#I absolutely love their character designs here

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 5 part 1

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1])

in which I FINALLY get to episode 5 Darkest Hour/Wake Thy Power

oh wow this is legit the first time I see the Salem Seven's face makeup, a world is revealed every time I brighten a scene.

jen with her leaf mask. sweet baby alice with her hands tucked between her knees

rio just squatting there watching everybody else sleep. agatha nowhere to be found, because after what happened with rio she had to be dramatic and sleep on her lonesome

doesn't rio just like to torment lilia? just a little bit? keep her on her toes for shit and giggles? she would not be above sneaking behind her at night and going boo! in her ear

rio: I'm so fucking angry at agatha.

also rio: okay she might have killed the whole salem coven but her mother was a humongous piece of shit so let's jot that down real quick. just so we are all on the same page

jen: look here girl I'm not being dragged in the agatha harkness defense squad just because you two smashed

alice is STILL the only adult in the room

agatha always had a soft spot for children

lmao she was absolutely listening from behind a tree trunk, waiting for the perfect moment to make her clown entrance

kathryn hahn was given a swooshy coat and by god she's gonna make it swoosh every chance she gets

I love shots where they're all together because that's some excellent costumes and character designs. look at all the silhouettes silhouetting.

rio is ready to cut a bitch. "but rio you're the natural order of things you're not supposed to intervene and harm-" AGATHA IS IN DANGER. NEXT QUESTION

everybody being like no ew we're not using brooms!! meanwhile rio is going AW YASS BROOMSTICKS

lilia I adore you but also time and place, time and place

agatha making a pretty leafy broom for rio

rio making a cool butchy broom for agatha

"pro te delecta aperio via" for you my beloved I open the way???? WHO IS COMING UP WITH THESE SPELLS I JUST WANT TO TALK

lilia is pissed because she put lil flowers on jen's broom! why didn't SHE get flowers too, jen???

tfw you just had a fight with your ex so you have no choice but to look at them wistfully from behind a broomstick

selflessness? the iRONY

they brush hands and she SNAPS it away. clown behavior! clown!!!!!

LET'S GO LESBIANS LET'S GOOO

awwwww alice made a broom for billy and she's being shy about it

no transformation from actual owl to owl makeup because we're running on vibes and zero cgi budget

alice has a big stick!!! alice SMASH!!!!!!

aubrey skipping along pretending to fly lmaoooo

look at the athletic gesture

this is so grainy, they really had no budget. only a lot of heart.

and I just covered a whole 5 minutes of show. I'll never see the end of this

go to episode 5 part 2

[eldritch-spouse]

I'd like to send a formal apology to Morell, Obie and Zizz for how quickly and effortlessly Tristalis was able to steal their spots in my heart.

Like low-key, Tristalis sounds like the best choice out of all your characters regarding like romantic situations. It could be because we haven't been exposed to his darker traits, but it just seems so far like he's just so sweet but confused regarding like human customs. I just want to cuddle up with him and smother all three of his heads with love and affection.

and the fact that he makes stuffed animals? My biggest comfort item and like just a big love language of mine? As soon as he gives me that stuffed animal on that bus I'm here blushing and crushing immediately.

How would Tristalis react to a romantic interest who gets all giddy and flustered when he gifted them the stuffed animal. Like they're immediately smiling all wide and hugging the stuffed animal to their chest? Just absolutely fawning over it, even tho he can't understand anything they're saying he can practically see the hearts in their eyes.

He's my husband now, he's got no choice- he's gonna be walking down the aisle in a wedding dress by next week. >:(

[Imagine getting mogged by Tristalis rsrsrs. He can be decidedly scary, but he's more permissive than a few of the monsters here.]

Tristalis has had positive reactions to people who see his plushies. Many have come up to him to buy them without the monster even having to do much of anything except rearrange them in public. He's flexible with prices, but not someone who can be scammed easily- Because, even if he's not well-versed in surface customs, he knows the basics of plenty of currencies. Sometimes a child will try to trade a plush for something rather inadequate, and if Tristalis is in a good mood, he'll just give a plush away for a bag of candies.

The only adult Tristalis has ever given plushies to is you. And Lords, does your reaction have him glowing.

He'd been scheming which one you might like best, mostly based on what you were wearing or the color of your eyes and hair. To know that he hit the nail right on the head has him sighing audibly. The Starbeast may not be fluent in your language, but the beam of your smile and the shine of your eyes is all the answer he needs to clap to himself in happiness.

The problem here is that Tristalis is excitable.

He sees you hugging the stuffed plush to yourself and suddenly wants to ramble, mixing words up in an attempt to talk, to let you know more about his crafts.

At some point he just gives up on words altogether, all three heads bobbing occasionally with glee as he shows you other plushies, gives you skeins of yarn to feel and even requests your opinion on possible designs he poorly sketched (drawing is not in his deck of skills, for sure).

Depending on how receptive you are to Tristalis' attention, he may get immediately sidetracked and just follow you around like a lovesick puppy. He can even make smaller things if it guarantees you'll look at him with the same amount of awe you did before.

[ramshacklefey]

All of this, and some more thoughts:

First, just to be clear, nothing here is disagreeing with you at all op, especially not saying you shouldn't love and enjoy the designs that speak to you. I'd just like to expand on your ideas with some thoughts I've had about masc Murderbot designs, why people make them, and maybe some more ideas about what bothers people about them.

One of the reasons I find this trend interesting is that it runs counter to the very common trend of assuming that genderless/agender = woman lite. But the majority of Murderbot designs I've seen don't fit that mold. So, why is this that?

A couple things may go into it:

Both versions of the audiobooks have MB narrated by a man with a relatively low voice. For people (even trans people!), the immediate association there is with a man/masculine character, even if those people would never say that, eg, a trans woman with a deep voice is less of a woman for it.

(And this may be an even bigger element for a lot of people) Murderbot's personality and the role it plays in the story both fit a stereotypical mold for male characters. It's snarky, emotionally constipated, a bit of a loner, physically powerful, and does a lot of combat. Don't get me wrong here! I'm not saying that any of those things are inherently masculine, just that they are traits that are, in conventional storytelling and most of the media that people have experience with, almost exclusively given to men. Even if a woman/nonbinary person has those traits, they're usually portrayed visually as very masculine or those things are set up as being deeply incongruous with their appearance. (This one is especially apparent in the hmmm... less trans focused... segments of the fandom where, you may have noticed, people have an (infuriating) tendency to misgender MB as he/him, but I have yet to hear someone refer to it as "she.")

And so, to a lot of people, Murderbot immediately reads as masculine, even though there is nothing about any of the stuff above that is inherently tied to being masc/a man.

Now, I am in complete agreement with OP here that this is all absolutely fine! More masc nonbinary or agender characters is a fantastic thing that we need in media.

Simultaneously, we could also use more characters who are not masc in appearance who have those same traits! And for people who really want to see more of that, especially to see themselves reflected in that way, the majority of Murderbot designs being masc can be frustrating. A lot of people have similarly expressed a strong desire to have a version of the audiobooks read by someone with a different sort of voice, and I think that would be excellent as well.

All of that being said, we can and should 100% focus on uplifting and appreciating all these different artists and their ideas! This is a character who means so much to so many people in so many different ways, and as a fandom we have so so so much space to create and celebrate that diversity (with all the characters tbh. Martha Wells, intentionally or not, gave us such a gift by not describing anyone's appearance in any amount of detail).

(Ok, last note here: I am using the terms "masc" and such in a way that references the way that people in general perceive things, not as an absolute statement about what things actually are. Just to be clear there).

Okay so, I've been sitting on if i should make this post or not for a while but with some of the tags I saw on a recent post mentioning the same thing, I decided to go ahead and say my piece: in my own words:

I've seen some posts in the main tags essentially saying something to the effect of "why do people always draw MB as masculine and not androgynous"

As someone who, like Murderbot, does not have a gender (rather, in my case, associate with one) this always rubs me the wrong way and makes me feel a bit bad about my own identity, which suck because to me, this fandom is a safe space to speak of gender, sexuality and a slew of other things. Like I said, I am gnc, afab in fact; but I look like a guy, I like looking like a guy, I actively try to look like a guy... but i am not a guy. I dont feel like a guy, i just like looking like one. That doesn't mean my identity as a nonbinary/gnc person is suddenly erased because I don't fall under your narrow minded idea that all nonbinary/gnc people need to be androgynous.

I don't owe you perfect androgyny, no one owes you any level of androgyny.

MB is a fictional character with next to no physical descriptions; its not hurting anyone if someone sees it/draws it as masculine or even feminine. You don't get to dictate how people see it, especially when they base it's appearance on themselves

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

So, uh, Gotham by Gaslight, huh

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018)

[fl00mie]

honestamente, no sé

to prevent confusions i'm giving credits of every fankid in order (starting with the tall one)

layden (fresh x ink fankid) by @/sugary-alienn dot (cross x ink fankid) by @/yo-honne abstract (reaper x ink fankid) by CATA-824 on wattpad gradient (error x ink fankid) by @/askcomboclub paper jam (error x ink fankid) by @/7goodangel palette (dream x ink fankid) by @/angeutblogo blueprint (swap x ink fankid) by @/pepper-mint aiden (zack x ink fankid) by ariscastleart

[bixels]

What did/do you like about Pharah?

Uh, gameplay-wise, I really love characters in shooters who rely on three-dimensional movement techs. Chaining together hover and jump to stay in the air for as long as possible and keep momentum is so satisfying, and picking enemies off from the sky made me feel like a bird of prey. I was a good Pharah main.

Story-wise, there unfortunately isn't much to canonically go off because Pharah is so underutilized and neglected. Her personality's pretty boilerplate "heroic hero" (she's literally inspired by Captain America).

But it's the crumbs/bits and pieces that I really latched onto. Pharah's a confirmed lesbian; her short story with Baptiste implies she harbors a crush on Mercy (fucking thank you.). She's biracial Egyptian/First Nations. She has major mommy issues, having grown up both admiring and resenting Ana. She's the bridge between Old Overwatch, inspired by the idealized heroes who surrounded her childhood, and New Overwatch. She's one of the only inter-generational characters in the cast; someone whose experiences span the gap, which is why I seriously believe Pharah would make a great main character.

There isn't much to go off of, though; she's a very uncomplicated character (she's a soldier for a private military corporation, lol.). But that just means she's a blank slate character, so I've seen fanfic writers run wild and create some really interesting takes on her. My favorite interpretation of her's a dense, herbo gym-bro type (a lot of her liens are about work outs, exercising, and playing sports) who's easily excitable under her seemingly self-serious, armored visage. We see how she tends to gloat and hype herself up when she's on a streak too, so Pharah definitely has a competitive and boastful side under her more professional and militant performance.

Now Mercy? Mercy is a real complex character.

[airawisteria]

[ID: A digital drawing of Tamarack Baumann, specifically her step 3 design. The version drawn is the long haired one with a braid in her hair that has a red ribbon in it. She is wearing a mushroom themed dress with mushroom earrings. She is holding up the ends of the skirt part of the dress to show it off. She has a close eyed smile and is wearing red lipstick.]

[ducktracy]

I NEVER POSTED THIS but in April i made a favorite character bingo for fun. some spaces i feel i was just trying to find something to fill in but i think this accurately reflects my tastes

alternative:

[ujungfairy]

I love this mentally unwell lesbian, she's like my kindred spirit🫶🏽💖.

[biblically-accurate-dca]

these are all kind of Bad but this was the best of the bunch so i am posting it :p

i've been trying to draw vanessa more... she is so important to me... sun is here too i guess

[enhanced-operatives-division]

Roxana Prism before Pride Month is over

[remxedmoon]

first attack of the year!! attack on @lucky-slime!

[r-aindr0p]

Priests, nuns and vampires because I can

They are all dating

More of em under the cut !

[rubynymphyy]

Pokeddexy Day 25: Legendary 🌟

The Gambler (any pronouns), naughty. Doesn't come out into reality much so he doesn't bother with fitting in (unlike... the lake trio). Uses proxies for almost everything... is she actually a shut in? It's probably a sore loser, so watch out!

agonized over whether the back bustle/skirt was necessary for an hour so here they are without it:

she’s wearing some sort of big collar that covers her neck and shoulders, I think? seeing its face would absolutely smite you from the face of this earth. design definitely going to get some reworking in the future but thats all for today folks!

[mo-ok]

everyone: let me see what you have Sosuke: a knife! everyone: NO

[fishpea]

this is my lady— Enigma 🫶