#they just generally have more interesting designs

[elbiotipo]

Project Zomboid is very effective at curbing the "Badass Lone Hero with a Cool Gun" kind of fantasy. Guns are a hinderance. They're loud and completely kill the stealth that is the base of the game, dozens of zombies swarm to you the moment you fire one. If you're an untrained person, reloading them is a hassle, even aiming is terrible (yes, I've played the 42 beta). They're heavy to carry (maybe too heavy) so they prevent you from carrying more vital stuff. Finding ammo is a pain, and this is set in the gun crazy US, I can't imagine how it must be in other countries. Even without all that, they're just very poor weapons, not every hit lands, they jam easily, you can't really use them with other weapons, you're ten times better using your bare hands.

The only way guns work in Project Zomboid is if you have an organized team behind you, covering while you reload, using tactics, etc. Otherwise, they're just a hassle. When I'm searching for loot and I find a cabinet full of guns, in any other game it would be cause for celebration, but in Zomboid I just groan, I'd much rather have found a screwdriver or a hammer, not even as weapons, as tools. (and if you really think about it, finding cabinets full of guns outside a police station or a military base is such an Usamerican thing)

The design choices that led to this are very interesting to me because it's a subversion of something that is prevalent not only in zombie media but in videogames in general: one Guy with a Gun can just mow down entire armies no problem. This is because most games featuring guns, despite all the customization options that border on fetishism (but that's something to be said about Usamerican gun culture that sees guns as fashion items), don't really show how guns are used, besides a token "press R to reload" button, all the difficulties are stripped away so the player can get to mow down as many enemies as possible. Understandable, for the sake of gameplay, perhaps, but I think that a game that shows just how difficult using guns in a stressful or post-apocalyptic situation, and in general, is an interesting subversion.

[smilesrobotlover]

A yiga design for strangers across eras

She’ll be like… a secondary villain, and her named is Kohga. I think it’s a fun idea that the name “Kohga” is passed down from leader to leader, so she’s one leader of the yiga clan. But she’s not much of a fighter, and is more of a sadistic mad scientist. The yiga is way more lowkey here, and some think that the cult is completely gone, but it’s not. What they do is stay undercover, kidnapping random people and experimenting on them for medicinal purposes. Or just experimenting on someone in general if they’re special. Then they’re released and their memories erased. It’s rare for one to die from these experiments, but it does happen. If the person is one of interest, Kohga herself will brand them with a yiga symbol and return to them for more experiments. Like I said, she’s very sadistic and enjoys what she does. If you read my fic “Volunteer”, then you probably guessed that she’s the woman who kidnapped and experimented on Leon. I kinda want her to have a big role in this story and will be very fun to play with.

Her colors and design were a huge challenge and I’m still not satisfied with it so I might change it but here’s this for now

[konnosaurus]

after all this time working on them, konno finally has humanisations!! just these guys for now but there will indeed be more to come. i've had so much fun with these so i hope that you guys like them :3 they Will be showing up alongside my engine stuff hehe!

i'm gonna stick some design notes under the cut in case anyone is interested!:

thomas:

actually the last of these i designed. as always, i find him Difficult, but i am happy with what i have done :3

the bracelet around his ankle was made by percy- james and percy also have them, just in different places. thomas doesn't like things around his wrists or arms in general (no tight sleeves, either!) so has his on his ankle!

originally the jacket was a non-zipped hoodie but it didn't feel Dynamic enough for him, so i decided to go for the open jacket look. it feels more active- perfect for the cheeky lad himself.

he does know how to tie his laces, he just Cannot Be Bothered.

edward:

this design came the most naturally. i didn't really have to do any second guessing or anything- edward is edward and he just felt like edward to me!

of these seven, he is the only one who wears glasses. he is NOT, however, the only one who needs glasses. gordon, james and emily should heed his advice and get some themselves (they will not.)

originally his trousers were going to be a much darker brown, but the lighter just felt a lot more old-man-comforting which i feel fits his pizazz better.

henry:

henry :3

henry is the sort of person to have a little bag that just contains like,, Anything that one could need in a situation. you require an item? henry has it!

the long skirt was initially alllll the way to the floor, but i wanted to show a bit of boot to make it just,, lightly more practical than a full floor-length one. it is a very swishy skirt.

henry has my favourite face/hair design of them all i just love how poofy the hair is and the little EXPRESSIONNNN!

gordon:

mr professionally dressed!

he wears old man shoes because i can't imagine gordon not wearing old man shoes even though he does not consider himself an old man. someone calls them old man shoes and he goes home and cries.

he's got some Muscle to him- beneath those sleeves he has got the p o w e r. also a bit of chink- not all that much, but he is noticably Wide as well as Tall.

james:

my favourite design for my favourite little lad!

i wanted him to be flashy but not Overly obnoxious- his vest is bright and his jewelry is dramatic but he also has some more muted colours. having a scheme is very important to him- the only thing that breaks it is the friendship bracelet from percy that he has on his wrist.

he has long boots because he would have long boots <3

the red strips in his hair are entirely just because he wants to be more red and more colour coordinated.

percy:

his trousers brush the floor because he is not the tallest and the ones he liked weren't quite the right lengths. so many people he knows could shorten them for him but he actually quite likes them like that.

percy gets freckles just because i wanted him to have them hehehe no other reasoning!

his green is a lot more yellowy and bright than henrys more dull and sappy greens, and his red is a lot deeper than henrys more pinky red.

his bag has his little friendship charm on the buckle. he doesn't wear it as a bracelet like thomas or james do- it stays on his bag because he loves his bag and is never without it.

emily:

despite her engine being a dark green, her main outfit piece (the dungarees) is a lighter green. this is Entirely just because i liked how it looked better.

her boots have detailing meant to be like her great race livery!

emily had one of the easiest outfits for me to design- she just feels like a dungaree sort of gal to me, and i just worked from there! the little gold patterns on her dungaree pocket are meant to reflect the big ol wheel pattern on the stirling single.

and there we have it!

[crazyvik97rpg]

Honestly, Sebastian had a blast that day - not being alone for once during the day did him well, grandma Charlotte with her cheery, bubbly personality kept him occupied and curious and James was the perfect addition of the serious, more responsible type. After a tour around the cottage, hey went for a walk, looked around the old town and main square, even paid the antique shop from Mrs Welsh a visit.

Grandma Charlotte found all kinds of curiosities there, happily shopped around - but also James was looking curiously, especially at antique tableware and such kind of stuff. Sebastian was, as always, more interested in chess-related things - grandma Charlotte got curious there, so he explained that his dad was a blatant chess fanatic. So in general - Charlotte could really ask Sebastian all the questions about his family. His parents, what they did, where they lived, if he had many cousins, if he saw them often, about his sister, what she was doing, if she had a boyfriend, where he lived, how Sebastian's grandparents were doing - all that. It was quite a lot to talk about - and Sebastian told her all happily, really. Charlotte loved that his mom seemed to be an active fashion designer - and had James write that down for future reference, heh.

After their cozy little walk, around lunchtime they stopped by a café and had something sweet - hot chocolate, coffee, some cookies. They would have dinner somewhat early so they only had a little snack. But it gave them more chance to talk - and Charlotte talked a lot. And naturally, people in town noticed Mr Michaelis being out and about.

Before they went back to Sebastian's cottage, they still stopped by William's place to feed little Pavarotti and so James could get some things and freshen up a little. They arrived back at the cottage around 2pm, so they had plenty of time left to relax a bit before William would be back home. Honestly, this was going great. While Sebastian prepared tea for them, they chatted casually: "For how long do you plan to stay, by the way? You're more than welcome in our homes, to enjoy our town for a few days", he smiled, just wondering really. He wasn't sure if they disclosed that already.

For I have sinned...

The principal cleared his throat, eyes scanning the notes that he had wrote down before this meeting. It already lasted an hour, and the teachers gathered in the faculty room were becoming restless and bored. But indeed there were some things to discuss, with the concert that the senior class was supposed to perform at the end of the semester, and with recent staff changes. 

William glanced down at his watch, sighing softly. His class was starting in 15 minutes, so at least, whether the meeting will be done soon or not, he will get to excuse himself. He looked out of the window, his mind wandering. Principal’s voice turned into white noise in the background. It was a pleasant day, late summer. But William was looking forward to a slightly cooler weather. Wearing all black could really be bothersome at times. 

“And lastly, I am pleased to announce that we have finally found replacement for the violin teacher. Dear Mr Tanaka, may he rest in peace, was with us for so many years that I’ve been concerned we won’t be able to find someone as good as to fill this position.” the principal spoke. “But Mr… Michaelis, was highly recommended to me, and he indeed has impressive references. He will be starting this week, so please welcome him warmly once he will arrive. Ah yes… about that. He will arrive today at noon, I need someone to pick him up from the train station and bring over for the tour around the school. Any volunteers?” 

William was barely listening, and definitely not paying much attention. He glanced at his watch again, and saw that it was time to leave, as his class was about to start. He raised his hand to excuse himself, and little did he know, he just volunteered.

“Father William! Excellent!” the principal exclaimed. “Just don’t be late, the train arrives at noon.”

“Train…?” William questioned, raising his brow. He had a feeling he was missing something…

***

Right after the meeting, William had to run for the class, so he had little time to clarify what exactly he had volunteered for. He was a piano teacher in this Music Academy, but also he served as a priest in local church. Well respected, and rather liked. So when he later found out it was about the new violin teacher, he didn’t refuse. Who, other than himself, would be a better choice to introduce a newcome to their community?

So even though he raised his hand by accident, he accepted this fate.

After classes, at noon, William took a taxi and drove to the train station, to pick up their new teacher. Wearing black trousers, and a black shirt with a thin tie, was absolutely dreadful in this weather, so William quickly found shelter under the roof of the station platform, that provided some shade.

The train had just arrived. William had no idea how Mr Michaelis looked like, but he figured he will just look for someone carrying a violin case with them. 

He was in for a bit surprise.

@crazyvik97

[midnight-bay-if]

OMG i just have to say the way you write your characters is amazing! Often times when I read books with a large cast of characters a lot of the characters feel like the same and their characters aren't the most distinct but each and every one of the RO's feels like their own individual, with their own voice. If someone threw a random quote from one of your characters in my direction i feel like i could easily distinguish which characters said it because they are each so unique, which is amazing writing on your behalf! 👏 I'm currently working on my own IF and I was wondering if you had any tips on making unique characters or just writting in general? And I hope that your feeling better after your illness and that your writting is going smoothly <3

This is such a nice compliment! 🥺 I'm a little speechless, haha. But this is precisely why I like answering asks from each character's POV. It's great practice, and I've learned a lot about my own characters doing it that way.

Firstly, do not be afraid to start with a trope. They can be great stepping stones to get you started. For me, the beginning stepping stone for the wider story was Umbra. I was going through a really personally tough time when I created them. I needed a way to voice my desperation. Then came N, and with them came the devil on my shoulder. I played around with the character tropes I've loved for so long while figuring out the greater story after. So much of The Midnight Bay was designed alongside the characters.

Empathising with your characters will help you find their struggle and voice. It can be uncomfortable for me to write Umbra at times because so much of my own anxiety has been put into that character, but some people will connect with it, and that's important.

When it comes to finding a character's voice, it's best to start with their background. Consider how the character got to their position and how it has affected them. Their psychology will determine a lot about what they say and how they say it. But equally as important is what they choose not to say, and why.

Their personalities are going to play a large role in their speech. For example, S is a tactician, smart, to the point, but can turn on the charm when desired. All good things, right? Well, yes and no. They have a bit of a hero complex and will always put their teammates in the most advantageous position, even to their own detriment. A fatal flaw of character will always make your characters more interesting. Their best traits can also be their greatest weakness.

Sometimes, it can be fun to switch up which aspect of a character you choose to keep secret. Taj wears all their flaws out in the open, unlike the others. They stand out against the others because their softer side is what is secret.

Also, this is an old tip that gets passed around quite a bit, but it's one I think about a lot; could each of your main characters work as the story's protagonist? Are they fleshed out enough to work as a main character? Can you imagine following them through the main story and still have a compelling story to tell? If the answer is no, consider why not - what's missing?

I'm fighting my imposter syndrome right now in order to deliver these tips, but hopefully, they are helpful and don't come across as pretentious, haha.

This is going to be an anticlimactic final point, but it deserves saying. Writing often is going to be the biggest help. Even if you can only manage a couple of lines a day, it'll help. Some days I really struggle; my imposter syndrome takes over and I feel utterly hopeless. On days like that, I'll search my inbox for a new ask to inspire me, reread my favourite novels or move onto another scene entirely to unstick my brain from its patterns. The most important thing is to have fun with it.

Anyway, hopefully, this was at least slightly helpful. I fear I have just rambled nonsensically, but it's pretty accurate to what my process is like, haha.

Thank you again for such a kind message. It really helped brighten up my day since this illness has been lingering much longer than I would like. I'm getting better as the days go by now, and I'm hoping to get back to work on chapters 3 and 4 starting tomorrow :)

[miladydewintcr]

Your addition about Tevinter fashion was so interesting that I can't help but ask (and my apologies if it was something you spoke about before but I missed) — what are your favorite bits of fashion details in Veilguard? Doesn't have to be just Tevinter :)

This is so sweet?? Thank you!! I'm honestly always about 0.5 seconds from rambling about this stuff at any given moment, but I rein it in mostly.

I've talked about Neve a little on here, mostly in the tags on other posts. This post by @icescrabblerjerky talks about Neve's fascinators and how they're inspired by old noir detectives, and I talked a bit in the tags about how her collar in that same outfit mimics the upturned trench-coat collar also associated with old-timey detectives (Sherlock is the most famous example I can think of). The outfit we first meet her in is also very much trench-coat-adjacent imo.

I will try not to go overboard here but !! Some of my fave other little details!

The Viper's hat! It's a tricorn-- always fun! BUT it works really well here, especially, because actual vipers have triangular-shaped heads? (I am not a snake expert and I believe there are exceptions? But generally) Also-- the little diamonds on the sides of the hat look like snake eyes? And the arrow-sort-of shape in the centre seems like it could be a nod to adders- which are a kind of viper. They have an arrow-like shape on the top of their head! Essentially, this man not only gave himself a cool nickname, but he is literally wearing the Thedas equivalent of a Batman outfit. He fully committed to the aesthetic, and I love him for that tbh.

Emmrich's coat is designed to mimic a ribcage! And not just here- this motif pops up in both of his Hero of the Veilguard armour sets, as well! I also noticed in his cosplay guide that this first outfit we see him in has a sort of waist-chain (more on that in a sec!!) with a gold tailbone that sits above where his real one would be?

And of course there are little skulls all over him, too. It's very reminiscent of the memento mori movement- 'remember you must die'. Historically, this was a way of coping with the inevitability of death in a world without a lot of the scientific advancement we have today. Death was a part of everyday life, even more so than it is for most of us today, but it was still scary. So people made art about it! And jewellery! And songs! As a way to cope with it all, and also sometimes as a way to remember lost loved ones. To have Emmrich, who is afraid of death, embrace this idea in his fashion is just... chef's kiss, honestly. Because it was always a way of trying to face death head-on? And acknowledge it, and make it hopefully feel a bit less terrifying.

Although Emmrich's overall style is very Victorian-inspired (the silhouette, the waistcoat, the chains etc.) a lot of his jewellery actually seems reminiscent of older memento mori pieces? There are some examples held by the V&A Museum that date back as far as the 16th Century that I could see him wearing. It's a really nice touch if that is indeed the inspo, because the Mourn Watch pride themselves as keepers of history. So to wear jewellery like this every day, an eclectic mix of time periods, all tied together by this single thread of remember you must die? It's so incredibly fitting for them!!

Also re. the waist-chain. I'm referring to it as that instead of a belt because to me it looks like the kind of thing you'd hang a pocket-watch on? The looping style is very similar. It's of course a lot bigger, but I think it might've influenced it?

This has gotten really long so I'll stop now, but please know there are a hundred little things I haven't even touched on! So much care was clearly put into each and every character's design, and it brings me so much joy!

[lulublack90]

Prompt 29 - Frost

@wolfstarmicrofic December 29, word count 816

Previous part First part

He took a deep breath and unlocked the door at the top of the stairs that led to his flat. Flat was a generous name for it. Bedsit was probably more accurate. It was all one room, but he’d sectioned off where his bed sat with a collection of blankets he’d collected from charity shops and sewn together. He’d thought the giant picture of a grey tabby kitten on a hot pink background had been funny when he put it in the centre of the fabric divide, but now he felt ridiculous. He cringed inwardly. He could hardly hide it either. It was the first thing your eye was drawn to when you entered the place. 

He heard Sirius snort behind him. 

“Interesting decorating choices,” he said. Remus turned to look at him, but Sirius was only teasing; there was no judgment there—well, maybe a little. 

“Please, sit,” Remus told Sirius, waving his hand towards the bright green sofa he’d got off a guy from across the street who was moving out and hadn’t found anyone to buy it. It was horribly uncomfortable. Whoever had designed it clearly didn’t have a spine, or else it wouldn’t have been so bad to sit on. It did, however, fold flat into a single bed. Remus tended to drop it flat when he used it and piled his duvet and pillows behind him to lean on while he played Crash Bandicoot. He was on the lookout for a replacement, but sofas were damn expensive. 

Sirius sat down and gazed around the room, taking everything in while Remus flitted about tidying up. He’d left plates, chocolate wrappers and, to his absolute horror, a pair of socks on the coffee table. He snatched them up and threw everything in the kitchen area, bar the socks. They went in the hamper outside his minuscule bathroom. 

“What do you want to drink?” He asked, coming back to where Sirius was waiting patiently for him. “I have tea, coffee, water?” He said the last item with a smile stretching his lips, unable to keep a straight face. 

“Hmmm, actually, I’d kill for a cuppa. Black, no sugar. Please,” Sirius answered, wiggling on the sofa, trying to find a comfortable spot. Remus was a bit stunned. You didn’t find many people who drank tea like he did. It was a staple when he went out to remind everyone not to put milk in his drinks. They got it right about half the time. 

He came back with two steaming cups of tea and a plate of chocolate hobnobs. Sirius reached out and grabbed one. 

“I’m liking you more and more Remus,” Sirius beamed at him as he bit into the chocolate-oaty biscuit “Although. I’m sorry Remus, but is there something wrong with your sofa?” He complained, cracking his shoulders as he stretched his back. 

“Erm, yeah, sorry, it's shit. It was free. Here, hop up, and I’ll put it how I normally have it.” Sirius obediently got up, and Remus quickly dropped the sofa flat. He walked behind the blanket curtain and grabbed everything off his bed, making sure there weren’t any pants hidden in them, and plopped them down onto the sofa bed. He manoeuvred his pillows and duvet until he’d made a little backrest for them both. Sirius just stared at him when he was done. 

“Is this your idea of getting me into your bed?” Sirius asked, the corners of his lips twitching as he tried to hold in his laughter. Remus blushed beet-red. 

“Oh—er—no, I swear—I…” Sirius clapped him on the back and got onto the makeshift seating. He shuffled until he was comfortable and looked up at Remus expectantly. Remus didn’t know what else to do but sit down and turn the TV on.

He couldn’t remember what he’d been watching, but when he turned the DVD player on, the beginning of an episode of A Touch of Frost was playing. 

“Are you watching Frost?” 

“Er yeah, the entire box set was in the charity shop down the road for a fiver and I couldn’t pass up the bargain. I don’t have a TV licence, so I just watch DVDs…” He petered out. He didn’t know why he kept oversharing. Sirius didn’t need to know all this. “I have loads of movies and stuff if you want to pick one?” Sirius turned to him with his mouth aghast. 

“Are you mental? Don’t you dare turn Frost off,” And just to make sure Remus didn’t, Sirius snatched the remote out of his hand and put it out of his reach. Remus was slightly taken aback, but when he sat back and Sirius moved so he was pressed up against Remus, he forgot to care, and they watched a few episodes of A Touch of Frost while they drank their tea and munched their way through the biscuits.  

Next part

[steveandthesea]

Welcome to capitalism.

Those "solutions" aren't solutions. Many of the discussions from actual experts are very much along the line you're taking; electric cars and low carbon flights aren't the answer - trains and busses are. Redesigning cities and infrastructure that focuses on people's needs rather than being designed around the car is a solution. Simply not buying excessive crap is a solution. Education is a solution. Wealth distribution is a solution. Holding major companies to account for their impact is a solution.

But capitalism and capitalist ventures speak much louder than experts and scientists. Elon Musk has far more influence and power, and his products are far more exciting and interesting than "maybe just make buses work?"

Under a capitalist economy, nothing happens unless it makes money. Under a capitalist economy, you turn resources into wealth. Climate solutions typically revolve around reducing resource demand, and that doesn't make money. Decentralised power grids don't make as much money as forcing everyone to get their energy from a power plant. Public transport doesn't make as much money as cars, even cars reliant on the aforementioned electrical grid.

If you want to hear the actual discussions around solutions to climate change, you have to look beyond anyone who is trying to sell something (or anyone who is trying to get backing from investors). Whether that's carbon capture, or electric cars, or anything else that doesn't involve just generally reducing what we do and what we have.

Idk how to put this but I always end up feeling that discussions around sustainability seem to center the lives of upper middle class people. I am not in the position where I could even consider purchasing an electric car. Choosing lower-carbon flights doesn’t matter if you can’t afford airfare. Paying triple for “sustainable” food at the farmers’ market isn’t an option when even Aldi feels expensive.

And I’m not saying that people who have more options available to them shouldn’t try to make thoughtful choices, I’m saying that I’d rather see buses that run on time than more electric car chargers.

[fierykitten2]

Well that was a disaster (Knight probably doesn’t think it was that much of a disaster. It got to beat the shit out of Kieran’s Hydrapple as punishment for when he made Spriggie and Cherry cry. Char on the other hand was out pretty quickly after she swapped in). Passionfruit swapped out twice (the second time was an accident, I wasn’t paying attention when I selected Volt Switch. Not that I was paying that much attention the first time either), Orange, Spriggie, Char and Cherry all fainted at some point and two of Kieran’s Pokémon had to knock themselves out

On the plus side, two new Master Balls so now I have three. I guess once I beat The Indigo Disk I’m gonna go and focus on Master Balling the Swords of Justice (to be fair I wanted to do the Legendary Birds early even though I vastly prefer the Swords of Justice but who cares I’m doing the Swords of Justice first now. May need to work on some names for Terrakion and Cobalion bc I’ve only thought of one for Virizion)

[hildegardladyofbones]

One of the best things about Disco Elysium by far is that it does not fear ugly women. The world is full of ugly men, but ugly women are so hard to come by.

[fae-morrigan]

Y'know, I see a lot of people argue that like, Jay is ugly. Why does Jon like him? And I've made it clear I disagree, because, like, cmon:

That is OBJECTIVELY a handsome man, and I'm a lesbian, lmao.

But like. If he was. ... So?

I actually think it's pretty cool that DC was like, yeah, Superman fell in love with a guy who cuts his own hair with dull scissors and dresses like oscar the grouch. He's a little weird to look at, maybe he's not the most conventionally attractive dude, but SUPERMAN found him wonderful and wanted to kiss him on the mouth.

That's... great? Like that's great. There's no universe where that reading of the text isn't awesome and empowering. Queer love should transcend looks and social status, and a huge part of queerness is finding beauty in the 'odd', anyways.

[otterloreart]

I am going to use this opportunity to infodump about my ideal g4 pony, but please know i mean this respectfully and im not just trying to be contrary, but this post comes back every once in a while and I've wanted to add to it for a while, especially since I've gotten more g4 toys myself

The funko pop vinyl MLP figures are accurate on a technical level... from a specific perspective, in their display poses and from their display direction.

They can't be show accurate in 3D because the animation of MLP:FIM breaks the rules of perspective a ton, especially in the face. They are "fake it til you make it"-ing the 3D perspective by making it look nice from one angle- which is my problem with like 75% of the original line of MLP:FIM toys anyways.

...and in addition to not having any poes, in my opinion most of their expressions look very blank. (maybe thats just because i hate the funko brand so much tho lol)

I really dislike the very literal interpretation of the MLP:fim style. It's best exemplified by this pinkie pie funko:

ive heard a lot of people give the original blind bag pinkie pie shit for looking "not show accurate" but to me, this is at least an actual interpretation of curly hair, not balloons:

Personally, I prefer to aim for a toy that doesn't follow a super literal interpretation of the show and because I'm more fond of the older sculpts I am interested in sculpting more detail into them, not less.

That's why I gave Twilight a more pronounced chin/separation between the chin and muzzle, a slightly larger body, and indents for the eyes-

IIRC none of the toys I could find even had indents for the eyes, which like, to me is just a sign of lazy manufacturing. If you don't have eye indents you don't have to line up the eye screening (which is why my Candace toy has messed up eyes... sigh)

Some of the later toys actually did get slightly larger muzzles and more dynamic poses, which I would have preferred, but I think their eyes look way too goofy on their perfectly round faces:

I do think the average Tempest looks better because of her large, more sculpted muzzle; I also generally prefer the Princesses because they have more detail too!

The pose in g1 MLP terms just refers to the mold, and I am particularly fond of them because the pose gave each pony more personality rather than just standing there:

(Mimic Pose, which is what i based this Twilight off of)

I never liked the g4 poseable figures because I think their... "shoulder" and "knee" joints look way too wrong. On any other horse toy you can see why: that "shoulder" joint is technically two joints, the shoulder and elbow, while the middle one is the wrist.

Lauren faust is very good at adapting horse anatomy to a cartoon, its just the top of the shoulder doesn't appear in most 2D visuals- like in the original My Little Ponies, it blends in with the body

but the toy designer appears to have looked at the 2D visuals instead of considering how a horse looks, which to me produces. extremely ugly ponies. just my opinion, as someone who looks at too many horses, and horse toys. the animation and the 2D style can break the rules of physics, but breaking it too often leaves the result a jumbled mess.

now, is it presumptuous for me, a person who has been 3D modeling for a scant 2 years and has no professional experience or formal education to speak of, to say i think that a massive company full of talented designers did a poor job at interpreting this childrens toy? hm.

well in retrospect I would change the hoof and face to look more like the above (with the spiral horn, its just late and i dont feel like fixing it), and i would have the hair styled straight but i still think mines better

nobody tell my twilight sparkles, they'll feel worse than they already do.

My dream gen4 my little pony toy

The discourse has long since passed on this since MLP Gen 4 has been out for years, and now they have the g5 toys which are even worse, but anyways.

I think its a real shame they didn't make the g4 pony toys have like... any poses.

Lauren Faust has such a dynamic artstyle and I understand how it was hard to make into 3D but I refuse to believe this was the best they could do:

When theyre posed they have ugly little tube legs and no elbow. I think lauren fausts artstyle works with horses because she actually tool the time to look at horse anatomy and make it unique and stylized but these look so bad and not even very dynamic when they do do the poses but usually they dont do any poses at all.

[sysig]

Pretty clothes for you! ✨ (Patreon)

[front-facing-pokemon]

[thoughts-of-bear-undercovers]

Idk I personally disliked it a whole lot. For me the general feel of the movie was "we have the rights to this big franchise and the kids these days like anime so now let's merge the two so we can make even more money". Like, at some point I was wondering if anyone in the making of this film even bothered to go deeper into the source material. Obviously there's spoilers in my review:

First thing I noticed was that they had spyglasses. Which didn't make sense and already killed part of the immersion for me. I mean, LOTR is based on a somewhat medieval Europe inspired world and a 17th century invention did not fit in that world. The whole point of "Legolas, what do your elf-eyes see?" is kind of that they did not have spyglasses (otherwise Aragorn would've had one as a pro ranger).

Second, there's some logical errors that just made the whole story crumble in my eyes.

How on earth did the Haradrim get into Rohan? Did they use submarines to swim up the Anduin in order not to be detected by the whole of fucking Gondor? Did they bribe Gondor to let them through? Did the whole ass oliphaunts-and-mercenaries-procession climb the White Mountains? Or did they put the oliphaunts on boats and drove up the Isen? How did they get into Rohan?? How?

I understand that this is how it's described in the appendix but if you're not super familiar with that (which I assume most of the audience isn't, including me even though I've read the books several times, which is more than what the average viewer has regarding lore knowledge) then that seems pretty unreasonable. Not talking about the "you don't want to marry me and your dad killed my dad in a fair fight after my dad provoked him which is totally unforgivable" motivation of the main character, which is kind of ridiculous.

Speaking of ridiculous: the siege tower of Wulf, a masterpiece in physics-defying engineering and a testament to the superhuman skill the people of Dunland and their mercenaries have. They built this thing in like a day? In the freezing winter? In a valley that does not have trees in it (at least not usually; looking at you Fangorn)?

What even is that???

Oh and another thing:

Girl who has lived her whole life in a grassland where the hill on which her house stands is like the highest mountain is suddenly a climbing expert and can do that without breaking a sweat and guess who she goes to see? the extra special white Eagle who she is friends with because she fed it one (1) time.

I mean I like having a female lead that doesn't concern herself with love and marriage and the likes but Hera was not really much more besides "strong badass woman". At least her body proportions were realistic, I'll give the movie that.

Another thing that bothered me is that they essentially recycled the great epic scenes of the original movies for the audience to go "ah, this, i recognise this" but by doing that removed the unique emotions that accompanied these scenes. Most memorable example for me was the war cry of the people of Rohan, where in the original films you have this 5 minute scene with epic music and Theoden riding along the line of his soldiers and leading them to their (most likely) death and in "War of the Rohirrim" it is reduced to this 10 second clip with less epic music and just general idk irrelevance. Same thing with the Watcher in the Water, that was randomly there too, no reason except for showing the audience something familiar without much effort.

Which reminds me of another weird design choice the movie made. The oliphaunt in that scene had slit-pupils? An elephant and generally animals of that size and build are not predators. The do not have slit pupils because they don't stalk their prey? whyyyy???

And last among the more major things that bothered me about this film (not last in what smaller things bothered me):

I do not understand much regarding Anime as a genre, I've never been very interested in it and won't likely be but even I noticed that sometimes the frame rate was just too low. Like sometimes the animation looked more like some cheap stop motion than a smoothly animated film. I noticed that the first time Hera saddled her horse, I think. My friend (who knows like every anime in the world [at least it feels like that]) said it was probably the detailed backgrounds that caused this, because they put more effort in them instead of drawing more frames for a scene but while i do appreaciate the backgrounds (the style was good imo) I do think for a franchise like Lord of the Rings you can expect both detailed backgrounds and smooth animation.

And my friend in question also disliked the anime even though she doesn't know much about LotR, she said by anime standards it was not very good either. I don't know enough about anime to question her judgement in that regard.

So anyway, that was my rent and I don't recommend wasting money on watching that in the cinema.

Some of the reviews for War of the Rohirrim, mentioning that "it doesn't justify its existence" makes me remember how absolutely soulless professional "critics" can be. It's a good movie, it respects the source material, it stands on its own. What more do you want?

Yeah we can point out the problems with the film, cause they do exist, but saying "This was only made to extend the IP" shows a lack of knowing what you're talking about, because there are so many other softball methods of doing that. Specifically choosing the story of Helm Hammerhand, expanding it in a way that does feel rather Tolkien-esque, and having it be an anime does not feel like a safe move, even if it is attached to one of the most recognizable fantasy franchises. If it was just an IP thing and nothing else, it would have been much safer.

Not to mention how a certain other Middle Earth adaptation has so thoroughly poisoned the well for adaptations. This movie is how interpretation and expansion of Tolkien's works, or any source material really, should be done.

As a fan of Tolkien, fantasy in general, and anime, I definitely recommend going to see War of the Rohirrim in theaters.

[cheriafreya]

I can't believe I'm gonna say this but... I'm starting to consider taking a break from Genshin and just go play Wuwa instead for once 😬