#very gracefully

[wish-i-were-heather]

remember how there's a tree in my room?? it just fucking fell down.

[abyssal-ilk]

very fun to me that the only inner circle members that don't show up to the wicked grace game are vivienne, leliana, and solas. everyone else is there but them. it could be for any number of reasons but i like to think its because all three of them are EXTREMELY competitive. solas can't handle losing to anyone, vivienne can't handle losing to half of the table (esp solas, sera, and blackwall), and everyone's too scared of leliana to play against her. it's all fun and games until one of these three sits down to play

[copias-juicebox]

12 gifs of the princess twirl x

[spkyart]

First impression

[bikebian]

all that talk abt how 2019 billiam is like stupid but this is also 1990 bill

[lullabycures]

i keep thinking about robert smith in his big boy age of 60+ and the comments i sometimes see about him (not here, but on youtube and ig) and our perception of older people and aging and alternative people in general.

i think there's this really pervasive idea of aging gracefully and how more alternative looking people don't fit that idea. robert smith is older now, not young and skinny, but he still does the iconic hair and makeup. and some people don't like that. that same style that he has held most of his career.

perhaps people have an easier time with the idea of young people being alternative, looking countercultural, raging against the machine. but when you get older you're supposed to "age gracefully" (= conform to society's expectations of older people). somehow it's not graceful to be yourself, be different or alternative. why don't we let old people to have the same self expression we applaud them for when they're younger? (i know there have always been people provoked by his look, but imagine being mad about a man in makeup in 2024)

robert smith is wonderful as he is, wrinkles and messy makeup and grey bird's nest and all.

[littl3d0ll-art]

Here kitty kitty

[sonoftydeusthemusical]

I really wanna do some fanart for SoT!! How do you picture your Diomedes? Be as specific as you’d like!

Oh my! :O We did not expect this so soon, but thank you so much for this ask !!!

Here's our design concept for Diomedes:

Our design is based on the myths and sources & symbolism for the musical, but it might end up changing in the future with voice actors or other changes to the storyline!

General looks:

golden/tawny eyes (appearing grey sometimes?)

probably quite tan and dark haired

his beard is rly short (just enough to count as a beard at the beginning of Troy) but a full/mature beard over time especially after Troy

Tydeus is said to have been short, but we like the idea of Diomedes eventually outgrowing him, physically (and his armour) as well as symbolically

Clothes:

subtle olive branches and leaves woven onto the hems of his tunic, maybe owls too (hinting at his connection with Athena)

his base colors scheme are probably red, pale & golden

potentially a golden circlet to symbolize his rule (if he's not wearing the helmet)

a lion shaped pin that holds up his cloak

a mesh shirt underneath his armour

Armour/Weapons:

a bronze spear

a sword from his father, adorned with a lion and a boar

a round shield ornamented with the image of a boar

potentially a helmet with boar tusks and a horsetail ornament (these are all mostly based on the descriptions in the Iliad and historical/archeological finds, could help with references)

leg splints (optional)

Curiass made by Haephestus

breastplate from Tydeus, blessed by Athena, also with a boar→ he exchanges this one with Glaucus during Troy, so afterwards, he wears a different armor

Boars and lions are VERY prevalent in his symbolism in the Iliad

Overall for his design the earlier sets of armor are very clearly tied to Tydeus' legacy, and as time goes along we can see Diomedes' outward appearance visibly become less and less like Tydeus

Scars:

Before Troy:

a scar on his weapon wielding hand (symbolizing the oath of the Epigoni: the other members of the Epigoni also have such scar)

talon scars on his shoulder (symbolizing Athenas influence)

a (longer/larger) scar on his back, from the events of the Epigoni (symbolizing the backstabbing in regards to his wife and then entire kingdom, also the whole epigoni mission backstabbing him in every way, with his family members dying (Aegialeus, Adrastrus - leading to him marrying Aegialia, which leads to the betrayal after Troy -, Oeneus, Tydeus and even Thesander dying later before Troy, as well as symbolizing his initial vulnerability/youth in the Epigoni, he did not make it out of there unscathed)

During Troy:

scar on his shoulder (an arrow, right before he fought the gods, human inflicted)

scar on his foot (an arrow through his foot from Paris)

Scars from the Gods:

burn scar from Aphrodite's ichor that splayed on his wrist/arm with which he held the spear, a scar that look almost pretty - something beautiful to look at, that causes a lot of agony - not huge, but just enough to be noticeable

the scars from Ares ichor are more noticeable and harsher, a more violent version of Aphrodite's burns, just a light dusting of scars, a speckled scarring effect where the ichor hit his breastplate and sprayed to his more exposed skin: a little on one side of his face, heavier on his arms and a bit on his legs too, a fanning effect of explosion scars radiating out from his heart

the scars from the gods blood's both have hints of gold remaining

After Troy:

throat scar form the time he almost got sacrificed to Ares

Dares the Phygian

This is the most description we get in any ancient sources about Diomedes' "appearance", though they don't really apply to his looks itself (and they're also a later addition, but we take what we can get!)

courageous

steady

graceful self

somber expression

most active in war

filled with shouting

hot angered

impatient

not acting by feelings

daring

Of course you're VERY welcome to take creative liberties as you want :D These are merely our thoughts we had so far, though we by no means want to restrict your creative freedom!

Thank you so so so much for this ask!!!

Genuinely we had a LOT of fun thinking about our interpretation of Diomedes

Initially we expected to keep it very vague but as we kept talking we ended up with a bunch of ideas that barely let us sleep ^^"

[empyreansentinel]

since ive started my most recent playthrough of the series im just. constantly reminded of how shitty of a hand the bandits got dealt. starting with dahl dumping thousands of convicts into pandoras penal colonies, as well as establishing civilian settlements like fyrestone. this went on for generations, maybe. long enough for zed to be born and go grey. atlas shows up, chases off dahl and the planet is put under new, neglectful management. this opens the prisons, and the "unworthy" convicts clash with the "worthy" dahl settlers for resources. violence breaking out is inevitable because violence is the only thing the bandits have. BL1 VHs come in, killing their way through every camp and mine and settlement they can get into, for no other reason than Bandit Bad and theyre in the way of our money. lets go into their homes and kill them because they would have probably tried to kill us if we hadnt. the first people they meet are settlers, of course theyre going to feel this way. the only pushback they get is atlas trying to "protect" barons territory because they want the vault key from his men. and it doesn't stop them from throwing him to the wolves once his value as bait outweighed his value as an asset. atlas sends them after flynt with the false promise of a key fragment, something the VHs have killed for before, so why would this be any different? the vault key is reformed. destroyer pops out of the vault, cracks open the planet, and then hyperion hits pandora. i dont need to explain hyperion. everyone, if nothing else, has played BL2. more prisons, more exploitation, this time on a scale several times that of dahl or atlas. but the bandits still dont get the benefit of a doubt, even though they are facing the same dangers that sanctuary does. and worse, seeing as how they dont have a flying city with a bubble around it. once the BL2 VHs touch down, theyre mincemeat. all of a sudden, theyre fighting a war on all fronts. so they lose their leadership. captain, flanksteak, mortar, nisha in 2. nine-toes, sledge, krom, baron in 1. and they also lose a good half of of their population to boot. so...what can they do that wont get them steamrolled by pandoras benevolent saviors? they unite. BL3 rolls around and every bandit clan on pandora has been assimilated into the COV because that is the only level of security they have left. except it still isnt safe because now theyre quite literally being eaten and mutated by the ones who are supposed to be protecting them. and then theyre still being mowed down regardless, because the calypsos dont provide any real kind of safety, they just have a veil of community. which is then lost when the twins die and the world almost gets destroyed by the great vault. and now the crimson raiders are...leaving, maybe? which might be for the best. maybe what this planet needs it just to be left the hell alone.

[sleepanonymous]

After Red Rocks, when I got out of my post-concert shower I laid in bed and made this list so I wouldn't forget some important details of the ritual. I was gonna turn this into a cohesive post but I'm home and I'm lazy so you get screenshots instead 😅

[samipekoe]

this is probably a common question but roughly what is your approach to anatomy? i’m into biology in itself so that + nude figure studies have been so so helpful but your lines are so effortless and confident and stylized while still carrying so much raw human weight. that is especially why i love your 18+ stuff because it feels tasteful and real and not just gooner slop 😭. you have a very very good understanding of how fat and muscle sit on the body and i’m impressed thoroughly

😢 thank you so much! my go-to for learning anatomy was live drawing! not classes though but just watching people in motion and drawing like that. I still have a habit of staring so much at people when I'm outside mostly bc im thinking about drawing the shapes I'm seeing that I have to catch myself to not weird someone out LOL

after having a good enough grasp on anatomy then it was learning what to exaggerate and how I wanted to do it! many of my favorite artists who I dutifully copied as I learned how to draw are all animators so I picked up a lot of quirks from that despite not animating myself lol bowed legs and such

and LOL I'm grateful I'm above goon sloop..I think its impossible to come away from live drawing without appreciation for all kinds of bodies! and all the less flattering angles of them. I think its what adds a lot of charm and warmth to erotic scenes :-)

[littleragondin]

"But Kikunosuke-sama ... please don't give up on trusting others."

[utilitycaster]

Not a longtime follower, I saw in one of your posts you imply to dislike Otohan as a character. Can you elaborate (or direct me to a post where you did elaborate and I missed)?

Oh there's not much to elaborate on. She's boring. Her mechanics are great and she serves as a formidable threat to Bells Hells but in the same way that a giant razor-sharp swinging axe does: lethal and frightening, but not a particularly good compelling conversationalist. We know virtually nothing about the Apex War so "Legend of the Peaks" carries very little weight. She never actually had any real conversation with Imogen, just a weird appearance in a few of her dreams and a bunch of confusing threats in an attempt to perhaps exalt her (?) when in retrospect I actually think Imogen probably exalted in Gelvaan and that's what led to her nearly killing a couple of people. I don't know why she specifically joined the Ruby Vanguard or began recruiting others, how she got involved with the Paragon's Call, her past relationship with the Raven Queen, why her tactics on Ruidus specifically changed from "preserve Imogen" to "kill 'em all" or like, literally anything about her. Like...I've been guilty of this in my home games but sometimes you come up with a sick-ass NPC build and forget to figure out like, the rest of their deal, and even if that's not true and Matt had a rich backstory for her that simply didn't come up, she felt like that.

[bestcadaverinthejujutsumorgue]

All the clans are clearly mentally ill, that’s the trade off to being hereditary aristocracy clinging to antiquated power, you get the brain demons. The cursed techniques come with curses. But whereas the Kamo keep their embarrassments locked down tight (curse wombs secured, possessed old patriarchs symbolically folded back into the family tree, illegitimate children assimilated) and the Zen’in have the sort of of simmering rot-in-the-walls, sprawling gothic horror disease that only rears its head once every few generations, I think the Gojo have been having public breakdowns since the Meiji era. It would go a long way to explaining why everyone reacts the way they do to Satoru, and why his family is so invisible in the narrative. Oh, a Gojo having manic episodes, saying unsettling things, making vague grandiose threats, and exhibiting eccentric behavior? A likely thing for him to do.

[vaguely-concerned]

ah. ok. so from what I'm seeing from some shadow of the erdtree spoilers, fromsoft has doubled down on some incredibly troubling tropes that were already present in the main game and that they really should know better than to employ this way. there's some really ugly history attached to the themes and ideas they're presenting here, and playing it this straight is both irresponsible and annoying. disappointing at best, objectively not funny.

the fact that they decided to publish this dlc during pride month, though? fucking hysterical

[verycharismaticdragon]

Do you know why everyone and their mother keeps saying that Sheb Qingqiu's secluded cultivation lasts for a year or 3??? Last I checked, wasn't he only in the cave for several months??

...I haven't seen a fic use that timeframe in quite a while - am I the delusional one??

Having intensively cultivated for several months, he could freely control his spiritual energy and had risen one level above his original cultivation base.

... nope, still as I remembered from the official book, page 85 in my copy. Even my old Exiled Rebels translation puts it as, "several months." Last I checked, 12 (or 36) months is far too many to simply be considered "several", so what am I missing? It just- throws off the timeline so badly and greatly increases the amount of time poor Binghe is stuck in the woodshed, for what?

Okay, so the 3 years thing comes from the donghua, no need to look further. It's one of those things that directly go against canon but have stuck in people's minds, similar to 'the washerwoman was the one to pull baby Binghe out of the river' and 'Shen Qingqiu fainted dramatically several times early on in his transmigration'.

Then, I don't believe I have seen 1 year myself, but if I had to guess, it may come from the fact that Binghe is 14yo prior to SQQ entering seclusion and 15 once he leaves. That said, an entire year makes zero sense considering what we know of the timeline.

Which is where I confess that I tore out some hair over the length of SQQ's seclusion when constructing the timeline for Transmigrator Time Traveler, because for me 'several' months means 3 to 5, but given all the facts, SQQ's seclusion had to last somewhere between 6 and 10 instead. (I went with 9 in the end, for the fic, cause I've read that 9 is a significant number for spiritual practices cultivation is based on? the source was a little vague so i don't know how true that is, but I needed a number.)

Nevermind, to the aforementioned facts. MXTX confirmed the date of the first chapter publication - Sept.21 - to be the date of SQQ's transmigration. (Small note: I'll be using modern months, even though SV's world uses lunar calendar, because it's easier to gauge weather and stuff. For characters in the novel, they might see those as different months/seasons, but that doesn't really affect our purpose here.) Luo Binghe’s 15th birthday - which Shen Qingqiu missed in seclusion - is in winter ('coldest day' which I after some research came to hc as jan6, though that's not particularly relevant, because...) Demon invasion happened on a 'hot day' (SQQ mentions it in relation to how SHL is dressed) - which puts it in May at the earliest, August at the latest. So these are the 'borders' we are working with.

Now, to my actual calculations. We know SQQ spent some time on the Peak after transmigration, before the Skinner mission that led to him going to seclusion. So I'm gonna say that happened in October at the earliest, December if you stretch it (though I feel like his tatas would freeze off if the Skinner left him half-undressed in December...) - but definitely not later, cause Binghe’s birthday has to happen off-screen. So if we take the longest possible time frame, October to August, we get 10 months. The slimmest possible window - December to May - gives us 5 months, but between the aforementioned boob hypothermia issue and the fact that May is a bit of a stretch for the 'hot day', I think that 6 months is the shortest you can go.

Which, again, doesn't align with my understanding of what should be described as 'several' months, but what can you do... tbh, im not sure MXTX thought all that hard about the timeline, which is understandable as a writer - but as a fan, frustrating

So yeah - definitely less than a year (and absolutely not 3, donghua), though the math gets fuzzier after that.