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4 hours ago, Orwar said:

She slowly began to twist the thin, silvery blade, and the utterances of agony caused her eyes to flare up in exhilaration, and a blithe smirk gradually deformed her black lips until her ivory fangs were exposed behind them, her tongue pressing up against them in anticipation of the delectable feast that was about to commence.

And a very Happy Easter Bunny to you, too!

Well, you make a good point generally, although I don't think "cute" is quite the same thing as "alluring" and "seductive." I've never been into the dark Heathcliffe types myself (I find them dreary and self-absorbed), but I would argue that even the most alluring femme fatale or Byronic male ("Mad, bad, and dangerous to know") employs the potential and undercurrent of threat as part of the appeal they use to seduce their victims. A villain whose moral ugliness was entirely visible on the outside would be icky (like Dorian Gray's portrait), while one whose exterior beauty or cuteness gave no indication of their submerged wickedness would produce a different effect -- one of shock and surprise -- than what you're describing. It's the combination of beauty and sexiness with a glimpse of evil, at least in potentia, that is the key.

Anyway, Neph probably isn't "cute," but she's certainly alluring.

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54 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Well, you make a good point generally, although I don't think "cute" is quite the same thing as "alluring" and "seductive." I've never been into the dark Heathcliffe types myself (I find them dreary and self-absorbed), but I would argue that even the most alluring femme fatale or Byronic male ("Mad, bad, and dangerous to know") employs the potential and undercurrent of threat as part of the appeal they use to seduce their victims. A villain whose moral ugliness was entirely visible on the outside would be icky (like Dorian Gray's portrait), while one whose exterior beauty or cuteness gave no indication of their submerged wickedness would produce a different effect -- one of shock and surprise -- than what you're describing. It's the combination of beauty and sexiness with a glimpse of evil, at least in potentia, that is the key.

Anyway, Neph probably isn't "cute," but she's certainly alluring.

   Well, there are characters who are interesting enough that being self-absorbed feels almost feels allowable - but it's rare, and coupled with villainy it easily goes over the top to create a pretty dull character, where the self-absorption feels more like a means of proving a lack of virtue, which feels as if the author is trying to preach to you about what makes a person good or bad. Heathcliffe isn't a character I'm too familiar with as I haven't actually read the book - I'm only really familiar to its concept through the musical works of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman. Anyway, what I meant was that many villains in this day and age ARE Dorian Gray's portrait; exterior ugliness that reflects on an equally rotten interior are 'easy' villains, you only have to describe their appearance and 9/10 times you'll guess their creed by that description accurately enough that it leaves little of interest to the character, hence I tend to prefer villains who aren't overtly wicked or evil on the outside, but rather that they don't appear to be who they are or that they directly contradict their wickedness in their alluring appearance and manners. There can still be telling cues, and ways to build up suspense - the text I wrote with that picture was something I threw together within moments of having gone out of bed, and I focused on the climax rather than the build-up. Classically, you'd spend a lot of time on the build-up, with contradictions to make the reader uncertain of who is who, and reveal the villain through plot twists, preferably where the protagonist slowly comes to realise that they're already in imminent danger and have been playing on their opponent's terms all along.

   Besides, a villain isn't really a proper villain (well, generally speaking) if they're infallible. It works somewhat for the pure evil trope, think Sauron/Morgoth in Tolkien's works, but then, finally a pretty artificial weakness has to be implemented (the ring - and sure, it's important to the plot and all, but it's a pretty silly thing). But if you have a villain who is charming, alluring and totally invincible to the point of breaking meta; just look at folklore bestiary and everything has its weaknesses which can be pretty absurdly simple things; silver for werewolves, garlic/running water/crucifixes for vampires, the crowing of a rooster for basilisks, giving a sphinx the right answer for its riddle. In literature, a villain that sticks is one who even after its death lets its deeds be felt. In Dracula, Lucy doesn't just die, she has to be put down by her friends and lovers, Mina and Jonathan are both mentally scarred for life, and Quincy is outright killed in the final showdown. In Frankenstein, Elizabeth - well, what happens to her is both dark and brutal, but also serves as an imperative plot device for changing Victor's perspective. If a villain is vanquished and everything just turns to 'happily ever after', if there's no consequences, it's a fairy tale, not horror fiction. Dorian Gray's portrait burning up - same thing. I also love horror where the villain is tragic; sympathy for the protagonist's losses leave a much longer lasting sensation of dread than a polarised story where the light side triumphs unconditionally over the darkness - but tragic villains whose motives are just misunderstood where you suddenly sympathise with a character that you before just couldn't wait to see the end of, I adore stories like that. Think Claude Frollo (obviously not the over-simplified Disney version), Gollum, Frankenstein's monster, the phantom of the opera, Carrie White, Darth Vader or Sweeney Todd; whether you're disgusted by them, fear them or hate them, their demise may well be the most heart-clenching moments of their respective fiction.

   In the end, there isn't a formula for just creating the perfect villain - the antagonist needs to be woven into the narrative, and be as supporting and contributing character to the fiction as the protagonist. I don't really consider myself villainous, I'm aesthetically pleased by it and I have a pretty weird world view; I'm an empathic misanthrope, when something terrible happens I often don't know whether to laugh or cry, I reserve my empathy for those who matter to me, and I have a pretty morbid obsession with death and destruction. People who can't understand or relate to my perspective of life often dislike me, whereas people who at least find my cynicism tolerable if not entertaining tend to get along quite well with me whether they agree with me or not. Some people rather live in a bubble where their morals and ideals never can be questioned or opposed, and I equally envy and despise them for it. Not to get too philosophical, but how to find purpose in one's life if one chose to shut their eyes to what's around them? Stagnated ideals are no better than outdated religious dogmas.

   Anyway, one text wall later - uh, raw selfie to sort of stick to the topic!

Snapshot_057.thumb.png.c55c8a86fd378a26821ee070b5e60730.png

   Haven't gotten changed since last night's shoot.

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You'd THINK that two women sunning themselves in a pool while sipping tasty alcoholic beverages would look happier, wouldn't you?

Unfortunately, I'd just received a call from Jeb (he's our only relative with a cell) to let us know he was on his way in the pickup to bring us . . . home.

Liv's-Pool-Blank.png

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8 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

You'd THINK that two women sunning themselves in a pool while sipping tasty alcoholic beverages would look happier, wouldn't you?

Unfortunately, I'd just received a call from Jeb (he's our only relative with a cell) to let us know he was on his way in the pickup to bring us . . . home.

Liv's-Pool-Blank.png

I bet it was about this tank we stole.

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Much though I love the V-Tech flat chest mod for Maitreya, because it's enabled me to put together fully androgynous looks again, by god its tattoo layer is a pain in the backside. It sits very high over the mesh, which means a lot of post-processing in Photoshop to remove 'floating' tattoos. Not only that, but there's often a 'split' where the edge of the mod meeds the Maitreya body, specifically on the arms. This can be mitigated somewhat by also wearing the tattoo on the Maitreya body, but then - with the limitations of the layering system (Maitreya only has the entire upper body and entire lower body, with no ability to mask off sections such as the arms) - you're left faffing around with masking and blending, and struggling to layer any other appliers.

Before and after post-processing. It's just a quick job, so it's far from perfect, but it looks a lot better than the original...

vtech_tattoo.jpg.e6f2fde63b9089c1178c6aad4671a338.jpg

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I've had the Genus head for a while, Baby Face was included when I purchased the regular one. It's taken me a while to warm to it, I was wearing Lelutka for ages instead. But I just found a beautiful albino looking skin from Raonhausen at the Equal10 event and I've finally made a look with the Baby Face head that feels like me. The hair is Halo from Tableau Vivant.

 

32714920257_f6f761c304_b_d.jpg

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2 hours ago, Skell Dagger said:

Much though I love the V-Tech flat chest mod for Maitreya, because it's enabled me to put together fully androgynous looks again, by god its tattoo layer is a pain in the backside

It’s come a long way from the initial version at least. ; )

Edited by flowersforkain
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54 minutes ago, Stephanie Misfit said:

I've had the Genus head for a while, Baby Face was included when I purchased the regular one. It's taken me a while to warm to it, I was wearing Lelutka for ages instead. But I just found a beautiful albino looking skin from Raonhausen at the Equal10 event and I've finally made a look with the Baby Face head that feels like me. The hair is Halo from Tableau Vivant.

 

32714920257_f6f761c304_b_d.jpg

You have a very distinctive look! Lovely!

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5 hours ago, Orwar said:

   Well, there are characters who are interesting enough that being self-absorbed feels almost feels allowable - but it's rare, and coupled with villainy it easily goes over the top to create a pretty dull character, where the self-absorption feels more like a means of proving a lack of virtue, which feels as if the author is trying to preach to you about what makes a person good or bad. Heathcliffe isn't a character I'm too familiar with as I haven't actually read the book - I'm only really familiar to its concept through the musical works of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman. Anyway, what I meant was that many villains in this day and age ARE Dorian Gray's portrait; exterior ugliness that reflects on an equally rotten interior are 'easy' villains, you only have to describe their appearance and 9/10 times you'll guess their creed by that description accurately enough that it leaves little of interest to the character, hence I tend to prefer villains who aren't overtly wicked or evil on the outside, but rather that they don't appear to be who they are or that they directly contradict their wickedness in their alluring appearance and manners. There can still be telling cues, and ways to build up suspense - the text I wrote with that picture was something I threw together within moments of having gone out of bed, and I focused on the climax rather than the build-up. Classically, you'd spend a lot of time on the build-up, with contradictions to make the reader uncertain of who is who, and reveal the villain through plot twists, preferably where the protagonist slowly comes to realise that they're already in imminent danger and have been playing on their opponent's terms all along.

   Besides, a villain isn't really a proper villain (well, generally speaking) if they're infallible. It works somewhat for the pure evil trope, think Sauron/Morgoth in Tolkien's works, but then, finally a pretty artificial weakness has to be implemented (the ring - and sure, it's important to the plot and all, but it's a pretty silly thing). But if you have a villain who is charming, alluring and totally invincible to the point of breaking meta; just look at folklore bestiary and everything has its weaknesses which can be pretty absurdly simple things; silver for werewolves, garlic/running water/crucifixes for vampires, the crowing of a rooster for basilisks, giving a sphinx the right answer for its riddle. In literature, a villain that sticks is one who even after its death lets its deeds be felt. In Dracula, Lucy doesn't just die, she has to be put down by her friends and lovers, Mina and Jonathan are both mentally scarred for life, and Quincy is outright killed in the final showdown. In Frankenstein, Elizabeth - well, what happens to her is both dark and brutal, but also serves as an imperative plot device for changing Victor's perspective. If a villain is vanquished and everything just turns to 'happily ever after', if there's no consequences, it's a fairy tale, not horror fiction. Dorian Gray's portrait burning up - same thing. I also love horror where the villain is tragic; sympathy for the protagonist's losses leave a much longer lasting sensation of dread than a polarised story where the light side triumphs unconditionally over the darkness - but tragic villains whose motives are just misunderstood where you suddenly sympathise with a character that you before just couldn't wait to see the end of, I adore stories like that. Think Claude Frollo (obviously not the over-simplified Disney version), Gollum, Frankenstein's monster, the phantom of the opera, Carrie White, Darth Vader or Sweeney Todd; whether you're disgusted by them, fear them or hate them, their demise may well be the most heart-clenching moments of their respective fiction.

   In the end, there isn't a formula for just creating the perfect villain - the antagonist needs to be woven into the narrative, and be as supporting and contributing character to the fiction as the protagonist. I don't really consider myself villainous, I'm aesthetically pleased by it and I have a pretty weird world view; I'm an empathic misanthrope, when something terrible happens I often don't know whether to laugh or cry, I reserve my empathy for those who matter to me, and I have a pretty morbid obsession with death and destruction. People who can't understand or relate to my perspective of life often dislike me, whereas people who at least find my cynicism tolerable if not entertaining tend to get along quite well with me whether they agree with me or not. Some people rather live in a bubble where their morals and ideals never can be questioned or opposed, and I equally envy and despise them for it. Not to get too philosophical, but how to find purpose in one's life if one chose to shut their eyes to what's around them? Stagnated ideals are no better than outdated religious dogmas.

   Anyway, one text wall later - uh, raw selfie to sort of stick to the topic!

Snapshot_057.thumb.png.c55c8a86fd378a26821ee070b5e60730.png

   Haven't gotten changed since last night's shoot.

I’m right in the middle your post and have to say... wow 🧐 and now I’m diving back in to finish it. I’m hoping that I’ll have a clever response.. something eclectic and slightly controversial 😋 cheers!

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