#I’m also working on an animatic but it’s more like. my work. more original. yeah.

[drowsybluesheep]

Kaomisa

[rainbowchibbit]

For your poll about SoulFell options:

Coward, write the rest as a fic.

In reality anything is great, in a perfect world it would be a comic like the original but alas. Capitalism and burnout exist. My sympathies, and i hope to see more of it some day: your work is AMAZING, but we have to remember the wellbeing of the artist is priority :)

Perhaps if you wanted to do a comic but felt The Agonies, a really rough sketching of whatever quality you felt like comic would be good?

Mate, id be chill with stick figures. I just need more Angst and Closure UWU

LMAO LISTEN I actually considered adding a fic as an option but uh that’d probably also take a considerable amount of effort that I just don’t have in me right now KNDJFBDKDBXKG

Yeah maybe little rough sketch pages could happen and I DO still have the animatics I wanted to do in my head and I think I’m still gonna try and do one or two of those…

BUT I think I’ll get the rest of the story out there in some form first and then go back and do more art for it as I’m able.

[it-meant-nothing]

Hi @superherotiger , this is a reply to your reblog on the dadneto and quickson poll… I wanted to make another reblog but I realized that it’s someone else’s post and the thread is getting long 😅 So yeah, this is my reply:

THIS IS SO AMAZING! I LOVE IT SOOO MUCH!! I have watched this animatic before and I understood it a lot more with your narrative. Thank you very much for sharing that! I find it so endearing that Peter and Erik were always destined to meet no matter what timeline!! And ohmygod, Erik imprisoned for 24 years? Poor man. Never gets a break! And then Wanda, is once again, dead😭 I mean, I imagine her dead too most of the time because Fox didn’t show us their version of Wanda. Peter finally telling Erik he’s his son and that they team up against the sentinels but alas!!!! The curse against Erik’s family struck once again 😭 AND IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL HOW ERIK MADE A PIECE OF ROSE FROM HIS HELMET. I’M LITERALLY CRYING RIGHT NOWWWW! Aaaaa, I wish you continue the fic! I’d love to see Logan telling Erik in dofp that the child who broke him out IS HIS SONNNNN! Weirdly enough, I don’t see much fanfics where it’s Logan who told Erik… I wonder whyyyy.

I really love your animatics so much 😭 THEY GIVE ME LIFE. AND YOUR FICS TOOOOOO!!! I love all of your works, I hope you never stop making them 😭

Well then, speaking about first fics! I’m not sure if you’re interested but since you shared, I wanted to share as well! I wrote my first fic about them 2 years ago too!!!! It’s an AU with no magic because I really found Peter’s speed abilities very hard to write. I know there’s a lot more mutants more powerful than him but like… if he’s faster than most of them then they wouldn’t have much time to react, right? So yeah, I decided to write an AU without powers… In that AU, Peter is a very young kid who always annoys Erik in the library while Erik, in his mind, just goes like ‘where is this kid’s parents?’ But in the end, he started to appreciate Peter’s company. I never did publish it though because till now, I still don’t know how to do the big revelation. (Maybe this is why Fox didn’t do the reveal? Because they didn’t know how?!?! Anyways, who cares. I still hate them for doing that.)

And another fic I wrote about them also 2 years ago!! I included Wanda in this one! The first few chapters focused on Peter’s insecurities because he always thought that Wanda is the ‘better twin’ and that everyone likes her more including their father. Erik is not aware of this thinking but he always makes sure to devote his time equally to the twins. There’s a bit of unspoken strain in Peter and Wanda’s relationship too despite them being close. It all stemmed from their late mother. Since Wanda thought that Peter didn’t save their mother on purpose; while Peter was a bit jealous of Wanda since she always had Magda’s attention. And then, the main plot comes in! MCU Wanda really had to ruin everything and take Peter away from them. But since X-Men Wanda and Peter’s relationship isn’t the best, there’s an uncertainty if Peter would even want to come home considering that MCU Wanda treats him so well 🥺 But yeah, we all know nothing is gonna stop Erik from bringing his son back 🫣 I actually published this fic! The first few chapters, I mean… It originally focused on MCU Wanda and Peter’s relationship but I’ve decided to focus on dadneto when I do get the time to work on it again hehe. I might add it in the House of Dadneto collections if it runs again! 🤩

It’s this fic if you’re curious!

[ashbeanss]

I’d never heard of precious jewel armor before reading your post talking about c!wilbur songs and now I’m listening to these songs and doing a thousand yard stare into the distance coping with all these emotions, GREAT artist thank you for the inadvertent recommendation!

ofc man! there are a few other dsmp musicians that i always think about: (this will be long check under the cut)

amanda fagan made some of the very first songs for a few characters, most notably her ‘take you down’ for quackity, ‘bittersweet’ for jack manifold, and ‘promises you couldn’t keep’ for niki. i will be very blunt, i do not like how she writes wilbur, and i would not recommend her wilbur songs, but ‘take you down’ is still the best written quackity song out there, and ‘bittersweet’ is incredible. do check out her work.

kanaya is a name most people have heard before but i need you all to listen to a song that is not marionettes or violence because guys. guys my god. yeah ‘i’ll let it burn’ is alright whatever have you heard ‘november 16th’? have you heard ‘us against the world’? please. i love her work. she did a collab with precious jewel amor where she wrote tommy’s song and precious wrote tubbo’s, they’re both great. ‘little hero’ is gorgeous. if i don’t think about ‘no reprise’ it can’t hurt me.

kroh made the ranboo song of all time and i will forever be greatful for that. go listen to ‘typical me’, amazing song, ‘hush’ is cool too. oh yeah kroh also made ‘mr bones’. i guess. but who gives a shit about ‘mr bones’ when ‘typical me’ is so good, you have to believe me. ‘home’ is also really good and way more underrated than ‘typical me’ so you should listen to it as well, more even.

candlebard only made two dream smp songs. and one of them is a dream song. that i haven’t listened to. but i would be fucking wrong if i didn’t tell you about ‘disappear’. oh my god ‘disappear’. i could write essays on this song. i love it so much. it is the c!wilbur song of all time, nothing will ever get him like ‘disappear’. it has everything, seasonal metaphors, an empathetic perspective on wilbur’s fall into destruction, incredible music. that’s all you need to make me happy really. this song has less than 200k views and that’s a crime. go listen to it please.

cjack, like candlebard, only made two dream smp songs, and i have only listened to one of them, but i physically couldn’t not bring up ‘phantom feelings’. it’s so important to me. no ghostbur song is like ‘phantom feelings’ i’m telling you. go listen to it, every other ghostbur song will be ruined for you forever. you will never be able to appreciate ‘blue’ by derivakat again because you will know there is better. and you have heard it.

hatorbee is a musician i’ve literally never seen anybody talk about but i needed to bring them up because they’ve made? so many songs? and to be very frank with you, are they all great? no. like musically some of these songs are not the best, but fuck damnit they should write poetry. also they get these characters more than some songs that sound amazing so. you win some you lose some. ‘one more dance’ was a core part of my dsmp phase and also the only skephalo song i’ve ever heard and the only reason i gave a shit about them. the timing is weird, the vocal performance isn’t perfect and is mixed strangely, but you can feel the passion oozing out of it. they also made the only karlnapity song with precious jewel amor and winks, and it’s kind of incredible? i might cry? also lies in the letters is very good wilbur characterisation. i’m giving it a strong stamp of approval.

bonus: ‘the mad king wilbur’ was deleted in it’s original video form recently but the topic reupload and an animatic still exist. watch one of them, the song is incredible and gorgeous. also not fansongs but cyborg blood’s crimeboys animatics make me very emotional and you should watch them specifically their ‘by your hand’ wilbur animatic.

thanks for reading my essay. have a good day. listen to los campesinos!

[zabala0z]

I NEED TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR OPTIONS OF MUSICALS RN RN RN

IM GONNA ASSUME YOU MEANT OPINIONS SO LEMME LIST ALL MUSICALS IM AWARE OF AND MY OPINIONS.

Warning: rant ahead

Be More Chill: currently what I’m obsessed with at the moment. I get why people don’t like it but it’s just very charming to me okay 😭 I just think the characters are fun, the concept is interesting and the songs are just bangers. And maybe I slightly relate to it okay. The costumes are…questionable. But I think it’s super colorful which I love. My dream role is Christine. She is literally me.

Beetlejuice: this is what me and my oldest sister bonded over when she was always hiding in her room cause she was so introverted. We used to watch the animatics and we would sing “say my name”. So I only have good memories! We even planned to see it on Broadway except COVID happened abd it closed so :( but I love Beetlejuice and the songs!

Into The Woods: THIS IS WHAT GOT ME INTO MUSICALS. I remember I would rewatch the 2014 version constantly and sing the songs. Little red riding hood is my fav and always will be and “Your Fault” is just *chefs kiss* yes.

Sound of Music: I performed in this in 3rd grade at my older sisters high school. Now this was fun. I didn’t really get the concept of nazis so I was just like “why is Leisels boyfriend now evil :(“ so uh yeah- but really good musical!!

Hairspray: the songs are a bop and seaweed was my favorite.

Heathers: I’ve never watched the original movie but I have seen clips. Songs are great!! I always liked the costumes, even if they are stagnant throughout the whole show. My friend got into it so now I’m getting back into it. I remember I loved the animatics, even though I didn’t know what was going on half the time.

Dear Evan Hansen: ….okay. I remember I was super into the animatics. But then I learned the plot and was like: 😨 so

Hamilton: my oldest sister was super into it and I remember 6 year old me asked her “so what’s it about?” While we were driving to nyc and got a very long summary. I also used to watch many animatics and szinn was my fav. I do actually like it. I think it’s a bold concept that somehow worked and LMM did a great job at utilizing RAP and THE FOUNDING FATHERS.

Wicked: so I actually saw this on Broadway when I was 6 and I completely forgot everything. But I do remember when Glinda came down in those bubbles and I thought that was the coolest thing ever.

Theory Of Relativity: a modern musical that my school actually did a production of. Super fun! It’s a song cycle which I’m not super into but I liked the songs.

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: not Broadway but god DID I LOVE THIS. The characters are super interesting, I love the idea of a musical apocalypse. The fact every song was a “villain song” was so cool and the jokes killed me.

Nerdy Prudes Must Die: I love a good ol underdogs rise up story. Until the underdogs commit a felony <3 i feel like there would be no songs I would skip except “dirty girl” just cause…yeah. But I absolutely loved the characters! I thought Ruth and Richie deserved better. Grace is crazy but girl really was all, “It was an act of god!! 😇” NO IT WASNT.

Anyways. That’s everything. I love musicals. I think they’re very nice and I seriously wanna act in more

[theartfulv]

The Making Of My Lockwood & Co. Animatic!

Some people wanted to know about the process on Discord (and I’ve said most of this on there though I think this will be a little more coherent) but I thought maybe the lovely folks on here might be interested too!

This will probably be quite long so bare with (it was over a month of my life 😂)

maybe I’ll be cool and split this into sections

The Beginning/ Scripting Phase

Originally I’d planned for it to focus solely on George and the bone glass, so all of The Whispering Skull, and scripted as such.

(If you want to see the first rendition let me know I’ve still got it all saved 👀)

Generally when I approach lyric based projects I copy down the lyrics, separate them into sections and then write a description of what I want to happen on each line with camera angles and any general cinematography or editing notes.

(I will say though I’ve switched to writing on top of my music file so I can describe everything to the beat and see the timing of each sequence)

So after planning it all out, collecting screenshot references, making numerous Pinterest boards and the thumbnail… I scrapped it.

Peak planning on my end. 🫠 So I scripted the second rendition which was a total of…

Yeah…. That’s it. That is all I scripted and just made sequences up as I went along! Though I did take heavy reference from my original script for the bone glass sequence.

As you can see it was to a completely different section of the song and some of it differs from the final, i.e I didn’t end up using a canted angle in this sequence or any shallow focus.

The Boarding Process

Again I made up sequences as I went! So I started with the beginning for once?! Drawing in Sketchbook Pro and editing the frames together using HitFilm.

(FLASH WARNING)

I planned it so I’d spend half of my time on rough boarding and the other half on finalising it, so 8 seconds per day, which is a lot of work and can range from anywhere between 2hrs and 8hrs… commitment 💪

I did the majority of it during my Christmas break but other than that I just worked on it whenever I wasn’t at college.

So this is what all of my original boards looked like!

Anyway! Onto the first dilemma… The Bone Glass.

After boarding about 20 seconds of the start and one Combe Carey frame (the outside of the hall) I decided to work on the Bone Glass section, originally I’d planned for all the 7 spirits the fly into the frame and merge together to create the bone glass that didn’t happen… but I was inspired by kaleidoscopes and thought that’d be cool too. So I attempted to create that sequence and it was so stressful 😂

Somehow I miraculously figured out how to spin all the different layers in different directions and then inverted each one every second alternating! Then I had to export the file and put it into my actual Animatic which HitFilm did not like at all…

Eventually I managed to export it and that allowed me to zoom out/cut outwards whilst the sections were moving and inverting and then I created the second section with the spiral which HitFilm also did not appreciate so I had to make the file much smaller but I think it worked out anyway!

Then I continued to work out of order…

I did parts of Combe Carey (which is actually quite different from the final version) and then got to work on my favourite sequence!

(Or rest of the sequence) George’s section/ The Bone Glass, and just had this image mixing the original papers taped up in his room with a suspect board, I had visions of Roxanne in Megamind working out Megamind’s next plan/ superhero Titan and the intro of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

I think I’m always very heavily influenced by other media and material and thought it’d be a fun nod to some of my previous hyperfixations.

And I think this is when my plan of ‘do the rough half first then the final half later’ failed… because I finalised all of these frames before even finishing the rest of the roughs 😭

At this point it was about the 27th December and I had about a minute of footage.

After that I realised that I actually had total creative freedom and that’s when I did the first half of the Combe Carey sequence with Annabel’s shadow and the Red Room door!

This then led me to take much more liberty with the rest of the animatic including Annabel hovering over Lucy, The Spiral Section of The Screaming Staircase and The Monks!

Throughout this project I studied so many different pieces of concept art and different storyboards, beats and random animatics to gain insight and inspiration which led me to create a new Pinterest board!!! 🥳

Then…

Disaster struck (except it didn’t but it felt like it)

My PC decided to stop working… then… My GPU broke!?!

Yeah… so no drawing for me!

Oh and all of my files turned blue!!!

Somehow I managed to transfer all of my files onto another family member’s PC who thankfully let me draw on it for the foreseeable/ until it was done (absolute legend) but I’d still lost 3 days working time… which at this point was the equivalent of 24 seconds… and it was not looking good for me and the deadline.

In my head I just had to finish it for the anniversary of the show.

But life went on and so did my college work aka. I had exam week… yeah did I revise for it… (the answer is very little but I actually was only 2 marks of an A so I think that I was pretty iconic) and I also planned all of my coursework (due on the 29th… yikes). But I did it!!!

Then I had a power cut…

But it was okay!!! And I finished it (had to do 14 seconds worth of work on the day of but I finished it!!)! There were a lot of sequences that I’d had to cut or shorten which I’m not too happy about but I finished it!!!

And I guess that’s it really!

As a final thing I thought I’d share a few of my favourite frames :)

That’s All!! If you’d have any questions or thoughts let me know!!!

I LOVE YOU LOCKNATION 😭😭😭

[venoumousbunni]

Hear me out: ACOTAR Band AU

The courts are now seperate bands and the high lords are the leads of said bands (ex. Rhys’ band is called Court of Dreams)

Court of Dreams plays metal and grunge, Rhys is lead vocals (until Feyre joins) and also plays guitar, Cassian is on drums, Azriel is bass guitar, and Mor is rhythm guitar. Amren occasionally plays the electric keyboard but she’s more into managing the band.

When Feyre joins she takes on lead vocals, Rhys teaches her to play his guitar for when they switch positions or if they perform vocals together. For her first performance she sings According To You (animatic in the works, trying to teach myself to do this shit first)

Tamlin’s band, Spring Court (I’m really original in know lol), is him on the flute, no guitar cause he can’t find the g-string. Lucien is on acoustic guitar, and Ianthe joins later on Bongos. His band is small and turns into a solo act cause no one fucking likes him.

When Feyre was with him, he put her on the Tambourine.

The only other court I figured out was Autumn which is literally a boy band. Beron is too much of an old shit bag so he manages a boy band, it’s just his sons. Lucien left, but yes, Lucien was part of it.

Oh and Nesta joins Court of Dreams band and takes over the electric keyboard and writes the most metal ass pieces for the band.

Elain is on triangle. No one knows where the fuck she got the triangle from though….

OH OH, BEAT PART—-

Amarantha is a failed solo artist who kept the bands captive and made them endure her one woman shows. She’s definitely sung Chicago (Victorious version)

So umm yeah, if anyone wants to add onto my AU, I’m all ears

Note: I kinda want my AU to have everyone non magical and normal n’ shit… idk how I feel about that yet though

Also I’m still on Wings and Ruin so no spoilers plz

[sweetlywingedcreation]

Hi! 🙂

Ok, now I need to see Benny, or to know more about Benny and the time loop...

OH BOY!! You have no idea what you have just unleashed :}

Okay so Benny is from my original story Time and Again which I have been working on for about a year? Maybe 2? I haven’t made very much progress but I have a vague idea of where it’s going?

Anyway.

TaA is about Prince Benjamin of the White Pine Kingdom who’s on his way to his 8th (iirc) betrothal hearing (man has been rejected once a year for 7 years…). He’s accompanied by his Knight and Guard Sir Aspen of the Glade who at one point was his best friend until they both became to busy with their duties. Aspen came back into his life when they were both 18 and he was stationed as one of the prince’s main guards but their relationship was never as close as it once was.

Now they’re 25 and have no idea how to talk to each other without an underlying sense of awkward professionalism.

On their way to the meeting, they’re attacked by a group of lizard men with smokey eyes who take out a bunch of their men. Aspen is able to take them down but ends up mortally wounded. While comforting Aspen Benny is taken out by one of the lizard men who had one last burst of energy.

As he lay dying he makes a silent wish for a second chance and you’ll never guess what happens next… he wakes up back in bed with a very healthy Aspen greeting him like he had that morning.

A part of me wants to continue rambling about the plot but the other part of me wants to keep it a secret lmaoooo

Currently the only stuff I have done for it is a sketched out PMV, an unfinished animatic, a confession scene that I will probably rewrite but had to unleash it on the world, a story playlist, and like 1 actual image of Benny

It’s main inspirations are: Re: Zero and like a handful of Stranger Things Steddie time loop fanfics back when I still liked Stranger Things. Now that I’ve played In Stars and Time there might be some influence from there too (specifically Loop influencing TaA’s Goddess of Life and Death)

I love my fucked up little guy… he goes through so many horrors and he’s burrowed so deep in my brain.

I may write a lil Time Infection AU piece based on that one post about telling someone about the loops and having them be pulled in. I think that would absolutely break Benny’s lil mind.

Like imagine…

You’re shouldering all of this trauma loop after loop, watching the man you love die because you’re too weak to save him. There’s a part of you that’s so pitifully lonely and another part that’s relieved that he’s oblivious to it all. That he won’t have to deal with the pain and suffering you do.

One loop you slip up, you finally break down and come clean. You tell him everything, the death, the loops, how you love him. He loves you too, he always has, he never stopped.

And then he dies. Again. The loop starts over.

You wake up and to your abject horror he doesn’t say his usual starting lines. Instead he looks to you with pain and confusion and TERROR. He remembers. He doesn’t remember all of it but he remembers the past loop. He remembers dying. He remembers you love him.

He remembers…

He’s not supposed to remember.

Yeah… like ughhh it’s such a good concept but it doesn’t work in the story I have written!!!! But I wanna write it ANYWAY!!!!

Also thank you so much for asking about him!! Sorry for going wacky crazy mode lmao, I’m going to go work on his PMV a little more now tee hee!

[amyisherenowitsokay]

*stares very aggressively , I’m foaming from the mouth.*

Howdy-hey! I’m here to pester you abt your works! So I reread “From your memory” and I was like wowza and then I wondered…

What was your inspiration? That concept was just entirely new to me and in the good old year of 2011 I was practically ascending bc I was so invested in the story and it was actually the first fic I ever read from you. (and I fell in love teehee) So what made you write that or inspired yo to do so? Did you have an original storyline that was scrapped, and or changed ?

You don’t have to answer any of this if you don’t want to btw :)

I answer all my asks (eventually lmao) fish! Especially yours!

Long answer under the cut because I'm incapable of giving a short answer. Information about my own fics are constantly on the tip of my tongue ready to be spilled out at their first opportunity, and I'm incapable of resisting.

From Your Memory was actually genuinely inspired by the song mention in the A/N of the first chapter, which is Paramore's Ignorance. This is also where the title comes from.

"I'm not the same kid from your memory Well now I can fend for myself"

I listened to the original and acoustic version on loop. Basically what happened in teenage me's brain did was have an animatic in my head about how this song could figuratively apply to a fanfiction, developed the premise, and went from there.

This is gonna be really funny to explain because there's like legitimate scenes developed around individual lyrics in this song.

Ignorance sounds and sounded a lot to me like a dialogue. It sounded, to me, like one person was saying some parts, and one person was replying in a sort of escalating argument, but at least one party was 'ignorant' (huehuehuehue) of all the details about why they were even fighting in the first place. Based on that premise, the song will (hopefully) make more sense. I'm going to write the lyrics 'assigning' lyrics between two people, and tag them (1) or (2), depending on who I am is talking/replying, with 1 being Zim, and 2 being Gaz. I vividly imagined two people interrupting one another while fighting, hence a lot of the weird breaks.

This is gonna be so convoluted and I'm sorry ahead of time lmao.

Lyric Breakdown

(1) If I'm a bad person— (2) You don't like me (1) Well, I guess I'll make my own way (1) It's a circle, a mean cycle (1) I can't excite you anymore

Just on that dialogue, it's basically like. Zim starts off the story blaming himself for not being there when Gaz was injured, and wars between doing the easiest thing for Gaz, which is to shut up and pretend not to know her, or what he wants, which is to tell her the truth and re-involve himself in her life. Gaz is meanwhile obviously oblivious to his turmoil and is like "why are you even talking to me, you hate me." Zim of course originally chooses to aid her from the sidelines, but he's not happy about it. He essentially is "not allowed" to involve himself in her life anymore.

(1) Where's your gavel? Your jury? (2) What's my offense this time? (1) You're not a judge, but if you're gonna judge me (1) Well, sentence me to another life

Zim's resentment about the situation continues, especially with Dib being irritated about Zim choosing to keep secrets and forcing him to go along with it. Gaz is still like "dude what the fuck is your problem??" while Zim continues to be extra pissy, wishing things were different.

(1) Don't wanna hear your sad songs (1) I don't wanna feel your pain (1) When you swear it's all my fault (1) 'Cause you know we're not the same (no) (2) We're not the same (no) (2) Oh, we're not the same (1) Yeah, the friends who stuck together (1) We wrote our names in blood (1) But I guess you can't accept that the change is good (hey) (2) It's good (hey), it's good

At this point, Zim's dealing with being incapable of helping, desperately wanting to help Gaz, but not actually able to do so. He's just constantly watching her suffer without ever being able to help ease her pain.

Mentally, this was also just more arguing, but with Zim being forced to swallow the fact the meaningful friendship and borderline-relationship he and Gaz had developed is gone, and she's not interested in developing a new one the way he is. Things are different now. They simply aren't friends. He's done nothing for weeks but try to save her life, has had her literal blood on his hands, and now it doesn't even matter. He's got to move on, and he's got to continue to convince Dib that their situation has changed, and his idea is for the better. Lacking context, Gaz meanwhile is like dude take your angst and fuck off. She's also trying to convince herself that whatever is clearly happening behind the scenes, it doesn't matter, and she's better off keeping her head down.

(1) Well, you treat me just like another stranger (1) Well, it's nice to meet you, sir (1) I guess I'll go (1) I'd best be on my way out (2) You treat me just like another stranger (2) Well, it's nice to meet you, sir (2) I guess I'll go (2) I'd best be on my way out

(1) Ignorance is your new best friend (x2)

This is also another parallel back and forth, with Zim still coming to terms with Gaz genuinely not knowing their formerly intense, meaningful relationship. It's more resentment about what he lost. It's meant really sarcastically and snidely. Gaz, for her part, means it really literally. She doesn't have any relationship with Zim aside from 'that guy my brother hates,' and blows him off.

And of course, "ignorance is your new best friend" is pretty straightforward in its meaning. Gaz isn't Zim's best friend anymore, and all she has to keep her company is her new amnesia.

For this next part, queue Membrane (3). The really fun part is after this analysis, if you wanna go back and listen to this song nearly entirely from a Gaz vs Membrane perspective, it also can fit! From a Membrane-centric perspective, if you think of Membrane as he sees himself (aka not in the wrong), needing praise from the public, shrugging off criticism since it's "for the greater good," etc with Gaz (and Dib) shoving back at his preconceptions, it's easy to hear the dialogue. But continuing on, this part was mentally Membrane for me:

(3) This is the best thing that could have happened (3) Any longer and I wouldn't have made it (3) It's not a war, no, it's not a rapture (2) I'm just a person, but you can't take it (2) The same tricks that, that once fooled me (2) They won't get you anywhere (2) I'm not the same kid from your memory (2) Well, now I can fend for myself

This was more later in the story and/or right before Gaz lost her memory during her confrontation with Membrane, where Gaz knows what's going on, and Membrane's trying to convince her to cooperate anyways. Membrane is convinced this isn't something that needs to be difficult, while Gaz is warning him that she's dangerous now, has backup, and isn't going just hand over her independence at his whim.

Further Development

From that context, you can see that the story just kind of happened from there. I filled in the gaps. Why was Zim so mad at Gaz, and why wouldn't she know why he was mad at her? Originally, I wasn't sure who the (3)rd person in the lyrics was that Gaz was fighting with, but to me, it sounded like an authority figure. There's not a lot of those in the IZ universe, let alone one that Gaz would legitimately be threatened by, and eventually, it started to sound like an argument with someone gloating, and then someone who didn't even notice their gloating was actually cruel. They'd also have to be someone who Gaz knew since she was little. Someone she was invested in. Someone exactly like Professor Membrane. But then what would Gaz be arguing with dumb, well-meaning Professor Membrane about?

And thus, a metamorphosis occurred:

This is a meme I made awhile ago for my Discord friends when we discussing From Your Memory. It also makes me laugh every time I see it because it's really spot on to the vibes.

I started to consider the angle that Membrane was actually the bad guy, which, when you consider how many times 'evil mad scientist who think they're in the right' was fed to kids as a trope (and still is, tbh), it was an easy jump. And THAT was when the story really started kicking in.

This was around the time I started to hear the 'Dib is a clone' theories. If Dib was a clone, why couldn't Gaz be? If you were a scientist whose entire life was dedicated to advancement for the betterment of mankind, why would that just be relegated to advancement in technology? Why wouldn't someone just a liiiiiiittle off find themselves stumbling right into advancing the evolution of mankind as a species, too?

So then Gaz and Dib became experiments. And if you were going to make a boy and a girl, you could argue it'd just be the typical white picket fence dream of having a son and a daughter. But if you're me, and grew up in a religious environment, the creation of a man and woman as a pair sound less like siblings and more like Adam and Eve. And that's where the whole 'Gaz is an angel with wings' things came from.

The origin of evil!Professor Membrane was mostly that I thought that no one would ever see that twist coming, but reading back through it, I can definitely see small-me taking digs at my own super-scientist parent lmao.

Evil Membrane is also so incredibly fun just in and of itself. Professor Membrane is the guy above all guys in Invader Zim. He's respected, well-loved, commanding, imperial in so many ways.

I simultaneously started formulating this idea that Gaz had amnesia to keep her from being too OP and dunking on everyone. So the story pretty much fell into place after that. Obviously, the amnesia had to be caused by Membrane, to reset his 'experiment.' Dib and Gaz, as his own form of Adam and Eve, were abominations. Abominations tend to be malformed in some way, meaning they were imperfect creations. Dib was first, and therefore more of a prototype. It'd explain why he lacked Gaz's powers, why she tended to be smarter, stronger, etc in the show.

I also deeply loved the idea of Zim being in love with Gaz, while Gaz is completely indifferent in a way that was atypical than usual ZAGR stories (including MHNY). Zim wasn't fantasizing for a relationship that could be, but pining for a relationship that had been. It made their will-they-won't-they dynamic painful instead of lovey-dovey-ooey-gooey-sentimental, and ya bitch is always down to mix a good dollop of pain into my stories lmao.

Changes Down the Line

This one I'm gonna preface with to anyone reading this: don't go digging through my reviews. I'm too old and my bones are too tired to stir up shit, or incite drama.

I lost focus/desire to finish this story somewhere around I think when Gaz got kidnapped the first time (ch 19ish). I had a whole (now lost to time/deleted) chapter of her being in a warehouse, losing her shit, and breaking free via her powers.

ORIGINALLY, in a world where that version of the story happened instead of what's published, this was going to lead to Gaz being an actual, active threat to humanity incapable of controlling her powers. There was going to be a scene where Dib has to really debate on killing his own sister, or let her destroy the world in a fit of grief. Zim and Dib turned against one another because of it, with Zim fully willing to let her destroy as much of the Earth as he needs to as long as she stays alive.

It was undecided whether or not I was going to make Gaz kill Membrane, or just get really close. Most of the end of From Your Memory was me winging it and losing steam, so I was going back and forth on it.

However, I did know Dib would eventually manage to get close enough for the 'moment of truth,' so to speak, but find himself unable to actually kill his little sister. That moment of humanity would snap her back to cognizance. She'd realize just how much both Zim and Dib care for her in their individual ways, and sort of collapse. They'd eventually disappear, and the rest of story would play out pretty similarly to the published ending (assuming Membrane didn't die).

This all was scrapped legitimately because of one singular review.

Someone, and I genuinely do not remember who but I vaguely remember getting into it in my A/N's with them a few times, wrote this really rude review about how predictable the story was getting, and wrote out basically that it was obvious that Gaz was about to have a power freakout, how played out that was, blah blah blah. In 2011/2012 however, I was like 15, so instead of rolling my eyes and/or patting myself on the back for leaving enough narrative hints that the entirety of my story could be devised from what was already published, I got really mad lmao.

So in an effort to not be 'predictable' and prove that person 'wrong,' I deleted the entire chapter and rewrote it to what's now ch 20. That whole storyline was gone just cause one review really rubbed me the wrong way on the right day lmao. I think there's even an A/N even at the end of 20 that mentions offhand the scrapped rewrite.

As a reminder, this fic was finished over 10 years ago. I am not interested and would in fact be really irritated by anyone digging up the review to go harass someone who probably isn't even active on fanfiction anymore (I mean god, is anyone? Lmao). But that is what happened, and it is relevant to the question, so there.

Additionally, I was debating on writing out a few prequel chapters and inserting them somewhere in the story. Maybe 1 - 3(?) chapters written out, with a beginning, middle, and end of how Zim and Gaz's relationship developed. Like a lot of small, detailed flashbacks of when Zim first started treating Gaz, some middle bits when they stared falling for one another and really began to allow themselves to lean on one another, and then the final kiss scene, just before Gaz lost her memories.

I don't know quite remember where I intended to put that. I had vague ideas of Gaz being knocked out, those 1 - 3 chapters of flashback, and then her 'waking up' right after she slips into a coma, back in the present. These chapters were never written, partially because I couldn't figure out where to put them, and then by the time I got to scenes that could work for that kind of transition, I was really burning out with the story and just wanted to be done with it.

.

I think that's everything! Hopefully somewhere in this mess was a cohesive answer that answered your question! If I missed anything specific you were looking for, please let me know, and I'll be happy to answer! <3

[linisiane]

This trend issue is seeping into art.

There are the more innocuous versions of this, like the recent naming of the CalArts Art Style or the Jelly Art Style or the Cream Soda Art Style for drama on TikTok, but then we get into the insidious flooding of beginner art forums with questions like “What style is this?”

And it’s insidious because beginner artists can and will ask this question in good faith.

Lots of people are inspired by ‘styles’ like “anime” art and will ask for help looking for more references.

But, nowadays, AI bros will masquerade as these beginners in these forums with pictures of art they’re trying to steal from, hoping to find keyword prompts for their grift. Which then leads to a bunch of commenters attacking any and all “What’s this style?” posts out of a reasonable fear that any responses to these questions will be fed to an AI.

Bet you can guess where that leads.

Yep, baby artists attacked out the gate and treated with hostility over a pretty common misconception because it makes them indistinguishable from AI bros. And this misconception is also partially why I’m not a huge fan of AI bros:

They tout themselves as artistic revolutionaries progressing the field, yet they’re making the exact same mistake as art noobs, which is thinking that Art Style is prescriptive.

It’s not. It’s descriptive.

It makes sense to name art styles for huge movements of artists with generally shared characteristics, like putting anime artists under one umbrella, just like how clothing trends in the past were named. A description after the fact. But these noobs aren’t asking for “anime” as a response. Anime is too broad, it could look like anything from Aku no Hana to Panty and Stocking!

What they’re looking for is a niche art style with a clear set of aesthetic features that they can Google. They want you to take their examples of 5 wildly different art pieces off Pinterest and list for them a style that consolidates them, the way you would while compiling a ballet coquette Pinterest board or a light academia aesthetic TikTok slideshow.

And I can’t blame them for that, because that’s exactly how the Jelly Art Style and the Cream Soda Art Style and ESPECIALLY the CalArts Art Style works.

What I am blaming is the way algorithms on social media and within AI have changed the way we think about art styles, prioritizing grouping all these unique artists into an easily identifiable, pinterestable, Instagram-Face art marketable rabbit holes. By doing so, they rob the artworks—not of some mystical quality of originality, nothing is original—but of their connection to the PEOPLE who originally made them.

With art movements like Fauvism, you can trace the origins and inspirations of the art style to specific artists. If you ever needed references for them, they’re listed right there on Wikipedia.

When the digital art community discussed art styles in the past, it was usually in direct reference to a specific artist’s style. The Samdoesarts art style. The Galactibun animatic style. How to find YOUR art style.

These artists could literally tell you which artists they studied if you ever needed more references on how to draw in their style. Style wasn’t some mystical thing that came fully formed out of the bowels of TikTok’s algorithm, it was your personal distillation of all the different people you were inspired by.

In contrast, if you were to ask me to list artists who use the Jelly Art Style or Cream Soda Art Style, I wouldn’t be able to list a single one, even though I know EXACTLY what the styles look like. AI art may still be in its infancy, but the separation of art from the artist is already here.

So yeah, I’m sick of the question “What style is this?”

If you want, a bandaid solution would be to replace all these style questions with “What artists drew these pictures?” or “Who was this artist inspired by?”

My solution, of course, is to become powerful enough to Kill All Algorithms.

Even though she's talking about trends and fashion this is applicable to so much of online culture

The obsession with labelling the most specific things to the point of uselessness and silliness

[clover-the-awesomest]

Okay! I made a little ask on your other account specifically for your AU :)

But, since we're on the topic of au's, I actually have a little recommendation for another one that you've probably heard of, but in my opinion, it's still pretty underrated and deserves all the love in the world. It's called the Little Brother au, and Sharkfinn, the creator of it, made an original character named Spot. It's basically a separated au where Spot is being raised by Draxum, except this Draxum is just a really good Dad, so that's nice for a change. There's a lot more that goes into it, but I don't wanna spoil anything. So just go check it out if that sounds interesting at all. It's just that after Cass's Apocalyptic Series ended, Finn's au has really gotten me through that tough pain of letting an amazing story go. So, maybe it could do the same for you.

Say, I've actually chatted with Finn a little bit about digital art and how he's made his au, so if you wanted, you could ask him some questions! I think he'd be happy to have another fellow oc au comic artist in the Tumblr space asking for some pointers :]

But that's just a suggestion. Regardless, I'm happy to see others make their own au's with their own storylines and characters and world building and all of that because it is my absolute DREAM to create my own fan works and share it with a fandom as big as this one. That's what sharing your passion is all about, man! It's my absolute happy place just interacting with the things I love and making others laugh and learning a thing or two along the way, yk?

But I gotta stop myself right there because I'll start rambling on-and-on about my love for this fandom because God knows I'd never stop, lol. Anyway, I'm happy to be here, so thank you for having me ❤️

I’m thinking of putting a comic up for your ask right now I’m so ready to get going with it

AAAAAAAAAAA but thank you for the suggestion and the motivation to keep going with this AU! It’s a pretty big project that I’ve had playing in my brain for the past couple years and it means a ton to me!

Totally forgot to even mention what it’s called lmao - It’s called the New Home AU. The name symbolizes Clover’s entrance into a new, healthier life and a new home with a new family. Her name also ties into some important details later down the line which is completely unintentional on my part, but I’m not saying what until someone asks for the answer on my blog~ I’m not teasing anything cuz I literally just realized this as I’m typing it but if anyone out there were to randomly be like “Hey why’s ur name Clover???” I’ll just make a response like “Hey yeah so uhh it’s cuz of this one random detail that I literally just noticed haha” I doubt someone would ask that and they don’t have to at all but it would be so hilarious if that happened right????

ANYWHIZZLE I think I’ve heard of this AU actually! I found an animatic around a year or so ago on YouTube of a smaller turtle brother being sad about the fact that he can’t do his bandages properly on his own and Raph comes in, offers to help, while the little guy remisces on his time with Draxum. Though that last bit had an ominous subtext to it so I’m gonna assume that’s not it… I’ll totally check this AU out though! Seems super fun!

[vonkarma2]

3, 5, 8, 13, 16 for zeolan for the worldbuilding asks?

3.) any recurring images/elements?

Hmmm this is kind of broad so I’m not totally sure how to interpret it I guess I will go with like. If it was a tv show. What visual motifs or recurring shots would there be. I think if there were constantly shots of Rocio alone like in an empty space that would be kind of funny imagine watching a show and there’s an obvious meta narrative focus on how lonely you are I’d be so mad. That and shots of like her back while she’s reading something or working on something like she’s closed off to the world or whatever. Definitely a lot of contrast of darkness vs light though for sure like places with people in them being associated with yellow/orange light whereas empty places are associated with the dark. 

Also there would probably be many unnecessarily long shots focusing on nature and the environment around the characters bc that’s what I personally like to see 

5.) pick a theme song for the tv adaptation.

life itself glass animals 😞😞😞 rip to the animatic I started in early 2022. theres a whole vision. for variety ill also say the definitive end credits song would be 

8.) what inspired your world building, if anything?

Honestly. Not much lol I feel like a lot of it is just me trying to make something that appeals to me personally just thinking of like aesthetics 

in the extended secret worldbuilding there are some aspects inspired by or influenced by real history. that being said I try not to avoid making that too direct or have it come up too often bc 1) it’s easy to make it extremely tasteless or at least inaccurate/shallow in its portrayal ofc 2) it is ultimately a fantasy world where I wanted to make shit up + have everything be original rather than have like. direct copies of real places + events. I think it’s like background concepts can be to some extent based on reality but specific events are all homebrewed yk

sundown 2020

probably fullmetal alchemist like subconsciously. wrt the magic system not the world itself 

I guess you could say I was inspired by actively trying to go against like. Tolkien esque or popular YA fantasy tropes of the late 2010s early 2020s. Bc a lot of what made me want to make the story in the first place was being tired of and annoyed by the kind of tone that was prevalent in YA fantasy at the time 

I literally CAN’T think of much this is so sad. My worldbuilding is just too original you guys 😔 

no lol but yeah it mostly wasn’t inspired by anything specific which is a shame bc I do think looking at things you were influenced by is pretty fun

they don’t know the wizard system is fully ripped off from how the wings of fire books used animus magic expect it’s learned instead of born 

13.) how long have you been working on this project? what has changed from the outset?

A little over 3 years like since February 2020 :3. I love this question it feels very behind the scenes like Im talking in a documentary.  Mostly the structure of the story has become much more linear when the original was like arcs based if that makes sense? Like episodic even though the episodes were pretty large in scale + theoretical length. Ofc a lot of the characters’ personalities have as well. I think the main focus too like initially it was just for fun but when I first added like a vague general central theme it was a lot abt dissociation from your identity + the weight of living and things like that. Life is hard but it’s worth it <3 And now there’s more focus on the nuances of interpersonal connection and things like that. I do like the original theme though I wouldn’t want to drop that idea entirely even though I’d probably want to have it show up in a more nuanced or subtle way idk 

16.) imagine the entire story takes place but in the meantime the characters all also have tumblr. what kind of (terrible) tumblr posts would happen?

rocio would hate all forms of social media viscerally. if she absolutely has to use it then it’s several thousand word long rants that stay in the drafts for eternity 

cirillo probably the type to just use it as a diary 

angel runs an extremely popular yet controversial fan page for enstars or some shit (<I mean. in universe it would be about 1400s romance novels) but occasionally vagues abt his personal life and everything he says sounds extremely concerning. And then like once he ends up on the news everyone’s like omg… bone stealing witch tier drama 

gloria only posts thirst traps + posts that are like “will be in [x city] tomorrow if anyone wants to meet up 👅” with every location change

[uptoolateart]

Elite Symbolism in MLB

So, @raspberrycatapult was talking to me about all the recurrent butterfly symbolism in MLB - and the fact that all the buses in the show are the number 33 route when there is no such route in Paris - and both of us had noticed the giant 33 behind Kagami in the art room in ‘Lies’. She was pointing out all the single eye imagery in the show, too, which I’ll get to later - among many other motifs.

It was a fascinating conversation that I shared with my husband, who then brought up MKUltra, which I’d heard plenty about but I never really took in the finer details and certainly hadn’t applied them to my beloved cartoon.

As soon as I was thinking on this track, a zillion other things leapt out at me. They are so obvious once you get going, and I’m going to share some of them here. I bet more pops out as I watch the show, from here on out, but this is a quick starter guide.

Caveat

I am not in any way trying to sell you on a belief. Feel free to think everything I discuss here is ‘just conspiracy theory’. My sole point is that a) the creators of Miraculous are at least aware of the theory and b) they have very purposely integrated it into the show in order to propel their story and give weight to the characters. When we examine all these elements that have been embedded into this ‘children’s cartoon’, we see just how dark Adrien’s story, in particular, really is.

Gabriel

Let’s start with Gabriel’s name. It has always stood out to me, because it’s one of the archangels and a definite name of power. This archangel also happens to be held in high esteem in Freemasonry and other similar organisations.

Gabriel’s brand is just a giant G. ‘Oh, it looks like Gucci!’ Yeah. That, and the G of Freemasonry.

And you know that enormous essay I wrote about the symbolism of Gabriel dressing all in white now?? I left out the Masonic uniform of white - like their white apron. Think of Gabriel in the kitchen making those banana pancakes, in that white apron...or how about how the gloves, which simply are Masonic regalia gloves. You can buy them on Amazon, even.

This is without even getting into the recurrence of the number 33, as mentioned at the start of this post. @raspberrycatapult​ even pointed out that in the original animatic of ‘Stormy Weather’, the bus was number 34, but it got changed in the final animation. You have to ask why a detail like that matters...and then a quick google search will tell you there are 33 degrees / levels in Masonry. And why put that number all big behind Kagami in ‘Lies’? Because she’s a subjugate just like Adrien.

Now, let’s look at Gabriel’s office, where he stands at a dais-like podium on an elevated platform, with his ‘subjects’ on sunken in seats that look like pews in a church or temple. The whole floor is checkerboard. We could also get into the sun imagery on the doors, but...honestly, we could go into a whole bunch of things and I’m finding it hard to know where to stop before this post turns into a novel.

Here’s the image...and below it, a Masonic lodge, for comparison. The image has been tinted blue for effect, but in reality, the checkboard would always be black and white, to signify the balance between opposite energies. And um...isn’t that the whole idea behind kwami energies and yin-yang pairs?

I also want to note that Gabriel is positioned in a way that gives the impression of him being at the centre of two pillars. There are literally thousands of books written on the western / hermetic magical concept of ‘the middle pillar’, being the balancing way between two extremes. It also comes up in eastern beliefs, e.g. Buddhism.

In hermeticism, this is connected to the practice of cabala and therefore the Tree of Life, a structure built into just about every important building and painting all over Europe, America, and more. No, really. Remember they are called Masons for a reason - it began with builders, and they integrated their spiritual concepts into their work.

As a tarot enthusiast, this structure is also embedded into almost every single card in any traditional deck. It’s a subject I could spend a lot of time on, but let’s move on.

Eyes

Getting back to the single eye imagery in the show, @raspberrycatapult was pointing out, for example, the eyes on Emilie’s painting, and even pyramids in the design they took from the original inspiration.

I'm getting at this classic image of the Eye of Providence, of course:

@raspberrycatapult pointed out Marinette’s single eye peeking through the box when she looked into the room where everyone was dancing in masks, in ‘Gabriel Agreste’.

And like...we all agree that whole party was creepy as hell...right?? As soon as I saw it, I thought ‘rich weirdo cult!’ It was so obvious that Ms Tsurugi must be in on Gabriel’s plans. I was excited to see this proven in season 5. I’m still waiting to be proven right that the Bourgeois are in on it, too, at least to some degree. And come on. The Bourgeois?? It’s a reference to an entire class of society.

I then got to thinking: peacock feathers are known for looking like they have one eye. And whoever uses the peacock miraculous to transform ends up having one eye covered, in their costume, e.g. with a veil. And thinking of Ms Tsurugi again...she’s blind and then can see, when akumatised.

It also helps to remember that we’re all waiting for unveilings / unmaskings in this show, from all directions. We’re waiting for people to see the truth. Makes you think of the names of the first two episodes of Season 4....

Monarch

And now we get super dark.

MKUltra was an illegal CIA experiment begun in 1958 and supposedly concluded, although there are plenty of people who believe it continues to this day. Again - I’m not saying it does or doesn’t. I’m only stating that there is a definite record of it happening in the 1950s and that there are people out there who don’t think it stopped.

MKUltra was a series of experiments in human mind control, a summary of which can be read about here. There’s also this video from the BBC and a zillion other things. Be warned - this is a rabbit hole you can easily fall into for hours.

Very briefly: ‘In the early days of the Cold War, the CIA ordered the creation of a secret programme intended to find ways of mind control. They funded an army of psychiatric institutions across the United States and Canada to perform experiments on patients using psychedelic drugs, sensory deprivation, electroshock treatment and more.’

The point my husband made, which I was not aware of, was that part of MKUltra was something called ‘the Monarch Project’. Again, a mind control and subjugation experiment.

Now, without stating the obvious, let’s think about things like the akumas. Adrien and those rings. Sentimonsters. Every single thing Gabriel does, in or out of costume, is a form of mind control, and he has programmed it into Adrien via his home and even the clothes he wears. This is what gets Marinette thinking perhaps Gabriel is the villain. Adrien doesn’t want to believe it because he wants to trust. Everyone wants to trust the adults / authority figures in their lives. But for the heroes of Miraculous, this trust will be broken.

I’m also brought back to ‘Mega Leech’, when the miniature copies of Mayor Bourgeois crawled into people’s heads and controlled what they said. It has always stuck out at me as allegory for brainwashing - grooming people so much that you get them to preach your propaganda for you. This is what Gabriel does with all his victims, too. He’s not the one out there, doing the damage. He gets in other people’s heads and has them do it for him.

We’ve also seen other instances of this with villains like Despair Bear and Puppeteer. This is...a subject that could take up thousands of words. You get what I’m saying.

Adrien / Cat Noir

If you look into this stuff, you come across a lot of detail about something called ‘the beta kitten’, which is a form of sexual programming. In fact, it literally involves grooming someone into having a ‘cat alter’.

Honestly...you could read so much about it and all the ways it gets applied to celebrities such as Britney Spears. Don’t even get me started on the Britney thing. If that kind of thing can happen in the 21st century, we really need to re-think how ‘far we’ve come’.

Anyway. Part of this involves a lot of repeating imagery and symbols, the way hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming work. Symbols that appear in tons of promotional photographs, music videos, etc. Symbols like...collars and bells, mirrors and reflections.

Again, I’m not selling you the theory - you’re free to make up your own mind about it. But I’ve said so many times that Cat Noir is fully decked out in bondage gear, right down to his collar and bell. And this is for a reason - he is in bondage. He is enslaved.

I also said in a previous post that Kagami’s name is Japanese for ‘mirror’. There’s all the doubling between Adrien and Felix, Chloe and Zoe, Adrien and his AI replica, each character and their superhero or supervillain alter(s), etc. Again...we could be here all day, listing examples.

What does it all mean??

That’s a good question! I’ll leave it to you to decide. At the very least, it means that Gabriel and his cronies have been designed to represent something darker than we usually discuss. They are authority figures who abuse their fame and power to the highest degree, bringing to mind all the news stories we keep hearing about, for instance, people in Hollywood being accused of years of sexual assault.

Adrien being a model...again, I just think of child stars like Britney Spears, who, like Adrien, was completely owned by her own father. He controlled everything she did, using her to make his millions and having her declared insane so he could continue to control her after she turned 18. Let’s not get into just how disgusting her story is. My heart bleeds for her and others like her, and I’ll leave it at that.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Miraculous is all about breaking free of mind control and programming. Alya, Nino and Chloe all managed to reject the akumatisation. Marinette did it, too, with the help of Cat Noir. I suppose you could say that in most cases, love broke the spell. That’s what we need to hold onto.

There’s a lot about throwing off the masks and revealing the truth. Adrien’s definitely on his way to breaking free of the ring and overthrowing his father, which will be him overthrowing the mind control and being his own person.

So, I suppose you could take a positive message from all of this and say it speaks of hope. We live in a world where it’s hard to know who is selling us truth and who is selling lies - where we live our lives in public and are often on camera, from CCTV to selfies - where the Internet is teeming with ‘influencers’ and targeted advertising, and ‘smart’ devices really can track us and collect data the way the Alliance can. (The Alliance. Even that name...!)

But every one of us has the power to make up our own minds about things and be our own person. Every one of us has the power to throw off the collar and bell and simply be.

[alfafilly]

Update from me!

Sup all! Just a quick update for you guys. I’m back to being in my “I’m here... just kidding! Now I’m not!” phase. I’m still producing art and content, just nothing specifically for Sly Cooper stuff, which I primarily use this blog for. 

I have sooooo maaaaany ideas I want to bring into reality for my Survived!AU, but my brain is just preoccupied with other things currently. That, and my ideas are... bigger, more complex projects that I can’t justify starting on at this present time. I want to do a lot of animation memes and shitpost-style animatics because it formulates the AU’s pure and utter chaos the best, but those take soooo much time to do, and as I always try to bully everyone into looking at: I have a webcomic and Patreon that take priority. When I’m not doing either of those, I’m working on commissions or other story things. I also plan to start back up a writing project I had paused last year. 

So, yeah. In the mean time, I might post art of Akemi, my Banana Boy, or continue to reblog Sly stuff here and there to fill in gaps of no original content being posted. But if I go dormant for periods of time, no worries! I haven’t abandoned anything. 

Eventually, too, I’d like to reply to the rotting ASKS in my inbox. They’re so funny... and yet I can never get around to answering them. BOOOO!

How’s everyone else been? Hope everyone’s year is treating you well! 

[lunarblazes]

i made a desertduo playlist and then decided to be a nerd and write explanations for all the songs! like a nerd!

playlist link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ZGylutQpyTbgX7MY7Lrzz?si=t8_kBwBHSYG5kxTvZoIrTQ&dl_branch=1

QUICK DISCLAIMER: i am aware that a lot of these songs may have or imply romantic connotation! i would really really like it if these were not read as though those romantic connotations carry over to scar and grian. even if we’re just talking about the third life characters, i would prefer not to ship them or imply romance between them on this post. thank you so much and keep reading if you’d like to see the playlist analysis!

and now that that’s out of the way, PLAYLIST TIME!

•

passerine- the oh hellos

“you were the song that i’d always sing/you were the light that the fire would bring/but i can’t shake this feeling that i/was only pushing the spear into your side again”

this song really just... firstly, it’s one of my favorite songs, and the line i chose there pushes home the sort of terrified devotion i think the desert has. plus there’s a fun line about the cold wind blowing in from the north in the ending bits that i think very much fits their conflict with the red army, and a lot of legally obligated flight imagery that i need to have in every possible song because i’m a fuckin nerd.

•

no children- the mountain goats

“i hope that our few remaining friends/give up on trying to save us/i hope we come up with a failsafe plot to piss off the dumb few that forgave us”

i will admit that no children isn’t a perfect fit, but the general vibe of sort of defiant pessimism and betrayal fits very well with them! it’s very triumphant in its death, and i think that is very desertcore, because what’s more triumphantly dead than being the last duo left alive?

•

skulls- bastille

“when all of our friends are dead and just a memory/it’s always been just you and me/for all to see”

okay like this entire song is SO MUCH DESERT VIBES? LIKE SO MUCH. if i were to ever make an animatic for them i’d do it with this song. “a match is our only light, it’s day of the dead i’m indiana jones, yeah,” “i hope you can make me laugh six feet under when we’re bored of each other,” “i don’t want to rest in peace, i’d rather be the ghost that annoys you,” IT JUST KEEPS GOING. i think this song would work well with any third life duo, honestly, but these two in PARTICULAR just because of how it ended with them literally ‘buried’ next to each other, and again, the chaotic death vibes.

•

freaking out- mystery skulls

“i just keep out of my tongue/til all you want is done/and you just wanna leave me, oh yeah”

this song is a very third life grian song to me in particular! it could be my bias because of my little headcanon of grian burning on his red life, but seriously, this song is very reminiscent of the back and forth of loyalty that grian has with scar. the above line is sort of representative of the betrayal on red, and of course grian’s life debt.

•

night running- shin sakiura

(this song is in japanese! these lyrics are the rough english translation i found on google.) “someday we will stand at this place once again/for sure we will stand up again and again/we will watch it will the end/i want you to live freely”

this song is actually the ending theme for the anime bna, which i adore, and i just added it on a whim before looking at the translated lyrics. but um. holy hell the lyrics hurt me because they’re about running in search of someone, running for no reason, looking for something, and it just really hit, because the desert never really had a goal! they didn’t expect to survive, they were trying to survive, but what was their longterm goals? nothing. so that sort of endless search felt fitting for this. plus the song is a parallel for the two estranged best friends of the show so! perfect.

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summer nights- siames

“it’s summertime/singing al green in your car/heading to a party/and the night air feels alive”

okay again, i will admit this song is mainly on here because i absolutely love it, but i also do think it fits well. it’s also about healing/estranged friendships, with a very distinct feeling of nostalgia for a happier time. maybe for a time when this was all a game, when there was no blood or betrayals on their hands. little canon divergent, but it’s fun for me, so into the playlist it goes!

allies or enemies- the crane wives

“are we allies or enemies/this will be the death of me, this will be the death of me/all’s fair in love and war but i can’t fight with you anymore”

. i just. points to that lyric. it literally led to both of their deaths. are they allies or enemies? it also fits with scar still wanting grian to be his friend even after he’s no longer indebted with the line “what happens now? do we have another go, do we bow out?” another very good animatic song that i’ve considered heavily. i listen to this playlist a lot

•

burn him down- kitsch club

“you must destroy, oh you must destroy, beyond all recognition/you gotta burn him down, you gotta burn him down, beyond all recognition”

this song just has a lot of fire and arson and high energy vibes. my little war criminals look at them go

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rose- the oh hellos

“what's true is like a sickle/it'll cut you to the middle/your rose is without a thorn/but no, my mouth don't taste of metal/from the pot here to the kettle/i think we got a lot we gotta learn”

this one is like the exact opposite vibe of burn him down. the oh hellos are so poetic and this song just... feels like the healing potions after a battle. many of the metaphors here fit, i think

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lone digger- caravan palace

“hey, brother, what you thinking/that good ol' sound is ringing/they don't know what they're missing/(they call it lonely diggin')”

okay this song is straight up just a dance song. i added it because i like it and also for some reason it feels ominous to me? i’ve got no idea why, it’s seriously just a club song, but it’s a banger and it’s in this playlist because i said so

•

feed the machine- poor man’s poison (suggested by my friend argonaughtkeene!)

“somethin’s goin” on, just look around/fear is on the rise, and there’s blood all over the ground/let’s all just blindfold the poor, we all know what’s in store/ we got ‘em now, just break ‘em down a little bit more”

this song is a VIBE for both desertduo members. there’s parts for both of them. it’s ruthless, gritty, very maniacal, perfect. listen to it and you’ll immediately understand why i added it.

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sweet tooth- scott helman

“i hold hands with cosmic entities/i’ll take this two-ride if i please/i got this sweet tooth baby, yeah i got this sweet tooth baby/i exploit my opportunities/some broken hearts, some cavities”

sweet tooth is super upbeat and bright with these strangely dark lyrics? like i’m pretty sure it’s about addiction. in any case, i thought the “i hold hands with cosmic entities” very funnily fitting for both of the desert boys. it’s a banger!

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necromancin’ dancin’- bear ghost

“when i’m necromancin’, everyone’s dancin’/nobody can stop me, i dare you to try/the dead are infused with insatiable groove and they’re coming for you, there’s nowhere to hide”

necromancin’ dancin’ just. bastard vibes. there’s not much more to say it’s just huge villain song vibes. i adore it.

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crazy = genius- panic! at the disco

“if crazy equals genius/then i’m a fucking arsonist/i’m a rocket scientist/if crazy equals genius/you can set yourself on fire/but you’re never gonna burn, burn, burn”

i. yeah. y. yeah. more bastard vibes. also shoutout to an artist i saw (i think it was strifesolution?) who made a desertduo piece to this song because i have not stopped thinking about it ever

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sweet bod- lemon demon

“i’m diggin’ up your coffin/and pouring out the contents/your sexy, sweet solution/is ripe for distribution”

you know how i said freaking out was a grian song? this one is a scar song. it’s my favorite lemon demon song and also it has the total macabre capitalism vibe that third life scar NAILED. more bastard vibes good for him <3

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drunk- the living tombstone

“feel so much better than usual/i feel indisputable, oh/but now i’m feeling so beautiful/don’t wake me up from this spell i’m under, if i’m still breathing/i know that i will be ugly when i feel like myself again, oh/but right now i’m feelin’ so beautiful”

the descent of this song, starting off with a polite gathering and ending with a gasping drunk in the parking lot gazing at the stars that he can barely see? yes. yeah. mhm. i used a line from this song for a fic, actually, it fit so well.

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oh no!- marina

“one track mind, one track heart/if i fail, i’ll fall apart/maybe it is all a test/cos i feel like i’m the worst so i always act like i’m the best”

bubbly pop track about false confidence, the ruthlessness of the pop industry, and the influence of the media? you know why this is here. it vibes. it rocks.

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do it all the time- i don’t know how but they found me

“we’re taking over the world/a little victimless crime/and when i’m taking your innocence/i’ll be corrupting your mind/no need to cry i’m only doing everything i want to do because i do it all the time”

EVEN MORE BASTARD VIBES! SOMEHOW THERE IS MORE! this playlist is half villain songs and half heart-wrenching ballads and that’s the real desert experience i think.

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the phoenix- fall out boy

“i’m gonna change you/like a remix/then i’ll raise you/like the phoenix”

BATTLE SONG BATTLE SONG! i’ll be honest i partially chose this song because i am a huge sucker for phoenix grian imagery in particular, but it’s also just a very good war song for them. villain song no 18372948 except this one originally had a hero vibe and now it’s changed specifically for them?? wild. their power

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the other side- the greatest showman

“right here, right now/i’ll put the offer out/i don’t wanna chase you down, i know you see it/you run with me/and i can cut you free/out of the treachery/and all you keep in”

scar and grian’s desert monopoly conversation went exactly like this canonically because i said so fuck you <3

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icicles- the scary jokes (suggested by my friend demizorua!)

“icicles don’t soften when they die/so why should i, why should i?/oh, icicles don’t soften when they die/they sharpen into sabers and they stab you in the eye”

this song actually has specific parts for both grian and scar! my cool epic friend mx demizorua pointed both of them out to me and i adored it so much. it’s a very spiteful song, just like the desert boys. also it feels vaguely murderous. perfect

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problems- mother mother (suggested by my friend demizorua!)

“i’m a loser, a disgrace/you’re a beauty, a luminary, in my face”

literally this entire song fits them. particularly their relationship with the flower husbands, to me, honestly— the whole “when we meet at the pearly gates/you’ll get the green light/and i’ll get the boot in the face” reminds me a lot of them hdksjdks

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tongues and teeth- the crane wives

“i know that you mean so well/but i am not a vessel for your good intent/i will only break your pretty things/i will only wring you dry of everything”

h. yeah. this song is literally gaslight gatekeep girlboss and i attribute it to the desert for that reason alone. songs to commit murder to!

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you’re nobody til somebody wants you dead- saint motel

“you’re nobody til somebody wants you dead/and the list, it grows, and grows, and grows/it grows, and grows, and grows/and grows, and grows, and grows/until it’s everyone you’ve ever known”

this one is very self-explanatory. enemies pogchamp

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curses- the crane wives

“there’s a fire in my brain and i’m burning, love/oh my, oh my/keep running to the sink, but the well is dry/oh my, oh my/every word i say is kindling/but the smoke clears when you’re around”

okay again! this one has two very specific parts for both of them. grian’s the first verse, which is above, and scar’s the second verse!! i really do like my fire imagery for these two don’t i? well, i blame them for having a fuck ton of tnt on them at all times and literally burning their enemy’s banners as a final act of defiance.

[doctorsiren]

So what was up with the Redstone princess thing Natalie in the Riptide Animatic though? Fun to draw, but I want to know what it was (Oh and I should draw the different stages of Mumbo in FW and-) Yeah, anyway what was that (Not in a mean way like I'm legitimately confused)

To be honest i don’t really understand but i fell down the hill-

Okay okay memes aside

So that wasn’t a literal thing. See, Mumbo doesn’t know how Natalie’s life went after he left, but he still imagines her as perfect. In his mind, she sits upon a throne because he’s putting her up on this pedestal rather than seeing her as another human like him. She’s now this amazing, perfect, unobtainable thing because he can’t actually go back and change his choice. The whole Redstone thing was because she also loved Redstone, and by Mumbo’s own admission, was better than him at it. Their plan was to go to university together and become like professors of Redstone or something (i don’t know how jobs work, if you couldn’t tell-) but they obviously never did that. He still wants her, but now he kind of can’t. He remembers her as faultless and flawless, but she was a person like him. She made mistakes and messed up, but he only remembers what’s good about her.

We as people tend to do that too. We’ll often condense a memory of a place, situation, thing, or person down to what made the biggest impact on us, whether that be good or bad. The further we move in time away from the original thing, the more it becomes less of reality and more of our own mind’s interpretation and creation. For Mumbo, the longer he lives this life away from Natalie, the more he’ll remember her as “the one that got away” and as someone he didn’t deserve the love of. Of course, his own fears and insecurities play into his interpretation of her. He sees her as better than him always because he, at times, doesn’t think too highly of himself.

I am reminded of the Mitski song, “Why Didn’t You Stop Me”.

“I know that I ended it but

Why won’t you chase after me?

You know me better than I do

So why didn’t you stop me?

Why didn’t you stop me?

And paint it over…”

Mumbo ended the relationship to go to Hermitcraft. He doubts this choice often, and wishes Natalie had tried harder to have him stay. Natalie, although heartbroken, didn’t want to hold Mumbo back from this amazing opportunity and she let him go. Mumbo can’t really understand how she could be so selfless, since he is inherently a tad selfish inside, even if he doesn’t know it. He just wishes sometimes that she had stopped him from leaving.

“I look for a picture of you to

Keep in my pocket, but

I can’t seem to find one where you

Look how I remember

Look how I remember

Look how I remember

Paint it over…”

Now this relates to the point I mentioned right before the lyrics. Mumbo remembers her in a different light than how she actually was. Yes, she was good and kind, but Mumbo still sees her as perfect. The pictures of her are different than this vision of how he remembers her, and it hurts. Mumbo, like many people, has a hard time with change and letting go. He holds onto things of the past and remembers them as less complex than they actually were.

So to answer your question truly? I don’t know. I just thought it looked cool! (I’m half-joking. It was because it looked cool and also because of all the deep psychology stuff here haha)