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feyyrunes · 2 months

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meet my OC

Kicking if off with my first Tav, Yfrin Sallowsong!

⚡Age: 32 ⚡Race: Half-Elf ⚡Class: Evocation Wizard ⚡Alignment: True Neutral ⚡Romances: Astarion & Halsin ⚡Background: Noble Backstory: Yfrin Sallowsong is half-wood elf and half human. She's the third child of House Sallowsong, who made their fortune off lumber. Lord Sallowsong, her father, is the wood elf and the noble, her mother died when she was very young from illness. Yfrin's brother Silas is the heir. Her middle brother, Aimer, has always been distant and quiet, but she suspects he might have a good head for strategy on him, and a better heart than Silas. Yfrin’s court looks down on her and her siblings for being half elves and not full wood elves, as her father broke tradition to marry her mother. He’s been on his deathbed for about 10 years and Silas is in a regent type role. Yfrin suspects Silas of poisoning their dad but she can’t prove it. Silas is cruel and manipulative and sees his siblings as a means to gaining power. When Yfrin was 19 she was engaged to somebody she thought was the love of her life, only to find out a few days before the wedding it had all been a political alliance arranged by Silas and her betrothed had another lover. Heartbroken, she fled to study wizardry, hoping to find an escape from politics. But Silas’s reach went far, and she found that no matter what she did she could not escape her name. Upon her graduation, she tried to steal a small fortune and flee Baldur’s Gate altogether, but Silas tracked her down and now has effectively placed her under house arrest. She refuses to marry but Silas makes “arrangements” for political allies to spend time with her, in the hopes they will divulge information to her. Silas uses her love for their father as leverage, knowing she won’t leave while he’s still alive. She doesn’t care about using her body so long as she doesn’t have to give up what little freedom she has left, finding no comfort in the idea of being bound to one other person for the rest of her days. She settles for the jewel-encrusted bars of her cage, summoning lightning and fire when she’s angry, threatening to watch the empire Silas has built off their family’s lumber burn. Mostly, though, she’s bored, feeling nothing for her revolving door of companions, dreaming of a great, wide world out there to see. When she is kidnapped on the nautiloid, this is finally her Main Character Moment, where she gets to be the hero of her own story. At the same time, power-hungry, desperate Yfrin is also discovering that maybe the world has enough heroes already.

Spoilers under the cut talking about her "Good" and "bad" endings

Yfrin takes the mind flayer parasites and is not okay when she loses these powers. It takes a lot of grieving to get over the loss of them.

She saw right through Astarion from the beginning and was also manipulating him, but they ended up bonding over their similar trauma and developing a real respect for each other.

She admires Halsin for being so kind, even in the face of all of his troubles. She would never do this herself but she really likes it about him, and when that kindness is turned on her, she has trouble accepting it at first but eventually she learns to bask in it

If she was a main companion in the game you could convince her to kill Silas, finally say goodbye to her father, and have her brother Aimer take over.

In her good ending, post-game, Yfrin tracks down the gods cure Astarion of his vampirism with a Wish spell (I haven’t decided if she succeeds or not but definitely this is what she does), and then she goes to find Halsin where he teaches her the ways of the wood elves and she reconnects with nature. Yfrin is canonically poly and eventually has a child with a human trader named Dain.

Astarion and Yfrin eventually part but may meet up from time to time.

In Yfrin's bad ending, she returns to House Sallowsong, where she lets her brother Silas kill their father. She becomes an aide to Silas, and it is implied that eventually Silas will grow suspicious of Yfrin's power and poison her.

#yfrin #OC posting #bg3 #tav lore #baldur's gate #feyposting

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delightful-to-be-read · 3 months

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Storm Front (Dresden Files 1) - Jim Butcher

This is only fae by its fingertips, but I liked Toot-Toot and the fairy concept a lot. It was recommended to me by a friend who knows one of my favourite genres is ‘Magic Police Officer’.

Things to like:

There are hints of strong world-building in the background that I reckon will come out well if I keep reading the series.

The descriptions are evocative while the writing stays well paced.

It maintains all the noir-ish-ness despite the fantasy element.

Things I don’t like:

Misogyny. There are tons of female characters, all of them gorgeous, all of them described physically in great detail while the male characters’ physical appearances are barely mentioned. Most of them play the distressed damsel at some point or another. In reference to making a love potion (which it seems is actually a sex potion, a magic Rohypnol), it probably would have been a good idea to mention that drugging a woman to have sex with you is wrong BEFORE mentioning that it would hurt your pride to be perceived as someone who has to drug a woman to get her into bed. It’s a very casual misogyny, in the tradition of PI novels and probably unnoticeable in 2010, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

I don’t understand the nature of magic or wizardry so far. I guess that might be stuff that’s been held back too.

#storm front #Dresden files #Jim Butcher #magic realism #magic police officer #beat the backlist 2024

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talonabraxas · 2 years

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Dark Romance: O perfect love, unhoped-for, past despair! I had not thought to find Your face betwixt the terrene earth and air: But deemed you lost in fabulous old lands And rose-lit years to darkness long resigned. O child, you cannot know What magic and what miracles you bring Within your tender hands; What griefs are lulled to blissful slumbering, Cushioned upon your deep and fragrant hair; What gall-black bitterness of long ago, Within my bosom sealed, Ebbs gradually as might some desert well Under your beauty's heaven, warm and fair, And the green suns of your vertumnal eyes. O beauty wrought of rapture and surprise, Too dear for heart to know, or tongue to tell! Now more and more you seem Fantasy turned to flesh, incarnate dream. Surely I called you with consummate spell In desperate, forgotten wizardries, With signs and sigils of dead goeties, And evocations born of blood and pain But deemed for ever vain. Surely you came to me of yore, among The teeming specters amorous With faces veiled and splendid bosoms bare That turned my sleep to fever and delight In ever-desolate years when love was young. Or I, perchance, Begot you on some golden succubus Amid the madness of the Sabbat's night In earlier lives forevowed to Satanry And sorcerous dark romance. For all your heart and flesh are sib to me, And in my soul's profound Your face, an irrecoverable pearl, Is ultimately drowned. So thus, delicious girl! Whether love's destiny be weal or woe, I hold you now, and shall not let you go. - Clark Ashton Smith Art by Virgil Finlay

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dhwty-writes · 3 years

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A Wizard’s Spellbook

I honestly don't know what this is. This whole thing was just born from the "a wizards spellbook" prompt for Shadowgastober and the missing apostrophe that got me wondering... Because it makes a pretty big difference where you place that.

There’s not a lot of shadowgast in this, I still hope you’ll have fun reading this!

Summary: Why, you will ask yourself, does your professor leave his book on his desk during his lessons? Why then, does he keep it open, why does he invite you to look at it, why is he so careless? Doesn't he know that only the wizard who works alone will succeed? Doesn't he know that solitude mitigates risks? Doesn't he know that that's the thing about wizards? Eventually there is only one left.

Professor Widogast, his wizard's spellbook, and the many lessons he learned from his friends.

Warnings: light lifespan angst

Read on AO3

A wizard's spellbook, they will tell you when you start to study magic, is their most prized possession. They will not share it. They will not lend it. They will not leave it unsupervised.

Guard your spells and guard your knowledge, they will say, lest they be perverted, perfected, poached. Write in a cypher no-one knows, they will teach you, that you have created yourself. As a dragon hoards its gold, a wizard hoards their magic.

If you are offered a spell, grab it and take it, you likely won't get another chance. If you can find a wizard's spellbook, grab it and take it, you likely won't get another chance. If you are offered friendship, don't take it, you likely will end up with a knife in your back.

Be selfish. Be cruel. Be stronger, better, mightier than anyone else.

So why then, you will ask yourself, does your professor leave his book on his desk during his lessons? Why then, does he keep it open, why does he invite you to look at it, why is he so careless? Doesn't he know that only the wizard who works alone will succeed? Doesn't he know that solitude mitigates risks? Doesn't he know that that's the thing about wizards? Eventually there is only one left.

"Professor Widogast," you will say, "should you not keep your spells secret?"

He will laugh and say: "That is the way of wizards of ages past. I learned from my friend at the Cobalt Soul that all knowledge must be shared."

Your professor will have many stories like that, learned from many friends. The first time he shows you a page in his spellbook you will balk at the obscene drawings in the margins. Again, his eyes will crinkle and he'll say: "I learned from my friend, who gave powers to her god, that the world always needs a little more chaos."

You professor is a strange man with strange antics, as old men are wont to be. But he just might be the strangest of them all. He will laugh and joke, he will ask you to give your opinions, to think for yourself, quiz you on the ethics of wizardry (which is the test most of his students fail, even more than their dreaded final thesis). He will drink dead-people-tea and occasionally talk about a traveller named Artie, who apparently stops by from time to time. He's voyaged aboard legendary ships such as the Nein Heroez and was close friends with Archmage Beck, a Shadowhand, as well as a Plank King. You will be convinced that not even half of his stories are true—there can't be a weasel inhabited by an archfey pretending to be a god, surely not—but then he returns with proof and you will have to reconsider your entire worldview.

Once he will walk around and gesticulate with his spellbook and a pressed flower will float out. When they ask about it, he will reply: "This is a lesson I learned from my gentlest friend: it is important to remember those you love; and it is important to learn how to move on."

Once you realise his offers are genuine, you will stay longer after class and ask if you might see his spellbook. When you look at the first page and ask about the dozens of names and titles that are all attributed to him, he will nod solemnly and say: "If you are in a relationship that does not suit your needs, it is never too late to change your allegiances. This I was taught by my friend who challenged, threatened, and denied a demigod and lived to tell the tale."

You will be taught that wizards do not share, yet that is exactly what your professor asks you to do. So eventually, you have two options. Eventually, you will drop out of his class—his school is not the one you're interested in anyways, you want to learn Evocation which is his third-favourite school. Or, eventually, you will learn to speak up when your professor asks for your opinions. Eventually, you will learn to challenge his. And eventually, you will learn that he will just listen and nod along. In the end, he will praise you for your thoughts and say: "This is what I learned from my considerate friend, who almost let another live his life, because he thought it was the right thing to do: solitude might be safe, but it's not fulfilling. You need to share with others who have the same powers as you do and might just find out that what they do is way cooler." You are not quite sure what that statement has to do with a spectral lollipop.

When you will ask about a spell you try to remake, your professor will smile and offer his help. You had just hoped for advice, maybe, and do not know how to deal with that offer. At your confusion he replies: "I learned from my friend who's an alchemist and detective, that when you work together you just might make the impossible possible. And you just might become who you're meant to be."

You learn how to work with your professor and learn more about his wizard's spellbook. You learn that it is so heavy he cannot lift it without adjusting its gravity. You learn that this is not his first spellbook, that he began creating it with his husband. You learn that there are some pages that are so covered with annotations and corrections, that they are barely legible; some are annotated with glued-in papers that together could cover the entire Academy. You will whisper to your friends about this and he'll hear you and chime in: "This is a lesson I had to learn myself. You will make mistakes and you may regret them. But you cannot erase them, so you will just learn how to live with them, learn from them, and do better in the future."

At some point, when you are working on your third or fifth or tenth spell, you will reach the part where you are stuck. Where none of the knowledge either of you have amassed, none of the rules and guidelines can help you. Then, your professor will sweep his age-white hair out of his eyes and sigh: "I have almost no lessons left to share with you, but this is what my friend, the pirate, taught me: fuck the rules." Surprisingly to both of you, that will work. Surprisingly to one of you what will solve the problem is a combination of Transmutation and Dunamancy—an idea your professor will not tell you where it originated.

When you finish that spell, your professor will laugh and hug you and do a little dance. After, you will finally ask him about his strange wizard's spellbook. Your professor will sigh and deflate and suddenly you will realise just how much time he must have spent on this earth (how long does it take for an elf to even show a single wrinkle? How long until they are looking as ancient as him?)

"It's easy," he will reply, "for this is no wizard's spellbook. This I learned from my husband, who taught young mages like you before me: this is a wizards' spellbook. Every student I ever taught, every friend I ever made, every soul I cared for, I ask to add to this tome." He will smile thoughtfully, tears glimmering in the corner of his eyes." Look," he will say, "it's almost full. Hopefully, in time I may pass it on."

And hopefully, in time you may find that what they tell you is wrong. Hopefully, in time you may find that Professor Essek Widogast and his many lessons from his many friends are right. Hopefully, in time you may pass them on and leave the world better than you found it.

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animebw · 3 years

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Short Reflection: Evangelion 1.0- You Are (Not) Alone

How does one judge a piece of media that’s almost exactly the same as another piece of media that’s come before?

Sure, the anime world is no stranger to remakes. FMA 03 vs Brotherhood, HxH 1999 vs 2011, the old and new versions of Fruits Basket, all the different interpretations of Fate/Stay Night... there are plenty of anime properties that have been made anew and reinterpreted for new generations of fans. And there’s plenty of interesting conversations to have surrounding what these different versions were going for, how well they succeeded at their goals, all that good stuff. But the first Evangelion Rebuild movie isn’t just any ordinary remake. It’s a near shot-for-shot recreation of the first six episodes of the original TV show. If you decided to start Evangelion with the Rebuilds and put this movie on, you’d get a nearly identical experience to if you decided to put on the show. Sure, I know future movies will move the story in a new direction and fully cement this series as its own unique take on Eva, and that’s where the really meaty discussions are sure to begin. For now, though, our starting point is almost entirely composed of imagery, sequences, dialogue, and ideas we’ve seen in this exact order before. How do you judge something like that on its own terms? Should I judge it on its own terms? Is it even possible? How different would my experience with this movie be if it was my introduction to Evangelion and I was experiencing all these moments for the first time.

For now, I can’t answer those questions. Perhaps my opinions will evolve the further I get into the Rebuilds. Until then, though, all I can do is talk about how this movie affected me now, reliving old memories in a slightly different context.

If I’m being honest, there’s something almost uncanny about Rebuild 1.0′s slavish devotion to recreating the first six episodes. It’s not just the scenes themselves that are the same; it’s how they’re shot, how they’re edited, which music cues are dropped when. Hell, even the animation itself feels lifted wholesale from the show at times, as if they literally just traced over the cuts from ten years ago and redid them in a new engine. That alone creates this fascinating stylistic contrast; you’ve got these very 90s keyframes and animation techniques, but now they’re in widescreen with smooth digital lighting effects and the occasional high-quality CG assistance for some of the more complex mechanical tech. This is probably the closest we’ll ever get to a 90s-style anime made with modern animation technology, and that itself is pretty cool. I’d even argue the overall effect is so seamless that it’s just as beautiful and evocative as the show. But it’s definitely weird re-experiencing an aesthetic that was very much of its time updated for modern technology. I spent so much of the first half-hour of this film experiencing what I can only describe as a reverse uncanny valley, trying to wrap my head around how well this twenty-year-old visual storytelling still conveyed its meaning in this new context. There should’ve been so much whiplash from fitting the styles of different eras together, and yet it just... works. And that was somehow more unnerving than if there had been a disconnect. What wizardry did you employ to make it so seamless, Anno?

Of course, this movie isn’t literally just the exact same shots as the show. If it were, it would be over two hours long and the pacing would make no sense. There are a few cuts, a few additions, a few re-ordered sequences to make the story flow better as a cinematic narrative. And I could honestly spend the rest of this review talking about how those minor changes affect the experience overall. Some moments I desperately love are lost to cuts, but I can understand why they needed to go; as much as I adore the end of episode 4 where Shinji and Misato stare at each other across the train tracks, that kind of emotional catharsis plopped right in the middle of this movie would slam the brakes on Shinji’s arc and ruin the power of seeing him finally stand up to his demons in the final act. Some moments I feel should’ve been left in; Kensuke and Toji’s subplot is so stripped down that they barely register as characters, which makes their big inspirational speech to Shinji near the end ring hollow unless you know them from the show. Most of the additional scenes are welcome; I like the extra time with Misato and Ritsuko’s relationship, and introducing Shinji’s mental train conversations and Lilith earlier on helps the show’s slow progression of abstract, cosmic weirdness feel more natural. And when the final battle rolls around, the animators really get to cut loose and showcase the full power that modern technology can bring to Eva-on-Angel conflicts when they’re not just reusing blueprints from a decade prior. If that’s a sign of how hard the action is gonna go once these movies come into their own, color me excited as fuck for what’s still to come.

What really hurts, though, isn’t losing any one big moment or subplot. It’s losing all the tiny, incidental moments that are peppered throughout the show. Moments like Shinji teasing Misato when they first meet, or Ristuko joining them for dinner in their cramped apartment, or Shinji finding refuge with Kensuke out in the wilderness for a brief night of comfort. As brutal a show as it was, Evangelion always contrasted that darkness against the simple, ordinary lives of its characters, the scattered moments of humor, sweetness and light that made us care about their fight against the darkness. These are the moments that make Evangelion, and I just wish so many of them hadn’t been cut from this movie. I understand the time constraints; there was no way a 100-minute film could keep every last detail from 150 minutes worth of TV. But even just five more minutes to keep some of these details in, even just one more scene in Misato’s apartment to make it feel like home, even just one more scene with Kensuke and Toji to make their big finale speech hit home, would have made a world of difference. Honestly, I think the pacing overall works really well cinematically, building to a natural climax point and shifting just a few details around to give Shinji a single continuous arc en route to that finale. But those extra five minutes could have pushed it into “This could’ve been initially conceived as a movie and I’d never know the difference” territory.

You know what, though?

More than anything, watching this movie just drove it even further home how much Evangelion fucking owns.

See, I bring up the changes and cuts and additions because talking about what’s different is the most obvious thing to talk about in a product that’s otherwise mostly the same as something you’ve already talked about. But for the 80% of the time where 1.0 is just Neon Genesis Evangelion again? Folks, it was like nothing had changed at all. There I was again, getting swept up in the drama, gasping at the brutality, biting my nails in terror for Shinji’s safety and well-being, devolving into an emotional mess over his growing connection with Rei, howling with fury at Gendo’s cruelty, marveling at the visceral way Anno directs action, even cringing at the same overt fanservice that still hasn’t grown on me after all these years. The coat of paint may have changed, and some details may have been shuffled around, but this is still the same haunting, gut-wrenching, breathtaking, extraordinarily beautiful franchise that broke the world of anime open back in 1995. Not even literally repeating itself is enough to take away its power. If anything, it just makes it even clearer timeless Evangelion is, how its storytelling and conception of humanity transcend the context of their time to speak to audiences of any era. Evangelion could’ve come out for the first time ten years ago, five years ago, yesterday, or decades into the future, and it would still hit just as hard no matter what. It’s a shining star that will never truly fade, a story that will forever remain just as jaw-dropping, just as agonizing, and just as revolutionary no matter how much time passes since it was first released.

So in the end, maybe Rebuild 1.0 is nothing more than a rehashed starting point that begins to set the stage for the real changes to come. But so what? That starting point is every bit as electrifying now as it was when I first laid eyes on it, an eternal reminder of the unmatched power of Neon Genesis Evangelion. I may not like all the little changes it made, but I will never grow tired of revisiting the beginning of anime’s undying masterpiece. So as we prepare to see how these Rebuilds will chart their own course moving forward, let’s raise one last toast to the moments that started it all... and look forward to the new heights this old foundation will take us to. With all that said, I give Evangelion Rebuild 1.0 a score of:

8.5/10

God, I’m so happy to be back with this franchise. See you next time for 2.0, where we (hopefully) get to really see why this story was worth rebuilding in the first place. See you then!

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #evangelion #neon genesis evangelion #nge #eva #neon genesis evangelion rebuild #eva rebuild

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thesunlounge · 3 years

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Reviews 370: Coyote

I have been mostly absent as of late due to the pressures of completing my PhD studies, but now that the work there is finishing, I am trying to return to regular reviewing. And for months and months now, one of the records I’ve most wanted to discuss has been Coyote’s Buzzard Country, released last year on their home station Is it Balearic? Recordings. In fact, my delay has been so extreme that, not only has Coyote released an accompanying Buzzard Country Remixes 12”—which I will cover here as well—they have also dropped the incredible Return to Life 12”, and even announced a new 2xLP slated for the summer called The Mystery Light. But better late than never, and there is no way I can pass up the chance to at last write in depth about the music of Timm Sure and Ampo. I say “at last” because, despite the fact that I consider Coyote amongst my very favorite recording artists, you would be forgiven for not knowing that by scanning the Sun Lounge archives. Though I’ve had opportunity to discuss their work here and there via remixes (such as on Blank & Jones’ Relax: The Sunset Sessions 2 and Joe Morris’ Cloud Nine 12”), by some strange turn of fate, Coyote has released no vinyl of their own since this blog’s inception...something that only changed very recently. Indeed, prior to 2020, the last time the duo put out solo works on wax was their stunning 2016 run, which included the Song Dogs LP, the Fight the Future 12” on Clandestino, and the seventh EP in their long running self-titled series on Is It Balearic? Which is not to say they weren’t active, and in fact, Timm Sure and Ampo delivered a really great set of digital singles and EPs in collaboration with Music for Dreams, and additionally, they remained active with remix and DJ work. As well, Buzzard Country was due quite a bit earlier than 2020, but was unfortunately plagued by production delays. To at last get to the point, this is all a roundabout way of saying that I am really excited to have plenty of Coyote to write about now and in the future, so that I can finally pay proper tribute to this foundational duo of the modern balearic beat.

As I’ve explored the balearic soundworld, Ampo and Timm Sure have always been beacons of light guiding me on my path, whether through their eclectic productions as Coyote, through the curation of Is It Balearic?, Über, and the Magic Wand edit series, or through their mixes and DJ sets, which are typically loaded with unheard treasures that lean towards the trippier and dubbier ends of the chill out spectrum. And it is this tendency towards the psychoactive that most endears me to Coyote, for the duo have always championed an authentic balearic spirit, one that foregrounds the music’s connections to the hippie hedonist heydays of Ibiza, to the second summer of love, and to a spirit of ecstatic abandon, one that is equally imbued with a magical sense of melancholy…of a feeling of being in paradise, but knowing it can’t last…as if the moments of revelatory magic—of wild nights dancing and sunrise comedowns—are tempered in real-time with senses of longing and regret. Which brings me finally to Buzzard Country, Coyote’s fifth full-length LP and a pitch-perfect encapsulation of their signature mixture of wistful melodic nostalgia and daydream seaside grooving. Across the album, baggy beats morph between downbeat disco, stoner dub, and world exotica while bottom heavy basslines work the body. Echoing vocal samples thread around hand drums tapestries, emotional washes of synthesis flow over radiant piano chords, and at crucial moments, the exotica guitar flourishes of longtime collaborator Saro Tribastone carry the mind away to lands of faraway fantasy. As for the Buzzard Country Remixes 12”, the A-side is given over to the Hardway Brothers, who brilliantly transform the album’s “Sun Culture” into varying landscapes of ultra deep Chain Reaction style dub wizardry. Then on the B-side, Woolfy vs. Projections and Max Essa respectively flip album stand outs “Shimmer Dub” and “Ranura de Marihuana” into their own specific strains of equatorial dancefloor euphoria, with each remix pushing the mind, body, and spirit towards maximal beach boogie mania.

Coyote - Buzzard Country (Is It Balearic? Recordings, 2020) “Soaring” begins with buzzard calls and hovering breaths of synthesis evoking a new dawn. Ripples form in the ether via bubbling squarewave synth leads, and pulsating dub bass sits beneath a blanket of sighing strings. The carrion calls continue streaking through the mix and celestial pianos rain down while echoing playfully across the spectrum. Plucked bass electronics bounce in counterpoint and hesitate woodwind glimmers call to mind flashing laser lights beneath a beautiful sea surface…almost as if a flute has been transmuted into a rapid fire fractal vibration. At times the strings back away, leaving layers of rainbow colored ocean ambiance to flutter and dance, all before ending with white noise delay oscillations that mimic the swell of ocean waves. Then in “Soft Top Saab,” an echo-soaked voice muses on the sunrise, with chills running down the spine as the solar affirmations are increasingly surrounded by space age string synths, and by Sara Tribastone’s mystical guitar filigrees. Reversing melodies enter the spectrum and swell the heart while shakers and tambourines hold a gentle beat. Tribastone’s guitar serenades softly overhead, with plucked textures of synthetic wood and stone dancing in the background. Further delay-laced pianos fade into view, with the track ebbing and flowing…growing and receding…and sometimes backing down into understated back and forth between guitar and piano, wherein harmonious brass layers and swells of spectral space glitter moving at the periphery. The result is a conversational interchange between seaside melancholy and romantic nostalgia, one which is eventually superseded by cosmic flutters, soft six string dances, and the spoken spells of a reggae mystic, who gives thanks to the sun, and its bounty of restorative light.

Dusty acoustic guitars and sunrise vapors introduce “Shimmer Dub,” while dancing dub bass portends the first real taste of a groove. A rocking hypno-rhythm comes into focus and laid back snares guide the infectious glide, while tablas roll overhead and evocative vocal layers thread through the mix. Steel pan synths are seen through the titular shimmer and wavering wavefronts of blurred melody wash over everything, until the mix drops down into a haze of stoned exotica comprised of a minimalist pallet of tabla rhythms, bleary-eyed pads, and thrilling vocal incantations…the effect like awakening on the shores of some faraway ocean paradise, with visages of desert caravan rituals preceding in the distance. The dubbed out groove eventually resurges, with passages given over to extended echo percussion experiments and the fragile songs of tropical idiophones. Feminine vocals glow like some intoxicating gas of multi-hued magic, and springy basslines guide the body while hi-hats and snare work through a psychedelic skank. Smoldering currents of ether move through the stereo field and moments of subtle intensity erupt from the horizontal vibe out…with airy woodwinds shrouded in static, claps cracking, and hand drums creating webs of groove mesmerism. And as the beat starts to vaporize, echo oscillations set the air aflame amidst fantasy orchestrations.

“Ranura de Marihuana” bathes in echo acoustic guitars that seem beamed in from some distant past…these evocations of classical folk music futurized via layers of fx. An ecstatic scream washes the mix clean, and a four-to-the-floor kick drum emerges to pound in the void, while overhead, Flamenco-indebted guitars spin webs of magic and reverberating vocals call to the spirits of sea and sky….sometimes whispering, other times shrieking wildly into the night. Sub-earthen bass movements are felt more than head, with exotic dub lines moving far beneath the surface. Bongos and congas pop and nervous shaker patterns lead the downbeat disco strut, while guitars work through further Mediterranean hooks and Iberian flourishes. A moment is given over to heavy bass and kaleidoscopic hand percussion–with scatting vocals, reverberating snaps, and lost souls wailing in desperation–and when the groove snaps back, there are touches of tango kissing the preceding, which bring to mind a rose-in-mouth glide across some dark and mysterious dancefloor, wherein spindly psych folk guitar melodies work the mind and airy drum rhythmics entrance the body. The kick climbs back towards dancefloor strength, with desert mystic percussions moving all around the mix and vocals morphing though fever dream echo layers. Elements from across the track refract through oscillating delay machines, and touches of rave haunt the rhythms, especially as subsonic basslines and subdued breakbeats work together.

A single piano note brings light to the darkness in “Sun Culture” and layers of radiance rain down in the form of heart-melting piano chordscapes, with some of that Screamadelica soul bliss suffusing the progressions. Warming pads envelope everything and deep dub pulses walk down white sand beaches, with shakers and lysergic breaths giving shape to the groove. Hi-hats, snare taps, and beachside bongos enter and buzzing guitar notes give off waves of golden light while overhead, liquids drip from the roofs of ocean cliff caverns. The single piano note continues to glow while souflul chords hold the mind in a state of psychedelic rapture, and space age ethers blind all vision as they spread outwards, then recede. Coyote move the track progressively towards a state of horizontal bliss, with almost everything washing away except the summery piano incantations, which are so soaked in reverb as to generate billowing cloudforms with every single note. Hushed rhythms return and hand drums take on a slight sense of urgency while pads generate layers of oceanic warmth, resulting in an audial invitation to greet the rising sun, and a naturalistic tribute to crashing waves and drifting clouds.

Intergalactic pads breath in “Dos Canas,” with tones wispy and suffused with inner light. Palm-muting electric guitars dance like bubbles through the ocean blue, and a touch of kosmische ambiance is soon tempered by bulbous dub basslines and splayed out layers of percussion, wherein the mechanic and organic merge seamlessly. Electroid sketches and seed shakers move in time as a slow and low balearic skank emerges, with glorious tones of brass pulsing overhead before ascending to the heavens on currents of humid tropical air. Hand drums circle the mix as the heavy atmospheres recede, leaving vaporous rhythms and golden synth strands to intertwine. Heartwarming chords give off mirage shimmers as the dub bass works its way back in, bringing with it further layers of world drum delirium. Soft sirens pan before giving way to more of the ascendent brass synthesis, and hisses of white noise add layers of subtle psychotropia. Snares are blasted into bursts of desert sand and all throughout the mix, various strands of melody and harmony are caught within oscillating delay cycles…progressively distorting and roaring into the ether. Shakers and 16th note hi-hats lead the groove while bongos and idiophones dance playfully against the snare and kick, until it all breaks down into an ambient outro of serene static, sighing strings, and layers of phasing rainbow light.

“Feedback Valley” closes the show with synth incantations portending the glow of a glorious sunrise, while shakers generate an infectious shuffle. Tribastone and his acoustic guitar explore Flamenco landscapes and a four-four kick drums hits against the body while layers of synthesis radiate compelling colorations. Babbling voices ride a serpentine synth sequence and touches of acid bass move in support, with cut-off filters opening as the snare drops, creating a head-nodding and body bopping groove that lifts the spirit towards the sky. The sequential electronics are so effective as they bob and weave through the mix, creating an effortless vibe of beach dance perfection…of hands-in-the-air euphoria and the abandonment of all worry or fear. Additional touches of six string sunshine push the mind every towards the shores of Ibiza and during a breakdown into burning delay feedback, synthesizers filter into solar squelch and guitars drift towards psychedelic delirium. A slow yet anthemic snare roll calls to mind big room trance as it brings the groove back into focus, now with 3D synth snaps firing in the left ear as the ever-present sequence reduces to a calming purr. Tribastone continues letting loose threads of sunshine lysergia and points of synthetic light swell into magnificent globes of blinding incandenscence. And towards the end, an echo-shrouded choir of the sea sings beneath a brief guitar fantasia before it all washes away in a scream of oscillation.

Coyote - Buzzard Country Remixes (Is It Balearic? Recordings, 2021) The Hardway Brothers take “Sun Culture” into ultra-deep territory across two versions on the A-side, with the first being the very aptly named “Balearic Channel Remix”…which is of course a reference to the work of Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald. Underground warehouse kick drums pound beneath hissing space fluids, as a low down Chain Reaction-style groove emerges, though with its eyes locked on a melting sunset panorama. Liquiform chords flow into cold industrial caverns and string synths suffuse the reverberating spaces with splashes of sunshine, while sub bass motions vibrate the soul. Shadowy tracers flit across the sky and DMT vibrato waves squiggle at hyperspeed, yet their effect is blunted and muted. Claustrophobic clouds fade in then out while melodic piano chordstrokes reflect in strange ways off of glowing walls of stone, their effect like gemstones glimmering underwater, yet with their luster sanded away by the march of time. Muted dub chords are caught in crackling delay chains and the deep kicks and jacking bass never relent in their heads down, hands-in-the-air stomp. Snares are reduced to a whisper and shaker patterns cause head-bobbing hypnotism as funky chords bring touches of liquid fusion grooving…only as if proceeding in the middle of a dub techno fever dream. Insectoid chitters move in from all corners of the mix, sawing sirens swirl into screams of feedback, and all the while, drum circle flourishes are shattered into a web echoing delirium.

Next comes Sun Culture “(Hardway Brothers Meet Monkton Uptown),” which sees the bass going even deeper somehow, as growling riddims menace the mind and rattle the ribcage. We soon find ourselves in another subaquatic dub techno dopamine dream, wherein kick, snare and hi-hat lock in for maximal hypnotic effect. Sometimes the bass guitar of Duncan Gray seems to take on a post-punk drug chug edge, and at some point, the rhythms pull away, leaving chopped up voices to decay into the void. Bassline and beats return and streaks of feedback sing softly over everything, while fogs of seafoam move at the outer edges of the stereo field. Clouds of solar static are seen from millions of miles away and traces of flamboyant fuzz guitar are submerged into a pooling vortex of deep dub delirium, emerging stretched out and mutated into currents of neon starshine. Gray's melodic basslines serenade through the underground club grooves, those funky chords return to sing their 70s fusion songs within layers of sighing feedback, and increasingly, the mix is overwhelmed by distorted blasts of drug-induced haze. Abstracted voices filter from one ear to the other…their unintelligible spells of esoteric mystery pushing the mind ever further towards astral activation. And towards the ends, the original tracks Primal Scream-style piano chord structures can just be heard amidst feedback fires, delay detritus, and morphing vocal abstractions.

In the Woolfy vs Projections mix of “Shimmer Dub,” the original track’s hand percussions intermingle with gurgling rhythmic fluids…the effect like wandering upon some tribal jungle ceremonial. Big blasts of downer synth bass are soaked in reverb, repetitive synth pulses tickle the mind, and pillowy arpeggios flow into view while those familiar synthetic steel drums shine in the sunlight. Fingers roll across myriad skins as the kick drum drops away, leaving the mind to swim in a world of equatorial energy. Then, as the bass drum resumes–with shakers never relenting–a new bassline emerges, bringing with it a heavy touch of wiggling squiggling Italo boogie. The vibe is hesitant…anxious even…with a persistent refusal to lock in, and as bass bursts grow in intensity, the rest of the mix begins reverberating into a balearic dreamscape. Following a delirious pause, the track explodes into flamboyant disco funk perfection, as sweltering chord hazes melt from the sky and bouncing basslines join an infectious and tropically tinged body groove. Chords scat, virtual marimbas dance, synthetic steel pans shimmer across the spectrum, and swells of white light synthesis overwhelm the mind...the whole thing as massive a groove as there could possibly be. Touches of electro kiss the rhythms and futuristic synth riffs fire as we back down into a swinging breakbeat, with rapid keyboard riffs locking into heady funk cycles and stadium-sized tom tom fills splaying out across the stereo field. Guitar licks are soaked in sunshine as they lead a dubwise swing, and as we explode once more into the block rocking groove, double time shakers and hats push the vibe towards dance party mania…all as coral-colored leads rush through star ocean fx clouds.

Max Essa’s take on “Ranura de Marihuana” sees a four-four kick smacking with infectious disco dance energy and hand percussion flowing all around. A snare crack introduces another groove indebted to Italo boogie, with big bottomed synth basslines accentuating the vibes of beach dance euphoria. Shakers spread into sandy clouds of atmosphere and heatwave pads sweat and squelch as starlight arppegios race across the sky. The vibe of Ibizan melancholia is here perfected, causing body and soul to merge in hedonistic ecstasy, and though the track resembles one of Essa’s characteristic blue ocean dancefloor cruisers, its a little slower and baggier than usual, which fits completely with Coyote’s zoner stoner vibe. Seascape pianos bring a peaktime fee and at certain moments, the groove momentarily recedes, only to rush back in on an infectious snare crack. Ivory melodies are increasingly strange and psychotropic as they flutter across the mix, with decaying vibration tails carried away on an aqueous breeze. The radiant piano chords and vocalizations from the original swim into the stereo field as Essa barrels down into a heavy bassline stomp, with every pulling away aside from smeared out voices and 70s prog rock pads that evoke a string orchestra tuning to the sounds of the stars. Further clap cracks bring back layers of equatorial euphoria and the vocals are used to incredible effect, with echoing snippets repurposed as anthemic hooks. Pianos continue their alien dance over relaxed disco rhythms and snapping funk basslines, and as we move towards the end, claps and basslines fire rapidly as vocals morph through slapback oscillations…all before dropping into one last expanse of seaside dancefloor magic, with dub disco beats, infectious world percussion rolls, and a pleading voices diffusing towards a gorgeous sunset horizon.

(images from my personal copies)

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avengcrwanda · 6 years

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The Last Jedi Secrets Explained: Transcript

So I watched the video shared by @sleemo on the secrets of The Last Jedi as discussed by the Lucasfilm story group. I made a transcript of the interesting tidbits (at least, for me) and am sharing in case you guys want to read. I have interpretations also in between so let me know what you think!

(For the Reylo force bond one, I referenced the transcript of @felixazrael - you and @sleemo are awesome!)

I’m just halfway through the video so please forgive me. Will add when I watch the rest. :)

Topics I covered are:

Kyber crystal necklace of Luke

Resistance access to First Order blueprints

Millennium Falcon dice

Porgs and their colors

Holdo Hero Silence Scene

Rey and Kylo force bond

1) Kyber Crystal Necklace of Luke

Andi: I was asking you about the kyber crystal necklace... Pablo: That's right. Andi: And it's just something that he has? Pablo: It's just an interesting prop to suggest he's been out in the galaxy collecting clues and doing research about the history of the Jedi. So I mentioned that it was just a captured trophy from a Jedi crusader from ages past. What I'm hoping to is to just be evocative enough to pick up that thread and say, "Hey you know what, I bet you that's what this story is." And we definitely have the avenues and the channels to tell those kinds of stories.

Potential Knights of the Old Republic storyline? Revan? I just remembered all the fake leaks saying it was Darth Vader’s kyber crystal LOL. This was a case of reading too much into things.

2) On the Resistance having the layout of the First Order's ships

Matt: There's one more good Battlefront Connection. In the Resurrection DLC...(laugh on spoilers) Iden and her daughet Zay and Triv (?) actually find plans to the Dreadnought, which are then... They transfer it to the Resistance and that is what kind of helps with Poe's attack. They wouldn't have known where to plant those bombs if it wasn't for Iden and her squad. Andi: That's cool. Pablo: It's not only the Dreadnought but also more information about the First Order military and fleet. We'd like to think that's partially where the map that Rose has that she projects in order to explain what the plan is to get to the Mega Destroyer.

This explains a lot to me. I just found it so weird the Poe knew where all the canons were and that Rose suddenly had the layout of the First Order’s ships.

3) Millennium Falcon Dice

Andi: We have to talk about the dice: legendary Millenium Falcon prop. And we finally get to see it up close here. Leland: We were gonna put it in The Force Awakens and then they ended up changing it. Matt: I think they're technically there, you just don't actually see it in a shot. Leland: There was a shot where Han was gonna put the dice up. Pablo: JJ shot a scene where Han hangs them up and Rian saw that and that's why he made such a - you know - a meal out of the dice in The Last Jedi. But then JJ cut the dice appearance in The Force Awakens. So as a result, what Rian ends up referencing, is not so much The Force Awakens but A New Hope because that's the clearest thing - Andi: Right. Thats just something that people who've been fans for a long time - they just know it's there even if they haven't really seen it. Pablo: But even if they don't, the shot establishes that Luke goes onto the Falcon and reaches up so you understand that's something that's remained on the Falcon - Andi: Something sentimental. And that might be something that pops back up. Matt: *hinting voice* Maybe. Wink wink.

I’m pretty sure Luke never gave the dice back so maybe Matt’s “wink wink” doesn’t mean anything. Unless Rey is coming back to Ach-to to retrieve Luke’s stuff. Or Kylo/Ben might get it back one day? I’m not sure.

4) DJ

Andi: Speaking of DJ...who wants to tell the story of DJ? Rayne: When Rian was developing the story, he had this idea of this politically agnostic character that would be of service to them. So I feel like in the story group conversations we just called him DJ for don't join because that was his ideology - don't join. And I don't know when did we decide that that is actually gonna be his name. Andi: Instead of Ezra Bridger. *laughs* Pablo: That's what his hat says - I'm Ezra. Rayne: But that was a placeholder name that ended up working out really really well. Pablo: And it's a reference to Elvis Costello. Matt: Yeah, an Elvis Costello poster - really great kind of punk rock Elvis Costello poster. Pablo: And yeah, his hat does say "Don't Join." Leland: Which was on the action figure so that was actually revealed before the movie came out.

I’m putting links for both Ezra and Elvis in case you guys don’t know them. LOL. This tidbit we basically confirmed (as mentioned by Leland) before the movie came out. I just feel we need more DJ content. Hahaha.

5) Porgs and Their Colors

Andi: Has it been confirmed that Porgs look different based on their sex? Rayne: The male Porgs have the orange around the eyes. Pablo: Yeah, they're the more colorful ones. So Chewie's little sidekick Porg is a boy Porg. Andi: Does Chewie's Porg have a name? Pablo: No, but that's something that we could get Star Wars to hashtag. Matt: I feel that Chewie would have named it and we wouldn't have been able to pronounce it. Pablo: What if he named it Han? All: Awwwww.

I’m a fan of Porgs so this was really interesting. I noticed that the colors were different but didn’t think of attributing it to sex. And I don’t have a copy of the Visual Dictionary and Art Book (sadly, not available in my country yet) so I am putting this here.

6) Holdo Hero Silence Scene

Andi: One of my new favorite moments in Star Wars is that moment of silence. Rayne: Holdo the hero. Andi: Is there any specific inspiration that went into that, or what was the process of creating that moment? Because that was astounding. Pablo: All I know is that Rian - he had it in the story pretty early on. Rayne: We called it the Holdo the Hero Scene. Pablo: He was asking about the dynamics and the physics - Star Wars physics - could a ship do this? What does it mean? Does this upset anything? And we were like, well, the fact that the Resistance cruiser and the Mega Destroyer are so close in size - I mean obviously one's still much bigger - that kind of what allows you to have this Titanic explosion that happens. If you flew an X-wing into a ship at light speed, you're not gonna get that. You're only gonna get that if something is big as Holdo's ship, that's what it does. But in terms of how it was staged, I think we were all caught by surprise at how we did it because it was really beautiful. Matt: Especially the sound. I didn't l know that they were gonna cut the sound until the film. First time I saw the final cut - Andi: It's brilliant. Matt: It's amazing. And it's cool 'cause as an audience member it allows you to hear what everybody else says.

One of my favorite scenes - it was done really nicely. I think the silence really drives the impact home.

7) Reylo Force Bond (!!!)

Rayne: The little subtleties when you have the Rey and Kylo force connection moments, how the sound from each of their environments kind of seeps into the other's and just that simple way of telegraphing that they're connected. Pablo: And that's something Rian had in his idea from the very start - that we would use a very low tech - basically in-camera cinematic trick to understand that those two are communicating. You could have done a version where there was all sorts of wizardry shaping the screen but no. It's just the oldest cinematic trick in the book. Rayne: Eye lines and - Pablo: Yeah, and it works. Matt: Yeah, and it completely - just the eye line itself completely sells it. Leland: Plus there's some dialogue in there that Kylo Ren says: "Can you see me? I can't see you." Andi: That's why he was shirtless the next time. *laughs* Pablo: You never know. Working on his guns - Andi: *counting, exercising* Pablo: Oh, I didn't see you there. Andi: Oh, hey. Matt: He actually spent a lot of time walking completely shirtless hoping for that connection to kick in. Oh, sorry. Andi: So good, so good. Rayne: It kinda goes back to something that Larry Kasdan used to talk about when we were doing The Force Awakens. It's not in the script but when he peers into her mind, there's something profound that happens between them and the way that Larry used to describe it was there's this *emphasis* ENERGY between them like this kind of almost - and I don't want to say it - but something a little more than you expect and I think it's fun to see it play out in the story as well. Pablo: It feels like there's definitely a door opened between the two of them in The Force Awakens, where they pull from each other in terms of skills and memories. And then that is the more poignant at the end [of The Last Jedi] when that door essentially closes, it's sort of - it's The Godfather shot of the door closing between Michael and Kay. And that's like *door closing actions* Millenium Falcon door separates them. Andi: And actually the connection between Rey and Kylo made me think about the connection between Ezra and Maul that we see in Rebels. Something happens with them in the Force that links them. That's something that we've seen before. Pablo: Yeah. I think Rian and Dave share a lot of ideas and commonalities and interesting themes. The crystal foxes are an example of nature coming to the aid of those on the Light. And that's definitely part of something in Ezra's story line.

Reylos are right! Force bond in the interrogation scene! Rey pulled skills from Kylo/Ben! (although Pablo hinted at this before)

On The Godfather reference - I've linked The Godfather ending scene above in the transcript. I don't think they mean it's the same literally. It was just shot similarly and they both show two love interests who are separated by their ideals. I haven't watched any of The Godfather movies but I read the summaries and Michael and Kay reconciled in the end. There were still some tragedies but it's important to note that the two films/trilogies are very different. Star Wars won't follow The Godfather route.

Also, I don’t think that Pablo means the force bond is gone. It’s just that they’re separated at that moment - physically and on their ideals. I feel that it’s a waste of story potential to do away with the force bond. Everyone I know found it cool.

So there ya have it! I’ll watch the rest of the vid when I get home.

#star wars #star wars: the last jedi #reylo #rey of jakku #kylo ren #ben solo #porgs #!!!#finn #poe dameron #amilyn holdo #tlj spoilers #luke skywalker #leia organa #princess leia #han solo #rose tico #paige tico

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randomnessunicorn-imagine · 7 years

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Mellow.(this literally the third asks today ignore me if need be). UT and MT bros reaction to finding out their Crush is a demon by catching them eat another monster soul?

{ Wooo~That’s cool, buddy-! And thank you for all the horror asks you have sent, I appreciate them~#HorrorTime }

👿 Sansy ;

He has never imagined you could be an evil creature because you always appeared so kind, caring with your friends, and even with stranger people.Sans knew very well that appearance could be deceiving and the reality had so many facets. We thought to know a person very well but it was just an illusion. Nobody knew anything about another person, and we could know perfectly only our self but Sans was worried anyway.Did the evil child possess you? It could be but the things you did were pretty weird and he thought you had some kind of mental problem if you acted in those ways. One day, he saw you in the garden, maybe you were not aware of his presence, while you were playing with a little animal, and it was a lost rabbit. You were torturing this rabbit throwing stones, sticks to it, kicking it and laughing like crazy, and Sans was shocked. Then, you took the poor animal, that was so exhausted and injured, killing it with your nude hands. That evening, you served rabbit meat for dinner and Sans was sure it was the same rabbit you tortured that morning.Another day, you burn down an anthill and others little animals because you found it so funny. Sans had no choice than asking for some explications to you because you needed to be helped by a therapist at this point. You answered to him that you did not want your house to be invaded by ants and you have not killed any rabbit, you were just playing with it innocently, but Sans did not believe you and he kept his eyes on you. After some days, it seemed you stopped to be weird but it was only appearance and Sans was still waiting for your next move, so one night he saw you sneaking into the dark. You brought with you a big bag and other stuff. You were moving towards the obscure forest, so he followed you.After a long walking, you stopped in a glade and you started talking with yourself in language he did not know, it seemed something ancient and mystic. Then, you drew strange incisions on the ground, reciting a magical formula. From that big bag, you extracted other dead animals and they were the sacrifices for your master but you knew they were not enough so you cut your own hands doing a sort of dance that was so distorted and it seemed you had an epileptic fit and you kept saying those nonsense words.You were contaminating the air and the earth with your blood, until you stopped praying some evil god to hear your prayers. Then, you turned your head toward him, saying «Oh, it seems my Master must not be content with eating mere animals, we have a special meal for Him», your laughs were so strong and lascivious and your eyes were total black. After you said that, you attacked Sans and he was still confused because you were a malefic creature and you were able to use magic, too. You were everything but human. Obvious, he attacked you as well because you were dangerous and you could make an attempt on his brother’s life. You had to be stopped!

👿 Pappy ;

Papyrus was too innocent and positive to think something bad about you or about another person.The idea that you could be a demon never crossed his mind and you took advantage of this situation, you were glad he was so naive and trusting. It was too easy to subjugate a person like him. His purity was the reason why you were here and you acted so kind and cute with him because you had a purpose and it was not so gentle. You wanted to donate his soul to your master, the true owner of this place called Earth, and you were so determinate to attaining the goal and you were not allowed to do something wrong. His soul was perfect because it was brave, kind and pure, so it had a lot of power inside itself. You, being a demon, were able to keep it without risking to make it vanish away since he was not a human.Your only problem, the obstacle between you and your aim, was one: his brother. That lazybones always gave you bad stares and he did not trust you despite you always showed kindness to him and you kept faking smiles, laughing at his pathetic jokes that you found horrible. You were going crazy because of him. He had always something to say as if he was aware of your mission but he was not, because he would have already stopped you if he truly knew your plan. Sans was just playing with you until you gave up saying something wrong that could unmask you.One day, when you were sure Sans was not around, you convinced Papyrus to take a walk with you in the deep of the forest. He thought it was strange and so dark, but you insisted saying you knew a beautiful place where it was possible seeing stars so Papyrus, being the romantic skeleton he was, accepted with enthusiasm. Too easy.You and the skeleton reached the destination that it was a barren wasteland and Papyrus was confused so he asked you if this was the right place. Before he could turn his head to you, you mutated in your true demoniac form, answering to him, «Yes, it’s the right place», your voice was shrill similar to the sound of nails on a chalkboard.Then, you attacked Papyrus and he was unprepared and so scared. You were so ugly and scary, he has never seen something so horrible and he asked why… What were you doing?You explained that you needed his precious soul but you had to turn him to ash so you said goodbye to Papyrus, attacking him furiously.He was too shocked but he tried to protect himself the best he could, and he was crying because he still loved you and he was unable to help you. But he was unable to kill you, too… Being alone, the poor skeleton couldn’t do anything and only dust remained of him, once again.

👿 Mafia! Sans ;

Mr. Blue was a great observer so he understood from the very start something was wrong with you but he has seen so many eccentric people in his life so maybe you were one of them.He noticed your first weirdness when he found you playing with a knife and you managed it like it was your child, caressing it, and you were cutting your hands and arms laughing like it was the funniest activity of the world. Mr. Blue yelled at you saying to stop and he was worried you had some mental disease and maybe you needed some help or to be seen by a specialist.Another day, he saw you while you were burning your own hair with a candle and you were going to catch on fire and you answered him that you were having fun and fire was your old friend. He had just another confirmation about your craziness.Sometimes, he found you reading ancient and mysterious book written in a language he did not know, in those volumes were depicted strange and delirious symbols that seemed spells and something spiritual. He thought you were practicing black magic and this did not amuse him, he did not want witches in his house so you had to go elsewhere to practise your wizardry. You would understand by hook or crook. Nobody wanted to see him true angry. Nobody.One night, you decided to take a walk in the woods and Mr. Blued decided to follow you, he was sure you had something deceitful in that little depraved mind of yours.You were drawing satanic circles on the ground like pentagons and enchantments, doing a strange dance and you spoke an unknown language that was dead so many centuries ago.Your appearance changed as well, your form appeared alien, something that was not of this world. It could not be defined because of its deformity and it was something horrifying and revolting.You did not come from this world, or from this universe so he tried not to do a sound, he was studying you in silence and concentration.You were evocating some demons or strange creatures and it was something not to be taken lightly. Your voice became obscurer and sharper and he was too worried so he decided to go away from that horrid situation, running away from this place with his brother and all his fellas.It has been the first time Mr. Blue escaped from a situation and, maybe, it was also the first time he felt true terror under his bones.

👿 Mafia! Papyrus ;

Lucky Strike thought you were the most enchanted creature of the world but maybe he was blinded by the endless love he felt for you. He should have been more careful to all the signals you launched to him, even if it was without you knowing or maybe you wanted to play with his mind because you knew how people in love could be stupid and reckless sometimes. The only one who understood the situation was Mr. Blue that had a great intuition and he already had a conversation with his brother telling him the things you were doing alone in your room. For example, you were reading spells in front of the mirror in the dark, or you played with knives and fire. One time, he saw you in the garden while you were kicking an injured dog and you were used to bring at home death animals that you found somewhere but Sans thought you were the one who killed those poor creatures. It seemed you did not care about other lives and you acted so cold and mysterious with him and, sometimes, with Lucky Strike too.In your defence, Lucky S. said you had only bad habits and Sans was even worst when he was a child even if you were an adult and your behaviours were fit for a serial killer and Sans suspected you were walking on this path and he had to stop you before you could hurt his brother.You were collecting monster’s souls for fulfilling your duties and you had to fed your Master too with those souls. You were waiting for this moment from months, now that the stars were aligned in the right position you could perform your ritual.You prepared your magical instruments and you have organized a date with Lucky S. this night but it was just a trap to convince him to stay in that place, even if he was quite clever so you poisoned his meal with a sleeping pill that was effective to monsters. It would have been easy and it was not the first time you did something like it. You just hoped that pain in the heck of his brother did not ruin your plan and you knew he hated you and he was ready to stop you but you were more powerful being a demon and you sold your soul to your Master that gave to you endless power.You were going to sacrifice Lucky Strike’s soul to Him and all was going according to plan until, how you suspected, that skeleton appeared launching his bone attacks towards you. It was rare Mr. Blue used his magic because he preferred his weapons, he was different from other monsters, and he liked another kind of violence. No one was allowed to touch his brother because the family could not be touched, and you were going to learn this important lesson by him and maybe you would stop to do all these weird curses so you had to pay for your awful sins, you infamous son of Satan.

#randomnessunicorn-imagine #blackstar307 #ask #undertale headcanons #undertale scenarios #undertale #mafiatale #undertale sans #undertale papyrus #mafia sans #mafia papyrus #sans #papyrus #horror #halloween asks #halloween #demon reader #x reader #imagines

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crunchynatureboy · 6 years

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Pssst, 3, 4 (Sorry i just can't not !! ❤) aaaannndd 14 please?! 🍀)

(HEHEHE, thank youu!! ❤)

3. A report written by your OC’s teacher or mentor

Dear Mother and Father,

I hope this letter finds you well! Exploring the countryside has been positively riveting, though I’ll admit my apprentice is perhaps a bit more at ease here than myself? I may still be too accustomed to the finer things in life…. However, I still feel for those stuck sleeping in beds stuffed with straw. Kieran’s having the time of his life, though, even in towns so similar to his own! I’m excited for him to see Othain- I think you all will get along wonderfully. As far as wizardry goes, however, he still has quite a way to go…. He seems to have an aptitude for magic, but his memory of the finer details of spellwork tends to be shaky. Since this is my first time taking the role of teacher (no, running tutoring sessions at the institute really isn’t the same, though I appreciate the vote of confidence!), I’m doing my best to cater lessons to his learning style. Still, there will always come a point where learning magic comes down to rote memorization and practice, and repeated mistakes tend to leave Kieran a bit discouraged. He does, however, show some aptitude for natural magics? I’ve of course been tutoring him primarily in the basics with a bit of a bias towards Abjuration, but I’m beginning to think Evocation will be more fitting… Much to do, much to try!But listen to me, prattling on like an old school teacher! I promise to send another letter at the next township we reach!Much love,

Surana4. A letter from your OC to their love interestHey Ben!

Sorry to go so long in between letters- we just spent what I’m gonna guess was about 4 days diggin around in a dang cave. (I promise I’m fine though, barely a scratch on me, so don’t worry!) I love the earth, but that’s the longest I ever wanna spend more or less buried in it. Hopefully you’ve had a little more freedom back at the church, haha! How is everything? I hope you’re doin well! I wish you were here- “here” at the lodge, I mean, not “here” in the cave! I wouldn’t wish that level of bein cooped up on ya, hehe. I’ll be headin up your way soon as I can. I swear, you’re the only thing that makes how damn cold it gets up there worth it! I’ve gotta get a warmer cloak or something with how often I’m up there nowadays. (Unless I can just stay warm in your arms) Once this is over, you’ve gotta come down southside sometime, see what an actually warm summer feels like! Especially if it means you’ll get to see the sunflowers in bloom- I can finally point out the resemblance to ya, hehe!I miss you so bad it’s drivin me crazy. Luckily by the time you read this, I’ll probably be halfway to the church! (I’m bringin back souvenirs too, so you better be ready for a mess a’ gifts!) I love you, and I can’t wait to see you again.

Always yours,

Kieran

14. Your OC talking about your favorite quest

“My favorite quest, huh? Man…. That’s a tough one! I gotta say, it diiid get us on the hook for treason, but goin’ through the Empress’ vault was really somethin’. All this cryptic magic shit scattered around, Lander gettin’ all buddy buddy with fuckin’ EDIAS, the head engineer, and Nox paradin’ around pretendin’ to be head bitch Adra Balfor herself? Shit was wild!”

#ask #(THANK YOU HUN!)#(goodness gracious I went on for Ages)#(also there's two versions of the Ben letter- remind me to show you the other one!)#crispystar

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ellocentipede · 4 years

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Mystic Music Soaps Yule 2019 Collection

Annette upped her soap design game for her Yule 2019 collection! I can’t believe how beautiful these soaps are. The colors are rich and beautiful, and she used some innovative design techniques to create veritable soapy works of art. As always, the formula is lovely—soft, creamy, and skin-nourishing.

Candy Cane

Candy Cane: The perfect cinnamon candy cane! If you loved cinnamon candy canes growing up (or if you still do), this bar is right up your alley.

This is a wonderful candy cane scent! The peppermint note is true and lovely, not bracing or sharp, with a hint of candy sweetness. The cinnamon complements it well—it’s not overpowering or holiday-candle-like. This is a happy, fun, and nostalgic scent that is evocative of the holidays!

Frosted Marzipan

Scent description: A gorgeous almond and marzipan confection. There are subtle notes of rose and cinnamon but the final lather is a creamy, frosted marzipan bakery confection.

This soap is even more beautiful in person. The sparkling chunks on top look absolutely edible, and the bar looks like a layer cake! Frosted Marzipan is Annette’s take on Lush’s beloved Snowcake scent. It is a beautiful scent. It’s rich and creamy, but not too rich, retaining a bit of clean freshness. It is a marzipan and sweetened cream scent. It manages not to be overly sweet and foodie, and is a lovely comforting scent.

Silent Night

Scent description: Surround yourself in a bath with this soft, caressing and enveloping scent of frankincence, patchouli leaf and amber mixed with a subtle dusting of vanilla and chocolate and relive the valuable moments every time.

This scent was a pleasant surprise! I wasn’t quite sure of what to expect from the notes, and I was a bit worried about the gourmand aspects. It’s mostly a lovely and clean resin scent—smooth, golden frankincense and a touch of dry, earthy patchouli leaf. I don’t smell any of the foodie aspects, although they are probably softening the blend. It’s a tranquil blend that suits its name.

Winter Wonderland

Scent description: The aroma of crisp air after fresh snow, the scent of herbaceous pine and spruce when the wind subtly blew, combined with notes of rosemary, carnation, cedar, and hints of spice.

What wizardry did Annette use to create this beautiful winter landscape design in this soap? It is so so beautiful! True to description, Winter Wonderland is primarily the scent of the air after a snow. It’s fresh, cold, and ozoney, with the barest hint of pine in the distance. It’s fresh and envigorating!

Kris Kringle

Scent description: Homemade wreaths of balsam and spruce, delicate white winter florals, sprigs of fresh holly (from our holly trees outside) spiced orange ornaments, cranberries and the aroma of apple cider mulling.

I love the design on this soap! The holiday light molds on the top are so cute and festive! This is just the sort of holiday scent that I love. It mostly smells of cozy, green balsam and spruce, with a festive citrus and warm, spiced cider kick. All of the elements are smooth and well-blended, nothing is sharp. It smells like a cozy, holiday dream home that is bustling with decorating, cooking, and spending time with loved ones.

These goodies and more may be perused and purchased at https://www.mysticmusicsoaps.com

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derkastellan · 7 years

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Musings: A look at the OSR - Part II: Love the presentation, come to hate the rules

There’s countless people out there who cut their teeth on Classic Dungeons & Dragons (”little brown books” plus supplements, OD&D, Oe, 0e), Basic D&D (Holmes Basic, B/X, BECMI) or Advanced D&D (1e). And a lot of present day OSR games emulate these, for example OSRIC (1e), Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (1e), Swords & Wizardry (0e), Labyrinth Lord (Basic), BLUEHOLME (Holmes Basic), and so on. Some of these were specifically written to provide reference game systems to write for to retain compatibility with earlier editions of D&D without having to reference the D&D name or out-of-print products. Especially Labyrinth Lord. The basic releases of Swords and Wizardry integrate either only the original White Box, or also Supplement 1, or all supplements released for 0e. But these games also have been polished, unified, cleaned up, and updated a bit. S&W features support for ascending armor class, a feature introduced to D&D no sooner than 3rd edition. These games stay true to their preferred editions in most ways, while also providing a bit more streamlined experience than you might expect from 0e (where you had to construct your own game out of all released material and home rules) or Basic (where material was distributed across boxes and level-limited, and some material got never published before another, contradicting new line was released).

What they have in common is that they are labors of love of a devoted fanbase who enjoy D&D gameplay, consider D&D their favorite game or even only game of choice, and who devote significant time to playing it, writing for it, and refining it.

The art is often a callback to earlier editions. I feel right at home with black-and-white line art. It gives me a cozy feeling and evokes the fantastic for me. The rules... not so.

The capabilities of D&D characters don’t seem so fantastic in earlier editions, there’s a long, arduous grind to go up in level, and not much is gained. Magic gear is where it’s at. What can a mid-level S&W Complete Fighter do? He can multi-attack mobs of pitiful monsters, is harder to hit if dextrous, is the only one who gets strength boni, can hit better, and has more hit points. He eventually gets to have a stronghold. If you look for a reason why there’s such a variety of magical swords back in the day, look no further.

This is not truly a surprise. The D&D character as we know it evolved out of Dave Arneson’s wargaming group. Arneson wasn’t a great rules writer or editor, but his group pioneered advancing by level because they moved away from one-shot encounters with meaningless pawns to keeping continuity for their chosen avatars. Frankly, players didn’t like seeing them dying, so they were given increased capability to increase survivability. (Don’t expect any Gygax fanboy-ing from me, I pretty much think Arneson invented the actual game and Gygax wrote the first ruleset for it. I’m not happy with all the “Gygax this” or “Gygax that” which - to me - seems to be endemic in the American player base. If I have to “worship” an individual “hero” or “titan” over everybody else, Arneson would be my pick. But frankly, I would rather not. I respect both and their legacy.)

And early D&D reflects this legacy in that characters are more capable than their fantasy wargame antecedents, but not very fantastic or awesome, really. I personally am just fine with the short time 5th edition let’s pass between level 1 and level 3 and the range of capabilities a 5e character can have. If somebody tells me they needed 10 years or more to get to level X and that is the right pace and was still an accomplishment, I gag a little. Because time is getting scarce, players are not necessarily easy to find, and there’s precious few opting for a punishing game. I love many things about the older editions but I consider a lot of it “a work in progress.” I appreciate the “use it as you want and extend it, it’s your game” culture ideals of 0e which seemed to come to lessen with 1e... a lot. I do appreciate the raw creativity of building fantastic worlds for the first time, no matter how eclectic, slapped together, improvised. But I tried to run games that are true to what some people believe to be the punishing ideal of gaming, and players ran for the hills.

You could blame computer games and their ever-evolving power fantasies. But many people have come forward and shown that computer games in turn owe the idea to an extent also to D&D. The chickens have simply come home to roost. History cannot be dialed back. And it shows. And why shouldn’t it? D&D was often a power trip in the first place. It just got “trippier” over the years.

Now, I’m not saying that you could not run a fantastic game with these rulesets and materials out of the box. You can. But it will depend on your charisma, inventiveness, and sheer skill as GM to actually sell these games today to new players. It can work, of course, and it can be great fun. I’m not denying that. But I’m not so sure why I should try to sell that in the first place?

Compatibility with old material is a great plus. There’s tons of existing material out there, especially starting with 1st edition or AD&D. But frankly, I hate AD&D. I have it standing on my shelf and I feel like it’s not a good ruleset. AD&D2 has it beat in my opinion. I’m not a big fan of Gary Gygax, rules designer. Gary Gygax the creator of adventures and evocative prose... that’s a different thing. Frankly, I am not a fan of where 1e tried to wander - into this semi-simulationist territory. I can do very well with a game that understands that it is merely a game and that complexity needs a well-defined pay-off.

In fact, in comparison the 1st edition Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide are both examples of lots of mini-rule-systems thrown together. Whatever Gygax could think of he foisted his own rule-systems on. And they lack in coherency. A lot. You also cannot play the game without the DMG - because even the actual to-hit matrices of player characters are hidden in that tome. I tried to like this game. I really did. It’s a disaster. People keep singing its praises but I’m not sure you can put these three books - including the Monster Manual, of course - into the hands of most 20-year-olds with an interest in roleplaying and expect them to like this stuff and starting to play. The legend of 1e lives on because the players who started with 1e (or spent a long time with it) live on.

None of those specific games I mentioned truly dare to transcend the original rulesets. Fixes. Unification attempts. It’s all in there. But there’s also “d100 for this” and “d20 for that” and “roll high for this” and “roll low for that”. That persists. Action resolution is a mixed bag of separate rule systems and little engines. It’s a replication of the rules more than anything else.

I find it funny because one of the OSR mantras is “Rulings, not rules.” Placing authority in the hand of the GM to rule individual situations from deliberating this instance (or set of instances) instead of relying on a fixed set of rules. But these games come with rules! They are just... messy, unnecessarily complex in some cases, underdefined in others, lack design or coherence. So, GM help yourself! No wonder there’s so many fantasy heartbreakers out there... People love playing D&D, but it’s hard to ignore there’s some - or many - things in there that need fixing! So they fixed and released and fixed and released.

And so did the owners of the D&D trademarks and copyrights. The game changed. Monster-killing became more important. But it’s not like many players already hadn’t thought that most of the time. It comes with a book full of monsters, after all. Player character capabilities increased. Rules were streamlined, unified. Not all for the better. I don’t exactly prefer Pathfinder’s heap of feats and 4e’s oodles of class powers to 1e or 2e or Basic. But I recognize that these newer games come with more deeply unified engines.

How powerful a unified engine truly is can be seen in games like Dungeon Crawl Classics (which has a streamlined 3e under its hood, then grafted lots of tables on it) and... 5e. I like 5e. I’m really glad this edition came out because I like both the old school and new rules. And 5e came somewhere in between, if not perfectly then at least it tried. Because all the “d100 here” vs “d6 here” and “d20 high here” and “d20 low here” and their endless variations... I can’t be bothered with. Not truly. Not for long.

Because I love the old school feel. Not the rules. I suspect something like the Black Hack is more up my alley than 1e. I know Dungeon World definitely is. I have tried. I keep buying OSR material. But I don’t really get warm with the rules. I don’t feel “converted.” The rules of old D&D were a worthy first try. The game once was meant to evolve with the needs of the GM and the players. Instead the rules... stuck. At least for some. I personally see that as one of the unluckiest inversions. I think it was never meant to be.

And I’m happy every time somebody makes a new riff on D&D without simply going back. Kevin Crawford’s “Scarlet Heroes” is foremost on my mind. Moving towards elegance, simplicity, honoring the spirit of the game.

(to be continued)

#osr #oldschool #rpg #roleplaying

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