#lipsie

[hyperbali]

Madeleine Redux?

I started doing another base of Madeleine right at the end of 2023 and then just… stalled out!

[raviollies]

random funnyweird personal anecdote incoming: I recently noticed I developed a pretty noticeable Boob Mole(dw doctor says its okay) and instead of going "ugh new mole:///" my brain went "!!!sexy boob mole like blythe!" So I guess that's part of her legacy now. Boob Mole Positivity.

CEO OF BOOB MOLES!!!

[nattravn-art]

@lipsie Absolutely!

So first of all I ought to say that I am using the software Aseprite (also available on Steam), which costs about 20$/17€ (but you can get it for cheaper during steam sales for example).

I had tried making pixel art on Clip Studio Paint before, but it didn't feel satisfactory. What's great with Aseprite is that it's specifically made for pixel art/animations/sprites, etc. It felt much better to use compared to CSP.

Anyway, I followed these Aseprite tutorials for beginners:

They are part of a playlist for pixel art tutorials (in general). As a note, I haven't watched all of them yet, but I like the way the artist explains things (always with visual examples too), it's very clear and structured information.

What I found great in the videos above is that the artist encourages you to pause the videos and do exercices of what he just showed, which helped me learning a lot! This for example is what I made from the first video (and what I made for the first time using Aseprite):

Makes me hungry (and I don't usually like donuts).

I was also recommended this video, again specifically about Aseprite! That felt like a good refresher after I took a break from the software and forgot everything about it.

I hope this helps! :D Good luck with your pixel art journey!

[heroineimages]

If you like those civilization long term strategy games, the Anbennar mod for Europa Universalis might be RIGHT up your alley!

I keep meaning to try the Europa Universalis series, but I already have all these other games I tell myself I should focus on completing. (Meanwhile, I have no idea how many completions I have on Rome 2...) Thanks for the suggestion!

[ryuuna]

I saw the Arcane post and, as someone who's written fanfic the second Vi came out in... 2012? because I shipped them so hard, I'm just YELLING RIGHT NOW. Oh godddddd it's happening. After 10 years, my fucking OTP gets vindicated.

Honestly I was hoping for a smidge of crumbs, just having them talking TO each other instead of AT each other would’ve been enough for me BUT OH MY GOD INSTEAD OF CRUMBS THEY GAVE US A HEAFTY LOAF

[sanguivor]

Okay. I can't take it any longer. I NEED to ask you to tell us more about Velthryn, if you'd like to just. Dump anything about her, her backstory, campaign, art, what she looks like, whatever. I wanna KNOW.

I am so incredibly happy for this ask because Velthryn is my pride and joy, she's the best thing I've ever done, and she breaks my heart.

she's my very first d&d character and I played her for over three years in a campaign with my friends, we finished it last year actually and I'm still thinking about it. everything about the campaign was homebrewed, from the setting to the lore and the history of the people that live there, and it's so incredibly rich and detailed it's incredibly impressive considering that was the first time my friend dmed anything, so the story and the plot are entirely him but everything Velthryn was like the weirdest love letter between the two of us. I'm so incredibly proud of how her personal story played out.

I've talked a bit about her before (I have a tag for our campaign here) but never went into detail because I managed to keep her backstory a secret for THREE YEARS for plot reasons so this is the first time I'm going in depth about her like this I'm excited.

Velthryn is an assassin rogue moon elf from the far north, a land constantly blanketed in snow and ice even in the summer months, and under near constant night for most of the year. she's specifically from the Black Cathedral (Astaeran in Mavel'en, the archaic language moon elves speak) which is one of only two places inhabited in the far north, the other being the city Leirion, and both are inhabited solely by moon elves - the rest of the continent is separated by mountains, superstition, and sometimes the moon elves blades.

the Black Cathedral is a cult where generations of moon elves are raised in isolation to make offerings and prayers in blood for the Night Father so he might usher in what moon elves call the eventide, endless night and sleep not just for them but everything and everyone. a gentle end of the world. Velthryn was one of five moon elves called Nightdaughters, who are chosen every half a century to bring death to what the Cathedral call the five fated to die on the continent. just before the start of the campaign she and her sisters (Maevan, Ylaria, Helle, Honoria) found the first of the five; a farmer and his children still asleep in the early hours of the morning, and their deaths were not gentle. Velthryn, raised with the belief that death was a gentle mercy, could not reconcile the bloodlust she shared with her sisters so she did what no Nightdaughter should ever do or has ever done. She fled, and by sheer luck or fate ended in the company of the three others who should have been her sworn enemies but ended up being her greatest and only friends.

knowing full well a Nightdaughter who abandons her pilgrimage and her sisters should take her own life or be hunted by her sisters Velthryn stayed with what became our d&d party not because she thought the Cathedral was wrong but because she thought she could fix what she and her sisters had done. She was going to give a proper end to the five fated to die, give a proper prayer to the Night Father.

and for the next three real life years I got to figure out how Velthryn would navigate a strange world without the safety and familiarity of her sisters and their pilgrimage, how she would come to terms with the knowledge everything her Cathedral taught her was a lie, from the pilgrimage's purpose to the very existence of her gods, I got to make the heartbreaking decision in session where she sacrifices herself in place of one of the five fated to die in an attempt to save them and to atone for leaving her sisters, her pilgrimage, her god and her belief, only to come back from the gentle peace of death by the very god she died for who wanted more from her. she watched and felt most of her sisters die, dealt the killing blow for Maevan, she and Ylaria spared one another but went their separate ways, and Velthryn returned to the Cathedral alone. the campaign ended with Velthryn realizing the only mercy she could give the Night Father was the gentle peace of death, and as his last Nightdaughter she was the one who held the blade that brought the end to the old gods, whether they are or ever were gods no longer mattering.

she also once did 144 points of damage in a single attack. I LOVE assassin rogues <3

she's incredibly quiet and soft spoken, a good liar not because she's charismatic (the opposite actually) but because her expression is as unchanging as ice, she's intimately familiar with death and killing but she's not cruel, does not abide needless suffering. the first time she spilled blood on solid ground free of snow she slipped on it. she killed an oni single handed in two turns of combat (my dm is STILL mad at me) before anyone else had a turn. she's so unnerving she spooks horses just by being near them, and she hates them for being foolish and clumsy. she's so unused to sweets she thinks they're gross. she has a passive perception of 24, absolutely nothing got the drop on her. she's a rogue but she can't pick locks or pickpocket to save her life. her party had a paladin and a cleric and she was somehow the most devout of all of them. her fave colour is purple because of the purple in the arctic lights. she's my babygirl she's a murderer she's my everything <3

visually I've always had Vel compared to a ghost, piercing white eyes and hair with unnaturally pale skin in constant contrast to the black garb gifted to Nightdaughter's and her uncanny ability to disappear (+17 stealth by the end of the campaign lmao) she's often likened to a specter in appearance and thematically throughout the campaign. she was fully supposed to die but post campaign she's replaced the previous Elders of the Cathedral who she and the party killed in revenge for what happened to her and her sisters, it's the only time she was never merciful in her killing, and with centuries ahead of her she means to ensure the old gods rest is not disturbed.

I have a tag for her: x

two playlists: x + x

and a pinterest board: x

also a tag for her complicated love and rivalry with maevan: x

and a playlist for them too: x

there are so many different things about her I haven't even touched on, like the fact she and Maevan took the places of the fourth and fifth meant for sacrifice, but soooo much of the lore and campaign plot ties into the other party members and those aren't my stories to tell (though feel free to ask @mismageus about Áine, the little sun elf cleric who's saved Velthryn's life in more ways than one I know she'd love to talk about her)

anyway thank you soooo much for the ask I love talking about Velthryn <3

[bornfreakdraws]

Every time you post OT3/OT4 Castlevania art, I can feel myself becoming more powerful. So good, every. fucking. Time. As my sole provider of that particular pairing art, I owe you my life. Keep up the good work and thank you.

And every time a kind soul takes the time to slide into my ask box and leave such nice comments my heart grows in size ; ; Thank you so much, I love them;;

[catbatart]

I know it's been two years but I'm about to play a zon-kuthon follower (inquisitor no less) myself soon and the urge to WANT TO KNOW MORE about Agon increases so if you would like to talk about his concept or how you are playing him, I'd LOVE to hear all about this weird little pain man! (also: Quall - see what you did there)

Holy craaaap that's so so sweet of you to say!!! I'm about to play him tonight, as a matter of fact! ;_;

Admittedly, when I was reading through the Zon-Kuthon stuff when I first got the Inner Sea Gods book I was like 'oh, this seems like such a generic Evil God.' But the more I read about him and his history and relations with the other gods, plus my existing love of how Pathfinder does Kytons, I've really gone all in.

I absolutely plan on posting a lot more of him, but in regards to how I'm playing him specifically- even though he is Lawful Evil and Down to Murder, he is VERY party oriented (Strength in Numbers, what's good for the team is good for the individual, etc.)

I very much prioritize making him a Team Player. I think that's a big trap people can fall into with evil characters-making them anti party or whose goals are so unaligned that it's just constant conflict. Agon's personal goals don't have a huge effect on the overarching Party Goals. It's easy with the big ZK too, as he and his followers aren't super into proselytizing and are generally content to be the polite-but-kinky weirdos in the back of the room.

I could ramble about him all day but I'm on mobile and REALLY bad at typing on my phone, so SOON

Thank you SO so much for your kind words, btw. It always inspires me so much when people take an interest in my lil' pretend people 😭