#Feel free to disagree!

[brightonstudios]

I don’t know if this has been done before, but what type of turtle hands do you draw?

[muffin-snakes-art]

Hi. So I’m not a Layton guy and all THAT familiar with the lore, but a close friend of mine is, and as far as I understand Layton has a dead girlfriend? Can I please know who Magolor’s dead girlfriend equivalent in this AU is? I’m legitimately so curious. /pos

I have been thinking A LOT about which Kirby character would fit Claire's (dead gf) role. In the end I chose Taranza bc I feel he and Claire are the most similar in character. They're both really good at what they do (Claire: brilliant scientist - Taranza: immaculate mage), quick thinkers, humble, and have a lot of love to give.

I'll explain more under the cut (along with images of Claire and younger Layton for design ref), but Taranza could've also fit in as a couple other characters bc I made Sectonia as Descole. In this essay I will-

In Kirby there's an interesting connection between Magolor and Taranza. Primarily based on that one Magolor portrait in that haunted house in Triple Deluxe (like ok huh????) and also that one Star Allies Wave 3 illustration.

With that portrait existing, to me it implies that Magolor has met Taranza and Sectonia before the events of the game somehow. This theory is further backed up with the Old Friend mask in Merry Magoland. Magolor would HAVE to have known what Joronia looked like before her transformation, and that means he would also have met Taranza too at that time. I could be completely wrong about this HAHA but those are my thoughts on that.

When Wave 3 was announced, I didn't think much on the connection of the 3 characters other than they were from the first three core games of modern Kirby. But then they posted this art piece.

It's so cute how Magolor and Taranza combined their magic to create a shield for Kirby!! Both of their respective magic circle designs are melded together perfectly. Did they practice together on their own to perform this or was that a lucky in-the-moment occurrence? Either way, they must know and understand each other's magic abilities to a decent extent. Like how both Claire and Layton understands each other's careers and goals. Layton is a professor in archeology. Claire is a scientist researching time travel and other stuffs. Those fields go hand in hand, and the two do what they can to support and improve each other's passions.

Now onto the other characters that Taranza would've fit as and reasons why I ended up putting him as Claire.

So I put Sectonia as Descole. Descole has an extremely loyal partner/butler/henchman named Raymond. Yea Taranza would easily fit as him, but a few things made me decide not to. Descole may appear cold and not show it, but even in his madness he cares for Raymond. He does order Raymond around, but he still gives Raymond freewill to do as he pleases. Sectonia is very controlling over Taranza. If Raymond were to make mistakes, I don't see Descole punishing him for them. Sectonia would. She blasted Taranza away for mistaking Dedede as the hero of the lower world. Maybe when she was Joronia she wouldn't and wasn't as controlling but....I feel we don't have the full story on their relationship. I also focused more on Sectonia's overall in-game personality. I absolutely love seeing the two spiders enjoying each other's company and having fun, but in-game we never really got what Joronia really thought of Taranza. As Sectonia, she saw him as a disposable servant. You can say her personality was corrupted by the mirror, but I personally believe the mirror actually amplified her negative feelings and views. Negative emotions are brought up a lot in Kirby lore. I personally find that more interesting than just the mirror possessing her or something. I may be very wrong on that, but those are what I thought about.

Last reason, which is uhm, Raymond saves Descole from death FGDHSJ I don't think I need to elaborate on that. It would be so neat and ironic to have Taranza as Raymond, but I also wanna keep things in line as possible with Kirby lore canon.

Yet, who could be Raymond then? Idk fgdsj that's why I struggled so much. If Claire wasn't an option, Taranza would've been Raymond.

Now the one other character Taranza could've fit as is Descole's late wife. His wife was never mentioned by name, to my memory, and didn't have a huge role in the games. There's not enough information on who she was. I wanted to give Taranza a fitting role in personality and importance.

So in the end after all that thinking, Claire it is! I also don't know who else in the Kirby cast would fit her better and be Professor Magolor's late partner. One may think Susie would fit Claire more, but I've already decided she will be Emmy. Emmy's and Susie's personalities are very similar to me. And Emmy's lore? Fits quite well with Susie's. I'll draw that at some point.

So uh yea. Thanks for reading all that if you did! Hope you enjoyed the insanity

[smallchildyue]

So as always I was thinking about Soukoku and the whole "Dazai fell first but Chūya fell harder" ordeal.

Because, think about it : when they first met, their interactions made clear that they had about the same level of annoyance/disdain for each other, alright. But the thing is, while Chūya's quickly grew into full-on hatred (please please PLEASE go read this post by @sorcerersandskillusers on the topic it's brilliant), I don't believe it's the same for Dazai. On the contrary, I'd say he instead grew fond of Chūya, or at least found him amusing and or interesting enough that it cancelled his initial negative feelings.

Now Dazai being who he is (aka an emotionally repressed teenager to whom I don't think anyone had ever shown affection) of course he expressed it with all the subtlety of a preschool brat pulling the hair of that playmate he likes, but that's a whole other story.

[bright-eyed-dizzy]

i think people are too hard on anya (obviously) but especially on the whole “why become a nurse if you’re afraid of blood/ cant give a guy medication,” because that’s not what she can’t do. she more than likely never assumed any of her coworkers or FRIENDS for that matter would be in a state like curly’s. she hates to see someone she cared about and trusted in that much constant pain, and the reason she can’t bear to give him his medicine is because she knows how much it hurts him, and hearing her friend choke down and sob in agony is understandably very upsetting. sure she is sensitive but i honestly feel like people should be more empathetic towards that. idk. i’m sensitive, aubrey

[milkywayes]

interspecies awkwardness for breakfast a.k.a. 'I can't believe I made a comic'

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

ghost horses

GHORSES

[casscainmainly]

The Feelings About Dick Grayson Alignment Chart

Open to change.

[procrastiel]

My observations from the Good Omens fandom:

Fanart and fics that are from the time before the TV series (1990 - 2019): Az & Co love each other deeply and there are no labels. Their love is very chaste and they usually kiss only. Ace vibes.

Fanart and fics after GO S1 (2019 - 2023): Aziraphale is a babe, a softie, and Crowley is the strong protector. The only fanart where Crowley is the one holding Aziraphale in his arms is from this time period. Fics are often explicit, but it’s very balanced between top Crowley and Top Aziraphale. There is a lot of play with different genitalia, but the main focus is still the strong, intense, unbreakable bond between the two, which defies all human relationship labels.

Fanart and fics after GO S2 (Aug. 2023 - present): Crowley is the soft, whiny baby who needs protection. Most fanart depicts Aziraphale as the strong protector and Crowley as the fragile girlfriend behind him. Crowley is very often depicted with black nail polish & long hair, more feminine character traits, unless both characters are female. Most fics are explicit, and Aziraphale is dominating Crowley, Crowley is desperately looking for approval or being a total brat and making Aziraphale’s life a living hell after the final fifteen, pouting and being angry/resentful. The main focus in the fics in now the sex and sexual pleasure. Now there is also a lot more exploration of different AUs and incarnations e.g. Crowley is very often a snake, they are drawn as robots or mouse & rat, AUs for coffee shops, gardeners, priests etc.

I am not judging this trend in any way, but I personally prefer the depictions and interpretations during the S1 era, because they feel the most true to the source material of the TV show for me. I wonder if after S3 it will diverge even further or if it will circle back.

[cerealbishh]

"Good job, Aerith!" "It was nothing compared to you!" // "I'm so glad you're all okay!" "Right back atcha."

[deservedgrace]

There's also a reason I almost always say "harm" when talking about issues in the church and not "bigotry". Bigotry is part of harm, sure, but it isn't the whole picture.

I think sin doctrine is harmful. I think the concept of original sin is harmful. I think purity culture is harmful. I think hell doctrine is harmful. I think vertical morality is harmful. I think mandatory forgiveness is harmful. I think sin leveling is harmful. I think emotion and behavior and thought control are harmful. I think child indoctrination is harmful. I think believing you are separate from the world ("we're in the world not of the world") is harmful. I think isolating/insulating yourself from the world is harmful. I think believing this life is your "practice life" and your "real life" is in heaven is harmful. I think believing that you alone hold the one source of truth is harmful. I think spiritual bypassing is harmful. I think atonement theology is harmful. I think proselytizing is harmful. I think telling people that their thoughts, actions, emotions, beliefs are being monitored every second of every day is harmful. I think believing you are more knowledgeable than experts because you have an all knowing God on your side is harmful. I think believing you know other people's experiences better than they do because you have an all knowing God on your side is harmful. I think encouraging/requiring victims of abuse to put up with abuse because divorce is a sin is harmful. I think prioritizing faith over evidence is harmful.

I'm certainly missing things but this is long enough as is. And not every christian or church does or believes every single one of these, but none of these are one-off or two-off or even three-off things I've experienced. These are all patterns I've noticed.

So I find it odd that when I talk about harm within christianity, a lot of christians only hear "bigotry". And I also find sentiments along the lines of "it's not the doctrine it's the people carrying out the doctrine imperfectly" odd. Even if there were a church that was 100% bigotry free, addressing bigotry doesn't automatically address any of these other things. And I think that the harm christianity does goes far beyond bigotry. I think a lot of the harm is baked into it, baked right into the doctrine. Which means that for every person causing harm by carrying out the doctrine "incorrectly", there are just as many causing harm by carrying it out "correctly".

[demonlorddante]

spock chart that came to me in a vision

[hauntingofhouses]

Very interesting to me that a certain subset of the BES fandom's favourite iterations of Mizu and Akemi are seemingly rooted in the facades they have projected towards the world, and are not accurate representations of their true selves.

And I see this is especially the case with Mizu, where fanon likes to paint her as this dominant, hyper-masculine, smirking Cool GuyTM who's going to give you her strap. And this idea of Mizu is often based on the image of her wearing her glasses, and optionally, with her cloak and big, wide-brimmed kasa.

And what's interesting about this, to me, is that fanon is seemingly falling for her deliberate disguise. Because the glasses (with the optional combination of cloak and hat) represent Mizu's suppression of her true self. She is playing a role.

Take this scene of Mizu in the brothel in Episode 4 for example. Here, not only is Mizu wearing her glasses to symbolise the mask she is wearing, but she is purposely acting like some suave and cocky gentleman, intimidating, calm, in control. Her voice is even deeper than usual, like what we hear in her first scene while facing off with Hachiman the Flesh-Trader in Episode 1.

This act that Mizu puts on is an embodiment of masculine showboating, which is highly effective against weak and insecure men like Hachi, but also against women like those who tried to seduce her at the Shindo House.

And that brings me to how Mizu's mask is actually a direct parallel to Akemi's mask in this very same scene.

Here, Akemi is also putting up an act, playing up her naivety and demure girlishness, using her high-pitched lilted voice, complimenting Mizu and trying to make small talk, all so she can seduce and lure Mizu in to drink the drugged cup of sake.

So what I find so interesting and funny about this scene, characters within it, and the subsequent fandom interpretations of both, is that everyone seems to literally be falling for the mask that Mizu and Akemi are putting up to conceal their identities, guard themselves from the world, and get what they want.

It's also a little frustrating because the fanon seems to twist what actually makes Mizu and Akemi's dynamic so interesting by flattening it completely. Because both here and throughout the story, Mizu and Akemi's entire relationship and treatment of each other is solely built off of masks, assumptions, and misconceptions.

Akemi believes Mizu is a selfish, cocky male samurai who destroyed her ex-fiance's career and life, and who abandoned her to let her get dragged away by her father's guards and forcibly married off to a man she didn't know. on the other hand, Mizu believes Akemi is bratty, naive princess who constantly needs saving and who can't make her own decisions.

These misconceptions are even evident in the framing of their first impressions of each other, both of which unfold in these slow-motion POV shots.

Mizu's first impression of Akemi is that of a beautiful, untouchable princess in a cage. Swirling string music in the background.

Akemi's first impression of Mizu is of a mysterious, stoic "demon" samurai who stole her fiance's scarf. Tense music and the sound of ocean waves in the background.

And then, going back to that scene of them together in Episode 4, both Mizu and Akemi continue to fool each other and hold these assumptions of each other, and they both feed into it, as both are purposely acting within the suppressive roles society binds them to in order to achieve their goals within the means they are allowed (Akemi playing the part of a subservient woman; Mizu playing the part of a dominant man).

But then, for once in both their lives, neither of their usual tactics work.

Akemi is trying to use flattery and seduction on Mizu, but Mizu sees right through it, knowing that Akemi is just trying to manipulate and harm her. Rather than give in to Akemi's tactics, Mizu plays with Akemi's emotions by alluding to Taigen's death, before pinning her down, and then when she starts crying, Mizu just rolls her eyes and tells her to shut up.

On the opposite end, when Mizu tries to use brute force and intimidation, Akemi also sees right through it, not falling for it, and instead says this:

"Under your mask, you're not the killer you pretend to be."

Nonetheless, despite the fact that they see a little bit through each other's masks, they both still hold their presumptions of each other until the very end of the season, with Akemi seeing Mizu as an obnoxious samurai swooping in to save the day, and Mizu seeing Akemi as a damsel in distress.

And what I find a bit irksome is that the fandom also resorts to flattening them to these tropes as well.

Because Mizu is not some cool, smooth-talking samurai with a big dick sword as Akemi (and the fandom) might believe. All of that is the facade she puts up and nothing more. In reality, Mizu is an angry, confused and lonely child, and a masterful artist, who is struggling against her own self-hatred. Master Eiji, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

And Akemi, on the other hand, is not some girly, sweet, vain and spoiled princess as Mizu might believe. Instead she has never cared for frivolous things like fashion, love or looks, instead favouring poetry and strategy games instead, and has always only cared about her own independence. Seki, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

But neither is she some authoritative dominatrix, though this is part of her new persona that she is trying to project to get what she wants. Because while Akemi is willful, outspoken, intelligent and authoritative, she can still be naive! She is still often unsure and needs to have her hand held through things, as she is still learning and growing into her full potential. Her new parental/guardian figure, Madame Kaji, knows this as well.

So with all that being said, now that we know that Mizu and Akemi are essentially wearing masks and putting up fronts throughout the show, what would a representation of Mizu's and Akemi's true selves actually look like? Easy. It's in their hair.

This shot on the left is the only time we see Mizu with her hair completely down. In this scene, she's being berated by Mama, and her guard is completely down, she has no weapon, and is no longer wearing any mask, as this is after she showed Mikio "all of herself" and tried to take off the mask of a subservient housewife. Thus, here, she is sad, vulnerable, and feeling small (emphasised further by the framing of the scene). This is a perfect encapsulation of what Mizu is on the inside, underneath all the layers of revenge-obsession and the walls she's put around herself.

In contrast, the only time we Akemi with her hair fully down, she is completely alone in the bath, and this scene takes place after being scorned by her father and left weeping at his feet. But despite all that, Akemi is headstrong, determined, taking the reigns of her life as she makes the choice to run away, but even that choice is reflective of her youthful naivety. She even gets scolded by Seki shortly after this in the next scene, because though she wants to be independent, she still hasn't completely learned to be. Not yet. Regardless, her decisiveness and moment of self-empowerment is emphasised by the framing of the scene, where her face takes up the majority of the shot, and she stares seriously into the middle distance.

To conclude, I wish popular fanon would stop mischaracterising these two, and flattening them into tropes and stereotypes (ie. masculine badass swordsman Mizu and feminine alluring queen but also girly swooning damsel Akemi), all of which just seems... reductive. It also irks me when Akemi is merely upheld as a love interest and romantic device for Mizu and nothing more, when she is literally Mizu's narrative foil (takes far more narrative precedence over romantic interest) and the deuteragonist of this show. She is her own person. That is literally the theme of her entire character and arc.

[avelera]

This is obviously my personal opinion, but my one hot take about fem!Jayce is that I see a lot of takes where fem Jayce is butch, even though Jayce even as a man is not butch. Jayce is clean-cut and a people pleaser who is trying to look socially acceptable for his billionaire patron and society in general. It's not that he doesn't have vanity, but his specific style of grooming and dress tells me a different story, personally.

1 ) First, take Jayce's two outfits we ever see him wearing in S1. He has 1) His Academy Uniform and 2) His House Colors. That's it. He is either presenting himself as a member of academia, which has a distinct Piltover uniform, or as a representative of his family's name and legacy. Jayce presents himself specifically as a particular flavor of, "What a nice young man!"

2 ) Jayce keeps his hair neatly cropped short and shaves every day, we can tell he does because he has a five o clock shadow he can't get rid of but it never grows beyond that until he's trapped in the future. This, to me, isn't vanity or at least it's not individualistic vanity. This is the patented, "What a nice young man!" haircut that a lot of guys who don't otherwise care about their appearance default to, ie, regular barber visits and wearing a suit, always being well groomed. He's not a jock, he's a choir boy.

Basically, my take on fem!Jayce would be in line with this. That would mean fem!Jayce would have:

Muscles. Yes, obviously, you can't be Jayce without them and fem Jayce works in the forge too. But it's a popular misconception that strong women are always butch or buff or that weight training bulks you up as a woman. It doesn't, not unless you deliberately pursue that look, it actually slims you down and means you leaner for the most part. In my mind, fem!Jayce is just as muscled as Vi but like Vi, that doesn't mean she's bulky.

Fem!Jayce is trying to be socially acceptable. That means, fem!Jayce dresses feminine and probably "preppy" by our standards. As we see time and again, Piltover has a surprisingly strict gender expression divide, it puts its women in dresses and skirts, even its Enforcer women, just look at Caitlyn's first uniform! For fem!Jayce again, think perfect Catholic choir girl, professional but demur dresses, possibly covering up the forge muscles and the breadth of her shoulders with long sleeved cuts (Jayce always wears his suits buttoned to the wrist and throat, and he doesn't show skin except in the forge, think fem!Jayce in a sports bra only while working there). I genuinely think you'd see fem!Jayce in a lot of skirts and dresses to play up her femininity, likely in House Talis white and as a student always wearing her perfectly maintained school uniform. Again, think the good Catholic schoolgirl look, because the good Catholic schoolboy is actually closest to how Jayce presents as a student.

For hair, think the perfect preppy feminine image, shoulder-length, well-maintained hair with a slight wave in it from a daily blowout, tasteful understated makeup, nails always clean and perhaps painted specifically to hide traces of grime from the forge. This isn't about individuality it's about the Socially Acceptable Ideal and fem!Jayce is being a good respectable girl for her widowed mother and so she can keep her billionaire patrons happy and pursue her dream of Hextech.

Anyway, there I go rambling again and because I'm not an artist I can only describe it and not draw the vision lol. But personally, I see fem!Jayce as more Wicked's Glinda than blacksmith or jock, because Jayce doesn't present as a blacksmith except in private or as a jock ever, and he's a nice boy raised by a single mother and wants to make her and his patrons proud so he can pursue his dream.

He's also likely the first of his family to go to the Academy, "nothing much was expected of him" so that also adds pressure to conform to a "Nice Young Man" image and I think fem!Jaye would also present as the "Nice Young Lady" preppy, feminine version of that image.

[copperrook]

Eugene? Twogene? Redgene? Bluegene?

I care not who he is, I want his robe.

So I made a pattern breakdown.

And honestly it looks simple enough to make, so I'm making it.

Edit: i made it.

[thewildwoodpigeon]

Might be a semi-controversial opinion but i dont like it when thoschei is written with the master constantly being cruel to the doctor and the doctor just lying down and accepting it. Yeah it may have some basis in canon (The master canonically targeting earth just to piss of the earth) but not only does it 1. leave a sort of bad taste in my mouth 2. the main appeal of thoschei to me is what it was introduced as, as an incredibly violent "game" the both of them play. and 3. I think the Doctor needs to bash more peoples skulls in with rocks (Read: the Master lol).

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Unsolved Mysteries.

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