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notmasonpines · 11 months

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Building a Canon-Compliant, Consistent and Comprehensive Scheme for Constructing Glyph Combos

Tl;dr: Yes, I did cram as much alliteration into that title as possible. Anyway, I set out to create my own system for making glyphs from scratch, using the basic concepts we’re shown in the show, here is my thought process all laid down along with the results. Since this has expanded over time to become a monstrous dissertation, the layout for this will be Basic Concepts, where all the basic concepts from the show are listed as the foundation for this system, followed by Basic Vocabulary, where the words for the glyph ‘language’ are made up, proceeded by Grammar Rules, where I think up the rules of the system and use what I’ve got so far to analyse the simpler combo glyphs made by Luz and co. The penultimate section is Shortcuts and Misc. Stuff, where I take a look at Philip’s WIP glyphs (seen at the start of Them’s the Breaks, Kid), attempt to figure out what they could mean in this system to yield the canon effects, and work in the miscellaneous stuff that appears on them. And lastly Conclusion, where I use this system to build a glyph combo from scratch for a spell that appears in the show.

Also, here's an Imgur album for every illustration coming up in this post.

I’ve gone pretty deep into this, so if something that I think makes perfect sense makes absolutely no sense to you, please comment and ask for clarification or something. Also, if you know of another system someone made for this, I couldn't find it, so I'd love to see those as well.

Quick note before I begin: This literal essay is not me attempting to figure out how the actual system within the show works. To be honest, I don’t even think there is a fully worked-out system behind the scenes. Glyph combos were highly underutilised in the show, especially compared to single-glyph usage, so there wouldn’t be much point in building an entire system of rules for constructing them if you’d only need to use it in a few instances. Instead I think the crew simply put together some glyphs that intuitively felt like they’d work for the few glyph combos we do get, and then added some extra doodads for each to hint at the existence of a complex ruleset that would allow for four glyphs to reproduce every possible spell.

So yeah, I’m not setting out to make a system that perfectly explains every glyph combo we see, especially the advanced ones Philip uses (it feels weird to say Belos is using glyphs, dunno why). You certainly won’t see me crying in bed after this if what I come up with doesn’t fit perfectly with everything. Instead I’ll be taking the basic concepts the show has laid out for us, take some aspects/cues from the show’s glyph combos, and build a system with that for my own needs (I’m writing a crossover with Harry Potter and I want to have a consistent system for turning HP spells into glyph combos). Though I will at least attempt to budge things around to have the simpler glyph combos work out with whatever I come up with, and I’ll also see how closely I get the more complicated combos once that’s done. If things do happen to work out, then consider me a happy guy.

(Edit from me after having written everything out, about a day later: I did actually manage to read all the glyph combos from the show and get a meaning that corresponds to what happens in canon, so that was a very pleasant surprise. Except the teleportation glyph. I’m not even going to attempt reading it so I don’t actually know if that one would work with this system or not. But hey, here’s a nice prospect to look forward to if you attempt reading what has become a dissertation lol: some actual decent results).

Update: I removed the redundant secondary elements from the 2- and 3-mergers and added more useful ones.

Basic Concepts

Let’s list the basic concepts we can use from observing the show first.

a.1) There exist four basic glyphs, each with an elemental meaning: Light, Ice, Plant, and Fire. Though I’d like to say that Life is a more accurate descriptor for Plant, just that plants are the easiest living things to imagine and grow when using it (And growing sentient things might be a bit iffy).

a.2) There also is a fifth sorta glyph that I'll call a Null glyph, which has a glyph border but no symbol inside. Philip used it in his most complex glyphs and Luz used it in her mist generating glyph.

I think a glyph that has no meaning on its own can be quite useful as a building block, either when a glyph is needed somewhere but you don’t want to use any of the actual glyphs, as a way to indicate absence, or as a place to input external variables (Interesting fact, on the golden glyph bubble thing Luz conjured as a Titan-hybrid there are five connected glyphs evenly spread out over it. You can see Light, Plant, and Fire most of the time, with Ice visible below as one of the two obstructed glyphs later, leaving the final one as Null if the trend of no repeats continues).

b) Glyphs can have small variations to their symbols, changing their effects slightly. Glyphs can also have a single or double border.

c) While size determines the power behind a glyph’s effect, intent also plays a large role, primarily in how and when a glyph activates, where/on what it generates its effect, and what shape and direction its effect has.

d.1) Glyphs can also have secondary meanings, which are related to their element. The only examples we get are Power, Colour and Reflection for the Light glyph (from the notes near the start of Echoes of the Past), though judging by the question marks they weren’t sure if those were the right words either, and Reflection fits less with Light and more with Ice imo.

d.2) We also know which meaning a glyph has ‘diffs 4 placement’, whatever that means.

e.1) Glyphs can be chained together into closed circuits, which can technically be any shape (rectangular in Luz’s neon shop sign) but are preferably circular. This allows for glyphs to be activated simultaneously.

e.2) Chaining multiples of the same basic glyph together allows for multiple separate instances of the same element to be summoned simultaneously.

e.3) Putting two different glyphs in a circuit can yield a new, merged, secondary element (like Doodle God or Little Alchemy or whatever floated your boat back then), the only known example from the show being Mist from Fire and Ice.

e.4) The basic glyphs are always drawn in the same orientation within glyph combos, with one known exception that I’ll ignore because it occurs in the teleportation glyph.

f.1) Glyphs are like a language that describe what you want the ambient magic to do, with the basic glyphs being the words and circuits being the sentences, though this seems distinct from how circuits function from e.2. This also seems to be closer to a natural language than something like a coding language, as there’s an actual being that you talk to which casts the magic for you (I’m assuming that using glyphs communicates telepathically with a subconscious part of Papa Titan’s soul, since it stops working once his soul isn’t there anymore to respond and use his magic in the way the glyphs instruct him to. I’m also saying his subconscious because having him consciously hear and act on magic instructions would be hell).

f.2) Context clues, synonyms, metaphors and subtext thus play a role in reading glyphs, as they do with natural languages. Though with intent added to the mix to disambiguate, though you can't just press a single glyph and expect your intent to do everything (God, wouldn’t it be nice if sending intent along with what you say was a thing we could do. So many avoided miscommunications).

f.3) Glyphs overlapping will cause confusion and glitches in the language, like overlaying text or saying words at the same time.

g) With these 4(/5) basic glyphs, chaining glyphs in circuits, and whatever rules, secondary elements from merging, and secondary meanings of glyphs exist, you can reproduce any spell a Boiling Isles witch can cast.

And with that out of the way, let’s get started.

Basic Vocabulary

First things first, a vocabulary of only four words (a.1) is far too little to make a decent system out of, so it’s a good thing we have point d.1 to take from. Sadly we’re seriously lacking in any confirmed secondary meanings to have a decent vocabulary, so I’ll already have to resort to thinking up my own. See below what I've come up with.

For the four basic glyphs I added four sets of pairs of secondary meanings. To add my own twist and to make things feel more cohesive, each meaning is paired up with an opposite, colour-coded here with the glyph it’s paired up with. Three sets of pairs are paired up with meanings from one of the three other glyphs, and the fourth set is a pair of opposites from the same glyph.

And since this acts as a language (f.1) we should also add in the ability to use word types. In this case, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. From the word types, pronouns aren’t needed, and prepositions and conjunctions can be figured out through context or some indicator. So, for each meaning we can add the noun, verb, adjective and adverb variations where it’s possible in the above. And let’s also add the ability to use close synonyms when needed (f.2). Like Evolve being interchangeable with Change or Transform as a verb. Or the noun version of Obscure, Obscurity, being interchangeable with Secret. The intent of the user and context can be what decides which synonym is used (c).

Speaking of, we also need a way to indicate which form of word is being used for each glyph, so let’s bring in point b for this.

Let’s have the standard design of the glyph symbols indicate a noun, and the variant design of the symbols can indicate a verb (changing direction of diagonal stripes for Light, the kite to triangle for Ice, and the dot to small circle for Plant and Fire), and I’ll also add a use for the double border, which I’ll call the ad-der, since I’ll have it change the noun design into its adjective meaning and the verb design into the adverb version (it would’ve fit better if nouns were called jectives, or adjectives were called adnouns, but we can’t have everything). This probably won't perfectly match up, especially since some glyphs have more alternate designs, but that's a concession I'll make.

Also, just ignore how the secondary meanings in the first table aren’t all in noun form, I just put in what type of word fit best, but assume that the noun version applies to the standard design.

Now we have a small vocabulary built up, but from first glance it’s still missing a bunch of useful words that we’ll want this language to have to describe every spell (g), and only using words related to one of the elements will always keep this limited, even if you add more.

So let’s pull in point e.3 and see what words we can come up with when merging the four elements. Once again this will require coming up with things from scratch, since the only confirmed case is Fire and Ice into Mist. See my confusing attempt at a table below.

Since using multiples of the same glyph just allows for getting multiples of the same effect (e.2) I kept those combinations out. And since I want as extensive a vocabulary as possible, let’s allow for the order of combining elements to be important as well.

With the only instance of merging elements being with two, I’ll take the opportunity and make three-mergings possible as well, see my further confusing attempt below.

I once again added a restriction of not allowing multiples of the same element in a merging, to at least somewhat restrict the extent of this (since I don’t like leaving blanks).

As you can see, there aren’t as many traditional elements in these combinations, and a lot of abstract stuff, which does make things feel quite similar to the secondary meanings I already defined. But as I said before, you couldn’t get these abstract concepts just from associated meanings of one basic element, and there are a few new elemental things here too.

I also attempted going up one more time by using all four basic glyphs in mergings, trying to figure out combos between the 3-mergers and the final unused element, as well as pairing up 2-mergers with the ones coming from the two other unused elements, but those combinations had no decent solutions that I could come up with, so I’m keeping it to this.

Side-note, playing Doodle God when your base set has only one of the traditional elements (Fire) is actually pretty annoying and restrictive. Like, what useful, distinctive natural element can you come up with by combining Ice with Plant or Light, or Fire with Plant? Coal isn’t exactly a useful element to have in this vocabulary.

Either way, with that all done, we have built up a decent vocabulary. Now we can start setting up some basic ‘grammar’ rules and see how to put these words together.

Grammar Rules

Let’s start with figuring out how we can indicate which secondary meaning a glyph has. All we know is that secondary meaning ‘diffs 4 placement’ (d.2). As I see it, there are only two possible interpretations. Either it means the placement of one glyph relative to the others decides meaning, which would get far too complex as a basis to build rules on (And just imagine, in the case of a small combo of five glyphs you’d already have twenty total relative positions to take into account, i.e. twenty possible different meanings).

So with that option discarded, the one remaining is that the specific position of a glyph on one of those circles/circuits is what determines meaning, like the circuit being divided into equal sectors (eight in this case, since I have eight secondary meanings per glyph). This can explain why all glyphs are typically drawn in the same direction, so the general orientation of an entire construction is set and the location of a glyph is easy to determine from a glance. It also explains why circuits are preferably drawn as circles rather than something like rectangles, since on a circle divided into equal sectors it’s much easier to spot which sector/angle a glyph is in, compared to using a rectangle or some other weird shape.

And since we have very little examples of glyph combos in the show, let alone explicit confirmation of which placement would be which meaning, let’s once again assign the placements ourselves, though with some reference towards the simple glyph combos we see in the show. See my attempt at making a usable diagram below.

As another twist to add something more interesting, I have the pairs of opposite meanings sitting on opposite ends of the circle.

In this way, a glyph without a circuit is simply its elemental meaning, but when you want a secondary meaning, you can indicate which one you want by putting the associated basic glyph on the specific sector of the circle (f.2), more specifically centred exactly on one of the cardinals or the diagonals, meaning top, right, bottom-left etc. (a neat consequence from using eight secondary meanings, and another reason for me to not expand that specific vocabulary). See an example below.

So now let’s get to the meat and potatoes, how a basic glyph combo is set up.

The first observation is that glyph combos almost always have some glyph at the centre. This central focus or anchor seems to determine what element is used in the spell, or how the spell is expressed, similar to being the core word of a sentence. For example, the Light glyph in both the invisibility spell and safety hover bends light in the first case, and emits a soft glow when active in the second.

For Fire, Philip’s teleportation glyph emits a pillar of flame when activated.

As a side-note, we also see from Philip’s later glyphs that, in my interpretation, a secondary meaning can also be used as a focus/anchor (Fire on bottom-left for water fountain (Motion) and Plant on bottom-left for monster arm (Evolve/Change)). I’ll get to them later, but merged elements can also be used as the central point. A Null glyph can also be a central glyph, and doesn’t have to be drawn since context excludes any other option of being the centre instead (f.2).

I also think that, in general, Ice and Plant glyphs will enact a spell more gradually, while Light and Fire glyphs will do so quickly/almost instantaneously. Also, Plant and Fire glyphs make a spell grow over time, while Ice and Light glyphs don’t. But that’s just an idle thought.

To make actual sentences with other words, however, we also need to add further descriptors on what this central/anchored word should do. This is where the glyph circuits come in, forming concentric circles centred on the central glyph. All glyphs and their corresponding meanings on this circle are direct descriptors for the central glyph that apply at the same time (e.1). Let’s call these descriptor circuits.

One quick note, with this setup we can run into the problem of needing two different glyphs to be at the same location, causing an overlap (f.3). To avoid this, let’s add the ability to draw a circle tangent to this point, keep one of the two glyphs on the tangent point as a ‘tangent glyph’, and move the other to somewhere else on the circle. See illustration below. Let’s call it a spacer circle/circuit. In the case of three or even all four glyphs overlapping, all can go somewhere on the circle. The position of the glyphs on this circuit doesn’t matter, but at least one should be off-grid, i.e. not centred on cardinals or diagonals (to clear up distinction issues later).

We also see from the teleport glyph that you can have multiple descriptor circuits all concentrically surrounding the central glyph. In the case of a second circuit, I’ll take it as meaning that the glyph combination it encircles can already count as its own nested spell, and this second circuit applies to the entirety of the enclosed spell. The reading order for this would thus be from centre to edge. I also think each added layer of circuit to the central focus produces a spell that can technically function on its own, even if it might be too unwieldy or useless or have dangerous side-effects without further description.

But what if there’s a nested spell that’s separate from the one already built up from the central glyph, an entire spell that needs to be applied to the main spell along with other descriptors in the same circuit? In that case we could attach a different glyph combo, like a nested sub descriptor circuit (subcircuit for short), onto one or more of the main descriptor circuits (if more exist). This subcircuit has the same rules as the main circuit, except it may not have a central glyph if it matches that of the main one, and might only work on other spells. In short, it's like a subroutine (if we’re pulling in coding language).

To also distinguish it from the previous spacer circle, let’s specify that a subcircuit has a glyph on an intersection point with other circuits, an ‘intersecting glyph’, rather than on a tangent point as a ‘tangent glyph’. We can also use this by saying that the glyphs on a subcircuit that occupy an intersection with another circle indicate that the subcircuit applies to those other circles. In order to line things up, you’d have to play with the size and location of the circle in relation to the main circle. Though you’d also have to keep in mind that glyphs on an intersection could have multiple meanings with their different placements for each of the different circles, which may be unwanted. To combat that, let’s add a rule that a glyph on an intersection always applies its meaning only to the more nested or otherwise smallest circle of the intersection, unless specified otherwise (we’ll get back to that later), and if there’s no other way you could use a Null glyph to add a connection (a.2).

With the main descriptor circuits, subcircuits, and spacer circuits, there’s only one more that is needed to make sure every bit of the vocabulary can be applied.

To add the merged/secondary elements from before, let’s add a merger circuit, which has the two or three elements you want to merge to form the secondary element, and let’s have them all equally spaced, reading the order of elements from left-most and moving clockwise.

To make sure this can be distinct from the sub- and spacer circuits, let’s say that, unlike the prior two, it has both a glyph only on an intersection point (or multiple) and at least one of the glyphs on a merger circuit is off-grid. In the case of 2-mergers that’d have to be both, and for 3-mergers you’re guaranteed to have at least one off-grid anyway (The joys of matching up a circle divided into equal threes with a circle divided into equal eighths). So now a subcircuit only has an intersecting glyph (or more) and all glyphs on the grid, spacer circuits only have a tangent glyph (or more) and at least one glyph off-grid, and merger circuits only have an intersecting glyph (or more) and at least one glyph off-grid.

This actually leaves open another useful combination, a circuit with only a tangent glyph (or more) and all glyphs on-grid. Let’s call this last combination a specification circuit, which adds extra descriptors onto only the glyph at the tangent point. It’s not a spell on its own, but adds adjectives and adverbs to the noun or verb it’s tangent to the other circuit with.

As a quick overview for some visualisation, here’s a glyph spell I put together, containing each of the circuits I’ve mentioned above, and with glyphs randomly thrown in. Though this was just set up for explanation purposes, let’s also try an attempt at reading said glyph with the rules I’ve set up and see if anything reasonable pops up (and keep your look-up diagrams with you. Can’t believe I made actual look-up diagrams).

Surprisingly, though maybe it’s just me spotting patterns in nothing, this isn’t complete gibberish, and I’d interpret this spell as being something that connects memories that are in danger of being absorbed by someone else to light balls, but also using it to order them and move them around, as long as the subject is aware of it happening. Sounds a bit like a mindscape defence against mind-reading. So yeah, that’s the basics out of the way.

Let’s see how this works out with the basic glyph combos in the show.

Invisibility glyph:

Lightened (centre, adjective) coloured (top-left, adjective) transparency (bottom-right, noun) order (bottom-left, noun) → Subject becomes lightened by coloured transparency through order → Invisibility through camouflage. Side-note, the bottom-left glyph can be absent and the glyph still works, as seen in its first instance. But I think the ‘order’ allows for multiple to be camouflaged by the one glyph.

Safety hover glyph:

Light (centre, noun) stillness (top-right, noun) movement (bottom-left, noun) → Use light on movement to make stillness → Stop subject’s movement instantly.

Snow/Command glyph (copyright, Lilith):

Null (centre, not drawn, surrounding circle isn’t a merger circuit (repeats of Ice) so isn’t acting as central glyph, meaning the empty space is an implied Null glyph) power (top, adjective) weakness (bottom, noun) preserved (left, adjective) removed (right, adjective) → The external object touching the centre is removed, this process is powered through weakness, yet the object is preserved → Break down this object through sheer power but keep the debris (In the case of the ice blob, break it down and powder it into snow)

So that turned out pretty well (Though I did already say I ordered the diagram with secondary glyph meanings to at least make sense of the basic glyphs).

Let’s go one final step further and see what we can use from what Philip eventually used in his glyphs.

Shortcuts and Miscellaneous Stuff

Let’s add one more concept to this entire system before that though.

h) Condense and simplify glyphs as much as possible.

Obviously, for usability it’s always best to find a way to get the same spell/effect with a glyph that’s easier to draw. And since this system is like a language, it’s like saying there are multiple ways of saying the same thing, with some faster to say than others.

But more than that, it’s also like shortening actual sentences with contractions, abbreviations, and finding that one specific obscure word in the Thesaurus that you previously had to use several words for to describe. For example, if you have multiple non-concentric circuits you could attempt orientating them to have multiple instances of the same glyphs overlap and work from there.

Another thing that was mentioned a while back was how glyphs on intersections only apply to the smaller circuit, unless specified. Well, let’s say this can be specified by drawing a straight line from the intersection glyph to the central glyph of the bigger circle, indicating it contributes simultaneously to both circles with two separate meanings.

This way of using straight lines to show a glyph is pulling double- or triple-duty can also be applied to drawing a line between two glyphs on the same circuit. This would make use of the previously discarded concept for how glyph meanings are ‘diff 4 placement’, indicating that the connected glyphs also have additional meanings based on their relative placement to one another.

For example, let’s take Philip’s petrification glyph.

Petrification glyph:

Iced (centre, adjective) removed (right, adjective) [Change (relative bottom-left, noun)] preserved (left, adjective) organism (bottom, noun) [Stilled (relative top-right, adjective) inorganic (relative top, adjective)] → Organism is removed but preserved, by having changed the stilled organism into something inorganic.

That already works amazingly on its own, though there’s also this funky plant glyph that’s unconnected to a circle but still connected to other glyphs by straight lines.

Something that hasn’t been tackled yet is how to actually use the primary meaning of the basic glyphs outside of being the central focus, because there’s no other place in the current rules for the basic glyphs to apply their elemental meaning on anything. So let’s make it so that a basic glyph that’s disconnected from a circle still has primary meaning, and is applied to other glyphs with straight lines. In this case that would add that iced life is preserved.

…This obviously doesn’t work too well since in canon the petrification is permanent and kills the petrified person, but I’ll gladly hop onto the convenient lifeboat that is the context of this glyph being incomplete. I’d say Philip was originally experimenting with a way of turning someone into stone as a defensive spell, but a) didn’t know how to express stone yet, and b) didn’t want it to be permanent, since that would be pretty iffy unless he already has all the power over the Boiling Isles and nobody attempting to question him for killing people. So this original glyph just turned the subject ‘inorganic’, which is apparently just some weak dust, so the preserving of life to make it reversible is pretty useless here anyway. Clearly not complete yet. In the completed, proper petrification glyph, the small Plant glyph with the two connections would be gone to make it irreversible, and a merger circle of Fire and Plant (Earth) with the two glyphs intersecting with another, appropriately sized merger circle with Ice as the third glyph (Hard), bringing a total circuit for (Hard Earth = Stone).

Either way, let’s add elemental modification to the toolkit.

Let’s go to the other three of Philip’s WIP glyphs and try to make sense of them, plus whatever extra features were added. First up, water fountain.

Water fountain glyph:

Sever (centre (top-left), verb (there’s no real noun for ‘sever’, and no double border so all that’s left is verb)) tangible (top-left, adjective) still (top-right, adjective) transparent (bottom-right, adjective). We also have some funky spiral lines connecting the three to the central point. My current translation would be ‘sever something here that’s tangible, still, and transparent’. My guess is that my boi Phil was trying to make a glyph that could isolate groundwater and get it out of the ground, probably for survival purposes since groundwater would be drinkable compared to the Boiling Sea and Rain (Luz assumes the glyph is meant to make a water fountain, but that’s just what she sees the glyph doing, not what its intended use is). Obviously he didn’t know how to properly express ‘groundwater’ at this point, or thought it was too bulky to write down that way, and went with a vague description of ‘tangible but transparent and still (not moving in the ground)’ instead. I think the spiralling lines here are supposed to provide a direction for the motion (there’s no motion glyph in here, i.e. Fire bottom-left, but severing water from the ground would probably push it up and give it some motion regardless, so the lines help direct it). It would make sense, since just bringing water straight up would make it fall back down on the ground, so you need a little trajectory to have it land in a gathering bowl next to the glyph. That said, let’s add motion lines.

Next up, monster arm:

The new feature here is a partial circle segment capped off by two fire glyphs. The first thing that comes to mind for me is that this is supposed to be an abbreviation for when you have to draw the same glyph on neighbouring locations of the circuit. So instead you only draw the correct glyph at the ends of the sequence and let the line imply the rest of the meanings involved. In this case: Evolution/Change (centre (bottom-left), noun) Protect Decay Weak Motion Hurt Sever Deception (right-to-top (clockwise), nouns), and on a second circuit ring, Evolution (bottom-left, noun). My current thoughts are that the ground or whatever sits at the central circle undergoes a change into something that can protect, move, hurt, sever, and deceive. And whatever that thing becomes is then told to continue evolving/changing/adapting.

What I think makes this glyph a failed WIP is that, though the segment already excludes Chaos (top-right), which would be pretty detrimental for a construct you want to order around, it does still include Weak and Decay (bottom and bottom-right), which makes the monster arm physically weak, prone to damage and slowly breaking down over time, as demonstrated in the episode. But Philip didn’t want to let go of using the segment to draw only two Fire glyphs instead of five either, as further breaking up the segment would isolate the Fire glyph on the right, which would separate the glyph from the system and turn it into a separate one that happens to occupy the same space, and a full circuit would require drawing five glyphs too). I think a good solution that Philip probably used in the completed version would be to use the Null glyph to further exclude the meanings that aren’t desired while keeping the full line segment intact.

Definitely useful to simplify the drawing process, so let’s add sequence segments as well.

Last of the WIP glyphs: the tornado glyph, which is the only one that actually works decently, on a small scale anyway, and saved for last for good reason.

We now have some sort of combination of circle segments positioned in layers, and direct line connections with both disconnected and connected element glyphs, as well as straight radial lines coming from the central glyph.

Since these Fire glyphs are on actual circular segments, let’s begin simply with the normal secondary meanings.

Tornado glyph: Icy (centre, adjective) Emitted (bottom-left, adjective) Sever (top-left, verb) Protection (right, noun) Weakness (bottom, noun).

Alright, so it took a while, but if I really want to make sense of this I’ll have to budge some parts of the word type indicators in the right direction. In this case, the bottom glyph will be changed to the adjective version, and the right glyph turned into its verb version.

To start with, as a circle segment, the line trajectory is only associated with Fire, and with the radial line segments in the bottom-left and bottom-right we’ll add those meanings as well. And the connection to the bottom-left Light glyph means something as well. So we now have Emitted (Light, bottom-left) Movement (Fire, bottom-left) Weak (Fire, bottom) Decays (Fire, bottom-right), so ‘an emitted movement that’s weak and decays’. It’s also connected to the circle segment one layer deeper, which has Protect (Fire, right) Decay (Fire, bottom-right). So we have ‘an emitted movement that’s weak and decays, but is protected from decay’. Since the line segment connects the outer circuit line (with the Light glyph) to the central glyph, and the outer glyphs apply to the inner ones, we also add some directionality. So now it becomes ‘an emitted, weak movement that decays as it moves inwards, but is protected from slowing down in total’. That’s probably just me budging everything, but that sounds like how the movement within a vortex of air behaves.

Lastly, the top circle segment has Sever (Fire, top-left) and Chaos (Fire, top-right), and has no connection between the outside circuit and the central glyph. So I’d say ‘sever chaos’ i.e. counteract the chaotic movement of the already existing air, and thus making it organised when it begins moving. Altogether, this glyph describes an ‘emitted, uniform motion that decays as it goes inwards but remains stable overall’. It might’ve been a bit wonky to get here, but none of the rules I’ve made have been contradicted yet and it actually got a decently accurate reading out of it.

Conclusion (plus an attempt to make a glyph from scratch for an existing spell)

So yeah, that’s literally all there is, and I think I got a cohesive system together that fits all the concepts I listed at the start, even if it’s certainly got a lot of cogs, but that’s to be expected when your system is described as a language.

Technically I could also cover Philip’s Teleportation glyph or the unlocking glyph Belos used to enter the Grimwalker area in the Skull, but that’s a) too much effort and probably doesn’t match up with my meanings for the former, but it can be left up as an exercise to the reader. And b) the additional rules the latter glyph could imply would probably be far too complex and unnecessary for this post, or for making glyphs altogether. We gotta keep in mind that that glyph is from someone who’s been experimenting and drawing for 400 years, so the previous simplifications/tricks I covered in the last section would be far more amplified and complex.

Either way, with that all finished up, let’s use it to build a glyph from scratch that mimics a complex spell we see used in canon but doesn’t have a glyph counterpart.

For this, I’ll use the ‘quick-step’ spell we see Eda and Lilith use, where they turn into flame and quickly move elsewhere, reappearing at the end. Hunter does something similar with Flapjack, but there it’s done with light.

So, the central component of this entire spell will be moving. And the descriptor circuit for that movement will be something like ‘[move] a person quickly along a path’. ‘Quickly’ here can be made with a merger circuit. Then, if I want to recreate the spell accurately, the path needs to be specified to be somewhat short, so you can’t just use it to teleport somewhere far away. This can easily be done by specifying that it has to be visible for the caster before they cast it, using a specification circuit.

The next component will be the turning the person into fire. This sounds like a spell on its own, even if it’s pretty deadly, so it’ll be a nested spell that links to the main circuit through a subcircuit. The subcircuit will then be something like ‘change person into fire’. Since this spell is still very much deadly on its own, it’ll also need its own specifier saying that the person should be preserved during the change, for protection.

Lastly, it still needs a way to reverse this change from fire back to person once the spell has reached the end of the connection. In this case, ‘Reverse’ and ‘Ending’ can both be made from merger circuits.

Now we just need to add all those circuits together, making sure each type of circle has the right border glyphs and glyph positioning (tangent or intersecting, on-grid or off-grid), and lastly the condition of ‘reverse transformation spell at end of trajectory’ needs to be properly linked up.

And with that we get the final Quick-Step glyph below.

Some additional notes. The top circuit didn’t technically have to go at the top-right, but it did need to intersect with the main circuit through one of its glyphs. The only other place where it wouldn’t have overlapped with the main circuit’s glyphs would’ve been in the top-left, with the merger circuit for ‘Fast/Quick’ needing to rotate down on the main circuit a bit to accommodate. But in that case the series of connected circuits for the ‘reverse at end of trajectory’ would’ve been impossible to draw compactly. Either they’d go straight over the main circuit, or going around the circuit would require giant circles.

And then there’s also the inside line segments of the subcircuit. I haven’t established the rules for how those would work, and I’m playing it a bit loose there, but basically the places where the circles jump down in layer (shorter radius) is where the glyphs on the outside ring slot in. If the segment had jumped down a layer where a glyph from the outside hadn’t been connected into it, then it would’ve been the corresponding definition for the Fire glyph at the start of the circuit. The reading order here is also from the Fire glyph towards the centre. And lastly, the outside circuit of the spell ‘organism change inorganic’ does need disambiguation, since it could also be read as ‘inorganic change organism’. The direction of how the inside circuit approaches the middle helps disambiguate that, giving it a defined reading order, which is then read in reverse once the ‘Reverse’ circuit comes into play.

And…wow, I think that’s all. I’ve spent an entire day typing this out (plus way too many days of experimenting with things and coming up with some rules), and few people will probably see this, but damn that was satisfying to write out.

For those of you who read all the way to the end, or God forbid actually took the time to take it all in, thank you very much!

…I’m going to bed.

#the owl house #owl house #glyphs #glyph magic #theory #analysis #discussion #toh #owl house theory #glyph combos

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away-ward · 10 months

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hi, i’ve always been too shy to comment or send asks before but i’m making this my first bc i wanted to let you know how much i appreciate your work! i read your hell yeah fanfic a couple of months ago & when i stumbled upon it again recently & found a whole master list worth of fanfics added, i was super ecstatic & read all of them in one go hahaha

my personal favourites are reality & arrival <3 reality bc their conversation in the carfax room was so in line w their characters, it just re-emphasised how much i wish we got more of willemmy outside of blackchurch. having a scene like that in nightfall would’ve really grounded them as a couple in the present. all the snippets from the first three books plus the high school chapters of willemmy were such good buildup only to have the willalexaydin bs instead 🤧 anyways, i have a soft spot for arrival too. to have the damon & indie dynamic play out like that makes so much sense! damon & will already have such a strong & unique bond so for will, of all his friends, to have the first girl in the group would definitely make their relationship extra special.

on a side note, your post abt aydin being a few years older than canon made me lose my shit btw since i completely agree 😩 whenever i’m in my devil’s night brain rot, i always pictured him like 6 years older especially w how penelope douglas was trying to portray aydin & emory together. oh & your timeline for the character’s ages made me happy! it never occurred to me for will to be the oldest of the horsemen (which i’ve seen a few ppl comment on). given his may birthdate, i just assumed he was born the following year after michael, kai, & damon were. i mean, it makes sense right?? he’s the baby of the four. i could be wrong but then that would mean damon is the youngest which i refuse to imagine for some reason given all the shit he’s been up to 💀

this post is getting longer than i expected & i could probably continue rambling on but i just wanted to thank you again for your contribution 🙏🏽 this fandom has practically a drought in fan fiction unless it’s for second gen but seeing as kaibanks & willemmy (my biases) were done dirty in the series, your account has truly been such a gem to follow.

It’s nice to hear from you!! I’ve definitely been on the fence about whether to reach out to someone or not but I’m so happy that you decided to leave this message. It really made my day.

I feel that ‘reality’ is the closest I’ve ever come to getting Em and Will right. I also a snuck in a few references that are dear to me, so it’s special in my eyes, despite its needed edits. It was originally a request, so I can’t take all the credit for it, but I’m just so I’m happy that it’s one of your favs.

And ‘arrival’ has been a personal HC of mine for a long time. It took me a while to get out onto a page, so it’s great to hear that it’s struck home with others too.

A lot of my fics are borne out of that ‘we didn’t get to see this in the book but we should have’ and ‘what would have happened if…?’ feeling. Having had the chance to speak to other fans, I know I’m not alone in that, so it’s nice that so many people are finding my fics...fulfilling? I know other writers could do better, but until then, I’m happy to be around to fill a void.

Ahhh! The aydin age thing! Thank you! Anytime Aydin’s age is brought up in NF I’m like, ‘no you’re lying. You’re, like, 32/33.” But nope. He’s 26???? smh. Missed opportunity. It could have done so much for his character to just age him up a bit.

Regarding the timeline…as much as I would have loved for Will to the oldest…I think he is the baby. For clarification, I think Michael, Kai, and Damon were born in 1994 and Will in 1995. I didn’t want to give actual years in the post because I think the vibe that PD was going for was a timeless/infinite ‘this could be taking place at any point in time’. except for the points where they put in things that would date the books, the years and timing were purposefully left vague. I didn’t want to take that away by giving concrete dates. But I stayed up til an ungodly hour on a work night, going over this stupid timeline with a friend who has never read the series because trying to untangle it in my head was driving me absolutely nuts. So I had to record it somewhere.

In the chart, they all start the school year the same age* and then end the school year the same age, but within that nine months, it goes Michael, Kai, Damon all before Devil’s Night on October 30th, the new year, and finally Will in May.

That being said, at one point we did get stuck on whether Will was actually the oldest and I loved what it did for his character too. If at some point, he got held back a grade, it would go to why he’s a bit insecure, feels like he’s the dumbest in the group, and doesn’t trust himself to act on his own. I kinda wish Will had some sort of learning disability like dyslexia or ADHD because I think it would contribute to his lack of interest in school and strengthen his addiction storyline. None of that is canon and I don’t HC that it is. I just kinda wish it was there…

But according to my calculations, Will is the baby of the group, and of his family. That, along with his privilege, can also explain why he is the why he is.

Also Damon being the youngest would be hilarious and I wish it were so.

No worries, I as a wordy rambler myself, I appreciate everything you had to say. Feel free to drop by any time. I talk way too much, but it’s nice to get this devil’s night brain rot, as you so accurately termed, out to others who understand.

Thank you so much for your message and have a great day!

*well, if the school year starts in August, which some places in the US do. Others start in September, in which case, Michael will already be the next age up at the start of the year.

#asked and answered #devil's night series stuff #the horsemen of devil's night #my writing #timeline #ages #asked and answered 14

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eponymous-rose · 3 years

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A Critical Role Campaign 2 Mechanics Primer

Got a request from a new Critical Role viewer for some clarification re: rules and characters, and dang, yes, there’s so much stuff to deal with as a new viewer at the moment. So here’s an attempt at clarifying some stuff!

How does D&D work?

Fundamentally, one person (the DM) sets the scene and the players riff off that scene by acting out what their characters would do in response. Whenever a player’s actions would lead to an uncertain result, the DM can call for them to roll a die and try to hit a predetermined target number to see if they succeed. The players’ individual characters have abilities that boost certain categories of rolls and penalize others; a very strong character is more likely than a scrawny one to be able to open a jammed door, but they could still have an unlucky roll. It’s the DM’s job to incorporate the sometimes-absurd results of those die rolls into a coherent story.

Combat is the most “gamey” D&D gets, where everyone has a turn set aside to act (with an order determined by the “initiative” roll that starts combat). This is where character classes come in handy: magic-users cast spells, fighters jump in with their weapons of choice, and so forth. Each character has a set of hit points, and once those reach zero, the character is unconscious and possibly dying. But combat ain’t just hack-and-slash: there can be conversation, strategy, manipulation, collaboration, and all sorts of weird subtleties going on. Fundamentally, players’ actions are limited only by their imaginations.

It can be super weird getting into a D&D show even if you have played a bit because everyone plays the game a bit differently. Critical Role’s gameplay leans hard into roleplaying and character beats (there are episodes with basically no dice rolls) but also leans hard enough into the rules that a random bad or good roll can completely derail the story; rolls aren’t fudged or handwaved for the sake of a predetermined narrative, which means nobody playing (including the DM) knows how things are going to end up. This makes for a viewing experience that is a cross between dramedy improv and live sports; the cast plays out long scenes of conversation, but their characters could also permanently die at any time, adding to the high stakes. It’s also totally unedited, which accounts for the absurdly long runtime.

If any of that isn’t for you, there are a lot of great D&D podcasts out there (often labeled “actual play”) that run the gamut from silly with minimal rules to mechanically involved but edited down. It’s a cool time to get into D&D!

Okay, so how exactly do these characters do their thing?

One of the more confusing aspects for new viewers of the second campaign of Critical Role is that they’re using a fair amount of content that’s not in the baseline ruleset - some character races and classes are coming from expansion content, and some are from Matt Mercer (the DM’s) homebrew. Here’s a quick summary of what each character has going on at the start of the campaign, moving from left to right in the first episode’s seating arrangement.

Fjord (played by Travis Willingham)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Travis is the big guy who looks like he could throw a football real far. If you’re listening to the podcast, his character voice has a Texas twang.

Fjord is a half-orc warlock. A half-orc typically has green skin and tusks but otherwise looks fairly close to a garden-variety human. Warlocks are magic-users who gained their abilities from a bargain with a mysterious (generally somewhat malevolent) being of great power. Mechanically, they rely a lot on what are called cantrips (spells that can be cast an unlimited number of times a day) since the number of more powerful spells at their disposal is very limited. However, unlike most other casters that have to get a full night’s sleep to regain their stronger spells, warlocks just have to rest for an hour or so and they’re good to go. More specifically, Fjord is a hexblade warlock. Hexblades are warlocks who have a particularly strong bond with their weapon of choice and can summon it from nothing.

Beauregard (played by Marisha Ray)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Marisha is the woman who often perches on her chair like she’s about to take flight. If you’re listening to the podcast, her character voice is a bit gruff with a sarcastic drawl.

Beau is a human monk. Both humans in this campaign use a variant version of human that allows them to pick a feat at the start of the campaign: Beau has some extra expertise in investigative and athletic abilities. Monks are preternaturally powerful martial artists; what some classes do with magic, they do with unarmed combat. Mechanically, they rely on an ability called ki points, which are a stockpile of points that can be used for extra-powerful abilities such as being able to hit extra times on an attack or being able to stun an enemy. More specifically, Beau is a Way of the Cobalt Soul monk, which is a homebrew from Matt and means she’s essentially a warrior-monk-librarian whose key abilities center around rooting out useful information.

Caleb (played by Liam O’Brien)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Liam is the guy who perpetually looks like he’s about to launch into a Shakespearean monologue. If you’re listening to the podcast, his character voice is soft with a German accent.

Caleb is a human wizard. His variant human feat gives him an eidetic memory and the ability to always know what time it is. Wizards are magic-users who got to where they are with careful study; Caleb has to keep track of his spells by transcribing them into a spellbook. He also has a familiar in the form of the cat Frumpkin, although Frumpkin can also change forms. Mechanically, wizards can pick up spells from a lot of different sources to learn them, but again, the cost in time and materials of transcribing them into a spellbook can be substantial. More specifically, Caleb is a transmutation wizard, which means his wizardry focuses around the act of transforming one thing into another.

Nott (played by Sam Riegel)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Sam is the guy with an alarmingly big smile and a comically oversized flask. If you’re listening to the podcast, his character voice is high-pitched with varying levels of Cockney accent.

Nott is a goblin rogue. Goblins are small and quick, and may or may not be well-received depending on the location. Rogues are sneaky individuals who do best when striking from the shadows or scouting ahead to investigate potential traps and unlock doors. Mechanically, they get a huge bonus in combat if they attack when unseen or when an opponent is distracted by an ally. They’re also very good at avoiding attacks and at hiding from view. More specifically, Nott is an arcane trickster rogue, which means she also dabbles in magic related to illusions and enchantment.

Jester (played by Laura Bailey)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Laura is the one who may or may not be instigating every round of giggles at accidental innuendo. If you’re listening to the podcast, her character voice is bubbly with an Eastern European accent.

Jester is a tiefling cleric. Tieflings essentially look like brightly-colored humans (Jester has blue skin) with horns and a tail; they’re the result of infernal ancestry and also may or may not be well-received. Clerics are magic-users who derive their power from the blessing of a deity or other extremely powerful entity. Jester’s divine patron is the Traveler, a mysterious trickster with an affinity for phallic graffiti. Mechanically, clerics have a massive stable of spells from which they can choose a subset every morning; their abilities range from healing wounds to causing devastating harm. More specifically, Jester is a trickery domain cleric, which means her spells have a strong focus on illusions and pranks.

Mollymauk (played by Taliesin Jaffe)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Taliesin is the one who looks like he may be some sort of ancient fey creature who’s come to our realm to play D&D. If you’re listening to the podcast, his character voice has an Irish accent of varying intensity.

Molly is a tiefling blood hunter with purple skin. Blood hunters are a custom class Matt created that can use their own blood (in a process called hemocraft) to augment their combat abilities. Mechanically, blood hunters are high-risk high-reward; they can perform devastatingly brutal attacks, but often only at the cost of shedding some of their own blood to do so. More specifically, Molly is an Order of the Ghostslayer blood hunter, which means he’s got an affinity for things relating to the moment of death.

Yasha (played by Ashley Johnson)

If you’re watching the show in video form, Ashley is the one who isn’t around for a little bit (she was splitting her time with a TV show on the opposite coast) and then SHE’S BACK AND I’M STILL SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT. If you’re listening to the podcast, her character voice is soft with a faint Scandinavian accent.

Yasha is an aasimar barbarian. Aasimar are the semi-divine counterpart to tieflings, although Yasha is a fallen aasimar with a fairly different aesthetic. Barbarians use their rage to enhance their already fierce battle prowess. Mechanically, barbarians in a rage take less damage and deal more damage, and also embrace a high-risk high-reward playstyle as tanks in the middle of the fray. More specifically, Yasha is a Path of the Zealot barbarian, which means her battle rages are fueled by the influence of a divine being.

Interested in watching from the start of campaign 2? The show has a YouTube channel with each episode posted in its entirety, and all episodes are also available in podcast form (they did jump channels partway through, but you can usually find a playlist that has them all). If you want to delve into campaign 1, I highly recommend it, but be aware that they’re still figuring out tech stuff and you’re also jumping in partway through the game they started years earlier at home. Campaign 2 starts 20 years after campaign 1 on a different continent of the same world, and is intended to be an appropriate jumping-on point for new viewers.

Interested in catching up faster so you can watch live with friends? Search Critical Recap for a series of recap videos on YouTube, which then becomes a series of written summaries on the CritRole website after episode 88. There are also great summaries on the Wiki, and many people have put together catch-up guides for new viewers.

There’s A LOT of content out there. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for skimming the early stuff if you want to get in on the new episodes sooner. <3

Episodes air at 7 PM Pacific every Thursday on Critical Role’s Twitch and YouTube channels; the VOD goes up for free on YouTube the Monday after. In the last few months, the cast has been distanced at the studio (all on separate cameras) and episodes have been pre-recorded several weeks in advance; normally, the show is streamed live and everyone is around the same table.

Hope that helps! If you have any questions, let me know. This is a fun show to get into, and a great all-consuming massive body of entertainment if you have the time for it.

#critical role #eponymous reference tag #long text post

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sailorspazz · 3 years

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10 Dance Vol. 6 Special Edition overview

Volume 6 of the 10 Dance manga was released in Japan on March 18th, 2021. As with volumes 4 and 5, there are both regular and special editions available. In this post, I will provide an overview of the release, including observations on changes that were made to the chapters compared to how they were printed in the magazine, plus summaries and select scans of content from the special edition booklet.

It is often the case that when chapters come out in the manga magazines, they aren't always fully polished, and since I became highly familiar with this run of chapters from the summaries I made, several things immediately jumped out at me as I went through the book. First of all, though chapter 29 was split into two parts and released in subsequent months in the magazine, these two halves were combined into one chapter, with no indication they had ever been separate. I assume that they were always intended to be one chapter, but since the full chapter was not completed before the deadline (and it was a month when 10 Dance was being given the cover image, so not possible to delay its release), it was simply split over two months instead.

For visual changes, the most common alteration was scenes that originally had little or no screentone having it added in:

There were also some instances of either slight panel redraws, or complete replacements with new panels. None of these were from particularly important scenes, so it could just be Inouesatoh or someone on her team didn't like the look of the original panels and wanted to change them. The following example has a bit of both, with Suzuki in the upper left corner being replaced, and his eyes being redrawn in the lower panel:

Personally, the most amusing addition I noticed was when Max was thinking about throwing a party. Originally, we didn't see what he was envisioning, but in the volume, an addition has been made in the background: the New Year's piece Inouesatoh drew with sexy men dressed as cows, except now they're bunnies!

As for dialogue, it appeared to be almost the same in both versions throughout. Some minor exceptions include a spot I found where the dialogue was put in a different order, swapping Sugiki’s lines between this panel and his first line on the following page (in addition to another altered panel example):

As well as in this shot of Suzuki describing how they tug at the thread that connects them through their dance. Whereas before it put the word “dance” next to the part about tugging on the thread to specify what was meant by that, it was deleted in the volume. And while it was originally described as “affirming that we’re connected”, this was also tweaked a bit to be, “affirming our connection”.

There were a couple instances of character names being different from when they appeared earlier in the story. In this volume, two characters who were last mentioned back in volume 2 (Lucas Calvo, one of the champions at the table in Blackpool, and Deeks, who Ernie said hated Sugiki because he "stole" his girlfriend), either from typos or intentional changes, weren't the same as before. Lucas' last name was written with a 'g' sound (ガルボ) instead of a 'c' (カルボ), and this change carried over to the volume. On the other hand, Deeks' (ディクス) name got transposed as Disc (ディスク) in the magazine, but was fixed in the volume.

There was a typo that unfortunately made it through to the volume (but could perhaps be fixed in future printings). In chapter 34, when Norman is testing Suzuki's skills, he flashes back to Sugiki taking the national title from him several years earlier. The text in this scene, written in English, incorrectly states that Suzuki won the championship, rather than Sugiki.

The volume also includes the usual additions that are not present in the magazine, such as the under the cover flap comic, and Inouesatoh’s notes about each chapter.

The cover flap comic (which looks very much like a sketch, compared to previous ones that have had more complete art), features the Shinyas during a practice session earlier on in the series in December, where Suzuki complains that Sugiki’s Latin just isn’t sexy. Sugiki suggests that he can practice being sexy by wiggling his butt around to write a message in the air. Suzuki worries that if he starts writing out “love” or something, he’ll have to run away and escape. Sugiki gets started, and Suzuki calls out each letter that he can make out from his elegant butt bouncing. After figuring out he’s written “M-E-R-R-Y”, Suzuki guesses that he’s writing “Merry Christmas”. Sugiki gets mad that he said it aloud before he finished writing his message, and says he’s going to leave. Suzuki says, “Wait, I love you,” as narrative text says that this somehow turned into a love story in one panel.

And here are some tidbits I found interesting/amusing from the chapter notes:

She thinks readers who are fans of pecs will like Saichi.

She’s not sure if readers will love Max or hate him, but she personally likes him (sorry Sensei, I kinda hate him lol)

As of chapter 32, a portion of the art is now done digitally.

The epic “last dance” scene from 33 was something that she had planned since the beginning of the series, and it ended up being 8 times the cost for a typical chapter.

Special edition booklet:

The special edition comes with a 48 page hardcover booklet that includes a variety of different extras, divided into 8 sections called “heats”.

Heat 1 is a newly drawn, 12 page parody manga. Back in September 2020, Inouesatoh put out a request on Twitter for fans to send in their suggestions for an erotic side story. Putting the characters in a high school setting was the most requested scenario, so she chose this idea as the basis for the story. The title is “And All That Jazz” (the premise makes this somewhat confusing to summarize, so keep in mind that I’ll mostly be describing their actions based on the soul rather than the body, but will use quotation marks if it’s about other characters and who they think they’re addressing. It’ll all make sense, I promise...I think :P)

(The title page actually depicts the ending of the story, so I’ll come back to it later). It starts with Suzuki narrating his introduction, saying that he’s a transfer student to the Standard Academy. He really doesn’t get along with a guy named Sugiki, but for some reason, the two have now switched bodies with each other. Sugiki opens his shirt and inspects his new physique in front of other students, as Suzuki yells out asking what the hell he’s doing to his body. They look at themselves wearing each other’s expressions, Sugiki seeming surprised his mouth can gape open like that, and Suzuki wondering what happened to his body’s facial expression muscles. The bell rings and Sugiki heads off to class, as Suzuki is baffled that he can act so calm about this.

Sugiki perfectly reads a passage aloud in English class, something everyone (including the teacher, who looks like Norman) find unusual coming from “Suzuki”, as they wonder where his usual hearts are. Suzuki makes the decision to enjoy living as Sugiki for a bit, and is shown getting flirty with several girls. He notes that the more serious personality in his regular body is also strangely popular, though with a very different crowd.

A student named Alberko (Alberto in a girl’s uniform) shows up and says that “Sugiki” was supposed to have lunch with her(?) today. Suzuki says that he thought Alberko was going out with Dorou (a masculine alteration to Dolores’ name). Ernie and Suzuki watch as his harem falls apart with Alberko running amok. Ernie comments that both “Sugiki” and that transfer student have been acting weird all week, and he asks if something happened. Suzuki internally reflects back to one week earlier, when he was relaxing in bed in the infirmary. Sugiki comes in and accuses him of skipping class, and Suzuki tells him to mind his own business. He thought this would turn into one of their usual fights, but he can’t believe that actually happened instead...

After school, Sugiki asks Suzuki if they can go home together today. As they’re walking, Suzuki asks if Sugiki realizes what it was that made them switch places, and Sugiki says he does. Suzuki says that in that case, they know how they need to fix it, and they should go over to his house. Sugiki asks for clarification of whose house exactly he means by that.

As they start to get undressed, Suzuki says that he always thought his mom and sisters were annoying, but after a week apart he really misses them. Sugiki promises that he’ll make sure he can see them soon. Suzuki claims that he’ll be the one making Sugiki come, and Sugiki asks how he can talk like that when he was the one who looked like he was about to cry when Sugiki first touched him in the infirmary.

Sugiki peeks into Suzuki’s pants and wonders if he won’t get hard unless he touches him. Suzuki thinks it’d be weirder if he could get hard while looking at his own face, and wonders if Sugiki has AI in his crotch or something (Sugiki contends that it’s not his body). They fool around with each other until they finish, and Suzuki wonders why they didn’t change back yet. Sugiki suggests that maybe it needs to be just like the last time to count as a complete set, when they went at it until they fell off the bed, so both agree that they need to go for one more round. This then ties back to the title page, where they’ve finally managed to get back into their old bodies, but have now sprouted cat ears and tails.

Heat 2 of the booklet is 8 pages long, and contains short comics and illustrations that were not previously included in the volume releases. The comics include “How to 10 Dance”, a one-page comic with the Shinyas demonstrating the tango. Their privates end up touching, and Sugiki seems highly amused, gleefully asking Suzuki how it feels. Suzuki says that he was the one who got all bent out of shape over that back in volume 1, and tells him to lay off the sadist mode since they’re not dancing Latin right now. The second comic is “2nd Step”, and shows a glimpse of how the Shinyas were with each other after Suzuki gave the go-ahead for kissing. In fact, Sugiki ends up kissing him so much that Suzuki’s lips get sore and swollen. Sugiki then tries to kiss his neck as an alternative, but Suzuki’s not having it. The third comic depicts Suzuki’s first time in a public bath, where he realizes that Japanese people aren’t fully shaved everywhere like he is. Some of the old guys talk to him and slap their balls with their towels, and Suzuki, seeming a bit confused, gives his own balls a slap, too. After the comics are a selection of illustrations that were never used in the volumes, including this one from a Real 10 Dance event in 2018:

Heat 3 is 18 pages, and contains a variety of colored versions of both chapter covers and scenes from the manga, a couple of which I’ll share below:

Heat 4 includes 3 pages of insight from the professional dancers who consult for the manga, in which they explain the moves shown in specific panels.

Heat 5 is a single page look at Inouesatoh’s work space.

Heat 6 is 3 pages worth of advertisements that have been used to promote the series, including things like ads that were posted in subway stations:

Heat 7 is a single page look at the storyboard for chapter 1 of the manga.

Heat 8 is a single page showing the covers for foreign editions of the manga (Taiwanese, Korean, North American, and French).

Finally, there’s one last page with a thank you message from Inouesatoh, including an absolutely precious illustration of the Shinyas in happier times.

And that’s that! This really is an incredible release, and I’d definitely recommend picking up the special edition if you can. CD Japan offers direct international shipping, and I’ve also seen that Kinokuniya lists it as “available to order” currently (though they don’t appear to have stock on hand, so might take longer).

#10 dance #10dance

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humble-althemist · 4 years

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The Hargrove-Mayfield House

I’ve been working on drafting this floorplan for ages, but now that I’ve got quarantine amounts of free-time I’ve come back to it with extra focus and determination to get this thing right, so here you go!

reference photos with explanation will be below the cut, because there are some weird-ass bits to this house that I feel need explanation/clarification/general screaming, and that in some case are very variable depending on what canon you want to go with.

anyway! with the front of the house down there at the bottom, and keeping in mind this house is on a corner lot (streets on both sides that have exterior doors), here ya go!

(also just a heads-up that the exact proportions of everything was difficult to figure off based on a lot of these photos, and this house very much resisted attempts to be sketched out on graph paper, so while this is as close as I could get it without losing my mind, it’s definitely got some little issues here and there still.)

OK! so starting from the front, we’re all familiar with the view from the street, the long, thin porch along the front. but did y’all know the front of the house isn’t as flat as the porch makes it seem?

this is supported by the inside of the house, where we have Billy’s room in that pushed-out bit, and the front door visible through his door, leading into a living room in the pushed-back bit. (if any of that makes sense.) not the best screenshot but you can at least kind of see the corner behind Billy’s door and how it’s clearly not level with the front door

now, I’m not gonna spend much time on Billy’s room because @gothyringwald has already done the work of the gods with that one (IN THREE PARTS, MY HERO), except to briefly say yes, there is a fireplace in here, it’s the back-end of a slightly bigger one in the front room. also, not that it’s at all important cause I won’t be using s3 screencaps for his room, but his room was very clearly not filmed in the same house for s3. the view out Billy’s door changes from the front door to a hallway from s2 to s3 (and there are no hallways in this house, as you’ll see), and the view out his front-facing window changes from porch to bushes. it drove me crazy the whole time so I just had to throw that out there.

anyway, for now I want to turn your attention towards Max’s room while we’re still in here because...

first of all, yes there is a door straight into Max’s room from Billy’s, and no, I have not included it on my layout. That’s because in the show they use a bookcase on both sides of the door to hide it, so you could canonically say that there is no door. to be fair, though, they use this inset shelf thing that looks like in actual fact it wouldn’t work if both of them had one. so, use the door if it suits you, use the bookshelves if they suit you. canon is putty in your hands.

also I wanna point out that in the very bottom right corner of this shot you can see the corner of some wall trim. that’s the edge of Billy’s closet. and yes, it does stick out from the wall like that. at a guess I’d say about half of that wall is closet, and half of it is pushed back by exactly the closet’s depth, giving us this corner look.

moving on to the view into Max’s room, we can see the tiny closet space that her room has. it doesn’t appear much wider than the door to it is wide, though it is deeper than it appears from this angle, probably by about a foot. we can also see her door to the living room from here.

moving into Max’s room...

in season 2 you can feel the camera operators doing their damn best to show as little of this room as possible because it’s so weird and got so many doors, but in s3 we do get a little bit of a better feel and the screenshots I got from there do seem consistent enough with real-estate photos and s2 that I’m like 99% sure they shot Max’s bedroom scenes in the same house as in s2.

so, firstly we have a shot of that inset bookcase I mentioned hiding the door to Billy’s room, and Max’s lil closet to the right. it takes a stupid about of staring at the bottom right corner, but you can just barely see the shadow of what must be the closet’s outer corner there.

panning left, we can see Max’s windows, prime for sneaking out to do nerd shit. in the show they put a lil firewood storage thing directly under her windows for extra sneaking out potential, but I can only put so many pictures in here before tumblr makes me split this thing into two posts so I’ll refrain from adding a cap of that.

note also that that’s Billy’s window closer to us, and Susan & Neil’s at the back of the house. Billy’s would seem ideal for climbing out of as well, but some asshole put his sound system and vanity right under that window so idk how he’d manage it if he did. I’d love to see the elaborate shifting-stuff-around/gymnastics that goes into Billy’s regular sneaking out, though, if anybody wants to get on that.

ok, back into Max’s room cause we’re not done with it yet. we’ve accounted for a door that may or may not be between hers and Billy’s room, one to a lil closet space, and the one into the living room, but this girl has two more fuckin doors in her room.

unfortunately these two doors are never photographed together, so I didn’t figure out that there are two on this last wall until literally this morning while editing this post, but hopefully I can take you along my thought process on why it has to be two different doors.

essentially the thought process is, (L) no wall at all between darkened/blocked-off door and corner, (R) at least a foot of flat wall to the left of door. going back to all of my screencaps with this knowledge makes a whole lot of stuff make more sense, but again I can’t put everything here. If there’s demand for more detailed screencaps and stuff maybe I’ll make a part 2, but for now I’m trying to be as succinct as possible. (lol)

so anyway, that door on the right clearly goes into the third bedroom of the house, because why the hell not have all the bedrooms connected, and that one Susan’s standing in front of in the screencap, I believe, leads to a bathroom. (to be clear, there are two doors in that screencap. one on the left that leads to the living room as mentioned before, and the one I’m talking about, behind her, which set designers have understandably tried to disguise as a closet.)

this is purely process of elimination, since the real estate photo I have of the bathroom does not show the door, does not have any windows, and doesn’t even remotely resemble the bathroom used in s3, but the only other bathroom space I was able to find in this house was off the dining room, which is definitely not big enough to hold a bath or shower. I may throw out all the reference photos of bathrooms I have if anyone is desperately curious, but for now in my head it’s just a general haze of ~a bathroom exists here~

anyway, from that right door let’s walk on into Neil and Susan’s tiny-ass bedroom.

this room is so comically small I’m amazed Billy didn’t get saddled with it, honestly, but if you want some headcanons about why he might not have, my go-to is that Neil /or Susan realized this bedroom was the best for any teen with a mind for mischief. while the windows are definitely not as ideal for climbing out of as Max and Billy’s are, if we take that door on the left we’re in the pantry (yes, the pantry. stay with me), and it’s a straight trip from there out the side door, and out to your smokin’ hot Camaro.

idk how sound that logic is, but it’s what I’ve got lol

But anyway, now we’ve reached the end of the house on one side, so I’m gonna take us back to the front living room and work our way back from there. here we’ve a quick glance at the other end of that fireplace, and another angle of how the front door and Billy’s door relate to each other:

the two parts of the living room are separated by this wide arch, and that further bit is where we see Billy’s weights and weight bench in s2. one could say that this is just normally where he keeps it, but my own personal hc is that they’re only there in s2 because the family just moved in, and that they later get moved to his room and the basement, leaving the living room more usable.

It’s hard to be 100% sure, but looking at these photos, particularly at the floor, I believe the second living room area is narrower (as shown in the floorplan sketch). It makes Max’s room make a little more sense size- and shape-wise, and it seems like all the pictures I have of this space confirm it.

anyway, the open door on the right of the second living room bit leads back into Max’s room, and through another arch we can see into the kitchen, and beyond that the dining room.

for some reason the only shots of the kitchen are taken from the back of the house looking forward, so try not to get dizzy as we spin around here.

as you can see we’re now pointed towards the living room, and on our left (towards the bedrooms) we see the doors to that pantry I mentioned earlier. I don’t have any photos of the inside of the pantry, alas. those would solve probably every question I have about the ground floor of this house. if you look closely they look like bi-fold doors to me, but they could just open inward.

we can also definitely tell that the wall on the left side of that arch is much shallower(?) than it is on the living room side, if that makes sense. essentially, these rooms on the left side of the house are getting narrower as they go on.

until the dining room! this room narrows a little on the right side, which you can see from exterior shots, but the pantry/bathroom weirdness in the middle of the house has definitely cleared out of the way to make room for dining here. we’ve also got two big-ass windows (comparatively), since going by the direction of the wood floors, the window on the left is not the same window as the one on the right.

and going by the existence of a window in that bathroom, we know this part of the house has three external-facing walls -- or however a professional would say that. (essentially, Susan and Neil’s bedroom can’t be overlapping the other side of the bathroom.)

we’ve been pretty low on storage space here so far, so that + the fact that the door in the corner looks nothing like a door to the outside + the fact that there’s a door to the outside literally on the other side of the room, gives me the conviction that this door is just into closet space. it could be a door to the basement, but we’ve seen the back of the house before and it doesn’t look like there’s enough space there for a whole other room full of staircase. observe:

not to mention Neil’s headlights are illuminating a perfectly good door to the basement right there, although idk shit about houses with basements. do they usually have two ways down if they’re built like this? I wouldn’t know, I live on a fault-line. we don’t do that shit here.

ANYWAY, that’s the house. somehow I feel like I’ve covered like way too much, and also not nearly enough, so do let me know if anything isn’t clear and I’ll try to fix it/do an additional post and link that. cause even if most of us are writing Billy living outside of Old Cherry Road/Cherry Lane at this point, this kind of shit is always handy to have around, at least imo?

#harringrove #billy hargrove #billy hargrove reference #stranger things reference #fanfic reference

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miraculouscontent · 3 years

Text

Askplosion #12 1/4:

.:Asks Referring to Previous Miraculous Posts:.

Anonymous said:

I think that story with Delmar, Sabrina and Alya is only type of Alya demonization you accept.

(the post this anon is referring to)

Absolutely.

I also accept “demonization” for like--comedic purposes. For example, if they had Alya be all in on the love square and all no Marinette you’re not allowed to give up on Adrien if it’s Lukanette endgame and Alya’s (and possibly the rest of the girl squad) “demonization” is for the sake of their dramatic reactions to the mere idea that Marinette would be both not into Adrien anymore and also into someone else.

I just think the idea of turning things on its head by making the people around Marinette the subject of jokes instead of it being Marinette herself.

Anonymous said:

Alya going "Need Some Help?" reminds me of Karma and Nagisa from Assassination Classroom(I said it right this time!). Obviously Alya is Karma and Sabrina is Nagisa(and now Karma's jazzy motif is playing in my head). And Delmar is probably(and by probably I mean almost fucking definitely) Kayano. For real though, I didn't even know Delmar's name until I read that ask/response now. I mean, like, that's how forgettable and underutilized he was. And no, Ms. Bustier isn't worthy of being Koro-sensei.

(the post this anon is referring to)

Still not familiar with Assassination Classroom so I will let the other anons who are familiar with the series silently judge for themselves. ;P

As for Delmar, don’t feel bad; his name actually isn’t mentioned in the special to my knowledge, and it was a tweet that confirmed his name.

Anonymous said:

Oh yeah, the "Astruc gets hit with a washboard" was SUPPOSED to be a shout-out to Koro-Sensei Quest, in which Karma gets hit with a washboard(don't ask where it came from or where they go when they hit the ground, the world may never know) every time he acts like a smug-ass little bitch. You know, like Astruc. Often, the washboard will ricochet off his head and hit a red button, which then opens up a pit which Karma then falls in. In other words, Karma getting Karma! If only Astruc could too.

(the post this anon is referring to)

khfjdgdg ahhh, yeah, thanks for explaining! I’ve always said that I’m not very media-savvy so sometimes I don’t know about more popular shows.

Anonymous said:

Eventually Salty Decadent Court

(the post this anon is referring to)

lol we just slowly upgrade our way through the salt ranks

Anonymous said:

I was thinking about your edit of Desperada, and how I would definitely love to edit the ATLA finale to cut out Kat/aang and Mai/ko stuff lol.

(the post this anon is referring to)

Oh yeah, that’d be amazing! I imagine it’d be difficult, but not impossible. Sometimes it might be better to sacrifice good shots or move scenes around for the sake of making things cohesive.

Anonymous said:

Kagami when adrien its back from NY: I'm sorry adrien, but I have feelings for two blueberries, we have to broke up

Adrien: eh? Broke up? We were dating?

(the post this anon is referring to)

I like how this ask doesn’t specify whether the joke is that Adrien might’ve just been way too “friendly” with Kagami and gave her the impression that they were dating, or a joke on the fact that the show itself doesn’t specify that they’re dating, or both.

A+ 10/10

Anonymous said:

If Adrien does get akumatised because of jealousy about Marinette, I hope someone (Kagami would be great) points out that Marinette was never akumatised for that reason even though she had waaay more scenarios that could have turned out that way. So don't blame yourself, Marinette!! (I also hope Kagami yells at anyone else *cough*Alya*cough* who tries to blame Marinette.

(the “Didn’t Need Burrow” that this anon is referring to)

We just want someone unambiguously on Marinette’s side, is that too much to ask?

Anonymous said:

"It's difficult to animate" hasn't stopped others before (Lord Shen, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, etc). You may do it as a hobby, but this are professionals who should have done more than the bare minimun.

(the post this anon is referring to)

I agree. I’m just trying to keep things like budget in mind. A bunch of free-flowing clothing is fine but I’m basically like--okay, but you don’t NEED the stuff that would hamper the budget to make things look good.

Anonymous said:

I don't know why, but I'm picturing Ladybug confronting Chat Noir after he gets back from New York like a mother scolding her teenage daughter for sneaking out at night.

(the post this anon is referring to)

Honestly? Accurate.

Anonymous said:

Clara Nightengale: I sensed Marinette was in trouble, so I came to this school on the doub-- Jagged Stone: It's okay, I already got her.

(the post this anon is referring to)

jdhgdjkfgkjfg Jagged and Clara walking down the street together all cool, Jagged still having Marinette slung over his shoulder, and everyone watching is just, “??????”

passivedecept said:

Honestly

After reading your last bit i feel cheated that Jagged isnt included more

But it may be better that he isnt like luka's dad.

Can you imagion?

Luka: dad. I like someone.

Jagged: who?

Luka: a real nice and talented girl name marinette and- who are you calling?

Jagged: penny because we need a place for your wedding STAT!

Because i firmly believe if jagged had a son who was dating marinette he would do everything to get mari as his daughter in law.

Okay that was it. Love every fic and small bit you make. And i was wondering if you had your own fav. Like. What have your written so far that you like the best yourself?

(the post this anon is referring to)

Do you mean it’d be better because love square is endgame so it’d be messy? Because otherwise, not gonna lie, Jagged meddling and being super supportive sounds fun. :P I’m not here for love square meddling but Lukanette meddling is cute because both parties would be mutually aware of it and also be into it.

As for my favorite fic I’ve written? That’s probably too tough to answer, ahaha. For sure, it’s something Lukanette-based, but I know that doesn’t narrow it down much at all. It would also probably be one of my fix-its/canon divergences because I’m crazy for multiverse/alternate timeline stuff (I hate time travel, but I’m all about multiverse, I adore that stuff).

Anonymous said:

In one of your Didn't Need Burrow masterposts, when someone said that Marinette and Adrien had kids and a hamster who'll get Miraculouses, I somehow misread that as "the kids as well as the hamster itself will all get Miraculouses".

(the post this anon is referring to)

I’m sure at least one of my anons would snap back at that with a joke like, “well, with the standards set for who gets a miraculous, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

rogueinthedigitalworld said:

Would like to pop in for a second to say that yes, Maribat *did* start out as a spite ship, because the original creator was a heavy Adrien salter and wanted someone to replace him… and chose Damian Wayne, for some reason. Since then, Marinette has been shipped with all the Robins (and from I can tell, they’re all warped into actuallynice!Adrien with two gimmicks added from the *actual* characters). I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting something, but that’s the gist of it.

(the post this person is referring to)

Thank you for the response! Yeah, I didn’t know if it was like Spider-man and Ladybug - which I don’t think is a spite ship but I might be wrong - so I didn’t want to say that it was a spite ship without being sure (and obviously, some shippers of it could be just genuine shippers, who knows).

Anonymous said:

Okay, but seriously, when I first joined the ml fandom I was so confused about the maribat. I'm not really a big fan of either romance or comics (except for sandman lol) so I kind of filtered them out but it's kind of an experience tbh. I'm pretty sure it started on tumblr though- everyone sites it as the ozmav au

(the post this person is referring to)

Thank you for the extra clarification, anon! Yeah, I have that ship blacklisted (so I don’t see it around) but not really out of hatred for it; I tend to blacklist names/people/ships that I’m either indifferent to or don’t like (I immediately blacklist people who write angst, people who cross tag, and people who do onesided-Lukanette and don’t tag it that, even if it’s just one offense; I don’t play games, lol, if anyone does something I don’t like, I filter it out because I filter everything).

Anonymous said:

Your images of Luka and Marinette kissing are so super kyute! What program do you use to render them?

(the post this person is referring to)

Thank you! I made them myself!

The program I use is MikuMikuDance, using an edited version of the shader “GreenerShader 1.14″

#other: askplosion #category: salt #special: Miraculous New York #relationship: alya cesaire & sabrina raincomprix #category: staff #category: me myself and i #category: trash #relationship: clara nightingale & jagged stone #relationship: jagged stone & luka couffaine #category: fandom

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the-insomniac-emporium · 3 years

Text

Writing Commission Information + Terms of Service

Commission Guide:

A step by step process for commissioning me:

Read Rules/Guidelines: Check over the rest of this page, making sure to thoroughly read every section, especially the rules.

Fill out the Form Below: Once you’re done reading the rules, see the form at the bottom of the page. Fill out every section as described (and as applicable).

Send me the completed form: You can either use tumblr’s built in messenger, or email me at [email protected]. If emailing, please put “Commission” and the date in the subject box, otherwise I might not see it.

Wait for a response: I should respond to your message within 48 hours, assuming you followed the above instructions. If I don’t, double check that the message was sent properly, and that you put “Commission” in the subject line. If everything on your end looks good, consider sending me a message directly on tumblr and asking if I’ve seen your message. Chances are my computer was glitching on me and I need to restart it.

General Rules:

Be clear. Make sure to fill out the form, and mention anything you want included in the prompt section.

I accept Character x Character Prompts as well as Character x Reader and Character Study prompts. However, I will not write any ships involving underage characters or any involving incest (even pseudo).

NSFW/Smut is okay. I am willing to write most kinks, but you might want to check in with me on specific ones before filling out a form.

AUs are accepted as long as you are clear about what exactly the AU is. Again, I will not write underage characters, so High School AUs are out of the question, but College AUs are fine.

Prompts containing sensitive topics must be marked as such. If your prompt contains any potentially triggering content, such as depression, abuse, or self-harm, you must mention it both in the main prompt and in the “Warnings” section of the form. Even if it’s only a small mention of the sensitive topic, I need this warning. Failing to mark your prompt as sensitive/potentially triggering can lead to me denying your request outright, and repeat offenders can be blocked. Please keep in mind that I am a real person, with real feelings, who has had traumatic experiences in the past. While I am fine with writing these subjects, I need to mentally prepare myself before I can.

I will write dark/yandere content. Nothing is “too bloody” for me. The only thing I will not, under any circumstances, write is non consensual sex.

Fics will be posted on AO3 unless you specifically request otherwise. If you contact me via email, I will also email a copy of the fic to you, in addition to a link to the fic on AO3.

Pricing Guide:

One-Shots/Single Fics: $5 for 500 words, $1 for every additional 100 words. 500 words is the minimum, and anything over 4,000 words might be converted into a multi-chapter fic (which would likely save you money).

Multi-Chapter Fics: $20 for two (2) chapters, with a minimum of 1,200 words per chapter, and $10 per additional chapter. Two chapters minimum.

Alternative Payment Options: Fellow writers/artists can pay for some or all of their commission with an art trade, depending on how large of a commission it is. This is done on a case by case basis, and should be mentioned in your initial message.

Payment:

All payments will be made through Paypal

All payments will be made up front, once I have officially accepted the prompt and confirmed this with you.

I will not start working on your commission until I have received payment, this is to help prevent unsavory activities.

If you are choosing to pay partially with an art/writing trade, you will only need to pay the cash portion before I will start working. However, you will not receive the finished commission until I have received your end of the trade.

Full refunds can be requested up until the commission is completed. If your commission has already been finished and posted, I cannot guarantee a refund for the full amount. Instead, I will attempt to rewrite your request to your satisfaction (if that was the issue). If you are not happy with the rewritten piece, I will refund you for 80% of the commission.

If something changes, and you are no longer able to afford what you have commissioned, and I have not posted it yet, message me as soon as you know! I will cease working and do my best to get you your money back as soon as possible, but I will not be able to pay you for any extra charge made by Paypal itself. Partially written fics will be added to my "abandoned" list, where others can pay a reduced amount to see them finished. If you still intend to pay me, and simply need to postpone the payment, I am willing to set aside a commission for up to 6 months. After that time has passed I will assume you cannot pay and proceed as mentioned above.

Updates:

I will try to give you regular updates on the progress of your pieces, such as "50% done" or "rough draft finished, editing now".

For multiple chapter fics, I will send you each chapter as they are finished, so that you may give feedback and make alterations to the overall plot if you see fit.

If you don't hear from me for over two weeks, please send me an email or message on tumblr. I have a running list of all commissions, but sometimes things get mixed up, regardless of how hard I work to prevent these issues. In the event of a delay, expect to get bonus material as my way of apologizing!

Fandoms:

Overwatch: All characters, including non-playable ones.

Resident Evil: Only characters from Village

Fallout: Characters from 3, New Vegas, and 4, with some exceptions.

Mass Effect: Original trilogy only

Borderlands: All games, limited characters (on a case by case basis).

Far Cry 5: All guns for hire + Faith. Seed brothers are on a case by case basis.

Other: If you like my writing and want me to write about something not listed above, feel free to send me a message on tumblr and ask about it.

Commission Form:

Fandom: What game/fandom are you requesting for?

Pairing (If Applicable): Does your prompt include any ships/pairings?

Characters: What characters do you want to show up in the fic?

Warnings (If Applicable): Are you requesting any sensitive/potentially triggering content?

Type of Fic: Single fic or multi-chapter?

Word Count/Price: How long do you want the story to be? This will determine the price, as noted above in the price guide. If you aren’t sure about this part, feel free to send me a message for clarification.

Prompt: What do you want the fic/story to focus on?

Notes: Is there anything else you want me to know?

Example Form:

Here’s a filled out version of the commission form to use as an example:

Fandom: Overwatch

Pairing (If Applicable): Mercy x Reader

Characters: Mercy, Reader Insert

Warnings (If Applicable): N/A

Type of Fic: Single chapter/oneshot

Word Count/Price: 1,500 Words, $15

Prompt: Mercy comforting a reader who’s had a bad day. Just something warm and fluffy. Please and thank you!

Notes: Gender neutral reader, please.

#writing commissions #$5 commissions #feel free to reblog

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theaceandaroadvocacyproject · 3 years

Text

TAAAP’s Response to an Open Letter

We welcome productive conversations between TAAAP and the communities we serve. We value honest critiques and will always strive to correct mistakes we make, and commit to doing good work. However, we do not engage in dishonest dialogue with those who refuse to address our actual stated and acted values, in favor of propping up a false and directly contradictory representation of our positions. We have written this response to address claims that concerns around our December Pride Chats topic were ignored, dismissed, or misunderstood. This will be our final response to Coyote on this matter.

Our first email responding to Coyote’s concerns was sent on November 30, and our last correspondence was sent on December 18. We made it clear that it was our last correspondence with:

“The topic has been decided and it will not be edited further. Like everyone, you will be free to share your thoughts during the December Pride Chats, as long as you follow the guidelines. Since we do not plan on changing the topic from what it is now, we will not be continuing this conversation through email. We have also expressed the core tenets of our stance through previous emails and see no need in reiterating those points, as that would simply be tiresome for all parties involved. We suggest rereading our previous emails for answers already given to your questions on this matter.” - 5th and final email

As the claims in Coyote’s Open Letter make it clear that our emails were either ignored or disregarded, we have chosen to take the route of responding to specific points in Coyote’s Open Letter with quotes from our emails, and adding clarification and emphasis when needed. We also only include quotes from emails sent by us, as we are not interested in publicizing Coyote’s emails without its consent. The block quotes from Coyote are from Coyote’s Open Letter, which was publicly posted on its blog.

Quotations from Coyote are labelled with an alphabet letter & indented with “blockquote” formatting. Quotations from our previous emails to Coyote, as well as the topic announcement from our website, are only italicized.

A) Because that’s the context from which the term “SAM” itself emerged. That itself is the birthplace of the phrase. You do not “use” “the SAM” any more than a bullseye “uses” an arrow.

In the first sentence, Coyote links to a post claiming this as the origin of the SAM (content warning for aphobia). The post speaks of the Split Attraction Model as a pre-existing concept and does not attempt to coin “SAM” in any way. Due to the difficulty of finding historical posts on Tumblr and forums, no one in the community has offered an earlier post that actually coins the term. Therefore, it cannot be determined what context the SAM actually emerged from. As of that post that is referenced, it was a pre-existing concept. It is a stretch to definitively claim this post as the “source” of the SAM.

We addressed that here:

“Several of us at TAAAP read through and adjusted the wording of this announcement prior to sharing it on the Discord server with the knowledge that while it is possible that the SAM may have been created by exclusionists, its exact origin is unknown and so it has been reclaimed and popularized by the ace and aro communities.” - 1st email

We also addressed this in the blog post of our Official Topic Announcement on our website, which was posted on December 19th before the Open Letter was posted:

“If a term may violate our guidelines, due to being rooted in exclusionist or other harmful ideology, do not assume that everyone is aware of its harmful origins or that they espouse those ideas. Many terms have been reclaimed, used without bad intention, or simply used without knowledge of other people using them in harmful ways.” - Official Topic Announcement on TAAAP Website, emphasis added

B) But you already know that, or so you say. You are comfortable with treating those issues as over and done with, and having personally acclimated yourself to the language, you believe no other issues with the phrase itself remain.

In nearly every email we sent, we described those issues as ongoing.

“While it may not always have a coherent or consistent meaning in these communities, it is still something that is widely referenced and that many people have at least a vague conceptualization of.” - 4th email, emphasis added

“Also, due to the prevalence and often-presumed universality of the SAM, we believe it is important to name it so as to specifically encourage conversation about it. We believe it will be worthwhile for discussion to include it, so that both positive and negative viewpoints of it can be shared, and alternatives can be offered. Many people are on distinctly one side of discussion about the SAM, and some do not even know of the existence of the other side, so engaging in discussion with people who hold different views can be useful in how individuals move forward with their own identities and participation in their communities. “ - 4th email

“The full sentence is ‘We also will require that all participants in the conversation respect others' personal choices and feelings surrounding any particular attraction and orientation model or lack thereof, including people who object to there being a binary of SAM and non-SAM.’ (Emphasis added) While some people do treat SAM and non-SAM as a binary, this is not a view we are interested in spreading.” - 4th email, quotes our prompt, emphasis was present in this email

Regarding the accusation of TAAAP members being personally acclimated to the language, we refer to this:

“These kinds of criticisms are necessary for communities to address issues within themselves, especially when those issues are so common. One motivation behind choosing this topic is to address the far too common issues with the SAM, and offer room to discuss diverse and inclusive perspectives, as many people, including members of TAAAP, have been harmed by those who use the SAM to identity police. Not discussing these topics at all, as we have previously stated, can leave people of the dominant perspective ignorant of other perspectives, allowing divisions to grow without any chances to understand and correct the issue. That being said, and as is written in the month’s topic, we also require respect for how people self identify, including seeing one’s own aromanticism as a subset of their asexuality, and using the SAM. “ -5th and last email, emphasis added

C) You have expressed an investment in opposing identity essentialism, which means the only part that’s missing for you is how one person’s own personal use of a term could be unfair to anybody else.

I will illustrate this with an example.

Hypothetically, say someone in the aro community decided to give a name to a completely legitimate type of aro identity or experience — nothing wrong with that. Hypothetically, say in order to express that identity, they start calling themselves a “pure aro.” Say the identity becomes a popular one, and say there’s also some aros who speak up with objections. Now imagine those aros get told, “That’s okay, you don’t have to use the purity model.”

That would be messed up.

This hypothetical is something I’m assuming we’re on the same page about. If you can recognize that this “pure aro” construct would be a problem, regardless of what “pure aro” was chosen to represent, then you can understand how the language we choose for ourselves — even to represent completely legitimate things — can in fact be unfair to other people. In the same way that it would be wrong to refer to certain aros as “pure aros” or “impure aros,” it is wrong to refer to completely legitimate things as “SAM” or “non-SAM.”

We agree that the language of “pure aro” is inherently bad, in part because it implies an “impure aro” and in part because it assigns a morality to a specific identity, which can also be true with “split” and “non-split”, although to a lesser extent. “Pure” invokes religious oppression and purity culture, with the opposite of “pure” generally being “sinful”. This degree of connotation does not exist for “split”. We say this not to dismiss the real harm people experience in relation to the SAM, but to highlight the false equivalence in the hypothetical.

In fact, we did at one point address someone in the Pride Chats who used the term “complete aro” by pointing out the potential harm that does to other aro-spectrum people who are just as completely aro as someone who experiences no romantic attraction at all.

We do agree that another issue with the SAM is its perceived universality, which forces labels onto people without their consent. We stated our view of this issue here:

“[S]ome people do understand themselves through use of the SAM - [it does] not work for all, and when that isn’t understood is when identity policing, exclusion, and invalidation can occur. We are open to discussions of the harm done by universalizing identity models in the Pride Chats.” - 5th and final email, some words removed to account for privacy concerns and to avoid quoting Coyote.

Many terms used by LGBTQIA+ individuals were originally coined and used by their oppressors or were slurs. Some terms are sometimes used in harmful and exclusionary ways, and have different meanings for the different individuals that use them. Writing off a term or idea as completely bad and assigning moral value to it is harmful to those who are not aware of its history, have reclaimed it, or find positive aspects of the term with which to identify. We believe it is possible to recognize the harm that occurs from certain community practices while also not attacking people who do not intend to perpetuate that harm. Rather, we should focus on the harmful actions. We do not condone broad condemnation of all who identify with a term, simply because others weaponize or have weaponized that terminology to cause harm. People who have adopted widespread terminology to describe phenomena or identities should not be judged because others weaponize or weaponized that terminology, or for forgiving a potentially negative interpretation/aspect/connotation of said terminology for the comfort they find in using the positive aspects of it to describe themselves.

D) [...] it is wrong to refer to completely legitimate things as “SAM” or “non-SAM.”

This states that people are wrong to use the terms SAM and non-SAM. As shown by our message above, in multiple other messages, and in our Pride Chat guidelines, this is identity policing; it is not allowed in the chats and will not be espoused by TAAAP’s members. It’s not simply the experiences that are legitimate, but also identifying with the SAM or as non-SAM. This is not an acceptance of the SAM, or of a supposed binary of SAM and non-SAM, as a universal model that everyone must or should identify with, but rather an acceptance of some people’s personal identification with the term SAM or non-SAM. We conveyed this idea through email here:

“Also, we do not want to imply that we think using the SAM is not legitimate, as it is a model that many people use and relate to, and do so using that specific term.” - 4th email

E) 1) It’s not split. The word “split,” like the word pure, inherently sets up a contrast. It’s framing these things as only partial, splintered fragments of what they’re normally supposed to be. Categorizing my experiences of attraction as “split” attraction is like referring to me as a “split person” just because I’m not a conjoined twin. I wasn’t split off from anyone. I’m just like this. This is my own whole and natural way of being. “Split” language talks down to me as a lesser fragment of something else. Why should that be recognized as anything less than condescending?

If someone were to talk down to anyone in this way, that would go against our Discord guidelines and they would be warned, “timed out” if they continued, and banned if they continued after the time out, per our rules. Dictating how people can identify, whether by imposing labels on others or by demonizing others for identifying with certain labels, is identity policing. Different identities and conceptualizations of identities resonate for different people, and there is nothing wrong with this. This is also related to the issue of universalization, which we addressed above with the block quote C from Coyote. To be absolutely clear, people with the same or similar experiences are allowed to use different labels and models, likewise, people with differing experiences may resonate with the same labels and models. Additionally, people are never required to identify in opposition to or in relation to any label or model.

This was addressed here:

“Everyone uses different methods, models, and terminology to understand their own orientations. Some of these may not be ones that you personally agree with or would use, but you must respect others’ right to use the model or method they want. Similarly, you can discuss what you don’t like about any given model, method, or term, but be careful to only apply it to yourself or use “I feel” statements so as not to say what methods others should or should not use. Focus on critiquing the models and not how people make use of them or identify with them. The only models, methods, or terms we do not support are those that are culturally appropriative or violate our guidelines in some other way.

F) It’s not “attraction,” either. Too often I’ve seen people deploying “SAM” or “using the SAM” to misrepresent multi-orientation labeling, which is conflating “attraction” with “orientation.”

Some people do identify with an orientation based on their attraction. The legitimacy of people who do base their orientation on attraction as well as the various other ways people do not, is recognized in our official topic announcement, the final version of which was sent to Coyote before posting it to our website.

“The topic will be models of attraction and orientation, including the SAM (Split-Attraction Model), as well as understandings and models of orientation that do not center attraction, and any other potential ways of understanding attraction and orientation. We at TAAAP support any person using any kind of model, or no model at all, to identify their attraction or orientation. We also will require that all participants in the conversation respect others' personal choices and feelings surrounding any particular attraction and orientation model or lack thereof, including people who object to there being a binary of SAM and non-SAM. This discussion will explore why people use the SAM, use something else entirely, or use none.” - 3rd email, emphasis added

There are also people who use the SAM to only identify their attractions, and do not use it for their orientation(s). More broadly, we do not agree that it is essentialist or harmful for someone to identify with their own orientation(s) based on their own attraction(s). The harms that are related to self-identifying have been covered above under Quote C.

G) Frankly? It’s not even a model. It doesn’t model anything. It’s just an extra sticker over multiple preexisting models and concepts, chained together by conflation and essentialism.

The SAM does refer to multiple ideas. Many orientation models and identity terms have a level of ambiguity to them, and this is not unique to the SAM. We addressed the ambiguous nature of the term here:

“We do not strictly define the terms given in the topic, as the ambiguity can allow for segments of discussion that we cannot predict. The terminology 'the SAM' is popularly used enough that many people have their own varied personal understandings of it, and we recognize that this lack of continuity in what it means can open extra avenues of discussion. We know that many people identify with it or refer to it when speaking of their identities, and that others do not identify with it nor wish to use it as a reference point, and we want to leave room for people of all perspectives to talk about it (whatever they believe 'it' is) without correcting them for talking about the ‘wrong' thing.” - 3rd email, emphasis added

H) All this is why I recently had to gently shepherd an aro out of your “opting out of romantic orientation” channel.

This is elaborated upon later:

I) The TSAMM encourages a conflation between “romantic orientation” and “distinguishing romantic from sexual,” and the popularity of that conflation has so thoroughly undermined conceptual space for folks like me that you can outright name a channel “opting out of romantic orientation” and you’ll get people in there talking about how much they definitely do identify with a romantic orientation. Even in space deliberately set aside for me, the TSAMM renders the distinction incoherent.

As mods, we should have noticed this when it happened and addressed it then. After reading through the exchange, it was clear that this person was questioning and trying to find what term(s) they felt comfortable identifying their orientation with. The channels for different identities are open to people who are questioning, as well as those of other identities who are willing to ask questions and listen respectfully. While in our Pride Chats, it is expected that questioning people are respected and given space to question without being “shepherded” away.

J) I deserve better than this. Everyone deserves better than this. We deserve to get to have these conversations without the TSAMM getting in the way.

“TAAAP specifically does not feel comfortable avoiding discussing the term Split-Attraction Model, as it is common community terminology and many identify with it in a positive sense. We feel that it would be a greater disservice to beat around the bush than to allow people to discuss it, although we do understand that our wording can better reflect how we encourage discussion about various other orientation models/terminology, and to reflect the fact that participants will be welcome to share criticisms of the term 'SAM' as well.” -1st email, emphasis added

In this first email, we clarified the wording of the December topic to make it clear that the SAM was only one part of the topic, and to encourage discussion of more models and terminology.

“The terminology 'the SAM' is popularly used enough that many people have their own varied personal understandings of it, and we recognize that this lack of continuity in what it means can open extra avenues of discussion. We know that many people identify with it or refer to it when speaking of their identities, and that others do not identify with it nor wish to use it as a reference point, and we want to leave room for people of all perspectives to talk about it (whatever they believe 'it' is) without correcting them for talking about the 'wrong' thing.” - 3rd email, emphasis added

“We chose to name the SAM because of its wide use as an orientation model in the ace and aro communities, and regardless of personal use or opinion, the term contextualizes our topic for those generally unfamiliar with orientation models and theories.” - 4th email , emphasis added

“Not discussing these topics at all, as we have previously stated, can leave people of the dominant perspective ignorant of other perspectives, allowing divisions to grow without any chances to understand and correct the issue. That being said, and as is written in the month’s topic, we also require respect for how people self identify, [including] using the SAM.” - 5th and final email, some words removed to account for privacy concerns and to avoid quoting Coyote.

We would like to refer everyone to our guidelines for the Pride Chats. These will be updated with expectations around identity policing using parts of our Official Topic Announcement.

Also, we feel it worthwhile to address the overall complications inherent in pushing certain terminology and attempting to erase other terminology. Demanding such specific, unambiguous language makes the conversation inaccessible to some neurodivergent people, some people who speak English as a secondary language, and some people with a more casual or limited understanding of this terminology and the nuances of this intra-community conversation. Ace and aro people already struggle to access knowledge about these identities, and this policing of nuanced terminology provides another barrier to aro and ace people who want to understand and express themselves.

When someone identifies with a term, or wants to discuss a term, in TAAAP’s Discord server or on TAAAP’s Dreamwidth page, a safe space, we require that no one identity polices, attacks, nor harasses this person under the assumption that they should “know better”. Discussion and critiques of terms can be brought forward without assigning a certain morality to the people who use them. Discussion and critique can happen without condemning a person.

To suggest an alternative term or to write the SAM out of discussions does not change that many people are exposed to that terminology, and it has impacted their personal identities. The comments on Coyote’s Open Letter are all part of the discussion we always intended to have, and still will have in our Pride Chats Discord and Dreamwidth. As a reminder, our December 2020 Pride Chats will take place on the 26th and 27th and the topic is “models of attraction and orientation, including the SAM (Split-Attraction Model), as well as understandings and models of orientation that do not center attraction, and any other potential ways of understanding attraction and orientation”.

#long post

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bartseq-fanzine-2019 · 5 years

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Announcement

Greetings humans,

This is the official announcement for Millennia, the Bartimaeus Sequence Fanzine! In this announcement, you will find instructions on how to sign up and learn more about the zine details!

Deadlines:

Applicant Deadline: Application period until September 10. (If we get messages for late applications, we can open till September 30th at the latest.)

Submission Deadline:

Creative period! (Now to November 30th)

Check in- November 1st. (Tell us your progress/completion status!)

Deadline- November 30th.

Zine publication date: Zine organizers will format and put out the finished PDF by December 20th if possible. (Dec 31 at the latest.)

Zine Information:

The zine will be titled Millennia, with the theme of time continually passing...

It will be separated into sections for each individual book in the sequence

To expand on the theme, the majority of the zine will be filled with memorable scenes from the books in chronological order.

These scenes can be depicted with imagery, writing, or a mix. Ideally each scene will include a memorable quote either in the piece (fake screenshot) or on the side in extra white space (Sign up for scenes in the “ideas sign-up” google excel sheets)

However, we want the zine to read like a film concept art book, in honor of the new upcoming (hopefully?) movie.

So it will also scatter in images of:

Character designs

Setting concept art (landscapes etc)

Storyboards

Magical artifacts/rune/spell designs (Gladstone’s staff, the amulet, pentacles (specifically named pentacles in the sequence), denotations, rosemary, etc.)

Miscellaneous bonus images (Bart’s various forms..)

Some example art (not ours, credits go to original artists)

These are only examples, you do not have to draw like this! You can add quotes/scene excerpts anywhere, not just like shown in the examples.

Concept art: Character Sheet Example

Concept art: Landscape example

Scene art: example (this example is missing a quote)

Scene art: cinematic style example (this example is missing a quote)

Scene art: quote/excerpt on side example

Scene art: quote/excerpt on top example

Scene art: Fake screenshot example (add a quote in white on the bottom black bar)

(Check out the “inspiration” channel on our discord, if you want some more ideas of what kind of art we are looking for.)

Information for artists:

(Psst: People can sign up to illustrate a cover for a book!)

Image resolution: 300 dpi

Dimensions: 8.5x11 inches or pixels: 2550x3300 is ideal. (Only use 1063x1375 if 2550x3300 is too large for your art program to handle)

Traditional artists please scan your works at 300 dpi and size 8.5x11 inches or pixels: 2550x3300.

Other dimensions are okay if the artist wants a certain ratio (etc. landscape or vertical) but the smallest dimensions must be at least 8.5’’

Note: (Recommend not putting really important details on edges of drawing)

Send in character/other designs with a plain white background so that we can uniformly add a brown paper texture behind it. (If you have issues or questions about this, we can work something else out too, just message us!)

Fake screenshots meaning adding a black bar above and below your artwork and write white text in that bar (like a real movie would have text at the bottom if captions were included) so it would be nice to have the text in a standard font with white lettering.

Information for writers:

Writing focused on Bartimaeus or the other main characters would be great. Whether that involves filling in missing scenes (Like what happened between GE and PG, case of the curiously heavy trunk etc.) or writing your own headcanons about the characters, it would all work.

(Note that they have to fit and make sense within the canonical universe and cannot be alternate universe. Etc. “superheroes AU would not be allowed since superheroes aren’t canon)

Writing has a lot of freedom but cinematic writing (dramatic, movie-like scenes) or dramatic language is encouraged.

Putting more focus on imagery and mood is also great but optional.

An example idea would be to write out how you imagine a scene would happen in the movie.

How do I sign up?

Write what you are planning to do in this ideas sign up google sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QAkMcMKEpcPIwgDu9zo5iolGx-MOk0oMbXnS79gtlrg/edit?usp=sharing

The sections are:

Plot ideas dump → AOS/GE/PG/ROS

Art ideas dump → Artbook art

Writing

For example:

If I were signing up to illustrate an AoS scene, I would first put the idea in “plot ideas dump”, cross the idea out (so we don’t get repeats), then I would go to “AOS” and sign up for it.

If I were signing up for a concept art, I would first put the idea in ‘Art ideas dump”, cross it out and then I would go and sign up in “art book art”

If I were signing up for writing, I would go straight to “writing” and sign up. (I do not have to pick a idea from the scenes and concept art ideas tabs (those are for artists))

3. Join our discord to interact with other members or alternatively follow our tumblr to keep updated as we might be posting further instructions!

4. Remember to “check in” before or on Nov 1st to let us know where you are/if you cannot finish it in time/if you have completed it/ (There is a section on the “ideas sign-up” sheet where you can fill out. (we might add additional check in days if needed so keep updated ^^)

Where and when do I submit the piece when I am done?

You can submit at anytime!

You can either:

post it in the discord “submissions” channel

message us on tumblr

Ask us for an email address

How many pieces can I submit?

You can have multiple submissions, however you need to let us know by adding what else you are submitting in the “ideas-up” google sheets.

Can I submit old art or writing?

We are looking for new content created especially for the zine, but any content is always good so if there is an old art that few or nobody has seen and fits the dimensions and theme requirements, ask us and we might accept it!

Can I promote this on social media?

Go ahead and thank you for supporting this zine!

What if I cannot make the deadline?

If you are sure you cannot make the deadline, please tell us ASAP so that we can open up the idea again for someone else to take.

If you are going to be a few days late or just need a small extension of a few days, shoot us a message and it’s probably going to be okay.

If you are backing out of the zine, it’s okay, don’t worry and let us know before Nov 1st!

What if I have an idea I want to sign up but it has already been taken?

If the idea is a book scene, then you have to find another one

However, if the idea is concept art, then feel free to do your own version of it. (Seeing multiple takes on the same designs and characters is great!)

What do I do if I have questions or want clarification?

If you have any questions, feel free to message us on discord or tumblr! (On discord, we have a channel called “ask questions here” specifically for this purpose!)

Our discord: https://discord.gg/Rn2F6Tq

Our tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tbtfanzine

#Bartimaeus trilogy #Bartimaeus Sequence #bartimaeus fanzine #bartseq #fanart #zine #sign up #this was a labor of love #okay to reblog!! Okay to promote!!

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script-a-world · 5 years

Text

Skin Colour

Hi again! I am so sorry for giving you guys a horribly written question.

First, aliens did not interfere with genetics anything more advanced than today. They interfered only with advancement of civilisation and knowledge.

Secondly, the generations part. To summarise:

Alien planet year 0 = technology and human’s knowledge equal to Earth 150000 BC

Alien planet year 3500 (after 50 generations) = technology and inhabitant’s knowledge equal to Earth 2000 AD (after 3000 generations)

On Earth, dark skinned humans slowly moved north/south for thousands of generations and skin turned lighter. It was impossible to see a light skin at the equator and dark skin way up north/south until people learned technology to travel fast enough to spread.

On my alien world, x skin inhabitants had learned the technology to travel fast and went far north/south way way earlier than Earth. They’d keep their x skin right? Not enough generations to slowly adapt to another colour.

Is my thinking correct? That in my alien world that’s how skin colour would work? Maybe I’m thinking only about melanin, and it only works this way. But say they had grey skin, or blue skin.

Thus, perhaps I need to completely drop melanin and think something way different? I have no real idea how animal skin colour works.. but on Earth we do not get dark skinned animals at the equator and light skinned animals far north/south. Who says my I can’t create my species that way too, just because I’m making humanoid species.

This is a follow up to: https://script-a-world.tumblr.com/post/185522126817/hi-so-human-skin-colour-evolved-over-hundreds-of

Tex: Ah, that makes much more sense, thank you for the clarification, and don’t worry about coming back to do that!

Today, humans can meddle quite a bit with genetics - while CRISPR-Cas9 is rife with errors (ResearchGate), the newly-discovered CRISPR-associated transposase (CAST) technique is much more stable and can insert entirely custom genes into DNA (Phys.org), so the genes behind melanogenesis - among probably every other gene in existence - is perfectly able to be edited by your humanoid species with very little fuss.

The 50 generations thing is still a sticking point, unfortunately. Why are these generations so comparatively condensed compared to a human 3,000 generations? What makes these generations so compressed - is it strictly technological development (tools, textiles, etc), is it strictly genetic (epigenetic factors), or a mix of both?

How fast is fast travel? @writersblockbuster made an excellent post on calculating travel times, and she has estimated that a human “could manage almost 25 miles (40 km) in 8 hours” at walking speed depending upon a variety of factors. Provided that only eight hours is taken per 24-hour period to walk at this pace, uninterrupted by other factors, then it would take a human about 40 days to traverse 1,000mi/1,600km. Where does your method of transportation fall in comparison to that?

Melanin is the product of what is, quite typically for genetics, a convoluted process. It’s produced by melanosomes, which are produced by melanocytes, which are produced by neural crest melanoblasts - so all of this begins in the brain! There’s a lot of players in the body that make sure melanocytes are delivered to places like the epidermis, and melanin in epidermal cells seems to primarily exist as protection against both UVA and UVB radiation. (Citations 1-5)

Now, there are two main types of melanin, of which humans have both (PDF): eumelanin and pheomelanin. The range for these would be the typical range of human natural hair colors. Plants may produce biological pigments which refract all but which they reflect (i.e. a blue flower absorbs all wavelengths except for that particular blue, which is what is refracted back; WebExhibits), but animals are unable to produce the more “exotic” colors in their epidermis and must rely on either their diet or structural coloration (such as the iridescence in some feathers), instead (WebExhibits). A notable exception to this would be the Ayam Cemani chicken from Indonesia (Wikipedia).

Exposure to UV radiation does not come strictly from the sun - freshly-fallen snow can reflect up to 80% of UV radiation and can cause photokeratitis (Wikipedia). Polar bears have black skin, and only look white because their hair strands are hollow and refract light back that looks white (World Wildlife Fund). Zebras, too, have black skin (Wikipedia), and currently I’m presuming that it’s for much the same reason as polar bears.

Eumelanin, at least in hair, can produce a grey color, though I’m uncertain how a grey skin color would come about without the inherent design of structural coloration within the epidermis to diffuse… probably eumelanin, I think, into what could be perceived as grey.

Blue is rare in nature (YouTube), but if structural color doesn’t appeal to you, then the idea of cyanomelanin for skin and hair has been discussed in such places as Reddit and Zompist’s Almeopedia - there’s also a slim possibility of copper oxyanions or other copper compounds (disclaimer that biochemistry isn’t my strong suit, and that an actual biochemist would be a better reference on this). If a biological blue pigment is the case, then the visible light spectrum for your planet might also need to be shifted in order to accommodate this (PDF).

Melanin is a good foundation for your idea, but you’ll need to rip out the specifics of melanogenesis and determine what the pigment synthesis pathways would be that would create grey or blue skin.

My particular vote is to utilize both structural color and biological pigmentation; a blue base that may or may not be diffused by multiple layers in the epidermis, so you can get a grey skin color if that’s more preferred than blue, would be the most feasible method that would be genuinely alien to human physiology. Something closer would be a base layer of eumelanin-rich epidermis that has some upper layer of structural blue (possibly the foam-based one mentioned in the YouTube video) that could be diffused out with an extra layer to get you a type of grey.

But to bring back to one of your original questions - no, 50 generations is most likely not enough time for your species to naturally adapt to a different skin color, however many ways there are to make grey or blue aliens.

Citations

PDF - Brenner, Michaela, and Vincent J. Hearing. "The protective role of melanin against UV damage in human skin." Photochemistry and photobiology 84.3 (2008): 539-549.

PDF - Roméro-Graillet, Christine, et al. "Nitric oxide produced by ultraviolet-irradiated keratinocytes stimulates melanogenesis." The Journal of clinical investigation 99.4 (1997): 635-642.

Abstract - Salim, Saima, Ayesha S. Ali, and Sharique A. Ali. "Insights into the physiomodulatory role of histaminergic receptors in vertebrate skin pigmentation." Journal of Receptors and Signal Transduction 31.2 (2011): 121-131.

PDF - F. Solano, “Melanins: Skin Pigments and Much More—Types, Structural Models, Biological Functions, and Formation Routes,” New Journal of Science, vol. 2014, Article ID 498276, 28 pages, 2014.

PDF - Videira, Inês Ferreira dos Santos et al. “Mechanisms regulating melanogenesis.” Anais brasileiros de dermatologia vol. 88,1 (2013): 76-83. doi:10.1590/s0365-05962013000100009