#seeing as I haven't posted dnd art before

[feliciadraws]

Been on a DnD kick lately and now that she has a proper updated design I thought I would introduce my main DnD girl, wood elf thief rogue Kaiyla! A little info about Kaiyla under the cut-

Kaiyla, the last daughter of the Ravenfallow clan, is an ace thief and archer who has been surviving on her own for as long as she can remember; when she was still but a small child, her clan, the Ravenfallow clan, a peaceful collective of forest-dwelling wood elves, was savagely attacked by a bloodthirsty band of barbarian orcs, and while many of the stronger members of her clan were slaughtered and others, namely the women and children, were taken hostage, her own family among them, poor little Kaiyla was abandoned in the woods and left to die, the orcs having deemed her too small and weak to be of any use to them. But she didn't die; she hid among the forest, and learned to survive on her own, utilising and honing the skills she learned from her family and the clan elders, and grew up among the trees as a toughened, hardened survivalist and a prodigy with a bow and arrow, eventually learning the ways of the thief, but also functions as a mercenary, helping others who can't help themselves...for a price of course. As a result of her hard, bloody life, she grew up a hardened, pragmatically minded survivalist who cares most about self preservation and saving her own skin; she's a prickly, standoffish, lone wolf type who is distrustful of others and doesn't really get on well with larger groups or parties of people and prefers to work alone, but she does have a secret softer side that pities others, namely those who can't help themselves, since she herself was once lost and helpless- she says her mercenary work is only for the money but secretly she loves helping those in whom she sees herself, who she once was. Deep down she still deeply mourns the loss of her clan and her people, but was too busy trying to keep herself alive to think about seeking revenge and by now has given up all hope of finding any other Ravenfallows who might have survived or gotten away. Oh, and as a result of her unresolved past trauma, she has a very venomous hatred of orcs, believing them all to be little more than bloodthirsty beasts, she can't stand even being around them (it's something she needs to work on).

[illarian-rambling]

Aw balls. I almost forgot an intro

Hi, I'm Katie! I'm a writer with two ongoing wips that I like yammering about, so ima do it here!

Pronouns: she/her

Age: 20

Other interests: art, dnd, the Magnus Archives, anything Cosmere related, martial arts, Critical Roll

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My wips are set in the same universe, on the planet of Illaros, fifth from the last star left living in the universe. There's a continent, some islands, and other assorted junk down there. The gods have a dyson ring, but they don't like to talk about it. The stars are the eyes of an ancient primordial force of destruction.

Honor's Outcasts follows a rag-tag group of delinquents trying to survive psycho pirates with family ties, a siren theocracy, magic that rots in your blood, and the Horrors. Their number includes such mighty heros as: a kid who can explode people with her mind, a buff shark lady who survives regular eldritch encounters by not paying attention, a mute aroace siren man with a bitchy attitude, and the world's sweetest gang mamber. Of course, they're one big family, and what's family without a little religious terrorism?

The Mystery of the Mortal God asks what happens when magic and science collide in a world where ethics panels haven't been established yet. Set a few decades down the line from HO, this story follows a cowboy witch with a chip on her shoulder as she discovers a mysterious robot laying broken and confused on the side of the road. At the same time, in a city on the other side of the globe, a blue blooded detective investigates a cold case suddenly gone hot. In time, all players will meet, including the mage who set this whole conundrum in motion.

The Final Voyage of the R.S. Starbreaker is sci-fi with ghosts! More accurately, as the magical societies of Illaros take their first steps into space, they don't use unmanned probes, but instead call upon the gods to send ghosts to be bound to a mighty runic galleon: the R.S. Starbreaker. This first skeleton crew consists of an honorable former Flying City pilot with a seedy past, a brash elven astronomer infamous for her incomplete work, a meticulous selkie cartographer determined to map the solar wheel, a laid-back fae man with a dangerous set of ideals, and the key to this mission's success: a former part of an eldritch hive mind on a hunt for his extinct people's missing afterlife.

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Anyways, if you're here, feel free to say hi! I'll mostly be posting whatever bullshit comes to mind, but maybe you'll get lucky and something entertaining will come out? I certainly hope so!

Have a bitchin' day <3

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An addition! Here are my characters' playlists! (And intros for those who have them) (All instrumental because I can't write while listening to vocals)

Izjik Meautammera +intro

Sepo Kaiacynthus +intro

Twenari Devaris +intro

Djek Kagura +intro

Daedryn Whitenight

Astra DuClaire +intro

Mashal Darezsho +intro

Ivander Montane +intro

Elsind Cavernsight +intro

Avymere Spearsong +intro

Ghost Ship Radio + wip intro (for the Starbreaker crew)

(Curious as to which character you might relate to the most? Here are some quizzes that might help you out!) (First is for MG and HO, second is for Starbreaker)

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A second addition! Please feel welcome to check out my new Illaros library! These are short stories written (mostly) in my setting that I've shared before on here, but I figured I'd put all the links in one place :)

Down in the Deep Dark - 2,500 words - The tale of how Izjik and Sepo met

Violating the 4th - 11,000 words - Coverage of the first Surgeon case from the POV of Ceyrel (Ivander’s detective partner)

Rel's Haunting - 16,000 words - A story of a fallen angel, the dead god who made them, and finding wonder in the supermarket

Full Saturation - 2,000 words - A short horror story set on modern Earth about saturation diving and places better left untouched

And for some one-shots:

Mashal and Ivander hanging out

Izjik making Sepo a flute in the Trench

The cast of Mortal God gets a beach episode

Mashal teaches Astra to ride a horse

Again, have a bitchin' day <3

[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

Because it's been a while since any of these have been around

APPRECIATION POST

@loosesodamarble - You are one of my fandom wives, and I couldn't be happier about it. I love your OCs who are complex and deep, and they explore very humane emotions and wishes (such as locking emotions away after a loss), and combine into a world that both fits so well into existing canon, and expands on it in a very natural manner. On top of that, we get scrumptious pieces of meta and japanese language tidbits, for which I am ever so grateful. I'm overjoyed to be able to call you as not only a mutual, but as a friend

@lyranova - You are also one of my fandom wives and oldest friends here. You have written, what I dare say, is one of The most popular fics in the fandom, but you also have wonderful OCs, with which I love playing during out metaphorical 2D doll play-sessions. I know that over the years there have been a lot of emotions, both for good and bad, but I think that is just how life works. And I am beyond grateful that we've stayed friends throughout all the storms in our lives, and continue to be friends in the future. I am also very proud to call you not only a mutual, but a friend too

@koneko-pi - Third fandom wife! I know we haven't been in contact for as long, which is... over a year still at this point XD And dare I say I was surprised to get a DM on IG from you because I admired your art a lot, so... what can I say? I was just perplexed to see you in my DMs. And it was more than apparent that you are an absolute sweetheart, and I cherish your presence in my life. Even if such things as work dare interfere in having fun times. Also the memory of you saying "I am the floridan man" is inscribed into my brain (affectionate). You are a fey creature to me, and I wouldn't have it any other way. You are an equally valued friend

@wildflowerwoodsworld - I hope that I've at least implied by now that you are a force of nature, and very brave. I feel like I can be honest with my opinions with you, and I value someone with strong opinions in my life. Like, even if we wouldn't agree on something, we can still manoeuvre around the discussion. Your input into the fandom is also notable, in the form of fanfic, theories, and rants; but also, I adore Lia. She is a rascal, and that is what makes her so great. (And I still find myself giggling over a lot of the stuff that has happened in our dnd campaign, for which the credit should be divided equally among all the players, but you are a vital part of that group). Also, I find your characterizations to be peak

@acacia-may - I know that due to irl, you haven't been around much, but I wanted to take this opportunity to send out my gratitude for you; someone who takes so much time in exploring the platonic relationships of BC, which is an important component of BC at large. And you are an absolute sweetheart as well

@kalolasfantasyworld - My 4th fandom wife in the making? (*holds out a ringbox*) I'm still surprised about being the first to talk to you, because like... I'm pretty sure I wasn't the first to see or rb your art? I feel like the pieces had circulated a bit before that at least? But still, I am so happy to have you in my life. I'm not sure how exactly to put it into words, but I feel like we understand each other. And being able to complain over school (and speak latin to you :P ) is just an added bonus. I am really happy to have you as a friend. Simple as that. I value your presence in my life so much

@faewraithsworld - I love Acy! That probably shouldn't be my first thought, but that's the thing that got us connected. So, perhaps appreciating the OC that connected us is alright XD You also are just an absolute doll, and I love having you in my life. Even if life keeps both of us busy too, and the interactions are scarce

@t-f-t - Can I just say that I love the fandom discussions with you? Like they tickle my brain in a nice way? Again, while we might not agree, we get a good discussion out of it, and to me that's much more valuable than agreeing (especially on the spot), because it's a way of widening one's view to things. Also, holy damn your backbone, because of things, and the BCM project T-T

@funky-sea-cryptid - You are adorable, and I feel you to be a little bit of a silly gremlin (affectionate). And I love the fics and the art and the generally just good vibes you bring into this corner of the fandom. If I had to write your blog slogan in 6 words, it'd be "write fic, do art, love WIFE" <3

@purpled-royalty - I am incredibly happy to have you around in my circles. And even though we've only recently started talking, I feel like I can be genuine with you, and that we both are on the same wavelength regarding time and effort. Like, even when we go back and forth about our OCs' stories and characterizations, I don't feel pressure to reply instantly, y'know? You just have this way of feeling... Idk if "soothing" is the right word here, but something along the lines ^^' I value your presence ~

@the-black-bulls - You are one of the fandom olds, and I appreciate immensely that you've stuck around throughout all these years Cy. And that you keep your blog alive even due to irl. I wish only good things to you, and clear skies in the future

@yellowgreendinno - I love your energy Ginny! You keep things light, and bring just a dash of bright yellow into this corner of Tumblr~

@yukiblob - Your art is so tasty! They really are paintings, and I think your style is very unique~

@valtoswife - A lot of great art has crossed my dash because of you, and I am so happy that it has. So, I appreciate your presence here as well~

@cringeyvanillamilk - I know you're not around as much anymore as you used to either, but over the years you've contributed to the fandom so much, and the Fuegoleon plushy comic is still one of my favourites. So, I wanted to take this time to express my gratitude

@crazycookiemaniac - You are an absolute sweetheart, and you've also contributed to the fandom so much over the years. And you've made one of the best known art pieces, or so I think, which would be the Magna comic where he's giving a supportive message. So, thank you for being here~

@artificialpillow - I know we haven't yet interacted much, on Tumblr at least, but you're adorable, and I'm happy to have you join in on the fun <3 Also Eloise is so cute~

@f-oighear - I wish I had your organization skills and ability to write such good commentary. Like I feel that your fics are always outlines, they come timely, and you are also very structured in your feedback. And you've given the fandom The Nozessa fic, so that definitely is a feat as well ^^

[doodledoodlesdoodles]

My way too long Opinion of YIIK 1.V (at least before I start Benevolent Psychosis.)

TLDR: I started the game with uncertain expectations though was happily surprised with a pleasant though abstract game. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea in my opinion least story-wise but I genuinely had a good time with it. Especially the battle system, it's a lot better.

Also if you don't know what Benevolent Psychosis is don't worry if you play throughout the game you'll find out eventually.

I try to not put in that many spoilers but I'll still say be wary of spoilers anyway just in case.

Also, i'm not an expert in gaming, just someone who really wanted to write down my thoughts on it.

Also I didn't read a certain book + these reflections are based on the first edition alone and not future games like Benevolent Psychosis.

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Thoughts of the original and my bias.

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I think I should start off establishing some bias I have towards the game when I picked it up.

When Yiik was first around, I didn't really give it much consideration. I think I was vaguely familiar with a modeler of the game since I followed them on tumblr? I could be incorrect.

Though the most I became interested in the game as a whole was Uricksaladbar's video 'YIIK - The Hero You're Supposed To Hate'. I had (and somewhat still do) not a lot of experience in things like post-modernism. From my understanding of that video combined with the many others that I engaged with at the time the creator crafted a self-insert intentionally-made asshole who obviously failed to grab audiences. That impression expanded into a creator who believed he was smarter than he was by including his past failed games and declaring that 'my mistake was thinking that video games were art' upon receiving a plethora of criticisms. Criticisms that focused on things such as the confusing plot, the narrative of Alex being at the center of everything contrasting the game's moral of not being self-centered, the creator directly ripping lines from books, the bizarre add-ons of things such as the 'golden alpaca', the real-life inspiration for one of the characters being based off a real mysterious death, and lastly the game - implementing a 'mini-game' like system into rpg battle mechanics (which I believe is much better utilized in games such as Knuckle Sandwich) being at best taking way too long (To the point you don't want to use them. Some of them taking like 10 minutes) and at worst just broken overall (I believe I recall some people abusing Essentia's ability frequently).

At best some of those critiques were taken out of context or misinterpreted. For example, one of the other videos I would watch showed off an almost identical real-life copy of Alex saying it was what the creator looked like. Cue my surprise modern day to find out that he doesn't look like the insufferable protagonist at all! Wow! Some of it also was based on Kokatu's articles which wow! They definitely haven't had some controversy about being a poor media outlet in the past! (Sarcasm!) I can understand why some of it could make people uncomfortable though, I know I had originally felt pretty iffy myself over a plot point being based on real-life events or the awkward way Alex talks or certain dialogue that many said came off as 'forced'. I also didn't understand the plot and not many of the people I watched around that time seemed to either. I wasn't sure if it was intentional either and old game updates only seemed to confuse those who engaged with it more. I didn't play the game and moved on with my life, occasionally seeing friends online joke about the game or a few posts putting the protagonist in shitposts.

Cue to modern-day, YIIK I.V coming out and I hear it's going to be an improvement on the game's story and combat while also adding new elements such as the mysterious 'nameless child' character. I played the demo of the free promotional demo 'Nameless Psychosis' during a relaxing call with one of my dnd buddies. I still found myself getting a little lost (though that might've been because I was on call and half paying attention. However, some other reviews I've seen of the demo found it also a little confusing. The music and sound effects I also found a little weird.) but at least for me - the confusion felt almost intentional in an 'artsy' sorta way. I was at the very least intrigued by this version. I know the original certainly failed to attract me despite its inspirations falling into things I enjoy. Plus, regardless of my feelings about the game, it's at the very least admirable that the creators here had a passion for their project to the point they wanted to improve upon it. I bought the game at a discount with the eventual intention of playing it in the future. I tried to prepare myself a bit by watching more positive opinions of the series such as Planet Clue's 'understanding of the "worst" RPG protagonist - YIIK' and Kellkrai's analysis of the game. 'YIIK ANALYSIS' of the original ( While I did end up appreciating the dive in showing Alex's mind and how it transfers to the world around him + The analysis of Essentia, I was still a little confused haha.)

I should note I didn't even know about Deviation Perspective - Wrong Soul Reqium - additional material that works to explain aspects of I.V. So that might affect my opinions of the game.

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PREMISE

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If you don't know what YIIK is about somehow it stars Alex, he just finished college for Liberal Arts and pretty much has no idea what to do with his life as he moves back home to his town Frankton. Thereafter following a cat into an abandoned factory for stealing your mom's shopping list - Alex meets a mysterious girl called Semi in a confusing landscape before she's kidnapped by mysterious otherworldly beings. After witnessing this, Alex makes it his mission to find the woman and by doing so joins a team of internet friends to investigate. During this, the world - as planet clue says - 'gradually starts to make less sense'.In - what i'll call the 'b-plot' - stars 'The Nameless Child' (Also called Allison and Carrie) who is trapped in another world entirely. There she must trek the confusing reality that is her existence through bizarre landscapes.

Other characters include

Vella, a girl from another universe who left hers possibly from the trauma of a mysterious record. Due to her experiences, she has a lot of knowledge about the world and souls that exist inside and outside Alex's world.

Rory, a contrast to Alex (referred to as The Good Brother to Alex's The Bad Brother by the Nameless child)grieves over the loss of his dead sister. He's awkward and how Alex treats him throughout the story affects his involvement in the story.

Micheal, who was once a childhood friend of Alex suddenly inserted back into his life. He has a fascination with computer games and photography though appears to know more than he lets on about the reality he's been brought into.

Claudio, an anime nerd who owns a large chain of record shops. His family also had a mysterious disappearance of his younger brother - he's made it his life mission to find out what happened to him and other people who disappeared like he did.

Chondra, Claudio's younger sister who more often than not I found as a 'straight man' or the the one who questioned what the hell was going on around her the most. She keeps her brother company though expresses frustration with the fact that Alex has wounded Claudio in obsessing over the past.

The Essentia 2000, is a mysterious robot of Alex's dreams who claims to be his 'soul-mate' in the 'truest sense of the word'. She claims to be many people all at once but her past lies in mystery and betrayal.

Sammy (Semi), the current obsession of the online forum Onsim1999 (the one that the protagonists engage with) due to her very mysterious disappearance and murder. Who is she? Why do we keep finding lookalikes of her all around that no one seems to recognize? Why was she kidnapped? Was she even really kidnapped in front of Alex?

Krow, is an inhabitant of Alex's mind(?) and is often associated with The Nameless Girl's mysterious journey. Why is he here? What does his waxed poetics mean for our secondary protagonist?

Asuka, a professional actress and best friend of Chondra, is preparing for a role for the Japanese film director Kisage X though the performance she's preparing oddly seems to have parallels with the world of The Nameless Child and Alex.

There's technically more but these characters felt the most important to me without getting TOO spoilery.

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COMBAT

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As mentioned before, the combat mostly circled around Wario-ware-like minigames. While that idea sounds fine on paper (and good lord the RPG genre does need spicing up every now and then) the main critique was that they were too long or too broken. While the story is probably one of the major features of an RPG, another is mechanics and battles. For me at least, the two should have harmony with each other to be a good RPG. I don't even need a groundbreaking story for it to be a 'good RPG, I'm a fan of even the original Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64 whose whole story mostly surroundings Mario having to save Princess Peach from Bowser again (though I think personally paper Mario was able to have a fun twist or add ons to the story to make it unique). I'll get on the story later but the point is if your player is actively avoiding fights then you're failing as an RPG.

I'm not skilled in the nitty-gritty of everything that makes RPGs 'work' and 'not work' but I personally at least found enjoyment in the new battle mechanic.

(YIIK I.V)

(Original YIIK)

I think even UI and aesthetics alone in 1.5 bleeds (haha) have more charm compared to the original. Even little things like the camera moving down as a party member leans over a lunchbox for items or (I didn't play the original so maybe this was a thing in that one?) how certain status effects like Blind give the characters affected sunglasses.Also instead of battling on a generic landscape (Which isn't bad perse but lacks charm - especially compared to its inspirations such as Earthbound the bizarre designs of the enemies just stand out much more) the characters battle instead usually in abstract visuals or shapes. The main critique so far is that the camera angle of the battle makes it a little difficult to find out which enemy is attacking my party though usually the character screaming in horror after being attacked fixes that. Also, some characters in the game will use guns and shoot out projectiles that will slowly drain characters' health- I found these enemies pretty annoying overall.

Anyway, each character has an average attack, their special attacks or skills that cost PP (Either by destroying an enemy's Karta- I'll explain later- or until a little clock near the PP UI clicks back into place.), and their element or 'Pokemon type'. Like Pokemon - the way the types interact with each other can mean higher damaging attacks, lower damaging attacks. There are also 'clashing elements' where if the attacker and the target have the same affinity, there's a chance that the defending element will be weak to the attacking element. There's no way to switch out party mid-battle like Pokemon though so to be honest I usually ignored the effective move scale entirely and did fine. This meant that a lot of the time my party was usually performing the 'clashing mechanic'.

Another aspect of the characters you play is their Life (HP), their ATK (Strength stat), Speed (...Speed), Luck (The chance of getting critical hits), Piercing Power (The chance of attacking the target HP and destroying their 'Shields' or Karta), Agility (The chance of dodging enemy attacks), and Karta (Let me explain timeline first!).

Speed affects your character's and your enemies 'timeline'. Every character starts at the 'WAIT' region and upon entering the barrier of the 'ACT' of their timeline- you can choose their moves. Depending on how fast your character gets to the metaphorical finishing line then they perform their attacks. Mostly just a visual way of showing your turn order though occasionally i'll admit I did find it a little confusing with enemies such as 'Shitty OC' (real name! It's a sonic oc that throws bombs at you). If you lose a party member in battle an angel-like figure thing will appear on the timeline. Once they're in the ACT phase, they'll send out a new teammate to help you battle. I didn't pay attention much to act except when I was in a boss fight since I admittedly found it hard to tell the turn order at least with the enemies. I felt I usually had only a vague idea of how it operated.

Have you ever played a dungeon crawler that gave you 'armor' or 'shield' that acted as temporary hit points without ACTUALLY harming your character's health overall? Karta is basically like that in the RPG form of that idea but expanded upon. For you to attack an enemy (and vice versa) you have to break through their 'karta' and drain their life. Upon destroying all their karta (or vice versa) they will enter the 'bleed' status where they will slowly lose hp throughout the battle. You can have 3 card slots to put your cards in from the front (more likely to be destroyed first), middle, and back. It's generally good to have all Karta filled because of this in my opinion. (or use items that create temporary Karta when you run out). Plus it also engages more with another feature of Karta, that being the types of Karta at your disposal.

Each Karta will not only modify your stats as long as they're not destroyed (Some good and some bad- The Hungry Traveler gives you a speed of 150 at level 2 but others like Level 3 Torn Hat will offer a good boost in Life and Speed but take away 2 from your Agility.), give you a bonus while still in your hand (The Deep Well will change your character's type to water and auto extinguish the being on fire effect and The Seamstress doubles your life and regenerates a little bit of every turn), though ALSO gives you something if you're willing to use the card and possibly risk sacrificing a good defense you might need in battle (I like using the Seamstress's ability to restore life of all allies and The Sorrowful Maiden's ability to lower the maximum life of a target). Do I want to USE The Torn Hat to make it impossible for my enemy to pierce through my defenses (Karta) or would I be better off trying to keep it because its IN-HAND ability means I get more EXP from the battle?

It took me a bit to get into it but once I did I found myself genuinely enjoying the mechanics of it. I hear it compared to the Persona series which I've never really played before (I do need to though) mechanics.

The characters also have their own playstyle and abilities. You can also get 'combos' from how long your character attacks without getting hit. I didn't pay all too much attention to it since I couldn't really plan ahead for a enemy attacking a character but somehow I still got Alex's 'Amateur MC' achievement so shrug.

I personally used Alex for defense and using items, prioritizing his Panda Barrier move on harder enemies but otherwise playing with LP Toss, Hair Whip, or Feedback. It felt like Alex got the easiest access of moves due to the fact you obtain a decent chunk of them through natural story progression compared to the other party members who primarily obtain them through Alex's mind dungeon.

Micheal, I used it every now and then, usually when I didn't have many party members left or if he had happened to be sent out. I think despite not using him too much he has some interesting moves such as being able to create copies or enemies, turn enemies against the party, and reduce enemy accuracy. Also if your party is all blinded or all dead, Micheal will pull out a fucking gun. I found this hilarious the first time I saw him do this. I'm not 100% sure how it is different compared to the camera so take this with a huge grain of salt but I believe it does more piercing damage?

Vella's banish ability was kinda useless to me unless I happened to run into a soul survivor character (Which would suck if I entered a battle without her because that could've meant I had to kill them? I have to see if Rory's protest ability - which acts somewhat similar - could do it too. Not being able to attack the soul survivors at all in battle was a little annoying to learn at first.). Despite that I use her a lot in battles, she's got some good buffs and healing abilities and her Bass Drop ability is pretty good for handling a starting hit on some enemies.

I didn't really use Rory that often, I liked interacting with him in the game but I felt like a lot of his abilities could be swapped with Vella. If Vella dies though he's a decent 2nd option if he happens to come out. I feel like a lot of his abilities can be similar to her's anyway. He can give allies karta, give them a heart card and make them stop bleeding, convince enemies to leave the battle, and swap HP with an enemy. He also doesn't instantly attack due to his pacifist nature. Instead, if you have him 'attack' he'll enter a counterattack move which he will damage back the enemy attacking him.

Claudio, I ended up also using a lot. Dragon Jump kinda acts like a fly from Pokemon and Vampire Blades is good for keeping him alive. It's really nice to use on bosses in my experience. Also loved using Storm Fury when dealing with multiple enemies at once if I was able to.

Chondra is a 'wild card type' which means she can change her Pokemon type with the move 'copy element'. If you go towards the 'clash' mechanic more than I do i'd imagine you'd like Chondra especially since the copy ability costs 0 to use. I usually used her Spread Item effect to give my party gauze (an item that creates artificial karta space) or healing items though I didn't end up using her a whole lot unless she popped in from one of my teammates dying. Her character is one of my favorites so it's a shame that I wasn't as interested in her moves.

We don't really get Semi/Sammy that often in the game so I don't even know if it's that essential to list her off in usefulness. She works as a decent tutorial character for Alex to work off of battle-wise.

Essentia's able to upgrade her STR and use an all-enemy-focused attack that usually takes care of weaker enemies on the field. I also read that she can attack Soul Survivors but I'm not 100% sure on that one yet. I didn't use her all that much but she was alright.

Krow's abilities I do find interesting and fun to use though you can only really use him a selective amount of times so far. He's usually your ally anytime you visit Alex's Mind Dungeon and it makes sense since his moves are about healing Karta or cutting enemy Karta. He's there to make mind dungeon battles a bit easier to handle.

Speaking of which: The Mind Dungeon! In the original game, it was highly contested as being an obnoxious and confusing way of leveling up. Based on video's I've seen i'd be obliged to agree. It doesn't even really explain the stats or elements all too well.

In the new version of the game, its been updated entirely. A hub of areas for Alex to trek like a platformer to Level up (at the spawn point Krow will show you three cards to choose from and those three cards will boost specific stats. The Top shows you the leveled-up stats and the bottom shows you the modifier added on), the ability to level up Kartas to be more powerful (I'll explain this later), Obtain Abilities (Some trapped by puzzles, platforming, and unlocking overworld abilities), and see little performances by Handsome Krow (I think this is a different ish character from Krow?) and his puppet things.

Handsome Krow's performances are something transferred from the old game I believe, showing Alex's subconscious thoughts of some of the people he's encountered via transforming them into workers or inhabitants of his mind. You meet them by getting to certain floors of the original game's dungeon though they kept the dialogue of Handsome Krow explaining what floor they're on in 1.5 which made me super confused! I assumed that i'd meet puppet NPCs around the overworld but they're only there every few performances you get after leveling up.

The dark cups spread around town (ones with blue flames above it) around the overworld give you character abilities. I think the explorative aspect of it is fun though the bizarre background music in the game makes it very irritating. If you unlock another song for the Overworld via the jukebox not too far from Spawn i'd consider taking advantage of it. I got really sick of hearing the same repeat of the song even though I DID like it when I first heard it. It fits the bizarre world but man it was annoying.

You're also probably wondering what's up with the key, the fetus thing, and the blood bag right?

Blood bags are easiest to explain, after defeating certain enemies in the game you obtain blood bags that can be used to upgrade the power of the cards which boosts their stats! Physical representations of the cards are usually hanging out near the spawn ready to talk to.

The 'fetus' things can be found around Alex's mind dungeon hidden in areas accessible from platforming or using your overworld skills. There you can hand them over to this lady at her card stand and she'll hand you a key. See that golden thing next to her? You need you use a key on that. There you'll fight a version of The Nameless Child with a certain karta card on her during the fight, upon defeating her you can get whatever karta card she used in battle.

Overall besides the repetitive music, I enjoyed exploring aspects of the mind dungeon. At the very least I did want to revisit it (something I assume was not many players experience in the original) any time I got an overworld upgrade just so I could see where it'd lead me or maybe if I could get myself a new Karta to play with. Not a negative per se but I was also able to get to areas I probably wasn't supposed to due to just platforming around it rather than getting an upgrade from progressing the game. I didn't experience it TOO much (I mostly remember 2 instances of me being able to do that.) but it's worth noting I suppose.

Aesthetically it just looks nicer overall compared to the old mind dungeon. It feels more disorganized and jumbled of memories, locations,or thoughts that Alex has. One moment you're exploring a mysterious temple and you suddenly find a replica of a bedroom. The bright visual in the skybox did start to irritate me but I got used to it.

(old mind dungeon entrance)

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The Nameless Child's Gameplay

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The Nameless Child's sections don't work as RPG, her sections are more on the experimental side but I feel comfortable calling her sections more 'puzzle-like'. Her Karta usually is flavor or like inventory to me. For example, there's a section where Carrie gets trapped in tank control movement signified by a 'tank karta' card, after removing the card Carrie gets a gun (lol). The Gun Card in the corner of the screen will show how much ammo Carrie has at that moment before needing to collect a refuel. Other times her cards are 'you stepped in cat poo and now when you walk you make a frog noise' or 'you'll be safe when you walk in fire'.

While that sounds confusing and messy (and sometimes it can be, though you can always check the descriptions of your karta for clues) I found myself always excited to see what bizarre landscape my characters going to traverse this time. Whenever I went back to Alex's plot I always felt myself wanting to return to The Nameless Child. At the very least I felt less inclined to look up where to go and how to do things in her sections rather then Alex's.

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Positive Notes

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I think overall the game's ui is much more appealing compared to what I've seen of the old game. Character stats have full models and a more interesting hierarchy in the text compared to the static set of stats and a tiny icon in the original. It's so much more fun to look at compared to the original. Even the text boxes use bright blue compared to the drab brown or purple pops much more.

I think once I got used to it, I enjoyed the visual card format of The Nameless Child's karta and how that translated into her own gameplay. I think her involvement overall is an improvement and the general direction of it all feels like a niche arsty audience. Based on a line Kisage X says in one of the cutscenes, this is probably intentional.

Speaking of Kisage X, I enjoyed his involvement overall and how they used his script as the lens of the story. It feels like I'm watching a very 'artsy' director display his own abstract vision which I think matches with the vague cutscenes in the game. It also plays with this distortion of what's 'real', what's alex's world, what's 'reality', so on and so forth. They have characters that appear in the story reference a script or characters mention admiration for the director or they refer to Kisage X's distinct way of recording people by having the person not know they're a part of the story or recording.

Aesthetically I enjoy how Alex's monologues are recontextualised in the form of a standup routine. It allows his stupid nervous body language to shine through and make his otherwise pretty drab rants more interesting. It gave me a 'some trying to do standup and doing it very poorly' vibe and I'm pretty sure that was intentional given Alex's attitude.

If you like Michael and Chondra I think you'll like the update, Micheal more so though. Not to say Chondra isn't given a spotlight though, more just Micheal. She's someone who isn't stuck in the past or a delusion like the other characters and she suffers because of it. I only can compare it to Homestuck terminology so i'd compare her to the mage class. Someone who gains knowledge from her own suffering. Micheal fans will eat good though since he gets a large focus in side cutscenes of the game. He's the 'best friend' archetype but is a man who feels trapped in that role rather than naturally living it. I think his cutscenes and him pulling out a gun only when no one is around or if everyone else is blinded really displays that. His persona cracks only a few times around others.

While i'll go more into in when I talk about visuals and music, I heard some people uncertain about the reliance on physical models over the visual novel like portraits. Personally, I think it adds to the uncanny nature of it all especially when the visuals are at its most bizarre. The scene where The Nameless Child's model is shooting off balloons of a certain character or micheal entering a room of a bunch of wide mouthed puppets of someone typing away at computers comes to mind. If it wasn't clear I overall love the aesthetic of it all.

I can't get into it much without going into spoilers but I'm always a sucker for things that explore the mind even a little bit. While obviously not the same kind of game as YIIK, I always enjoyed games like Psychonauts because every time I entered a mind I was able to analyze and understand a character I previously only had a few shared lines of dialogue with.

If you're more into the surrealist way of storytelling, I think you'll genuinely enjoy dissecting this game apart. It doesn't go for a traditional storytelling approach despite what it may seem upon first glance with Alex's story. I was slightly worried when I started the game that it was just going to be the full alex run and then all the cool new stuff but luckily it wasn't that thanks to the spliced nameless child bits, side characters cutscenes, unique battles, so on and so forth.

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Nitpicks

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A lot of it is nitpicking and personal preferences, I want to say overall I still enjoyed my experience.

There's a certain character in Chondra and Claudio's story that appears in Alex's mind dungeon. I know it's possible to encounter them in the original but I did not so color me very confused when these two told me about it.

Whenever you go to a shop or buy something at a vending machine there's a side window of Alex's reaction to the item you have selected. If he's sweating - for example - that usually indicates that the item is probably expensive. I didn't really understand what his other reactions meant, I think he bites his lip if it's a cheap item and goes: :O when its more costly. Not 100% certain however of this.

I thought it was weird it let you buy the basic version of weapons that your party members get - especially before you're even able to add them to your team. Just sort of felt pointless and left me having more of old items than I needed to.

I did hear some people complain about the screams that characters do when being attacked during battle- I was able to tune it out just fine but I can imagine for some people it can be a little annoying.

The intro - namely The Nameless Child's part - is a bit repetitive walking back and forth to figure out what you're supposed to do. While her sections can still include that in future levels I at least didn't find it as tedious. However, it could've just resulted from me getting used to it.

For certain mind dungeons or areas, I had to google to figure out what I was supposed to do or go - Vella's mind dungeon came to mind as I could not figure out what was up with that balloon of Vella.

They do reuse the old mind dungeon's entrance section for a future part, which I can imagine people who never saw the original could be a little confused on what alex means by 'How did we end up back here?!' That could be a nitpick though since otherwise I didn't have issues with that part.

In the steam version you only get achievements after quitting the game, not the end of the world but something I noticed. Some of the achievements also felt a little weird since the battle mechanic plays much differently compared to the original.

There's a certain section of the game that builds up to your party preparing for a great disaster (if you played yiik you probably already know what it is). Before that Alex has to gather everyone in the party and during that you can still explore the world as much as you want to your leisure. As soon as you get micheal though? Even entering a dungeon to battle that one last enemy will count as an entire day so I guess don't do what I did and just explore those dungeons as much as possible WITHOUT micheal. Also a bunch of Onism1999 side quests blow up during the period of training which is a LITTLE annoying. Also before you had any option to enter the mind dungeon but now if you do that'll also count as a whole day. I think I would've liked a warning at least similar to how I was warned about Yuzu's battle before entering the area it starts his cutscene. Not only that but leveling up in the mind dungeon counts as a WHOLE DAY which really annoyed me since I was at 2600 (26 levels!) with 18 days left that I spent doing side quests and dungeons which ALSO count as a whole day. Said dens and side quests give you 100 EXP that you would need to use the mind dungeon to actually level up. I wish they counted entering the mind dungeon as a whole day rather than leveling up. I feel like I was essentially punished for trying to complete the dens and quests because it locked out of a day that I could've spent leveling my characters up.This was the only part I was VERY annoyed by and consider outside the nitpick category maybe when it comes to alex's gameplay at least...

Had weird glitches where the parties levels would be off- it used to just be a level so I didn't pay it much mind but towards the end I would have Alex at 41 and the rest of them at like 54? Not sure what was going on there since as far as I knew all the party leveled up upon alex leveling up.

I wish the Onsim 1999 side quests were something I was able to see whenever, I felt like I had to backtrack to my house just to see what other quests I had to do.

A lot of the funny lines or bizarre (Nobody cares about your dead sister, THIS THINGS DIGITAL BABY!, There are more Vellas then final fantasy games, the two brothers cameos and appearance) are still there. For someone who hasn't touched the original but watched theory videos of it I took it more as 'Alex's pretentious mind' at best and found it hilarious at worst. I can easily understand critics who say the talk sprites make the lines stand out or sometimes the lines themselves are a bit on the nose. Other times its confusing on what's the actual reality and what is a part of alex's but I suppose that'd a bit of the point. The game includes more cutscenes and visual flare to hopefully display dialogue more interestingly. Speaking of which...

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VISUALS (and music)

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I've already mentioned a few of the aesthetical changes previously, so it's only fair I elaborate a little more on it.

As a side note, the music was one of the most appreciated aspects of the original game and at its best, the update keeps its most promising soundtracks. One of the battle themes that played in Essentia's mind dungeon - even though it was just for normal npcs - had me bopping. Other times YIIK I.V does struggle to use repetitive music that - while nice on the first few hearings and I believe does symbolically match with the game's visuals - gets on my nerves a little bit. I was right with some of the more ambience in the nameless child's sections though other sections like the intro which plays a repetitive plink drained me rather quickly. Other songs like the custom-sung songs (especially in the main menu and final cutscene of the first chunk) appealed to me the most.

Anyway, I was told that supposedly they weren't able to get more profile visual novel-like pictures from the artist during the development of the update. I can't really confirm that statement, however.

The way the models look I can understand may be jarring for some people, especially with the fact that sometimes they move their mouth and others just straight up don't. Other times I can imagine people being uncomfortable with how each of Alex's teeth are modeled. Personally though? As previously stated I think it adds to the uncanny nature of it all. It especially matches the psychedelic and bizarre imagery scattered across the game (Especially in the nameless child's parts). Even then, I feel like I at least was able to understand everyone's emotions and feelings just fine and the locations they walked around were always beautiful to look at even when it got more bizarre.

(reminding you that this show exisited.)

It's definitely not something i'd recommend to someone who has epiliepsy issues though. It's not what i'd call Problem Solvers bad but it can certainly be a bit jarring for people who arent' really 'prepared' for it, y'know?

I'm sure you've noticed me toss around the term 'artsy' a lot. Despite the Oxford definition of it I wouldn't necessarily say it's a pretentious display of art per se, but it's definitely something I can see being a turn off for many and extremely appealing for others. Sometimes the aspect ratio of Alex's little booth talks changes and leaves wobbly red lines and other times places from the old game have been completely recolored (Mt. Town's lush forest is replaced with melancholic blues or the island that alex is trapped on after a certain thing happens has been changed to reflect the 'despair' of the situation more appropriately with black and white colors.).

It's something you have to 'open your mind to' (Hope you like that joke yiik fans). Not a lot of it will make sense at first but it's something that's still worth seeing just what happens next. The state of being confused is at least what I found personally interesting to engage with which I understand sounds very counterintuitive but if you like that mystery to it and that drive to found out what's going on I think you'll find it interesting!

As i've stated before, treat it as if you're watching a surrealist film or experimental movie like the game presents to you with Kisage X's shaky camera and visuals. Do I watch Un Chien Andalou (Don't watch this is you're squeamish to body mutilation, holes, eye motifs!) expecting a linear narrative in mind? Hell no, that movie was purposely made with no conventional plot, it uses dream logic as a narrative for the whole thing. YIIK is like that to me on my first playthrough.

A lot of the initial story is there but the cutscenes and changes that are made and interspersed throughout the whole thing really drove me to engage more with it despite knowing the general beats of Alex's story. there are so many things brought into this free update- even if I didn't like the game (I do like the game!) it's admirable they wanted to bring in this much passion for something that people at the time only ironically fandomed over. It got me at least to check out Benevolent Psychosis!

Speaking of which, Tell Kisage X that you don't think you're a parallel Alex. I think it would bring some interesting changes. Also save before you do the big battle just in case you pick the wrong option initially like I did (I thought the game wanted me to say I was him because of my player insert lol.)

[persephoneprice]

since florus friend has hijacked your mind for today, I was wondering if you have any ideas for a thing about him that I might see as an unforgivable flaw (going back to my post yesterday)?

Since I don't really think about him that much I haven't really given one to him... I guess since I made him a gossip, I guess he could be the one who told Clemensia about Iphigenia's eating disorder/her motivation for how it started... And combined with your/Backpacks' idea that he's a writer... hmmm, the negative aspect of writing... the inherent objectification of the subject. (<- in that in all writing and art based on something, there is inherent loss and gain of the original) perhaps, even slightly meddling in the affairs of others through false/exaggerated rumors to spice up a story? (he's giving the dnd character i never got to play...)

okay, actually I'm going to shut up before I start writing an essay about my beliefs on art. Also I feel like this feels like I am leaning heavily into negative characterization, but so far the rumor thing is toeing into unforgivable to me... not quite unforgivable (i guess i said if florus was close friends with Iphigenia... then we could get into unforgivable, hmmm)

ahhh hello abyssal!! happy to see u here!

i don’t know how much i can help you because my narrative for florus is a little different. though, i guess the gossip thing could still fit…hmmm…

to me, his unforgivable flaw is that he sees everything but never says a word. he’s a bystander in everything in his life and everyone else’s. he doesn’t say anything if, say, someone is getting bullied. he doesn’t speak up or report anything he sees that is wrong. he doesn’t stand up in support of the districts or his tribute. he just sees everything and lets it happen. the only thing he does is write in private journals that he doesn’t share until much later in life.

i could still see the gossip thing fitting into the writer/quite florus narrative though! maybe he sees everything and mentions it to people as his way of trying to make conversation? i do like the idea of him being the one to tell clemensia about iphigenia’s eating disorder.

i will say that i don’t think he would exaggerate anything! he tells the story of what he sees in his journals and he takes it very seriously. he loves history and wants everything documented correctly in his little journals.

[polariscroquis]

Polaris Croquis Commissions | Open!

This is my official commission post! I'll update things here until I feel the need to re-do the post (add new artworks, change prices, policies, etc.)

Right now, I'm opening 3 slots! I'll update when they are full/re-open.

If you found this post through a sort of "unrelated" tag, do forgive, but I want to keep things organized on this blog - I'm using all the artworks as refs for tags (and for people who might be interested to find my work too! "^^)

Now, I'll write more details below the cut - and I might update with info to answer eventual general questions I haven't thought yet! I highly encourage anyone interested to read it!

(below the cut, it's basically the info you get on the image, plus a few more things!)

Prices

Half Body (down to knees): $36

Additional Character: +$10

Full Body (down to feet): $46

Additional Character: +$10

The price is per additional character, so let's say you want two people on the commission, that would be 1 additional character, so +$10. You want three people, that would be 2 additional characters, so +$20. And so on.

*Commercial use is not added to the price. If you want it for commercial use, there will be an additional, depending on what you need it for!

Payment Info

I ask for half of the payment after I deliver the 1st sketch. The other half of the payment should be after I deliver the final commission;

I have a preference to be paid on Ko-Fi (via the tip jar), but I do accept PayPal as well. That's because I was recently commission-scammed and I was very scared someone would steal from my real life account;

Regarding revisions and payment: I'm not too picky with revisions, I just ask the client to have common sense. After the client tells me the sketch is fine and I can start working on the final thing, that's it, no turning back (don't worry, I always check like "ok, so I'll start working on the final thing, is there anything you want me to change? Now is the time to say!")

All my prices finish with 6 so it's easier for us to divide in half and pay half before and half after *math* :)

If you get to $66 you get a Papa Seal of Satanic Approval xD

Rules & Additional Info (so far)

I work within 1 week - but it might take more time if it's too detailed. I default 1 week, if I can't, I will let you know, don't worry;

Also, I do have some health ups and downs, if I get caught in a flare up (which hasn't happened in a while, hopefully it'll remain like this!), I'll let everyone know;

All backgrounds are simple - but keep in mind, I consider the Hunter's Moon background simple (some art deco/art nouveau too);

I also hold the right to refuse the commission if I'm uncomfortable with the theme. I do like some dubious stuff and Ghost, so you're gonna have to work hard to get me uncomfortable;

I will draw humans/humanoids in general (other fandoms, OCs, DnD characters, you name it);

I will NOT draw NSFW - sexually explicit (think porn/straight up sexual nudity), heavy gore/violence, borderline criminal/full criminal stuff, heavy fetish. It gets on the uncomfortable territory to me;

I'm ok with sexily alluring stuff, see my other examples for reference;

I'm ok with blood too. Vampires, horror movies, LOVE them. It's just when it's too graphic that it's a no-no for me;

I'm also a music moved person, so if you have a song as reference, throw it at me;

General Advice For Commissioning Me

You know those people who make fun of other people who are passionately speaking about something they love? I'm the uno reverse of that!

Seriously, the more you talk about your idea, the better I can work with it. If you wanna throw a Pinterest board with inspiration at me, a playlist with vibes, a collage, a picture of a cat you found on the street 'cause you want it there, DO IT. I need this kind of thing to work and you're making my life SO MUCH EASIER;

If you wanna write a 3 page explanation of your view, it also works, DO IT;

If you can't do any of that and is struggling, just talk to me. Artists train their minds to think of things in ways people usually won't think, so you can just list a couple of elements you want there, I'm gonna start having ideas and asking you a bunch of stuff so we get somewhere - just please, don't leave me talking alone, sometimes I feel I'm asking too much and being annoying xD

I'm a human being, I've been bullied and scammed as hell in my life, and I truly want to never hurt people like that. So, don't be afraid to talk to me, I don't bite (usually) and I'm working with this because I really enjoy doing it!

Alsoooo, don't be afraid to be yourself. That page with my other works, most of the characters are my OCs and one of them is a drag queen, the other is a trans woman, and one of them has a sort-of drag queen persona just because (long story) ;)

And be nice & polite, again, I'm a person too ^^

That's it so far! If there are any updates, I'll let you know!

[threewaysdivided]

Hobson Heckled into Historical Haute-Couture

Continuing the Dan Jones & Dragons gala parade with Hobson, the Flower Crowns' oft-harried Halfling Warlock (played by the ever-wholesome Dan Floyd). Is he trying to massage away the realisation that letting his literally-half-brained patron choose his gala attire might have been a mistake? Is Valse giving him a headache over something else entirely? Did he use Detect Magic in a room full of powerful items and accidentally flash-bang himself? Yes.

More Flower Crowns Gala Outfits: Morenthal | Gelnek

As always, design talk under the cut:

But before that, a short story: I've been following Dan's content on Youtube for... oh jeez, that sure is almost a decade now, both on his current New Frame Plus/Playframe channels and back when he was the primary founder and narrator for EC. His old games education videos helped me get one of my earliest jobs in project work and introduced me to a bunch of media production concepts (like scope management) that would go on to inform some of my own storytelling analysis posts. It was a startling little moment of artistic ouroboros to realise I was mentally running through key points from Dan's own Pose Design 101 video as I was drawing his DnD character. Never expected things to come full-circle like that, but if you're seeing this, Dan: here's to you 🫡 If you're not Dan and haven't already, do go check out his stuff - it's all super well-produced, informative, funny and he's just an overall stand-up guy.

Now: onto the tiny little nerd and his passé party attire

This was a really fun costuming challenge, with a bunch of interesting curveballs thrown in the mix. Unlike the rest of the Flower Crowns, Hobson didn't choose his own party outfit: it was picked out by his patron after Valse kibbitzed him into giving up and letting a heroism-obsessed Fey call the shots. Dan cited Valse as having the fashion sense of Stede Bonnet-as-depicted-in-OFMD, briefing a vaguely 19th century-style outfit that had frilled sleeves and 'would have looked gaudy even when it was in fashion a century earlier'.

Actually dating his outfit was the first challenge. D&D settings are kind of an anachronistic uchronia, with classic swords-and-sorcery fantasy campaigns potentially pulling inspiration points from anywhere across the Arthurian era up to pre-war modernity. Which leads to the question: how do you make something seem dated in a setting where most everything looks vaguely ye-olde-fantasy? The other challenge was that, IRL, the 19th century (i.e Victorian era) was when menswear started taking on a lot of the shapes that would eventually become modern suit and top-'n'-tails fashion. Since Trilby was already going to be wearing classic top-'n'-tails formalwear, I decided to set Hobson's style earlier in the 1800s-1820s and pull in some 18th century Stede Bonnet flourishes to visually set them apart. This article provided some great reference images, and once I hit on the figured silk waistcoat I knew I had a potential starting point.

Colour-wise, I stuck with the burgundy-and-gold palette the Dans gave Hobson in his official gala stream art, since those looked good together and matched up with Dan J's tendency to draw Hobson wearing greens/earth-tones and Valse in reds/jewel-tones. The combination is a lot more colourful and richly saturated than is typical for this style of Victorian-adjacent clothes, which felt appropriate for Valse's gaudy tastes.

Fabric-wise, I figured a fun way to gaudy things up even further would be to lean into the silks and satins that were fashionable at the time, but make all of his outfit shimmery rather than just a single feature piece. As a bonus, silk and satin clothes tend be hot, inelastic and have horribly itchy seams if worn unlined, which felt like exactly the kind of thing Valse's all-form-no-function sensibilities would inflict upon the small, long-suffering fellow. Both these fabrics also have a habit of behaving hideously and ripping themselves apart when worn wet, which makes this a great outfit to, say, accidentally fight an Aboleth in. Poor Hobson.

Some other details, just for fun: 1. Hobson's sketch layers include a drawing of his un-removable cursed left bracer. He's pulled the frilly, puffy sleeve over it but you might spot hints of the shape and the gem if you squint. 2. The reference waistcoat I used had floral embroidery on it. Had this actually been a Hobson outfit, I would have converted them to his garland flower (Forget-Me-Nots), but since it was a Valse pick I decided to make them Senaliesse chrysanthemums; a flower given out to friends of the Feywild's Summer Court as a sign of protection and favour. (It also adds extra layers to Pocket mistaking Hobson for a denizen of the Fey, which is fun).

Close crop on the details because I'm very happy with how they turned out:

[lessergods-official]

Hello!

This is my first post here on Tumblr. I had Tumblr when I was a teenager, but I haven't been here in some time 😅

Some of you might know me from Tiktok, or Instagram, or maybe even Facebook (before I had to make a new page... sigh) as StarWeaverArts. I'm a digital artist and leatherworker, but something I've kept close to my chest for over 6 years... is that I've been writing a novel.

My husband and I have had a story (much like a DnD campaign) between us for, well, now over 15 years. We have weaved quite a story and built quite an interesting world, and have joked around about what a great book it would be. So, for 6 years I have written countless drafts, numerous similar-but-different plots, scrapped, rewritten, scrapped again, and driven myself to the brink of madness (and back again) to find a way to bring the characters' story to life in an enjoyable way that I feel does them justice. My husband is an amazing writer, and I've always envied his ability to write eloquently... he writes horror books, and I've always been a lover of all things fantasy (I'm also obsessed with horror, but when I read I like fantasy).

I'll be 100% honest, I have always struggled with writing because I have difficulty expressing images in my head to its fullest in a way thats not a drawing (that tends to happen when you're autistic). But for over 6+ years I have worked hard (with lots of therapy, art, and exercises) to express myself, the world, and its intricacies, in writing and in art (this book has illustrations throughout it) so I can share with you the magic and love that has become Lesser Gods.

I am so proud to say that the final version of Lesser Gods (before another round editing of course) is nearly complete and I'm hoping to have it published in early 2025.

Lesser Gods is a story about identity, redemption, choice, and (of course) love. It is darkly humorous, emotionally charged, and written from the heart. I wanted to share these characters and their tales with you in hopes that their story will inspire your own. My hope is for you to read this and see that truly, anything is possible... especially when you have the right people around you.

Here is a short summary of the story to come:

"Ash, a Lesser God of Necromancy, has always struggled to carve out his own identity while living under the shadow of his domineering parents—Greater Gods of Death who yearn for influence they’ve never truly earned. Sent to Earth with a grim mandate, Ash is tasked with unleashing a zombie apocalypse and capturing the mysterious Child of the Creators—a being with powers capable of reshaping the cosmos. Success would secure his parents’ dominion over mortals and release the fabled Corrupted One. Failure is not an option.

But Ash’s already fragile resolve begins to crack when haunting visions invade his mind. A powerful, ancient force calls to him, promising chaos and corruption beyond imagination. Torn between his parents’ expectations and his own moral hesitation, Ash embarks on a reluctant quest to uncover the truth behind this apocalyptic power—and whether he has the strength to defy it.

Complicating matters is Lunette, a whimsical and enigmatic faun who seems to have an uncanny knack for appearing in Ash’s life at the worst possible times. With their boundless optimism and mysterious origins, Lunette challenges Ash’s carefully guarded walls and forces him to question whether he truly wants the destiny he’s been forced into. With Leroy, Ash’s sarcastic and often unhelpful failed-reaper roommate, in tow- this unlikely trio navigates a world teetering on the edge of collapse, where the lines between loyalty, choice, and fate blur.

As ancient forces stir and the bonds of the universe begin to fray, Ash must decide who he really is and where he truly stands. Will he succumb to the weight of his parents’ ambitions, or will he forge his own path and face the darkness on his terms?"

I made this tumblr to blog about my writing, keep updating those interested, and make this even more fun than what it is! I love to talk to people and share what I do, so feel free to follow for book-related art (and silly character art of course), my ramblings about writing while I finish the book, and ask questions. I also have Instagram, FB, and a Tiktok for Lesser Gods but I feel I'm going to update Tumblr and Tiktok the most lol.

If you made it this far, thank you. I appreciate you and your support and I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

~Alex

[elshells]

Recently I've been getting back into playing DND, and since I'm also trying to get back into interacting with people on this site, I'd figure I'd share with y'all my new-ish hobby of making dice!

For about a year I've been seeing a lot of Instagram reels of people pouring resin into molds and inking the numbers of their homemade dice, and I've always been inspired and mesmerized by these videos. And it just so happens that right before the new year I was gifted the materials to make my own resin dice! So here's what I've made in the last few months (lots of info-dumping/interest sharing under the cut):

This was my very first attempt, done specifically as a test run without any sort of pressure to look good. I was going for an oxidized copper look, but the dye cured much lighter than I expected (though it's a translucent dye so I really shouldn't have been surprised), so in the end I got more of an amber color, which I'm honestly not mad about!

I also mixed in some green glitter, since that was the only other additive I had received other than the dye, and it looks alright, but a lot of the chunkier pieces did sink to one side, so I haven't used it since. The numbers are green to compliment the glitter, and I'm happy with how it turned out, although honestly I could have gone with any other color and they would probably still look good!

At the time, I didn't have a pressure pot to cure it in, so there are some pretty significant bubbles (if you look closely you can see a big chunk missing out of the top of the d4), but there honestly weren't as many as I was expecting! Overall, while these dice are nothing special and aren't very interesting visually to look at, for my first set I'm very proud of them! 6.5/10 dice

At this point, I had bought a pressure pot, so I was feeling more confident in my ability to produce more polished dice. This set was inspired by my first ever DND character (who I recreated as my first Tav in Baldur's Gate 3), a wood elf barbarian/druid named Thaedhel. This reminds me that I haven't talked about Thaedhel on this account at all, which is weird considered I even commissioned some dope art for her, so note to self that I need to make a post gushing about her at some point XD

Anyways, back to the dice. This... was my fourth attempt, and I'm still not pleased with the results. That being said, my goals for this set are lofty, so it's still just a work in progress. This attempt has the best color; I was able to achieve a deep forest green that the previous sets lacked, and the white plumes (meant to represent moonlight for a moon druid) turned out beautifully! The white dye is not translucent, so I had issues before with cloudiness, but this is the best result yet. There's even a pinch of glow-in-the-dark mica powder in the white, so the dice actually glow blue once activated by blacklight! Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that, but maybe once I've perfected them!

Now, for the gripes. For one thing, there's a small red flower in the center of each dice, which unfortunately got swallowed up by the dyes and are only visible from specific angles. I now know that I should have included a clear resin window to keep them from getting lost, so that will be fixed in the future. But for the most part, I was happy with them; I had bought a new mold that included a barrel and crystal d4, and once I took them out I thought they had cured nicely, especially since there were no bubbles to be seen. That is, until I inked in the numbers. I wanted to paint all of the numbers copper except for the highest number on each dice, which is a nice bloody red to represent barbarian rage. But once I started to paint them, I realized how deformed these dice truly were; warped, uneven edges and rough faces that made it impossible to cleanly ink the numbers. The picture actually hides it relatively well, but in person these are some messy dice. Oh, well. Looks like I've got some work to do. 4/10 for the color scheme and not much else.

This is my magnum opus, and it's only about two-weeks old. Inspired by my current character, a tiefling bard named Enyo, I was so pleased with how these turned out, both structurally and in terms of color, that I've actually used them in the last couple of sessions (the d20 is 'moderately lucky,' according to my DM). By far, they're my favorite set!

This was my first time using mica powder as a colorant instead of dye, and it looks sooo good in person. I chose the red metallic powder for her Infernal heritage, and the purple powder is for bardic magic. It's color-shifting powder, too, so in person there's greens and reds that pop out of the purple if the light hits in the right way! But imo, inking the numbers is what really brings the set together, and gold felt appropriately classy and regal, plus it pops like crazy! The pictures truly don't do it justice.

This was made with the same mold as the Thaedhel set, and this time I made sure to give the dice some extra time to harden before I pried them out of the mold (I'm guessing that's why the first set came out so misshapen, I am not a patient person lol). It's not a flawless set; there are still a couple of bubbles despite using the pressure pot, but luckily they're not noticeable. And while I wish the two colors had interacted better (I wanted more of a fiery-pluming effect but they ended up mixing and pooling more than I wanted), I still think they came out beautifully and I genuinely can't stop touching and looking at them whenever I see them. Truly some shiny goblin rocks if I ever saw 'em. It's a 9/10 for me.

[gin-draws]

Hey! Sorry I didn't see these forever, but it's totally something I've been meaning to address and I just haven't had words for a while.

Firstly: fuck terfs.

The rest is long so it’s under the cut:

Having JKR alive and running around spewing hate has definitely not helped my love for the series. She uses money that we gave her to fuel her hateful bullshit, and to actively attack not just the trans community, but whatever issue she disagrees with in the UK. It hurts as someone that grew up putting myself into this world to have the creator openly using her power and influence to go after other marginalized people.

Even before JKR started openly being horrible I had worked hard to overlook my discomfort with stuff in the series (there's a lot of problematic stuff that 10 year old me could overlook but 32 year old me can't lol). A big part of me getting past that was just making her world my own through my art. I loved the community I found in the fandom on tumblr. I loved the people I could interact with over a shared interest and something that brought us all joy. Especially other creators that made the world their own.

Over time though, engagement kind of fell off on tumblr. (Where the reblogs at.. am I right?) And slowly I went from being able to ignore negative comments here and there because of the good interactions, to being worn out by the growing overwhelming negativity. People act like they can just demand things from creators and we somehow owe it to fandom to do what they specifically want.

Want that character to be white? Draw them yourself.

(Making characters bipoc brings out a shocking amount of anger from people for no reason but racism...)

I had tried to make the story I'd grown up loving into something that made me happy. I made the cast diverse because I grew up surrounded by all sorts of cultures and religions and it made my world a lot bigger. I sometimes played around with my own gender identity through my art, and it brought me a lot of joy. (Sirius was a fun playground for getting through a LOT of my own shit). But it brought out a lot of vitriol, and over time I just got tired of it.

I mostly stopped posting art because now it's something I do for me. My own characters and stories where nobody could send anon messages telling me "x should actually be white because---" I put a lot of time and love into my work and if it doesn't make me happy, I lose interest. Doesn’t mean I stopped drawing, it’s just not fanart as much anymore.

(I draw a LOT lol)

I miss the story I grew up loving a lot. But I can't actively put money in JKR's pockets, which distanced me from the series. A lot of my interaction with the community became a little too negative to deal with. And so over time I drifted away. It makes me sad to have strayed from that world, but it just became a little too toxic for me.

It still brings me a lot of joy seeing the positive comments, and people appreciating my old art means a lot. But I kind of moved on for myself, and now I don't have to worry about hateful comments about canon and race when I post my dnd characters lol.

I’ll probably be moving hp art I’m not happy with anymore over to my old hp side blog instead of deleting it, but as an artist and creative I’ve moved on to my own characters and stories. (If I open up commissions and people liked my interpretations of the characters, I would love nothing more than to draw desi Harry, or black Hermione, or Sirius not giving a fuck about gender. Lmao)

[magicaleraser94]

Hey ya'll ^^

As some of you may have noticed, I've suddenly become very active on this account, reblogging things and posting a few peices of art (some have really blown up, tysm ^^), after being radio silent for about two years. A lot has happened in my life since I had stopped posting. Here's a post to fill you guys in :D

My YT channel hit 1k subs!

...and I haven't really posted since :|

I got into Hermitcraft, the Life Series, and Empires SMP just before DSMP kinda faded. I'm a big fan of Grian and his content, as well as Martyn Inthelittlewood and Bdubs's Hermitcraft 10 series. They've inspired my art and were there for most of my style development. They're my comfort creators.

I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. It's been kind of tough, since most of the therapists in my area are kinda shit. But I'm doing a lot better now thanks to my family, friends, and a good ol medication.

I started playing DND! It's been one of my favorite pastimes. Made a few joke characters, as well as some pretty serious ones. My usual character is Akuji, a half-orc fighter with a past as a psychotic smuggler.

(Due to action surge and a weapon she collected from fighting the dnd equivalent of Elsa, she can deal a max of eighty damage in one turn.)

I began playing Sky: Children of the Light. Made some friends. Lost some friends. The players are gentle and unique, and the community is one of the kindest that I've had the honor to be in. I also became a bit of a lore-addict, and most of my theories have been proven correct through the trailers for The Two Embers. I even created a character with my own lore :3

I became invested in Ish's State Experiments. I've become a pretty popular artist in the State Server, and I was the first to be featured in a special channel dedicated to State Art. While it's not something I should be super excited about, since our community is smaller than most, that very accomplishment has brought me into a group of kind, fellow artists, and funny content creators who I have made unforgettable connections with.

Also, meet "Blob" Soggy, the personified version of my discord username. I draw her a lot, and use her as little reaction images when I'm talking.

Found IMMENSE joy in Indie horror games, such as Bendy and the Ink Machine (and DR), the Little Nightmares Saga, Five Nights at Freddie's, Mortuary Assistant (introduced by one of the content creators in State), and quite a few more. Also, Hollow Knigth got mixed in there, even tho it's not horror

I'm in a relationship :). My boyfriend is a complete gentleman and looks kinda like a skinnier Newt Scamander. We've been going steady for 3 months.

I stumbled upon Dimension 20: Fantasy High, which has been so fun to watch! Brennan Lee Mulligan and his crew are hilarious. Also Riz Gukgak's the best PC and nobody can say otherwise.

And lastly.

MagicalEraser has grown into a full character. Through my friends in State, I was able to develop her past what I ever thought possible. She is what my fellow artists see me as. She's more than just a silly drawing I made based off of a Shel Silverstein poem and a half-baked minecraft skin. I am so grateful that I created her, because she's been there every step of the way.

Love you guys. Hope you enjoyed catching up! Thank you all for enjoying my art :]

[adhdwerewolfgf]

No idea if this helps but I think I know how you feel. Despite wanting to, badly, I haven't been able to draw/create much in two years or so, and yea it fucking sucks so bad.

I just want you to know that I've genuinely always loved your art and your style, every single piece you've posted has been a banger imo. Your art has inspired and motivated me a lot in the past. I don't care if what it is, furry or DnD or whatever else you're into, if you post it, I'm eating it up. To me, in my eyes, it's always good and I'm always excited to see it.

I know it's hard when you hate everything you start. Doesn't matter how long it takes but when you break through that, when you end up creating again, I really hope I'll get to see it. And if you get there before me, who knows, maybe it'll motivate me to open a new canvas and give it another try myself. I'll be happy to see it regardless.

auwwua auwauaauuwuwauawa.........?

[mayakern]

Hi! I'm not super familiar with tumblr ettiquet cause I don't use it much, but my boyfriend follows you and he showed me some art you did recently and I wanted to mention it. The DND characters that you didn't get to play much post from a few days ago. More specifically, Althea. I utterly fuckin... just... adore the design. I think it might be the first time I've ever seen a character that I feel like looks like me that I actually think looks good, and in a weird way it makes me like myself more

aw thanks! and no worries it's not rude or anything haha. since i draw a more diverse range of body types than many artists, it's pretty frequent for people to see themselves in my art in a way they haven't before.

[sh33bsart]

I’ve been wondering, what has been your inspiration[s] for your art? Because your art just pops each time I see it! It’s really lovely and it’s pretty inspiring ^ ^

Hello! Thank you for the ask, it is greatly appreciated and I'm happy to hear that my art is found to be inspiring! To answer your question:

Most of what I draw inspiration from is Fantasy media, DnD being a big one. Games like Lobotomy Corporation, Lethal Company, Subnautica, The Isle, Monster Hunter, and Pillars of Eternity, are some other things that I draw inspiration from with what I create. From how the story is set to how creatures are designed.

Most of it largely goes back to the Natural World, Fantasy, Dinosaurs, and Dragons specifically.

Art style wise, I've had quite a few artists I've admired over the years, and a specific thing I have in mind that I'm going for. A mix between realism and cartoon, with more lean on the realistic side.

Most of the artists I admire are back from when I was on deviantart primarily years ago: chill13, remarin, apofiss, grimmla, demonml, tamaytka, and teagangavet

Others that are more recent are from here on tumbler: Min Play, neytirix, maxx-doodles, monoflaxart, and beautysnake

There are of course many, many, many more inspiration sources but it all has been things collected over the years that I don't remember where exactly from anymore unfortunately. Plus, it would make this post a little too longer than it already is.

This took a minute to answer. I won't lie, I haven't really thought about this before, at least not in depth. Most of what I do with my inspirations is I study them and how they are constructed so that I can use bits and pieces in my own work.

I hope that this answered the question though!

[askadrianalucardtepes]

[OOC] A big note of appreciation

Hey guys! I've been thinking lately and talking with some of the people running the other ask blogs that are currently active, and I realized just how much I appreciate all of you. This community has been one of the most friendly and welcoming I've ever interacted with; everyone has been kind and respectful, absolute sweethearts through and through. I've gotten massive support when I dealt with something unpleasant on the blog and I've received kindness, encouragement and affirmation whenever I post something. I've been and am involved in some incredible roleplays and I've made lots of great friends here thanks to my blogs. I just want to give a thorough shoutout to my friends and the people that have been supporting me here, you all make me feel so appreciated and I cannot even begin to express how much that means to me. in the ask blog category: @lastofthebelmontsrp : You are the one who I blame for starting this all. You were here first, and when I'd just moved my account to tumblr from instagram you reached out with a fun rp starter. That rp evolved into what I now consider to be one of my closest friendships. appreciate you so much, you are an absolutely amazing person with great art skills and writing skills to boot. If you haven't checked out Trevor (or their other blog @asklisafromlupu) yet, I highly recommend doing so!! Addon: And before I forget! Happy birthday, homie. <3 @askcarmillaofstyria : You're an incredibly fun person to chat with, and ever since we got to talking you've been a great friend and someone I greatly appreciate. You're sweet and incredibly skilled in botht he art and writing department, with creative ideas and infectious enthusiasm that not a soul can resist. To everyone who hasn't checked out Carmilla (or their other blog @askthewinterprincess), go for it, you won't regret it!!

@asksyphabelnades-belmont : You've been really sweet since we got to talking, and you seem like a really fun person to be around. Hearing your dnd stories and seeing your mini painting work has been super cool and I really enjoy reading them and seeing your work!! You're a very kind soul and I look forward to seeing your blog grow and get even more attention because it deserves it through and through. If you guys haven't checked out Sypha yet, go for it!!

@forgemastery : You are such a sweet bean omg, you're creative and enthusiastic and it shows in everything you do. You're fun to talk with and bring really great ideas to the table, plus you are a formidable roleplayer. I've been enjoying our budding friendship a lot and enjoy our plotting and shenanigans, it's great fun and I hope we'll get to continue it for a long time! For those hwo want to show Hector some love, do it!!

@askisaacforgemaster : I haven't spoken with you that much yet, but the times we have spoken have been incredibly pleasant and I admire you greatly. You seem like a very kind individual with a great writing style, and your roleplay skills are equally as fun and good! I hope we get to talk more, because you seem like a really awesome person. For everyone that wants to check out a great Isaac, here's your chance!!

And now for some askers that I've interacted with and really really appreciate: @flame-bloom : God I love you so much. You have been the backbone of my askblogs, ever since I started out with the comics I drew. You have been my number 1 supporter who has cheered me on every step of the way, who has indulged me in my interest and taken an active interest in it as well and who has been nothing short of just plain incredible in every single way. Every day I wake up feeling grateful to have you in my life and, as I've told you many times, you are the highlight of my day both in and outside of my blogs. You are the best girlfriend I could've ever asked for and I love you so, so much. Thank you for being so supportive and thank you for showing so much interest in what I do. I appreciate your existence every day and I can't even begin to describe how happy I am whenever I talk to you, see you or get to be with you. I'm rambling, I know, but I just really fucking love my girlfriend guys. She's amazing and you guys should all show her the love she deserves, she's just that incredible. Even now just writing this has me all giddy, can you see yet where Drac gets it from?

@blurree-face : You are someone who I've seen around my blogs frequently, and I am so happy that I do. I love your asks and your interactions with my blog, you help me bring the characters I portray to life and you're just generally fun to interact with. You also seem like a nice person in general with great writing skills and a lot of creativity, and I hope you'll keep that up! Thank you for being such a cool bean around here!!

@ariawen : You are also someone I've seen around my blog frequently, and you're just so damn sweet. Your asks are incredibly fun and I love the comments you send on my posts. The interactions we have are very fun and I'm just really appreciative of what you do with this account. Thanks for being so awesome!!

@iheartfireemblem : You've been around for a long while, and your asks have always been enjoyable. Building the little familial bonds with Drac and Alucard with you has been fun and you've been very sweet with your asks! Thanks for being so kind and sending in such fun asks for me to work with!!

Also a small special shoutout for @striga-official, who just joined us! She's a friend of mine and really sweet, go give her a look and send in some asks!! You guys won't regret it, promise. :D

If I didn't name you here, know that I do also appreciate you so so much. Every single one of you here has been nothing short of delightful, with only a few exceptions that honestly aren't worth mentioning here anyway. You all are amazing and I am super, super appreciative of all of you, seriously. You guys don't know how motivating and encouraging it is for me to log on to tumblr and see my inbox filled with asks that I can unleash my creativity upon. You all rock and I am thankful for all of you every single day.

Tl;dr: I love you all so much. Thank you all for being so cool and making this a fun experience. I appreciate every single one of you to bits! Much love, Valentine/Adrian

[darthbloodorange]

Some news (I guess)

I went through my desk and drawers and went through all my art WIPS. Lots going years back, some nearly a decade old now, that I never got around to finishing. Some I'm not going to finish, that I'm just going to shred and put on the garden as the art has no interest to me now. But others I really want to finish. I'm going to have to redo them from scratch as my art style has improved a lot since when I began creating fanart. (I didn't believe I could draw people before then.) I also have a lot of fic WIPs I want to finish too. Some I've started posting, most that I haven't.

I'm also kind of wanting to get into writing some longer fics. I still love drabbles. But I've got some fic ideas too large for dabbles. I've re-organized my AO3 with this in mind. I had all my bingo and event content grouped together in different series (93 in all - with multiple rounds all saved in the one series). I moved these all into Collections (119 of them, wow) which works so much better for me. This means my AO3 series contains only series, which is great (It's nice to be able to fine my actual series now). I was surprised that I had only created three series. I have plans to create a few more 😉

I gained a few new fandoms. Not that I'm leaving the Marvel fandom. I'm not! I've stopped watching the newer MCU stuff though.

[below is some of the media that have taken my interest recently. A bit rambly, sorry.]

I got around to seeing the DnD film, Honour Among Thieves. Xenk Yendar is dear to me. The movie was so earnest with its storytelling. I could see the way it was going, the tropes were heavily signposted. But it deviled perfectly. You could see what was coming and weren't disappointed with its application. (i.e. Simon/Confidence, Edgin/Letting go etc). It was really well done.

💜.

Black Sails is a pit I've fallen into and can't crawl out of... The show - Flint, really - reignited something in me I hadn't realized had gone out. The belief that it's still possible to fight for a better world.

Gates was my favourite until his death. Flint had a lot of redeeming to do in my eyes after that, but he became my new favourite. I'm sorry to say I wasn't a fan of S!lver. He gave me anxiety from the get-go with all his plotting and antics (some of which, I admittedly found amusing). I was torn between laughing and wanting to throttle him until season 3. During which, my opinion of him started going downhill with few redeeming moments. (The final episode was the nail in the coffin for me.)

Do I think S!lver killed Flint?  I don't think it matters. Both endings are equally devastating. Death or the plantation (possibly allowed to be with Thomas if the owner is benevolent enough to let them have time together - unlikely - Oglethorpe speaks of people 'cease[ing] to be' in the same way S!lver talks of 'unmaking' people. **Cough Cough Conversion Vibes Cough**.)

Funny aside. When I first saw Mariana (coupled with how Flint responded to her - He looked really grief-stricken and a little shocked? and tried), I legitimately thought she might be a ghost of someone from his past. My friend, who I was sharing my watch-through with, laughed uncontrollably. I didn't understand why... Until she actually became a ghost that haunted him.

I adore FlintHamiltons. I would say the three are my OTP of the series... but... I also really like Flane. I didn't like Vane at first but he really grew on me. I jokingly started shipping it when Vane said he was going to save Flint. I started shipping it a little more earnestly as he did as he said he would. But when Vane saved Flint from Teach it was like falling down the stairs into the ship. I was hopelessly, irrevocably lost to Flane. FlintHamiltons and Flane are near equal in my heart. So FlaneHamiltons are my really OTP because why not both?

I really loved how Teach was handled? Normally when Blackbeard is in a show I've just been disappointed. Mostly he's just a two-dimensional villain who wants ultimate power. Very boring. The sigh of relief I gave in episode one when Blackbeard was just one of Noonan's girls. I was so relieved. Then he was introduced in season 3 and I was admittedly disappointed. I loved pirates as a kid. So I recognized the name Teach. I perked up when I heard his name, because I was like "Hey, I know that name! I know Teach!!!" only seconds later to go, oh crap, it's Teach. They brought in Blackbeard. Great. I was happily surprised with how they portrayed him. That my expectations were proven very wrong. I love him. That moment with Vane in Season 3 Episode 3 where Teach offers Vane a choice, not an ultimatum hit me in the heart. The way he asks Vane to be his son/legacy. Doesn't claim. Asks! Offers him the choice. I've never seen that in a show. And it got to me. I felt horrible for Teach when Vane sided with Flint on the beach. And sad that it was in part because Teach slipped up and created an ultimatum for Vane. Him or Flint. And Vane picked Flint.

(I shall stop talking about Black Sails... for now. That show has taken up residence in my soul, I swear.)

💜.

I've reignited my love of Star Wars (though I'm not a fan of the direction Disney has taken things.), though my ships have changed slightly (Obi-Wan is still my favourite). Ob!k!n is very much a NOPE! Anak!n too, kind of... sorry (I can't get past a lot of his choices. or political views, especially with how real-world stuff has gone). Still adore the Jedi, love my soft found family of space empath wizards.

💜.

I finally watched Bridgerton. I loved it. Lady Danbury is the BEST! Her godson is a close second. But nobody is as amazing as Lady Danbury.

And a few other bits of media... which I enjoyed but don't think I'll create content for. (I've been working my way through my "to watch list".)

I watched "Some Like It Hot" (Didn't like Sugar/Joseph's relationship. But ngl, Osgood/Daphne was kind of sweet? Especially when Daph started to really like him.) and the Clue movie from the 80s (I think what Mr Green said he was going to do when he gets home was a cover-up to hide the truth of his identity from his employers. I've read a fic where Boddy was also undercover and they are partners... and I'm not letting that go. The whole "Sit" moment is really funny now with that added fantext.)