Xotica the art of Esteban Maroto
Man, Sword & Sorcery pinups just hit different. High fantasy and elves and whatnot have their place, but Conan is always so dang vivid.

izzy's playlists!

No title available
Jules of Nature

@theartofmadeline

No title available
Xuebing Du
Sweet Seals For You, Always
No title available

JVL
Game of Thrones Daily

roma★
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda

Kaledo Art
cherry valley forever
Show & Tell
YOU ARE THE REASON
todays bird
occasionally subtle
sheepfilms
seen from Canada

seen from Spain

seen from United States
seen from Ecuador
seen from Ecuador

seen from Ecuador
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from Malaysia

seen from Netherlands
seen from Brunei

seen from Malaysia
@klikkat
Xotica the art of Esteban Maroto
Man, Sword & Sorcery pinups just hit different. High fantasy and elves and whatnot have their place, but Conan is always so dang vivid.
Babar the Barbarian, inspired by Frank Frazetta
Okay this is precious.
I think I’ve really figured this episode out guys!
"But Pearl's thirst was MIGHTY" entered my lexicon long ago and it is only right that I reblog the source.
The animated shows do an amazing job at turning Maul into an emotional and understandably traumatized character without ever excusing his actions or offering him a real path at redemption. He’s an awful person who murders and tortures innocents and neither The Clone Wars or Rebels pause and ask us to feel like what he’s doing is any way justified, but they also don’t shy away from the fact that he’s a character that has a very deep and complicated emotional history. It makes Maul a character that’s pretty much unlike anything else in the franchise. Typically, in Star Wars, if a villain shows a modicum of emotion or pathos outside a lust for power or greed, it means that they are in some way redemption bound. Maul isn’t like that. He hurts and hurts others and ends life as a rage fueled man that has been exploited and broken his entire life. We pity him in his final moments but we do not forgive him.
Still one of the best summaries of Maul I've ever seen. "We pity him in his final moments but we do not forgive him" is a damn line.
I liked your living weapons video, but I had a question - how do you think bad guy mooks (battle droids, orcs, locust, trollocs) fit into the Living Weapon idea? They clearly are bred for battle, but much more rarely have any angst over it - in fact most seem to love being evil warriors. Do you think there are parallels there, or are they too different from a narrative point of view?
They're in a very weird narrative space where most of the time they are intentionally designed so that our heroes have something that they can mow down indiscriminately without grappling with moral complexities or feeling like bad people for killing people. It's an authorial tool to create an acceptable target to facilitate extremely cool action setpieces without undercutting the heroism of our leads.
So while from a worldbuilding standpoint they are completely comparable, from a narrative standpoint they are totally distinct from living weapons. A living weapon is a person stripped of their autonomy. These guys are never granted personhood to begin with.
Well said. I think your note of the narrative emphasis is important, because it can be tempting to imagine stories as wholly coherent documentaries of other worlds, but they're very much stories and subject to storytelling needs.
I've seen it happen a lot with war stories or fantasy adventures - the faceless minions can be cut or gunned down with ease, but the whole story pauses and the sad music comes on when one of the heroes goes down (and gets a last monologue to boot). From a purely setting perspective these ought have equal impact, but stories don't usually work that way.
That post about death note being "everyone's first anime" (untrue statement) made me curious and now I want to gather data for science
Can you reblog this and tell me where are you from and what was your starter anime?
I had seen Anime before but the first one I watched where I appreciated what exactly I was seeing as Something Special was Outlaw Star on Toonami's midnight run. I got in trouble for staying up late to watch it but that didn't dissuade me!
I'm in the USA, not sure where else that aired.
I made a Heavy Gear cheat sheet to make the game easier to play. Also some fun little gear doodles.If you would like to download a free PDF of this cheat sheet you can find it here https://ko-fi.com/s/5862bd1d30
You can always tell which is the best knife in the kitchen by its palpable air of bloodlust.
Reblogging for "I love my Zwilling paring knife and it loves human flesh" in the tags
One of my comic idols was/is John Buscema. I read his Conan comics as a kid, I still have most of them stored away in comic boxes. Which is why I love the work of Robert de la Torre, I am guessing he loved Buscema as well, you can see it all over his work. There are subtle differences to be sure, but such nice work, line quality, visual depth.
Death-Song of Conan the Cimmerian
“The road was long and the road was hard And the sky was cold and grey: The dead white moon was a frozen shard In the dim pale dawn of day: But thief and harlot, king and guard – Warrior, wizard, knave and bard – Rode with me all the way.
The wind was sharp as a whetted knife As it blew from the wet salt seas; The storm wind stirred to a ghostly life The gaunt black skeletal trees: But I drank the foaming wine of life – Wine of plunder and lust and strife – Down to the bitter lees.
A boy, from the savage north I came To cities of silk and sin. With torch and steel, in blood and flame, I won what a man may win: Aye, gambled and won at the Devil’s game – Splendor and glory and glittering fame – And mocked at Death’s skull-grin.
And there were foeman to fight and slay And friends to love and trust: And crowns to conquer and toss away And lips to taste with lust: And songs to keep black night at bay – And wine to swill to the break of day – What matter the end be dust?
I’ve won my share of your gems and gold, They crumble into clods: I’ve gorged on the best that life can hold And Devil take the odds. The grave is deep and the night is cold – The world’s a skull-full of stinking mould – And I laugh at your little gods!
The lean road slunk through a blasted land Where the earth was parched and black, But we were a marry, jesting band Who asked no easier track: Rouge and reaver and firebrand – And life rode laughing at my hand – And Death rode at my back.
The road was dusty and harsh and long, Crom, but a man gets dry! I’m old and weary and Death is strong But flesh was born to die. Hai,Gods! But it was a merry throng – Rode by my side with jest and song – Under an empty sky.
I’ve heard fat, cunning priestlings tell How damned souls writhe and moan, That paradise they can buy and sell For gold and gold alone. To the flames with scripture and priest as well – I’ll stride down the scarlet throat of Hell – And dice for the Devil’s throne!
I faced life boldly and unafraid, Should I flinch as Death draws near? Life’s but a game Death and I have played Many a wearisome year. Hai! to the gallant friends I made, Slave and swordsman and lissome maid – I begrudge no foot of the road I strayed – The road which endeth HERE!”
Written by: Lin Carter Art by: Jess Jodloman First published in Glenn Lord‘s Howard fanzine The Howard Collector (no.17, v. 3, no. 5), Autumn 1972. This poem is supposedly the last work of fiction related to REH’s Conan the Cimmerian and the Hyborian Age.
This isn't recent art butttt if I'm gonna throw my AUs out here it might as well be one that I've got in the back of my head
No Straight Roads x Armored Core 6! Is this just a way to mash two of my current favorite games together? Yes. Is it also because I love mech pilot AUs? Yes.
Mayday; Callsign "Junka", pilots Api, her chunky, hard hitting AC with a lot of close range combat, especially the pile bunker.
Zuke; Callsign "Bunka", pilots Laut, his more agile, medium range AC with pulse weapons and shield.
They stand currently for no corporation and aren't even willing to do freelance work for them. Instead, the two are targeting NSR, a primarly Coral based corporation hell-bent on controlling parts of Rubicon to expand their reach.
Little mini lore about them:
-Zuke used to work for NSR here alongside Eve, even if it wasn't for long. His current AC is not the one he worked with there. He fled NSR at some point due to some dire circumstances. He's an exceptional, professional pilot, but decides to keep it on the lay low. His suit still has his name tag on it. His AC still uses some NSR parts (which are all Coral based).
-Mayday used to pilot a Tetrapod MT before meeting Zuke. She did odd jobs and never really preferred any corp. Now, accepting offers for new parts for her AC from the other corps is a never due to "being hypocritical if she does that".
-They reside in the Grid 086 area, which Mayday is very familiar with. She might have dabbled in being a Doser (people who feed on Coral), but only because she aspires to be like her idol, Kural Fyra.
-They have different augmentations. Zuke's is unknown, but he got his while working with NSR. Mayday didn't have one prior to meeting Kliff (that's what she says), but hers is pretty shotty. The slight variation in their eyes are consequences of this.
-Mayday treats Ell.AI like it's her Tomodachi / child / pet. She spends hours and hours just playing little mini games with her on a dinky screen.
-They're dating. Def. Its a slow burn but they dating ♥️💥
One of the cleverest crossover AUs I've seen - "No Armored Roads." The choice to make Mayday a doser, something that's only ever seen as a derogatory or sign of being messed up in AC6 canon, is a fun one since I think it suits her and offers a different take on the idea.
Me. Don't ask me which ones. All of them.
I am delighted that there are people so skilled at languages that they can butcher them in new and exciting ways.
This is so fucking funny. Late 90's early 00's syndicated scifi was great.
Stargate SG-1 was a delight and I am glad I had the privilege of watching it when I was a youth.
Armored Gear! Heavy Core! Halftone plaid!
I do like me the blend of styles in mixing Heavy Gear's scale and industrial chic with Armored Core's boosted flying turbo mechs.
I had the absolute honor of creating these special illustrations for Alex Rochon!
For his very own D&D one-shot, I designed every single character from the show — reimagined in fabulous, fantasy-inspired outfits!
Alex gave me wonderful descriptions and references for his vision, and together we brought these chaotic, lovable characters into a whole new world.
The DnD stream was hilarious, heartfelt, and so full of personality — and seeing the cast bring the designs to life was such a surreal moment!
Right after the stream, fans started drawing fanart of my designs!!
I’m honestly so proud and beyond grateful that something I created inspired others to create too.
Thank you again to Alex and the cast for trusting me with this magical project — and to everyone who’s shared love for the designs, you’ve made my artist heart so full 💕
(Also: everyone who draws fanart of my designs is now legally required to tag me in their posts. I don’t make the rules 😌)
The amazing digital circus: Digital Dungeon Danger
I'm always a sucker for crossover art of "what would this character be like as an RPG character?" Sometimes there are choices I never would have gone with but still find fascinating (Ragatha as a Barbarian), other times it's right on target (Jax as a Rogue) and a few times it's a moment of "ooh, I hadn't thought of that!" (Zooble as a Druid).
Great art overall and a charming blend of media, too.
One of my favorite things about rewatching Cowboy Bebop is seeing all these one-line characters that you instantly know everything about from how they decorate their tiny box in space.
This is the kind of great subtle details that I loved about Cowboy Bebop. I really ought to rewatch it.
Fire and Ice - art by Sanjulián (2020)
I can't say that I thought the new Fire And Ice comics are especially clever, but they're not bad and they have some great imagery befitting both the source material and the genre.