Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - tushantin

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 238
1
Well, at least the Crono gang had the best kind of armor to protect them from it all.

Plot Armor.

2
Chrono Series Tarot Card Project / Re: XIX. Sun - Lucca w/ Sun Stone
« on: September 17, 2020, 08:11:37 am »
I'm liking the composition!

Regarding the missing elements, though... as both xcalibur and Syna stated elsewhere (and long ago too... yikes!) you don't need to stick to the exact same symbolism if it doesn't fit, so long as you can find alternatives that can practically mean the same thing, or emphasize different aspects of the same card.

For instance, you're right that Lucca isn't a flowery person. We also know that now we have two Suns to contend with (the actual sun at the back, and a sun-stone that she's holding). But the Sun card also represents Reason and Math, right? So the first thing that popped into my head was a Sunflower-shaped Sun-like clock or machine at the back she'd engineer with her own hands (and it could also have a face on it; the hands would be the Sun's mustache or something). You can easily kill three-birds with one stone that way, including being a little bit more direct on what the Sun represents, and what Lucca's significance in the story is.

Additionally, later on you can also add small subtle designs on the Sun Stone itself, so that we know it's indeed a Sun Stone. (Maybe a sunflower or sun-rays on it, or something.)

As for the smoke instead of the sun-rays... I'll withhold my opinion on that one, since I think xcalibur's opinion on this would be far better than mine, especially in regards to keeping the movement in the art but without making it appear like it has a Reverse Sun meaning. (Something tells me we could probably depict that movement with the banners at the back themselves).

xcalibur, my dude, where are you?!

3
Chrono Series Tarot Card Project / Re: Chrono Tarot: The Official Guide
« on: September 16, 2020, 01:19:21 pm »
Haven't seen anyone attempt to make a thread for Lucca/The Sun, started gathering references and looking at examples of the other finished cards. I feel kind of awkward just jumping in and making a thread so I at least wanted to express my interest here.

Here you go! You've got your own Lucca thread. Feel free to post there with sketches and / or questions for references or ideas, and either xcalibur or I will help you out.

Feel free to check out the Strength and High Priestess cards we've made, and it should give you some point of reference for a bit of consistency, if not too much. (Meaning, feel free to illustrate as you usually do, and we can figure out how to make it "look similar" to the other cards with just key details, such as line-art. Don't fret over it, though, since I've realized I'm not even consistent with myself, lol.)

The only guidelines to follow are suggestions by Xcalibur (and, previously, Syna). Otherwise, feel free to do what you want!

If you feel you need any help, feel free to let us know, and we can even collab -- such as helping you with the line-art, flats, or background composition, etc.

I saw that Frog/Justice has a thread here, but I didn't see any finished card for him so I assume that's still on the table as well?
Yeah. In other words, it's all yours if you feel like working on it too. You don't need to ask, you can just work on what you feel like and what excites you, provided it isn't already finished.  :wink:

Although, you can definitely make suggestions to improve previously finished cards, so yeah.

4
Chrono Series Tarot Card Project / XIX. Sun - Lucca w/ Sun Stone
« on: September 16, 2020, 01:05:32 pm »
XIX.
SUN:



Summary: *Reserved*

Symbolism: "This card is associated with attained knowledge. An infant rides a white horse under the anthropomorphized Sun, with sunflowers in the background. The child of life holds a red flag, representing the blood of renewal while a smiling sun shines down on him, representing accomplishment. The conscious mind prevails over the fears and illusions of the unconscious. Innocence is renewed through discovery, bringing hope for the future. "
(From wikipedia)

Keywords: Brilliant, radiant, vitality, clarity, enlightened, greatness, assurance
Reversed: Poor reasoning, disorder, muddled, unclear, ignorance, cynicism
(From learntarot.com  & aeclectic.net)

Description: The Sun is ruled by...the Sun, of course and as the Moon was your inner darkness, the wild, untamed, unconscious part of you, the Sun is your inner light, civilized and rational, yang to yin, Apollo to Diana.

The Sun promises the querent their day in the sun. Glory, triumph, simple pleasures and truths. As the moon symbolized inspiration from dreams, this card symbolizes discoveries made wide awake. This is science and math, beautifully constructed music, carefully reasoned philosophy. It is a card of intellect and youthful energy.

Like the Sun, the querent will likely come across to others as warm and radiant, and they can be told that this is a good time to make decisions and take tests.

Standing for another person, this card can indicate those in the querent's life who are the most level headed and sunny. Also the most youthful. And, yes, the child/children in this card can be taken literally if other cards in the spread seem to suggest it. Your querent can be informed that a wanted and most welcome babe will soon be on the way. Likely a boy, or twins.

(From Aeclectic Tarot)

Fool's Journey: The Fool wakes at dawn from his long, dark night of the soul to find that the river has deposited him in a serene pool. There is a walled garden around this pond dominated by roses, lilies and splendid, nodding sunflowers. Stepping ashore, he watches the sun rise overhead. The day is clear. A child's laughter attracts his attention and he sees a little boy ride a small white pony into the garden.

"Come!" says the little boy, leaping off the horse and running up to him. "Come see!" And the child proceeds to take the Fool's hand and enthusiastically point out all manner of things, the busy insects in the grass, the seeds and petals on the sunflowers, the way the light sparkles on the pond. He asks questions of the Fool, simple but profound ones, like "Why is the sky blue?" He sings songs, and plays games with the Fool.

At one point the Fool stops, blinking up at the Sun so large and golden overhead, and he finds himself smiling, wider and brighter than he has in a very long time. He has been tested and tried, confused and scared, dismayed and amazed. But this is the first time that he has been simply and purely happy. His mind feels illuminated, his soul light and bright as a sunbeam, and it's all thanks to this child with his simple questions, games and songs. This boy has helped the Fool see the world and himself anew.

"Who are you?" the Fool asks the child at last. The child smiles at this and seems to shine. And then he grows brighter and brighter until he turns into pure sunlight.

"I'm You," the boy's voice says throughout the garden, "The new you." And as the words fill the Fool with warmth and energy, he comes to realize that this garden, the sun above, the child, all exist within him. He has just met his own inner light.

(from Aeclectic Tarot)

Feel free to post additional insights into the card, questions, & ideas for the artists to consider!

5
General Discussion / Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« on: September 13, 2020, 12:03:51 pm »
I really can't believe this turned out so good. I need to make sure I remember everything I've done on this piece so that I can keep getting better.

Yes, the link will take you to my ArtStation project.

Mauron, you take a look too.



6
...name please.

Frau Koujiro from Robotics;Notes. If Daru was a high-school girl with Christina's tastes, he'd be Frau.

Story takes place 9 years after Steins;Gate. Which means roughly 10 years after Chaos;Head, and 4 years after Chaos;Child.

(Note: Avoid the anime-adaptations for anything that isn't SG or SG0. Robotics;Notes anime is "okay", but the games are still preferable.)

<3 those pervy girls.


Great, now the whole world knows your hentai preferences.


7
Fan Art / Re: Scha-La! Head Schala!
« on: September 05, 2020, 11:54:18 pm »
Is the tarot project you did this for closed to other artist participation, just out of curiosity? I would love to contribute if not!
As a matter of fact, we welcome it! Because I sure as hell won't be able to do all of them on my own.  :P

And I'm pretty sure Xcalibur would be thrilled to have additional artists on-board.

EDIT: The board. https://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?board=98.0

8
Christina Reason #1: She's a pervert.
Let me introduce you to a bigger pervert. (Yes, same universe. The english release will be this year.)


9
Does Suzuha's mom look like the underside of a bridge?
Spoilers: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/A9edNW



Reason #5 - She lives in prehistory, yet if you look at her closely, her nails look stellar. That means she gives great back scratches!
You're going to mention her nails, but not that hair?


10
General Discussion / Re: Boo's Thread of Multiple Existential Crisises
« on: September 04, 2020, 12:07:00 pm »
Money can be gone. Quick.
I forgot that I failed to address this point.

Money isn't great because of money itself. If you've learned even a bit of finance in your life, you'd know that money doesn't actually exist, but rather is a means to an end. You don't earn money because money is valuable, but rather you earn it because you have something you want to do with money.

For a lot of people that something is different. For me, it is a means to allow my own vision to be born into this world, as well as ensuring my family's survival and prosperity, as helping others who need it -- not because I want to give money away, but I want to use them for my own nefarious ends. MFWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! .....by which, I mean I want to hire them... like an evil corporate. MFWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Man, the last company I worked at was the best experience I didn't know I needed. I learned the value of scaling, and that changed my entire life, and the way I perceive things.

11
General Discussion / Re: Boo's Thread of Multiple Existential Crisises
« on: September 04, 2020, 12:01:49 pm »
.....I ended up writing a 6000+ words of essay in response, but promptly deleted it because I cringed at myself.

Anywho, rather than making my case for why money is better than empathy (something my father has been trying to teach me since childhood, and yet I never actually learned or agreed with it until in my late-20s when I was struggling to make ends-meet), I'll instead try to address the crux of your belief -- empathy as a virtue.


(That said, before I do, I need to reiterate that money isn't better than empathy just because it helps in your survival, but also because of other variables involved with money, such as not only the things you get with money, but also the reason why you get money in the first place. I made a very long case for it in my draft, but.... it's way too long for me to bother finish writing it, lmao. But anywho, it's worth realizing that Euro-centric perspectives tend to be very limited on this matter, and it's worth broadening one's horizon beyond all the "money bad" and "capitalism vs socialism" crap we're inundated with, because American / European / Russian values don't tell you 100% how reality works.)


Before anything, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1zZ_eKSAAI

If I had a penny for every time I've met people who preached Empathy like they're introducing me to the Second-Coming of Jesus, but eventually end up acting far more toxic than anybody else you've met (often to a sociopathic and even murderous degree, leading me to nigerundayo), I'd... probably be able to buy a good laptop by now, because the power-outages in my area are ridiculous. Hell, I've seen these Priests of Empathy being, at best, indifferent towards and, at worst, actively making a case for genocide against my race, and they honestly believed they were being good, moral people who care for other people.

There are a lot of reasons for this: Perhaps the preachers themselves don't understand what empathy is and how it works, or if they're masquarading their own toxic nature behind a veil of faux-goodness, or that they don't realize the catastrophic consequences of excessive empathy due to human limitations, or (speaking of human limitations) they assume that biases don't come naturally, etc.

But I think there's something more fundamental than that.

Firstly, I think it's important to understand that Empathy cannot, and should not, be a moral virtue -- rather, it's Compassion that fits the bill instead (regardless of your level of empathy). Empathy is less of a moral discipline and more of a natural emotional sensation, much like intuition, and it informs you about something so that you can cater your behavior accordingly; it's a morally-neutral utility, and even then its role is largely overstated.

In fact, there are multiple types of empathy, each with their pros and cons, but the two most important ones due to their stark distinctions being Emotional Empathy and Cognitive Empathy. When people talk about empathy, they usually mean Emotional Empathy for its low-effort high-feeling nature (because for some reason people ascribe morality with emotions these days), despite the fact that Emotional Empathy also creates backdoor vulnerabilities to your own being, leaving you susceptible to psychological manipulations, and thus making you do and believe things you otherwise, rationally, wouldn't. And it's generally adherents to this sort of empathy would categorize people actively practicing Cognitive Empathy as downright apathetic (and thus "sinful") -- even though, ironically, in most cases if not all, Cognitive Empathy will help you decide on an optimal moral choice. 

Empathy cannot be a virtue, because it is a sensation, a means to figure out what your actual moral actions should be. If carefully assessed, it will help guide you to different moral actions depending on context, showing Compassion being one of them, but it isn't even necessary for people to be moral. If you hold Empathy as a virtue, then you're shifting people's worth to what they are and not what they do. That can be dangerous, leading to innocents being ostracised or crucified even if they don't deserve it. This is the kind of thing that leads to shit like Cancel Culture (I'll explain in a bit).

It's really important to understand that human beings are flawed creatures -- we have terrible memory for our own standards, we're consciously limited, our biology and circumstances affect our mood often, our attention-span is shrinking, we get drowsy at afternoon despite a lot of pending work, we get bored reading my novella-length posts, we get easily indoctrinated by ideologies and propaganda, we're fragile enough to die at a mere push by somebody, we lose hope when we hope when our means income is gone, etc. So it's kind of unrealistic to assume that we can somehow overcome our all our biases at a drop of a hat every day and always be optimal in our actions -- because if we were, we'd all not only be Jeff Bezos but would also have managed to create a colony in Neptune by now.

Even when we manage to painstakingly get past one bias, new biases crop up all the time in our own psyche when life throws new lemons at us. That's because of the nature of biases, and our minds, in general. We generalize when we don't know, and it isn't inherently a bad thing (which I explained in my previously now-deleted post, but I'll leave it hanging here), because heuristics is the fastest way for an individual to familiarize himself with any situation, and as we get more and more familiar with something we start to discriminate (not the conventionally misused word, but its original meaning -- that is, making distinctions). For example, for any non-tech person every screw-driver might look the same, but it's only when they start working hands-on that they start discriminating between screwdrivers depending on what screws they're optimally used for; yet, they couldn't have even gotten to the point so fast if they didn't generalize that screwdrivers lt you screw in screws. If you couldn't generalize, and you needed to fix electronics, well, you'd be screwed.

Generalization is great, because it allows you to get you up to speed on shit. It also functions as a survival mechanism. Sure, it isn't a virtue, but it is a default human response, and anybody that says that you shouldn't generalize or that they don't generalize are lying to you. For example, if you have enough disposable income, you find yourself wanting to help poor people, because you generalize that all poor people must be suffering the same way -- you either just go with the generalization by throwing money at them, or you discriminate between them to understand how you could optimally help them each individual poor person depending on their own unique circumstances. The only cure to generalization is understanding things, not avoiding generalization itself.

I point this out because the same limitations and penchant for heuristics apply to empathy too. Even if you're some kind of a natural empath (and natural "empaths" have their own baggage of problems they wish they didn't have, trust me on this), you'd still be unable to empathize with everyone you come across. Because your understanding of their circumstances can just never match their reality (maybe sentiments, sometimes, but never their reality). And this is one of the many leading factors behind why "empathetic" people end up being so vicious towards other people: Even if they actively try, they can seldom understand where the other person is truly coming from, and if there's a mismatch between their model of generalization in their heads and the existence of another person, this "empathetic" person will find that other person to be a cold and uncomfortable existence, and the empath will find himself being potentially violent where it isn't justified.

Autists make a great example here. Most people sympathize (but not empathize) and are compassionate towards autists... provided they KNOW that they're autistic. But when it isn't known that a person is autistic, because of the mismatch between the model-of-minds and our inability to properly empathize with an autistic person, people make terrible assumptions about them (case no# 9000+ of "don't-generalize" people actively generalizing here) and treat them very terribly. I mean, the empaths are being empathetic, so they can't be in the wrong, so it must be the other guy, right? I picked autists here, but this world is filled with different people from different circumstances, and it's kind of arrogant to assume that you can somehow empathize with all of them, considering we can't even comprehend what most of them are going through.

(Hell... not to sound like an edgelord, but... even the biggest self-proclaimed empaths failed to empathize with me throughout my life, and they failed spectacularly even if I was doing my best to make it easy for them, which is what made me want to go and understand why this happens. No, I'm not wallowing in self-pity here, lol, because I know a lot of people are in the same situation as me, and despite lack of empathy towards me I'm not really having it THAT bad in life. If people have ever been nice to me or respected to me, I know for certain it isn't because of empathy, but rather other factors, like respect, or pleasant associations, etc. and that's generally enough. The people most vicious towards me were often the empathetic bunch, and the ones nicest towards me were just... normal, or sometimes even autistic, or clients, I guess? Hence why I said empathy is overrated.)

Long story short, we just can't empathize with everybody. We can't pretend to even know what they're actually going through.

But that doesn't stop us from benig moral actors, and localize our vision to optimize our behaviour. As I said, rational compassion goes a long way to make people's lives better, even if empathy isn't involved.

For example: I was leading a team of junior 3D artists and animators in my previous company, and I honestly CAN'T empathize with all of them. But I do know they're good people, and they respected me as much as I respected them, and I can generalize that this pandemic may have put them in a terrible situation just as with anybody else. You know one of the biggest reasons why I value money more than empathy? It's because I know that, even without my empathy, if I have enough money I can help them out by giving them small jobs to do for me (scaling up my own projects, basically), solving both my problem and theirs. Is it selfish? Yeah, because I need cheap labour. But I think even they'd much rather have money in their pockets right now rather than somebody waxing poetry about how much they feel their pain. (Hell, I want to even hire FaustWolf for a story, but I don't have any money on me -- and I don't even know what he's up to or how he's doing right now, so I can definitely say that my compassion comes from my selfishness, not empathy, and even then it benefits everyone.)

Sorry if you had to read this stupidly long shit, so I'd like to close this post with one more thing:

Honestly, the moment I dropped having to be empathetic, and instead focusing on developing strict moral princples and debating with myself on what is right and wrong, that I found myself being a better (and more stable) person overall. Focusing on empathy made me feel like I was doing something righteous, but somewhere in my heart I knew it wasn't the most optimal moral action, and when I reflected upon it I realized that what I was actually feeling was sanctimonious catharsis, which have little to no bearing long-term. That, and the fact that my family is still in poverty and I've done nothing to elevate them out of it, was a major wake-up call for me that no amount of self-righteousness can really make me a moral individual. That I can't be moral if I'm not responsible, and I can't take responsibility for other people if I can't even take my own family's responsibility on my own shoulders. (Besides, me learning this so late in my life should teach me to pay more attention to my own Hindu heritage -- because Hinduism teaches you the value of Duty above all else, and I would have probably been a far better person today if I actually paid attention to hindu philosophy intellectually rather than dismissing it.)

Interestingly, what I learned back then was the same thing that an anime this year echoed back to me -- season 2 of "Ascendance of a Bookworm" -- where a Priest tells the protagonist that if she can't or isn't willing to take responsibility for other people's lives, she has no right to possess self-righteous indignation towards anybody else. Just because of that, I will always hold this anime in high regards. Besides, AoaB places a lot of value on money, so there's that too. .....In fact, it probably would have been more entertaining for you to watch that anime rather than read my uninteresting post, because it explains everything I've just said better than I can, well, minus the empathy bit.

12
Fubuki gets on screen somewhere? Neat.


Yeah, in SG0. The VN, specifically, has an interesting role for her (I'm not sure if you'd be surprised by it, but it did surprise me.)

Biggest unanswered question in the game is how Daru had kids.
Ah, Fate -- or, as they scientifically put it, Convergence.

13
General Discussion / Re: Boo's Thread of Multiple Existential Crisises
« on: September 04, 2020, 01:20:24 am »
I am existential dread.

Does this ever get easier?
Why I am I so infinitely small on a cosmic scale?
Is this really all there is?
Why are we slaves?
Where is your empathy?
Will I ever figure this out?

I just want to be a hero.

Pardon me for hijacking another of your thread again, but...

Screw empathy, man, I want money. Yeah, I'm pretty sensitive to crazy people ganging up on me in bad faith (sometimes even in murderous faith) which is one of the reasons I don't like getting close to people that often, but I can deal with that compared to not having any money. I can deal with all kinds of hatred from all kinds of people if it means I can pay the next set of bills without stress or worry. Besides, empathy doesn't put food on my table; it's patently overrated.

I mean, I'm no slave, but $20 is $20. And I'd rather own it with my own hands that depend on somebody else's hand-outs.

15
Chrono Series Tarot Card Project / Re: II. High Priestess - Schala
« on: September 03, 2020, 11:40:42 pm »
And it's done! So that's one more Tarot crossed off the list.

Though... I've failed to replicate my own art-style from 2 years ago. Goddammit...

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ELwm60

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 238