trench crusade's art direction catches me in that same place as wayne d. barlowe's inferno; wrenchingly tactile, haptic

be sure to stretch and limber up before you carry around that impeccable taste

comes down to taste, but these hashtags might help:

#characterart
#characterportrait
#commission
#commissions
#fantasyart
#fantasyportrait

I follow and share links for artists where I can

The blistering speed with which I would make a Faustian bargain to see in extremely slow motion Nazi faces slugged artfully set against the Duettino-Sull'aria from The Marriage of Figaro.

"My eternal soul? Cheap at twice the price. Where do I sign?"

that's the problem with wealth centralization as an economic objective, isn't it

those who would make the wisest investment of massive funds are exactly the sort least incentivized to hoard money

might consider this 80s callback - Visionaries had good bones, despite being a vehicle for toy sales

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visiona...

good contrast to the bog-standard Vancian magic

to these, I would add:

-Pymary, from Cope's webcomic Unsounded
-Sorcery of Melnibonè from ln Moorcock's Elric saga
-Providence Cards from Gillig's One Dark Window
-Syllables of Royalty from Abbadon's webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons

the broader your scope of the possible, the tighter your intent of design will be

you've likely explored several alternative magic systems, but here are some wild ones to help you squeegee your third eye:

share.google/qYxKyNtDef5t...

what's quintessential about magic varies from interpretation to interpretation

some are really into WoW style glowing runes and oversized crystals

but most agree that how magic works should integrate seamlessly with the setting

i think what you're going for is the whispered majesty of soft magic

it's hard every time, yeah, especially when there are friendships and relationships beyond the table impacted

it can also muddy the way you feel about tabletop gaming, in some cases

my deep sympathies

that's one of life's harder lessons, not just that that nice =/= good, but that it's the mask of choice for monsters

you've really hit on something there, that critical, fundamental transgressiveness

one of the most damning indicators of abusers l, that tendency to linger, to use every prestige, privilege, and excuse to trespass and occupy space that is and should remain personal

Yes, this. Collier's breakdown of how desperately tech billionaires want to be viewed as physics literati is chef's kiss, no notes.

That's how an individual's ends, but iteratively, cultures keep coming back to the same sad, old, tired ass Nazi shit

The playbook never changes because it's the ideology to which people incapable of creative collaboration gravitate

Ruthlessness always gives you an edge, but it's a thought-trap

if each digital "handshake" is consistent, that's comfort of use, subconsciously commutes feelings of well-being

games are a lot of things to a lot of people, but in part where a weary world goes to lay down their cares

time you invest helping them feel comfy returns dividends for them, and you

branding done right is a sort of invitation to your audience

"we know you, we don't take ourselves too seriously, come and have fun here" vibes counterintuitively take a lot of engineering to achieve

reduction of cognitive load, emotional resonance, neumorphism - this is all intent-of-design

we know there's a right and wrong level. Discord's anthropomorphized game controller can "wink"

but you don't want to go full Duolingo owl, overinvestment in meta-narrative detracts

color theory and symbolic dynamics varies by culture, someone with a design degree could speak to that better than i

- vigorous, dare i say bloodthirsty moderation
- a robust series of searchable tags
- variety of forms of payment readily accepted
- hosting for videos to showcase product
- cheeky iconography on-theme to personify site
- monthly highlighting of content creators who might otherwise go unnoticed

For what it's worth, your creative efforts probably mean the world to people too shy or reserved to express it.

Benefit of your efforts may remain hidden, while your critics make their loud, ugly noise. But the worth of your effort remains, and over time, grows exponentially unseen. Like mycelium!

Trash fire opinions of people who stopped maturing emotionally and intellectually in their preteen years shouldn't sting as bad, but it do tho.

Ignoring it doesn't help. We must concede this truth and eschew toxic, aggressive positivity of telling people to ignore haters.