#the sun was important

[xxlady-lunaxx]

the air was sweet. cool like stone, but refreshing. it danced through obanai’s hair, ruffling his clothing. he gazed up at the sky. it was different than before when shinjuro had first found him. then, it had been dark. ominous. now it was a peaceful blue, clear and dotted with fluffy white somethings. there was a bright ball of light that warmed obanai. he put his hands on his knees and, while the minutes crept past, he realized that the initial slight chill to the air had been diminished as the sun wrapped its arms around him. he looked down at the ground where a bird had begun to hop. it chirped, a high-pitched, small sound. obanai gazed at it curiously. he watched as it pecked at the dirt, searching. eventually, it flew away. he realized that there was sound behind him, the culprit to the bird’s disappearance. he turned. it was kyojuro, the little boy who was the son of shinjuro. he looked as if he’d just awoken, rubbing his eyes. his hair was a mess, but it was the same marvelous, golden flames of his father’s. he smiled at obanai with childish exuberance. he plopped down beside him, legs swinging where they dangled off the porch. he turned to obanai, looking at him with with the same searching eyes of the bird’s. his eyes were wide and full of life. like the breeze that toyed with the tuffs of grass beneath their feet.

“did you sleep?” kyojuro asked mildly. he peered at him. “you look tired!”

obanai returned his gaze but said nothing. he watched the fiery hair tangle more as kyojuro lay back. he was staring up, and obanai followed his gaze to see nothing but the roof over the engawa. then kyojuro lifted a hand, a finger pointing to where a pillar steadied it. obanai squinted, following the path up to a spider web. it was tucked away, protected from the wind and the sun. obanai had never understood spiders. they had nestled in his room before, even beginning to make homes where piles of food had built up. he didn’t know why they would prefer to hide away. away from the new air and the warm sun. away from the birds that searched and the men who saved.

kyojuro was sitting back up. he looked at obanai. “i think you’re tired,” he said, matter-of-factly. “you should sleep! here”—he patted his lap—“you can put your head here and sleep. mother lets me sleep on her lap sometimes! it’s comfy!”

obanai eyed him suspiciously. when nothing bad seemed to happen, he crawled closer to the boy. tentatively, he lay his head on kyojuro’s lap. it was uncomfortable for his body, which seemed to dangle half off the porch now, so he dragged himself up with a little effort. now he lay vertically, his head on the kyojuro’s lap and his body on the wood. he turned slightly. there. he could see outside too, like this. his eyes searched the grounds, flitting to a tree that sat a few yards from the house. the bird from earlier was back at his treasure hunt, scouring the base of the tree. abruptly, kyojuro patted obanai.

“sleep!” he ordered. his voice was like the bird’s. melodic in its own, sudden way. he leaned down to smile at obanai again. his eyes closed when he smiled. the sunlight poured down his face. he opened his eyes, though his lips remained with the lingering grin. “i’ll protect you if anything happens! like father! so you can sleep, okay?”

obanai gazed up at him uncertainly. he supposed he was tired. he nodded ever so slightly. immediately, the other boy was consoled. he pet obanai once more before leaning back to allow him more room. obanai was hesitant to close his eyes at first, wishing to watch the bird. but he willed himself to anyway. as kyojuro had said, he would be protected if anything happened. and so his eyes fluttered close. still, he saw red, the light filtering through his eyelids. he let his conscious drift away from the color, instead focusing on the warmth. kyojuro was warm. his hand, which had rested previously on obanai’s face for several seconds, had been warm, too. it was curious. obanai was never naturally warm somehow, he seemed to be always cold. yet now, he didn’t notice it. the sun and kyojuro—and then he had a thought. he’d thought that the rengoku’s seemed to embody fire. but kyojuro was like the sun. he was gentle and comforting and warm. so, very warm.

the hands of sleep began to tug obanai’s mind from where it was nestled on kyojuro’s lap. and, for the first time, he didn’t try to resist it. he let himself float away into a dreamland of pretty fires and quiet suns and singing birds. he hoped he stayed here forever.

[chaoticfvckingdisaster]

Something I think about a lot is how Rick Riordan very rarely uses "girlfriend/boyfriend" to refer to Percy and Annabeth within their perspectives. They're so intertwined, even Annabeth says in hoh that the word boyfriend isn't strong enough, because Percy was a part of her. They are a singular soul, too wrapped around each others' fates that regular labels are far too weak for them. But, Rick Riordan uses "boyfriend" a lot in Nico and Wills perspectives, not because they love each other less than percabeth, but to show how much the word means to them. Nico uses it any chance he gets- "his boyfriend," "he actually had a boyfriend," because Nico has never been able to say that before. Their struggle with their queer identities mixed with Nico's catholic guilt and chronic everyone-hates-me disease makes the fact that he has someone to call his actual boyfriend so much more important to his character development.

[verkomy]

BIRTHDAY BOYS

[ontosgold]

summer date ☀️

[phoenixkaptain]

I love it when pre Original Trilogy era shows how much effort went into making the Death Star. It took decades, literal decades, and it took so much money and so many people and it was such a secretive thing and it’s staffed by millions because it’s the size of a small moon.

I cannot express how much all of the added information makes it so much funnier that Luke blew it up.

Luke destroys literally everything Palpatine built. He blows up the Death Star, which was referenced in universe as early as the second movie. He blew up the weapon of mass destruction twenty years in the making. And he blew it up pretty much directly after it’s first and only successful attack. It was operational for fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes that Palpatine had the thing he’d been building for longer than Luke has been alive, and Luke blows it up. First day retirement, but first hour retirement.

Luke convinces Darth Vader to turn back to the light side, a feat thought literally impossible by literally everybody. Sidious clearly doesn’t see Vader’s betrayal coming. Vader’s betrayal was not in his plans, nor was it something he was prepared for. Sidious is a powerful Force user with all four limbs while Vader is a man in the tin can Palpatine put him in. If Palpatine had seen Vader turning coming, he would not have allowed it to happen.

Luke literally should not even be alive. Palpatine almost definitely got Padme out of the way on purpose, and he almost certainly was trying for her unborn child as well (there was way too big of a risk that a cute liddol bebe would bring some humanity back to Anakin, and Palpatine did not want Anakin to have any humanity) Luke living is literally the first step in Palpatine’s ultimate downfall, especially once Vader finds out that Luke is his son. His very alive son. His son that is not dead, despite Palpatine claiming Anakin killed Padme. Implying that Anakin killed Padme and she posthumously gave birth. But, she didn’t give birth on Mustafar, which was the last place Anakin interacted with her. And once the mother dies, you have to get those fuckers out fast or they die too.

I imagine Darth Vader piecing all of this together is that meme with all the math floating around his head, because how could Padme have died by his hand and then given birth like two hours later?

Luke killing Palpatine is what ultimately leads to the dissolution of the Empire as an omnipotent entity. Luke killed the Empire. Luke spends a good amount of his adult life killing Empire remnants. We see that in the Mandalorian, since he’s so recognizable that Gideon immediately knows he’s fucked just by seeing an X-wing. We read it in Legends’ continuity, where Luke terrifies Imperials because he can walk into their changing room and stand in their for a minute and they don’t even notice.

Luke destroyed Palpatine’s life’s work. Everything Palpatine spent his whole life working towards, and Luke kills all of it. He blows up not one, but two Death Stars (he may not have pulled the trigger on the second Death Star, but without him, it never would have been destroyed). He convinces not one, but multiple Sith and Dark Jedi to return from the Dark Side. He is the only reason that Obi-Wan Kenobi, the biggest pain in Palpatine’s ass ever born, lives long enough to make it to the Death Star.

Palpatine went through so much effort. And just when he had finally won, when he finally had a weapon capable of destroying entire planets with a single blast, making it impossible for any planets or peoples to go against him, Luke shows up nineteen years late to the Jedi party with space Starbucks and a droid twice his age and almost singlehandedly destroys everything Palpatine ever had a hand in creating.

Luke manages to become even worse than Obi-Wan Kenobi, the ultimate thorn in the side of politicians, and Luke doesn’t even understand any politics. He wasn’t trained in diplomacy like Obi-Wan and Leia, no, he’s a farmboy who left home for the first time in his entire life, just this morning. And he is the one to destroy the Empire.

If they rewrote Star Wars and had it entirely from Palpatine’s perspective, Luke Skywalker would be his greatest foe. Luke Skywalker would be the final boss. Luke Skywalker is the antithesis of everything Palpatine believes in and he is the one character that Palpatine cannot predict. He isn’t as moldable as Anakin, he doesn’t respond to threats very well, he’s apparently impossible to kill via Force lightning (still the funniest scene of all times, the progression of Palpatine’s face falling and him looking like “what the fuck??? Is this kid rubber??? I’ve electrocuted him eight times???”), his unwavering faith in his father’s goodness makes Darth Vader want to be a better person, Luke Skywalker is the big bad of Palpatine’s story and—

There is nothing in this world that is funnier than someone’s biggest antagonist being Luke fucking Skywalker. Luke Skywalker, who saved the galaxy with the power of love and who shouldn’t exist, by Jedi rules and by Palpatine’s own attempts, and whose best friends are literally droids, which Palpatine canonically hates!

Everything about this is hilarious, this is the funniest thing in all of media, Palpatine loses absolutely everything to some backwater farmboy who fucking likes droids.

[marsarchy]

draw gay monkies making out /srs

Since you're serious

Lil monkey smooch

[oroontheheels]

Me when Eddie Brock is woke:

[jztr-77]

He's boyfailure-ing his way through hell but at least a lil dude thinks he's cool

[reverintherevery]

They own my brain but nothing new.

[twinsunsintatooine]

josh and jim are so twins like that’s human jim right there

[a-voice-for-the-victims]

Sexual Predators In DCA and TSAMS Fandom

It has come to our attention that there have been serious and troubling allegations against Shattered-Sparks. Specifically, Shattered-Sparks has been accused of harming minors within this community. This behavior is completely unacceptable.

Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of all members in this fandom, especially younger individuals who are particularly vulnerable. We are working closely with the victims to ensure appropriate measures are taken regarding their safety.

Despite Lux's claims that the victims are traumatized by each other instead of him, it's important to highlight the reality of the situation. All parties involved were actively engaged in a group chat where we not only discussed the issues at hand but also shared less serious topics like art, hobbies, and interests. This ongoing interaction demonstrates that the victims are not traumatized by each other, as Lux suggests. Instead, they have maintained open and supportive communication, contradicting his narrative.

Even though Lux hasn’t reoffended yet, recent behavior has raised serious concerns about the potential for future harm. Lux has made statements implying they expect to be on a document like this again, which suggests they have no real intention of changing their behavior. It's important to note that true change takes time—usually more than a year—and the last instance of grooming occurred less than a year ago. This short timeframe, combined with their concerning behavior, indicates that the risk of reoffense is still very real.

[guhara]

check out the detailed tweets here & here or you can see full bbc documentary here.

[meridian-cities]

Drew a few things from the last post Glad you guys like my high quality au that I made in less than a minute lol

[serpentface]

how do you come up with the ways cultures in your setting stylize people/animals/the world in general in their artwork, i.e. jewlery, rock carvings, statues, etc? Each culture in your world seems to have a very unique "art style" and I love it a lot - makes them seem that much more 'real'. This is something I struggle with a lot in my own worldbuilding and I'd love to pick your brain if possible 😁

I think a starting point is to have a research process based in the material realities of the culture you're designing for. Ask yourself questions like:

Where do they live? What's the climate/ecosystem(s) they are based in? What geographic features are present/absent?

What is their main subsistence method? (hunter gatherer, seasonal pastoralist, nomadic pastoralist, settled agriculturalist, a mix, etc)

What access to broader trade networks do they have and to whom? Are there foreign materials that will be easily accessible in trade and common in use, or valuable trade materials used sparingly in limited capacities?

Etc

And then do some research based on the answers, in order to get a sense of what materials they would have routine access to (ie dyes, metal, textiles, etc) and other possible variables that would shape how the art is made and what it's used for. This is just a foundational step and won't likely play much into designing a Style.

If you narrow these questions down very specifically, (ie in the context of the Korya post- grassland based mounted nomads, pastoralist and hunter-gatherer subsistence, access to wider trade networks and metals), you can direct your research to specific real world instances that fit this general idea. This is not to lift culturally specific concepts from the real world and slap them into your own setting, but to notice commonalities this lifestyle enforces - (ie in the previous example- mounted nomadic peoples are highly mobile and need to easily carry their wealth (often on clothing and tack) therefore small, elaborate decorative artwork that can easily be carried from place to place is a very likely feature)

For the details of the art itself, I come up with loose 'style guides' (usually just in my head) and go from there.

Here's some example questions for forming a style (some are more baseline than others)

Are geometric patterns favored? Organic patterns? Representative patterns (flowers, animals, stars, etc)? Abstract patterns?

Is there favored material(s)? Beads, bone, clay, metals, stones, etc.

When depicting people/animals, is realism favored? Heavy stylization? The emotional impression of an animal? Are key features accentuated?

How perspective typically executed? Does art attempt to capture 3d depth? Does it favor showing the whole body in 2 dimensions (ie much of Ancient Egyptian art, with the body shown in a mix of profile and forward facing perspective so all key attributes are shown)? Will limbs overlap? Are bodies shown static? In motion?

Does artwork of people attempt to beautify them? Does it favor the culture's conception of the ideal body?

Are there common visual motifs? Important symbols? Key subject matters?

What is the art used for? Are its functions aesthetic, tutelary, spiritual, magical? (Will often exist in combination, or have different examples for each purpose)

Who is represented? Is there interest in everyday people? Does art focus on glorifying warriors, heroes, kings?

Are there conventions for representing important figures? (IE gods/kings/etc being depicted larger than culturally lesser subjects)

Is there visual shorthand to depict objects/concepts that are difficult to execute with clarity (the sun, moon, water), or are invisible (wind, the soul), or have no physical component (speech)?

Etc

Deciding on answers to any of these questions will at least give you a unique baseline, and you can fill in the rest of the gaps and specify a style further until it is distinct. Many of these questions are not mutually exclusive, both in the sense of elements being combined (patterns with both geometric and organic elements) or a culture having multiple visual styles (3d art objects having unique features, religious artwork having its own conventions, etc).

Also when you're getting in depth, you should have cultural syncretism in mind. Cultures that routinely interact (whether this interaction is exchange or exploitation) inevitably exchange ideas, which can be especially visible in art. Doing research on how this synthesizing of ideas works in practice is very helpful- what is adopted or left out from an external influence, what is retained from an internal influence, what is unique to this synthesis, AND WHY. (I find Greco-Buddhist art really interesting, that's one of many such examples)

Looking at real world examples that fit your parameters can be helpful (ie if I've decided on geometric patterns in my 'style guide', I'll look at actual geometric patterns). And I strongly encourage trying to actually LEARN about what you're seeing. All art exists in a context, and having an understanding of how the context shapes art, how art does and doesn't relate to broader aspects of a society, etc, can help you when synthesizing your own.

[spaltedrat]

forest critter vw

[naturesass]

pye (and ideae)