Rhio

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I'm happy that I've spent the past seven years of my life with a woman who constantly challenges me, expands my horizons, backs me up, and trusts me. I'm happy that I have two major life changes coming up in the near future that will mean I'm able to focus on my career and the things I want from life, something I've been waiting on for three and a half years now. I'm happy that I seriously got the most awesome boots yesterday. Seriously, they are super great. I love 'em. I'm happy that it's not so long now until I get to play FFXIV again and explore the life of my darn cat, a character whom I regard as something as an old friend. I look forward to exploring old loves, new friendships, old friendships, new mysteries, and all sorts of other things. It's not right now, but it's very much sooner. I'm happy that I've had great roleplaying elsewhere whilst I've waited, even if I wish more of it was with the awesome folks around here. (Y'all are great.) I'm happy to have gone from having no art of Rhio to having two wonderful portraits by some of our talented artists. I'm sad I can't art back in response. Not even if I try to draw everyone's character in the style of Adventure Time. Lots of reasons, really.

I don't know if he's really ready to be a father, it's a big responsibility.

I love it. Man, it must have been hot for even Rhio to be sweltering. (Tim'a wanted to go to a lake or something to cool off, but no.) It was miserable here yesterday even with air conditioning, I can't imagine what it would be like without it.

Boy, that escalated quick.

Mars Attacks! is definitely up there on a list of films that everyone should see. Not sure how much you'll get out of it if you're not familiar with some of the specific things that it's spoofing, but if you get the jokes and general line of humor it's an absolute riot. If you don't get it, well, it's worth seeking out and understanding the source material. Death to Smoochy is sort of a similar animal. If you don't find the idea of a violent battle over children's show mascots to be funny, well, I don't know what to tell you. It also features Robin Williams just before his usual schtick went from "amusing" to "cloying and obnoxious." Looper may or may not be out on video yet. It's a spectacular film, probably one of the best pieces of time travel fiction in memory, and features both Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The former is one of my favorite actors, the latter is swiftly becoming one mostly due to his performance right here. It's a rare soul that can do a scene directly opposite Willis without being overshadowed. Unbreakable also gets a nod; I loved this movie when I first saw it and still love its slow, insightful take on the superhero genre that never falls into dullness. It's a very gradual film, but it nails so many things so well that I think it stands as the one shining moment left in Shyamalan's career. (You don't want to know what I think about The Sixth Sense.) The Incredibles, by contrast, is not slow. But it is very insightful, and manages to pack so much into its running time that I find something new to like every time I watch the film. (If you haven't noticed, I like superhero mythology a lot.) For an ostensible children's film, there's a lot packed in under the surface. Snakes on a Plane is exactly what it says on the tin, and it is the finest example of its type in many years, a film with no pretense or artistry beyond sheer dim-witted affection. This is a film to be watched and mocked with ruthless abandon, but as you watch it you realize that everyone involved was waiting for the jokes. It's the sort of guileless idiocy that makes you long for Joel and the bots. Walk Hard should be funny to anyone familiar with musical biopics, funnier to people with familiarity with music. It sometimes takes a couple watches for the comedy to really permeate, but the film manages to cover everything from Johnny Cash to Bob Dylan to Brian Wilson, hitting the numerous lows of music with a deft hand. American Beauty is one of those films that seems like it shouldn't work - one of the central tensions is deflated in the first few moments, and you're mostly left with people acting varying flavors of selfish or dumb for two hours. But it does work wonderfully. If you've watched Six Feet Under, it's the same sense of tiny human drama without the increasing train wreck that episodic television forced on it. Airplane! needs no introduction; it's one of the funniest films ever made, and it's a parody of a film style that's become more popular and memorable than the material it parodies. Just... you know, ignore the fact that some of the things in it no longer exist in airports. Total Recall (the original) is a film that manages to be a big dumb 80s action film while being a cerebral look at the ways that memories and perception defines us. I hadn't seen it for a while, but rewatched it recently only to be surprised by how good it really is; even the dumb parts are so hopelessly dumb that you can't help but just laugh and move on. Joe Versus the Volcano, meanwhile, might be my favorite movie ever. Really. I fully admit that sounds ridiculous. It's a 1990 romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. But it's not Sleepless in Seattle; it's almost the polar opposite. It's a film that's warm, touching, genuinely compassionate, filled with allegory and nuggets of wisdom that unpack remarkably well. This is from a time before Tom Hanks was human Play-Doh and Meg Ryan was everyone's friendly aunt, but both still bring a lot of humanity to a film that manages to leave me smiling every time I watch.

I don't have the time to really sit down and watch movies much right now. That'll be changing soon. A lot depends on what everyone likes to watch, for instance. I'd happily sit through another viewing of Session 9, but not everyone likes psychological horror films against a backdrop of asbestos removal.

I don't get the sense that Tim'a particularly minds being wet. (Part tiger, I'd say.) Seconding Edri's comment about roleplaying; the art you produce is always spectacular.

I'd like to think that it would be applied retroactively. The community team seems to largely be on the ball about this sort of thing.

Some very nice animations in there, and an emphasis on things that look neat without adding piles of particle effects on. I especially liked how both Paladin and Dragoon have at least one action that involves turning and stabbing the target, and there's a real sense of gravity behind each motion. I am reminded of how desperately I want Ninja and Musketeer now, but I have faith. (Patience, not so much.)

I guess I'd better put up proper reference material for Rhio, then.

"I don't understand. You wanted a cutout of a man's best friend, and I gave it to you. Should I have made them longer?"

I may buy another CE just for the physical stuff, since my existing CE still gets me the digital items. But... toys. Yes, I am really this bad.

Many of you probably know that I'm the writer of the weekly roleplaying column over on Massively. Those of you who don't know that... well, there it is. It's an open secret, especially if you look and see Rhio showing up in several pictures throughout the column's history. Anyhow, I just finished up a big project to get the column organized into a single directory, so the archives can be browsed by topic instead of chronology. (I skip around a lot in terms of topics.) The result is the Storyboard Library, which is not the catchiest possible name but is at least fairly descriptive. While there's some stuff in there about starting roleplaying, this is not a resource akin to Eva's spectacular RP handbook compilation; the focus is on improving your roleplaying and finding new ideas, not getting anyone familiar with the core concepts. I'll admit this is a bit self-serving, but it's been a long project and I'm eager to get more eyes on it, especially with some of the lessons in the column having been taken directly from experience in FFXIV. Hopefully you'll find it useful.

Don't feel bad for not conversing more; we all go through quiet phases. I don't comment often in this thread just because I feel like saying "yes, that is very nice art" gets repetitive quickly. Having said that, drunk Tim'a looks so dedicated to the idea of another round. It's adorable.

Having too few men to choose between seems to be the least of Gerik's problems. (Also your art keeps getting better with each subsequent post, Gerik. But you knew that.)

I approve wholeheartedly. Of the drawing, not the scanner bit. Scanners are irritating.

I'd like to point out that press can say all sorts of stuff these days. Hint, hint.

The practical upshot of this thread is that Aysun is not, in fact, a trained medical professional. If Topless Aysun informs you that you have a nasty (but otherwise harmless) posterior wart, please have it examined by a trained doctor at the earliest possible opportunity. Or just get a Cure or Esuna or whatever cast on you, because healing magic really makes poking through med school seem pointless.

"Gee, Gerik, thanks for storing all of this candy down the front of your swimsuit in a baggie!"

Love.

You are right, I wrote that when barely awake and it shows. Mea culpa. As Aysun pointed out, the idea that wyverns are being sent against the fortifications in waves sort of supports the idea that this is a war being fought mostly for the purposes of continuing a war, with forces hitting the meat-grinder repeatedly just to keep the conflict going. Or possibly it's the Zapp Brannigan maneuver. "You see, Ishgardians have a pre-set kill limit. Knowing that, I sent waves and waves of my own dragons against their fortifications until they reached their kill limit and shut down."

1. By all indications, Ishgard is a melting pot. If it has a dominant population (like how there are slightly more Seekers and Wildwoods in Gridania) it hasn't even been addressed, and we've never had a city to see in that regard. 2. Certainly the attitudes of the Ishgardians seem to imply that it's an active war. Speculation: I imagine it's a similar situation to the orcs and San d'Oria; there's been a war between the two sides for so long that no one entertains thoughts of winning, but both will take as many shots at the other as humanly possible. 3. From what could be gleaned from NPCs outside the city, Ishgard is a strict theocracy. Whether or not allegiance to the Twelve as a whole is the source of worship or services are rendered specifically to Halone is unclear. Speculation: It may well be a structure akin to Greek churches, revering one deity above the others while still paying homage to the remainder. 4. None of the city-states exactly like one another, but Ishgard's isolation is largely due to its lack of manpower that can be allocated to goals other than fighting dragons. Outside of chocobo-based trade, the city-state keeps mostly to itself. 5. We don't know for a fact that Ishgardians have a mounted knight culture, but it stands to reason. 6. Military service does not appear to be mandatory, but conscription is not uncommon.

Step 1: Open an image of Rhio in another image program Step 2: Right-click, select "copy." Step 3: Open MS Paint...

Space wearing heels really sells the "class" on that last one, y'know? Awesome work.