#so i added some elements from it to his normal design

[ananinidraws]

I went ahead and drew the WAH trio, cuz i've wanted to make my own design for Wapeach for a while, so i killed 3 birds with one stone

[lonelysheepling]

Recently read @queenofthequillandink ’s DPxDC crossover fic Unearthed, Reborn

I got inspired to draw character sheets for Danny, Sam, Jason, and Jazz’s vigilante personas. Here’s a link to the author’s drawings of their outfits (these were a vital reference for me when doing this so thank you so much for sharing them Quill) More commentary (like 7+ paragraphs plus 2 images) about this project and the designs below the “keep reading” line.

None of these thoughts I have for each character are in order, but I have a lot of commentary for these since this project was a lot more conceptual than my normal work. I also just like talking about my art/design process. If you ever find yourself wondering at some point why an element from the original design wasn’t included, the answer is that the removal was completely intentional and part of my grandmaster vision for this work and wasn’t because I just forgot about it entirely during the design process.

————————————————————————

Aconite (Sam)

This was the first one I sketched out, I wasn’t even sure at the time if I was going to fully commit to drawing all of them. I thought that Sam was gonna be the hardest since her description was way longer than the others, but then bird boy beat her out. I took a lot of creative liberties with her design, the bag was added bc I couldn’t figure out how to add pockets to the skirt. I was trying to avoid a joker color scheme so I had a lot of ref images that I got by searching like “purple green aesthetic” on Pinterest. The dark purple and dark forest/blueish green won out in the end. I desaturated a lot of my colors for her just to get as far away from the neon Gotham rogue aesthetic. I also added the bdsm harness over the armor to add more punk elements to her design, I know that in real life that would be very uncomfortable to wear over scalemail armor but sometimes we take creative liberties when they look sick as fuck. Also, I didn’t realize until I went to look for a reference for aconite flowers that aconite is wolfsbane! That was neat to learn! Also, the font I used for Aconite is called “zai Art School Calendar 1931”, I’ve used this a few times for other projects, it’s one of my favorite fonts. The ‘zai’ fonts the creator has are all very good.

Shade (Danny)

There wasn't much to add to this page. His outfit is pretty simple (besides the patterning). I wasn’t sure how to pull of an optical illusion pattern but I was reminded how I sometimes get an eyestrain induced headache when looking at someone wearing a patterned shirt with really thin stripes so I just leaned into the idea of a small/detailed hard lined pattern. I originally made 5 separate patterns for him and then turned them into stamp brushes in procreate. I only ended up using three of them, the one on the chest, the one on the legs, and the one on his hand. But, I imagine the patterns fade and shift when he moves, sort of like a lenticular print. I gave him constellation freckles and stylized the hair’s fade into white. The hair was inspired by how time-woods draws Martin Blackwood’s hair (linked: time-woods’s fanart of Martin Blackwood). Also put way too much effort into the teeth on the mask. I just like the chunky teeth design. Oh yeah and the font I used for him is called “Typewriter_Condensed_Demi”

Erinys (Jason)

Repeatedly ran into the issue of not having enough canvas space bc of my fervent need to thoroughly document and plan out how the wings worked. I also reversed the colors for the bodysuit & armor so the under layer was black while the armor plates were red. I only realized afterwards that I may have been inspired by the red centipedes in Rain World (linked: gif of the red centipede, don’t click the link if you’re unsettled/afraid of bugs/insects), artists subconsciously draw inspiration from other artists all the time though so I’m not like upset about it. I stand by it because it looks sick as hell. Also leaned into the magpie theming for the wings. I think the vigilante form was supposed to be reverse magpie coloring? I can’t remember, but I stuck with normal magpie coloring. The anatomy of how the wings connected to the collarbone was inspired by JayEaton’s Magpie Bridge Project. Reference image link. Link to the article the image is from. I didn’t draw the wing armor because I couldn’t figure out how to would work with the wing anatomy and I ran out of canvas space. Finally, the font used for him is “DIN Condensed” this is a default font, I would’ve used something more punk but I needed the text to be legible.

Insight (Jazz)

I did Jazz after I’d already finished the initial trio, so I had to switch to a new canvas for her bc I’d hit the layer limit multiple times on the previous one. I really do love doing that spiked under-eyelash thing with characters. Don’t know when that started. Anyway, I added the shoulder pads to her outfit to help break up the empty space. The golden eyes were a nice accent color since her design is very overwhelmingly green. Honestly the braid hairstyle and gold eyes really do obscure her identity, multiple times when drawing her I was worried that she didn’t really resemble Jazz enough. There wasn’t a drawing from the author for her so I only had the text description to go off of. I just realized that she sort of reminds me of a forest ranger and I don’t know what to do with that realization. I copy/pasted my drawing of her eyes when gold and recolored them to match her normal eye color. There were two layers for that, a hue shift and a hard light layer to emphasize the shadows.

Here’s what it looks like without the hue shift: 

It looks really cool and I’m 100% that color combo in another drawing down the line. Oh yeah and the font used for this sheet was “Euphemia UCAS”. It comes with Apple’s operating system, I use it as a neutral default text most of the time bc it’s nicer than helvetica but not overly fancy like Times New Roman—and why am I talking about fonts. ——————————————————————— Anyway, this project was very fun to work on. The alt text for this was its own endeavor, hope the folks using screen-readers don’t mind 4-5 paragraphs of description text. Also, I cannot remember for the life of me if Dani got a costume description, but if she does I’ll make sure to update this image set with a sheet for her. And to the author, QueenOfTheQuill, if you’re reading this message that I’ve left at the very bottom of this post below a read more line, thank you for the fic. It’s very good and I’m glad I caught it during my slow decent into DPxDC brainrot. I love the interactions between Jason and Tim, it’s nice seeing a revived Jason that’s not bogged down by pit rage. They definitely seem like they could’ve been good friends if not for the unfortunate circumstances that led them to meet in canon. Also, I’m sure Jazz will love interacting with Batman and Nightwing. So much psychological & childhood trauma to unpack with them. Feel free to use/share these images if you so desire and thanks again for your work.

[jules-ln]

Viktor is literally art nouveau

I was looking at Viktor's design in league of legends and it hit me, Viktor in Arcane IS Art Nouveau

Not literally but yes literally in a way lmao

Let me walk you through my thought process

I was looking at the league of legends design, and I thought that the fact that Viktor still had hair was weird if the whole point of Viktor is human bad machine good, then why does he has something as human as hair?

Then I thought about the Arcane Herald design, and it actually made more sense that this Viktor still had hair, why? Just look at his robots

The first thing that called my attention was their shoes, because those aren't normal heels, no, those are heelless heels! and let me tell you

1) Viktor isn't straight (no straight man would know and like those shoes, you can't fool me)

2) That's like the worst shoes you could ask for to fight/run in, do you know how easy is to fall with those shoes? No, they aren't practical, those shoes are merely for visual pleasure

And it doesn't seems like Viktor would be the kind of man that would put looks above functionality but then you think about how his designs in general have a very heavy preference for art nouveau; which, is also very much beauty over function

His robots have the asymmetry, A flowing organic shape, a preference for a feminine figure, the reference to flora on the patterns. They're are art nouveau bots and theres no way to deny that, and Viktor's Herald design is too, to some extent

Again, preference for a feminine figure, flowing organic shapes, his staff looks like a tree (kinda), asymmetry to some extent (not as much a his robots), hair (very important). You can reasonably say that it was at least inspired by art nouveau

Then we have the design of his room/house in the commune, it's pretty much art nouveau inspired too. I've seen some people say that Viktor made this to reference the Hexgates because he missed Jayce, but now I'm thinking, what if it wasn't that he missed Jayce, but more that the Hexgates were originally his design

And listen, I know I know, both worked on the hexgates, both should be credited equally, but realistically, I think it's fair to say that both of them probably had different levels of involvement on different things? So what if Viktor was the one with the original idea for the outside design and Jayce then added the art deco elements? Then Viktor repeated it on the commune with a more art nouveau style simply because he likes it?

And you might ask. Why does it matters? Why does the fact that Viktor likes art nouveau means that he's the personification of art nouveau?

Well; now to the point, I studied a little of art history on college, and I was a bit obsessed with art nouveau back then, and you know what was the goal of it?

Art nouveau was made to bring art to the common person, to have every day objects being a piece of art. It was supposed to get art away from the rich and to give it to everyone. But it failed

And you know why Art Nouveau failed and was quickly abandoned?

Two things, 1) it was too expensive, and 2) World War 1

So ironically Art Nouveau ended up being too expensive to reach the people they wanted to help so it stayed a rich people thing, and then it had to be abandoned almost completely because of WW1; there weren't enough materials to make it and a lot of people that became poor because of the war didn't have the money to spend on it

It was very short lived even when it made a big impact on history (That reminds me of someone)

Now compare art nouveau's history to what happened to Viktor (And Jayce)

They wanted to make magic accessible to the common people, to help; but it ended up being so that Hextech only helped people in Piltover to get richer while people in Zaun got worse and worse

Then something happened, a war, and both Viktor and Jayce had to abandon their dreams

Add to that the name art nouveau means new art, and in Spain it was called "Modernismo" Why? Because it wanted to be the future of art, young, refreshing, a bright future different from the past. Who else wanted to be the future of something? Men of progress who?

Viktor (and Jayce to some extent but I think he's more art deco lmao) IS Art Nouveau. It's his story

(And funnily enough, you can find art nouveau in Zaun, but I don't remember ever seeing art deco in Zaun, while it's the main thing on Piltover)

(Also also, I have some thoughts about Jayce being Art Deco, but that's for maaaybe later lmao)

Listen I'm a death of the author guy, I'm going to find meaning on my own. But either someone in the art department had to know the history of art nouveau and made a point of making it Viktor's main style (because it is Viktor's style, like I showed before), or it's just an extremely funny and fitting coincidence

[khaenriahn-anthropologist]

We're going to be looking into Kaeya's design elements from his game model and to some of his notable talent designs. This is focused on the visual elements and what information they can provide about him to the viewer.

Kaeya has many details in his game model which can be a little overwhelming at times but let's take a note of how many layers he wears in his outfit. This is something that I feel points to the complexity of his character, a desire to hide something, the layers you need to peel away in order to uncover what he is at his most vulnerable.

As we know, Kaeya is a very secretive character and one that's rather terrified of showing his true self to others. In this way I feel the layers symbolize this.

Continuing on, another odd detail to note about his character is the number of belts, chains, and cuffs that he wears.

Kaeya wears a choker, with a chain beneath it, multiple belts, shirt stays for his sleeves, wrist cuffs, an added cuff on one, a hanging chain, he also has cuffs on his ankles.

While many might assume that this is a fashionable statement in game, we the viewer knowing his backstory can feel that these motifs represent being restricted. This could be from Kaeya's inability to feel that he can express his true self, or feel the weight of his original purpose in Mondstadt to act as a pawn for the Abyss Order.

He is both physically and emotionally restricted. It could also represent his guilt over feeling like a traitor or an outsider to the place he resides in.

We must also take into consideration that it might have something to do with his passive talent: Hidden Strength

The meaning of the passive stays the same in CN as well which could elude to the idea that perhaps Kaeya is under some sort of seal, barring him from using his full abilities.

Kaeya is strange too in the fact that he wears an eyepatch but lacks a sufficient reason for doing so and has consistently worn one since he was a child.

We know the eye was injured during his fight with Diluc, however in letters it is confirmed that the eye is not at all deeply affected by the injury sustained.

In his character quest: Secret Pirate Treasure, he tells the traveler that the eyepatch is inherited by his grandfather and is proof of his lineage.

Now, we know this is a half lie as Kaeya often does not tell the truth, it is likely that the eyepatch is indeed something passed on to him but due to the eye underneath. This speculation is not new, but I will go into some detail for why I think this eye is most likely red in color.

In CN this talent name actually refers to having noble blood and several of the game's references to King Irmin in the game (who is likely distantly related to Kaeya) have a red right eye.

Both Princess Fischl and the Deathly Statuette representing Odin/King Irmin have a red right eye. It should be noted that in Fischl's normal model it is her right eye that is covered instead, hiding the red eye underneath. Kaeya's new skin also includes a red bead on the right side, perhaps hinting at the color it would be beneath his eyepatch.

Ororon and Kaeya also share many similarities, the dark hair with gradient strips is extremely uncommon in genshin, he also has one reddish right eye and one blue. His entire design is deeply tied to Nihility, the undead, and the abyss. His soul is incomplete and was originally going to be used to be sacrificed to the night kingdom to bring the souls back to the living.

Though it is only speculation, we still have no idea what Kaeya's specific purpose was and why he would be Khaenri'ahn's last hope. But we have seen before that previous Alberich's were used to create the Loom of Fate, so who knows but it might have originally been similar to Ororon.

We also see that in his Sailwind skin that if Kaeya's hair was not cut short that he would have more strips of gradient hair all the way down to the end. We have mostly only see this on characters that are gods so we will see if it becomes relevant later on but it could speak to some lesser divinity that Kaeya possesses.

In fact the Tenebrous Mimiflora has featherlike appendages that resemble the peacock feathers with rings of multiple colors centering a dark 'eye'.

What is its 'evolved' form takes the shape of a tree full of eyes and the three diamonds/stars as well, and peacocks are often depicted in mythology as having one hundred eyes of Argus, tasked with guarding Hera, the queen of Gods. The fact that Kaeya is depicted both in constellation and in design as having these peacock elements is interesting when Oculi in Genshin are referred to as God Pupil/Eyes.

Even the material it drops actually eerily resembles elemental Oculi with an eye in its center, gazing out.

This creature seems to have evolved to mimic Irminsul, as you can see the branches of destiny and fate.

Even there in the center of its branches you can see that familiar design depicting the Nihility symbol found on Ororon and through various other characters in Genshin.

If Kaeya's connection to the eyes is some sort of connection to Irminsul or the mimicry of Irminsul we can also take a look at something else interesting about him.

The fur is tied closely to Abyss Mages, but also fur is often a sign of royalty and power historically. Especially white furs which are a symbol of royal authority.

Kaeya's cape is interesting, for one, the feathered part resembles that of which we see in many divine beings and statues in the game.

This winged motif is found on Paimon, on Statues of the Seven, Celestial Nails, Abyss Entities, and even in Dvalin and other Draconic figures.

But what about the layer underneath? Believe it or not, but this symbol is also present in many aspects of the game.

The symbol of a line dotted in diamonds is present in the eyes of the Unknown Goddess, Phainon (From HSR aka Kevin Kaslana)

And Istaroth, the goddess of Time

He also has the three star motif on his shoulder pauldron:

Kaeya also has more connections to the Statues of the Seven, as even his elemental skill heavily resembles Phanes and the Four Shade imagery on the statues.

It even has the same fanned star formation.

In all he seems to have many odd connections between both 'celestia' and the Abyss. Even his other talent Glacial Heart which resembles a snowflake is actually the Triquetra we see in game:

We see it on both items that are affected and touched by the night realm and the abyss in the form of flora and likely has some tie to the three moon sisters as the Triquetra is formed by three carefully layers circles (moons in our case) and represents an unbroken loop.

If anyone is interested in hearing me cover more or would like to talk details, let me know. I'd love to chat about it.

[zkoh001]

Back to Ninjago ✨

I was drawing this. For 72 full hours (spread out trough like-3 months)

It doesn't look like I put 72 hours into this... (I swear my confidence went like a drunk rollecoaster while making this piece)

But alas, it is done, and I worked too hard not to share it. Behold the elemental alliance. (I can't draw armor. So the design changes are mostly because of that)

I totally got the Masters of Sound and Gravity the first few times, which is quite hilarious cause the Master of Gravity spends quite some of his screentime flying, but oh well.

Also, I tought they were related (for no particular reason) hence the positioning on the picture.

The guy on the left side of the picture was literally listed as "unknown elemental master" and I literally only added him so the proportions were more balanced (also so noone could argue it isn't finished)

I feel like his power was supposed to be lightning (based on the outfit) but then season 6 happened, and he was quietly retconned to make way for libber. I hesitated making it a father daughter situation, with him passing his powers on faster than Cole's grandfather to Lilly, but in the end, settled for making him a Master of Light.

Lilly and her father joined together, but neither of them are sure why it took so long for the power to pass down (probably after or at the very end of the First Serpentine War). They were both the type to understand it's war, and those rarely have a happy ending (in general, these people were kinda forced into this role because of their powers, some of them pretty young) Maybe the late heritance caused issues with Lilly's immune system leading to an early death? 👀🥺

I like to think the old Master of Earth was a mother hen of sons just as Lilly (it's genetic a this point). The above picture happened sometime after Garmadon's banishment.

Libber (or whatever they call the previous Master of Lightning) turned out really cute, I'm probably most satisfied with her (also gave her freckles to match Jay). I feel like we massively missed out on having her be the one to make/power Prime Empire. I mean, I get they wanted to save the mom storyline for MotM, but I'm sure you can write two separate stories revolving around parents. I also believe she joined really young, probably the youngest (and she was a menace. Also imagine if she was friends with the twins, the tragedy)

Wu and Garmadon pretty much have their canon designs (I like that they are dressed the most "traditional" out of everyone) except I added a bit more purple and gold respectively. Also, I'll mention it here, every active elemental masters have eye colours matching their elements, and their pupils are light (giving way to theories about them not even being human). The spinjitzu bros have "rings" around their pupils in the opposite color (purple for Wu, gold for Garmadon) showing the link between them and their powers.

When Garmadon is banished, Wu's eyes become completely gold, affected by their severed connection (and Garm has red eyes, but normally his would have become purple as well) Also, I kinda traced the text on their gi, cause I'm not drawing that from memory 😅

Master of Shadow was one of the first to join the Alliance, but is not the youngest member, she wanted a peaceful solution at the start, and like most of the earlier members, have a more nuanced view on the war, probably even had serpentine acquitances, which is why she looks so sad a lot of the time.

I see Ray and Maya as a kinda golden retriever, black cat dynamic. Maya was incredibly skilled, cold and precise, and one of the deadliest elemental masters (I was cooking up some story about a warrior clan she grew up in, but it's up for interpretation).

Ray meanwhile lives by the principle of "They can't know my next step... if I don't know my next step." Runs in, swords blazing, most people fighting him are just sort of. Perplexed at first.

And of course Maya didn't like him at first, but it's really hard to dislike Ray long term. (Which is how he also became Wu's best friend, despite him trying to hold a 'polite acquitances' type of relationship with the Ems. Ray is just like that) But she fell first.

Either this happened, or he went ahead of the trouble and asked him first.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand (working a lot on this means I had a lot of time to microwave these dudes, this post is looong)

Master of Ice is just that one kind of slightly creepy wise old man, who just... knows stuff. Everyone just sort of accepted that you don't ask him how or why he knows stuff, he just does. Wu and Garmadon have a tendency to follow him around (cause he's pretty similar to their father in a way), which kinda translates to everyone following him around like little ducks (even when he barely socialises with anyone lol).

Design for Master of Ice is inspired by @maydayissleepy, go check out their art!

And I already made a bunch of posts about Hands of Time and the time twins, but design wise, I just made a new one (to avoid the complex armor). When in battle, it's basically impossible to tell the two of them apart. Also, they have heterochromia because they both have two powers technically. The murky brown we see in the show is because they lost the power, but are still technically the Masters of Time, since it never passed on (if the blades broke somehow it would go back to them)

I feel like they joined later (even way later, which is why they clashed so much with the alliance) which is why they aren't mentioned in the early flashbacks (and also cause they didn't exist yet), and went kinda gungho on the war, not really knowing (or caring) for it's nuances.

Anyways, let me know what you think!

[thecreaturecodex]

The Laughing Hand

Image by Jolyne Garcia, © Hasbro and Critical Role. Accessed at the Critical Role Wiki here

[Sponsored by @tar-baphon. Critical Role is not something I ever got into. And despite two official D&D sourcebooks for Critical Role and a post-OGL fantasy heartbreaker RPG written for the setting, there's no official statblock for Ganix the Laughing Hand. There are, however, plenty of dedicated fans on the CR Wiki and on Reddit who made observations about his abilities and some guesswork onto their own statblocks, which I did reference. Some things that I noticed while working on this stat block are the persistence of D&D 4e design elements into what is nominally a 5e campaign (but of course is really an entertainment podcast first and foremost). In Critical Role, the Laughing Hand is a servitor of Torog, a god from the 4e "Points of Light" setting who does not officially appear in D&D 5e except in the Critical Role sourcebooks. He can also summon minions, and has absolutely no ranged capacity, which are both very 4e design elements. I made him a servitor of Yhidothrus, being PF's giant subterranean worm divinity, gave him unholy blight so he wasn't completely helpless against an army of flying PCs and... had to get creative with the minions.]

The Laughing Hand CR 17 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This hulking giant is twice as tall as a normal man. His skin is gray and splashed with red, and his eyes burn yellow beneath his thick hooded leather cloak. One of his hands is replaced with an oversized, double-edged blade, and the other has a fanged mouth in the palm. Similar fanged mouths open up over his body at odd angles, twisted into wry, mocking smiles.

The Laughing Hand was once a mortal general named Garix. Garix dared to challenge Yhidothrus, rallying an army to slay the Ravager Worm in a mad attempt to fight and kill the concept of entropy itself. Only Garix and his prized hunting hounds were even able to reach Yhidothrus directly, and the demon lord was amused by the hubris of his human adversary. After a century of torture, Garix was transformed into the Laughing Hand, a fiend that will come back from death endlessly to inflict suffering on the world of men.

Garix finds his own torment and transformation hilarious, and unless he is trying to be stealthy, he constantly laughs from his many mouths. This laughter causes creatures to freeze in terror, being unable to flee or fight back as the Laughing Hand tears them apart. If blades are raised against him, a new mouth opens up, adding to the horrible chorus. The Laughing Hand is often mobile in combat, leaping across the battlefield in order to target vulnerable targets. He can summon ghastly shadows of his beloved hounds, which he uses to block pursuit and set up flanking.

In order to slay Garix permanently, his heart must be found—this was cut from his chest and transformed into an oversized reliquary of sorts. This structure, called the Permaheart, is on a demiplane accessible only through a handful of portals. Finding this heart is a goal of both Yhidothrus’ enemies and cultists—his cultists in order to gain leverage over one of their god’s most powerful servants. If the Permaheart is ever destroyed, the Laughing Hand’s defenses weaken, but even then he is still a powerful melee combatant.

The Laughing Hand        CR 17 XP 102,400 CE Large outsider (chaos, evil, extraplanar) Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +31, see invisibility Aura mocking laughter (15 ft., DC 25)

Defense AC 33, touch 14, flat-footed 29 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 armor, +15 natural) hp 264 (23d10+138) Fort +13, Ref +17, Will +18 DR 15/good; Immune poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 28 Defensive Abilities fortification (50%),rejuvenation

Offense Speed 40 ft. Melee armblade +30 (2d8+8/17-20), slam +30 (2d6+8 plus grab), bite +30 (1d8+8) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks rake (bites +30, 1d8+8) Spell-like Abilities CL 17th, concentration +21 Constant—see invisibility At will—unholy blight (DC 18) 1/day—summon (8th level, 100%)

Statistics Str 27, Dex 19, Con 22, Int 13, Wis 20, Cha 18 Base Atk +23; CMB +32 (+36 grapple); CMD 47 Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Critical (armblade), Improved Initiative, Great Cleave, Mobility, Nimble Moves, Outflank, Power Attack, Precise Strike, Spring Attack Skills Acrobatics +30 (+34 when jumping), Climb +34, Intimidate +30, Perception +31, Sense Motive +31, Survival +31, Swim +34 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common SQ mighty leap, spawn maw

Ecology Environment any land or underground (Abyss) Organization unique Treasure standard (+2 moderate fortification leather armor, other treasure)

Special Abilities Armblade (Ex) The Laughing Hand’s armblade is treated as a primary natural weapon that deals slashing damage and threatens a critical hit on a roll of 19-20. Aura of Mocking Laughter (Su) All creatures within 15 feet of the Laughing Hand must succeed a DC 25 Will save or cower in fear for 1 round. The Laughing Hand can suppress or resume this ability as a free action. Demons are immune to this effect. This is a mind-influencing fear effect and the save DC is Charisma based. Mighty Leap (Ex) The Laughing Hand suffers no penalty from making a long jump without a running start. If he does get a running start, he doubles the distance traveled. Rake (Ex) When the Laughing Hand uses his rake attack, he normally has only one bite. He gains more bites by the use of the spawn maw ability. Rejuvenation (Su) If the Laughing Hand is slain, he reforms 24 hours later in the Spiral Paths. This can be disrupted if the Permaheart, hidden on a demiplane, is destroyed. If the Permaheart is destroyed and the Laughing Hand still lives, he loses his energy resistances, his DR is reduced to 5/good and his SR reduced to 18. Spawn Maw (Su) Whenever the Laughing Hand takes 10 or more damage from a piercing or slashing weapon, a new mouth opens up in the wound. This raises the save DC of the aura of mocking laughter by +1 for as long as the maw exists (to a maximum save DC of 35 for 10 maws), and gives the Laughing Hand another bite attack it can use when it uses its rake ability. Maws spawned this way last for 1 minute before they are resorbed into the Laughing Hand’s body. Summon (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, the Laughing Hand can summon four bleak hounds. Treat these as 10th level dog animal companions, only with spider climb as a constant supernatural ability and Precise Strike and Outflank as bonus feats. These hounds last for 1 hour or until slain.

[kickingitwithkirk]

Winchester's Folly

Summary: When Dean gets into trouble John decides to hide the truth for his family

Pairing: Alpha!Dean x Omega!Reader x Alpha!Sam

WC: 1650

Dark! Fic-don't continue if you are disturbed by the subject matter.

Warnings: A/B/O, dystopian au, canon elements, non/con, dub/con, incest, subjugation, pandemic, mentions of nudity, physical/mental abuse, mention of collaring/leashed, sexual/slavery, rut/heat, physical altercation, death/murder conviction, show level violence, parental dominance, trafficking, branding, panic attacks, bondage, forced mating, dated derogatory terms

*Additional warnings will be added

Square filled: @spnmixedbingo -Hiding an Injury @anyfandomgoesbingo -Childhood Best Friends

A/N I: Still working on reigning myself in, keeping each part reader-friendly length, and have no clue how many parts this will end up being.

A/N III: a few notes about designations in A/O sub-genders for this story.

Alphas-Dominant (head of the pack/family) Subordinate (obey Dominant) Breeders (rare & highly coveted by the government. Can challenge Dominant for pack/family leadership)

Omegas -Domestic (mostly wiped out by plague, few natural born left) Feral (government-supplied breeders sold commonly called O's) House O’s (3rd generation+ Feral/Dominant breed. Used as servants/sex workers) Pack (rare & highly coveted by the government)

*Divider by @firefly-graphics

*No Beta-all mistakes are mine

Series Masterlist

PART X

Bobby fiddled around with the unfinished box when, bingo, it popped open, revealing a bunch of rolled papers inside. He crossed to the garage and fired up a printer, making copies of the documents then returned everything to its original position because John would notice if anything were misplaced. Heading back to his room, Bobby noticed light still coming from underneath the boy's door and lightly rapped it before opening it.

The elder brother was spooning his mate from behind, which made sense since Bobby knew from personal experience that lying on bruised ribs dulled the pain. However, it was difficult for the man to process why his brother was sleeping snugly against her front, his fingers twined with Dean's, resting on her hip.

****

Bobby is jerked out of his troubled sleep by a truck engine rumbling to life. Moving the window, he sees the taillights as John's GMC crunches over the gravel driveway toward the gate. Cursing obscenities in multiple languages, he rushes downstairs and pivots toward the front door when a voice calls out, "Denver Pyle aware you stole his underwear?"

Doubling back, he finds Dean sitting at the kitchen table with a smirk, drinking coffee. "Don't think you're too big to be taken to the woodshed, boy." Bobby chastised with as much dignity as he could muster in his red flannel long johns, walking to the stove to pour himself a cup from the old blue enamel pot. Ignoring the other man's continued smirk sat down across from him. "Good to see your eyes back to normal. Ready to tell me what that was about last night?"

That sobered Dean up.

He inquired how much Bobby knew about everything, and the Beta was honest about what he'd been told and felt that familiar pang of resentment toward John, watching Dean retreat into himself, knowing self-recrimination was nothing new for him.

"Seeing it's too early to get breakfast from Micky D's, I'm guessing John's found somewhere else to be." The young Alpha shrugged, saying it is what it is, and fiddled with his mug. "Anyway, I gotta keep my nose clean so Sammy doesn't end up in CYF custody. And seeing how you're my warden, that's the parole officer we're supposed to meet today." Dean slid a piece of paper over with his parole officer's info. "Is there anything else I should know before seeing them?" Dean shook his head negatively. Bobby braced himself, knowing the next thing coming out of his mouth would raise the Alpha's hackles.

"Couldn't help noticing number girl shivering in those hand-me-downs last night, and Sam needs some warmer clothes for school; going to get damn cold before too much longer." Deans features shifted, "Bobby, it's my responsibility to provide. I'll get what they need after I find a job."

"Looks like John forgot a few details. Part of the agreement is you'll work for me, too. But if that's how you want to do things, I've got no problem docking your paycheck in reimbursement." After rinsing his mug, the older hunter crossed his arms, leaning against the counter, and decided to bring up what he saw last night.

"Considering we have an Omega in the house, I want to get a few things straight,. You boys have always been close, and don’t care if you still share a room, but don't take me for stupid." A flash of oh crap crosses Dean's features. "And I want to be clear: she's your property. It'll be your decision how to handle situations when they arise. Where Sam is concerned, there'd better not be any fighting over her 'cause I'm not getting in the middle of you two. And give me a heads up before you go into a rut 'cause that's another thing I'm not going to deal with either."

After getting a yes sir, Bobby heads back upstairs to get dressed when he runs into Sam, who asks why he is dressed like Uncle Jessie makes the Beta grumble; this is gonna be a long six months.

Bobby once again wonders where god got their twisted sense of humor.

The building Dean's parole officer directed them to look like a country feed store from the outside. Inside, that was a different story.

Bobby had learned a few things about people's kinks over the years, but this place shocked the seasoned hunter when a bubbly voice that didn't match the decor called out, "Good afternoon, gentlemen. What can I help you with today?"

Bobby watches Dean lean against the glass counter, showcasing a variety of erotic toys, turns on the charm he's mastered at a young age, turning the female Beta into goo while explaining he needs the necessities for his recently acquired Omega.

The shop assistant leaned towards him, putting her ample bosom on display. "We carry all the approved items from the O divisions. But if you're interested in something more adventurous, we have a certified craftsman who does custom designs." Bobby slaps the list they'd compiled on the counter, "We just need this stuff."

The assistant does a quick read and, within minutes, has almost everything sitting on the counter. "Most of our customers prefer to custom order outfits for their O. Let me show you what we have in store; see if any strikes your fancy."

Exaggeratedly swaying her hips, she heads toward the clothes section, where Bobby picks up a shirt and says, "This stuff makes the lingerie I gave my wife look conservative." Dean nodded toward him and inquired. "Do you have anything not so revealing for an O about his height?" The assistant looked confused. "Are you kidding?" Dean shook his head, and her attitude changed. "If this is some prank, you can leave, or I'm calling the cops."

Bobby intervenes, and Dean can hear the testy assistant's insolent remark and Bobby's very Bobby response as he walks out of the store. Unlocking the Impala, Dean opens the rear door and helps the Omega out. As they enter the store, the manager is now arguing with Bobby. "O's are not that big; it's a biological impossibility!" Bobby replies, "Oh yeah," and peers around them, "Tell that to her!"

Dean sat a bowl of spaghetti covered in meat sauce and salad he'd made to appease Sam in the middle of the table, then went to pull the cheesy garlic bread from the broiler. "Damn, that smells good," Bobby said coming from the library with Sam in tow, and sat in their usual spots at the kitchen table.

Reaching for a piece of bread, Bobby asked, "Isn't your girl hungry?" Sam's eyes cut to his brother, waiting to see how he'd answer, and watched Bobby's narrow at Dean's casual response, knowing he was concealing something.

"She won't touch the stuff Dad bought, so Dean's been sneaking her food, but the only thing she'll take is broth." Sam yelped and kicked his brother back. "This true, boy?" Dean affirmed that he had, and Bobby wiped his mouth. "Show me the stuff John got."

Retrieving a bag resembling dry dog food Bobby opened it frowning, "This isn't fit to feed a hog, let alone a person! Why'd he get this crap?"

"It's on the list of approved nourishment."

Bobby sighed, "As long as you're in my house, we all will eat like other families."

Completing more paperwork made Dean gnaw on the end of the pen because the bureaucracy involved in owning an Omega annoyed the Alpha after spending most of his life trying to stay off the government radar. A cough drew his attention, and he saw the Omega shivering where she knelt on the tiled floor.

"Fuck this," Dean growled, tossing the clipboard aside, got up, and getting her up off the floor, removed his jacket and wrapped it around her before helping her sit in the chair next to his.

Returning the clipboard, Dean drew the receptionist's ire and let them know he doesn't give a shit about their rules before sitting down, glaring. He continued until they were called and slowly made their way to an examination room at the far end of the clinic, where the doctor Bobby knew was already waiting.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Stevenson. Could you please have her remove the coat and sit on the table? I've looked over the other clinic's paperwork. Are there any other issues you're concerned about?" Dean tells them about her not eating and the constant pain she seems to be in, even with the substantial pain reliever being given. "Let me do another examination, see if something got missed."

The doctor asks the O to indicate pain on a scale of one to ten, starting at her feet and working up her body. They are pleased that most reactions are under five until they touch her neck, and she throws herself off the table. "Believe we found the source," the doctor comments. They ask Dean to remove the collar, and he admits not knowing how it made them frown.

Dean helps the trembling O back up as the doctor pulls out a penlight and shines it over the collar, finding hidden stitching and their expression changes.

"What's wrong?"

"I haven't seen one of these since my residency. I'll find something to cut the leather while you hold her." Dean drew the O flush against him and gently guided her face into his neck, releasing calming pheromones to relax her.

Dr. Stevenson slid surgical scissors under the ties, quickly sniping, explaining the original high collars were redesigned for autoerotic asphyxiation. Their voice fades out as Dean feels like he's having needles pulling out from under the skin of his neck when she drops. "I was expecting that. Let's get the O back on the table."

The doctor continues talking as they slowly remove it, "And this is why they're outlawed," stepping back allows Dean to see deep purple bruises with black depressions stripping the unconscious O's neck.

Part XI

SPN TAGS: @donnaintx  @lyarr24  @flamencodiva   @lassie-bird  @nancymcl   @spnbaby-67 @leigh70 @b3autyfuld1sast3r

Dean/Jensen: @thoughts-and-funnies @stoneyggirl2  @beabutterfly987 @smoothdogsgirl

WF: @slamminmine @ladysparkles78 @deans-spinster-witch @ilovetaquitosmmmm @strawblueberrys  @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @kazsrm67

Sam/Jared: @idreamofplaid

[ancientbygone]

simulacra 3 [take me back to eden]

[sundowning] [tpwbyt]

Sleep's mimic forms of the vessels during the time period of TMBTE, because i can't be normal and start a series from the beginning and not the end.

more info + design breakdowns under the cut:

[obligatory "when talking about the vessels, i'm talking about characters" disclaimer]

background info on the whole idea:

Sleep as a being is shapeless in my mind; more of a concept than a creature. it can manifest as sort of an absence of light in any shape to others, usually to appeal to feeling/emotion. the only "rule" for that is that whatever Sleep tries to appear as cannot look more or less innocent/powerful than Sleep actually is, which usually manifests in two things: the size being different from the thing/person it's imitating, scaled according to power, and/or added features, usually in some way threatening or regal.

one of Sleep's more consistent forms it takes throughout interacting with Vessel is mimicking him, partially to create an illusion of the two being more similar than they actually are and partially because Sleep used to exist as Vessel's shadow when they'd just met. the visual itself has changed through time (you can see what it was like during Sundowning in my Higher artwork), and during TMBTE that visual is pretty much the titular song's character with the most minor tweaks (which is why i didn't draw it separately).

all that made me think about the idea of Sleep mimicking the other vessels just to fuck with Vessel further (to be clear, i am a strong believer that Sleep only interacts with Vessel in any way). so now here are the designs of those mimics during the events of TMBTE, utilizing the album's song characters much like the Vessel mimic. because again, i have to start a series from the end, i guess.

"ii"/ii mimic (song character used: AYROK)

the main idea driving the design of "ii" is the real ii's goal to keep Vessel more or less safe by being by his side in worshipping Sleep, which is the reason he'd decided to become the second vessel in the first place. the choice of AYROK as the character to use in this design is obvious. one of the ideas that stem from that is ii's duty/desire to keep his face hidden for Vessel's sake; only his hands are visible & detailed because that's the only part of him Vessel remembers before either of them became vessels of Sleep and the only part ii has really shown after that. another is ii's timidity in telling Vessel to go against Sleep's will because he fears that no matter how bad it may be, it'll be much worse if Vessel doesn't follow it. that part comes through in the pose - shyly holding his hands together as if they're tied.

"iii"/iii mimic (song character used: Aqua Regia)

the song character inspo being Aqua Regia is mostly because of the calmer nature of the song and the dynamic duo it makes with Vore, less so the themes of the lyrics. also its visual design. iii mimic's design themes are iii's adoration/borderline obsession with Vessel (wearing Vessel's jewelry and having elements of his robe in his shirt + his own face/mask slowly melting off) and his enagement with worship as an act/aesthetic rather than something more serious (the overabundance of jewelry and accessories; the extra arms; the body language; the cuffs around his arms and legs being decorative and not actually restricting). also the rings on his fingers make a checkered pattern.

"iv"/iv mimic (song character used: Vore)

the use of Vore for "iv" is obvious too. song wouldn't be the same without his real life self. the design really just aims to combine iv with the Vore character, but there are two big things here. the simplest one is anger issues, which is why he's So Goddamn Spiky and why his jacket looks like scarred skin rather than painted & customized. the anger mostly shows up in the body language: most of the time "iv" just stares unblinkingly with pure palpable ire in the two glowing dots for eyes, and when he does move it's very stiff and snappy and barely controlled. the other thing is that, simply speaking, the real iv got into this whole mess without knowing the full extent of it and now he's in too deep and kinda losing himself. in the design it's expressed through the human features gradually turning into bug-like, such as the hoodie fading into a segmented millipede-like body and the fucked up mantis hands, and the gold of the original iv's mask melting over the face with the horns being part of it. the spikes protrude from him in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish between jacket decorations and actual parts of his body, but the spines are definitely from his body & allow me to live the dream of iv with a mohawk LMAO

anyway have fun with these go nuts i'll make similar sheets & posts for Sundowning and TPWBYT eventually

[king-mera]

what are your thoughts on frozen empire? What are its failures?

Oy Vey…

I've already ranted my thoughts both in posts and in private, so what can I say that hasn't already been said? I'll just try to summarize my main gripes.

The cast is bloated with too many characters and none of them have enough screentime to properly showcase or develop their personalities. It's honestly a shame too, because Afterlife set up Phoebe, Trevor, Lucky, and Podcast as the new main four Ghostbusters to parallel to the OGs, who could be their mentors. Instead we got the Spengler family, along with Nadim, and lars. It's not as tight and focus as it should be, in my opinion. I don't hate Lars, but his inclusion bothers me in particular because his role could easily be filled by other characters. I don't know why he's being pushed as "the new Egon" either when Phoebe was already shown to have so much in common with him.

Speaking of Phoebe, what the Hell were the writers trying to do with her? In her first appearance she was funny, clever, and brave. She had a temper sure, but only when she was pushed to her breaking point. She also knew how to be a team player, working with her friends and family to prevent the apocalypse. In just her second appearance, suddenly she's snapping at her parents, recklessly causing damage, arrogantly taking all credit for saving the world, and preferring the company of a ghostly stranger over people. Disturbingly enough, she develops a morbid fascination with becoming a ghost herself. Where did this come from? She behaves more like Rowan North from the 2016 film. What happened to the determined young girl who stood up to the god of destruction and refused to die? Now she's locking herself into a metal box and painfully electrocuting herself in a scene that resembles self-harm or suicide. All this to separate her soul from her body just to be closer to this girl she's hinted to have a crush on.

Phoebe never needed a love interest of any gender, explicit or implied. It doesn't serve her story when there were so many other interesting things about her that could've been explored instead. How does she live up to the legacy of her grandfather? Is she worried about repeating his mistakes? Does she struggle to be taken seriously as a child doing an adult's job? There were already two other romantic subplots that deserved focus anyway: Callie with Gary and Trevor with Lucky. Adding a third one at this point just comes out of nowhere. Not to mention all the other elements of Phoebe and Melody's relationship that make it weird, like the age gap between the actors or the fact that melody is DEAD. Even if you ignore the flirty undertones and interpret their interactions as platonic, it's still a toxic situation because Melody is only manipulating Phoebe to release the real villain Garakka.

Garakka fails to impress me, too. He has little in the way of personality or motive. His visual design has a striking silhouette at first glance, but it's rather plain compared to other ghosts in the series. There’s nothing about him that suggests the culture he’s from (what was a frost giant/lich doing in India?). I don't understand why they make such a big deal out of his horns either, they're the source of his power yet he's able to do things without them. The horns are also conveniently locked in the same room as his orb, so he's able to quickly retrieve them. They might as well have stayed stuck on his head the whole time! What's so scary about this guy anyway? He's cold, naked, and skinny. That's not scary, it's just me stepping out of the shower.

Well, I guess Garakka deserves some credit for killing that random store clerk. The only on-screen kill in GB film besides Shandor in the last movie, and it’s some poor innocent bystander. Normally I wouldn’t mind such a thing, but it sucks that Phoebe and Nadim are indirectly responsible for this dude’s death through their irresponsibility. All the characters seem incompetent here. The Firehouse and the new lab don’t have adequate safety measures, and apparently Egon never thought to plan ahead for if the containment unit got full. That last point is a non-issue that just wastes time since the lab has backup units and Garakka breaks the main one from the outside anyway.

There are several moments that come across as mean-spirited and cynical, from Podcast crushing the old lady’s watch (that belonged to her late husband) to Lucky and Trevor cracking sex jokes about Nadim’s dead Grandmother. I complain about Phoebe’s attitude, but it’s not like she has a good support network. Her parents are dismissive of her and Ray doesn’t ask her what’s wrong when she asks if he ever wondered what it’s like to be a ghost.

We get a happy ending when Garakka is trapped and Melody crosses over, but it rings hollow when nobody acted as they should. They only acted how the convoluted plot demanded them to.

Oh and those mini-pufts, how I despise them. They were fine in Afterlife but now they’ve overstayed their welcome and become the new minions.

This whole movie feels like a bad dream and as far as I'm concerned, it's not canon.

[akanemnon]

Hi so I was wondering, what's your process for creating dark world outfits for characters? Yours always look so nice and true to canon!

Honestly I take huge inspiration from Undertale and Deltarune when making outfits for the monsters especially. Generally try to keep recognizable elements so that the designs stay coherent enough. Like how Papyrus still has the big shoulder pads and how his arm and leg bones stick out. For Undyne I used certain elements that mirror her normal armor and from her Undying form, while adding some other aquatic bits. But for all characters I use lots of references from other media and role playing games. D&D and Final Fantasy especially. My first question when designing an outfit for them is always "what RPG class fits them the most?" and then I go from there. Later on we'll see a handful more designs!

[maxmagic]

LONG post featuring my opinions on this design and her concept and also Vivs character design decisions in general

This design singlehandedly made my account rise from the fucking dead because of how much opinions I have on it

TO NOTE : I LIKE Helluva Boss as a show. Is it perfect? No. Do I think it has issues from both writing and design aspects? Yes. Do I like it regardless? Also yes. You can like a show and still have criticisms of it. Also Viv has answered some criticisms about Beelzebubs design and I will talk about them too

Final warning cuz this is LONG and rambled at points

By this point we are all aware that once a new character gets revealed in Helluva or Hazbin , there's always opinions on it.

But Beelzebub truly takes the cake on how divided people are on her design. People either adore it or hate it with a blinding passion (and some just don't like it cuz they have a Viv hate boner).

I have to say I actually really like it as a stand alone design. Remove her from the story and context it's genuinely an appealing design with fun and bright colors. I personally don't mind the early 2010's sparkle dog look. It has a nostalgic charm to it and if you followed Viv for long enough you know she really likes that aesthetic. She has good colors and color placement and my main real dislike is the weird hair.

And she's animated BEAUTIFULLY !!! Real props to the animators for being able to make this design look nice in motion because god lord is it complicated. This will be a criticism later, but again, its really amazing on how they made this design look good even though we all know this must have been a real bitch to animate.

The real issue that come to me with her design is when you put her in the show and have to think about who she is, what she is, what her lore is ect.

Firstly: Her not being 'lore accurate' kinda falls flat given that none of the designs thus far have been accurate to what they're based on. Like Asmodeus has elements that tie him to his demon name counterpart (with the rooster tail and 3 faces) but they're more allusions then design inspirations. Lucifer is literally just a top hat twink and Mammon (even tho we haven't seen his full design yet) is clown/jester themed. Viv has made it clear that this version of hell isn't supported to be an accurate depiction of biblical hell. So she can really do whatever she wants with her interpretation. Her not being an insect, although disappointing since we don't really have that in the show, is only just a matter of personal taste.

HOWEVER there's still a lot of discrepancies with her design.

So she's supposed to be a Bee-Fox hybrid... Where's the bee??? Like take away the hexagon background, where is the bee part of her design? She has antenna and wings but... They don't really do much. The antenna are fine and its smart they placed at the tip of her ears, but the wings are straight up not bee wings!!! They look more like pixie wings and they're so small half the time I forgot they were there. Couldn't you have added.. idk some stripes?? she has stripes on her ears but they don't look like bee stripers more so general Viv design details. It's weird given she uses stripes so heavily in other designs yet the BEE character doesnt. Maybe add some fuzz like how bumblebees have?? Maybe trade that stupid lava lamp tail/hair if its too complex. I really don't like how she has normal hair and also a weird liquid part and liquid tail. It adds too much visual noise and just doesn't gel well wit the rest of her design. Her lava lamp stomach too just feels like needless addition of animation work for something that just doesn't add anything. Her colors ( despite being nice) kinda clash against all the other hellhounds who have a muted black/grey/red color pallate. It makes her look like an 13 year olds OC thats been edited in

Literally the only things that changed are her colors, size and eyes. In my opinion this should have been her base design because the colors and bug eyes lean into more of the bee aspect. Plus with these colors she fits more with other hellhounds.

Like right now the normal design feels 97% fox with just the most subtle bee elements slapped on. If it wasn't for the background, look me in the eye and tell me this design is a fox bee hybrid.

She also doesn't feel like a prince? She's dressed very casually and doesn't have nearly have enough of an imposing vibe. I didn't know she was a prince until it was said in show. I thought she was just some high rank demon performer. Its kinda disappointing given how grand, larger then life look and energy Asmodeus had. They were introduced in the same way via big song number, but Asmodeus felt like a Prince of Lust, Beelzebub felt more like a performer of Gluttony rather then a ruler.

Also why if she a hellhound in the first place? i saw somewhere on twitter that its cuz her people are hellhounds but that doesnt make sense. Lucifer isn't a human and Asmodeus isn't a succubus, so why does Bee have to be a hellhound? We know that hellhounds are the lowest ranked amongst hell natives, so how do people outside of gluttony feel about her? She is treated like royalty but is also a hellhound, the lowest demon. It causes a needless paradox that makes you question the worldbuilding of the show.

Also why are hellhounds the lowest rank in hell ? and why are they associated with gluttony of all things? I am going to be honest when I say I completely forgot they were native to gluttony because gluttony has a beehive aesthetic and like wtf do dogs have anything to do with it . Like other demons shown have themes that tie them into their respective prince or sin, but we aren't shown why hellhounds in particular are gluttony. Like it feels like a minor thing but when you present information about worldbuilding and show stuff that contradicts it, people will question it.

And why is she dating a hellhound? Or more so why is she so open about it. Like its been shown in the show that Stolas and Admodeus dating imps is a taboo thing so her being so open about her relationship with someone whose even lower then an imp. Again its going back on lore and worldbuilding being contradicted. If you're going to make rules for a show, stick to them.

I'm putting these two side by side cuz I have the same complaint about them.

How are we suppose to know this?? First the gluttony ring severally lacks any circus motifs (it has more of a bee theme then a circus one), but Bee ESPECIALLY doesn't have ANY hints at being circus themed, let alone animal trainer.

I knew that all the princes had a circus theme but from I (and from what ive seen in other comments) though she was an acrobat or like dancer of the sort. Literary nothing in her design says she is an animal trainer. And also the hippie 60s spirit is also not anywhere in the design. Just because a design choice is clear to you doesn't mean its clear to everyone else. A good design makes its points across loud and clear so everyone can understand it. This really feels like she's making it all up as people ask. She probably isn't but it really comes across that way. You cant just say something about a design that just isn't in the design or its not shown properly. This is an issue a lot of Helluva and Hazbin Hotels characters have (look up any of their trivia and you'll see how bad some designs are communicated), but with Bee its emphasized tenfold because she's suppose to represent all these different things (fox, bee, prince, party girl, animal trainer, DA sparkle dog, 60s hippie free spirit) at it just isn't conveyed or is put in such a way where you cant clearly tell what it is. It honestly feels like Viv had in mind to have a Kesha pop party girl character and just made her a prince. Shes trying to justify all these things and saying them like they're obvious when they're clearly not!

This design suffers from having too many ideas slapped on it that just don't work and actively work against each other.It makes me less excited for the future prince designs

If youve come this far good for you for sticking around to this way too long of a ramble about a probably one off character in a popular indie cartoon :D

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

“I know some say they chose ugly hats because they were jealous. But I think they went over the top because it was the most important wedding of the century yet, so they thought they had to bring some extravagance. Also looking back, their outfits actually matched the time and they also were not the biggest fashion girlies.”

This is a profound misremembering, misunderstanding, lavk of knowledge of the fashion landscape around this time in the UK especially around hats. 

In the 00s, UK went hat/ fascinator crazy. Leading the chargecwas uber stulist Isabella Blow who saw no reason to dress for the day without adding a sculptural, architectural hat. Day and night.

Her hats were artworks created for her by Philip Tracey who she’d discovered and persuaded to work with her other protege Alexander McQueen. Between them, hats/ fascinators design in the UK became fun, irreverent, sculptural and not just for Ascot. Other hat designers followed suit though perhaps not to the same extreme degree as McQueen and Tracey or Stephen Jones. 

Some of Isabella’s hats:

Example 1 | Example 2 | Example 3 | Example 4 | Example 5 | Example 6

Sidenote: a friend of mine was an intern at the Sunday times style section at a time when they also employed Isabella and said it was amazing to see her waltz in wearing fairly normal clothing, but always with a fabulous, sculptural hat. 

Of the royal women, Beatrice and Sophie dove into this hat/ fascinator trend though they mainly stuck to much more classic takes on a trend. Of the two, Beatrice was the more adventurous and showed up at royal events and weddings in much more Isabella hats than Sophie eg

In 2008, for the wedding of a Gloucester daughter, Beatrice wore this hat (left) and went to Sandrigham wearing this hat (right).

Sophie in 2007 - 2010 era

You can see that even Kate’s hats in that 2006 - 2011 era were more sculptural and interesting than they are now. She, like Sophie, stuck to more classic than avant garde takes on the trend, but you can see still see it in the hats she wore then. 

By the royal wedding, Isabella Blow had been dead 3yrs, but her influence was still felt. Infact afew of the wedding guests at WK’s wedding were wearing sculptural hats eg

Victoria Beckham

Santa and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson  ➡️ Link One   |   Link Two

Isabella Branson ➡️ Link One   |    Link Two

All this to say that in the fashion world in the UK at this time, Beatrice’s hat wasn’t unusual or bizarre, and even the most restrained hat designers of the time had incorporated elements of sculputure in their designs for the UK market. 

However, the global public reaction to Beatrice’s homage to Isabella blow hat was so extreme that it scared the movement back to basics. Tracey put out a statement which showed his hurt at public reception it because he was creating his usual sculptural hat and was thrilled that hevwas doing it for a royal wedding. 

Sadly, the madhatter trend went back into the closet and without someone as fearless as Isabella and McQueen to push the envelope as far as fashion/ hats as artwork, we are jow experiencing boring hats, boring fashion and people more willing to buy ‘brands’ rather than fashion. 

I don’t think we’ll ever see this trend again.

But it’s also sad that her choice of hat led people to create the rumour that Beatrice deliberately wore an ‘ugly’ hat to WK’s wedding because of animosity and jealousy.

Beatrice (and all the royal ladies) hasn’t worn an interesting hat since then. Their ascot hats are equally safely boring nowdays. It would have bern interesting to see what they wore now, if they and Tracey/ Stephen Jones and all the sculptural hat designers of old had stuck to their guns and continued with it. 

*******************

Beatrice’s butterfly hat is actually from Peter and Autumn’s wedding, not a Gloucester cousin.

[yuurei20]

Idia Facts Part 47: Idia and Ortho (pt4)

Idia’s guilt over Original-Ortho’s incident is hinted at early on, and in Book 6 we learn what happened: seeing Idia depressed by how his future has been decided for him, Ortho encouraged him to go on adventures while he can.

Idia decides to do just that and takes Ortho along, shutting down the security system that keeps the phantoms in check.

An escaped monster attacks Ortho in front of him, in an incident that Idia now says is “a blank” for him. (“By the time I woke up, Ortho was gone.”)

Idia blames himself for Ortho’s death and decides to take him back, spending two years building Robot-Ortho: “the world’s first self-improving technomatic humanoid.”

Idia’s accomplishment disturbs researchers at the facility where he lives, but Idia decides, “Who cares if he doesn’t have some unprovable, immaterial thing like a soul? My brother’s right here.”

Idia reflects, “Maybe if I hadn’t tried to go on an adventure…or maybe if I’d never wished to be a hero…maybe if I’d never been born into this family at all.”

(Idia seems to have complicated feelings about being alive.)

Fairy Gala IF is a stressful time for Idia, who initially refuses to let Ortho participate (Ortho convinces him through fake crying).

Fairy Gala IF is Ortho’s first time making his own gear (it was designed by Crewel).

When Ortho gets called out for his unoriginal ideas by Vil, Ace asks why he just doesn’t go to Idia for help. Ortho insists that he wants to challenge himself rather than have his brother tell him what he should think.

Ortho does not even tell Idia about the plan he comes up with (with help from the other 1st-year students), with Vil and Crewel calling Idia out for his lack of support in the brother he supposedly has so much faith in.

Idia encourages him with, “Your big bro knows you can do it.”

Detour: about Idia’s use of “big bro”: Robot-Ortho and Original-Ortho are differentiated by how they refer to Idia in two different ways, with Nii-san/Idia for Robot-Ortho, and Nii-chan/Idy for Original-Ortho.

This is important in Book 6, acting as the hint to Idia that reveals who he is really talking to after the island gets taken over, and it is used in a symbolic “passing of the torch” way by Original-Ortho.

But there is a third element on EN that doesn’t exist in the original game: When Idia refers to himself as “Nii-chan,” it was changed to “Big Bro” on EN, when technically it would be “Idy” on EN as it is Idia referring to himself in the same way that Original-Ortho did.

This means that every time Idia refers to himself as “big bro” in the English-language adaptation, it is a reference to Original-Ortho (Robot-Ortho refers to him as “Nii-san” both pre- and post-Book 6).

Idia does so in Book 6 and Fairy Gala IF. I thought that this might be a Post-Book-6 trait, but Idia also did so twice before (removed from EN) and in a vignette.

Looking at all these instances together, it seems “Leave it to your big bro” is supposed to be a go-to phrase for Idia, but maybe EN didn't realize it until Book 6, which would explain why Idia's dialogue was rewritten for English speakers at first.

Much like when an anime is being produced based on an ongoing manga, EN might just not know very much information in advance!

Normally it would not be a problem for certain flair to be added to dialogue during the localization process, but if EN does not know what's coming next, there is a risk of something seemingly innocuous being rewritten only to be later revealed as an important character point--which might be what happened here!

[aen-hen-ichaer]

just saw romulus im so so normal about it NO IM NOT. GOD IM NOT IM GNAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE GAAAUUGH

my thoughts + spoilers under the cut :3

• giger would be so proud of this film. so yonic. so phallic. my god. Every vagina shaped thing gave way to the most sinister form of life. Every penis shaped thing was violently penetrating. Super duper leans into the original underlying themes of SA. got under my skin like crazy

• this film combined all my favourite elements of alien (slow burn immersive horror), aliens (great action) and resurrection (human/xeno hybrid) I literally cannot fault it at all

•the offspring (babymorph as me and my bf dubbed it) BAD BAD SO BAD THROWING UP IN MY MOUTH I was legit shaking and had tears in my eyes I have never been so close to screaming in a cinema. 1000/10 creature design. I knew something horrific and fucked up was gonna happen after the pregnancy reveal but JESUS

• Andy's actor was AMAZZINNNGG. The way he played "regular" Andy vs "evil fuckass weyland-yutani synth" was seamless and perfect and he was my fav character

• Ian Holm's cameo felt...... weird. I generally don't like dead actors being reanimated in cgi anyway even with the consent of the family yadda yadda but... blegh. The cgi felt a little dodgy on his face as well but tbh the glitchy jilted nature of it really added to him being a damaged synth LOL

• references were v cute. might be ott to some but I liked it

•PRACTICAL EFFECTS MY BELOVED. BIG SCARY ASS PUPPETS MY BELOVED. GOO AND SLIME MY BELOVED

• the whole birth scene shook me to my coooorrree. As someone who wants to be pregnant and give birth nothing has gotten so under my skin like that before. The ides of doing your best to nurture what will be your child only for this fucking horror to come out of you.... oh my god......... AND LACTATING THE GOO?? ARE YOU FR????????

• mostly smart characters in this movie which I appreciate! the whole zero g acid blood vortex scene was very funsies

• great score. Calls back to the original but not too much

• PERFECT set design. Felt like watching alien isolation as a movie

• I love that they went back to a more analog clicky buttons/flicky switches aesthetic, the holograms and touchscreens of prometheus and covenant never felt right

• the black goo as an almost intelligent substance is so so fun. It "speeds up evolution" but it's smart enough not to destroy its host outright. The offspring was gestated in an egg sac containing fucking acid BUT it didn't hurt kay (until she birthed it and it no longer needed her)

• also the offspring not growing its xeno tail until it consumed the last of the goo from kay? Very nice touch

• JUST. PREGNANCY AS A GROUNDWORK FOR HORROR. SO UNDERUTILISED. SO EFFECTIVE.

• this films chest burster scene... dare I say....scarier than the original. Watching her ribs crack with the xray machine.... YUCKY

• me and my bf has settled to calling the black goo Promethean Fire. This isn't part of the review I just like that hehe

• when I heard the name Romulus I mentioned to my bf about Romulus and Remus being raised by wolves and I was like "what if this is the start of the crossbreeds like in resurrection?" AND I WAS FUCKING RIGHT BITCH!!!!!!!!!!

•Sound design was excellent, the thumping huge heavy footprints of the xeno felt sososososososo good with the cinema surround sound auugghhg

ANYWAY I FUCKING LOVED THIS MOVIE. If u wanna share any thoughts pls do in insane about this :)

[elfqueen006]

Human Moonpie Headcanons

CW/Tags: AU, parenting, religious bashing, slight horror elements, implied possession, etc.

• Full name is Miranda Durand-Cofer. Is 8-10 years old. Likes cats and princess movies.

• She's still blind but Shaun makes sure she's properly accommodated while not making her feel left out or "othered" from her peers.

• She loves to explore and color. Her favorite colors are purple and pink!

• Very chatty, but says the cutest (and sometimes weirdest) things.

• Wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up!

• Now, I used to have an idea that Shaun had a one night stand with a girl in college and they now co-parent. But after hearing of Olivia and their implied history, this could be applied to them but she mainly resides with Shaun.

• I feel like not only would Shaun be a good dad, but he probably had it in mind when starting his career. He'd have to settle down at some point, right? Though balancing work life and a child can be tricky, especially with the subject matter he portays in his films.

• I feel that now that a child is added to the mix, his uncle, Abraham Cofer, comes down on him much harder. Badgering him about introducing Miranda to "devilment" and "horror porn". Which Shaun rightfully goes off about this, seeing as he would never put his daughter in a position where she would experience anything inappropriate.

• There are times he tries to at least give Abraham updates on her, just to have some semblance of normalcy. And I think Abraham would want to be involved in Miranda's life, but he is an old man who is stubborn and stuck in his ways and probably thinks being involved means Shaun should see things his way about, well, everything.

• If Miranda has the clairvoyance that Shaun is implied to have in the Character Reveal Trailer, there's a chance she'd have the ability to see Sunny Day Jack without watching the tape.

• If we have a co-parenting situation with you and Shaun. Maybe the events likely to happen in the game with go a bit differently. It would still be horror, but with a different approach.

• Kids are not an uncommon factor in horror. They can range from being victims, killers, and even mediators of sorts between the dead and the living.

• Jack loves children! And I think if ever encountering Miranda and she was able to see him, he'd adore being like a big brother figure of sorts. Like Shaun, he wouldn't dare put her in a scenario that would harm her. Still, keeping in mind that he's a yandere, I don't think he'd be above using her innocence to his advantage; planting ideas in her mind that her environment might not be so safe.

• Shaun isn't fit to be a parent, in Jacks' eyes. He's too career oriented, makes indecent material, and is overall too lax in his parenting! If Jack had it his way, Miranda would be under his care 24/7...

• Strange occurrences start happening with Shaun soon. He has more nightmares, calls with his uncle distress him more than normal. It begins to scare you and Miranda so you take her to your parents for a short amount of time so he can calm down.

• After about a month or so of missed calls and frantic texting, Shaun is... completely fine! He'd been attending some therapy sessions and taking some time off work to get his head straight. In fact, he might just go into a different career path.

• He's eager to have Miranda in his arms again, and he reassures you and her that he'll always be here to spend time together... <3

[rollerska8er]

I Did Not Like "Joy To The World" (Doctor Who Christmas Special 2024)

So, last night's Doctor Who Christmas special had a lot to love. The set design is some of the finest I've ever seen in the show, with the time hotel being a magnificent setting that almost invites you to explore. Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor and Nicola Coughlan's (strangely underused) Joy were both on top form, and I really liked the brief but memorable role of Joel Fry as Trev.

I also really liked the character study with Steph de Whalley's Anita, with the Doctor spending a year just living a normal life with someone who, at first, appears to be a flat background character. There's something very life-affirming in the narrative saying that every life, no matter how humdrum and average, is important and does matter.

I was also very impressed with the Fifteenth Doctor taking on shades of the Seventh Doctor during a climactic scene in which he manipulates Joy to explode with rage, which really reminded me of Sylvester McCoy's Doctor breaking Ace's faith in him to save her life. I hope to see more of that next year.

Unfortunately, the show's third act is one of the worst I've ever seen among the Doctor Who Christmas specials, which are rarely when the show is on top form. A complex and interesting time-travel mystery unravels into what I felt was a grim rehash of 2009's "Voyage of the Damned", a Christmas special I also strongly dislike.

I accept that Doctor Who will always have a certain element of darkness to it, but there's "people getting exterminated by Daleks" and "people getting zapped to death by a skull-wearing warrior alien with an electric whip", and then there's "woman dies on Christmas Day but it's fine because she gets to Live Forever As A Star!" (oh, we'll get to that.)

It seems almost like Steven Moffat, the episode's writer, is trying to have his cake and eat it too by saying that yes, every life matters, but also, actually, it's okay if lonely people die, because nobody will really miss them.

The ending was shockingly twee, even by Who Christmas special standards. It felt like I was watching one of those awful Christmas ads with a slow piano cover of I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day which turns out to be trying to sell you M&S Christmas pudding or something.

I'm not alone in my derision of one particular aspect of the ending, which was the incorporation of the COVID-19 pandemic - which only began four years ago at the time of broadcast, and is still ongoing - being a central element of the plot, in particular the image of a woman slowly dying from COVID on a hospital ward.

Perhaps some people saw it as an appropriate emotional moment. I saw it as territory that shows like Doctor Who shouldn't touch for at least fifty years, for the same reason Doctor Who doesn't generally do episodes set during other great recent tragedies that are in living memory. You can't have a show with whimsy and fantasy elements side-by-side with very real horror. One of the few exceptions to this rule, an episode set during the Partition of India, was written by a person from the Indian diaspora, and handled with the sensitivity required. It was not written, of course, by Steven Moffat.

Perhaps people who lost relatives during the worst stage of pandemic would feel differently, and say it was handled appropriately. I personally found it clumsily-handled and utterly tasteless, and I don't think I'm alone in that.

And of course, then there's Steven Moffat's rehashing of his favourite trope: All the people who died horribly in this story? It's okay, because their minds have been backed up to a computer database / star / library and so they get to Live Forever In Space. Aw, how lovely!

Except, of course, the episode seems to depict Joy, a lonely grieving woman, killing herself (and yes, she does kill herself - she takes the decision to end her life to save others) as a heroic act, which is both maudlin and irresponsible. Particularly at a time of year where suicide rates tend to spike.

The fridge horror comes on almost immediately when you think about how someone just disappears utterly from their normal life and is never seen by anyone ever again. Sure, it's a personal happy ending for the characters, who get to live on in a sense, but Moffat seems to love handwaving the fact that, generally, in real life, when people go missing and are never found, this is a horrible tragedy.

A similar story from 2011, "The God Complex", written by Toby Whithouse, also uses this as a plot element, but there it is genuinely played as a tragedy that the character of Rita dies a sad, lonely death facing her worst fear, and her body is never recovered by anyone who cares about her. Here, Joy's heroic suicide is presented as a triumphant and joyous moment.

I'm reminded of Kylie Minogue's character dying in the aforementioned "Voyage of the Damned", which also has a kind of "consolation prize" ending for her character arc, where her ghost gets to explore the stars.

Also, I don't care how glittery and magical you make it appear - the visual grammar of the episode has taught us to understand people dissolving into glittery golden light as dying horribly, so depicting Joy-the-Christmas-Star murdering her mother by disintegrating her is actually not a very pleasant way to end what is, again, supposed to be a CHRISTMAS SPECIAL.

The final reveal is an "Oh, go to hell" moment. I'm not even a Christian and I had to laugh at how painfully obvious that was. I don't think Moffat or Davies really know the word "subtlety".

"Joy to the World" had a lot of promise to start with and it had me engaged throughout, but it unfortunately cries out for someone else to be given the reins of writing Doctor Who than one of the three middle-aged white men who've written the bulk of Doctor Who Christmas specials since 2005.

In short, it wasn't very good, and that's a shame.