#yes i render stuff. !!!!! sometimes!!!!!!

[sweetmapple]

Mostly Hiring manager, but HR manager and PR manager too

[sernik-krakowski]

luc gets back into riptide, 12 dead 31 injured

[dkettchen]

My most male trait is the "ye I can do that" attitude abt stuff I have no means of actually knowing whether I can do

[wibblewomble]

Mastermind

[tsukii0002]

Imagine the contrast of the coexistence between Mc and Solomon, a human who did not know that magic was real until relatively recently and another human who has lived for centuries and who uses magic as if it were breathing.

Imagine that little things at home where Solomon is always willing to use magic to solve it, while Mc always beats him to it in the most common and least magical way possible.

But above all imagine, Solomon's frustration, how can his magic be rendered useless in such a way? And if he has no magic, what can he bring to that home?

Solomon: Remember that blanket I told you had a hole in it, I think it's time to mend it *opening one of his books*

Mc: I've already mended it, with a few stitches it's as good as new.

Solomon: Oh…

Solomon: Mc, what was the table that was broken?

Mc: Oh, don't worry, I fixed it.

Solomon: Really? What spell did you use?

Mc: Ha, ha, Solomon, you don't need magic to wedge a table.

Solomon: Mc!! With this spell we will solve our rat problem!

Mc: *smiling* I've already taken care of that, no for nothing Barbatos is so happy with me.

Solomon: That's how you earn your premium tea leaves?

Solomon: Please tell me you didn't fix the shelf that was sagging *with a book under his arm*

Mc: *eating a muffin* Oops.

Solomon: Mc, I told you I'd fix it *pointing at the. with the book*

Mc: Solomon, it was tightening two screws, it's going to take you longer to look up such a mundane spell than to fix it manually.

.

Solomon: Mc… you're a sorceress, you should use magic more!

Mc: *funny* And you should use magic less!!! You're still a human, old man. By the way, remember those yellow spots on the tablecloth that bothered you so much?

Solomon: Yeah?

Mc: Well, I've already made them disappear and without magic.

Solomon: How????

Solomon is sitting, somewhat annoyed, on one of the balconies

Mc: Hey…

Solomon: …

Mc: Are you upset?

Solomon: … No.

Mc: *sighing as they stands next to him* Let's talk, tell me, why does it bother you so much that I solve things without magic?

Solomon: I'm not upset, we don't need to talk at all.

Mc: You know that communication is part of living together right? We are two people with different ways of living, if we don't talk how are we going to have a good cohabitation?

Solomon: … With the brothers you never had that problem.

Mc: Sure I have, maybe not with these things because Lucifer encourages certain stuff to be done manually, but we had to set a lot of guidelines when I started living with them.

Solomon: ...

Solomon: *sighing* I'm not upset… it's just that I'm used to doing everything with magic, even the smallest things, it's easier, faster.

Mc: Well, sometimes yes, but sometimes it's easier to do it without magic, and in my case I'm used to not use magic.

Solomon: *looking at them* I know, but there are things I can't do without magic.

Mc: But that's what I'm for, isn't it?

Solomon: *doubting* Then' what do I bring to our cohabitation?

Mc: *realizing*

Solomon: You cook, you do a lot of chores because you are faster, and you take care of a lot of things that allow you to have a routine… I feel that instead of living together, I am a guest...

Mc: Solomon...

Solomon: And if I can't even use my magic, Am I useless? without my magic I…

The two are silent for a moment

Mc: I'm sorry, I've minimized how you feel… and I've done things my way without taking you into account.

Solomon: Ha, ha, don't worry, *now kind of sad* It's not that big of a deal.

Mc: No, I told you, communication is part of living together and you should tell me what bothers you.

Solomon: *looking at them*

Mc: We can try to find a middle ground.

Solomon: How?

Mc: *thoughtful* Well, the day to day things we can do manually and the things that are very difficult or tedious we can use magic?

Solomon: *considering it seriously'* You could also teach me how to do tasks without magic, like how to wedge a table… and I could teach you spells that I usually use, like the one that sweeps the house by itself.

Mc: *smiling* We can also make a schedule so we don't step on each other's to-dos.

Solomon: *smiling too* And create a chat room exclusively for house stuff where we can let each other know if we're going to do something.

Mc: That sounds like a great idea Solomon.

Solomon: *more lively* And I'd also like to do certain chores together, like laundry or cooking.

Mc: … *feeling bad at Solomon's happy face* Yes… we can do that too.

.

.

This turned out to be longer than I thought, and what started as something funny has turned into a drama😅. I'm not going to lie to you, I love domestic dramas, day to day problems… so this post has turned into that because Solomon is used to live in a very different way than Mc, and living together for the first time is always complicated and habits are hard to change, and co-living is not always so great. Give me domestic situations between Mc and the rest of the cast please!!!! 🥺🥺

Anyway, if you've made it this far, thank you very much for reading🩷

.

.

[etesians]

“I’ve just had a thought.”

Kei looks up from his phone, eyes drooping, the hour you’ve spent lounging on the couch rendering him immune to the fact that his neck is bent at a disastrous angle against the armrest. It has you pulling him forward, taking the pillow from under your neck to stuff under his, but it’s a fine trade. Now you can lay against the warmth of his chest and settle into what Kei calls the pre-nap—or, what he used to call it, back when he was still too embarrassed to simply say that he wanted cuddles.

“Woah, careful there," he can't pass up the opportunity to start with. Then, "Good kind or bad kind?”

You hum. “Sickeningly domestic kind.”

“So… good,” he decides after a beat, setting his phone down on the coffee table.

Those long, gentle fingers you love slide into your hair, and it’s a wonder how they’re always able to sate an itch that only manifests itself mere seconds before the touch, just so they can be rubbed away by him and him alone; suspiciously wizard-like. “It’s not like I’m opposed to any of that… Since it’s you.”

Aww.

“Honeycakes—” you coo obnoxiously, disguising his name in the endearment, which gets you exactly what you'd expect—the full moon's circumference of his palm eclipsing your vision, his grip light as he smushes your face around for a while, unable to rid himself of the urge. When he lets go a minute later, you share a mirrored look of contentment, all stupid smiles and rolling eyes, before you settle your ear over his heart and he resumes massaging your scalp.

Whatever video he was watching drones on in the meantime. Something about a supermoon coming up and dropping temperatures… Partly rainy with a high of seventy-three degrees and a low of sixty-eight and—wow, he really got sucked into watching the weather channel... Such old man behavior. But it’s quiet enough to tune out against the steady drum in his ribs, so you both leave it be.

“Your idea, baby.”

“Oh, right. So I was thinking—y’know, when we start buying stuff for the house…”

“Mmhm?”

“For utensils, what if we found the same forks you grew up using, and the same spoons I had, so that our future kid'll have pieces of both of our childhoods already built into theirs? It’d be like our own little mismatched set.” "You're right..." It's quiet for a moment. Then Kei blows out a breath, his mind positively sunnier with the image. “That is sickeningly domestic.”

You open your mouth to defend the idea—because it is a good idea, notes-app worthy, even—when he tacks on, “I’m not saying no. God, you’re just so cute sometimes...” the words followed up by him pulling on your cheek. “Is that why you kept hovering by the drawers when we visited my mom? ‘What if’ my ass—you already found them on google, didn't you?”

Your bubbling laughter gives you away. Because he’s right—they’re in your amazon shopping cart as you speak, just waiting on his two cents.

“What about chopsticks, then? And knives. And spatulas.”

Spatulas? You raise a brow.

Kei only shrugs in response.

“The rest can be new. I don’t want all of it to be us holding onto old things,” you pause. “But my star curtains are non-negotiable.”

“They have holes in them.”

“Those are the cutouts! And you even said they were pretty when the light’s seeping through them.”

“Okay, yes, they are pretty," he relents, setting his glasses down by his phone. Silencing the weather report with a slide of his thumb. “But furnishings aside, we’d still be missing one thing…”

“Tsukishima Kei, I know exactly what you’re thinking…” You find yourself being rolled onto your back, his pupils pushing the golden-brown of his irises to the outer rims as they dilate. “And the answer is no.”

“What?” Kei smirks, almost sing-songy as he trails kisses down your collar. He’s not actually gunning for that part of your life together yet. Key word—yet. You’d both agreed to preserve the first year of your marriage for just the two of you. Figuring out the ins and outs of buying a house together and all the legalities that came with it had been hard enough on its own.

Everything after your one-year anniversary, though, is completely fair game.

“You’re the one who brought up a little Tsukishima…”

[illwilledomen]

I recently became VERY interested in your Minecraft stuff, and I'd like to ask a question... In one of drawings, an illager tells Steve that "We can cheat death too," does this imply that the players CAN actually respawn just like how we can in Minecraft and if they can respawn how does it work?? And how do the villagers react to Steve just respawning?

Yes, they can!

Since you’ve been looking through my stuff you probably already know that players in Abiogenesis are constructs. While I sometimes call them robots, they are technically more like golems and whatnot, which are powered by magic, except far more advanced. The little metal port above a player’s heart is their soul core, and that is, you guessed it, where their soul lives, and what gives them life and sapience. Players can regenerate flesh on their body that has been lost or sustained damage in an injury. If the damage is so severe (or done to a specific vulnerable area like the neck or stomach, aka something that would be fatal) the player “dies” temporarily so it’s body can devote all it’s energy into repairing itself.

How does this work?

Well, their soul core sends the soul into stasis. It is temporarily phased out of the corporeal realm. In the Abiogenesis/Minecraft world, when anything living dies, its soul phases into a non-corporeal dimension called the Otherside and releases magical energy in the form of Experience. This occurs with players, however, what allows them to return is the fact the soul does not travel onward. It is tethered to the port, and only temporarily stays in the O.S. Eventually, once the body is fit to return to, the soul makes its way back into the port, and the player is alive again. These periods of “death” usually last 24 hours, though severe structural damage can render them dead for up to a week. They will not respawn in their last place of rest like in-game, wherever their body lies will be where they awaken.

Players lose a small amount of Experience when they die, and will wake up delirious and faint, with minor memory loss. Sort of a “death hangover”. They will also be ravenously hungry, as their bodies need to regenerate the calories lost from fixing their body. They also may experience trauma symptoms from the cause of death (e.g, death by fire makes them frightened of a campfire or a fireplace) though these will eventually subside.

Players can be killed permanently. Netherite is strong enough to destroy the soul core, as is extreme heat (im talking instantly vaporized levels of heat) and the Void. The Void obliterates all corporeal matter that is not voidborn upon contact, so a player falling into it will straight up cease to exist. There would be no afterlife in the Otherside, just Nothing — complete oblivion.

Villagers would be freaked the hell out for starters. Steve isn’t fully aware he isn’t a biological person (he suspects it, but he’s sort of in denial), all he would know is that he feels sick and there’s a huge chunk of time missing. Since the village steve lives in knows Steve and trusts him, they would not necessarily take it as a bad omen. They would likely hold a village meeting about it and try to make sense of the whole shabang. Reinard had a religious vision regarding the Hosts shortly before he adopted Steve, so he already believes deep down that Steve is, in some way, blessed by the hosts. This, alongside Steve’s other player-y quirks, would solidify that in his mind.

[unlosts]

Short n' Sweet

1k words. Or; you're not as sneaky as you thought you were.

It’s not so bad sharing a cubicle with Spencer; he brings a new pile of books every day and he lets you borrow whichever you want once he’s done with them - which usually happens before lunch. He never complains when your stuff inevitably ends up over on his side of the desk because god forbid you attempt minimalism once in your life. But the only downside is that Spencer notices way more than he’s given credit for, and he’s not shy about pointing it out. 

In other words Spencer Reid knows something is up. 

The third time that morning you go up to the kitchenette to get a refill seems to be his breaking point. 

“Eighteen” 

“Excuse me?” You say startled, not really paying attention to him as you walk back to your desk. 

“Since last month the average time you get up from your desk went from ten times a day to eighteen, and at first I thought you weren't sleeping right and upped your caffeine intake but then I noticed you sometimes get up only to get someone else a file even though you never did that before, and even at lunch you seem to be out more often than not, so I thought maybe you were having trouble focusing, and if that’s the case then some simple modifications to your diet could really -” 

“Spence!” You cut him off before he could keep going, although the concern doe eyes he was still directing at you made your stomach tense in guilt. It was like being mean to a puppy. 

“I really appreciate you looking out for me but honestly I’ve just been feeling more restless, so I go out to jog at lunch and can’t really sit still” You said with a shrug of your shoulders and an apologetic smile “didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“That’s alright” he replied with a tight lipped smile “if you’re interested I could still send you the studies just in case they help” 

“Y'know what? Yeah that would be great” You said, and the negative karma from the lie and the absolute knowledge that you would not be reading those studies made you promise yourself that you would get him a super sugary caramel latte tomorrow morning to make up for it. 

Later that day at lunch the lie still weighed heavy on your mind. 

“I think Spence’s onto us” You said as Aaron slowly kissed a path up your neck to right behind your ear. Usually having his hands slowly caressing your back and his lips anywhere on you rendered your mind completely useless but today the fluorescent light of the file room was buzzing particularly loud in your ear. 

“Honey, can we please not talk about Spencer right now? I’m doing some of my best work right now” Aaron said, his voice muffled since he didn’t lift his lips from your neck, his breath tickling your skiing and chipping slowly away at your resolve. 

“I mean it, he said something about me getting up from my desk more which is Spencer code for you’re distracted which is actually code for everyone else noticed and since Spence sits right next to me he drew the short stick on having to talk to me about it” You finished out of breath, having worked yourself up about it during the two hours after your talk.  

Hotch sighed in defeat, slowly straightening up and looking at you.

“You got all of that from him asking if you’re having trouble focusing?” 

“Yes” 

“And now you think we should tell the rest of the team” He stated, quite sure by now of your answer. 

“Yes” 

“Alright” He agreed, squeezing your waist reassuringly. 

“Good” You said, your arms slowly going back perch on his shoulders “I mean it’s the least you could do since it’s like 70% your fault” 

“Okay how is it not 50/50 here?”

“It would be, except today you wore that dark green shirt I love” You said, playfully running your palms over his chest “so that’s 10% more and you rolled up your sleeves so that’s another 10, at the very least” 

“You’re absolutely right, It’s all on me” 

“Glad we straighten that out” 

“Now, we still have” he looked at his watch 25 minutes before we had to go back to work. Do you want to actually go get some food? There’s a nice place just around the corner from here” He said softly, sneaking a kiss right next to your lips. 

“Actually I believe you were in the middle of some of your best work so if you don’t mind I’d like to be the judge of that” 

“Excellent choice” 

Ten minutes after you got back a takeout order filled with sweet and sour pork got delivered right to your desk. As you caught yourself smiling at it like it was a flower bouquet you couldn’t help but feel Spencer's keen eyes on you letting you know that, indeed he knew something was up. 

[bigfatbreak]

Hey I was wondering if you would do a post about how you make your feralnette au? I really like how you color it and was curious about your process.

Yes this is absolutely for plagiarism purposes /j

(I want to incorporate something similar on a smaller scale within my artwork, I don’t plan on posting anything but I can run the art past you if your worried about me actually stealing your style)

sure! as a note I'm not a pro or anything, this is just how I render my comic for ease of access

as a general note I draw everything in black and white first

I use a LOT of texture heavy brushes for effects, and specifically because I render with gradient maps a lot. people ask me why I do AU's in different styles - usually anything outside of feralnette is done in color - but that's because the rendering process is different.

for instance in the dad villain au, I do basic linework and chunky colors. if I was to do Feralnette in the same style, the gradient maps wouldn't nearly have the same effect, as you can see up there ^

when a gradient map is applied I can fiddle with the color values to set a Tone for the update I'm going for, while also making it really pretty, bc textures can really bloom the subtle colors in a gradient map. I get a lot from the CSP page itself, but I also MAKE a lot too. this specific map I made by color picking off of a neuron map from a brain scan I thought was pretty~

I don't do the feralnette AU in full color because generally, anything IN full color will have significance - either to show that a scene is important character development,

is a flash back,

or to put emphasis on something supernatural happening.

with Feralnette, when something is colored purposefully, its to emphasize it, whether that be to highlight character moments, or to stress that something eldritched and unnatural could be occurring, as its colors that do not exist in the pre-existing gradient map. Color out of space, yknow?

((SOMETIMES I put gradient maps on my colored chunky stuff, but once again, for the purpose of creating a tonal shift, like when papa Tom shows up in the dad villain AU!))

anyway I hope that helped!

[phantomwithbreakfast]

~ Scarred For Half A Life ~

A Danny Phantom Fan Fiction story!

Maybe it is a little Dark. But that’s okay. It’s fine.

I said it, I did it. I designed/drew/made a new version from a scene in my Phan fic story! (Sketch and stuff lurking at the bottom again)

———————

This chapter, called Happy Crown is coming soon! I promise.

You can read/follow the story if you like!

———————

Genre: Angst / Hurt And Comfort (and a little Horror)

AU — OOC (sometimes)

Trigger Warning: Emotional Distress — Violence — Graphic Content

Rating: M (due graphic content)

———————

Summary:

Danny had been captured by the GiW once again, or so he thinks. Leaving him feeling utterly helpless—vulnerable. There was nothing he could do. What will happen to him? And why again?

(Summary might change as the story goes on)

———————

“You should see me in a crown.”

The pancakes are flying around.

Danny is angry. That’s for sure.

Note to myself again!

Okay. Now the paper crown is better drawn. Hehe. I think I’m getting slowly better again at drawing and rendering/coloring, yes, no? I don’t know.

I still don’t know what my own style is, I’m still searching for it behind the corners. Drawing almost everyday, it’s therapy! Same as writing. And at the moment, I only draw Danny. Time to change it up a bit!

I still don’t like drawing hands and shoes (sneakers).

The hair is messed up. I had a brain freeze.

The problem is, I always want to keep it minimalistic… 8 hours later… and yet again, I’m rendering.

[intimidating-fettuccine]

Hello, I hope you are doing well! Can I request Sully and or Helen (if you choose both, then separately please) where they see their partner dressed up (for an event, wedding, or whatever), and you know, taking their breath away. They just look too pretty not to touch and so heavy makeout ensues. If you’re comfortable, can you make it spicy? Also, if those characters don’t inspire you, feel free to choose any other male creeps! (I want to ask this same request with a few other creeps, but I’ll do that next time your request inbox opens!)

Y e s...... I love this. Absolutely feel free next time around to request this with more creeps, I love stuff like this!

I'd say I got quite inspired considering this request got about 500 words longer than I meant it to ^^' This did indeed get QUITE a bit spicy, more than I originally intended

Helen:

Helen is a man of self-control. Not much gets to him, and he prides himself on his ability to control his emotions and hide anything he wants to be hidden. Tonight, however, was the first night that he lost and was and was unable to keep his impulses in check. You were going to an event in the Underworld, something common for those of you living in the mansion, and Helen was very proud of you, wanting to see you off before you left, but what he was not expecting was for you to look so... delicious, yes, that was the word his brain decided on. You were dressed in a brand new outfit, one you'd kept hidden from him one that accentuated your body in ways he wasn't used to, ways that rendered him speechless and left him choking on air as he glanced at you from across the room. When you asked him how you looked, smiling and twirling so he could see the full outfit, it felt like Helen lost control of himself. His strides were quick, and his lips slamming passionately onto yours were even faster. You can't help the noise of shock that slips out of you, especially when his hands begin roaming your body, caressing and squeezing in all of the right places.

Of course, you tried to put up a fight, forcibly parting from him with heaving breaths, reminding him that you were supposed to be there in thirty minutes, trying your best to resist the excitement he had flowing through you, but he laughed, that deep laugh that always caused you to tremble before him, stating that it's good to be fashionably late sometimes. You couldn't argue with that, especially not when he began peeling off your clothing, when his lips began to travel down your body, and when he pushed you onto his bed, yanking off his own clothes in the process. The second his belt hit the floor you'd given up on any possible resistance, and you allowed him to drown you in the familiarity of his pleasure, Helen not even hesitating to slip himself inside you and remind you just what it is you do to him. You did indeed end up there fashionably late, warmth on your cheeks and hickeys decorating nearly all of your visible skin.

Helen had sent you off with that same laugh, and the promise of even more when you'd get home that evening. You couldn't wait for the event to be over, your legs and pelvis sore from his earlier treatment, and from the teasing texts he kept sending you, it was obvious he craved more as well, and he'd prove it to you when you got home that night, fucking any thoughts of anything else out of your mind. He shouldn't have let you go, and he'd reinforce that into you, making sure to rut into you rough enough to make your body too sore to go anywhere else the following day. All you needed to do was let go, let him remind you just who it is you belong to, who should be the only one to see you dressed up as beautifully as that. He'd been so impatiently waiting for you to get home, and he'd be sure to take all that frustration pleasurably out on your body.

Sully:

Sully is not as good at hiding his intentions from you. He prefers to be open and honest with you, as it's something the two of you have been working on improving, so when you told him you were going out that night to an event someone you knew was hosting and asked him to give you his opinion on a new outfit you'd bought recently, Sully was more than prepared to give you his honest opinion. He was not prepared, however, for how drop-dead gorgeous you looked, and he felt as though you'd be able to kill him with how attractive you looked. He barely heard you when you asked him what he thought of your look, clearing his throat in embarrassment, all of his blood flowing to his pelvis making him a bit dizzy when confronted with the effect you had on him.

Sully told you that you looked incredible, and you could tell what you were doing to him, however, you made the mistake of teasing him, tracing your hands up his abdomen, looping your arms around his neck, and pressing a kiss to his lips. Really, you shouldn't have done that, because the next thing you knew your back was slammed into the nearest wall, his arms holding you up as he began to grind into you. The noises slipping out of you as a result of his actions spurred him on even more, both of you struggling to breathe from the sudden excitement taking over both of you. "You're not going." His words cut through the room and you'd blinked at him in confusion, not sure if you'd heard him properly. He reaffirmed his words when you asked him, his hands gripping your ass as he carried you to the bed, throwing you onto it and climbing on top of you. You're not going tonight, he told you again, that you can apologize to your friend later, but with what you're doing to him, you're not going anywhere.

Both of your outfits were thrown across the room, and his hands made quick work of silencing any of your complaints as his fingers pressed inside of you, causing any fight to be replaced with a loud moan from you. After all, how could you think of arguing when he moved his fingers in and out of you in the way he knew would always make you fall apart beneath him? You were quick instead to wrap your arms around his neck and pull him back down for more kisses, your moans continuing as you hungrily claimed his lips. It would be a long night for you, not from being at an event, but from letting Sully eagerly ravish your body, and you wouldn't even remember the event again until you woke up sore and satisfied the following morning. You could hardly move to grab your phone and apologize, not before Sully wrapped his arms around you, locking himself into you as he went on to continue from last night's events. You could apologize later after the two of you went for another couple of rounds.

[anamelessfool]

How do you do that? LOL I have no idea what I’m doing (maybe) An Art Tutorial

Folks have commented on my more rendered art recently and I’m flattered. I literally have no idea what I’m doing. Well, I sorta do. I am mostly using masks in Procreate. I’m technically using the Debaser Pack by True Grit Texture Supply, but you don’t really need it. All you need is some texture layers. You could even do this just by making halftones of solid color layers. I used to do a lot of digital photo collage back in the day and at one point had a huge library of scans of paper and fabrics and also random textures I saw on the street. Wood, stone, sidewalk, metal, foliage, water. Took out my digital camera (yes, it was that long ago) and snapped a photo to use. There’s also a lot of free halftone textures online.

I have a few “overlay texture” layers. I “Create Mask” and then invert the mask so I can “paint” the color on. For my more simple stuff I do just that. I add a “Deep Shadow” layer in Overlay mode of a dark brown (or teal if it’s white) to make sure the darkest shadows are truly dark. The white areas are just the mask erased. It helps that fallout ghouls are skrungly and textured to be begin with. Sometimes I select areas and add little bits of black spray paint in lots of very transparent layers.

Everything is rendered under a multiply layer of a hi-res scan of vintage newsprint.

So how about the more detailed things that came about from an embarrassing amount of shirtless photo references??? In a lust-fueled haze I realized I can have a dark layer (in my case, a “black ink texture scan” with an inverted mask underneath a color layer. The color texture layer is around 70% opacity, give or take. On that black ink layer mask I add the white highlights to the tops of forms and use the smudge tool to distribute it across the specific form. Once in a while I shut off the color layer so I can see the bare rendering layer on its own and fix things.

So I just sort of pet him. For hours.

Focusing on the LIGHT areas instead of the shadow really is a game-changer! Before, my digital art looked super muddy because I was invested in adding dark. If areas are very very dark I add that dark brown overlay layer. For tattoos it’s a dark blue overlay mode layer, but with a mask on it so I can softly erase areas to make it look more set in to the skin (without destroying the original art). Very bright areas and the tops of forms I add a “highlight layer” of pure white gestural lines.

Moral of the story is just play around and do whatever. The old times of having a beautifully perfect anime-style drawing with very formal layers of shadow, highlight, color has been dead for ages. It’s what kept me away from pursuing digital art for literal years.

[wombywoo]

I think you mentioned werewolves some time ago. Are they treated about the same as vampires ? Or do they face more/less bigotry? Are they the kind that can control their transformations or only can transform during a full moon? In your universe are they born as werewolves or turned ? (Big werewolf and quinncent universe fan…)

Waaahhhh I can't believe I've neglected werewolves for this long 😩 Apologies! Tbh, I've spent so much of my time daydreaming about my main 2 dudes, so I feel like I haven't given as much attention to other stuff in the lore ✨

But yes! Werewolves exist! In this universe, lycanthropy is contracted by being bitten by a bigass mutated supernatural wolf thing (™️) or by another werewolf. The mutated wolves are extremely feral and used to be rare enough that they only caused isolated problems throughout history, but a recent influx has seen a rise in attacks on the public (yikes). It's not a guarantee that someone bitten will turn either; sometimes they come out unscathed, sometimes they just die 💀

The appearance of a werewolf is pretty standard--giant dog-like beast. Fur color can vary; browns, grays, reds, etc. There are also variations in the body type--some are bipedal, others quadrupedal. For the most part, they're all extremely fast runners. They have big, glowing, completely white eyes, reminiscent of the moon. Claws, teeth, the usual. It is an extremely painful process to transform, but once you've endured the first year, it gets a bit easier.

Now that werewolves have been acknowledged under new abhuman recognition laws, there are several methods of 'treating' the condition. During a full moon, a registered werewolf is required to either--a. take a neutralizing pill (this won't stop the transformation, but it causes the patient to be rendered docile and nonaggressive during their cycle) or option b. visit a secure 'werewolf transformation center' (a fortified facility where patients can safely transform amongst other werewolves while under observation). A transformation is unavoidable for every full moon, but werewolves can also transform from various circumstances at any given time--under duress, anger, fear, as well as dog-like triggers--bursts of running, having an object thrown at them (frisbees have been banned in public places, sadly 😔) There's a separate pill that exists to limit these kinds of involuntary transformations (results vary).

Another aspect of werewolf documentation is the requirement that they have a 'handler'. As you can imagine, this sparks a lot of 'dog and master' debate, so it's not entirely well received--but a werewolf is required to have someone supervise them in their day-to-day life (in order to be on standby if a random transformation were to occur). This is usually a relative, but can also be an assigned service worker if there's no other option.

There is a fair amount of prejudice stacked against them--I think people are even more blatant in their bigotry against werewolves because of all the dog comparisons 😞They're viewed as 'feral and disgusting', and a lot of people attempt to conceal their conditions because of this. Vampires also face backlash, but there's more of a public fear for them, whereas werewolves are usually the butt of a joke, despite being equally dangerous 🥲

For protective measures against rogue werewolves, or even ones unaware they have the condition yet, a tranquilizing dart has been implemented that will sedate and incapacitate someone in the midst of a violent transformation. (This is why a handler is needed--to carry this tranquilizer and use it in case of emergency.) A rabies-like vaccine has also been developed to inject into a recently-bitten individual to prevent the lycanthropy from spreading.

I do have a werewolf character in mind for my little imaginary military task force--her name is Sheila; snarky, Irish, butch lesbian ✊ She was bitten as a teen (by one of the aforementioned mutant dogs) and so far, she has not disclosed her condition to the rest of the squad 😤 She's also ditched her government issued handler for a while (crusty old dude who she hates), and instead has been assigned a temporary new one--the enigmatic witch 'consultant' of the team known as Birdie....

More on that later (at some point) muahaha🙆‍♀️

[dykesynthezoid]

Your little post about Armand and structural dissociation has had me googling stuff since you posted it. The only non-normal dissociation I've ever experienced has been your standard DPDR, and I've never heard much about dissociative parts without the dissociative amnesia aspect separating them. So you've had me thinking.

In the books, Armand seems confused and frightened of the sadistic side of himself, talking about how he has never enjoyed violence (but clearly remembering times when he did, or something close to it). Could this be why he feels a disconnect with that aspect of himself?

Sometimes he seems like he has forgiven and moved on from his beef with Lestat, but sometimes he bring it up again, bitterly (Blood Communion). It never seemed like his disorganized attachment style fully explained that. Could that be part of this? Hell, speaking of disorganized attachment, I've read that there's a connection between that and structural dissociation.

In other words, I'd love you to rant more about this. Book and/or show Armand, both or either.

*shaking like a little overstimulated purse dog* yes yes i will speak to you of the gremlin

YES I think his disgust at his own sadism and his inability to move on from what happened w Lestat are (probably) tied to his structural dissociation IMO.

As a basic breakdown I’ll put out there that, at least in internal family systems, which is the modality I’ll be referencing, everyone has different “parts” in the sense that they have different aspects of themselves and their personality (I think you could analyze the different parts extant in Louis, Lestat, and Daniel as well!), but dissociation bc of early/ongoing trauma can cause those parts to be more separated, right, and so structural dissociation theory is a way of examining what happens when those parts are so cut off from each other that your sense of identity is rendered unstable.

In my head Armand has at least 4-5 major “parts” that exist together, and the one we see the most of is his coven leader/caretaker part (these could be considered separate but I think there’s actually little meaningful separation between them). This part, to me, is the one that’s most absorbed certain traits from Marius, Santino, and Alessandra. It’s both a manager part (seeks to construct/police/control/maintain stability) and a persecutor (actively suppresses and victimizes certain other parts).

Then there’s Amadeo, who is a child part, representing a piece of Armand’s younger psyche. Armand’s dissociation from the identity of Amadeo (refers to him in the third person) and his treatment of people who remind him of that version of himself (Daniel and Claudia) make it clear that Amadeo is also an exile; he’s a part that’s been locked away and rejected by other parts (mainly the coven leader part). Armand sees Amadeo as weak, sacrificial, doomed.

However, I think Amadeo is also in some ways a protector part. In Armand’s book, Amadeo is noticeably protective of the other boys. And given how Armand’s mind is likely structured, I think a lot of Amadeo is actually constructed around protecting Arun/Andrei. I think Amadeo basically holds the “key” to Arun and keeps the other parts from being able to access that part or his trauma; this would help explain why Arun’s memories have remained so untouchable. Amadeo won’t let anyone touch the trauma Arun is holding onto, not outside of very specific situations, and even then I think Amadeo is basically acting as a sort of translator or interpreter for Arun.

Because Arun is certainly also a child part and an exile, and he holds onto a lot of Armand’s “worst” (how can you really grade it, y’know) trauma. I think it’s likely that Arun is sort of non “verbal;” not in that he’s unable to speak, necessarily, but in that in psychology, “verbal” memory is the term used to describe memories that are specific and episodic, that are associated with images and details and concrete information. I think Arun, as a part, has had most of his memories locked away for so long (and probably also just wasn’t encoding memories very well to begin with while he was being abused) that he exists more as a series of impressions and bodily sensations than a specific set of images or events or personality traits. And because of this its very difficult for Armand to find a way to describe or narrate his experiences as Arun, even if he did have those memories, bc none of it really exists in that verbal or explicit space. It’s all, by nature, quite muddied and nonspecific and very very physical.

Now to finally begin kind of answering your question, lmao, but I think Armand’s last most prominent part is the demon/gremlin. I mentioned it a bit in that first post I made, but I think the demon/gremlin is an amalgamation of Armand’s most rejected aspects of himself, similar to a Jungian shadow. It’s everything he least wants to look at. I think it would’ve started forming in his time as Amadeo, and initially as a reaction of Amadeo having to reject certain aspects of himself, mainly his mischievousness and rebelliousness. These traits were deemed undesirable and so he had to cut them off. Then with the coven, Amadeo himself is rejected and locked away, essentially “dying” in the fire and in that cell, and he has to start relying on a different persona to survive (again). This is when his coven leader part starts forming, but I think the gremlin is also there. The gremlin takes on even more rejected aspects, like any sort of hunger or neediness. The Children of Satan are meant to deny themselves, after all.

I think it’s in the wake of Lestat that the gremlin part becomes completely exiled. Armand’s interactions with Lestat alert him to the ugliness of his own sadism, his desperation and neediness. The coven leader part can be cruel, but it’s only in effort to play out his role. The gremlin is the one who’s sadistic, who’s cruel because he’s hurting, cruel for the sake of cruelty. I think the gremlin comes to represent every bit of mischievousness, rebelliousness, neediness, desperation, mindless cruelty, lashing out, hunger, desire, and selfishness that Armand tries to push away. It’s chaos, where the other parts of Armand strive for order. It’s also the part that I think is holding onto his ability to act for his own sake.

(Plus, it explains why Armand may seem over Lestat one moment, and then completely re-absorbed in that hurt the next. It’s bc that hurt has been locked away in a part of himself he works very, very hard to keep at bay. Ofc meanwhile, the harder he tries to repress those aspects of himself, the more they start to bleed unknowingly into his consciousness in a way he can’t control, and the more they’re actually able to influence him when he’s not paying attention.)

Basically I think Armand getting to go full gremlin is a major step in his development and integration, lmao.

I think we’ve also yet to see Armand’s stable Self, the one that’s a blend of all the other parts and presented when his nervous system is at baseline; when he’s feeling secure. Mostly bc we’ve never seen Armand feeling secure or stable (in the show at least), lol. He is literally always freaking out to some degree. There’s always at least one part trying to manage the others, or, under greater stress, desperately firefighting, or, under even greater stress than that, going completely frozen and unresponsive. But I think the stable Armand is one that’s both playful and focused, active and receptive. I think it probably peeks out when he’s playing on his iPad or even when he has that conversation with Madeleine. I think the Armand putting random shit in the garbage disposal is, in fact, his secure and stable self. Which is honestly kind of hilarious.

This is very long and I honestly have even more thoughts than this but. Yeah. I love him. I also have a bunch of thoughts re:Jungian psychology about him. I think when he’s luring people into accepting death he’s actually tapping into a death drive deep in the collective unconscious. Which is why even if someone, on the level of their ego and actual personality, doesn’t want to die, he manages to find a piece even deeper and more nonpersonal, a lizard-brain sort of drive toward destruction, that does.

I really should’ve said more here about EPs (Emotional Parts) and such bc that’s more in line with the actual structural theory of dissociation and I focused more on internal family systems stuff here but! Yeah. Basically certain emotional states, body states/sensations, and even personality elements get locked away from each other (and having several of these separate parts is associated with CPTSD, OSDD, and DID, with CPTSD kind of existing as a gradation between PTSD and OSDD/DID in terms of how separate those parts have become). CPTSD is what I myself have going on and I can attest to the separate parts thing but with limited amnesia, and in my case that amnesia is just certain memories my youngest child part is probably holding onto. (I’ve made peace with never getting those memories back, tbh). My emotional parts/body memories are the ones that are most closed off from each other, and mostly the different aspects of my personality aren’t too separate and can communicate as needed, with some exceptions. So that’s the perspective I’m bringing into analyzing Armand that way.

And I’m sure it all goes without saying that this is all just my opinion and me having fun exploring Armand’s character through just one (1) potential lens. But it’s a very interesting one!

[plusvanity]

hey👋 how do you think varg got so insane and have you seen that interview with his mom? she claimed he was normal growing up

He had always been insane lol.

Yes, I've seen that video, it's quite underrated but it tells a lot about the way that he grew up.

If 'insane' means malignant narcissist, then there are two theories known of that can be brought into discussion. Narcissistic tendencies develop in very early childhood as a coping mechanism when a child is mistreated and emotionally neglected. When I say mistreated, I mean physically abused and/or being spoiled rotten (yes, this is also abuse because you steal your child the chance of living in the real world by treating him/her special, affirming that he's/she's entitled to everything and anything, denying him/her consequences from his actions etc. etc.), and when I say emotionally neglected, I also include emotional inconsistency given by the parents (the mother usually). This means the child is most likely to walk on eggshells, completely unable to predict the parental response to a mistake that he/she makes.

In Varg's case, I see a combination of both things.

He has bitter feelings towards his father that sometimes slip out and we all can see that while he still has a 'great relationship' with his mother.

Hypothetically speaking, if his father was harsh with him while growing up, his mother spoiled him rotten to 'make up' for the damage. This type of treatment would render him very furious (on his father), but also very entitled to what his mother has to offer in return. This already sounds like him lol, doesn't it?

Following this hypothesis, it goes much deeper. While being childishly angry at his father, splitting his parents in 'all good or all bad', he can never see his mother as being equally abusive by building up the very false idea that 'what I can materially offer you, can compensate for everything that your father say/does'. So, he cannot be mad at his mother because that would mean that he is not treated right by not one, but both parents, and this is extremely threatening for him. Therefore, his mother will always be his savior, the one and only 'Madonna', so to speak. This is the archetype that narcissists look for in their romantic partner and needless to say, his wife occupies the role of a perfect mother who never punishes him, never show him that he is wrong, enables his flawed and delusional behavior, etc.

I don't believe for a second when his mother said to the camera that she 'never saw any signs that he would end up doing what he did', telling the interviewer that Varg had always been 'a sweet little boy that wouldn't get in trouble' and all that stuff because there are always signs, absolutely always. You don't just go out of the blue to burn down churches. This type of behaviour doesn't install overnight. You always start with small, miniscule offends, and you build up your courage to go further and further. And I won't even start on how arson is , in most cases, the number one offence preferred by juveniles. So, there must have been signs, but of course that admitting this to the camera would put her in a bad light and it would be threatening for her image. But lying is lying. I know I cannot prove that she's lying in any way, neither I cannot disprove that she is lying, but look at what her son did and judge for yourself.

She seems highly narcissistic to me. I won't comment on her look, but she seems very preoccupied with how she presents herself.. I will leave you with this. The way she speaks is very light compared to the gravity of the subject and there are many more things that I could point out, but this answer would be too long.

Anyway, considering that Varg ended up like this, it's very likely that he experienced a lot of emotional inconsistency from his emotionally 'Dead Mother' (I will use Andre Green's terminology because it suits her well) and a harsh, unemotional, unavailable treatment from his father.

The fact that his parents divorced is also a big indicator of incompatibility, which will leave an everlasting mark on their children. (thing that happened with Per Ohlin also in his own case)

Now Varg talks nicely about his family on Twitter and in his books because, like all narcissists, he has to maintain a fantasy that he had it all perfect, that he is the product of a wonderful marriage that never ever went wrong and other delusions like this that will help him sleep better at night. Reality is hard and cruel and we all know that Varg is 'too privileged' to live in the real world and realize the contemporary mockery that became.

It is very possible that his parents persuaded him and his brother to be in competition with one another, stirring up even more envy in Varg and adding layers to his inferiority complex. We might never know for sure, but we can observe the direction in which Varg (possibly the family's 'scapegoat') went.

Again, the fact that he talks nicely in his books about all of his family is nothing but smoke and mirrors because he has to sell a certain image to his audience.

This is extremely long, but I can't be succinct when coming to psychology lol. That's my take.

[annoyed-galaxy]

Just a funny little tidbit about my Rook.

He may be a mage, but compared to the other mages in the Veilguard, Rook is literally the dumbest of them all. He knows nothing about his magic actually works, about the ebb and flow of the Fade, and all the technical shit that Bellara and Emmrich love throwing around.

He just knows that he shoot lightning out of his body and somehow, can control it. He just goes with the flow. Literally. He makes using magic look like the easiest thing in the world, but if you were to sit down and ask him how he's doing literally any of it, he would shrug and just say "Fuck if I know."

It took a bit for the Crows to be able to help him actually control his magic because he just couldn't understand any of the technical jargon they were throwing his way. At least not until Viago and Teia suggested maybe they just let him try stuff out until he was able to figure out how his magic was supposed to flow into his assassin skills.

Eventually, it came around and now he's incredibly powerful with his magic. Lightning is his specialty, but he still doesn't quite know how he does it. His magic is still chaotic given its affinity, but he can still control bits of it. His magical incident of a spell backfiring and causing the nerves in a good chunk of his body to fry, leaves him very resistant to lightning damage (hence the scar on his face). Most of the time, he can't feel anything in his right hand unless he's using lightning magic that sometimes shocks the nerves into a temporary state of liveliness. There are parts in his arm where he can't feel anything at all, but then other parts that are extremely sensitive. The nerves in his right ear are super sensitive making his right ear very sensitive to anything really, more so than it would already be as an elf (yes, Lucanis abuses this information).

Rook can stand in front of a lightning dragon, get hit full force with the lightning breath, and manage to shrug most of it off before taking that power and throwing it back at the dragon.

He can use lightning to practically flash across the battlefield, unexpectedly in his opponent's face. He can kill the nerves in someone's body, rendering parts of them useless if he wanted to. He's an extremely powerful mage, with the training of a Crow behind him.

But still, he has no fucking idea how he does this shit.

Much to Bellara and Emmrich's disappointment, he is never able to answer their infinite questions. However, everyone can agree that Rook is extremely talented and are impressed with his skills.

Neve does ask at one point how he deals with demons as a mage and he says that was the one training he wasn't allowed to ignore even with all the technical jargon. She doesn't disbelieve that he could handle himself against a demon, merely curious.

I do headcanon at some point, after a fight, the team are shocked and worried as fuck once they see an arrow in Rook's hand. They're flabbergasted that he didn't even realize because he doesn't feel the pain. Emmrich of course heals his hand while everyone asks him how the hell did he not notice an ARROW in his HAND.

Then there's the lightning wings. He can't fly, but sometimes his magic needs to escape in other ways and that's why sometimes he'll sprout the appearance of "lightning bone wings" since the energy is just escaping from his body. He can control these tendrils and uses them in tandem with his fighting, as daggers almost. He is a flightless bird, but deadly bird nonetheless.

I just have lots of thoughts about him and this is just one of them. Probably drift on to talking about his Crow life and title and his calling sign.