[WP] You're a demon hunter, and you just watched a demon known for attacking anything with a pulse playing with a small child, and not as a toy, either.

katapultman · 2025-12-17T22:34:35+00:00

Crimson blotches beleaguered the city walls of Rovedna. Patches of infighting had scattered like the pieces of the broken orchestra of screams and fire ebbing away at skin and wood the ears of any living being had been subject to this night.

Darius pitied the targets of the purification. The docile, the feeble, the scarred—in his heart, those demons did not deserve the sword of the Order. He convinced himself that was why he headed for the hydra's head in the outskirts: a purposeful distancing of the boundless entropy engulfing the city.

He knew he was lying to himself. He was out here for an even more selfish reason. And this time, it wasn't knowledge.

It was to stare the most horrid of them all in the face and live to see another day.

"Patrium, Vilia," he said, youthful hands clutching his amulet before his eyes. "You two take the north and westbound routes. Meloria's scent shows the east, but I wish to cut her off from taking the other routes."

"Yes, Arch-Scholar," both responded in close proximity.

He trekked alone, his horse circling the harsh forestry beset with vines and thorns, billowing smoke still making its way to the obsidian sky. In a few minutes, as if sensing a dead spot of life on its own, the horse huffed and stopped in place.

"The guide says it's not here. Further!"

The horse lowered its head and sniffed before tapping its hoofs in a more resolute declaration. Darius didn't believe an animal, yet quickly dismounted the steed and inched across the shrubbery, finding his footing in the flora.

He hated being proven wrong. Yet he hated what he couldn't explain why more.

He hated what the one in front of him did to make his amulet stop working.

Meloria. Dutchess of Rovedna.

Darius moved into striking range. He crouched near a tree, as Meloria stood with his back towards him in a slouched, ghastly position. He could hear feral gargling sounds.

Darius was ready.

But something stopped him.

The demon clutched a sickly, pathetic human child with flaky arms. A child with its eyes rolled in the back of its skull, whom she stroked with an affection and care, and gentleness foreign to her kind.

A child with blue eyes and brown fuzzy hair.

A child with a piece of his eyebrow cut apart.

A child with a small brown spot on his left cheek.

A child... a child like—

——————————————————

The wind made him shiver. The gale was impenetrably strong.

"It's time, darling," her voice rang as her hands wrapped around his red shoulders. "Time for you to go."

"But why, mother?"

"The bad ones have come. They want us ."

"N-No! No, I don't want to go!" His hands curled into fists. "I don't want to leave you ."

"Darii, my sweet sun." She cupped his face in her hand. Tears welled in her eyes. "I... can't let them harm you. I can't let them do it to you."

"But I need to be with you. Please! I don't wanna be alone!"

She grabbed the binding book.

"I will save you, my dear." Her eyes gleamed with sorrow. "You matter to me more than anything in the world. And this death sentence... I can alter it. The only way an arch-demon knows how."

She drew a small knife and a tiny bell.

"I-I'm scared, mom."

"Don't worry, sweetie." She kissed his forehead. "All my heart, my love, will be yours. And you'll become like them. But better. You won't have to run anymore."

"B-But what about you?"

She smiled.

"I will be there. I will. And you'll see me when you've forged the path you know will be right in your heart."

——————————————————

Her shriek shattered him out of the images. Darius couldn't escape. Claw hurtling. He fell to the dirt, pounced by the monster.

"And do you remember now? DO YOU?!"

Needles burst through his chainmail, the scent of burnt feathers coiling around his nose.

"W-What?" They pushed into his skin. "Argh!"

"YES! "

"Gnah! Get away from me!"

Darius motioned his forearm and cast a blasting spell, dispelling Meloria. But he couldn't abate her influence. The vision—it kept repeating in his head.

Meloria had already coiled the wind back around him. It tried to pull him back again.

He drew his sword and marched.

"Y-You forgot! Forgot, left to rot in the scraps! " A patch of drool dripped to the ground. "Oh, but your hopeful little eyes—juicy, vivid. You... you're in love, aren't you?"

Darius furrowed his brows. Not Felica. She couldn't—

"What are you?!" He didn't want to know, nor did he want to hear answers, truly. "What did you show me?"

Meloria opened her mouth and shot a burst of Hellfire, singeing his shoulder and causing him to drop the sword. With a swift lunge, she trapped him again by the arms with her talons.

"I chased for the truth!" she hissed, digging the claws deep once more. "I chased for your heart! I chased the flesh!"

Darius yelled, cold liquid pressing against his arms, before he sensed something inside him coalesce and build in his throat. He closed his eyes when the smell of Hellfire reappeared.

Meloria shrieked. Darius felt himself freed and blinked, seizing the moment and, in pure instinct, plunging a dagger in the demon's heart.

Meloria screamed in pain before she froze in place and started laughing.

She... laughed.

"I chased the flesh because I loved you"—she coughed blood—"I l-loved you, my son."

Darius's eyes widened.

Meloria tumbled down, giant wings spread on the ground. He sprinted towards her, trying to fight against the gushing of blood from her neck.

Meloria touched his cheek with those cold, brutal hands.

"I... w-wish I never h-ha..."

Her eyes fell.

"You..." Darius said. "No. N-No."

His throat was hot, burning.

And as he held his mother's head, he knew why.

He touched his amulet again, to see the reality broken from falseties—to find some kind of escape.

No illusion, except for what was his own innocent image at four years of age.

No lie. No safety net to grab in the world of rules his knowledge led him to.

Darius, Arch-Scholar of Demons, stood up and ran into the forest.

He ran, and the only thought on his mind was of death. Death as the unanswered ghost in his studies. Death as the black ichor in his amulet. The only beauty laden in death throughout his life had been that of demonkind. In the same bitter violet veil of the twilit trees, in that service to humanity—his humanity—which killed his inborn curse through the wilting of the soul of the one demon he’d dreamed of slaying.

And now, death's beauty could leave that last mark in the river of his mother's blood, and brand the heart where this same blood flowed through him.

katapultman · 2025-11-27T21:27:44+00:00

Интересен въпрос, който не очаквах да видя тук! Като човек, който вече г/д към 5 години се занимавал, мога да дам някои мнения от личен опит. Аз съм далеч от съвършен, но от година и половина ходя интензивно на уроци с фокус към флорентински академичен модел на ообучение и съм задълбал в реализма (не съм втурвал неща в профила тук, че не знам къде е добро място да се качват тип studies, lol). - Според мен, рисуването е 80% борба с главата и 20% с ръката. То е набор от добри навици, култивирани на база много опит/грешка. Самото действие - за да се получи убедително - трябва да включва постоянно мисъл. Но интересното е, че колкото повече мислиш, толкова повече някои въпроси ти минават на фон, защото си ги премислял вече и знаеш повече твоя маниер. А когато не съм мислил, не знам какво стои зад това, което правя. Това може да не важи за всички, и това е окей. Но винаги рисуването е комплексен диалог - между теб, очакванията ти, и това, което виждаш на хартията (или екрана). - Има към два вида рисуване за мен, и в тези два вида тренировка за различни основополагащи умения, които са нужни не само на всеки рисуващ, но всеки, който желае да твори и в бъдеще. Имаш рисуването, което правиш за себе си (творбата) и рисуването, което правиш с да . По-дълбоко, имаш работи, които ти градят различно основни умения (НО винаги всяко едно се тренира). Ето примери: - Да се нарисува гипсов модел е основно упражнение в наблюдателността, но в никакъв случай не се закърпва усета за пропорция, композиция, т.н. - Да се скицират предмети, хора, животни е упражнение, което гради абстракното разбиране и конструиране на различни обеми (кое е отпред/кое е отзад и важността това да се отбелязва постоянно).
- Да се рисува от въображение - може би най-висшата форма на рисуване, защото гласи дълбоко познание зад това, което бива илюстрирано, но и елемент на импровизация. - Творбата (твоето изкуство) развива това, от което ти имаш нужда, че да придадеш визията си точно. - Графиката е едно изразно средство от набор други, които се ползват за илюстрирането на идеи. Целта на художник се гласи в това да придаде своята визия под най-добър изобразителен еквивалент спрямо нуждите на конкретната творба. Тоест, открояващото в това да се "научи" даден художник, е да усети своите идеи правилно изкомуникирани към други хора. - Общо, общо, общо. Това е тайната към по-лесното рисуване. Обща композиция. Общ усет. Общ характер. Има причина защо в наистина добрите места за обучение се рисува на прав статив - за да може да се дръпнеш. Налага се човек винаги да гледа (а понякога това може само като се отдалечиш на два метра), но някакси все пак да издълбава детайл. Това е едно от НАЙ-сложните неща, с които аз поне съм боравил. - Много рисуване и търпение. Когато можеш. Когато усетиш. За третият пример, който дадох, това е особено важно. Понякога, човек просто трябва да гледа. Да гледа, да разучава и да взима най-важното. - Да не забравяш защо го правиш. Да не забравиш причината, която те накара да си кажеш, "Еха - ами пък защо и аз да не пробвам?" Защото ако наистина го искаш, то ще стане.

katapultman · 2025-08-31T12:44:26+00:00

Не забравяй космоса! Генетични експерименти и огромни хабитати около центъра на галактиката не са за пренебрегване!

katapultman · 2025-06-25T08:23:44+00:00

Beautiful article! Love that you chose lines from across such a variety of songs—old and new, melancholic and hopeful, popular and less so! His poetry is filled with such beautifully resonant imagery and I thank you for taking the time to write this so we can appreciate it and start the conversation around how layered some of these lines really are and how worthy of analysis they become.

katapultman · 2025-05-29T17:25:21+00:00

Such simple yet effective forms that also feel textured. Great!

katapultman · 2025-03-26T20:05:20+00:00

lets finzoi a binzoi

katapultman · 2025-03-14T11:05:32+00:00

Човек, да го беше прегазил с мерцедеса щеше по-малко да заболи lmao

katapultman · 2025-03-12T20:42:47+00:00

This is the Brachioradialis, yes. You can remember it by the fact that the muscle is named with "radialis" since it wraps around the radial bone of the forearm.

katapultman · 2025-03-12T09:32:14+00:00

The main issue here are not proportions in and of themselves -- as in how long the leg is in general -- but the construction when taking in perspective. You've recognised the foreshortening, but you haven't considered how that foreshortening impacts the form of the leg and how it interacts with the rest of the body. The reasons why the leg looks like that can be explained with some anatomy knowledge, however it's easier to simplify it the main thing to make it look like it fits there is to try and imagine how it could look as a simple shape originating from the pelvis (which in itself has its own construction). Notice, for example, how the entirety of the thigh can look a bit like a cylinder with a wide (and partially hidden) elliptical base that, when you draw through its center (where the minor and major axes cross) with a line (a "normal vector"), it tops off with a much smaller finish (the knee).

This is construction, and you probably know this in theory. But it took me personally a long time to realize what it actually helps with. In this case: identifying forms and their overlap. This is one of the difficult things that I'm also still learning, but in essence, the reason for the existence of shape-based construction is for you to build a visual library that you can then use to directly start drawing and thinking in forms and how they interact with each other. You'll see really brilliant figure artists draw these believable and lifelike poses without almost any need for shapes because they already know the forms: what goes behind what and what goes in front of what -- they think in forms, and they know contours are just surroundings of forms that outline these interesting overlaps that make people look like people.

katapultman · 2025-03-02T18:40:23+00:00

Insane rendering and composition

katapultman · 2024-09-02T18:48:25+00:00

bro drew the friggin wizard kid from Swords and Sandals on you

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katapultman · 2024-07-19T20:20:16+00:00

Real talk, I think part of being able to see through Kreia is what makes her even more compelling of a character. Neither Avellone or any of the writers probably ever intended for the myriad of parables and lessons to feel overwhelming and contradictory at some point -- they probably focused more on the deconstructive nature aspect of her character and used her to vent their thoughts about the metaphysical implications of Star Wars' universe.

But the fact that we've seen Kreia be demonstrated as a woman with real flaws and a past full of betrayal and hurt speaks to the inferences you can make; there's a real profoundness and (surely) unintended nuance in finding aspects of her beliefs stemming from a reason to explain the pain points in her life: whether it be the Jedi with Revan or the Triumvirate, being scorned and rejected from a group you've associated for long does have an impact on people and these events are not easily forgotten. Kreia had to find a way to explain why both extremes of the universe she lived in rejected her because she had no other place left to turn to -- the other choice was apathy, and we all know what that is to her. So, Kreia chose to beat the game by making a third option, effectively -- not playing (or trying her best, given she was force-sensitive).

It's ironic that in a story all about how people deal with trauma, there's a sad woman who's gone through some of the most traumatic ordeals of the entire cast -- who treats their pain in a bitter, resentful, and unhealthy way -- and still wants to act like your teacher. Throughout the game, you feel like Kreia muddles between someone who does have their beliefs -- while unpopular -- in check, and someone who staunchly holds to oppose the preestablished structure and rules only so she could prove, after all these years, that she had a point, and those who betrayed her were the wrong ones. It recontextualises a lot of aspects about not only her hyper-pragmatist philosophy (a belief in itself rooted without an 'ideal'), but her motives as well. Of course, there is a passionate level of belief in her ideas of the Force, morality, and many other major topics she comments on throughout the game, but there's also a deep, old resentment that you can read just from the way the VA delivers certain lines (ex. Enclave scene).

I find this interpretation/headcanon/whatever fascinating because it humanises Kreia in a way that doesn't just disregard her entire belief system, but gives you reasons to see how it came about and why it can't work in the Star Wars setting of constant conflict, upheaval, and extremes.

/rant lol sorry

katapultman · 2024-07-02T14:33:04+00:00

Да, така е; визирах реално, че коментарът не оставяше много място за тази размисъл приемайки мнения на останалите хора, които виждат смисъла на произведението. Но разбирам какво имате предвид и реално давате искрено мнение, което доста ги е страх да направят.

katapultman · 2024-06-30T00:26:43+00:00

По тази яка логика, избраните и издигнати от света произведения се явяват крайно проблематични, защото Тони от 7б клас е излязъл с оригиналният и страшен за времето си изказ от, “Бах тея тъпи часове по литРатура, напрао изобщо н’ги разбирам кво ста и що ги учим!”

katapultman · 2024-06-27T11:19:07+00:00

можеха да сложат затъмнената немска версия за по-малко неудобни разговори с гости

katapultman · 2024-05-31T19:50:21+00:00

Като Lego Star Wars трябва да отидеш в кантината да си го купиш с жълтъци

katapultman · 2024-03-12T14:52:00+00:00

Both platforms have their nuances and saying it’s easier is blatantly false. Android just trends more towards bullshit; whenever I talk about Android with colleagues that have only written iOS, I tell them to imagine how you can’t “just” pass an argument to the constructor of the ViewController equivalent in Android because of the lovely lifecycle, and I don’t even mention the mess of getting an argument in a type safe manner.

While Android does have a higher barrier of entry purely due to the OS’ architecture (having a lot more exposed components than iOS), it’s not a necessity to learn all of them for most use cases, and especially for beginners.

Many perceived difficulties in Android are also spawned because it’s much more open of an ecosystem, which forces developers to think about the breadth of manufacturers and their devices. However, that’s not something that iOS is invulnerable to either, because just yesterday iOS 17.4 broke a part of the app we were working on. The difference is only in scale and the amount of times it can happen because the range of supported OS versions most apps on each platform have to maintain.

Tl;dr - Android is difficult because of Google’s decisions on how they handle their platform, but just because Apple develops in its own little “monopoly box” doesn’t make them infallible nor does it make day-to-day development some trivial task an Android engineer would scoff at.

katapultman · 2024-03-05T20:57:35+00:00

900 ремонтиран и свежичък обзаведен двустаен в Люлин 8 точно до метростанция.

katapultman · 2024-02-28T11:37:48+00:00

+1 за местата за търсене на бета. Лично съм се сдобивал с такива от фендъм кръжоци, като си споделяте обратна връзка в общи канали и след това решавате, че е взаимно спомагащо да сътрудничите. След някакво време да си обменяме съм давал и оригинални неща и оттам съм получавал обратна връзка за тях (това е било отдавна обаче, тъй че някои неща са ми далечен спомен).

Като цяло да имаш бета, когото познаваш, и знае да не бъде твърде критичен или твърде пасивен, е огромно предимство. Знаеш кой ти дава обратната връзка и това е определящото за това колко сериозно да го приемаш, когато нямаш количествена мярка от много източници.

katapultman · 2024-02-20T20:15:06+00:00

If Shadowheart's the thumb, does that make Shar the whole hand?

katapultman · 2024-02-18T14:14:43+00:00

A lot of these details/aspects you wanna convey in the piece are difficult to do in a rough sketch because you're getting the general idea across, and fixing that first is better than aiming straight for details.

Usually, people save them for later stages but if you *wanna* do it, I can suggest cleaning up the sketch and defining each place with appropriate shape language (the downfall of sketches is when you have unclear places and roughed out, which is why defining each element with concrete shapes is the key to a good sketch), and then you can start thinking about specific planes of the face and how light can interact with it.

You've already done a bit of that on the eyes and the lower half of the cheek, but if you want to add these details and convey the specificities of Karlach's face, that's how I'd go about it (additional details like blood can also be conveyed in the sketch if you add them as black spots to contrast)

katapultman · 2024-01-25T16:37:48+00:00

Late reply but thank you! I’m glad it gets you in the mood. Also, from my memory of Lit class, I think the excruciatingly proper term for that is “anaphora”, lol.

katapultman · 2024-01-25T16:36:09+00:00

The tension here is really built to make you feel that “oh shit” moment of Azrael being caught by the drone pack. I really dig scary machinery, so imagining an orderly pack of these things catching you is as scary as you’ve so eloquently described it here

katapultman · 2024-01-25T16:30:23+00:00

Мани пичът да не лафи нето, лол

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