WHA Fandom Is Like: Here's A Great Manga That Deals With Teaching Children And Respects Them As People

OMG! I finally finished Kuroshitsuji’s realistic portraits list. I calculated it took me 2 years and 195 days! On my list were 63 portraits but meanwhile I did some extra fanarts. Thank you all for support in this challenge. I think I couldn’t bring that to the end if not yours kind and motivational words. Much love ❤️

where the hell do i start learning about all this aaravos, child queen (??? the kid who locked him away? am i mistaking her for someone else?), elarion, deep tdp lore and timeline type stuff? it seems like there's so much and i have not kept track of any of it, and now im curious

So a lot of it has come from either 1) interviews over the years, 2) fans obsessively analyzing info from the show itself, and 3) Tales of Xadia (TDP's RRPG game) or the season novelizations (just one and two out now) providing extra information and lore hints. But here's the like, brief run-down?

Disclaimer: I may misremember some things and/or the show hasn't been Super clear on some of these things, exactly, on purpose, so the timeline (especially of very early events) is subject to change.

Startouch elves, humans, dragons, etc. all lived together in Xadia as one land. Humans weren't born with magic; the Startouch elves (also called First Elves, which seems distinct from Primal elves, although we don't know why) especially disapproved of the idea of giving them magic. A unicorn - one of the few creatures also connected to the Star arcanum - gave some humans primal stones and taught them draconic. It is implied that some people(s), although we don't know who, didn't like that very much.

We don't know why or when, precisely, but Aaravos was cast down to earth. He may have already been helping humans or 'overly sympathetic' to them, or perhaps working with the unicorns to help them. We don't know.

Presumably after all this, the human settlement of Elarion was growing as a city. We actually see it mentioned by name in the flashback from 3x01 between Sol Regem (king of the Dragons at the time, it seems) and Ziard, who appears to be the first real human dark mage (but that's just speculation). His staff is a gift from one of the Great Ones, another name for the Startouch elves, and we know this gift giver to be Aaravos.

We know that Aaravos is also entwined with Elarion further because of the poem revealed in 2x08, written in Arabic that fans translated back in like, 2019ish? TDP Official later fully released the translated poem, called The Midnight Star. It seems to recount some sort of exchange of Aaravos giving the city of Elarion - or a person - what seems to be dark magic, but the language is too poetic to be fully clear.

We know that dark magic is probably what made humans turn away from becoming primal mages (as Ezran confirms that Callum is the first primal human mage in centuries, not ever, in S4). It may have been Aaravos' influence or their own inclinations. We don't know.

Dark mages accordingly later hunted down basically all the unicorns; this is one of the reasons humans were exiled to the West and the continent was split in two. We also know, thanks to some promo art released in the lead-up to S4, that Ziard was very much a pawn to Aaravos, same as the other human mages he's used. Originally humans were going to be murdered, but a daughter of a Moonshadow leader argued for an exile; this was a 'Merciful Compromise' under the leadership of the Dragon Monarch at the time, Luna Tenebris, who took over after Sol Regem was blinded by Ziard or otherwise seen as unfit to rule. (We see her mentioned in the S4 flashbacks regarding the draconic succession crisis, so I won't go into too much there! We also just know very little about her.)

But finally, we're at the turning point for the narrative, marked definitively 1,000 years ago when Xadia was split in two and the Breach was formed. About 700 years later (or 300 before the start of the show) we get the Orphan Queen. She is Harrow and Ezran's ancestor and the start of their royal line. In the events that likely led to her becoming queen of Katolis, she travelled to Xadia and revealed Aaravos' schemes to the Arch-dragons.

She also kept Aaravos' rune cube, also known as the Key of Aaravos, safe and passed it down to her descendants (Harrow and now Callum) although information has been lost on what it precisely unlocks and how it works. We know the human she's depicted with in the flashback was also a mage known only as the Jailor.

Here's where it gets Messy:

Specifically: when did Aaravos' chest piece get taken, if it is a physical piece he lost and then had, rather than something that flickers in and out per magical usage? (After all, it glows fully when channelling magic through Viren in 2x09, but there is every implication that Star gems called Quasar Diamonds do come from Star touch elves directly thanks to past concept art. Diamonds in real life ancient mythological times were also often seen as Fallen stars and tears of the gods, which would also line up.)

In the textbook's depiction here, he doesn't have it, and this seems to predate the Fall of Elarion and exile, although that's still speculative. (After all, he could've been 'helping' humans in their eyes after the fall, and this is where the art comes from; if he was planning on letting humans strike a blow against Xadia, that'd easily constitute the treachery Zubeia describes in 4x04, in her eyes at least).

However, in the flashback we get to the actual Exile, and in 1x01 no less, Aaravos has his crown (whose diamond pattern matches the ones often found on Katolis' clothing, including the princes) and his chest piece fully.

So like - which Is it?

We don't know.

So as you can see, there's a lot of lore, a lot we don't know, and a shit ton of speculation. Other places to start if you are interested:

Aaravos' short stories including: Birthday story, Patience, Ripples

Tales of Xadia tag

Deep Lore Dive tag

Orphan Queen tag

Elarion tag

Worldbuilding tag

Quasar Diamonds tag + more about the diamond pattern & repeated heraldry

Hope this helps & feel free to send in any more questions! <3 If you're really interested in all the lore and stuff I'd recommend Tales of Xadia for sure - the stuff about Star dragons is worth the price alone imo, they're so freaking cool (and one of them is even on S4's star chart map for the intros!)

i think people are too hard on anya (obviously) but especially on the whole “why become a nurse if you’re afraid of blood/ cant give a guy medication,” because that’s not what she can’t do. she more than likely never assumed any of her coworkers or FRIENDS for that matter would be in a state like curly’s. she hates to see someone she cared about and trusted in that much constant pain, and the reason she can’t bear to give him his medicine is because she knows how much it hurts him, and hearing her friend choke down and sob in agony is understandably very upsetting. sure she is sensitive but i honestly feel like people should be more empathetic towards that. idk. i’m sensitive, aubrey

WHAT!!!!

This fit with 23

Clip Studio Paint is Moving to Subscription, so…

I think now is a good as time as ever to tell people about the best art program that you’ve never heard of.

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 8 was the last of the Pro series before the sketchbook brand was sold to another company, that only gives out a free shitty version of the program. They no longer sell the Pro versions, which are actually incredibly good, which means they are abandonware. The only way to get them now is through free downloads online, which doesn’t hurt anyone because literally no one is selling them.

Lets start with this image:

Every single component can be moved around. The bar at the top, the layer menu, the toolbar, the color picker, EVERYTHING YOU SEE ON SCREEN CAN BE MOVED. And also closed.

The top bar has most major tools artists need, giant red and green undo buttons so that it’s actually faster to tap those than reach for Ctrl + Z on a keyboard.

Magnifying Glass

The magnifying glass is the BEST MOVEMENT TOOL I’VE RUN INTO WITH ANY ART PROGRAM. With other art programs you get the scroll wheels on the bottom and sides of the screen that you have to individually control and a magnifying glass where you need to specifically switch between zoom in and zoom out mode, and the options to tilt the canvas are either limited or not there. Here it’s just. press. Drag. Press. Drag.

Select Tool

The select tool is basic with most of the options an artist might need or expect, all the different shape tools, a bar for the magic want to increase how intense it is, the option to add more to your selection or remove parts, an invert button, and the deselect buttons.

Cropping

The cropping tool automatically fits around your selection, which can be useful if you’re trying to make things like emojis where you want as little free space as possible. All of the edges and corners can be dragged, there are options to type in your own numbers, and the link bar to make it so your cropping stays the same shape when you move it, and the cancel and accept buttons.

Move Tool

The move tool is very similar to the magnifying glass, with the same method of movement and zooming and tilting. The move tool has extra things though like easy stretching, and if you have something selected it automatically tries to move that.

Transform Tool

The transform tool has a lot of options you can see in the gif. The circle in the middle makes it so you can move stuff in the middle.

Lagoon

Every single one of the options here is drag and drop. There are a total of 50 things you can just drag and drop for, and they are all assignable. You can customize putting any function in those 50 drag and drop slots. I highly recommend putting the flip canvas/flip layer options in there (there are vertical options as well!)

Layer Menu

The layers are as excellently straightforward as everything else in the program. Multiple one or two tap ways to do everything you need.

New layer? tap the + button, or drag up on the layer you want a new one on top of.

Want to delete a layer? drag.

Want to hide a layer? tap or drag.

Want a lower opacity? drag in either two areas.

And the layer menu is large enough you can actually SEE what’s on the layer! It’s not microscopic in some hidden corner!

Toolbar

The tools are highly customizable, have large icons, there are LARGE downloadable libraries of custom ones (that you don’t even need to leave the program to some website to download), and it’s really simple to make anything you want in here.

I’ll make a seperate post of the tools I’ve made + a download. I’ll link that post here when I make it.

Color/Brush Pucks

There are two pucks, the color and brush puck. They are both drag and drop.

With the brush puck, drag left or right for a smaller or bigger brush, and up or down for a lower or higher opacity.

With the color puck, drag left or right for more saturated or more de saturated colors, or up and down for lighter or darker colors.

You can also tap the color puck for a more limited color menu! The eraser button makes your brush go invisible. Which. Is so helpful. You can erase with any tool.

You can access the same limited color menu from the layer menu’s background button.

Color Editor

Extensive color wheel

optional pallet for you to save colors to

the eraser and eyedropper tool

an option to put in numbers if you like

a randomize option which is VERY VERY CUSTOMIZABLE and I use it for so many drawings (particularly pictures of space)

Paint Bucket

The paint bucket will color what you tap it on, or fill a selection if you have one.

It has a flat fill, two different gradient options.

When you have a gradient, the color puck gets a new menu for saving gradients to

Every single color is editable and movable. You can drag it.

Option to reverse the direction the gradient is going

a strength meter

an option for it to see other layers or just the one it’s on

Text

The text option is admittedly pretty limited, but it does its job. All the fonts are just the ones you have installed in windows

RULER AND CIRCLE TOOLS

many movement options

I have no idea what the use of the french curve is but it’s also there and similar

Perspective Tools

There is a robust perspective system but I don’t know it well enough to explain it. someone who actually uses these tools can lol

Symmetry Tool

Can be moved easily

Has option for cutting the screen horizontally rather than vertically

option for both at the same time

option to be able to go over the lines or not

option to hide it

option to stop yourself from moving it

Struggle with smooth lineart???

Steady Stroke makes it so that you drag your cursor rather than just draw, so you can get smoother lines. Easily increase how large the drag is

Predictive Stroke corrects your line after you make it, and you can change how much it tries to correct it. REALLY USEFUL FOR CIRCLES.

Conclusion

I barely even use buttons with my tablet because of how accessible this art program is. Why press undo with the button on my tablet when I can move my cursor a few inches? Why go through two different submenus to create a new layer when I can just drag upwards? Why create a mirror canvus button when I can just drag???

This art program is really obscure but I struggle to even imagine using something else. PLEASE give it a try if you’re struggling with your program and want to experiment with something else

<<FREE DOWNLOAD HERE>> 

<<20 DOLLAR PURCHASE HERE>>

REBLOG TO SAVE AN ARTIST

OCG 60 Minute OneDraw on Twitter for Level 9 monsters

Phantom of Yubel

she's so real

this is the funniest tweet i’ve seen in months bye

btw i always knew they'd find each other. if you even care.