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deathbecomesthem · 4 months

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Trailer Park Blues (one shot)

MINORS DNI, STRICTLY 18+

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader | wc: 3.7K

*This is a reupload from an old blog. It's one of my most favorite stories.

Summary: You've lived in the trailer park as long as Eddie has, and you've been frenemies the entire time. Today, though, the heat of the summer drives you into the cool arms of the air conditioned trailer next door. (I am horny for summer as well as Eddie Munson)

Warnings: Smut with feelings. Teasing, before the smut, nothing overly mean. Depictions of poverty. There are no body descriptions of the reader, BUT she is wearing a string bikini, her body "jiggles" when she walks, she has breasts (no size mentioned), and she starts the story sunbathing.

A/N: I feel the need to thank @blueywrites and @pinkrelish for the initial encouragement to write this story after only reading the first 200 words when I literally had no plot in mind. There are many other friends that also encouraged and tossed ideas at me while I was figuring out if I even had something. Thanks, I hope it doesn't suck!

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Hot days like this push you out of the stagnant air of the trailer. Stuffy smoke-filled rooms and the occasional fly buzzing around the trashcan in the kitchen. Some of the neighbors have little ac units sticking out of their windows, promising a reprieve from the unmoving Indiana summer heat – but not your hovel. No, that was an expense you couldn’t afford, and your mother wouldn’t.

The string bikini was your idea of rebellion, despite being too old to rebel against a woman that was never home and wouldn’t care if her adult daughter walked around the park in the nude as long as she brought home her rent money. The upside was less fabric to stick to your sweaty skin, the downside was that every exposed part of you sticks to the reclining beach chair you use for sun tanning.

The baby oil you have slathered all over your body has blocked every other summer scent your nose might seek out while you let the sun beat down on you. You already know you won’t last long and begin to think about heading down to the Hawkins Public Pool for a dip, as long as you can scrape together the couple of bucks for entry. A movie was always a possibility, but that would cost you even more of what you don’t have. You’re ready to start digging a whole in the ground to settle into, any relief.

Just as you push your sunglasses to the top of your head, trying to mentally work out your path back into the hell that is your home, you feel a presence behind you. You know who it is, your bikini is his siren call. You also know that he might have a little scratch today, since last weekend was full of grad parties that needed some herbal refreshments provided by Hawkins best boy.

“Whad’ya want, Edward?” It doesn’t even require a turn of your head to know his presence, it’s second nature to recognize him. Every day of your life in the park since the age of 9 has included him, for better or worse. Never a real friend, and never a true enemy, just Ed.

“Booboo, you’re going to give everyone the wrong idea in that thing,” playful and light but tinged with venom, his words are what finally draw your attention. The shorts he’s wearing are an old pair of jeans cut just above the knees, and the shirt an old tee that he hacked the sleeves off of. You two are a match made in white trash heaven.

“Wouldn’t want that, huh?” You flick your sunglasses back down against the bridge of your nose to obscure your wandering eyes, but Eddie makes no attempt to hide his own. “You didn’t answer my question, Edward, what can I help you with?” Your impatient hand twirls in a come-on motion while your hot eyes rake across his exposed biceps traveling down to his boney wrists and big hands.

“I’m bored and I saw my old friend Booboo outside, obviously desperately seeking the attention of someone in the tiniest bikini known to man.” Eddie reaches a hand out to play with the string at the base of your neck where the halter ties before pinching the edge of your sunglasses and tugging them off your face.

“Wow, you’re really hung up on that. You’re lucky I’m wearing anything, it’s so fucking hot today.” No words about it exchanged, but you start to reach back for your glasses while Eddie’s long arm reaches above his head to hold them out of your arm’s length. It’s a natural thing, what you do next. Something you’ve done so many other times you don’t really think about how much older you both are now. How inappropriate it might be. He has something of yours and you want it back. Your quick hand reaches easily into the loose arm hole and find its prize on instinct. Pinch hard and twist.

A swat, a yelp, a leg kicking yours out, and you find yourself wrapped up in Eddie’s much stronger arms. A sudden thought, the fact that you’re wearing nothing more than strings with small patches of fabric covering your most sensitive places, flashes in your mind. It makes your knees want to buckle. A small stumble met with a firmer grip from the boy standing behind you.

“Woah there, you alright?” A strong hand moves to steady your elbow and you sink back into your chair for a moment, and he’s crouching down to take a look at your face. His concern makes you heat up even more, because the face so close to your own is not that of the boy that used to tease you and chase you around. No, this is the face of a young man, and you’ve noticed those changes so much in recent years. Those big brown eyes have remained the same, open and full of shared memories.

It's your chance, so you take it, grabbing the frames from his hand while he’s still searching your face for any sign of distress. You put them on your face again, letting them shield any secrets you might not want him to see.

“Listen, Edward,” you give him a light shove to his shoulder making him wobble a little, “It’s hot, and I’m fine. Unless you have some sort of brilliant plan to turn the heat down, I’m gonna go take my third ice cold shower for the day.”

“Uh,” he’s turning a skeptical eye at the trailer behind you, the one you share with your mother, while you stand again using him as leverage. He stays where he is, his face level with the front of your bikini bottoms. You can see a thought, not unlike the ones you try to hide from him, scuttle across his face, “you guys still don’t even have one unit in that trash compactor you call a trailer?”

A jab and a miss, you know how everyone looks at your place. Even for the park, it’s low living. It’s been a rough go for your mom, and you both make do together. “Sorry, Edward, some of us don’t live in the lap of luxury.”

His laugh, a bark of joy, rings out. He looks like the boy right now, the boisterous laugh turned giggle fit at the absurdity of considering the Munson trailer the “lap of luxury.” He’s on his feet in a flash, suddenly close again, face still beaming.

“How about you spend some time with me in the Munson mansion, eh? Have a little smoke, you can read or watch a movie,” Eddie subconsciously licks at his lips, giving away the thoughts behind the words, “whatever you want, Booboo. I’m not doing shit anyway.”

Whatever you want is what he says. None of it passes your notice, the looks, the lips, the subtle leaning into your space, the hand at your shoulder absentmindedly rubbing your baby oil slicked skin. He probably doesn’t realize he’s doing it, the summer sun boiling his brain right along with yours.

“Yeah, ok.” The gaze between you lingers for another moment until a mosquito lands on his cheek. He doesn’t notice, but you smash it with a slap and laugh at his reaction. You show him the residual bug guts on your palm as explanation, “sorry, didn’t want it to bite you and mess up that pretty face.”

A spin of your heels and a job back to the porch of your own trailer gives Eddie the perfect view of your ass. You make sure to exaggerate the movements of your hips, letting his imagination run off to thoughts of his face between your soft thighs. The way your sweaty skin would taste against his tongue. By the time you’re jogging back towards him with the other half of your jiggling body on display, he’s sporting a semi and wishing the shorts he chose gave him a little more wiggle room.

“Edddddddiiiieee,” you’re pulling an oversized t shirt by the time you reach his side, and you find him a little dazed, “let’s go inside. We can order a pizza later, as long as you don’t kick me out by then.” Your elbow is hooked in his, an old habit from the days of tromping around the woods together when you were kids, as you lead him up the stairs to the sweet relief of the dark and cool Munson trailer.

“Oh, Booboo, you can stay as long as you want.” His admission is a light exhale of breath as he watches your hips sway up the steps in front of him. And you think, you’ll stay for pizza, you’ll stay for a toke, and you’ll stay for whatever else might be on the table.

You had greatly underestimated the effect the cool air would have on your sweat slicked skin. Your mostly bare ass is sat on the carpet of Eddie’s room where a small window air conditioner is clanking out polar air into the room. A sweet and acrid smell hangs in the air, no doubt a leak from the unit, along with stale smoke and dust. Crumbs cling to your skin as you shift your position, and your nipples are pebbled standing out against the layer of swimsuit and cotton.

“Goddamnit, Ed, have you ever heard of a vacuum cleaner?” You brush off what appears to be Cheeto crumbs from the backs of your thighs when a head appears next to your own hanging off the side of the bed. His hair tickles your shoulder where your shirt hangs off, and he’s close. He always gets so close when he talks to you. You can see every individual hair across the pale skin of his cheeks, every freckle scattered across the bridge of his nose.

“Sorry, the maid’s on vacation. Uh –“ he scans your body awkwardly from his current position and clears his throat, “You feeling a little cold, Booboo?” Poniente, the question hangs for a moment until he nods his head to your chest where your body has betrayed you, and you feel your nipples peak even harder at the implication.

You give his head a weak shove as an effort to break the tension he created. He grabs his cheek in mock agony, and you stand letting your shirt drift over his face giving him a prime view for the briefest moment. You think you hear something akin to a snarl from Eddie before you crawl onto the mattress next to him. You grab the crochet blanket that rests off the far edge of the bed and wrap it around yourself.

“Much better now, thank you.” Your painted toes wiggle under the skin of his calves in an attempt to steal their warmth and you find that there’s a chill to his skin too. “You can turn that thing down, can’t you? You’re freezing, Edward.”

“Oh, we’re back to Edward again, hmmm.” He crawls his way up next to you, throwing back his comforter and covering himself. He holds it open in invitation to you, patting the spot next to him. “It only works on high, we can get warm under here if you want.” That tension is back, you both know what comes next, and your heart is thudding in your chest along with a deep and hard pulse in your cunt.

But this is Eddie, your Eddie Spaghetti, and he can’t take the tension either. A quick wiggle of the eyebrows at his obvious attempt to get you close to him, and you giggle and work your way under the big blanket. A reward he deserves for being his goofy self.

“Is this ok?” a quick and quiet whisper against the top of your head while a hand snakes around your center. You nod, not trusting your words at the moment. It’s so natural, the way you shift yourself into him. The way you tuck your nose into his chest and breath in the smell of him – sweat, smoke, old spice – distinctly Eddie. The rough pads of his fingers move along the exposed skin at the top of your hip and you’re feeling bolder, now that you know – this is real and so is he.

“I can’t believe I’m in your bed, Edward. How long have you been planning this, hmm?” Your own hand snuck its way through the wide arm hole of his shirt, and it’s playing with the guitar pick that always hangs at his chest. You let the back of your knuckles brush against his soft skin eliciting a little gasp from him.

“I wish I could say I planned this,” both of his hands find your hips to shift you, make you face him, “I never thought this was a possibility, Booboo.” Every inch, the turn of his face, hot breath on your lips – his eyes stay on yours watching to make sure it’s real for you. You want this too. He sees no hesitation, no concern, no confusion; only your honest to god lustful eyes and pretty lips hanging open in anticipation.

The kiss starts small, lips moving cautiously. Feeling each other with the tender skin, testing the waters until, until, until in unison your tongues enter the silent conversation and permission to move freely is granted. Eagerness quickly overtakes caution, your leg thrown over his sharp hip to pull him into you and press himself against you and your aching need.

Years of sexual tension and childhood crushing explode between your bodies. It’s not soft, the way his teeth bite at your lip, the way your hands scratch at his chest. It’s hungry and needy. You run your fingers through his soft curls and give a tug increasing in strength at the soft whimpering moan he lets go of at the action.

“Off.” Firm words from Eddie and a firm grip at the edge of your shirt, his eyes are black, lips red and kiss bitten. You sit up, and he plays with the folds of your soft stomach while you lift and toss the shirt, adding to a pile of clothes already in the corner of his room. He’s pulling you in again, fingers running against the small string that is the only remaining barrier between Eddie and your bare chest. “This is real cute, ya know? Real fucking cute.” He finds the knot at the back of your neck and expertly unties it with his nimble fingers, freeing you.

An immediate slow down happens as dark eyes wash over your form and fingers softly stroke up and down your torso, barely ghosting touches across your hard peaks. You feel your back lift from the mattress, chasing his touch, but he keeps moving lightly across your skin savoring the moment unbothered by your obvious need.

“Eddie,” the desperation in your voice would be embarrassing if not for the fact that the bottom of your bikini is so drenched with your arousal it’s sticking to your lips. It’s uncomfortable, and his barely there touching has is deepening the ache inside. His eyebrows are knitted together at the sound of your voice. He’s lost in you already, just the sight of you laid out before him in his bed, something he’s wanted since the first morning he woke up surrounded by wet drenched sheets – a memory of a dream that featured you in a yellow sundress you wore so often a few summers ago.

“You really want this with me?” His touch is gaining surety while he waits for your answer, gripping at the soft mound of a breast while you rock your hips against nothing. “How do you want me, my sweet Booboo?” The sound of your nickname on his lips, a name he’s used to playfully ridicule you with for ages, is almost enough to hurtle you over the edge.

“I just want you, Eddie. Anyway, everyway.” Your words are a gasp, his warm and soft mouth take a nipple in your mouth, juxtaposed against the chill that still settles over the other from the overly cold air of the room. His lips suckle and nip at you, and again you find your body is pushing its way closer to Eddie. It’s not possible to play a game, no amount of willpower can hide how much you’ve wanted this. How long you’ve dreamt about him taking what he wants from you. A flitter of a thought, this is a dream, floats in front of you and quickly vanishes as the slight pain of teeth dragging across your sensitive skin bring you right back to the present and obvious reality.

It won’t do, this won’t do. Your hands tug at his shirt and shorts simultaneously. It all needs to go, and you can’t choose what goes first. Your brain is swimming in a lusty haze, but Eddie is still steady in thought.

“Hey,” his hand has a firm grip on your chin, calling you back to him, “you gonna stay with me? Where are you?” His eyes dart back and forth between yours until you’re back and focused on him. “I need you here with me, ok?”

You nod, breathe deep, and with more calm pull at his shirt. It’s gone in a flash, landing on top of yours in the corner. Your hand finds the waist of his shorts, and fiddle with the top button. You keep your eyes on his, staying with him. His mouth opens as the button *pops* and you unhook the teeth of his zipper.

“I’m here, Eddie. I’m right here, and I want you. Did you know that?” It’s his turn to look hazy and unsteady. Your words and your hands working his shorts and boxers off in one movement, leave him speechless. He’s putty in your hands, elbow drops and now he’s laid flat on the mattress while you work your way down his body.

You’re careful with the nipple you badly abused earlier, kissing around the still reddened and slightly purpling skin. Whispered apologies against his body, not just for the pain, but for waiting so long to let this happen. You lick your wet tongue across the black ink scratched across his torse moving closer to your goal.

His beautiful cock stands firm against his abdomen, already leaking in anticipation of your touch, matching your own need. Your bodies slick and ready for each other, begging, please let us do what we’ve been wanting for so long. Your intention is to meet his need with your own as you throw a leg over him, finally letting him feel how much your body wants this.

“Oh my god,” his fingers move to find out for themselves, not trusting the skin of his thigh to tell him, moving the fabric of your swimsuit to the side, and dipping between your lips to feel. “Oh you’re so wet.” His cock twitches in answer to your own drenching arousal. He doesn’t make a move, he waits for you.

Your fingers reach for one of the knots at your hip, free yourself completely from the ruined suit, but his hand stops you. It’s your Eddie in front of you, and he’s shaking his head eyes wide a grin spread across lips that mouth, “keep it on”.

You’re giggling again and kissing him against your laughter. Until he undoes it again with a rock up of his hips, the length of his cock rubbing against your slit and your laugh ends in an obscene groan.

You sit up, eyes narrowed down at the smirking boy as he rocks up again into you. You reach your hand behind you, gripping him and watch his mouth open in a gasp. You don’t need anything more, you’re soaked already. You push the suit aside, and run him against your slit once, twice, three times before you twist your hips up and slowly sink down onto him.

“Oh my god,” an exclamation in unison as your bodies connect. You let yourself take him in completely, fluttering at the full feeling. You can feel him pulsing inside of you, the slightest curve of his tip touching that hard-to-reach spot hiding deep inside of you.

It’s sloppy and unpracticed, but you’re both so drunk on one another it doesn’t matter. The sounds of skin on skin, whines, and moans while you rock into each other. The coarse hair at the base of his cock rubbing against your aching nub send you hurtling towards a powerful orgasm.

“Eddie, I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna cum,” you’re uttering on an inhale, and Eddie is practically crying at the sound of your voice. He’s pulling you down chest to chest, mouth at ear.

“Cum with me, baby, cum with me,” he’s panting against your skin, arms holding you tight against him and a flash of white spreads across your vision. Every part of your body is screaming out for him, and you only vaguely hear the literal scream coming from your mouth as your body tenses and you pulse around him. Every flutter of you around his cock brings his own release pumping deep inside of you, warm and sticky.

You stay with his arms wrapped around you and your pussy wrapped around his cock as you both ride out aftershocks and you slowly come back down to earth, to Hawkins, to this bed in this too cold trailer on the hottest day of the summer of 1986.

You eventually lift your hips enough to release him, letting his softened length rest against his thigh, but you stay in his embrace. He pulls the comforter, lost at some point while your connected bodies sought out pleasure, over your shoulders. His mouth is still close to your ear, and he’s humming in satisfaction. Neither of you care about the sticky and cooling mess between your bodies.

When you rouse, you find Eddie sitting in a folding chair, fingers moving against the strings of his acoustic guitar in silent and careful movements. You don’t move, watching the tendons of his fingers move, his lips singing a barely whispered tune. You think that maybe the summer’s not so bad, maybe the trailer park is actually the only place you’ve ever wanted to be. No where else has this perfect view.

#eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson smut #eddie x reader #eddie x you #eddie munson #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fluff

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womenaremypriority · 2 months

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Headless Women Art in the Sims 4

This has little to do with the actual game, so this should be understandable to anyone! I wanted to share this.

If you don’t know what ‘headless women art’ is, it refers to a trend in which women are depicted without heads in art and decorations. This disproportionately affects women and the excuse is generally that it is body-positive, but the feminist argument is that is dehumanizing and normalizes women as unthinking objects. Here are some examples via @thatsonemorbidcorvid :

Now she has many examples in drawings and paintings, but in my collection, I sticked to objects- which I find more creepy, less defensible, with less male counterparts.

In the Sims 4, you can build houses. You can create and download custom objects for your game, and you can download houses which have these custom objects. I’m not sure about the actual, official game, but when you download custom, fan-made content- this stuff is EVERYWHERE. Recently, I’ve been obsessing over looking at different buildings people have made for the game, but I got so tired of seeing this type of art that I started to collect it. I have counted examples of men vs women. Using the same standard of what counts as headless art, I found 22 men and 117 women- still a considerable amount of men, but as a trend heavily geared towards women. There were a few that are debatable, usually because it was unclear whether male or female. There were some that I debated counting because while technically having a face, they still felt as if they could count- but to keep it simple, I didn’t. When it comes to headless people in art such a paintings and drawings, I found it to be pretty equal, and didn’t count any towards the count. I noticed that women are usually more sexualized in general art such as this, however. For fairness, I will add that busts and sculptures that were just heads, it appeared to be mostly men, which could be argued is also dehumanizing/ornamentive. However, for the most part, these men were given expressions and a face. And when it came to full-body sculptures, it appeared equal as well. Anyways, behold… headless women art.

There are a bunch of duplicates in my count, the same objects used multiple times. I found about ~18 unique headless women and about ~7 unique men- it’s a bit hard to tell the exact number though. For the men, 3 of the 7 showed up only once, 3 showed up two times, and the other object made up all the other appearances of headless men.

Notice how similar the in-game objects look like the actual ones- I think some of them might be modeled after real-life art too.

Now, here are some the men.

9/22 times a man appears, a woman does, as well. Either because they are placed together, or because they are part of the same object, like in the second photo above.

Out of the 7 headless male pieces, at least 3 looked less like they were intended to be placed in a house as-is and more like very old objects, such as the one below. But to be fair, these only showed up a couple times. I considered not adding to the main count ones were museum objects or in art workshops, things that may not be finished or “complete” but did so anyway. There were a couple of those for male and female. Here is one such.

Here is one that I wasn’t sure about including or not.

This photo is a bit blurry, and I couldn’t in good conscience count it- maybe most people would, as it’s a humanoid shape more female in appearance than male, but the quality isn’t good and there’s enough room for doubt. I wanted to be sure I was fair. There’s a bunch of tinier things next to it that could also be headless art but are even harder to make out.

These figures appear to be breasts, but again, room for doubt. I’m honestly not sure the intention, but if you want to add them to the count, it appeared 6 times.

These weird legs showed up twice. Honestly, they’re very close to being counted.

Now, this does show a bit of face, but since it’s still somewhat covered and degrading in nature, I considered adding it. It showed up thrice The problem is that I don’t think I saved photos whenever I saw similar things for men, and so can’t accurately count. To be clear, I don’t think I saw anything for men that was the same as this or similar, but there were some that had only half a face. Here is one example that was next to a headless women.

There is the male-looking face with plants coming out of it, which I saw quite a few times. There were a couple like that for women, but the question is, if I count the lamp women, do I count this? The main difference is he has eyes, and most of his head is there, giving him individuality, so can’t really be classified as headless. I can’t count these, but I can say there wasn’t really an equivalent for men other than the weird object I showed before with a man and a woman, that could be interpreted as a lamp I suppose.

There’s also whatever this is supposed to be, which I saw twice. A less obsessive person would probably count it, I didn’t. At first I thought it had breasts, but it might be eyes. I will also note that I saw plenty of headless mannequins and silhouettes, virtually all coded female, but didn’t count those. Here’s some other… interesting things.

Does she have a head? Yes. But is this objectifying? Also yes. And again, there were plenty of male fall-body statues, as well as female, but those were dignifying and artistic in nature. But among these types of high-art, modern objects like this, where you have to wonder the point, all I remember are female. They all appear in an unnatural manner. There are a few male-looking heads as well, however-

Here’s what I would consider the closest alternative for men. You can even see the second photo has much of their face missing, as much as the women with the lamp head! Is this as dehumanizing? You decide. There were a few statues of women that were just heads, but none as big and not as many that had missing pieces like this.

None of this is in the final count, but it’s something I found interesting to think about. The last 3 pictures were all made by the same person, but I’ve seen stuff like this used in buildings from other people. I didn’t save everything like this, so I can’t compare or count how many appeared, this was just a couple I remember. Anyways, that’s it! I thought it was super crazy. When I decided to start counting, I thought it would take a while to find any headless women art but it didn’t, at all. Most of what I have screenshots of is the more realistic style of building, because that’s what I prefer, but near the end I started looking more into styles that match the original games graphics. There was probably a higher ratio of men to women when compared to the other style, but still more women in general. This is a plague for real.

#my post #radical feminism #radfem #radblr #feminism #feminist #Misogyny #objectification #Sims 4 #Games #headless women art

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cherepizza · 2 months

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Sorry for being inactive I barely have spare time. It's been nearly two months, woah!! It still feels like march started yesterday

There's a variety of different religious beliefs in beacons' world. One of the world's largest and most widespread religion has 8 major deities who are shown with quite similar appearances. The easiest way to identify a god in their standard form is to to look at their body color. A deity may be accompanied by symbolic plants/animals and objects, especially if the image is colorless. Text also might be present. Some gods have alternative forms which can be more popular in iconography than their standard ones.

It's disrespectful to show gods from the back side of the body, except for one.

1. Goddess of knowledge, medicine (especially the part dealing with childbirth) and law. All 8 sides of her body are "front" sides with two hands and two antennae. Always depicted with light-blue skin.

2. God of creativity and passion, whose all sides are backs. Has bright red skin. In the past this god used to have darker spots all over his body, but gave them away to a mortal who ended up having too many offspring, passing the spots to all of his male descendants. Antennae are not shown (you don't draw dicks on sacred images).

3. Goddess of plants and harvest. Besides her plant-growing abilities she's also known for creating and spreading diseases. Has light-coloured skin with a yellow or ochre tint.

4. Goddess of beasts. Created all living organisms and is able to control them. Beacons are resistant to the full mind control but susceptible to her power of inflicting dread and anxiety. Associated with willpower. Her standard form is a brown-coloured beacon but more often she's shown as a spiky snake-like creature. In this form she can change size and grow so large she'd shadow the sun or become smaller than any bug to crawl under the clothes of those who she deemes unworthy of her presence and sting them. Stings are excruciatingly painful.

5. Goddess of rain, rivers and the sea. Shares ruling over the last domain with her brothers. Though her powers are inextricably tied with sustaining life, she has no direct control over living beings. Typically shown with dark blue skin.

6. God of wind. Controls wind (..who would have thought) and serves as a protector of travellers. Talkative and upbeat, he cheers them up, gives advice and tells entertaining stories, helping them continue their journeys. Has orange-coloured skin.

7. God of deep water. Hides below the surface and rarely shows himself, though in his early years used to live among mortals and taught them sailing along with his sister and brother. His long antennae can easily wrap around victim's legs and drag the unlucky one to the bottom to either kill or imprison and force to work on him. Can control underwater beasts but only to a small extent. Associated with quiet death.

8. God of change. The all-present spirit is inert and cannot change on its own. This god makes sure night would change into day, hunger would come after nourishment, and every living thing would eventually meet their death. He's quite a lonesome god and under normal circumstances rarely interacts with mortals or other entities. Has exceptional persuasion skills. Several myths support the idea of him creating the moon and stars which partly explains why he's described having white skin. The other part comes from that no mortal has ever seen his true form, so no other colour can represent his ever-changing appearance except pure white.

–––––

Important to note that for beacons relationships between siblings play a much greater role than those between parents. So instead of being paired up with a husband/wife higher gods belong to their own sibling groups which go as follows:

Goddess of knowledge – god of passion

Goddess of plants – goddess of beasts

Goddess of rain – god of wind – god of deep water

God of change (only child oh)

In older times gods were treated as separate entities connected only by blood but in recent decades there's been a shift to a more monotheistic view of world. Since gods come from the same source (force/spirit/power) it was believed that they sort of popped up in the world that already existed before them and were left to fool around and figure out what to do by themselves. They weren't a part of the spirit anymore and the only connection remaining was the ninth eye in the middle of the head that could actually see (for mortals it's basically blind, so they were believed not to be bound with the source at all). Some followers suggest that deities and, in fact, the whole world were never separated from it. When the force splitted itself into "sides", giving gods physical bodies, it manifested into other living beings as well, allowing itself to have as many perspectives of the existing world as possible. When a living thing dies, their side turns away to a new life. Gods' powers are not separate, but a spectrum, manifestations of the same thing. The number of turns is considered to be unimaginably big, but finite. It's up for debate what will happen when the force will be out of turns.

#speculative biology #spec bio

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go-learn-esperanto · 1 year

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Watchers - Evo, ATUS and Fandom

It's very common to see people blame ATUS for the way the fandom sees the watchers now but... How much did it actually come from there?

Wings (and statues):

Although the depiction of Watchers specifically having wings does exist in ATUS it's very clearly originated from Evo itself as Grian was once left a statue of what Grian called at the time "an angel lady" who had wings Grian was tasked with burning down (they represented his greed)

You can see the EVO symbol in glass above the statue.

Even though the statue isn't exactly stated as representing a Watcher it's not really stretch, specially since the statue appears to have a obsidian staff, the same obsidian the Watchers used to cover Grian's chests.

Puzzles and riddles

Evo originated. All it's presence in ATUS comes directly from Evo. The only change might be the inclusion of stained glass windows depicting Watchers. Although I wouldn't jump to conclusions if someone right now decided to draw Watcher Grian stained glass art as it's a very common trope in general with God-like beings. Very much brought by Catholic representations if angels, saints, Jesus and the likes.

Masks

This one is one I can safely say, if you see fanart like this with a mask that isn't see through with the Evo symbol it almost certainly came from ATUS. Variants with a blindfold instead of mask might be inspired by this too. Even if the artist isn't exactly aware.

Eyes

Very nuanced topic. For startersthe name Watchers automatically inspires the idea of eyes. Of being watched too. But there's more options.

Evo never explicitly represents the Watchers with eyes.

ATUS does it a little bit. At one time when one of the masks is taken from a Watcher (that isn't Grian) they're face is shown to have a lot of eyes. However this isn't the full "wings and whole body are full of wings". Not even "Void with eyes" you now see a lot too in fandom.

I have multiple theories. The most obvious is Biblical accurate angels. Lots of wings, circles, eyes in the whole body, these are almost certainly angel originated.

Now the idea of being able to watch everything could've come from a lot of places. Even some Magnus Archives influence can be here (even if some minimal)

I will say the Watcher in ATUS are a bit disappointing in the "all seeing" department. They can sense some things but they aren't that powerful or at least scary with that.

Controlling worlds

Evo originated as the Watchers gave clues to the players so they find portals to the next updates + the puzzles + gifts and punishments. They were very much in control

Purple

Evo. From the literal Minecraft portals to the Evo icon it was very much present the whole time.

Powers

ATUS makes use of some powers like telekinesis and the like. There is even some mention to being able to use blocks that aren't allowed/present.

The telekinesis part is very much an ATUS thing even though again - if someone is going to give powers the ability to magically move objects would be the first choice.

The part of bloks that aren't accessable to a normal player are more nuanced. In Evo the Watcher did build structures with obsidian and bedrock which are either extremely tasking to get or impossible so the grounds for that are very much there.

The ability to show up in dreams is present in ATUS but considering Taurtis' lore in Evo I'm not surprised it was inspired by that. It's not the same as the Watchers never appeared in Taurtis' dreams but Taurtis did miss going through the portal because he was sleeping and woke up to seeing everything purple with a portal animationor even more likely: the ATUS part came from the angels showing in people's dreams in the bible so again - might be in ATUS but it doesn't mean the people who write / draw stuff with it took it from there.

The Watchers destroyed Evo

Surprisingly, Evo based. As someone reminded me well, after Grian left the Watchers threw a meteor at the Property Police I believe. This leads to

Watchers are Evil

Depends of who you watch. Grian's playthings gives room for doubt. They give gifts and punish. They seem neutral at least. You could argue though that a lot of Grian's punishments were deserved. They were because Grian basically liked to prak and blow up other people's stuff.

They can be about platful as I saw someone describe them once.

Also the modification of the end poem, the one that reveals Grian turns into a Watcher himself, is quite fond.

Martyn and Jimmy on the other hand play the Watchers as more evil even in Evo. As they are more connected with the Listeners and the Listeners oppose the Watchers.

In ATUS they are shown as feigning compassion and being very manipulative.

But if you follow Last Life canon they are also shown as manipulators.

+ In Grian's lore specifically they are canonically a representation of the viwers (you and me) but this has seemed to change in Jimmy and Martyn's lore.

So I'd say ATUS made popular the "Grian was taken by the Watchers and they were awful" but the truth is that there was some ground to that already.

Watchers came from the void

Not specific stated in either Evo or ATUS actually. I don't think we ever really know where the Watchers exist in Evo but in ATUS they are from (a special kind of) the End... But there's also a logical reason for it.

Elytras and all the obsidian. And in Evo Grian got turned into a Watcher after he fought the ender dragon and used the end portal.

The idea of the void most likely comes from the void that surrounds the End.

Watchers are eldritch abominations:

Well, the Watchers in Evo don't have a canon physical appearance and in ATUS they are quite tame. A bit taller than maybe the average human, have wings, use robes... But nothing too monstrous. They use staffs and magic weapons to fight.

The idea if cryptic abomination comes from somewhere else. Probably a mixture of Biblical accurate angels and maybe some other pop culture monsters.

Bird features

100% neither Evo nor ATUS. Recent development that came from the wings and Grian's association with birds in Hermitcraft.

Grian's Watcher name is Xelqua

Surprisingly not ATUS! And not Evo either! The name is from Grian's old YouTube name but I don't know where the idea was first introduced. It wasn't in ATUS though.

Conclusion:

Except maybe the masks almost all stuff, even if more elaborated in ATUS, all the stuff as either came from Evo itself or even been inspired from something else (most likely biblical accurate angels). In fact I believe the stiff in ATUS mostly came from biical accurate angels too or just normal angels (long robes, stained glass windows)

So I think accusing all fandom depictions of the Watchers as all coming from ATUS is very silly. ATUS might have popularised the appearance of Watchers in Hermitcraft and in a way to have some Grian angst but it definitely isn't all there is to Watcher depictions. Besides that other fics have come and did things differently.

For exemple I have already read two fivs where Grian (a watcher) is a monster in the boaten hole. Yes. The idea he was like transformed into whatever he is by the Watchers might be very loosely be based on ATUS (although Watcher Grian in ATUS was never an eldritch being. He was just like a person with wings and a mask and he was still himself and capable of communicating) which in turn came from Evo but it's already very far removed from it.

Fandom changes. You might want people to watch Evo to take their own conclusions and you might ask for more variety but saying ATUS is the sole responsible for the state of fanon Watcher Grian is just false.

#mcyt #watcher grian #evo smp #the watchers #and the universe shifts #atus

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kwillow · 3 months

Text

People are too nice to me and send me so many intriguing and prescient questions and scenarios about my imaginary friends. Some of these I would have a hard time responding to with drawings, so I've gotta just use my words (SO MANY WORDS) instead!

So, for all interested parties, in response to those questions, here come some LORE RAMBLES: THEO EDITION.

Asks and answers under the cut!

Thank you! “Strange but interesting” is what I aim for with him.

I don’t think I’ve talked about Theo’s voice before! To be honest, I often struggle to imagine precisely what my character’s voices are; the qualities of my mental performance for them varies from day to day. Still, I think with Theo I can formulate a description of some kind.

I imagine his voice to be on the higher end for a man, though not exaggeratedly so, along the tenor range. He can deepen his pitch purposefully to sound more imposing or masculine, but his voice tends to rise in pitch further and further when he’s tense, like a violin string on the verge of snapping. He speaks clearly and distinctly, sometimes to the point of almost biting off the ends of words rather than having them sloppily run into each other, and only rarely uses contractions. His voice has a slight nasal quality to it at times. When he’s angry, a bit of a rattling growl can edge the end of his words.

When he was young, he was a terrible stutterer. He made a concerted effort to train himself out of stuttering in his adolescent years, but he will still lapse into r-ruh-ruh-repeating his syllables if anxiousness gets the better of him and makes him forget to swallow those extra sounds.

He is an expressive speaker, far more so than he’d prefer. Like his pitch varies, so too does his volume, and he can swing from speaking so softly as to be almost inaudible to screaming with all the volume his lungs can muster in a moment. His cadence is full of exaggerated pauses for effect mixed with swift traipses through less important words said simply for the music of reciting them to himself; his conversational tone sounds more like a performer going through a soliloquy than casual speech. In large part, that’s because he’s had more pleasant experiences with theater than conversation.

As many have noticed, he has also a vocal tic. He makes nasally sounds and guttural grunts and growls involuntarily, more often when he’s nervous or upset about something. As he gets older and his body is less able to shrug off the effects of his little smoking habit, he wheezes and coughs in the middle of his sentences as well.

For most settings, I imagine him speaking in a highly affected Transatlantic accent, but in Amaranthine (which is what I assume people are asking about and what I’m defaulting to for these answers), his accent might be more typically British posh-y, like Received Pronunciation. Or maybe not, I mean, it’s a funny animal fantasy setting, so he could have any accent I like. :P

If you want auditory examples, I think something mixing the high-pitched, sibilant, nasally breathiness of Peter Lorre with the refined yet expressive voice of Vincent Price would get you pretty close to what I imagine. To break from the classic horror actor category, you can also throw in this animated series’ depiction of Doctor Octopus to add the all-important ingredient of “nerd factor” to his voice, haha.

He’s a bookworm, yes, but that means he likes to learn! In his case, he’s also someone who enjoys mastering (or at least getting competent at) new skills and is extremely likely to learn to do something well just because someone thinks he can’t. He also has the benefit of being kicked out of school and extremely unemployed, so for most of his life he had lots and lots of free time to take on all manner of niche hobbies if he so desired!

His drive to learn a new skill is motivated by a combination of practicality, gentlemanliness, a need to know how to handle his own business to have as little outside interference as possible or simple intellectual curiosity (which itself is often a cover for boyish whimsy about Cool Stuff). To give examples of practical skills he taught himself: most people probably wouldn’t expect him to be a good cook, but he learned to do that because his family lost their household staff, and someone had to figure out how to cook beef – and because he wanted to take better care of his mother after she fell ill. He’s a great seamster because he wanted to make alterations to his clothes to better fit his unusual proportions without suffering the indignity of being prodded and measured by some nosy tailor. Where he lives, engines are extremely uncommon, being used only for agriculture if at all, but if Theo did own his own automobile, he would learn how to fix the thing himself as best as he could because he wouldn’t want some stranger poking around in his precious baby. He does know how to repair basic clockwork mechanisms, though! (Even if he won’t fix his own pocket watch for weird sentimental reasons.) He taught himself to be ambidextrous purely because he worried about losing a hand in a freak accident one day. He never wants to be caught unprepared or feel like he can’t handle something on his own if he needs to.

For skills in the “oh but if I could do this it would be so cool – I MEAN GENTLEMANLY” camp… yeah, actually, he does like to fence. He might not be able to hold his own all that well against a trained opponent, partly just because of his own physical limitations, but he knows the footwork and he certainly enjoys fighting stationary enemies while role-playing in his head as a knight. (He would be exceedingly embarrassed if anyone knew that part.) He can dance – but only as half a pair – and play the piano – or at least the chords his fingers can reach. He makes model ships and is familiar with all their parts even though he’s never seen the ocean. He knows a fair bit about women’s fashion and could probably help a lady pick a flattering dress for a gala… if she didn’t mind dressing about decade out of style. He’s a fine marksman, though that does overlap with “practical skills” when you live in a world with monsters creeping around on the edges of towns. And that’s not even getting into his self-taught anatomy lessons! But maybe we shouldn’t get into that, for the sake of our stomachs.

I could keep rambling, but to summarize, Theo lacks worldly experience, but he is a curious little guy and has all kinds of weird skills rattling around in his skull. You never know what he’s gonna know! Except for anything involving successfully interacting with other people. He’s never going to know how to do that.

Theo is the sort of person who enjoys collecting things, in that he is often captivated by the history and sentimental value of objects that catch his eye, likes to have a little hoard he can lord over like a dragon, doesn’t see value in minimalism and is loath to get rid of anything he owns.

However, he’s a homebody who rarely traveled far from his hometown of Northcrest, a small and remote barony, and his family (and therefore he) did not have the kind of financial situation that allowed for many frivolous expenditures. Therefore, he cannot regularly obtain new items for his collections because he would quickly exhaust everything that caught his eye in his own town, and he would be wary of spending his family’s dwindling funds on something that only served to satisfy his own whims. If he were in different circumstances, able and willing to travel more broadly and possessing the kind of wealth that allowed him to fully indulge his fascinations, I’d imagine he’d have quite the collection of art, weapons, antique books, clothing, and other fineries. As it stands, he only rarely adds a new object to his own collections, and he instead contents his inner dragon by attempting to maintain and catalogue the acquisitions made by past Norths that have accrued in their manor over the generations. Still… a toy store in his town has made quite a profit off him by having new model trains in stock around his birthday and holidays.

I don’t think he’d be terribly enthused with an insect collection, regrettably. At least not a live one. Preserved, exotic kinds might at least hold the intrigue of far-off places, but something more mundane (and wrigglier) would repulse him more than fascinate him.

I’m going to say somewhere along the line between “absolutely not” and “it’s complicated.” Theo obviously gets fulfillment from looking after the people he cares about, and in Amaranthine, he’s been in a caregiver role for so long he takes a certain amount of comfort in it. Even so, if he somehow knew people thought that he “wants” the people he’s close with to fall ill, or have chronic poor health, he’d be horrified. Theo’s not exactly the most hale and hearty fellow himself (and he’s also made his health notably worse through the years via his own actions, good job on that bud), so he knows first-hand how miserable frequent illness is. He wouldn’t want someone to suffer through that. Also, witnessing his mother’s slow decline and death was harrowing for him, and part of why he flings himself into caring for Hyden is that he doesn’t want to see something like that again and is doing all he can to keep Hyden stable. It brings him comfort, but the stress of feeling responsible for someone’s health – and the stress of only being able to manage their symptoms and never fix the problem – takes a toll on him, too, even if he wouldn’t say so.

So, he wouldn’t blame a sickly partner for their condition, and he’d be willing to care for them and want to help them, but I don’t think he’d ever say he “wants” someone he cares about to be sick. Would he nonetheless be more likely to get close to someone sick versus someone well? Well, maybe. Theo has a bit of a dependent streak, not in that he needs someone to dote on him, but that he doesn’t feel like he has any worth in a relationship unless he can provide protection or assistance. But someone could easily satisfy his need to be needed in other ways, too. Like someone being clumsy and needing their clothes mended regularly, or having a deadbeat husband they need murdered, you know, stuff like that.

He doesn’t know much, and never cared to ask much either, like you imagine. He mostly just knows they’re not nobility, they do have some mage ancestry and ability, and beyond that aren’t important (according to Jocosa). Besides, as a history nerd, he has little interest in learning about his father’s side when his mother’s side has biographies, tapestries, records of badges and achievements and personal spellbooks in such great measure that he couldn’t hope to go through them all in his lifetime. Does Leonard’s side of the family have even one tapestry? No? How dull.

For his part, Leonard isn’t close to or fond of most of his family and isn’t very candid about his past life before becoming successful, so he was amenable to not talking much about his childhood or ancestry. He would prefer if Jocosa was similar restrained and didn’t extoll the virtues and history of her bloodline constantly, but alas, no. One of the consequences of marrying into snotty nobility, I suppose.

Oh, you’re on to something there! :)

Now, with someone like Theo, whose brain is a Gordian knot of congealing gray matter basting in a cerebral soup of self-deception, neuroticism, and concentrated hatred, it’s hard to point to one thing as the sole cause for any of his many issues. At the same time, I don’t want to just dump the entirety of Theo’s issues with his family and how they impact him psychologically because I worry that I could write a thousand words about it and still have five thousand more in me, and we all have other things to do with our time than read all that. That said, to briefly (ha) touch on what you’ve mentioned…

Many of Theo’s problems with intimacy, with needing to feel useful, with fearing connections with others, and so on do stem from his troubled family history. At least some of his self-loathing is borne from him, at a glance, looking more like the man he most despises instead of being the same long, slim, elegant creatures that form the roots and branches of his mother’s family tree. Although, the irony in that is that all the “bad” genetics that cause him grief and suffering come from his mother’s side – but he alternately blames the cruel gods and himself for being a freak, not his mother or grandpa or any of his weaselly ancestors for that.

It’s also true to say that Theo’s self-sacrificing and self-effacing acts of kindness towards his mother and to others he cares for are done in part to make up for the fact of his own existence. The fact that his beloved mother had to couple with a disgusting, loathsome, degrading, unfaithful cur of a man (have I mentioned Theo really hates his dad yet?) in order to bear him weighs heavily on his mind and warps his self-concept. As much as Theo knows his mother loves him, he also knows – and despises – that he if he’s his mother’s son, he’s also his father’s spawn.

Jocosa doesn’t talk at length about her problems to Theo, or anyone – she wouldn’t want to make Theo feel responsible for her woes and she isn’t the kind of woman to whine about her life’s tribulations besides – but Theo isn’t so ignorant that he can’t pick up on the tension in other’s conversations, read meaning into words left unsaid, or work backwards from what he is told to deduce the rotten truth behind what little he’s told. He knows that everything involving his conception was hard for her, even if she doesn’t say it, and he feels he needs to do everything in his power to make up for the suffering bringing him into existence put her through. ...And I could go on but I think that’s enough to get the picture for now. Have I mentioned I can write a lot of words about Theo??

I think Hyden would know better than to say something like that – out loud. Hyden does try to push Theo into a personal valet role. But Theo has his limits and Hyden is smart enough to not press them (too much, right away). Being referred to as a kind of servant is one of those limits that really pisses him off and would be a one-way ticket to not getting any more pillow fluffing. Also, for as much as he helps Hyden with daily tasks and provides whatever dotage he feels is required of him as an apprentice, caregiver or host, there are tasks a manservant would be responsible for that Theo categorically refuses to do (even though Hyden wishes he would).

I am greatly amused by the thought of someone trying to get a flower crown on Theo. I can’t imagine it’d ever go much better than people trying to put shirts on their cats. He just really doesn’t like situations wherein Stimulus I Have No Control Over Is Happening To Me.

He does tend to flip from fury to (relative) calm depending on the circumstance and the source of annoyance, so you’re spot-on with the variable reactions he could have to a floral intrusion. I would say he isn’t likely to use “witch” as an insult for the same reason as he wouldn’t use “harpy” or “ice queen” as an insult, which is that any kind of derogatory comment his mother was ever called might as well be a compliment in his books. “Harlot” is completely fair game, though.

Thanks a bunch for the kind words on my weird rat guy. So happy you like him!

(Also “dark fantasy rose type flower” made me laugh. God. He’s such an edgelord. Emphasis on the “lord”, with a title and arms and everything.)

Glad you like seeing him! I guess one of the benefits of me not getting particularly exotic with the colors or markings on my furry designs is that you can find associations to actual animals like this! I hope your pet rat had a better temperament than Theo does, though.

…Which sounds a little stupid considering quite a lot of these answers involved me talking at length about Theo being sad and self-sacrificing and crap like that. I swear to God he’s a nasty little bitchboy most of the time. I need to draw him biting someone on the face or insulting someone for being poor or eating someone’s eyeball or something again to balance the scales here.

Note to self.

#WHO WANTS TO READ 2800 WORDS ABOUT THEO?? WAIT COME BACK #i wrote this joke about anonymous letters but actually looking at these -#like half of them were actually sent by people non-anonymously #YOU ARE ALL SO BRAVE #also sorry to those of you who sent in asks months or years ago who either are in this or are worse AREN'T...#i do have plans for the asks I get but well #timeliness is not one of my skills #my draws #doodles #asks #theo #amaranthine

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anonymous-ace72 · 6 months

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Can you tell me the defining features and propogandic elements of busts from the different dynasties of Republic and Imperial Rome? That sounds super interesting and I'd love to hear about it!

Strap in.

Okay so the period that I’m going to be going over is roughly the span of time from the Republic period of Rome, all the way to Constantine, because that was the time frame my class covered.

So, to keep in mind, all of the portraits of Roman officials, whether they be emperors or otherwise, are idealized. Meaning, they are not true to life representations of these people; this is probably not how they actually looked, and you’ll see this become more prominent when we get into the imperial periods of Rome. What these portraits are in reality, are representations of traits that Romans typically admired and thought to be appropriate for rulers.

When you look at a lot of portraits from the Republic period, you’ll mainly see portraits of older people. During this time, only older people were allowed to hold powerful positions within the Roman senate, and since these were generally the people commissioning portraits of themselves, this is the bulk of what we see. It was mostly men, but some women were also depicted, which we’ll get to.

These busts portray older men, but these aren’t entirely realistic portraits, this is probably not what this individual actually looked like.

The official name for this style of portraiture is called verism, and it’s worth noting that it is pretty much a direct response to the style of the Hellenistic Greeks, who’s dynamic, emotional statues were seen as uncontrolled, with rule breaking tendencies.

These portraits are much older looking, because an older person was the physical embodiment of the kinds of traits someone from the patrician class would favor; traits such as wisdom, worldliness, piety, self-restraint. The wrinkles in the forehead and around the mouth are very pronounced and obvious. The man in this portrait might not have Actually looked like this in real life, but his real-life image did not matter; he’s trying to convey to the viewer that he is wise, and in-control of himself.

When you look at full body statues from this period, you see a strange mixing of styles, which is not uncommon, and Romans would continue to do this sort of thing in their art pieces. This is purposeful.

We see here, a man with a veristic head and an idealized body. The head is obviously meant to convey the meaning above, but the body is of a much younger man; it’s meant to convey strength and heroism. So, the entire sculpture together paints the picture of a man with the experience and constraint of an older patrician man, but the strength of a hero.

Portraits of women from this period would also be done in the veristic style, but not as intensely as their male counterparts. You can still see the agedness of this woman, and her distant expression of self-control, and dignity, but her wrinkles are not as deep and defined; she’s not meant to be as worldly as a man.

Some portraits will have individual elements mixed in with the verism. Take a look at Pompey, for instance.

He’s still keeping somewhat to the veristic style; you see from the wrinkles on his forehead and his mouth that he’s clearly meant to be seen as an older man, but his huge nose, round face and small eyes are personal traits that he really had- you see a statue from this period of time in Rome and you see that nose, there is no doubt that it’s depicting Pompey- but there’s also more to this portrait.

This is where we see some idealization start to slip back in. Take note of the hair; it’s reminiscent of Alexander the Great’s “Lion’s mane” that he’s pretty well-known for having. Pompey is choosing to depict himself with traits from Alexander, drawing a physical connection between himself and the great leader; embodying these traits and claiming them as his own, basically. He wants the viewer to associate him with Alexander the Great.

You’ll continue to see this with Caesar as well, the veristic style, but also the idealization. The idealization being him having a full head of hair, as he was reported to, uh, be balding, at least.

When we get to Augustus, he does away with verism entirely and fully embraces the classical Greek style of sculpture. He does this because he wants to connect his reign to that period of time in Greece; so right off the bat he’s making connections to legitimize himself.

Augustus’ portraits and architectural works are rife with propaganda, so that’s an entirely different beast that we don’t have time to go into, so we’ll just stick with busts and statues.

The first thing to mention about Augustus’ portraits is that he never ages. He died in his seventies, but he became emperor young, so his portraiture kept up the appearance of him as a younger man; this is part of that classicizing style, specifically the depictions of Greek deities, whom were shown to be eternally youthful. It obviously draws inspiration from Greece, as stated, but it also meant to convey his “godly heritage” due to his descension from Caesar, who was also “descended” from Venus. You can also usually tell when a statue of Augustus was made if you look at the feet. If he’s wearing sandals, it was made while he was still living, but if he’s barefoot, then that probably means it was after he died and was defied.

His skin is smooth, he has simple, sharp features which came to be associated with the julio-claudian line. These probably are not his true features- that idealization again- but the thing that identifies his statues the most is that lock of hair that looks like a crab claw. Remember that crab-claw. It will be back later.

A lot of his full body sculptures will include these little hints and nods to his heritage, as well as his various accomplishments and inclusions of other deities. These are promises for his reign. You see Tellus a lot, she was the goddess of the Earth, and Augustus used her image a lot to convey the bounty and peace he wanted associated with his reign.

As an aside: These statues were mainly meant as stand-ins for the emperors in question, as a lot of events needed the emperor to be physically present to do, so these statues and busts would be created en-masse and placed in different places so the emperor could technically be present.

Okay, back to it.

Remember those facial features Augustus generally depicted himself with? You should, because they’re gonna keep popping up for awhile.

Throughout the rest of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, every single emperor after Augustus will keep depicting themselves with these qualities. Tiberius, who ruled right after Augustus, did this as well, despite not even being related by blood to his predecessor.

Tiberius on the right, Augustus on the left.

They’re doing what Pompey did with Alexander the Great in his portrait: depicting themselves with features associated with Augustus to draw a connection to him, essentially drawing power from his influence.

In order, Nero, Claudius, Caligula.

We see this pattern throughout the Julio-Claudian line in portraits of Caligula, Nero, Claudius as well, though Claudius is unique in the fact that, while still using those features, he also chooses to return to verism in his portraiture, partly because he was older when he ascended, but mostly due to the fact that he’s trying to shake off the immediate association with Caligula by appearing as his opposite.

We subvert a little bit when we get to that period between the Julio-Claudians and the Flavians, when there were 5 different emperors in one year (which seems like nothing when we get to the soldier-emperors later). It’s a little bit of a return to verism, to try and shake off the chaos that was Nero.

This is Vespasian, he was considered the “anti-Nero”.

You’ll probably notice by now that a lot of emperors depict themselves in certain ways also as a direct response to their predecessors, basically going like “hey, I’m not like that guy.”

With the Flavian Dynasty, we see a semi-return to verism, the men don’t look as idealized as they were, but the women would continue to appear in that more, ageless, idealized state.

Hadrian comes along later and starts depicting himself with long hair and a beard. Hadrian loved Greek culture, so the hair and beard were meant to connect him with heroes and philosophers from that time, as well as to probably hide the facial blemishes he reportedly had.

The Antonine dynasty will be dominated by this “Hadrionatic look”, as well as still having that ageless, idealized look to (most of) them. We also see some head movement in these portraits, and the introduction of new, antonine features such as droopy eyelids, and arched brows.

Rinse and repeat, the emperors that followed with this dynasty will continue to use these features to connect themselves with each other, particularly Marcus Aurelius, whom you’ll see his features repeated with Lucius Veras, and Commodus. Commodus also drew inspiration from Hercules to imbue his image with heroic qualities.

From left to right, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Veras, Commodus

Looks nothing like the Commodus from Gladiator.

This continues up until Septimius Severus, then gets flipped on its head when Caracalla happens.

His portraits are very militaristic in style, and vastly different from what we’ve been seeing. Short cropped hair and beard; he is also very distant from the viewer. Pretty much all portraiture up until this point engaged the viewer head on, but Caracalla’s neck is dramatically turned, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. He looks very cruel and suspicious, like he does not want you there. Fitting, He did kill his own brother so he could have sole rule. This is the most personality we see in a roman portrait, ever.

This high expressionism will continue for a while with the soldier emperors: this was a period of 49 years where 25 different emperors reigned. We don’t have portraits of many of them, aside from some coins, cause most of them didn’t live long enough to get to that point.

Most of this emotionalism is fueled by the rise in neoplatonic philosophy, which placed favor on emotions rather than physical characteristics.

Also, throughout this time we’ll see quite a bit of back and forth, a lot of “I’m not that guy” because soldier emperor portraits generally had 2 modes: either the more emotional Caracalla-esque appearances, or a return to classicism to evoke the feeling of Augustus’ glory age. These were usually used in direct response to the other.

Maximinus Thrax: Mode 1 Gallienus: Mode 2

When we finally reach the Tetrarchy, we are in complete abstractism. There are no more personality defining features, and it’s virtually impossible to tell who is who. Their faces are simplified, the only difference is that some have facial hair, and some are clean shaven; and this is only to identify who is the Augustus and who is the Caesar. We still see the eyes turned away from the viewer, keeping that distance between emperor and citizen. This is purposeful, it’s meant to convey the message that the individual is not important, the position is. All the figures look the same because they’re all ruling as one unit.

This abstraction is seen in Constantine’s portraits as well, the simplified face, the large eyes, the distant expression, but we see the hair has a little bit of detail, the comma-like look of Trajan, as well as the clean-shaven, youthful appearance of Augustus. Constantine, like so many before him, is drawing connections between himself and these past rulers, making a promise that his reign will be just as successful.

TLDR: None of these portraits reflect what these people actually looked like. They reflected values and traits that they wished to convey to the populace to instill a certain image about themselves and their subsequent reigns. They would even draw influence from past emperors and historical figures to convey the message about themselves that they wanted to convey.

#posts from the void #rome #ancient rome #I did this instead of working on the actual final paper I have to write for this class

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skyedancer-rae · 27 days

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Mind sharing some of your TGAA headcanons?

I've had this sitting in my inbox for a bit because when I first saw it, my mind went blank and I couldn't think of anything lol. Full disclosure: I feel like I don't have very many concrete headcanons. A lot of the time, if there isn't much canon evidence to support a headcanon, I tend to be more flexible and may change how I depict things depending on what suits my drawing/comic/story.

But I did think of a few to share, so here we go!

While Mrs. Hudson probably provided a lot of the meals for Sholmes & Iris before Iris got older and discovered a love for cooking, I believe that Sholmes CAN cook. He just has to make sure that he sets timers and follows the recipe to the letter. Because as soon as he gets distracted or turns the recipe into an experiment, it becomes inedible.

Because he did help uncover the truth about all of Stronghart's conspiracies and he ultimately did not kill anyone nor intend to go through with the assassination exchange, Kazuma is given a royal pardon after the game, allowing him to continue his study tour in Britain. However, that pardon also comes with a strict warning of "We'll be watching you and if you do something like this again, there will be consequences." I also believe there would still be a long probationary period where he can only help with Barok's cases at first. Then he can only lead the prosecution with Barok supervising his work before he finally earns the right to lead a case by himself.

Oddly enough, I have very strong headcanons for Rei's parents. I feel like they're both pretty chill and liberal. When their daughter came home one day like "I want to study dead bodies like Susato's dad," they were just like "Unconventional career choice, but we'll figure out a way to make it happen."

I guess I also tend to headcanon that Rei and Susato are childhood friends and that Rei fell in love with medicine/forensic science from listening to Mikotoba's stories.

Genshin does not particularly like Sholmes. He is grateful that Sholmes has been such a good friend to Mikotoba and helped to pull him out of his spiral of grief, and he appreciates Sholmes' commitment to the truth and justice. But every time they interact, he is constantly fighting the urge to throw Sholmes out the nearest window and/or into the Thames.

Since it is my understanding that traditional Japanese cuisine does not use a lot of (if any) dairy, I wonder how many of the Japanese cast would be lactose intolerant. I headcanon that Ryunosuke, at least, can eat dairy with no issues. Because he apparently has an iron gut.

Regarding Susato's all-knowing British encyclopedia she carries around, my thoughts are that either (1) she made that book herself, carefully copying down any piece of information she thought might be relevant, (2) her kimonos sleeves are the gateway to a pocket dimension where she can access her entire library, or (3) she has photographic memory and just has all these facts memorizes. But because of her super-humility (which she needs to work on because she's awesome and she should own her talents and abilities), she pretends that she's just looking it up in her book.

Susato and Kazuma lost a fight to a frog when they were younger, and they are both still mortified by that memory to this day.

On Gina and Kazuma's first case together post-game, Sholmes showed up to offer his assistance. They allowed him to stay because it annoyed Barok.

They have kicked Sholmes out of every single crime scene since then.

#tgaa #tgaa spoilers #tgaa 2 spoilers #headcanons

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abybweisse · 10 months

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Hello there, I have been going around asking a few media analysts/theorists the same (albiet kinda contreversial??) question.

soooo i think the likelyhood of Sebas eating o!ciel's soul is hella likely towards the end of the series.

and although i think this isn't a bad ending, i am TERREFIED over how it will play out visually.

In the black butler live-action movie, Sebas kisses our earl in order to eat his soul, and in the end of the season 1 anime, a similar implication was shown.

I mean, I know we can't exactly conclude what scene Yana will draw out for us or even the solid conclusion in general, but do you believe that visually, a "kiss" between both characters will be shown in the manga?

Personally, I would be utterly dissapointed to follow a manga for so long for it to show a whole minor and adult kissing, even if it isn't romantic, because people will interpret it the wrong way (s*baciel shippers) or just be justifably uncomfortable by it (normal kuro fans).

have a nice day!

How will/would Sebastian collect our earl's soul?

Well, keep in mind that the live action movie doesn't even have "Ciel" in it. It's Sebastian brought back to the human realm by a female direct descendant of "Ciel", suggesting that "Ciel" lives to be old enough to have kids. It's implied that Undertaker is out of the picture by now, as the somewhat steampunk reaper is no one we've met before.

In the downright horrible adaptation, everyone in the future, by then, is now Japanese. The girl has to deal with situations that are ridiculously similar to her ancestor's ordeals. Basically, it was like... a way to have that kiss without both characters (or actors) being male, as if that made the age difference no longer relevant. Age of consent in Japan is rather low (like 13?), but still. And they work-in the idea that she has to dress as a boy to be taken seriously by others (and get her inheritance?), just like our earl thinks he has to pretend to be his older twin. This gives those shippers something to work with, despite the fact it's a female actor and a female character.

However, in s1 of the anime, Sebastian does look like he's about to go in for the kiss of death. That's not necessarily what he's about to do -- he might just get close to our earl's face and literally (and not sexually) suck out his soul. Like... we might see his soul physically ripped from his body and passing through the air from one to the other. But, again, fan service prevails in the anime, so they stop right before Sebastian begins to feed... leaving the intended next move to the imaginations of the viewers.

What worries me is the fact the manga series is also chock full of fan service for shippers. I'm hoping it's a "rip his soul out" scene without locked lips, though I expect their faces to get close, as they have before several times throughout the series.

Chronologically, we have this scene (drawn twice) from ch138 and ch139, depicting when they first made the contract. He gets right into his face (and upside down) when discussing payment.

Then ch62, the infamous bath scene shortly after Phantomhive Manor is restored.

And ch147, just after our earl destroys a roast duck.

There have been other occasions, I'm sure, but these are three very memorable ones... and two are about eating.

It's interesting to note that the only time we've seen Sebastian approach our earl's face upside down (so far) is when clarifying the terms of his payment once the contract is completed.

I would like to see something similarly creepy (like upside down) when it's time to collect that payment... if their faces even have to get close. Reapers collect souls without getting close to faces. Then again, they use special tools and don't eat the souls. However, I imagine that demons don't necessarily have to remove souls through the mouth/nose, either, if they don't want to.

Sebastian, being the "perverted gourmet" that Yana-san calls him, is likely to choose a method that adds some garnishing touch to his meal. I honestly can't say what that might be, other than doing something that brings forth certain emotions (from the master) that enhance the flavors he seeks.

I sure hope that's not kissing.

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moonlitcomet · 10 months

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A simple, not fully comprehensive guide to stick figure community art styles you might find on the internet:

Despite being such a simple object, something universal to humanity when drawing a simple person, there's a lot of ways to depict a stick figure. Almost infinite ones. And some of these ways to draw a stick figure have developed into entire communities; just by looking at the way someone draws a "stick figure" character, you can probably tell what corner of the internet they've stuck their nose in!

RHGs/Dojo Duelists

Probably what first comes to mind when you think of those fancy stick fight animations. These guys have been around for longer than many people have been alive, having been founded in 2005 by Stone. Many people who started out animating with RHG eventually moved on to become professional animators for cartoons, movies, and even anime.

RHGs and Dojo Duelists are often animated using symbols and objects in Flash, creating a distinct "segmented" appearance. When up close, they often have hand drawn facial features, which adds more to the style of the artist and animator.

Fans of RHG and Hyun's Dojo are often inspired to animate or create colorful and violent stories based on these characters, and quite a few of them seem to find old men incredibly sexy.

An interesting fact about the RHG style and its fanart is that most RHG fanart is in a style commonly referred to as glorified stickfigures, with simple, full bodies and detailed features. I am unsure as to the origin of this art style, but if anyone knows where it first originated, I would love to know.

Gildedguy's Glorified Stickmen

A bit of a side-community to Dojo and RHG is that of Gildedguy's community, who I am happy to represent. Gildedguy started animating in 2006, but truly became more of an internet sensation in 2011 with the release of Slush Invaders. Gildedguy the character made his first official debut in 2015 with Gildedguy vs. Fry, a speedbattle[though he made an appearance in the Slush Invaders game before that.]. Since then he has been releasing at least one new big project every year, with the quality of each animation ramping up as time goes on.

Gildedguy's art style involves large heads and stumpier proportions, with enormous eyes. His style is extremely unique for a stickfigure artist, and you can almost always tell when someone has been inspired by his art and animations.

Gildedguy has a very interactive community, and he has inspired many people that I know to start animation, be it when he first started with Slush Invaders or even as recently as Story 7. Many members of his community, myself included, do not find themselves interacting with many other stick figure communities, though overlap between Gildedguy and almost any other large stick figure community is also very prominent and common.

Animator vs. Animation [Alan Becker]

The source of nostalgia for many my age, these little stickfigures have kept a chokehold on their corner of the internet for nearly two decades, with the first Animator vs. Animation being released one year after RHG's founding, in 2006. Ever since then, AVA and its sidestories of AVM strike inspiration and excitement into the hearts of its fans. Many children and adults alike love the stories of these stickfigures, with simple but nuanced characters and visual stories that anyone can enjoy.

Unlike with many RHGs and Duelists, AVA stickfigures are hand drawn and have more fluid and bendy limbs, and have no facial features except in the case of a single Youtube short as of the time of this being posted.

Fans of AVA sometimes draw in the art style of the source material, but here on Tumblr, I've also seen a lot of them giving them more detailed bodies and faces, as well as clothing and hairstyles. Many copycat animators on youtube exist with nowhere near the level of charm and love put into Alan Becker's AVA.

Henry Stickmin

I'm not actually fully familiar with Henry Stickmin, its games, or its characters, but it's hard to find any other stickfigure style as distinct as this one. With detailed heads, hands, and feet but stick-thin bodies, Henry Stickmin stands out while also sticking to the stickfigure art style.

Henry Stickmin first debuted in 2008 with Breaking The Bank, a point-and-click adventure game.

Dick Figures

Dick Figures is a crass, adult-oriented short animation series on YouTube, which debuted in 2010 and released a feature-length film in 2013. The shorts are almost always immature and vulgar, calling to the times of the internet that they originated from.

Dick Figures features hand drawn stickfigures with stick-thin bodies and detailed faces.

I've found that fans of this series do not often cross over into the internet territories of other Stickfigure communities, and instead spend more time in meme communities.

Marikin Online 4 [MO4]

MO4 is a Japanese RPG game with a very niche and dedicated art community behind it. While Marikin Online 1, 2, and 3 did technically exist, they were never fully finished games and are no longer available to the public. From what I can tell, MO4 first released around 2018, and I can find little other information about the series' history itself in a cohesive place.

The characters are unusual and distinct, with one of them even somehow landing on the Sexypedia. They have gray or white skin with few body features aside from their faces, and many of them will be adorned in fancy billowing clothing.

I can't say much for the game aside from the fact that it is intended for mature audiences, and has dark themes such as abuse and sexual harassment.

You'll find that many fanartists for this game are Japanese or Chinese, and may be difficult to find outside the community itself, but once you find one you'll almost definitely stumble into 20 more.

Countryhumans

One of if not the most controversial groups of stickfigure communities on this list, Countryhumans are character designs based on countries and historical regimes. They have distinct character designs with facial markings based on their respective flags.

Countryhumans were likely founded in 2017 in a Russian forum, almost definitely based upon or at least inspired by the 2009 Polandball comic. As is the nature of depicting entire countries as characters [IE Hetalia and Polandball itself], this community wound up creating many offensive caricatures of countries and citizens of the countries it represents, and is frequently put under criticism for doing so, as well as shipping said countries with other countries that have warred, invaded, or forced oppressive regimes upon others. The sexualization of regimes such as Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and ISIS are especially causative for this.

Due to its controversial nature, many stickfigure artists - especially east Asian artists - around the world have wound up blacklisting Countryhuman community members and artists from interacting with them.

Mid-Fight Masses and related characters

Mid-Fight Masses, and its related characters, were a phenomenon released in the early modding days of FNF in 2021. While these characters were not created for the mod - instead being made as early as when their creator, Dokki Doodlez, was 9 or 10 years old - they were popularized in the FNF mod featuring them, and became somewhat of a sensation, being some of the most popular characters in the fandom.

Sarvente, Ruv, and other characters in the universe sparked their own microfandom outside of FNF, with many new and young artists creating characters based on their distinct designs. With colorful facial markings, detailed clothing, and blank white eyes, many stickfigure characters created in 2021-present follow these design traits. They stand out from other popular stickfigure communities in the sense that many of these characters very rarely are shown committing violent acts, and have much more whimsical and fantastical lore.

#mine #stickfigures #long post #had a sudden urge to go autism mode #this isn't fully comprehensive by any means but it encompasses many of the bigger stickfig communities i've come across!#there's also a couple communities i refuse to add on principle of me just hating their creators #take a shot for every time i say distinct in this post

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mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess · 1 year

Text

Forbidden knowledge and the one time you're allowed to use it

Warnings: heavy angst and I mean that!! I cried so much writing this and have debated abandoning it several times!!

Listen to this for the full experience because that's what I listened to while writing this.

---

"I really don't think we should be doing this..." Sizhui tried, pulling onto one of Jingyi's sleeves. He swatted Sizhui's hand away, and he picked up some random book, a decidedly different one from what Hanguang-Jun had told them to get when he handed them the token for access in the forbidden section of the library.

"C'mon, aren't you even a little bit curious what's in here?" Jingyi replied, flipping through the pages of the book. "It's not like there's anyone to tell on us or anything, and who knows when we'll get the chance to snoop around here again?"

"Maybe there's a reason why we aren't allowed here so liberally, Jingyi... We should just go..."

"Sizhui, my man, live a little." And Jingyi tossed him a heavy book. "See what's in there, look for anything that's very powerful and very forbidden."

"And exactly why do you want to learn very powerful and very forbidden things?" Sizhui asked, suspicious, though he began sifting through the book as told.

"Because I'm curious and I also want to be the coolest guy around, obviously!"

"Jingyi, you can be cool without using whatever forbidden techniques are written in these books, you know?"

"Yeah, but what's cooler than the forbidden and the occult?"

"Not getting punished to do handstands for 12 hours..." Sizhui mumbled, sending a talisman to the ornate doors of the library to warn him if anybody walked in. He'd lie if he said he wasn't curious too, but it felt a bit too risky to just waltz around in the Lan sect's dark knowledge dungeon like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Still, he reasoned, he'd already broken the rules by disobeying a superior and he'd already looked into a book that he hadn't been allowed to - he'd get punished either way. And perhaps Jingyi had been right, it was incredibly rare for junior cultivators to be allowed into the forbidden section of the library, might as well make the best of it.

---

The night hunt had gone haywire so quickly and so unexpectedly that Sizhui and Jingyi hadn't even had time to think of the tipping point that led to their current situation. One moment they were slaying a small horde of fierce corpses, the next they found themselves trapped in the strangest array they had ever seen, with a literal army of ghouls attacking them from all directions.

They tried asking for help - they sent all of their flares flying, but that strange array blocked them, extinguishing the firework-like signal before it lit up the sky.

There was no time to think of how to break the array, not with corpses and demons jumping at them ceaselessly, fueled by such resentment that it backed the two cultivators into a corner, back to back, trying to protect themselves and each other, struggling for a solution, for survival.

---

"Hey, Sizhui, look at this!"

The book depicted a figure gathering their qi in the center of their chest, manifesting it as a large, powerful sphere.

"Apparently, this is some kind of ultimate technique that can destroy a large number of enemies and purify cursed land, break any curse or spell and is largely invincible. Isn't that cool?"

Sizhui read over the page around the drawing and frowned. "This technique... anyone who uses it dies. Painfully. It requires draining your life force out of your body, and in order to do that it..."

He tore his eyes from the book and shut it closed. "Let's just go, Jingyi."

---

"No!" Sizhui shouted, blocking another fierce corpse's strike. "No way, no!"

"What else is there left?!" Jingyi shouted back, throwing the last of his talismans against their assailants. "Nobody's coming, and we're running out of time and energy already! How much longer do you think we can go like this? A few minutes at most!"

"I fucking said no!" Sizhui all but growled, eyes fierce. "I'm not doing that! And I'm not letting you do it either!"

---

"What are you writing there?" Sizhui asked, peering over his friend's shoulder. He expected to find some silly romance story or a journal entry - but his eyes darkened in disapproval instead as his eyes recognized the writing. "Jingyi."

"I know you disapprove, but hey, it could be useful!"

"Why are you so hung up on that particular thing? Did you like reading about how you'd die if you used it that much?"

"That's not it." Jingyi shook his head, "There's a rule about using it. Apparently it doesn't work just when you want it to. Your body and your spirit would fight it unless this condition is met."

Sizhui hated that his interest was piqued. "What condition?"

"The condition is-"

---

Sizhui screamed, pain tearing through him as the corpse's claws dug into his chest, tearing the fine material of his robes and the delicate layer of skin underneath.

Jingyi cut it down before it could do any more damage, and rushed to help Sizhui balance as he burnt the very last talisman he had to keep the monsters at bay.

"Sizhui... come on, we can't go on like this forever."

Sizhui tried to steady himself but the pain and the damage of past injuries caught up to him, collapsing onto the ground even as Jingyi held him. "No- Jingyi, no, I can't-"

Jingyi wiped the blood off his face with a small smile. "I'll do it, it's okay."

Tears filled Sizhui's eyes, his hands coming to grip his friend's wrists. "No, no, please, don't... there has to be another way..."

Jingyi tried to keep the smile on his face and ignore the tears threatening to fall down his own face. "There is no other way. Not this time."

Sizhui pulled his friend into the tightest hug he could muster, shaking with the force of it and his sobs. Or perhaps they weren't only his own. They had imagined their lives so many times, the future twin jades of Lan, honoring their sect and their seniors for decades to come, growing up together, building families and worthy reputations, helping people.

All of those things, they would never come true. There would be no future and nothing to share. No together, nothing at all.

"Let go, A-Yuan. The talisman's going to burn out soon." Jingyi mumbled, trying to hide the shake in his voice as he spoke into his friend's shoulder.

"Just a little longer."

Jingyi swallowed the hard lump in his throat and gently pushed Sizhui away. "It's going to be okay. You don't have to look."

But there was no way Sizhui would be able to close his eyes, there was no way he would convince himself to be blind to his friend's - no, his brother's sacrifice. The least he could do was look, admire his bravery and his power and his love, and catch his body as it would fall, limp and lifeless, to the ground.

Jingyi took in a deep breath, his expression steely, determined. Sizhui could never imagine himself so courageously facing death, and he wants to scream his cowardice and his weakness and his sorry to the man that would give his life just to save Sizhui's.

Slowly, Jingyi began coaxing his qi outside of his body, thin, white streams of energy coiling around one another in front of his chest. His brows furrowed, in pain, but he said nothing, uttered nothing of his discomfort, only the thinnest ribbon of blood falling from his lips. He'd bitten his tongue.

The sphere started taking more shape now, tragically beautiful in its wielder's hands, and it was for a brief second that Jingyi turned his head and opened his eyes to take one last look towards Sizhui, a serene, resigned, painless smile on his face.

...and then, for a few seconds, blinding light swallowed everything, all the beasts, the forest, the array, the moon, the stars and the entire world. For a few seconds, there was nothing, nothing but the gut-wrenching scream Sizhui let out.

---

"The condition is that you can only use this technique if somebody you couldn't live without is in mortal danger."

---

The light died out, and the world returned to its muted, dark colors. There were no more corpses, no more monsters, no more wounds on Sizhui's body.

There was no more Jingyi.

Nothing was left.

Not even ashes, not even a shred of clothing, nothing at all.

---

"This technique... it destroys the spirit... there's nothing left after, no reincarnation, no chance to respond to Inquiry, nothing at all. It's like you never even existed, ever."

"But if you think about it... it's not something you use lightly. The condition says you can only use it for someone you can't live without. If they die, isn't that the same thing as having your soul destroyed?"

---

It started to rain.

Jingyi used to hate the rain.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #writing attempts #lsz #ljy #yes yes i know im a horrible person with no heart #i agree

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hopusthebrainlessfloof · 6 months

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WAIIIIT! DON'T SCROLL!! D:

My commissions are open!! It's sort of an emergency I guess, since I can't go to my job :{

If you can't buy a commission, please reblog so this gets around!!

These are some works I've done! My style is cutesy, but I can do dark/suggestive themes!

See My Prices:

Standard:

Bust: $10 ( price listed for no colour, $15 for flat colour, $20 for shading)

Waist: $20 ( price listed for no colour, $25 for flat colour, $30 for shading)

Full body: $30 ( price listed for no colour, $35 for flat colour, $40 for shading)

Additional characters: Half of price ( ex: 2 characters full body with flat colour -> 35 + 17 = $52 )

Character sheets:

Simple: $45 (Front and back, name, no bio)

Standard: $55 (Front and back, name, bio)

Detailed: $65 (Front and back, close-ups of markings, name, bio)

Additional details: +10$ for each addition ( Weapons, feral versions, with/without clothes, commonly associated items)

Payment, Uses, & Wait Time

I accept payments through CashApp (US) and PayPal (international).

If you don't use USD, PayPal will automatically convert your currency!

You may use my art for: character refrence and personal use (pfps) without need of credit.

However, if you repost my work (either as a post or as part of something else), I expect credit to be given. (adding my tumblr url)

I typically take no longer than a week to do a commission, but it might take me more time if I get a lot at once. (which I doubt I will) Please be patient.

Wills and Won'ts

Things I will draw:

Furries (Anthro & ferals)

Humans

Koopas

Animals

Orbs (Kirby Characters)

"Dark themes"

Suggestive art

Ship art (OC × Canon included)

Things I will not draw:

Porn

Ship art depicting abuse, racism, sexism, pedophilia, zoophilia, incest

Anything offensive or bigotted (ableist, lgbtq+phobic, racist, sexist, islamophobic, anti-semetic, dehumanising... that stuff)

Fetish art (Keep your Kentucky Fried Fetishes away from me)

Mechs (I CAN'T DRAW THEM, SORRY)

I hold the right to deny a commission for any reason, especially if it makes me uncomfortable.

Final Things

You can contact me via Tumblr (my DMs are open) or Discord (same username as here)

I require at least one reference image for what you'd like me to draw.

I may or may not post your commission to my Tumblr. (If I do, I'll make sure to thank you anonymously!)

Thank you for reading!! Happy shopping, love you, hoppy holidays!!

#hopus rambles #looking for commisioners #commisions open #super mario #kirby #sanrio #furry

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onesaltyerik · 1 year

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Deranged Ramblings of A Technoblade fan

Ok I don't know how to blog for shit and I've not slept in two days so yall are now gonna suffer as I throw out my thoughts to the universe.

Technoblade, the character, is often depicted as wearing a corset and while I've not seen anyone complain about it being "unrealistic" because lets be real here the SBI is made up of a perpetually tired bird man, a bard with a habit of destroying countries, a vaguely anthropormorphised to straight up anime elf prince pig depending on the artist, and a Tommy; a corset is the LEAST of one's worries ya know?

Anywho, corsets on a warrior. Being a semi-qualified art historian and an enthusiast in fashion and medieval armour, it is ACTUALLY plausible!

As the common discourse goes, a PROPERLY FITTED and NON-TIGHTLACED corset is actually very comfortable to wear. They were literally designed to support the chest and help with posture despite the common modern idea of the corset being cruel and blah blah blah literally everyone who's worn a proper corset can vouch that it's actually quite comfy. (Myself included, shut up men can wear corsets too.) And depending on the type of corset, they can be very flexible to allow for movement. The type of corset would be the one to look at when determining realism, in this case we got full corsets that are kinda like vests, underbust corsets, and mid corsets. Your full size corset provides the most support as it distributes the weight of the bust around your waist and shoulders, with some types of underbusts doing similar. Seeing as unless c/Techno has a bust size in need of support, this probably isn't gonna be the one worn most in battle as, while corsets can be moved pretty easily in, they were not made in the intention to be worn into battle.

An underbust would be more flexible and still provide any sort of support, and a mid-torso corset probably wouldn't provide the same amount of support but would still help with supporting one's back, especially when riding a horse or walking for a long time and trust me good back support is a BOON when you're wearing armour. On that front, while a corset that has boning made of baleen, metal, or bone might provide some protection to slashing attacks, and distribution of impact to an extent, against an arrow/axe/well placed sword strike, not great. That's the point of wearing a gambison and armour in general. A gambeson acts as a means of keeping armour from touching the skin and chaffing, as well as providing an extra layer of squish between the body and the weapon. You can actually just wear a gembeson when fighting in a pinch, it won't exactly protect against an axe or flail or mace or arrow, but much like a corset slashing damage will be diminished.

So, as for wearing a corset while also wearing armour, to look fashionable but still provide protection, I would say the best way to do so would be to wear a mid-torso corset with a gambeson style interior, and a crop top style gambeson over the top and half-breast plate over that. Would I wear it into battle? Absolutly not. Would it provide protection during a display of power in a parade? Yes. Is it better than nothing? Also yes. Am I going to draw this at some point? Absofuckinlutely! The more likely form, and one that would be very interesting to see that I have yet to see any artist (so far) make, would be a wasp-waist style of breastplate armour. At that point you basically have a full on metal corset that's way more effective than just wearing the weirdly layered bits of corsetry and armour that was previously mentioned. Anyways, I am sleep deprived and have definitley missed a few points but I hope whoever has read this enjoyed the ramblings ok goodnight.

#dsmp #technoblade #please don't hate me I'm very tired #i need to draw that description cause I don't think any of that made sense #sleepy bois inc

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thecatinthepurplepants · 9 months

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so I have a headcanon for how John might look to someone actually able to see him and I, of course, had to decide on the headcanon that would make it damn near impossible to draw him (at least to draw him consistently) but I like the idea too much to let it go

I probably SHOULD put this under a read more since it got kinda long but uuuhhh... don't wanna lol

SO I feel like when John first attached to Arthur, back when he was still just "the entity", his appearance was very... malleable. At first he looks like how a lot of people depict him, a vaguely human shapped black shadow with yellow eyes pearing over Arthur's left shoulder, but as soon as they got out into the world he started seeing ✨️fashion✨️ in the wild that changed. Even though he didn't remember it, he's a piece of the King In Yellow, and I'm willing to bet that the ol banana monarch has a passion for adornment and a tendency towards vanity thats usually associated with royalty that John would unknowingly inherit (I mean, we already know this, he bitches about Arthur's clothes getting ruined often enough now that they got that nice new suit)

I think at first he sees some men wearing nice hats when him and Arthur step outside into the city for the first time and something in him just goes "ooohhh" and one just kind of appears on him, probably with a gold band or little adornments like feathers and shiny dangly bits hanging from the brim. I don't even think he'd be able to choose just one style, shifting from one to another every so often as he sees more around or mixing and morphing styles into looks he likes more (I think he'd be partial to structured hats, fedoras, homburgs, maybe even a skimmer hat but with the rim stretched out to be more of a structured sun hat for extra flare)

But of course his newfound sense of style doesn't end with men's fashion cuz he doesn't know what a gender is and I highly doubt thay anyone that can see him would care enough to try and impose gender roles on him

He sees women passing by on the street wearing makeup and suddenly he has gold lipstick and shimmering yellow eyeshadow over shining gold lashes long and full enough to make any Hollywood starlet absolutely sick with envy

He sees someone more eccentric who's absolutely decked out in gaudy costume jewelry and he can't just NOT have all that wonderful clinking, shiny treasure for himself so he's now draped in gold chains, necklaces and bracelets of huge chunks of polished stones in both simple and elaborate designs, amber, tiger's eye, citrine, anything he wants really but it will always turns some shade of yellow or gold no matter how much he would want it to be another color (I think the best he could do in way of colorful variety is turquoise with veins of gold running through it)

And the funniest thing?

He can't see any of it.

He sees through Arthur's eyes and even if he has a bit of an extra sense for being able to see supernatural shit he's still not visible to himself. All of the changes are subconscious decisions he doesn't even realize he's making, his metaphysical body altering to suit the person he's growing into. None of the other rare entities and people they've met who can see John commented on it, seeing how there's usually more pressing matters involved. Plus I highly doubt the Trader would be one to make observations on someone's fashion sense unless they were offering one of their accessories in trade, and only then if it actually had any value to him.

Tbh it would be funny if the King In Yellow, during his first in person meeting with the Jarthur unit, had stopped mid introduction just "You insolent fucking worm, you need to return what's mi- what... what the hell are you wearing??? No, I'm not talking to you, you fucking worthless mortal, silence- yes, YOU, whats- whats all... THAT??? I mean, it's not BAD but it's a bit... inelegant, don't you think?" and both John and Arthur are like "what the FUCK are you TALKING ABOUT???" while the Dancers are humming and nodding their agreement while they also quietly judging John's intangible outfit

Kayne would ABSOLUTELY comment on it though but only to either taunt John while confusing the shit out of him OR to toss him the odd (equally confusing) compliment about his fashion sense and how he's branched out from the Kings personal flare. BUT he's also a Stinky Bitch (affectionate) so maybe he just wouldn't let John know that he can see him at all because he thinks it's funny that he doesn't know what he looks like

I dont think it would remain unstable as it was when he was fresh out the book, though.

After Arthur's coma, the period where John was given (and accepted) his name and the foundation of his humanity, I feel like he'd settle in his appearance as his sense of self does. He'd change to fit his different moods but it wouldn't be as much of a chaotic kaleidoscope of fashions shifting and melding with each other as he was at first. Before it was very fluid, changing as he sees different styles or as he felt different from one second to another, so unsure of exactly who and what he was.

I think he'd stick with the hat, wide brimmed and still with little golden baubles hanging around the edge and a golden band, but I think the top would remain hazy and undefined because I dont think he'd be able to decide on which style he likes best. He'd definitely keep the chains and jewelry, maybe a shodowy imitation of the shape of a suit jacket or the plunge of a low v-necklined dress, depending on the day.

I think when he gets especially angry (usually at Arthur, because he's the only one who can really get him absolutely blistering pissed without even trying) the hat billows like its caught in a fierce wind, not like fabric, but like heavy smoke. The stones of his yellow jewelry glows like miniature sun's with the force of his emotions, chains tarnishing, and even his makeup turning bright neon, toxic yellow against the void of his intangible "skin" like the warning of a poisonous animal if he's mad enough

When he's scared, him and Arthur trying to hide from whatever horror or adversary they've encountered this time, the brim of his hat melts back several inches, the baubles blinking out of existence entirely like its trying to clear his line of sight, makeup and jewelry fading in their color and shine as his borrowed animal instincts scream at him to be small, be unnoticeable, hide hide hide

And in those moments (ones that happen entirely too often for John's comfort or sanity) when the worst has come again, Arthur's hurt, worse than usual, and it seems like he's fading fast from his injuries, the things that John's draped himself with as he's learned who he is start to fade away too. As John realizes he might be losing the only person he's ever had (again) he feels like he's losing himself, the person he's become in his time with Arthur. The panic sets in and he goes through the stages he always does, shouting at Arthur to keep moving, not to give up, begs him to stay with him, not to leave him alone, to stop fucking saying goodbye and keep fighting, his cobbled together sense of identity melts off of him like dust as his world crumbles.

But there are moments, few and far between though they may be, where he and Arthur get little bit of real joy. When Arthur's finally, fucking finally freshly washed, shaved, and fed a hot meal and John can actually feel him relax into a real bed. When they've bought a nice new suit and handkerchief (that Arthur let John pick out himself) and John can tell Arthur that he looks handsome in this cut and color. When John spots something he thinks is odd and describes it to Arthur in a way that gets a real, full belly laugh out of his human, even if he doesn't understand what exactly it was he said that was so funny. The yellows of his apparel and makeup shine and swirl together, the stones of his jewelry seem to dance around each other in their configurations while the colors swim inside them like a lava lamp or glitter inside a bottle of opaque liquid. The baubles along the brim of his hat rapidly change in shape and size, the brim itself seeming to bloom, stretching out even further like a cat luxuriating in a sunbeam.

Anyway, tl;dr John's an eldritch entity and I just think he deserves to have a shifting appearance that he builds around himself over time like one of those bugs that sticks shit to its body to build a shell but in, like, a cunty way

And also I think John should be allowed to be incredibly expressive but in a metaphysical way that ties to his appearance itself

#malevolent #malevolent podcast #john doe #john malevolent #john doe malevolent #arthur lester #headcanon #john doe headcanons #malevolent headcanon #long text post #the cat in the purple pants chat #i kinda wanna draw this anyway even though i know its gonna be a pain in the ass to try and depict the way i imagine #I'd have to animate a few of them to really get it down how it is in my head #why do i do this to myself lmaooo

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bethanythebogwitch · 10 months

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We return to the series where I discuss the origin of every non-fish aquatic Pokémon. This time I’ll be covering generation IV, which has some of my favorite designs out of the whole franchise. As before I’m saving starters and legendaries/mythicals for their own posts and I covered all fish Pokémon in their own series of posts. To see previous parts of this series see gen I part 1, gen I part 2, gen II, and gen III. To see the fish of Sinnoh, see here. To see the fish Pokémon series see here.

We begin with what is undeniably the most popular and influential Pokémon line in the history of the franchise: the Bidoof line. Never before has there been a beast of such majesty and power, an angelic presence from the heavens. Mere mortals are not worthy to gaze upon Bidoof. Technically only Bibarel is aquatic, but to not include Bidoof would be the greatest of heresies. They’re both rodents (the chaddest of mammals) with Bidoof most likely being based on a groundhog or mountain beaver. Mountain beavers resemble tailless beavers but are not closely related and don’t live in water.

(image: a mountain beaver)

If you are foolish enough to dilute Bidoof’s purity by evolving it to Bibarel, it will be based on a beaver.

(image: a North American beaver)

These amphibious rodents are famous for building dams by chewing through small trees and assembling the trees and branches in structures that block waterways. Beaver dams can turn a stream into a full wetland by blocking the flow and they are very important to the wetland ecology of their habitats. The dams serve as homes for the beavers and is where they keep their young.

(image: a cross-section of a beaver dam. source)

Juveniles will stay in the dam until they are mature enough to fend for themselves. Bidoof is likely a juvenile that is not old enough to swim yet and must rely on its parents to thrive in wetland habitats. There are two species, the North American beaver and the Eurasian beaver. The Eurasian beaver was almost hunted to extinction for its fur, but has been successfully reintroduced to quite of a bit of its historical range. Bibarel might be based on the Eurasian beaver as it is native to, and has been reintroduced to, China and Sinnoh has quite a few references to China. Also of note, the male Bibarel has two extra balls on the base of its tail. Male rodents are notorious for having large testicles. Do with that information what you will.

Moving on from Bidoof will never be easy, but it is necessary. We now turn to the moist mustelids of the Buizel line. They are based on otters, particularly river otters due to their freshwater habitat.

(image: a eurasian otter)

Even more specifically, they may be based on the Japanese otter, a river otter native to Japan that was last seen in the 1970s and officially declared extinct in 2012. Despite being primarily depicted as a freshwater species, their category name is the “sea weasel Pokémon”, indicating that they are also based on marine otters, the most famous of which being the sea otter of the north Atlantic. Otters and weasels are both members of the family Mustelidae, with their subfamilies being sister groups. There are weasels that are partially or even primarily aquatic, though they as a group are more terrestrial.

(image: a mink going for a swim. Minks are a subset of weasels)

The Buizel line also draws from floatation devices like inner tubes, water wings, and life vests, with the yellow parts of their bodies being inflatable and buoyant and Floatzel being said to rescue drowning victims.

The Shellos line is without exaggeration one of my favorite lines in the franchise due to the cool biological references they have. They are based on nudibranchs, an order of marine gastropods commonly called sea slugs (though some non-nudibranchs are also called sea slugs). Many nudibranchs are very colorful, which inspired the pink and blue coloration of the Shellos lines.

(image: it's a nudibranch, dudeibranch)

Nudibranchs can be divided into dorids and aeolids based on their breathing apparatuses. Shellos and Gastrodon are aeolids, who have tendril or fronds like growths called cerata that help them breathe. The head tendrils of east sea Shellos and both Gastrodons and the crown-like organ of west sea shellos are based on cerata, as are the various lumps and fin-like structures found on all of them. A few species of nudibranch have moved their cerata to a more fin or wing-like position, which may explain why east sea shellos appears to have wings. The “wings” could also be based on sea hares, another group of sea slugs, some species of which have developed wing-like structures that allow them to swim.

(Image: a flying sea hare)

Sea hares are named for their large rod-like scent organs called rhinopores found in most sea slugs, which may be another inspiration for the head tentacles of Gastrodon. Shelos and Gastrodon can learn some poison-type moves depending on generation and this has a few bases. Many nudibranchs have venomous or poisonous cerata. Often this is a result of eating venomous hydrozoans like anemones and sequestering their stinging cells in the cerata. The bright colors of some nudibranchs may be the result of aposematic coloration, where a species is brightly colored as a warning to potential predators that they are poisonous. The line releases a purplish chemical when stressed, which likely references sea hares again. They can release a colorful, toxic ink into the water as a defense mechanism.

(image: a California sea hare at a rave releasing ink)

The coolest trait of the Shellos line in my opinion is the fact that there are two distinct populations, east sea and west sea, that have different colors and body structures. This is due to the process of allopatric speciation. This is the process where a species is split into two or more distinct populations by a geographical barrier. Once they are isolated, the populations will begin developing distinct traits due to evolution and them no longer being able to interbreed. Over a long enough time period, the populations can grow so different from each other that they can no longer breed and will be considered different species.

(image: a diagram of how allopatric speciation works. source)

The two Shellos and Gastrodon populations in Sinnoh were separated by the Sinnoh mountain range, causing the process of allopatric speciation to begin. The two populations can still breed, suggesting that they have not been separated long enough to become two distinct species and may be more accurately described as subspecies or a superspecies, but breeding in Pokémon is nothing like real life reproduction so that may not be the case. Most other regions use only one Shellos population and in Paldea they may be isolated by the connection to Kalos. A real-life example of allopatric speciation can be seen in the two species of chimpanzee: troglodytes and bonobos. The two shared a common ancestor a few million years ago but that ancestor’s range was cut in two by the Congo River. Since chimpanzees are very poor swimmers, the two populations were isolated from each other and developed into two species. Allopatric speciation likely plays a part in how some regional variants developed, but this on on a case-by case basis and is rarely the only factor.

This is the shortest of these series and Gen V will hopefully be out soon. See you next time for when I talk about my first generation of the games.

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