn't need to tear Yor down, because it's really sad to see Loid being praised of doing the same things that Yor is also doing but she's being hated for it or they don't think it's something admirable because it's something expected of her because she's a mother and wife :/

[megashadowdragon]

Pre vs Post memory loss Touma.

www . reddit . com/r/toarumajutsunoindex/comments/1ewlxoe/pre_vs_post_memory_loss_touma/

I see a lot of people ask what's the difference between both Toumas. Well, on the outside they seem almost the same but is that actually true? There are key differences between them. Let's see.

Po= post memory loss.. and pre is self explanatory.

1-Po Touma thought pre Touma was some perfect hero when he learned how he saved index, and for index's sake ( and his own ) he decided to lie about his memory loss. Thinking he can't measure up to his old self. So imposter syndrome is the first key difference between the two.

2- Pre Touma tried to save people out of guilt and index gave him hope that he can actually save someone while Po Touma started doing it because a) trying to live up to his old self. b) He can't stand someone needing help and do nothing. Until it became a habit to Po Touma, he saved people because he needed it more than the one being saved, it made him connections with lots of people. It became his identity, without saving people Po Touma is nothing, or so he thinks.

Notice how Index was the reason for both Toumas to find hope again. Absolute best girl.

3- Po Touma is more hypocritical.

A) When he heard how Pre Touma punched Kanzaki in OT1, he criticized him saying how wrong or uncool it is to punch girls when he does the same exact thing. This comes from the perfect image he held for his past self while he finds his current self not worthy. ( OT11 )

B) He criticized Anti-skill for risking their lives to save people without something in return while he obviously does the same thing. ( OT 6 )

4- Pre Touma hated his life, his luck, and imagine breaker because of his childhood past. Po Touma loves his life, luck, and imagine breaker because it gave him the chance to be around people he cares about and for giving him the chance to save people.

5- Pre Touma had no problems asking for help and while he prefered to ask people he didn't know over endangering people he cares about. Po Touma doesn't like to ask for help at all.

In the persue to imitate his old self, he ironically resulted in them being more different.

That's all from me. If you have more to add or correct me on any point, please do in the comments! That was mostly OT Touma explaination because anime doesn't do justice to Touma.

reddit comments

You forget that the pre-memory loss kamijou is more horny!!!!

Honestly I always view pre-memory loss kamijou reason for saving people because of his jealousy of people with powers

He is frustrated because he is talentless and only has the right hand that attracts misfortune in city with talent people that has power (useful power)

So he wants to become a hero or savior because of this feeling of despair and pathetic self.(Remember when he hides under the car in biohacker)

Which he proven with index

He proves someone talentless like him who has power that doesn't help him with his studies or his daily life or making him popular, power that only attracted misfortune.

Can actually change the fate of someone to the positive conclusion

And he died satisfying knowing he achieve this conclusion

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u/Omaroo01 avatar Omaroo01 OP • 12d ago You are absolutely right! Also how could I forget horny Touma lol. While I think Po Touma is still somewhat horny, he doesn't persue a relationship like Pre Touma did. Pre Touma actually loved Index, it's not explicit but you could tell

Pre memory loss touma is more normal. And by that I mean he's less extreme and still has more human weakness even if he has all the same heroic quirks as touma.

Pre touma actually ran away once, albeit without thinking, then he ran right back and acted more heroic than ever. Post touma would never do that. Pre touma also intentionally made misaki fall for him and was more willing to actually purse relationships. The reason he didn't give index her thing back is because he secretely wanted to meet her again.

Post touma is worse because after completely forgetting himself the only way to give himself meaning is to bring happiness to those around him. This is combined with him having imposter complex towards his previous self, making him think he doesn't really deserve the love of others. Finally while nt9 got him over imposter complex and taught him it's ok to be selfish, at the same time it forced him to get used to things that no one should ever get used to, and also locked him into his never-change high school boy mentallity. Essentially nt9 destroyed touma's common sense in regards to limits of stupidity and desensitized him to everything, including the possibility of non-existence and every torture or fear imaginable.

I think he needs to regain his memories during his ressurection, or even right away just to realize how inhuman he's become and regain some selfish ambition, as well as realize how important he is to the girls who love him. Right now he literally lies to himself that they don't care much because he wants to be able to sacrifice himself at anytime without fearing the consequences, Othinus falsely taught him no one needed him, and although she herself now has no reason to live without him, he can't comprehend that even if she tells him. His head's screwed up and needs reset.

[worstvideogamesong-poll]

Worst Video Game Song Tournament - Round 3 Match 3

The Yoshi Clan - Yoshi's New Island

VERSUS

Mansion Basement - Resident Evil Director's Cut

FIGHT!

I would recommend listening to as much as you can of each song before voting, but how you choose is up to you! Remember to be civil in the tags and replies!

Propaganda under cut:

The Yoshi Clan:

"the ass band will play a song of farts to celebrate your failure"

"#FUCK YOU YOSHI"

"#yoshi sounds like suck"

"#YOOOOOOOOSHI CLAAAAN!!!!!!!! #ok im gonna complete my santa review before getting to my ten page essay on why i love yoshi clan. yea that shit bad #i accidentally started it playing in two tabs at different points of the video which was honestly really fun. i recommend tryin that esp wi #bad songs really adds smthn to the exprience. it was awesoeme #it also just sounds the exact type of awful that that video image implies which is cool. its so perfect. it sounds ass #but. what it can not beat. is my favorite of all time. my darling love. it is time to begin my sermon #ok so yoshi clan is just so beautifully terrible. and truly the whole soundtrack is an orchestra of bad design. and its so fun to look at #that really nice professional looking art for the game and get BLASTED with kazoo #and like. i understand the thought process. kazoo does seem silly goofy yoshi. and it also sounds like a chorus of pain #now this song specifically has some really great awkward pauses. at 0:16 theres like a full 3 seconds of silence. which is SO cool #then the hot cross bun bit that ends at 0:27 gets so sad and deflated at the end of it. like it starts off in time but then clearly the #soloist got kinda embarrassed alone and so rushed and got really quiet. and its just so sad and lonely. its so cool #also some of these pauses have a couple lone far away kazoo squeaks for no reason before the 'melody' comes back in? awesome #but what i really really love about this. what really draws my eye. is the ending. because we go through this entire rigamarole with the #worst secondhand embarrassment of my life. then. 0:43. the kazoos move out. and in. the most genuinely awesome groovy drum beat in the worl #like its SO good. and those last few seconds are like you're in a different world. like you just survived horrors and you are brought to an #angelic chorus. and it lasts what 5 seconds? 5 seconds of beauty after a full 40 seconds of purgatory. in what world do horrors live foreve #while an angel can last for only a flash #its cruelty. its injustice. its completely ingenious. incredible music making. i am in such awe. #anyways thats my manifesto. please feel free to put any of this in the propaganda section op. im passioante"

Mansion Basement:

"this song fucking sucks. i love it."

"[Mansion Basement] is literally what letting my cat walk over my keyboard set on some particularly bad trumpet sample feels like. Spectacular"

"#This is so funny #Who made mansion basement?? #It's so sad!! #And pathetic!!"

"#whaat the fuuuck is up with [Mansion Basement]"

"#like NOTHING can compare to mansion basement #what the FUCK"

"#the mansion basement made me cry #ithink i know who the winner here is #🎺🔥🔥🎺🔥🎺🔥🎺🔥🎺🔥🎺🔥"

"#[Mansion Basement] THO HEEEELP.??? BABY ON FL STUDIO TRYING TO PLAY MARIO UNDERGROUND THEME...."

"#resident evil is a joke song for clowns"

"#I'M NOT LISTENING TO THE OTHER ONE I KNOW FOR A FACT IT'S MANSION BASEMENT #THE STORY BEHIND IT IS WILD TOO SO THAT'S AN AUTOMATIC WIN BABBBEEEYYY" (pollrunner's note if anyone knows what the story is please tell me i am dying to hear about it)

"#i saw the title of this post and literally IMMEDIATELY thought of mansion basement #felt emotionally validated when i saw it was an option #i love that song #in the worst way #like a drunk zombie looking for its keys in an orchestra"

"#im fucking obsessed with mansion basement. sweep"

"#what the hell that is not a real resident evil song #did they really just make that and put it in the game #what"

"#I ACTUALLY LIKE THE BASEMENT SONG because it perfectly captions how like- #the sneaky suspicion of getting diharrea feels"

"#fart basement ofc"

"#Mansion basement is objectively the funniest song ever"

Feel free to add more propaganda in the tags and replies, or send it to me in the ask box and I'll try to share it as soon as I can!

[solarballs-confessions]

Maybe I've said this before here? I mean. I've definitely ranted to others about this, but I am so frequently angry about this that I shall complain again.

(If I have, just delete this)

I hate how Alvaro (+ some parts of the fandom) insist on labelling Solarballs, Mr. Spherical, etc. content as "polandball/planetball"

It is nothing like that.

Most obvious thing is THE ART. THE MOUTHS! WHY ARE THERE MOUTHS IF THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A POLANDBALL DERIVATIVE THING. That is rule 1 of polandball! NEVER add mouths! And yes, that matters! The point of PB is to look shitty and simple! It is also to show homage to the OG comic! Adding mouths to a PB character is a surefire way to go to the PILLARY OF NO-GOS.

Eyebrows, and hands too. "But expressions!" just stretch the character up and make the dialogue so good that you don't even need to pay attention to that. Some PB artists (see: wildeofoscar) like to stay to a derpy look and let the text alone show the mood. And it works mighty fine, might I add! "But hands are needed for this!" There's the handipoles specifically for that. In r/polandball, handipoles were invented by a user specifically to circumvent the rules in a funny way.

But that's not all! It's how they speak! How they act!

rPolandball? The characters speak in bad english. None of the characters are taken seriously. (Save for the depression month comics). The leaders aren't shown.

Mr. Spherical? They speak in perfect english aside from poland... WHO IS RIGHT SIDE UP, AND DOESN'T EVEN SPEAK IN "CANNOT INTO OFINGS" ENGRISH. They give the vibes of taken seriously, but the story forces them to be not taken seriously, which ends up awkward as hell.

You might be seeing this and going "does art really matter? And for the space medias, do planets even have stereotypes?"

I'll start with the art: Yes. It matters. The rPB art rules make sure the comics never stray from the original spirit of PB. When I saw art from people who break the rules, I also saw that their "jokes" were too safe and afraid of being offensive, a lot of stereotypical behaviour of the actual country and their peoples were ignored/changed to fit the OP's politics. (Either SJW, or actual nazism.)

For the space media: Yes and no. Venus has almost always been portrayed as feminine in most celestial-anthro media, but sometimes she is portrayed masculine. I can also accept that personalities don't matter much.

But something about SB. Even if you took the whole series and made it obey the rules, I'd still refrain from putting it under the polandball & derivative umbrella. It does not have the same charm, the same spirit of polandball & derivatives. It has charm. It has spirit. But it's nothing like polandball.

Even looking at the official pillary of no-gos, I can still accept some of it as polandball. Because it has the same spirit.

I blame it on the buzzwordation of polandball. Before, "countryballs", "planetball", etc. refered to things like r/Polandball.

But the gen alpha SJWs, who didn't have hetalia, who didn't have countryhumans, nor even SATW, came to hunt for a new target. And polandball was that target. They removed the spirit of it and reduced it to just another one of their "country anthropomorphism medias". So now, petit bourgeois like Alvaro market to the gen Alphas by invading our words.

I can somewhat agree with calling Mr. Spherical "countryballs" and keeping the OG polandball as "polandball". But as for solarballs, it has essentially become an invasive species for "planetball". Nothing wrong with Solarballs, if I didn't like the series I wouldn't watch it, but I wish it would accept that it is it's own brand and not a polandball-derivative.

-Emoji Hater Anon

.

[braisedhoney]

please tell me about the pigments i would love nothing more than to hear you talk about that one shade of red you like and the process it took too recreate it

... oh, op. you have no idea what you've unleashed.

alright. here we go.

OKAY SO THE RED PIGMENT. pr206. my beloved. my dearest friend. it was an absolute bastard to find because there are so many of these. however many you think there are, there are MORE, and that's only if you don't count the many many scenarios where colors are known to be multi-pigment mixes, usually varying in tone/shade/intensity depending on the brand and manufacturing style. some colors are more consistent than others, but there are situations where a color can be named the same and contain the same pigments and STILL look wildly different depending on the ratio, binder, and paper you use. and that's not accounting for the way the pigment is processed. some pigments (like pv19 for example) can come in so many shades it's frankly kind of ridiculous.

anyway, my quest begins when i am, admittedly, in an edgier phase. i want a blood red, but not specifically because of that—no, i want it because it is THE IDEAL COLOR (to me) for a perfect, warm, slightly muted but still intense shade to add to a muted autumn watercolor palette. and... if you look at my whole theme, you probably know how much i love warm colors. i want to paint mushrooms. i want to dim down some of the brighter greens to make them autumnal. i want the perfect red to put as an undertone.

the search starts in earnest.

the immediate issue is this: reds (and purples and pinks) have horrifically bad lightfastness. not all of them, mind, but many are NOTORIOUS for fading under uv light, which means they will also fade if exposed to sunlight even in passing should it happen often enough. and—in especially bad cases where they're essentially working with dye and not pigment—they can even fade inside your notebook. inside of a drawer.

so not only are we working with an unfortunate pigment base (i'm simplifying here, there's way more nuance to this but shh) but we are working with one that skews heavily toward floral pinks or oranges. the red i'm searching for is warm, but not orange. dries dark but not brown. is transparent, not opaque. that last part is agonizing, because i also desperately do not want a color that will fade on me or generally destabilize, and most of the stable dark red pigments are EARTH pigments like red ochre (pr101) or the like. which, while fascinating because of their historical usage in things like pottery and even cave paintings that last to the modern day, are VERY OPAQUE. this is an issue with my preferred style of watercolor painting specifically, because opaque pigments tend to lift easier off the page and limit layering.

the search continues. pigment after pigment breaks my heart for one reason or another, drying too close to the cooler purpleish-red tint of wine at best. i think i find it in perylene maroon, but the drying shift (the difference between how a color looks wet vs after it dries on the paper) is so extreme that it loses the luminosity AND it's more opaque than most. i languish.

for a while my search turns to creation. i try and mix as many of my single pigment colors as i can into something that vaguely resembles what i'm looking for—so i take quinacridones and mix them with napthols, with nickel azos, with dashes of ultramarines and burnt sienna. everything turns out either just a bit too opaque, just a bit too muddy (that happens with multi-pigment mixtures, and is why so many people swear by single pigment colors. it's personal preference, really, great art can be made either way.)

still, nothing works. failure haunts me. i sit before a pile of used up watercolor paper that is literally covered edge to edge in nothing but similar red squares with various gradients and blooms as evidence of when i tried and failed to convince myself my efforts were close enough. i admit defeat.

in the meantime i shift my focus. i try and appreciate different color palettes and profiles, experimenting with things like fully transparent palettes (personal favroite) to fully opaque ones that function more like gouache. but despite finding appreciation for it, i still think about the damn red that i could never recreate. it kills me.

and then one day, a youtube video. a pigment is being discontinued, and the watercolor community is distressed. this happens a lot, because pigments are actually not always popular because of artists—sometimes beloved colors are put out of production because larger markets like car companies no longer find them popular enough to invest in. this time, the casualty is pr206, aka brown madder, aka quinacridone burnt scarlet.

let me tell you a little about quinacridones. they are genuinely remarkable colors. they have their own cult followings because of how bright and abnormally stable they are under uv light. they're transparent. they're luminous. they come in mostly shades of red and pink and purple, though there are a couple oranges and yellows in there. (there are no quinacridone blues, as far as i'm aware, but the phthalo blues have that category covered.) they also rewet beautifully, so you can put them on your palette and let them dry and not worry about it turning into a useless little rock of color that you can't get any pigment from anymore.

quinacridone magenta (pr122) is probably the most popular of these, the most often used besides maybe quinacridone violet (pv19). a few years prior we suffered the loss of quinacridone gold (po49) and since then people have been On Alert when it comes to losing these colors. i am one of them, because i never got the chance to even see po49 in person, and now the tubes are so stupid expensive that even the student grade versions go for Ridiculously High Prices on ebay, and the professional brands are being hoarded like (ironically) gold by anyone lucky enough to have a tube left over.

but back to our main character. not me, the pigment. pr206. i have legitimately never heard of this one, which to be fair is probably because i try to limit the random colors i fixate on since the hobby can easily get VERY expensive if you aren't careful. but it's a quinacridone, and that catches my eye.

i open the video.

now, i'm sure any artist out there will be familiar with the fact that screens don't display color consistently. it depends on your device, but most can agree that something that looks cooler on one may be warmer on the other, it's just what happens. but i see this color being swatched, and my brain implodes.

it's almost a perfect match.

it could work. it could. years of thinking that same thought have left me bereft and mistrustful of this specific quest marker, but the thought refuses to leave me. probably because the 'discontinued' label flashes like a neon sign.

i resist for about six months, and then i cave. at this point i have genuinely been trying and failing to find this color for upwards of five years. i am desperate, and the color might not be available anymore soon anyway, and apparently i am weak to sales pitches. (note: the color IS now unavailable in some brands, but others bought a decent supply and should have it available for at least a little while, alongside po48 which is quinacridone burnt orange, a favorite of mine and probably one of the only oranges i use regularly. both are discontinued officially, but they'll still be on sale till those supplies run dry.)

the color arrives. i grab my favorite brush. i pull out my stash of paper that i save for special occasions.

it's almost perfect.

i mix it with quinacridone burnt orange.

the result is, i swear, a perfect match for what i have been searching for.

it's warm. it dries dark but not dark enough to look brown. it keeps its luminosity (thank you quinacridones). it's fully transparent (thank you quinacridones). i genuinely feel the urge to weep, but i don't because i am clinging at last to the dredges of my sanity and also salt makes watercolor pigments behave differently and i will not risk this glorious moment. finally, after all these years, bill cipher has a gun i found the goddamn COLOR.

i mix it with warm yellows and with my favorite blues. with the pinks, just to laugh. life is beautiful and i am painting its sunsets, and i do not care if they look ridiculously messy. i have won.

the moral of the story is to never give up. or maybe it's to remember you never actually know everything about even the fields you love the most, because this color totally blindsided me despite being much more common than i expected. or maybe it's that i seriously needed to chill out for a while.

but yes. that is the tale of one (1) of the colors that has taken up residence in my soul. i hope you don't regret asking now lmao.