#Its important to note that its NOT a designation for each one of them individually. Its for them both as a PAIR

[deecotan]

Does lawlu have a kid too that plays with zosan kid?

In my opinion, Lawlu isn't a couple who are going to have kids... relatively, at the very least. Who knows if I can think of any setting or AU where they might have children, but in a modern domestic AU or canon/canon-compliant settings, I don't exactly see them as having kids. I see them as a couple whose idea of settling in begins and ends with each other. Don't get me wrong, they adore children, but they're not necessarily interested in having their own. Them playing uncles for their friends' kids is more than enough for them.

What I do see them having, in modern setting, are dogs. I totally see Law as a dog person and Luffy is just jolly enough to have any pet companion around. I think it paints a pretty funny picture to see Law trying to wrestle both of his overexcited dog AND boyfriend to take a bath after their 2-hour frolicking in the muddy grass.

A couple that I see having kids in modern AU is actually Frobin! My personal headcanon is that they adopted, and it has to do with how I love the idea of Robin, who was abandoned as a child but gradually found love and healing in her found family, would want to try to be a mother for children who went through the similar thing she did as a child. Robin canonically adores children, so I think it's not much of a stretch for her to want them regardless of how she acquires them. And Franky is just supportive all around - he'd be a great dad.

[markrosewater]

Elegance

Here’s my original article for Elegance.

 This is a topic I’ve wanted to write about for a long time.  Ironically, the words needed to explain the concept kept the column from being elegant. So I did what all artists do.  I found a way to say a lot in a little space.

 Enjoy,

 Mark Rosewater

 [NOTE: EACH OF THE ABOVE FIFTY WORDS IS HYPERLINKED.  BELOW IS THE FIFTY HYPER LINKS.  THE HEADERS SHOULDN’T BE ON THE LINKED PAGE.  I’M JUST INCLUDING THEM SO YOU KNOW WHAT EACH LINK IS.]

 ELEGANCE

 Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary has five definitions for elegance:

 • refined grace or dignified propriety

• tasteful richness of design or ornamentation

• dignified, gracefulness or restrained beauty of style

• scientific precision, neatness and simplicity

• something that is elegant

 The common elements appear to be dignity, simplicity, and taste.

 THIS

 Elegance requires thinking, but it also requires feeling.  Elegant prose is judged by how it makes the reader feel. It needs to generate a sense of calm that puts the reader at ease.  Everything in your writing should feel as if it was carefully positioned to create the proper effect.

 IS

 Pound for pound, the writer’s greatest writing tool is the verb.  Nouns add substance and adjectives add flourish, but it’s the verb that drives the sentence.  Choose a strong, descriptive verb and the sentence has flair and purpose. Choose a weak one and the sentence lacks any sense of drama.

 A

 Here’s a little game to test an elegance relevant skill (based on an old game called Inklings).  Randomly choose a noun.  Try to convey that noun to the other players using the least number of letters possible. You’ll be surprised how much you can communicate in just a few letters.

 TOPIC

 One of the greatest stumbling blocks to elegance is the inability to choose a single focus.  Elegance requires simplicity.  Simplicity requires a single purpose of thought.  This means that elegance starts before you write a single word.  A good sculptor must know his image before he picks up his chisel.

 I’VE

 One of the common misconceptions of elegance is that it requires a writer to be fancy. Elegance though is more about familiarity than formality. You shouldn’t be afraid of friendlier language such as slang or contractions, assuming that such language adds an element of ease rather than one of laziness.

 WANTED

 An important element of elegance is a sense of passion.  Brevity does not mean pulling away emotionally from words, but rather the opposite.  When you find yourself limited to fewer words, you must pack each individual word with extra emotional punch.  You are not reducing your message, simply your messenger.

 TO

 A good tool in understanding elegance is studying poetry.  Poetry is the most concise of all written art forms.  It strives to maximize impact while minimizing expression.  Each word carries the burden of evoking some essence of the poet’s message. If it cannot carry its own weight, it is excised.

WRITE

 To be an elegant writer, you have to become a student of prose.  You have to study the mechanics of language to understand how it can be shaped.  Once you have learned how to transfer the feeling in your head into meaningful words, you are on the path to elegance.

 ABOUT

 Be careful not to fall in love with ambiguity.  While intoxicating in its beauty, it is the enemy of elegance. Remember, the goal is not to make the reader struggle for comprehension.  Rather it is to lead them to the obvious conclusion. Elegance should be used to illuminate, not confuse.

 FOR

 Elegant prose requires connecting with your reader.  To do this, you have to understand who that reader is.  Nothing should come before this task.  It needs to be done before writing can begin. I like to compare this to planning a trip.  Maps are useless until you know your destination.

 A

 Another major key to elegance is the understanding of the importance of the tiniest detail.  Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, a piece of prose is only as tight as its messiest detail. A good writer doesn’t stop at the nouns, verbs and adjectives.

 LONG

 Don’t confuse elegance with brevity.  Elegant things are short not because they have to be but because the difficulty to craft an elegant piece of prose combined with the limitations of time forces writers to be brief.  Elegant novels, for example, do exist, but they are few and far between.

 TIME

 To quote Roman orator (and letter writer) Marcus T. Cicero, “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”  

 Simplicity takes more time not less.  Anyone can get a point across with ten thousand words.  But a true artist can do it in ten (or possibly fifty).  

 IRONICALLY

 Irony is a potent tool for commentary.  Its genius lies in the fact that it comments not on what is, but rather on what isn’t.  Like all good humor, irony makes you laugh.  But like the best type of humor, it also makes you think.  It’s both funny and funny.

 THE

 Elegance in writing is about more than words. Equally important is how the words are woven together. Tempo, pacing, rhythm – these are the tools that set the mood for the piece.  Try reading aloud your text.  The natural beat of language is more suited for the ear than the eye.

 WORDS

 To realize the power of words, you must first understand how they work. Art is expressive; words are connotative.  That is, words draw their power from their ability to extract different ideas from different people.  A circle is a circle, but the concept of “scary” varies from person to person.

 NEEDED

 Elegance is not the result of any one attribute.  It is the combination of numerous factors coming together in harmony. This is why it’s such a hard skill to master.  Most people can pat their head or rub their tummy.  But put them together and it’s not quite so easy.

 TO

 An elegant piece of prose needs to hit the reader at a gut level.  Often they won’t know exactly why they like it, but they will recognize that something about the piece moves them.  There are many types of writing where subtlety is lost.  Elegant writing isn’t one of them.

 EXPLAIN

 There are many ways for you to explain an idea.  The most elegant one though is not through definition but by example. By connecting your idea to one already known by the reader, you’re leaving the work of teaching to someone in the past.  Education is hard.  Comparison is easy.

 THE

 If writing is like building a house, the structure is like the foundation. Its design will dictate how the house is built.  If it’s faulty, no amount of fancy brickwork will undo the damage.  So take the time to ensure your structure is building the kind of prose you want.

 CONCEPT

 Never underestimate the power of a concept.  An important part of elegance is condensing big ideas into little words. This is far from an easy task.  It often takes a genius an entire lifetime to create a truly innovative concept.  So take advantage of all their hard work and inspiration.  

 KEPT

 A common barrier to elegance is the belief that only one way will work. Often a writer is unable to abandon a beloved piece of prose even when evidence demonstrates otherwise.  If something doesn’t add to the larger sense of the piece, you have to learn to let it go.

 THE

 Readers notice things at a minute level far beyond their mind’s ability to interpret. This means that although they may not consciously notice many of your tiny details, they will do so unconsciously. Aesthetics teach us that it’s this unconscious structure that will determine whether or not it feels “right”.

 COLUMN

 All communicators, whether through speaking or print, need to find a voice. A voice provides familiarity and it teaches the listener or reader how to more quickly absorb the information. Elegance is all about the conservation of ideas.  Having a pre-learned voice to guide you is a very valuable tool.

 FROM

 I’ve spent some time talking about understanding your reader.  But there is one more person who is even more important to understand – yourself. Writing is about sharing your ideas with others.  If you haven’t spent the time to figure out what you think, how can you possibly communicate it?

 BEING

 “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

 Or so the saying goes.  What the cliché forgets to mention is how many words a single word is worth.  For example, take the word “being”. To capture the essence of what “being” represents is tens of thousands of words if not more.

 ELEGANT

 What is the value of being elegant? Why should you care? Elegance adds aesthetics. It evokes poetry.  It grants beauty.  Elegant prose draws the reader closer because it gives them something to not just learn but to admire.  Good prose stimulates the head, but elegant prose resonates in the heart.

 SO

 Who, what, where, when, how - all important questions.  But for a writer they pale next to why.  If you don’t understand the reasoning beneath the surface, the other details are irrelevant.  The act of elegance is cementing the why.  It’s taking the purpose and engraining it into the piece.

 I

 Elegance is a very personal thing.  If something doesn’t resonate with you, there’s no way for it to resonate with your reader.  Writing is an art, not a science.  There is no rulebook for how things must be done.  If your instincts are telling you that something isn’t working, listen.

 DID

 An important tool in your toolbox is time. Elegance cannot be rushed.  Mental ruts only get deeper the harder you focus on them.  Make sure to work time into your schedule so you are able to walk away from your writing. An hour next week is worth a day today.  

 WHAT

 Don’t let attention to detail pull you away from having a larger sense of what you’re writing.  Take this column as an example.  While I spent a lot of time fine tuning each entry I never lost sight of the effect they created when all the entries were put together.

 ALL

 Elegance requires taking a holistic view of writing.  Every word, every sentence, every paragraph is a piece in a larger puzzle. It’s not enough to understand the impact of a single element. You must understand how any two elements interact if you want to understand the potency of your text.

 ARTISTS

 Elegance and art are very intertwined.  Both seek to achieve a similar goal: to illuminate and inspire with a conservation of expression.  If you’re trying to be elegant, I think it helps to think of yourself as an artist. The instinct for the latter mirrors the needs of the former.

 DO

 An important part of any writing is understanding the feeling you’re trying to evoke.  And then realizing what mechanic tools you have available to evoke that feeling. Diction, verb tense, sentence length, alliteration, word flow, phonetic juxtaposition – each of these will control the mood and tone of your piece.

 I

 A writer’s life is the ultimate fodder.  Don’t be ashamed to plumb your own experiences.  You understand them deeper and more personally than anyone else.  No painter would refuse to use his finest paints. And, as a bonus, by using your own experiences, you will become better educated about yourself.

 FOUND

 Don’t forget that the act of revealing is also an act of exploration.  Don’t be afraid if you learn more than the reader you’re trying to educate.  Writing is not an exact science.  (Or even an exact art.)  Often you will find that the road to salvation has a fork.

 A

 Your future is paved with your past.  If you want to learn how to grow as a writer, you need to look back at what you’ve written. With time and a detached eye, your will find your mistakes become clearer.  Remember that it’s failure, not success, that bests drives education.

 WAY

 The problem with looking for a single solution is that you’ll never find more than one.  And the first one isn’t always the best.  But if you’re open to the possibility that every problem has an infinite number of answers, you’ll have the freedom of choosing the solution you want.  

 TO

 Sentences are filled with freeloaders.  Because writers seem to love overwriting. (I include myself in this camp.)  Make sure to create time for the editor side of you to prune unnecessary words.  If a word can be excised without any harm to the sentence, it has no right being there.

 SAY

 I’m spending my time today talking about elegance in prose, but most of what I’m saying is applicable in speech.  The key difference is that prose has less defining attributes like appearance or tone.  The key to elegant speech is making people focus on the words rather than everything else.

 A

 It’s ironic that something designed to be so simple can be so complex.  But that, my faithful readers, is the joy (and mystery) of elegance. Like an onion, elegance has numerous layers that reveal themselves as you slowly peel them away.  Oh yeah, and it can sometimes make you cry.

 LOT

 An interesting exercise is to look at each word you’re using and think about how much content is loaded in that word.  Then explore what other words exist that fulfill the same role but with added content.  Once you’ve found the word you can’t best, move onto the next word.

 IN

 A good way to get better at understanding elegance is to look for it in every day life. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised where and how often you find it.  Study each example carefully and try to see if you can put your finger on what makes it work.  

 A

 Writing is a shared endeavor.  No one owns the words.  If someone uses a technique that works, there’s no shame in borrowing it.  Like science, writing creates technology that’s brought back to the group to spur further advancements.  Elegance is hard enough to accomplish without refusing to use the toolbox.

 LITTLE

 How big should a piece of text be if you want it to be elegant?  The answer is as big as it needs to be – and not a word more. Just think of it as playing the game Jenga. Keep pulling words out of your prose until it collapses.  

 SPACE

 One of the most important lessons in art is learning the value of negative space, the idea that the eyes are equally drawn to what isn’t there.  Prose has a very similar quality.  When writing pay careful attention to what you aren’t saying. Often it will speak the loudest volume.

 ENJOY

 For some reason people tend to equate dignity with seriousness.  And as such they come to the false conclusion that elegance has no room for humor.  Ironic as humor is one of the most elegant of styles.  A good joke is no longer than is necessary to do its job.

 MARK

 As is always true when I head off the beaten path, I am curious to hear your feedback.  What did you think of this article?  Was it entertaining?  Was it educational? Did you actually read all fifty links?  And if not, why not?

 Tell me.  Inquiring mind wants to know.

 ROSEWATER

 I couldn’t end this week’s column without my trademark closing.  I mean, how inelegant would that be?

 Join me next week when  I go from being a letter man to a Letterman.

 Until then, may you learn to appreciate now just the “what” but the “how” and “why”.

 Mark Rosewater

[thewisecheerio]

Messmer's Insignia

This is Messmer's insignia, stamped all over his Keep, as well as his soldiers' shields and tents. This post is going to be a canon-compliant lore analysis, meaning that not all of this will be explicitly mentioned in canon but will attempt to be compliant with what we do know explicitly.

There are a few important elements coming together to make the insignia: 1. The left-hand flame 2. The right-hand woven ring 3. The outer ring 4. The overlaid, central spear

I'd like to pick these apart in the same way you might pick apart a heraldic coat of arms to look at what each piece might mean individually, as well as what the placement of some elements relative to others might symbolize.

The Left-Hand Flame

Along with the horizontal panel of flames, this is obviously symbolic of Messmer's flame. However, I do want to note that you can absolutely see a cute little winged serpent shape hidden in the flame's design with its head on the right, its tail on the left, and the central portion of the flame forming a wing. (Or maybe it's a dragon. Or maybe I need to seek help for my advanced brainrot, which is causing me to see things. You decide!) Given that Messmer's Phase 1 design—and his public persona—is a mixture of flame and specifically winged serpents, this seems an apt way to capture both ideas in one. A bit on the nose maybe, but hey, his day job is genocide, not graphic design (insert obligatory gRaPhIc dEsIgN iS mY pAsSiOn here).

The Right-Hand Ring

Many people have connected this to Marika's circlet, which I'm not sure I see. Her circlet is a lot more angularly braided, rather than the smooth coil shown here. Plus, I think that Marika's circlet is supposed to be similar to Miquella's Circlet of Light, in that it signifies a (fully) divine aspect of the wearer—something Messmer assuredly is not, since he is a demigod without grace (or, at least, with only the artificial grace bestowed by Marika's seal alone). But either way, none of what I'm about to say contradicts this interpretation, and you can have both be true at the same time.

Rather, I think a different interpretation might be that this is intertwined serpents, similar to the shape his own winged serpents make as they coil around his body. The winged serpent is typically a symbol of Caduceus in alchemical lore, of which Elden Ring is rife. The Caduceus is explicitly two intertwined snakes topped with wings. So that seems like the most straightforward interpretation for what this might be a nod to.

To learn more about Caduceus's role in alchemy, I highly recommend the two videos linked below by Max Derrat and Smoughtown. But the short of it is that the binding ritual that produces a rebis—a divine, single (merged) soul of masculine and feminine energies (e.g. Marika/Radagon)—requires some sort of binding material to happen properly. In alchemical lore, this binding material is the "prima materia", or the formless base of all matter in the universe associated with chaos and the void. The material is often referred to as Mercurius, named for the god Mercury who carries a Caduceus staff. Thus, we end up with binding/prima materia = Mercurius = Caduceus = 2 intertwined serpents.

(Side note: This is also an EXCELLENT reason to believe that Messmer is the son of Marika and Radagon. The White Queen and Red King of alchemy are often shown with the Caduceus between them, which would seem to fit well with the idea of Marika and Radagon having a child between them that is associated with dual serpents.)

I also think there is a connection to the (singular) base serpent by way of the alchemical Caduceus, however. Besides the prima materia/uniting matter, Caduceus is also often used as a symbol of duality. Namely, it is a symbol of the tension between "higher" and "base" desires, with the former being associated with wisdom and the latter being associated with chaos. We absolutely see this in Messmer's lore, as we learn from the Winged Serpent Helm that his winged serpents act as wise friends that keep his base serpent in check. As such, the duality of the Caduceus may also represent the duality of the winged and base serpents. So this coiled symbol involving two snakes might also represent the singular base serpent indirectly, making it function like an image-based palimpsest. When we peel back the layers of one, we find evidence of the other.

The Outer Ring

I mostly think this is just meant to be a uniting graphical element. However, it is cute that it kind of evokes the imagery of a Great Rune, all of which are rings. Messmer does not have a Great Rune, as he did not participate in the shattering. So instead of an actual Great Rune, he ends up with this imitation insignia instead. Adorable. Maybe this is why his otherwise heraldic-looking insignia was designed as a circle instead of the more classical forms that heraldic coats-of-arms tend to take.

The Central Spear

In the center of the insignia, we get a spear wrapped with a singular(?) serpent. The question mark is there because we do not actually see the serpent tail, so you would be reasonable to question whether this is truly a singular serpent, or something like an unending ouroboros. (Or, you know, both.) I'm going to go forward with the assumption that this is a singular serpent. Cutely, the head of the spear forms the serpent's head.

Obviously, the most straightforward part is that the spear is Messmer's spear, the Spear of the Impaler. I find it highly apt that the spear *overlays* the other elements of the insignia, almost dominating them. War is definitely the thing Messmer is most publicly known for, as a myriad of NPCs—both spirit and corporeal—curse him for the honorless war that he has wrought without mentioning much else about him. Meanwhile, his internal relationship with his flame and serpentine nature is something really only known privately. After all, the Fire Knight set tells us that it was only those few knights under his personal command that knew the truth of how he felt regarding his flame and his serpentine nature.

Armor of the Fire Knights under Messmer the Impaler's personal command. Distinguished by its red cape and twin golden snakes which adorn the neck, enhancing incantations of Messmer's flame. These were the only ones who truly knew Messmer. His flames, like serpents. The painful fate that accompanied his accursed form.

Building on this, the dominating nature of this graphical element is important in another way. The flame and other serpent imagery seems to be something intrinsic to Messmer: he was born with a serpentine nature, and was either born with or cursed with flame very early in his existence, too. Meanwhile, war is something that was *imposed upon him* as a request by his mother, as we learn from his armor set. He doesn't do genocide just because he enjoys fighting like Godfrey or Radahn; rather, he does it on behalf of Marika and ends up pretty sad, tired, and self-hating because of it. In this way, warfare ends up as an intrusive element in his life, similar to the way the spear almost seems to be a dominating, nearly intrusive element in the insignia's design.

The serpent coiled around the spear is also really interesting, because it appears to be a singular serpent in contrast to the dual coil on the right. The most straightforward interpretation is that this is a nod to his hidden inner nature as the (singular) base serpent.

Given what we learned above about the Caduceus itself symbolizing a tension between higher and base desires—and repeated in Messmer's story as tension between the wise winged serpents and base serpent—I find it apt that the snake more associated with base desires is the one wrapped around the tool of war. I enjoy the link between warfare and base desires, as it ties into Elden Ring's overall themes around cycles of violence, explicitly characterizing the desire for violence and war as base.

The Central Spear: An Alternative Interpretation

This next bit is unhinged brainrot territory and what I think is a weaker interpretation of the spear symbolism than the above, so be warned. But I also think something interesting can be said if you look at this as a nod to the Rod of Asclepius. Asclepius is the god of healing and medicine, and the Rod of Asclepius (containing a single serpent wrapped around it) is often used as a symbol of medicine both in real life hospitals as well as in alchemical lore. Messmer's most obvious connection to medicine is Marika, as the Blessing of Marika and Remembrance of the Impaler items tell us that she attempted to heal him before finally gouging out his eye to seal the base serpent away instead.

So if this is a nod to his mother's attempts to heal him, two things are true. First, this is an adorable nod to mom from Elden Ring's biggest momma's boy. Second, one might also read into it that these attempts to heal him of something he was naturally born with—and isn't intrinsically evil in and of itself, as far as I can tell—were actually intrusive.

Certainly from Marika's perspective, she worried that others would judge Messmer for his serpentine nature. In some sense, she was right, as Messmer's followers (like Black Knight Andreas) specifically rebelled against him after learning of it. But if your child is disabled or otherwise different in some way and people will judge them for it, is that actually a reason to seek a cure rather than an accommodation, especially if the cure comes with other costs? The answer is complex and varies by individual, of course. But in Messmer's case, we see signs of self-hatred and even neglect as a result of being taught that the base serpent is intrinsically evil. For evidence of this, see the linked post about how there are bits of shed skin on the base serpent, which is a symptom of neglect for snakes!

If Marika's cure resulted in self-hatred and neglect of a critical aspect of his being, can it really be said to be medicinal? Or is it just as intrusive an element in his life as warfare seems to be? I think if you believe the latter, this could be another reason to read this part of the design as intrusive and dominating over the other elements in the insignia that represent his natural self. That said, I think the base serpent interpretation is the more lore-accurate one, but it's fun to think about what it might mean as a symbol of Marika's attempted healing, anyway!

To Sum Up...

So overall while the design is maybe a slightly messy conglomeration of ideas and images, I think this insignia gives us so much. We get fire imagery, winged serpent imagery, base serpent symbolism, a graphic palimpsest of the winged and base serpents and the duality of man, warfare, warfare as a base desire, maybe a cute nod to Great Runes, and maybe even a cute nod to Momma and her attempts to heal. In this way, I think it functions in the same way as coats of arms do in heraldic design: they can also be pretty graphically messy, but it's on purpose to fit a lot of symbolism into a small space.

[thewertsearch]

Ask Comp 10/12

Anonymous asked: Scratch: Won't anyone think of the children!! If you're gonna be smooching then get a room!!! also Scratch: Time to go manipulate more children into destroying their relationships! @manorinthewoods asked: There are two events in which Scratch has, so far, gained emotions: one, when he discovered that the Serkets stole an incredibly important magical item and hid it for centuries or millenia; and two, romance in his workroom. ~LOSS (20/9/24)

@manorinthewoods asked: "Is it because there’s a ‘good’ and an 'evil’ way for a God Tier to die?" On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this brain fart? ~LOSS (20/9/24)

Wait, is that a brain fart? Because to me, it still scans.

Prospit, the 'good' moon, would naturally be associated with heroism, and vice-versa for Derse. Am I missing something really obvious?

Anonymous asked: Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Death's Bell grows ever nearer. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. But will it determine whether the thief is trully a sinner? Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Honk. I guess we'll see :o) @ben-guy asked: The showdown between Vriska and Terezi really is one of the watershed moments of HS imo. You've questioned if Vriska has matured enough to escape death by mysterious transcendental judgement engine… but let's not forget the meanings of the words in question, and their inherent linguistic and philosophical ambiguity. What if her death being caused by her pursuit of a heroic (albeit foolish) plan tragically makes her growth the cause of a permanent death instead? What if Terezi's decision to kill her is just regardless of Vriska's motivations, making her growth a moot point? Of course, this feels a lot less mutually exclusive, which goes against the implications of the clock imagery. […]

How did Scratch phrase it again?

The terms of a God Tier permadeath are defined according to the case of the individual - which implies that Heroic and Just are subjective, even to Sburb. It sounds like there might not be any ironclad rules, and that everyone's ruling works differently.

Yes, Scratch appears to be outlining some universal examples here - but what does, say, 'corruption' really mean? There are many equally valid interpretations, and a lot of them are contradictory. Maybe each death uses the definition that makes the most sense to that player.

In any case, I think Vriska's fate is currently meant to be unclear. She's designed from the ground up to be a complex, morally ambiguous character, and you could construct a valid argument for either outcome.

For my part, I'm fully convinced this will resolve as Just. I've been predicting Vriska's death for most of the Act now, and it's extremely fitting for it to happen at Terezi's reluctant hands. All those Incidents are finally coming full circle, and they're coming for her.

@morganwick asked: Note that Scratch starts talking about dark pockets and needing to speculate immediately after Vriska sees Karkat and Terezi's corpses. That's all Terezi needed to see, which means it's all Scratch needed to know - and all Hussie needed to know as well.

True! The fight that Scratch couldn't call was part of a doomed timeline. Its outcome was completely irrelevant to the story - and therefore, there's a good chance that Hussie didn't bother to decide on the victor. Author Theory survives another day!

@relaxxattack asked: i dont know if this counts as spoilers (it's a quote from andrew hussie) but i think your theory on scratch's omniscience is basically spot-on! "Doc here refers to the dark spots, the pockets of void on which his vision is built. These hint at limitations to his omniscience. As an alt-author figure, his omniscience makes sense, since the author has sweeping knowledge of story details as well. Because I "know everything," he "knows everything" too. Of course, as I write the story, there are plenty of things I don't know yet, and the "not knowing" is always an important part of the process in this largely improvisational medium. The known gaps are worked into the story, evaded through time skips and other tricks, filling out the surrounding narrative until certain answers become clearer, and then revealed at the right moment. The voids are built around, and in a real way, become foundational, almost load-bearing gaps in knowledge, just as he describes. Pillars of shadow. So his dark spots are not only a limitation to an otherwise ridiculously overpowered villain that can be exploited, they're a feature of a specific type of "authorial omniscience" copied into his profile." -- Andrew Hussie

...and it's officially Hussie-approved! Let's fucking go!

Anonymous asked: One kind of less obvious thing he says about circumstantial simultaneity is that it weaves together perfectly disparate chronologies such as a pair of distinct sessions, so it seems it is at work when there is communication between sessions, such as conversations between humans and trolls. ie: The troll sending the message is circumstantially simultaneous to the human receiving the message. Ditto for the memos. Anonymous asked: Posting for someone else again. -DJ || I interpret Circumstantial Simultaneity to mean a very simple thing: "those events happens at different times, but at the same meta-time". Especially if the things happen in different worlds, and so happening at the same time is impossible, because different worlds have isolated timelines. - RM

That makes a lot more sense than my interpretation. I think I was thrown off by Scratch's insistence that Circumstantial Simultaneity is 'not fully comprehensible to a mortal mind'. His use of such phrasing led me to assume that the concept was more complicated than it appeared, leading me to try and puzzle out the 'real' meaning of the term.

So, in a nutshell, circumstantial simultaneity is when multiple sections of reality are linked by shared events, allowing their local timelines to synchronize. Seems straightforward enough.

Anonymous asked: i don't think scratch technically lied. there are multiple ways in which scratch could die in the same way that there are multiple ways in which anyone could die - an axe could theoretically kill you, but that doesn't mean there has to be a timeline where you get killed with an axe

The semantics here are pretty interesting.

Scratch has stated that there are multiple ways to kill him, which could mean:

That there are multiple scenarios which have a non-zero probability of killing him.

That there are multiple scenarios that would hypothetically cause him to die, if they actually occurred.

These two statements have fairly similar meanings, but, as anon pointed out, there's an important distinction between the two. Statement 1 requires Scratch to actually die in some timelines, but Statement 2 doesn't require him to ever die, in any timeline.

Scratch has stated that he'll only die in one timeline, which means that there is only one scenario that will ever lead to his death. All other scenarios will never lead to his death - and thus, even if they could 'hypothetically' kill him, the probability that they will kill him is zero.

@heliotropopause asked: Never change, Noir. is that the oil jug WV uses for his mural in act 2? how'd it get to Scratch's lair?

I don't think it's the same jug, for the simple reason that both Carapacians emptied out the whole thing for their respective shenanigans. This ain't no Alchemy Jug!

abysswarlock asked: I like to think that the meta joke with the disks are a parallel of how the kings scepters hold small instantiations of skaia that exist within skaia itself, in this case the story of homestuck exists in disk form within the narrative itself.

Perhaps, but the Scepter's recursion is explained to be a game mechanic, whereas there's currently no explanation for the disk's existence. I guess Hussie himself could have put it there, but, like... why?

Anonymous asked: ‘His army thus inspired would spearhead a major re8ellion. Surely one at least on the scale of the sectarian revolt crushed 8y the High8loods, who thereafter for8ade its mention, or any invoc8tion of the heretical sym69ls at all, even in private journals.’ do you have any theories about this line?

Karkat's leadership shines in times of immediate crisis, which is part of why he struggled to keep his team together in the Veil. He doesn't know how to motivate people without an immediate, in-your-face threat - but since his ancestor was leading a rebellion, that probably wasn't an issue for him. The threat was omnipresent.

In short, I think Karkat Senior was always in Vantas Panic Mode. He'd have spearheaded Alternia's first rebellion with vim, vigor, seemingly infinite stamina, and sheer, bloody-minded determination - and if he was anything close to as likeable as Karkat, folk heroism was virtually inevitable. I can't wait to learn more!

@semaphoricwave asked: w.r.t. learning Mindfang dates the Summoner: it makes you wonder if Vriska's obsession with Tavros was the Alternian equivalent of comphet. She had no respect for his agency in the scenario (not difficult to develop when you're able to mind control people), but also she didn't seem to hold much stock in her own agency in all that, either. It's not even a cueball fortune, she just seems to want to be true: this boy she wants to 'make better' (but doesn't know how) is meant to make her happy. Anonymous asked: so with the revelation of the summoner, this makes TWO characters that vriska canonically was in/pursued as part of a romantic relationship that were descendants from her ancestors romantic partners. girl is inventing new kinds of comphet 😭

Vriska, for god's sake. Terezi is right there.

@iknowitsgreen asked: I find it so interesting that there's now an implication that Vriska literally expected Tavros to grow wings and fly to safety when she threw him off that cliff. The question is, did she simply resent Tavros for proving her fantasy wrong, or did she convince herself that Tavros chose to be paralyzed over showing his wings to her? It somewhat recontextualizes her early treatment of him either way

Layers upon layers upon layers. Vriska was fucked up about Tavros from twenty directions at once, and should never have been let within a thousand feet of the poor guy.

@manorinthewoods asked: Since trolls growing wings is apparently some sort of mythic event, presumably the God Tier wings of Vriska specifically tie into this. A God Tier troll gaining wings would be much more significant to the troll than to the human reader, as their culture places incredible emphasis on the meaningfullness of such - and perhaps the God Tier ascension could be likened to such a 'pupation'. ~LOSS (10/9/24)

It would explain why both Vriska and Aradia got them, but John didn't. The trolls have a lot in common with insects, so it stands to reason that in their culture, an insect's metamorphosis would be associated with divine apotheosis.

Anonymous asked: It’s super fascinating riding along as you go through this sequence because when I first read homestuck literally all the mind games went over my head haha. I saw what happened, and had a decent grasp on the characters, but the idea that Gamzee was manipulating Terezi? Never occurred to me. Everything about “why didn’t Terezi suspect Gamze” was just a mystery I never solved (mostly because I never understood gamzee, and still don’t) So Thank You so much for helping me understand better, years later! It’s so wild to look back and know what happens, but still have a limited grasp on why it went down that way.

Thank you for the kind words!

And yeah, a lot of Gamzee's schtick seems to be focused on obfuscating what he's actually doing. The real smoking gun there was the near-complete loss of Terezi's deductive abilities, at the exact moment Gamzee should have entered her radar.

@skelekingfeddy asked: ive always seen the grand highblood as not a troll, but like, the head of the imperial drones. when asked why his blood is black hussie said ‘Because he’s a huge gross monster? I don’t what sort of answer would be meaningful.When the highbloods were setting up the judicial system, they said ok we’re going to need some judges for this thing. Then they said ok how about these massive brainless monsters, that would be so perfect.’ […] its a headcanon of mine that hht is technically the same species as the mother grub. same with the imperial drones. if the mother grub is a queen bee then the drones are…well, drones. and hht is, like, a drone foreman, or sergeant, or something. i imagine that trolls and the drones’ species evolved a reproductive symbiosis, but then the empire took advantage of it and co-opted the drones + hht as enforcers

There's such an interesting untold story here, about how the early trolls might have cyberized a formerly symbiotic species, and essentially made them its slaves.

I've always been interested in how, exactly, the trolls developed their symbioses, and what they might have looked like before Alternian civilization became what it is today.

Anonymous asked: terezi tries to play disc 2 on a gramophone because she literally doesn't know how a cd works - sgrub is all run via grubtech, and most of her humanning has been with mr turntables who even if asked would probably describe a cd through obtuse metaphor likening it to a vinyl record

Oh, good point. Terezi's from a civilization which left CDs behind a long, long time ago.

Hey, come to think of it, why does the Veil even have a…

...oh, right. The room isn't 'canon', so I probably shouldn't be trying to theorize too hard about its contents. It's not really part of the story.

@catlikeascendant asked: I had the impression that just like mindfang was vriska's FLARP character, Redglare was terezi's. That would explain terezi having the outfit and responding to the name, at least @somebody0214 asked: Terezi did roleplay a lot as the Redglare so it would make sense she would respond to Redglare. @dissonancies asked: I'm honestly not sure Terezi does know about her ancestor. […] Vriska had the journals, but she tries to keep her cards close to her chest- remember, "Mindfang" was Vriska's roleplay name. Who's to say she didn't just "casually" "suggest" Redglare for Terezi's character, without telling her why?

Vriska, just how many of your friends have you been molding into their ancestors?

I won't be mad - I just want to know.

Anonymous asked: Equius Sr being fit to Inherit the cueball due his passive Voidiness is another point to sharing classpects with Equius Jr, the Heir of Void. @cationicflood asked: now that youve met the Expatri8, you know now why Scratch didn’t know Vriska had the cue ball until Terezi told him — it’s spent untold centuries ensconced in Zahhak-flavored Void aura. Even when it was in Vriska’s possession, it so happened she was quite literally neighbors with Equius.

We've talked a lot about how I believe Scratch's 'dark pockets' represent information that Hussie hasn't decided on yet. It's admittedly a little difficult to reconcile that with the fact that Void, an in-universe Aspect, is strongly implied to be the source of at least some of these pockets.

Maybe Aspects can work on a meta level, as well as a literal one. Like, perhaps Void is the aspect of author uncertainty, and therefore, anything that Hussie hasn't decided on out-of-universe is canonically 'hidden by Void'.

Anonymous asked: Mindfang warning Vriska about looking into the cueball…. So what you're saying is that Mindfang warned Vriska about the *stares*

It literally keeps happening!

@wolygan asked: So based off of the troll Ancestors we have seen, what do you think the rest might be like? also what do you think of the ones we have seen, since we don't know much about them yet. @absinthe-and-alabaster asked: Hi! I'm wondering if you have any updated thoughts from your initial ancestor theory post about the ancestors we haven't seen yet, given we know a bit more about troll history now

Not a lot! I'm obviously curious about the others, particularly Karkat's, but it's hard to come up with any concrete theories, other than 'their experiences and personalities will parallel those of their descendants', which is a freebie, based on the Ancestors we already have.

Anonymous asked: To be fair to EQ,Nepeta was far and safe when Gamzee attacked, and she could easly hide out of harm way with her skills. He just miscalculated and didn't realise she would follow him and attack Gamzee after he died.

True - but at the same time, he knew that Gamzee would still remain at large after his death, and that he, Equius, would no longer be able to protect Nepeta.

Even if she hadn't attacked him immediately, Gamzee would have remained a significant danger to everyone else on the Veil, Nepeta included. Had Equius fought back, he could have ensured that Gamzee would never be able to harm her.

@martinkhall asked: It's obvious to us that's not Vriska's handwriting. But just because Terezi can smell what the words say doesn't nesisarily mean she can smell the difference in how they're writen.

Plus, would Terezi necessarily be familiar with Vriska's handwriting? After all, most of the trolls seemed to communicate exclusively through modern technology. Would they really have any cause to pass notes to each other while FLARPing?

Anonymous asked: I would push back on the assertion that Heroic and Just deaths are the only way stories can work. One can be slain by a villain but not be a hero, and that can still matter to the story. A certain event from A Song of Ice and Fire springs to mind.

Oh, for sure - that's definitely correct outside of Homestuck. But within the comic, they really might be the only ways to die that Sburb considers 'dramatic' enough to be permanent.

Outside of the God Tier system, though, anything goes. After all, Equius was slain by a villain, and he didn't exactly die a hero.

@flerponius asked: Not really relevant to anything that's going on right now, but I thought you might find it interesting. In the Homestuck physical books, AH comments that the 4 grist types unlocked by default at the beginning of the comic (not including build grist) are related to the players quests; specifically, each grist type is a blight on the land it's found on, and the players quest would involve removing it from the land. I don't think this was explained anywhere else in the comic.

Oh, interesting. I wonder what they were supposed to be for?

Like, how does Rose's chalk relate to bringing life back to her oceans? Did Hussie have different Quest in mind for her, back then?

@manorinthewoods asked: The human session is shaping up to have lasted for less than a week due to Jack's interference, while the trolls slogged through over 600 hours (probably 612, to be specific, or 25.5 days) of relationship drama, powerleveling, and the production of inane yet somehow powerful weapons. Which of these is a more 'normal' length for a session? Did the trolls take too long, or were they rushing? Do bigger sessions last for longer? ~LOSS (2/9/24)

I'm pretty sure the troll session was closer to a 'typical' length.

According to Karkat, the human Reckoning arrived significantly sooner than normal - I assume this was due to Jack's double regicide.

If the human session had gone more smoothly, I imagine that it, too, would have taken several weeks. Like the trolls, the kids would have been able to hang out in person - and unlike the trolls, it probably wouldn't have devolved into multiple homicides.

@cheyj05 asked: Hey, just so you know it's pretty much impossible to read your liveblog in order on mobile. Searching the act 1 tag doesn't work so you pretty much would just have to scroll ALL the way back, which is impossible @cheyj05 asked: Ignore my last ask, I figured out how to do it

Mind sharing how, actually? I've been assuming that this was impossible, due to the Tumblr app's, uh, unique issues. If there's a way to browse the tags properly on mobile, I should probably add it to the pinned.

Anonymous asked: What do you mean "barely wind-themed", John made a car fly with his wind powers, why is a boat less believable?

You're not wrong. I guess I meant more that the boat's Breath energy looked a lot less like actual wind, and more like the abstract idea of Breath. It might just be stylistic, though.

@wolygan asked: I read another liveblog for Homestuck, and they just got to meeting Jade and then wrote a short essay on how they are convinced that Jade is the seer of light, just thought you might find that funny to know.

I do find that funny to know! Hussie got 'em again!

[jerreeeeeee]

actually its kind of crazy how little we actually see the starblaster crew interact with each other. like other than tres horny boys and each of the pairs in that trio, and like, arguably lucretia and thb, barry and lup, and lup and taako, most of the relationships between the crew are only a few lines, if anything? like obviously in-universe they're all really close and griffin says that (time enough to grow indescribably close), but there's a lot we don't see. like, taako & barry, for example, have a handful of moments, lines we can point to that show they are really close (you're my family, taako, can i speak frankly?), but as far as actual screentime, there's really very little.

and even those i mentioned before, like, lup has more screentime with barry and taako than with anyone else, there's the whole little legato monologue about her and barry's relationship and she has (comparatively) a lot of scenes with taako, but also, as a character, she's only around for maybe a sixth of the show, so there's just not a lot of time to work with?

and that's not to mention the relationships we can figure were probably present in-universe, but literally never see, like lup & davenport. and on that note, i actually can't think of any other pairs who don't interact at least once, but still, very rarely. like now i'm considering davenport & barry. who we hardly see but there is the fact that barry cast command on him to drink the ichor. it's one line in the show and the implications are never really mentioned but there's a lot of significance to be wrung out of this one tiny interaction. barry condemns lucretia's methods of stealing agency from their family in the service of the greater good, but when he thinks it's best for davenport, does the same on a smaller scale? barry doesn't have the time to try to convince him to drink, he needs davenport back to himself now, because davenport is someone dependable, a leader, someone who barry knows will be capable and decisive and relieve him of the responsibility he's been shouldering by himself? that barry knows davenport won't begrudge his use of the spell, because he'll see it as pragmatic, necessary, assistance, and forgive him for it? none of that is necessarily supported in canon but it can be extrapolated from, again, kind of a throwaway line.

the non-thb crew have presence and are important to the narrative, but most of that comes from thematic significance rather than them as individuals, you know? we hardly see lup and barry and davenport (maybe arguably lucretia too, though we see more of her than them), but we see the echoes of their decisions and their goals and their love for the rest of their family and the way they shape the story.

but actually, even that's not entirely accurate, because as significant as they are in that way, their presence isn't only due to that, they're full characters too. they have personalities and depth and connection, they're not only plot devices. like, maybe griffin needed to explain why lup was missing, and that's why she became a lich, and her needing to be a lich is why she and barry had their romance, but also, if that were all there was to it, the legato monologue wouldn't exist, the best day ever wouldn't exist. those are scenes designed to build lup as a character through her connections to other characters and to the central themes of balance, not to fix plot holes. it's just that all of that character building takes place in a pretty small fraction of the show compared to tres horny boys, who have the entire thing. idk its interesting and impressive how some of the deepest characters and most profound relationships were developed in a very short amount of time

[dissentersbedamned]

that charlie redesign wanted me to redesign some others so here are some others, i was going to do husk, nifty, and sir pentious but i didnt feel like doing that

are these designs easier to animate? probably not am i claiming to be a better character designer than viziepop? yes

i might do the others but probably not i dont want to be know for this

individual characters and design notes below

i wanted to give her this soft color palette, making her stick out from the rest of hell, like an "angel" in hell

gave her a pink suit like her pilot design

gave her gold accents to give that royalty feel

her hair is now more curly/swirly to giver her a sheep look, along with the ears, kind of like how lucifer is associated with goats charlie has sheep

i also gave her ears to maker her not look like just a human

the darker pink-red color is supposed to contrast with her softer colors but not that much, it's supposed to convey that she is still a demon, the horns were also added to give that feel

bigger cheek makeup (?) and those gold "chains" were added to giver her a circus clown/ring leader look because hell is supposed to be like a circus

gave her tap shoes to convey shes likes music or someshit

darker color to contrast with charlies, a sun and moon thing going on

made her more moth like by making her hair look like moth wings, fuzzy leg warmers, and antennas (are those even antennas do moths even have antennas)

added a silver like color in her design to match with charlies gold

gave back her stocking from her pilot design and made her hand warmers mirror them

wanted to giver her a hot topic employee look

made her more look like she died in 2014 by giving her the red and black stocking + hand warmer, leg warmers, and making her x asymmetrical

her worm out shorts are suppose to give a 2014 feel but also are like that because moths just eat clothes sometimes

gave her the ribbon on her waist to mimic one of her old designs

her red is the same red in charlies pallet, they match +]

made him purple because i think limiting the main colors to each character is nice also because i think purple is a much more lust full color and to look similar to his old design

made him more spider like by adding an extra pair of eyes, fangs, two more legs and a spider butt lol

made him more fluffy and rounder to giver him a more effeminate/gnc look

gave him eyelashes for the same reason above

gave him a scar on the side that he has the golden tooth and different eyes because i think it would be cool is that was from an injury he had when he was alive

the coat was added so that it looks similar to his suit but still different enough so that not everyone is wearing one

the design on his pider butt and coat are suppose to look like a stylized spiders web

the hearts at the end of his heels are suppose to replicate the end of spiders feet

still kept him relatively skinny because i think he would have one of those arcs were a character starts off skinny but gets fatter to show that they're happy with life

still kept his suit because its such an important part to his character tbh and also so he can mirror charlies pink soft light pink suit with his dark dulled down red suit

gave him a tie so he looks more professional compared to charlies cutie bow tie

dulled down his colors so make him see older and stuck in an era

made him looked aged by giving him grey hairs, stubble, and eye bags

made his deer features more obvious by making his antlers bigger, more deer like ears, giving him a nose pike charlie, and giving him hooves

why alastor got socks on in the pool those are his hooves you bitch

actually made him black

still kept him skinny to give off that sickly skinny look

[hongluboobs]

ok i was cooking up another hong lu analysis thing bc i noticed SEVERAL things in his base id art the other day and wanted to share with the class but they just dropped a new one in the canto V trailer and i have some stuff i wanna talk about that one:)

My Hong Lu knowledge and interpretation is very heavily influenced by reading Dream of the Red Chamber, which may not be the best because I don’t know how much Limbus will pull from the book because it’s Long as fuck but I think it’s given me a deeper knowledge of Hong Lu.

Keep in mind this ego is NOT out yet so i could be totally off base depending on what the full animation/corrosion/sin affinities are like and this is totally theorizing but I wanted to have a go at anyway!! And this got totally out of hand so reading is appreciated :)

One of the first things I noticed here is this Hong Lu seems VERY Bao-yu. We still don’t know for sure what Hong Lu is within the context of Red Chamber (i don’t think it’ll be straightforward considering how that book works) but it’s important to note!

He has this little hat on (this is the best pic i can get atm to show it’s not a fancy hair tie, unfortunately the footage we have rn is a little scuffed)

and Bao-yu is ALWAYS depicted with a hat like this.

This could just be because that’s the appropriate outfit for Chinese nobility (I unfortunately have little to no reference point here, feel free to correct me, but from some quick searches hats aren’t ubiquitous and ESPECIALLY not ones of this style.) I think it’s worth noting because it comes up in nearly all modern depictions of Bao-yu.

There’s also the pearl Hong Lu is wearing on his neck/chest area, which is where Bao-yu wears the magic jade he was born with. His jade is translated into Limbus as Hong Lu’s jade eye, but this plus his hat and the abno’s themes REALLY makes me think we are dealing with some Bao-Yu stuff here.

Speaking of the Abno’s themes, now i can actually go over them! All we have for Walking Pearl right now is the MD event (as well as general observation), but there’s a few things that are relevant.

Just based off design, the abnormality seems to be mostly about the precious (the pearl) and the filth (the muck) intermixing. which makes sense with the EGO being named “Effervescent Corrosion” and our holders being Hong Lu and Rodya.

There’s some symbolism around greed/wealth (the offspring filled muck desiring the pearl and fighting for which one will earn it? the muck tarnishing the pearl? ) and I think we should read into that because it’s Hong Lu and Rodya who have this one and they’re both very tied to their financial status. Those two sharing an ego makes me insane for a bunch of reasons but that’s probably for another analysis piece! But duality is REALLY important for those guys and that’s a theme they’re emphasizing here with both the pearl and muck within the clam.

There’s also some elements of shelter/protection/potentially entrapment with the clam’s shell which are HUGE for Hong Lu, especially with his egos so I think those may come up.

But mostly it’s about the mixing of the precious (likely “wealth” here) and the unsavory, which works very well with what we know of the Jia family. The design likely referencing Bao-yu and thematically dealing with the Jia family makes me think each of those individual readings are more likely because they’re deeply tied together!

And now onto the MD event! I did not write this in order so I may repeat stuff here but. I realized I had to cover the design first so here we are!

First thing that stuck out of me is this portion when you choose to sample some of the clam’s slime.

Sibling/family infighting is very Jia family. It reminds me a lot of this line base Hong Lu says.

You could take this a step further because the clam is something that would typically offer shelter from the rest of the world, and even though it protects, its offspring continue to kill and eat each other.

It seems fine, the offspring have this lovely shell for protection, and they have the precious pearl held within, but even as they are sheltered and wealthy. They are still getting killed and eaten by one another! Reminds me of someone I know:)

It reminds me of some bits in the later half of Red Chamber, where family members more obviously start acting behind each other’s backs or turning on each other, some even killing other family members.

Another part of the MD event that I got something out of was the beginning portion.

using specifically jade as the color for the seawater is a Hong Lu thing. I may be reaching with this bc it’s more than likely just flavor text BUT when taking this color with the fact that there’s nothing in the water it makes me think of an important scene in Red Chamber where Bao-Yu is described as an empty shell, so I wanted to mention it. We know Hong Lu has TONS of water motifs, especially when relating to his family (see his base ego)

The main reason I brought up this section of the MD event is because of the question brought up by the last portion.

If you take one thing from Dream Of The Red Chamber into your perception of Hong Lu as a character, it should be the themes of ambiguity, duality, and being between binaries. Because he sure as hell does that a lot!!! (and i’m not just talking about his gender) He is both genuinely curious and sheltered with an urge to learn as much as he can, but he also plays dumb frequently, backpedals and asks a lot of stupid questions on purpose to maintain others’ perceptions of him. He is CONSTANTLY walking the line between truth and illusion and it can be hard to tell which is which and precisely how much is fake or real, which is why I find him such an interesting character to think about.

Tangent about Hong Lu's characterization aside, it's really easy to read this line as about his family's perceptions of him.

Hong Lu (or rather, Bao-yu) can be read as being the source of the contamination in that he is the heir of the Jia family who is just an absolute fucking failure of everything you’d want in an heir for that time period.

The clam containing the filth can be read as Hong Lu’s lies (whether conscious lies or otherwise) to himself and others about the true “filth” of his family. Really good example of this is with another bit of window dialogue, but these lies and half truths come up quite a bit if you know where to look. (what happened to cohort of kin looking to stab each other in the back at every turn???)

We already have Hong Lu’s assorted water motifs (his feet make ripples on the water in his base id, land of illusion has so much water theming and shows the Jia mansion is surrounded by water) so I think this is a reasonable analysis to make :)

There’s some other sections to the MD event, but there’s nothing of note that triggered the Hong Lu sleeper agent in my brain & also this has gone on long enough that I wanna talk about predicting some stuff for the ego!

I am manifesting Gluttony/Gloom/Wrath for this ego!!

Gluttony and gloom are in the MD event’s skill check already and I think tie in nicely with the themes. Gluttony works with the offspring in the muck killing and eating each other and themes of greed with the pearl (plus the ego is primarily green and that’s a pretty good clue) and then gloom comes up a LOT with Hong Lu’s family (Liu Hong Lu, the only one that remarks on his jade eye, is also the only Hong Lu with gloom. land of illusion requires 5 gloom resources and also relates a lot to red chamber/his family) Gloom’s also generally a stand-in for water which exists here.

Wrath in Hong Lu generally manifests in him going “yeah, maybe my family was a little fucked up actually” internally, instead of manifesting as taking direct action about the fucked up things like it works for most other sinners, and acknowledging that his family was at least partially filth and killing and eating eachother (metaphorically. maybe literally) works for that

i am not an expert on sin analysis but i wanted to take a prediction bc it’s fun :)

I have a couple of predictions for corrosion and i’ll be real they are the main reason i wrote this thing because i LOVE when bad things happen to Hong Lu!!

Since this ego seems to be referencing Bao-yu so much i can pull stuff from Red Chamber too which makes it more fun :)

First one I came up with is Hong Lu taking the place of the pearl within the clam and getting locked in there! A bunch of his egos have to do with being controlled/trapped so i think it works and it also can work as a parallel for Bao-yu’s treatment by his family. Bao-yu’s name means precious jade, and he’s often treated more like his namesake than a person, heavily controlled and never allowed to leave the Jia mansion (or, in this case, the clam.) I just think it’d be fun!

My other concept has to do with more Red Chamber stuff, notably what happens when Bao-yu loses his jade. I’m not quite there yet in the text, but from what i’ve heard he becomes incredibly unstable and essentially loses his mind. This sets the Jia family’s downfall into even faster motion and from that point things get REALLY fucked up. Since the pearl here parallels Bao-yu’s jade, I think having a reference to that part of the book would be really fucking crazy for all 5 people who have read 1800+ pages of red chanber to get to chapter 94 where he loses that thing. Also i just want to see Hong Lu lose his mind i KNOW it would be terrifying and chilling. but they may be saving that for his distortion (manifesting)

In my skimming Red Chamber table of contents to find when Bao-yu loses his jade i just found a chapter where Bao-yu’s father admires a pearl but we will just ignore that for now bc this has taken long enough to type already and that is several chapters off. but there may be more analysis when this thing actually comes out!

Thank you for reading this far!! I hope you enjoyed me looking far too deep into an unreleased ego we know next to nothing about for fun! this took WAY longer than expected to type out but i’m glad I did because I loveee telling people about Hong Lu!

There is a very real chance very little of my analysis and prediction is reflected in canon BUT please remember that truth becomes fiction when the fiction’s true and even if this doesn’t turn out to be correct now u know a little more about Hong Lu and the themes he plays with :)

[kybercrystals94]

I Miss You

By KyberCrystals94

Read on Ao3 here!

Whumptober 2023|Day 5|Alternative Prompt: Playing Cards

Bad Things Happen Bingo|Prompt: Crying Themselves to Sleep

Rating: G

Words: 785

Summary: Echo discovers a message from a brother.

“Those look so old!” Wrecker declares, leaning on the upper bunk to scrutinize the playing cards Echo is sorting through.

Echo smiles. “That’s because they are old. I pilfered them off a graduated trooper when I was a cadet.”

“You stole them?” Wrecker sounds as impressed as he is surprised. “I thought you never broke a rule in your life.”

“With the right motivation, I’ve been persuaded to bend a few.” Echo chuckles. “Technically, they were contraband for the guy I stole them from. So, really, I was doing him a favor.”

Wrecker grins. “That’s neat you still have them even after they thought you were blown up.”

Echo’s smile falls slightly as he continues to set the cards out, dividing them into suits. “Yeah, when they thought I died, they went to my old batch mate, Fives. After Fives, they went to Rex, and then Rex gave them back to me when I-"

"Came back to life?” Wrecker offers.

“Sure,” Echo says. “When that happened.”

“I don’t think you could even shuffle them if you tried.” Wrecker laughs.

“They’ve definitely seen better days.”

The cards are dogeared, and every one of them has been folded into quarters because of the time Cutup tried to cheat at Sabaac. He folded a few of them so he could identify them in someone’s hand. When the other Dominos found out, they had painstakingly copied the folds on every single card so they all matched. Echo had been so angry at his squad mate, but he desperately wishes he could take back the harsh words that came out of his mouth. After all, they were just cards. A toy. Nowhere near as important as the individuals that played with them.

Echo finds the card he is looking for, the one that had made this deck obsolete. He had accidentally dropped the card in his cup of caf, discoloring it. Fives had suggested they stain all the cards in caf to match; however, Echo decided to retire the deck and get a new one. The old deck was tucked away in his storage bin in the barracks on Kamino, carrying too many memories in its deteriorated fibers to throw away.

Echo holds up the stained card for Wrecker's inspection. “I dropped it in my caf. It’s the reason we didn’t play with this deck anymore,” he explains.

“What does it say?” Wrecker asks.

“What does what say?”

Wrecker points to the back of the card. “On the back. There’s writing.”

Echo flips the card around, squinting to make out the ink of a pen on the intricately designed backing.

I miss you.

Echo feels like the air has been stolen from his lungs.

Fives wrote those words. There is no doubt in Echo’s mind. Not before the Citadel mission. After. After Echo died. After Fives went back to Kamino. Echo can see him. Sitting in their barracks, sorting through Echo’s meager collection of personal effects. He’s searching for a playing card stained in caf. He writes the three words, handwriting ragged by a trembling hand. A note for the brother he lost. That he'd never get back. I miss you.

“Echo!”

Echo blinks and finds that Wrecker has half climbed into the bunk with him, a hand on each of his shoulders. “You with me, buddy?” Wrecker asks.

“Yeah,” Echo croaks. He clears his throat. “Yeah. Sorry.”

Wrecker’s good eye searches Echo’s face, trying to understand. “You scared me there for a second. You sorta zoned out, and then your breathing got weird.”

“Sorry,” Echo says again. Emotions bubble up, threaten to burst out of him, card still gripped in his flesh hand. Dark, inky, familiar script carving into his mind. I miss you. I miss you. I miss you.

“Did I do something?” Wrecker asks, climbing down from his precarious perch.

Echo shakes his head and tries to reassure the man with a thin smile. “No, you didn’t do anything. It’s just…” Echo holds up the card. “The writing. It’s a note from my batch mate, Fives.”

He leaves it at that, and Wrecker doesn’t ask for more. Instead, he offers Echo a kind smile. “I'm gonna go start my watch but let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Wreck, I will,” Echo says, and he means it.

Wrecker leaves the bunk room, and Echo gathers up the cards, tucking them in their tin. He keeps the caf stained card out. He lies down, back to the room, facing the wall, and holds the note in front of him. The last words his oldest brother ever gave him blurs in his watery vision.

“I miss you too,” Echo whispers, and silently cries until sleep claims him.

END

Read the prequel, You Promised, here!

[neouime]

Love Wins All: An Analysis

Here are my notes for the music video. I have more to say, but it's already two in the morning where I live, and I have been sitting here admiring and contemplating IU's artistry since four hours ago. My butt hurts. I will come here later once I let my thoughts marinate.

There's a cube object chasing after them. - The cube is obviously the antagonist of the story. I have no idea why they chose a cube rather than any other creature or shape. Maybe because the design is simple? I think a cube is a smart choice. It looks like human technology, something man-made. The cube may be an invention that was once intended for the benefit of humankind but ended up becoming an instrument for control. The shape of the cube with its equal sides can represent a system that demands conformity.

IU is mute/deaf (she uses sign language), and Taehyung is blind in one eye. - There is one reading by a Korean UAENA about how they represent people with disabilities. There is one cube targeting IU and Taehyung. No other people are shown, but by the end of the music video, we can see several floating cubes outside the building. We can deduce how the cubes may be specifically searching for individuals like them who are marginalized and in hiding.

There is a scene where IU performs on stage, and black figures point their fingers at her. - IU explicitly declared that the song is dedicated to her loved ones, including her fans. We can interpret the black figures as representing people who spread unnecessary hate (혐오) against artists like IU. (Regardless of context, pointing your fingers in Korean culture is considered rude. It is associated with assigning blame or picking out flaws.)

Both the cube and the people in black are forces that persecute and discriminate, respectively. - This reading stems from the fact that IU is a well-known personality in real life and that her character in the story has disabilities.

While there is a male and female lead, the story and the song are not exclusively romantic. LWA is a fan song. Taehyung represents UAENAs. 

While IU sings on stage, he gives her flowers and looks at her adoringly. - They are able to spend moments both happy and sad by each other's side. At the end of the story, Taehyung stands in front of IU to defend her from the cube and destroy it, while IU comforts him and covers his eyes as they're killed.

The camera and the pile of clothes are details prompting an intertextual reading. - This will be familiar to ARMY, but the pile of clothes is an installation by Christian Boltanski. This does not require further explanation since we can infer what it symbolizes from the story's outcome. On the other hand, the camera is something that is more important to the plot than it seems. It captures only the beautiful and healthy appearance of IU and Taehyung. The Korean UAENA I mentioned earlier said that the camera shows an existence where people with disabilities can live happily. 

The camera shuts down by the end of the music video. - Nothing is recorded, and the memories are lost. But then, how does "love win all?" Okay, we'll look at the lyrics. "찬찬히 너를 두 눈에 담아 한 번 더 편안히 웃어주렴 (With my eyes, I memorize you thoroughly. Let's laugh in peace once more.)

Artists like IU come and go. - For every single and album she releases, IU writes an introduction. For LWA, she sums up the story as a promise to "fade away together splendidly." Also, the lyrics "필연에게서 도망쳐 Run on" appear, which both mean to run away from (도망쳐, to escape) and to run towards the "inevitable." (Korean is not my first language so pardon me if I'm wrong, but I think there's a mistake with the translation provided in the music video. There, the lyrics say "run away from necessity, run on." They use the word necessity, but she's referring to an event that is certain to occur.)

Memories [of their music and their moments with fans] are all lost to history; what matters is to live in the moment. (You don't need a camera to prove that you existed and lived your life.) This aligns with her values as an artist. In her interviews, IU says her goal is to perform (creation rather than chart success).

You may say that the story is tragic because they both die in the end, but they were at peace since they were together. "일부러 ��란히 길 잃은 우리 두 사람" (The two of us, side by side, gone astray on purpose). **Edit: IU Team StarCandy on Twitter translated the phrase 길 잃은 우리 as "[we] who took the road less travelled."

I love the lines "너와 슬퍼지고 싶어 My lover" (I want to be sad with you) and "부서지도록 나를 꼭 안아" (Crush me, wrap me tightly in your arms). It illustrates the relationship between IU as an artist and her fans. The song is a declaration of her intention to cherish the good and bad with us. She does not mind even if the pressure of our love sometimes feels intense. She believes love has the power to break you down, but instead, it builds you up. 

Additionally, the line "나와 함께 겁 없이," which is translated as "Will you courageously set with me?" actually more literally translates to "together with me, without fear." There is trust between IU and her lover. In other words, they may not know where the journey leads them, but they consciously choose to walk to it together.

A few more details from the music video that I loved are as follows. I like that the food (the macaron) is connected to memory and joy. It's the end of the world, but they haven't lost their imagination, hope, and ability to delight in each other's presence. In a way, food is crucial to survival in terms of sustenance and because it brings simple pleasure.

After taking a bite, they are transported to a less dreary setting. Their clothes are the same, but they're no longer tattered. Of course, things aren't perfect because while things are more clean, the people themselves remain evil. IU and Taehyung maintain their cheerful disposition even as the black figures appear and surround them.

IU and Taehyung choose to be happy. They dress up and dance around the room despite the reality that everything is still in ruins. (The photo booth is lit in bright, warm colors, while the room outside is cold and blue. Another piece of evidence for this interpretation is that while they're blissfully taking pictures, the strips come out showing Taehyung's milky eyes.)

I also like the alternative explanation for why IU is deaf, and Taehyung is partially blind. - IU performs happily in front of the crowd of black figures. It may mean that she either cannot hear or will not listen to their words of hate. As for Taehyung, he is partially blind to IU's faults. IU (the idol/artist) is the one leading them as they run while Taehyung (their fan) follows, their hands clasped in each other.

Moreover, neither of them speaks throughout the story. Whether IU is deaf or she signs to avoid making noise and risk their capture, I think it's beautiful that they can communicate through gestures. The relationship between fan and artist goes beyond the need for words (which is ironic, too, since we become fans of IU's music before the artist herself. Through her lyrics, we learn of her personality and how she sees the world).

I LOVE their acting. It's almost scarily good how IU can convey her love through her gaze. The smallest details too!! Her softly tapping Taehyung's shoulder to calm him while he tightly grips her hand as they face death? Chills.

Okay, I'm back. I just want to add this:

I said that the song is not exclusively romantic. However, the element of romance is indeed important to the plot. It elevates the story by depicting people (including those with disabilities) finding love even in the middle of hardship. - Their hardship is not the disability itself but rather the prejudices in the world that limit the possibilities they can enjoy.

IU and Taehyung know that the "end" is "inevitable" (she uses both words in her lyrics), and they know that they can only steal these short moments of happiness, but they still try to "look for the opposite of loneliness" (오랜 외로움 그 반대말을 찾아서).

Trivia: IU says that whenever she's stuck with writing a song, she uses the suggestion of a peer (Kim Eana) to look up the meaning of a word in the dictionary. Thus, giving birth to the idea love = opposite of feeling/being alone.

Love as an act of resistance - Viewing a brighter world through the camera, IU wearing the veil, and the pair teasing the black figures (IU sings on the stage despite their jeering and they run around the room) are acts of resistance. They may have a poor imagination (가난한 상상력), wherein they still desire to become "normal" and without their disabilities, but it is also thanks to their imagination that they are able to endure.

Note: The translations are mine. It's always difficult to think of how to word sentences that fully preserve the sentiment of the source, especially since they're song lyrics.

[randomfoggytiger]

Kibbe Body Types and Celebrities: a Beginner's Guide

(Credit to: Aly Art)

David Kibbe, author of Metamorphosis, drew upon previous fashion systems to create his own Kibbe Body System, homing in on the yin-yang balance of the body and boiling his method down to the bare bones-- literally-- of the overall frame: length, width, height, and softness. Then, he divided each feature into two main categories:  the yin softness or the yang structure. The more “structure” a frame had, the more “visual weight” it presented; and the more “softness” it had, the less “visual weight” it presented. 

At first, Kibbe sorted each frame into five main types with two additional subtypes. However, his system recently caught on fire with popularity, leading to vast misinterpretations or reinterpretations through over analysis and hyper fixation. Because of this, David updated his system (and is reworking on an updated version of his book), resifting his old designs into a simpler order.  

This analysis will be working from the information I've gleaned mostly from Aly Art's channel here. She is incredible at stripping down each concept to its basics-- highly recommend. I also used Merriam Style’s channel for her body type test (here), which is an even more stripped version of Kibbe’s original body type quiz. (Aly's version of the quiz is here.)

**Note**: Kibbe Body Types are separate from the actual weight of an individual; and do not change with bodily fluctuations, changes, or even age. Example: Romantics will always appear softer compared to other body types their height or weight because of the “flesh” (natural padding of fat) over their muscles and bones, whereas Naturals will always appear more “mature” compared to older Gamines because of the visual weight of the bones (cheekbone, jawbone, etc.) in their face. 

KIBBE BODY TYPES

(Credit to: Aly Art)

**Note**: The Kibbe Body System is a complete overview of the entire frame, not just the face: two different people can share strikingly similar facial features yet have completely different bodies. It’s important to assess more than one facet.

If we were to place the Kibbe Body Types on a left to right scale, Dramatics have the most yang-- sharpness, length, elongation, structure-- and Romantics have the most yin-- shortness, roundness, softness. In the middle would sit the Classics-- a balanced mixture of yang structure and yin softness; mid-left would be Naturals (yang elongation with blunted width); and mid-right would be Gamines (an uneven mixture of yin and yang.)

DRAMATIC TYPES

Dramatics

Dramatic Types have longer, angular, more narrow bones-- a vertical column, if you will-- that curve into points instead of “blunt” edges. They are moderate to tall (5’9"/173cm and up), and have prominent, straight, sleek features. If plus sized, they accumulate weight in their hips and upper thighs. 

Benedict Cumberbatch, Sean Connery, Charlton Heston, Ricardo Montalban, Errol Flyn, Daniel Craig

Katherine Hepburn, Cate Blanchett, Angelica Huston,  Diane Carol, Faye Dunaway, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kristen Wig, Maggie Smith, Taylor Swift

Soft Dramatics

Soft Dramatic Types have more softness in their bust and hips, giving them a powerful voluptuousness (as opposed to the Romantic Types delicate pure yin.) They are moderate to tall (5’7”/170cm and up), with a moderate waist and fleshier facial features, arms, and hips. If plus sized, they get heavier on the fleshiest parts of the body: bust, hips, waist, thighs, upper arms, and the face.

Dean Martin, Christian Bale, Matthew McConoughy, John Travolta, Nicholas Cage, Clark Gable

Adele, Ann Bancroft, Ava Gardiner, Barbara Streisand, Kim Novak, Maria Callas, Mae West, Rachel Weiz, Rita Heyworth, Sofia Vergara, Sofia Loren

NATURAL TYPES

Naturals have longer, blunted, wider bones-- a T-shape, if you will-- that curve into blunts instead of angular or softened edges. 

David Kibbe no longer believes in the pure Natural Type, placing clients or celebrities into either Flamboyant or Soft Natural.

Flamboyant Naturals

Flamboyant Natural Types have a touch more structure: blunt, long, wide bones; wide, T-shaped shoulders; and a figure that narrows in a flat, straight line down their waist, hips, and legs. They are moderate to tall (5’11”/180cm and up), with features that are broad and angular, but not sharp. If plus sized, the body tends to become squarer. 

Calvin Klein, Dick Van Dyke, Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Tom Sellack (maybe), Michael Landon (maybe), Joe Biden  

Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway (had work done to disguise), Bea Arthur, Brooke Shields, Cameron Diaz, Carly Simon, Cindy Crawford (quintessential, imo), Emma Stone, Farah Faucett, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ingrid Bergma, Jane Fonda, Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Roberts, Lucille Ball, Linda Carter, Michelle Obama, Nicole Kidman, Katie Homes (probably), Princess Diana Spencer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tracey Ellis Ross, Uma Therman, LOTS of supermodels (broad shoulders, long and straight waist)

Soft Naturals

Soft Natural have a softness to their long, blunt, wide bones, narrow hips. They are moderate to tall (5’5”/165cm and up), with smaller, rounder softness to their blunt facial features and frame. Their T-shape is less pronounced because of their more proportionate shoulders (in comparison to Flamboyant Naturals, at least.) If plus sized, SNs thicken in their upper arms, thighs, and hips.  

Alan Alda, OJ Simpson, John Wayne, Robert Redford, Robert Conrad, Bing Crosby, Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Gene Kelly, Brad Pit, Gene Hackman

Bette Grable, Carol Lombard, Chloe Sevigny, Doris Day (icon), Goldie Hahn, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Lopez, Julie Andrews, Kamala Harris, Kat Dennings, Katy Perry, Kim Bassinger, Marisa Tomay, Renee Zellweger, Sandra Bullock, Scarlet Johanson (had work done), Sissy Spacek 

CLASSIC TYPES

Classics are an even mixture of both skeletal structures: their frames are mid-height or tallish-- symmetrical angles or edges-- with a “balanced” appearance: their arms, waists, and legs are proportionate in length and width to their overall frame (not too angular, curved, or blunt); and can handle more visual weight than Romantics but less so than Dramatics or Naturals. They appear naturally polished; and often are dragged down by elements in their wardrobes that skew too much in any direction (appearing overwhelmed or overdone.) 

Kibbe no longer promotes pure Classic Types, insisting that no person can be a perfect mixture and discouraging his clients or followers from trying to fit themselves into an impossible mold. 

Dramatic Classics

Dramatic Classic Types are an even mixture of yin and yang with just a touch more of yang’s structure, giving them either slightly sharper features, slightly longer limbs, or a bit less softness overall. Their height is moderate (5’5”-5’8”/166-172cm or thereabouts); and their figure and features are symmetrically squarish (more rectangular compared to Dramatics’ long and narrow vertical column and Naturals’ long and wide T-shape.) If plus sized, they gain weight in the hips and thighs (rarely around the bustline), becoming more pear-shaped overall.  

Carey Grant, John Ham

Diana Rig, Gina Rollins, Jackie Kennedy-Onassis, Jill Biden, Lana Turner, Olivia Munn, Phylicia Rashad

Soft Classics

Soft Classic Types are a symmetrical mixture with just a touch more of yin’s softness, giving them either slightly softened features, slightly shorter and wider limbs, or slightly more “fleshiness” overall. Their height is moderate (5’5"-5'6”/164-169cm); and their features are slightly small and wide. If plus sized, SCs lose their waist definition and become fuller in the face.  

John Slattery, John Glenn, Gregory Peck, Bryant Gumbel

Barbara Walters, Carolina Herrera, Donna Reed, Emma Thompson, Grace Kelly, Joan Fontaine, Kirsten Dunst (maybe), Marion Cotillard 

GAMINE TYPES

Gamines are an uneven mixture of both skeletal structures: their frames are usually short or rarely tall-- unsymmetrical angles or edges-- with a “youthful” appearance; and the mismatch of their skeletons give them an appearance of eternal youth instead of “womanly” or “mature” beauty. The endless combinations of their features-- long arms, short arms, long legs, short legs, long torso, short torsos, visual weight in the face, no visual weight in the face, etc. etc.-- thrive in the chaos of mismatching, color blocking, differing clothing silhouettes; and are often dragged down by too much polish or restriction. 

David Kibbe no longer stands by the pure Gamine type, filtering people into either Theatrical or Soft Gamine.

Theatrical Gamines

Theatrical Gamine Types tip the scales in a more yang than yin direction, giving them a broadly angular frame composed of shorter lines (compared to the Dramatics’ and Naturals’ long, angular, and broad lines.) They are moderate to short height (5’6”/168cm) with square, slightly wide features. Structure gives them very defined musculature-- ala Dramatics and Naturals-- and a longer, “leggier” look. If plus sized, TGs collect weight from the waist down, turning squarer or “stocky.” 

Jimmy Kimmel, Frank Sinatra, Neil Patrick Harris

Audrey Hepburn, Coco Chanel, Debbie Allen, Gloria Vanderbilt, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Kelly Osborne, Liza Minelli, Lucy Liu, Penelope Cruz, Tina Turner, Twiggy, Zoey Deschenel 

Soft Gamines

Soft Gamine Types tip the scales in a more yin than yang direction. They are the short Gamines (5’2”/157cm or thereabouts): delicately broad-- a combination of delicate and small, broad and angular-- with width dominated by an overall “fleshy” softness in their arms, hips, and thighs. SGs often have “doll" like features: rounded face shape, fleshy cheeks and big eyes. If plus sized, their figure becomes more rounded, mainly in the bust, hips, arms, and face area. (Soft Gamines often think they are overweight-- when more often they’re not-- because of their natural roundness and lack of pronounced hips and waist.)

Fred Astaire, Robert Downy Jr. 

Bette Davis, Susan Hayward, Claudette Colbert, Debbie Reynolds, Eartha Kitt, Halle Berry, Judy Garland, Leslie Caron, Mary Kate and Ashley Olson, Octavia Spencer, Natalie Wood, Reese Witherspoon, Sally Field, Winona Ryder 

ROMANTIC TYPES

Romantics

Romantics are dominated by yin softness; and, therefore, have the least visual “weight” to them. Their frames are mid-height or shorter (5’5"/166cm and under) with “rounded” and curved angles or edges-- sloped or petite shoulders, rounded facial features, and “fleshy”, shorter arms, waists, and legs. If plus sized, Romantics keep their waist definition while their body and face become more rounded and “full.” 

Colin Firth, Leonardo DiCaprio, Elijah Wood, Simon Baker, Richard Gere, Michael Jackson, Omar Shereef, Billy Dee Williams, Elvis Presely

Kate Winslet, Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci, Arlene Dahl, Bernadette Peters, Beyonce, Dolly Parton, Elizabeth Taylor, Gina Lollobrigida, Helena Bonham Carter, H. E. R. Gabbie Wilson, Gene Simmons, Madonna, Maryln Monroe, Susan Sarandon

Theatrical Romantics

Theatrical Romantic Types differ from pure Romantic Types in their width: while both are delicate, the touch of yang to a TR’s frame gives it a narrower waist, slightly sharper features, and a bit less flesh over their arms, hips, or even hands. Their moderate to petite height (5’2”/157cm or thereabouts) is voluptuous, but small and narrow as opposed to wide and “bulky.” If plus sized, their figure retains its defined waist while the arms, thighs, and face become quite “fleshy.” 

David and Susan Kibbe, Orlando Bloom, Prince, Johnny Depp 

Ann Margret, Heidi Lamar, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jane Seymor, Jean Harlowe, Mila Kunis, Morgan Fairchild, Salma Hayek, Selena Gomez, Vivian Leigh

COMPARING THE CELEBRITY BODY TYPES

There's a great vid on Aly Art's channel (here) comparing female celebrities to each other, highlighting the differences of each individual type.

Dramatic, left; Soft Natural, right.

Soft Classic, left; Flamboyant Natural, right.

Soft Gamine, left; Dramatic, right.

Romantic, left; Theatrical Romantic, middle; Soft Natural, right.

CONCLUSION

Not much at present-- just needed this primer written down so I can start my David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson Kibbe posts.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[someoneelsepx]

TERAPHOBIA LORE DUMP

Hell yeah

In Teraphobia, each island is sorta like its own country, and while each island/country's culture varies, a few things are largely the same across most, if not all, islands. Those things include:

- Skyships are used as public transportation.

- Random eyes are pretty commonly found around the landscape and architecture of most islands, and nobody except Cameron questions this.

- City/town/villiage designs and architecture are intentionally built to properly accommodate for all native monsters varying anatomy and differing abilities/disabilities.

- During seasonal events, most monsters travel to the island the event is hosted on, making tourism very common {Like, people visit Plant Island for Spooktacle, Fire Haven for Feast Ember, Water Island for Eggs-travaganza, ect ect}. Since seasonal events last for around a week, monster tourists often stay in hotels overnight to celebrate.

- Clothes are optional. Neither nudity or modesty is seen as weird. And, socks with sandals is considered fashionable {this is canon in MSM}

- Breeding isn't seen as anything sacred, romantic, sexual, or anything like that. It's just something done casually between friends to keep the population up, plain and simple. Because of this, monsterlings are not raised by any one by-blood "family" {stuff with monster genetics/biology means those don't exist} and are raised by the community as a whole, finding their own family in the process.

- Most monsters are at least somewhat religious, and the closer you get to the Celestial Sanctuary, the more religious monsters you get. Atheists are seen as weird because the Celestials and Colossals are literally right there {this is not me making fun of atheists, I am atheist lmao}. They only have one religion {with different ways to practice it}, only the odd few follow human religions. The religion itself will be elaborated upon later gkszglsglzglzog

- Monsters can choose to buy their own home to live in, or live in castles {which are more apartment-like than castle-like} for free. Castles offer the same quality of life as owning your own home, albeit you might have to deal with the occasional annoying neighbor.

- This should be a given but music is VERY important to them. Not being musically inclined, even slightly, as a monster is seen as a disability.

- And more I haven't thought of yet HA-

Individual island cultures under the cut, because it's gonna be a lot. Note that I'm not gonna do all of them because I don't have lore for all of them.

PLANT ISLAND

Plant Island is the second largest largest island in size {being about the size of the continental United States of America} and the largest in terms of population and diversity. The island landscape itself is a blend of peaceful, quiet forests and loud villiages and cities, both bursting with color and life.

Similarly to the USA, Plant Island is a bit of a cultural melting pot. Because of its diverse population, you can find a little bit of everything depending on where you go; though, one thing that stays consistent is a deep connection with nature and a love for all things spooky.

{The main character, Handler-Helper Cameron, lives in the currently unnamed capitol city of this island.}

COLD ISLAND

Cold Island, despite being the largest island in terms of land, has a relatively small population because most of the land is just not habitable for monsters {although the populationis still decently large}. Kinda like Canada or Russia. I haven't thought much about the culture other than they value found family and generosity, and that the towns there are very similar to Snowdin from Undertale.

AIR ISLAND

Air Island is a stereotypical steampunk paradise, comprised mostly of floating islands and large cities, with very little walkable ground. Most citizens are avian monsters and the monsters that aren't have to travel by skyship to get anywhere.

This island's culture values love {whether it be familial or otherwise} and romance, making it a very popular vacation spot for anniversaries.

They also have a lot of fancy restaurants.

EARTH ISLAND

Florida

Literally just fucking Florida

They have natural disasters galore, namely earthquakes, so their buildings are sturdy and built especially to handle things like that. They also have a large Wubbox population because they have frequent power outages {self-explanatory} and therefore need backup generators.

Even when they're not having a random earthquake, the place is still absolute chaos. Just think of any Florida Man™️ story and I can garuntee you it's happened there /hj

{Despite this, the monsters there are still surprisingly kind and have a strong sense of community, always helping out those affected by natural disasters even outside the island when they can.}

SHUGABUSH ISLAND

Shugabush Island is the one of the smallest islands by far, only being the size of a small rural town in the South; it has a population of less than 100 monsters, and is the home of the Shugafam {who are individual monsters in this AU instead of a species family}. Life there is pretty simple, and almost everyone knows each other. Overall just a chill place for the most part.

More often than not, the island is quiet; however, every one in a while, the Shugafam hold concerts there and the island lights up with life and country fans from all over the Taurus visiting to see.

AMBER ISLAND

Amber Island is like a blend of Native American and black culture, with a focus on community and healing. Very small, like Shugabush Island. Not gonna elaborate more because I'm white and haven't done enough research to represent this accurately.

PSYCHIC ISLAND

{My descriptions ger slightly shittier from here as I have less developed for them, sorry}

Psychic Island is a bit weird. They're very spiritual, with an emphasis on holistic medicine and other hippie shit that I don't know how to word. However, they also highly value education and have some of the best schools and most exapnsive libraries in the monster world. It's also fairly large, and is mostly comprised of big cities.

FAERIE ISLAND

Faerie Island is like something straight out of a Faerie tale book, and no I don't mean the weird and fucked up original versions. More like, idk, Shrek? Yeah, Shrek. That sounds right. Idk how to elaborate more than that.

BONE ISLAND

Bone Island is less of an island and more of an elaborate underground cave system full of water that may-or-may-not be safe to consume and beautiful crystal formations that connect all other underground islands together {like Haven, Wublin, Water I think, ect.}. Despite the cave system being massive, the area where monsters actually live in is comparatively small. Culturally, they're very similar to Hispanic cultures on Earth and have a notably strong connection to the Beat Hereafter {mostly because it's where Clavaveras are native to, who can literally speak to the dead}.

ETHEREAL ISLAND

Ethereal Island is the embodiment of surrealism; because it's located in the pocket dimension, they're very isolated and most things in there are almost impossible for any outsider to understand. Quite a few areas are incorporeal, landscapes are constantly shifting, twisting, and turning making it almost impossible to navigate without help from a native, their technology is leaps and bounds more advanced than we could ever dream of, and the atmosphere is toxic to boot.

It's absolutely gorgeous there tho, if you don't end up with a debilitating migraine from trying to process everything.

MAGICAL SANCTUM

Similar to Ethereal, just more tribal.

CELESTIAL SANCTUARY

Celestial Sanctuary...

...Will get its own dedicated post because I am obsessed with the Celestials and ended up giving them too much lore for my own good. Just note, it is a lot different from the rest of the islands.

[the-insomniac-emporium]

SWORDTEMBER '24, DAY 7: FLOW

{Late because I got a terrible migraine out of the blue yesterday. Very happy with this one, and it references not only one of my main OCs, but the overarching plot of one of my original stories. Please enjoy!} -----

Item ID: 6O-2407 Item Name: Timekeeper’s Cutlass Category: ERROR://CLASSIFICATION INVALID://MANUAL USER INPUT: ARTIFACT Origin Point: Time Immemorial, Voided Owner: ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ (C), Triampheus ■■■■■■■■ (O) Description: A blade of a traditional Earthen design, reminiscent of the age of pirates. Approximately ■■ cm length, with a ■■ cm handle, ■■ cm at the widest point. Samples taken from the blade, hilt, and the guard overloaded the analysis unit. Scans were inconclusive upon repeated testing. Visual assessment indicates the item is most likely made from seaglass and driftwood. In place of a central fuller, there is a hollow middle filled with grains of sand, endlessly shifting from one end to the other, chased by a slow moving strand of water. An hourglass is carved into the bottom of the hilt. If alone with the item, one will hear the sound of rushing water (this sound is not picked up by any recording devices). Touching the item with bare skin induces hallucinations based on whoever previously touched it, regardless of whether or not one has met the previous individual. Cataloger’s Notes: I’m not bothering with any pretenses today. Truth of the matter is that we never should have gotten hold of this, I want nothing to do with it, and nobody is ever going to read this file other than myself (and even then, it will only be as a reminder to myself). As soon as I’m done recording these notes, this item is getting handed off to people far more qualified than myself. Every other record of this item will be wiped from FPA systems, even the backup servers. Nobody needs to know we had our hands on an artifact of this importance… nor do they need to know we unwittingly used it. May the Ancients forgive my sins, and the sins of my partner. We did not know. ERROR://FILE NOT UPLOADED TO PRIMARY SERVER://ERROR://PLEASE SYNC LOCAL FILES WITH CLOUD://ERROR://FILE SYNC CANCELED BY USER C.DELA://

-----

Cynthia should have known better. By now, she’s catalogued over a thousand items in the span of a decade, from weapons to ancient art, from contraband pharmaceuticals to exotic pets. On three occasions she has encountered items known as artifacts: Relics, both old and new, infused with terrible power. Each one has only briefly been held by the FPA, before being swiftly taken to those with higher authority. But even a minute in the presence of an artifact can change one’s life.

The Timekeeper’s Cutlass is not as obvious of an artifact as most. Whoever tried to mail it must not have known what it was, and those who handled it in between must have worn gloves. As soon as Cynthia was alone with the item, she felt its power, and heard the sea-song in the air. She knew, then, what thing lay on her desk. It was the first time she had ever been this close to an artifact, and her heart raced at the prospect of cataloging such a find. Who could blame her?

She did not forsake her duties, did not set out to play with it. Immediately, she made the proper phone calls, arranged the item’s retrieval first. Only then did she set out to log the details, knowing sooner or later Naomi would be stopping by to take her out for dinner. That was her excuse, maybe, that she’d only work until being interrupted. A foolish thought.

Artifacts set the time of all who touch them.

It only takes a single touch of her bare skin against the seaglass to “activate” the item. An accidental brush of her wrist against the material, a microsecond of contact, and Cynthia is no longer in her office. Now she is falling, falling, flying until she is in another body entirely, seeing through another’s eyes. Feeling what they feel. Voices whisper in her ears, overlapping until one word becomes clear: Triampheus. A Goddess, for one, but a common enough name among worshippers. Once the voices cut off, suddenly, Cynthia is free to witness glimpses into the life of another.

There is war. Long did it brew, across countless planets, at last stirred up by the atrocities of a few madmen. Flashes of combat, of death, a mentor laid to rest when a truce is broken. Rage. Sorrow. Desperation in the hearts of the viewpoint. It has to end. They will end it. Threats are made, are ignored, a display of power is taken too far. An entire planet held between their hands. One last warning, time for innocents to evacuate. Finally they are taken seriously.

But their control is not strong enough. They never wanted it to end this way. Blood from their eyes, their nose, their ears. Too much power- a Goddess channeled in mortal flesh. Either they break or the planet does, there is no letting go. The choice is made for them… and an entire world collapses in on itself. There is no more war, not anymore.

There is only a manhunt.

“Cynthia, please, please wake up,” Naomi’s voice cuts through the end of the vision, breaks away from what might be the future, draws her back into her body. Instantly she’s all but throwing herself into her girlfriend’s arms, pressing her face against Naomi’s neck and sobbing. There are no words to describe what she has seen.

“Don’t- don’t touch the sword,” Cynthia chokes out between sobs. For a moment there’s no sound other than her crying, Naomi going stiff. Was it too early in their relationship for this level of intensity? A few months was hardly enough time for Naomi to grow accustomed to the sort of things Cynthia has to inspect, but surely- her anxious thoughts are cut off by a gentle kiss to the forehead.

“I… I touched it. And I think- I hope- that we didn’t see the same thing. Because I… I really liked what I saw,” Naomi admits, in a reassuring whisper. One hand rubs gentle circles into Cynthia’s back as they sit together, and soon enough the crying slows, then stops. Finally, the archivist pulls back just far enough to look up with questioning eyes. Her curiosity overwhelms. “Telling you what I saw… I’m worried that it might change things. If… if that is the future. So, please, let me say no more than that there will be boundless joy. You will be safe, and happy, and you won’t be alone.”

Nothing could fully soothe Cynthia, not yet, but the words bring her a sense of hope. She may have dreamed of a stranger’s war, but Naomi had dreamed of the life that would come after. A life that would be shared with her.

[alienpupy]

alienpuppy's trangender polyamorous furry oc intro masterpost

might edit this later- making this so people know a minimum about my characters to send asks abt and stuff. feel free to inquire about literally anything regarding these characters at any time, I'm always happy to talk about their story!!

note that these particular characters i've had/been developing for 5 years, and i kind of have a plan to make a graphic novel about them eventually, but its a fun side hobby of mine so no promises or anything. long annoying tangents and discussions of nsfw stuff during this post also jsyk, feel free to skip stuff as you read

So! The main story of my furry ocs revolves around these 4 main characters: Honey, Blaze, Lynx and Dahlia. (i came up with a lot of these names when i was 15 and I'm sticking to them) I'll do individual intros for them later in this post but I want to get some notes abt the setting done first.

Its set in a modern non-magical reality where people are furries, and its important to note that them being animals here is very much an aesthetic and symbolic choice rather than a fully thought-out worldbuilding thing. Their animal species are not analogous to human races or ethnicities, and only selectively affect their personalities or behaviors (for example, they experience heat/rut cycles because i think that shit is hot and has interesting effects on character's attitudes to sex and their relationships, but a dog person and a cat person can and do have babies together in this world and its not weird.) You could say that functionally they are all the same species, just one that varies wildly in phenotype.

Additionally, all the main characters live in a single major city during the "present" of the story. They're all young adults, roughly between 19 and 24 and have varying social/class backgrounds. These guys are very much inspired by my real life and friends of mine, but they aren't 1-to-1 based on anyone, I just put a lot of traits and psychological characteristics of people I like and am close to in these guys bc that makes them feel real to me :3

Also since they're all trans I'll also specify that transition care is relatively easy to access in this world (free healthcare style, like in Canada where I live) and them living in a major city where lgbtq+ people are generally very open and accepted. They do have to deal with the acceptance (or non-acceptance) of their families though.

I'll give them mostly sfw intros here, but I'll probably make another post at some point to talk about their sex lives bc thats a huge part of how I think of these guys. If and when I make that graphic novel, its going to be primarily erotica. They're not all in relationships, but they do all have sex with each other and they each have their own kinks and everything

ACTUAL OC INTROS:

Honey (she/her): Bisexual disabled trans woman, royal poodle, up-and-coming actress and pop-singer, Blaze's girlfriend and Dahlia's childhood best friend. Roughly 5'9-5'10

She comes from a high-society rich family, and was able to transition early, but despite (or maybe because of) her class privilege, growing fame and family's (heavily strings attached) support, she struggles immensely with performance anxiety, pathological perfectionism and gender dysphoria. Basically she's hardcore internalized that if she isn't the most perfect, beautiful and successful woman then she isn't worthy of any of the things that make up her identity and self-worth.

Her disability is purposefully not specific to a real-world health problem, partially because I don't feel at all qualified to depict any one specific disability, partially because it's more or less an extrapolation of a design choice i made at 15. I gave her those translucent skin patches because i thought they'd look cool, and only after did I decide they're probably something more. I haven't given it a name, but it's a degenerative genetic illness that gives her very thin and fragile skin, chronic pain that affects her mobility, and impairs her vision.

When she has any time to herself outside of her career, she does a lot of fancy self-care stuff like baths and doing her own nails, etc. Music and acting is genuinely her passion though. She likes video games but mostly cozy ones. Her animal crossing island is the most curated, decorated, aesthetic thing you've seen in your LIFE.

Blaze (he/him): Bisexual trans man, hyena/pitbull hybrid, Honey's bodyguard and later lover, Lynx's QPP/best friend/roommate and Blue's younger brother. Roughly 6'4-6'5

He comes from a really rough place, growing up in poverty and in an abusive home until he got kicked out and taken in by Lynx's parents when he was 14. He worked many odd jobs right out of high school, eventually working as a bouncer, finding he has a bit of a natural ease working security jobs thanks to his height and size, and eventually becoming Honey's personal security agent (I neither know nor care about the specifics of private security companies, this is a plot device to get the story started and because I think bodyguards are an inherently hot concept)

He's a trans man who's always been alienated by his peers because of his lived experience of abuse, his hyper-masculinisation due to his physical size and appearance, and his queerness. He struggles to let himself be truly be vulnerable around anyone, especially when it comes to expressing his desires. He very strongly feels that unless he is working for it, he isn't worth anyone's attention, and that everyone else's happiness and safety is more important than his own. Abysmal self-esteem painted over with chivalry basically.

His hobbies include reading (usually non-fiction but he LOVES sci-fi and detective novels), working out and cooking! But he doesn't take much time for himself usually.

Dahlia (she/he): Pansexual transfem genderfluid pig, Honey's best friend since early childhood, resident NEET and party animal. Roughly 5'8.

Dahlia comes from a similar (but lesser) place of financial privilege, but instead of being forced to perform perfection by her family like Honey, Dahlia lived through a ridiculous amount of parental neglect. Dahlia has never really had anyone to take care of her, just authority figures to give her rules and let her figure out everything by himself. She started her transition a bit later than the other characters because of this.

She has a bombastic, dramatic personality and as a kid and teenager acted out all the time, often sneaking out of the house and interacting with anyone she thought was interesting. Eventually, once she was a bit older, this lead her to develop a habit of flirting and hooking up with random older guys, which, would you believed it, fucked up her self-image even worse than before! A large part of her character arc is learning that people (other than honey) can actually respect and care for her, regardless of whether or not she's sleeping with them. Her arc parallels nicely with Honey in this way, because while Honey has to learn to not hate herself for not having a cis body, Dahlia is terrified that transition (esp bottom surgery) will make her less desirable sexually (and thus less worthy of attention).

When she's not partying, she plays a lot of video games (she's surprisingly good at fighting games, and FPSs but also plays a lot of more chill games like stardew valley and slime rancher).

Lynx (he/they/it): alloaro transmasc genderqueer fag, mixed species (hyena/lion/goat?) college dropout, stoner, artist (?), works part-time at a gas station. Blaze's QPP/FWB/best friend and roommate. Roughly 5'6-5'7"

Grew up lower middle-class, the adopted son of two trans lesbians (Onna, a lion who keeps her mane after transitioning later in life and owns/tends a small gay bar, and Radia, possum, disgruntled multi-disciplinary STEM academic). Only one of the main 4 to come from a pretty good home, but as all people, he still managed to develop some issues on his own. He's a classic case of ADHD making it impossible to decide what to do with his life mixed with deep trust issues stemming from bullying in elementary school.

He is always making a joke of himself, friends with everyone but close to no one other than Blaze. He sweeps every one of his own feelings under the rug while always trying to help everyone he's vaguely friends with through their own crises (not that he's actually good at giving advice, but he'll offer weed and snacks and a couch to crash on) and still manages to be awful at texting people back.

Him and Blaze became friends when Lynx was 10 and Blaze was 12, and when Blaze was kicked out of his parents place two years later, Lynx's moms were very happy to take in a trans kid in need. They've been living together since, and moved out together for college and work.

Hobbies include smoking weed, drawing, painting, making/modifying clothes, video games (esp vintage games, but he's not picky) and spending a pretty good portion of time keeping the appartment clean, since Blaze works a lot more than he does (Blaze has higher standards of cleanliness than Lynx does, but they make it work. Lynx rlly appreciates having a friend who can pay most of the rent)

[zarvasace]

Here's my silly Linkverse title and timeline! :D say hello to Hearts Linked Together, a Linkverse that won't ever have much content besides character designs!

Character post

Okay a description under the cut. It might get long, I'm unsure how to go about explaining. The four vertical lines are locations, not parallel timelines. I don't take absolutely everything into account (you'll notice a lack of direct Triforce and Ganon stuff) but I like what I ended up with!

PS: I've made a few edits to this and the picture since I first edited. BotW and TotK aren't different Links that was my b. I also added more blue lines to the Gods of the Sky spot to illustrate them moving around.

Important thing to note: the only time travel/time shenanigans in this 'verse is with Hyrule Warriors and Ocarina of Time. And Tears of the Kingdom that too.

THIS BEGINS with aliens. The Zonai and the Minish were the same alien species that settled on the planet of Hyrule to escape civil war on their own. They separated early on and adapted to their environments differently. They both lived in the sky for a while, because Hyrule has naturally occuring skylands, and some of the natural fauna were intimidating. (Monsters, dragons, fey, gods.) The Hylians come from the moon. A small group settled on the planet and struggle to adapt. They lost their technology in the turbulent transition.

The Minish remained pastoral and went to the surface to help the emerging Hylian race. The Minish Cap happens. That Link forges the Picori blade and gathers the elements. (His four copies are spectral.) Shortly after him, Four Swords happens, with the most attention on the cryptid four sword kid who came out to save the world and then disappeared back into the woods. (His four copies are independent but not individuals.)

The settlement prospers, the Minish population decreases, and Hylians spread across the world, into 4 distinct geographic areas. The Zonai, also dying out, descend and intermarry with Hylians, in a different geographic area. The beginning of TotK happens, including the massive Imprisoning War. The consequences of this war are far-reaching and devastating.

The Land of Light and Shadow: this area emerges from the war somewhat unscathed, being on the other side of the world. They continue to build their kingdom. This land is named for the parallel plane that is in close contact with the area, being farthest from the planet's moon's orbital path. Things like Light and Force are also strong here, unknowable forces that occasionally grant powers.

The Land of the Gods: this land is named for the gods that have dogged its history and heroes, and is closest to the moon, which is where these extraordinary individuals get their powers and godhood. The Imprisoning War hit them pretty hard, and one of these moon-touched aliens (Hylia) raised settlements into the air. The First Hero is part of this.

The Land of the Fey is where the Zonai chose to descend, and is hit the hardest by the Imprisoning War. Their small colonies are absolutely decimated and the land is salted. Fey are natural creatures, but aren't always friendly. The Zonai technology and settlements remain high in the air, unreachable and usually invisible. Most non-Hylian or non-Hylian-derived species come from this area.

The Great Sea is a series of islands. They barely hear of the Imprisoning War, and only have a small population of Hylians that grows a bit through the islands.

After the war, all of these areas and kingdoms are cut off from each other. Their histories proceed separately for a time.

The Land of Light and Shadow: a group of people move permanently into the Dark World. Link to the Past, Link's Awakening. The kingdom grows. Link Between Worlds reveals the budding kingdom in the Dark World. Twilight Princess deals more with them. Four Swords Adventures (+manga in case you were worried) unlocks more of the Dark World's secrets. (These copies are individuals, and remain so after their adventure.) The kingdom prospers and begins to explore, eventually resulting in another near-globalization. Hyrule Warriors happens, doing a little time traveling.

The Land of the Gods: after rising into the sky, Skyward Sword happens. Hylia is the strongest goddess of the time, and manages to send copies of the Master Sword to the three other lands. People settle on the surface, isolated from any other places. Ocarina of Time happens, but does not create alternate timelines. Hylia takes the people and places displaced by the time shift and plunks them at the beginning of the Great Sea's time. This kingdom expands and fractures, and Hylia's time shenanigans weaken her, so she goes to the fey land to recover. (coughcough was bullied away because people didn't agree with her coughcough) And then Majora’s Mask. Din, Farore, and Nayru rise as the land's patron goddesses instead, instigating the Oracle games. Triforce Heroes happens to a Hylian passing by Hytopia (The copies are simply doppels.) These kingdoms remain small but grow strong. They have the occasional battle. They participate in the globalization efforts.

The Land of the Fey: this land struggles to rebuild. They are plagued by monsters. The fey (fairies, great fairies, satori, dragons) understand it's a problem, but they do not have mortal minds. Eventually they call a hero of their own. Hyrule Fantasy (aka LoZ 1) and Adventure of Link happen. This land is geographically isolated and doesn't really run into anyone else, until the migration from the Great Sea brings technology. Spirit Tracks happens. The great kingdom is built, they build the Divine Beasts and the Guardians, and drive back the Calamity for the first time. Hylia rises again, older and wiser and less powerful. Then Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom happen. Only after that does this land reconnect with those outside of it.

The Great Sea: this area is mostly empty until Hylia places the time-displaced Hyrule on one of the larger islands (called antidiluvian, or before the flood). It wasn't a stable island, though, and most of the kingdom fell under the ocean in a great big wave. People rebuild and make their own cultures. Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass happen. They find the shores of the Land of the Fey, and facilitate a migration to that land.

Each of the yellow stars (and the colorful ones in terms of FSA) represents a different Hero.

[poopyloopy14]

WINX CLUB: MY FIRST OBSESSION 🧚‍♀️✨

Reasons why I still love it and I think it holds up as a good show to this day!

Characters & Design: One thing I love about about the design of the animation is how Iginio Straffi decided to use proper Italian designers to style the character's clothes!! The girls looked like fashion design sketches come to life on the screen ( also explaining how unrealistic their body proportions are). To this day the fashion inspires me, so many bright patterns and colour paired with celebrity fashion of the early 2000s. I also love how much care and detail was put into each character in season 1-4, I refuse to talk about any other seasons. They all had their own signature colours and symbols, such as Flora's floral patterns representing her sweet and gentle nature or Musa's clef symbolising her love for music. This really emphasised to me how fashion can be an outwards representation of your soul and who you are. I also love how there wasn't an emphasis on making them look 'modest' because in this fantastical, perfect world there weren't any creeps to sexualise them. I think what sets this show apart from other kids shows at the time was how femininity wasn't demonised, the characters were able to care about fashion, makeup and boys while still having strong personalities and being powerful. There's a connotation that a girl had to 'act like a man' in order to be closer to strength and power but this cast proved the opposite; although more masculine characters were represented such as Tecna, the girls were still represented as equal.

Another positive on the casting I think, was the diversity in the first few seasons. Cartoons are known for being the worst for lack of diversity and at this time there were very few different races and ethnic backgrounds being represented other than white and American. In Winx, Musa's planet 'Melody' is a representation of China and she explores this through the grief of her dead mother, Matlin. Representation in media is important as it decreases stigmatisation in the real world, creating less ignorance towards people who are different to us. Especially when kids are exposed to harmful stereotypes, representation is simply a form of cultural education. I think Winx did this successfully ! I also think it is important to note that even the 'villains' aka the witches weren't left out with the fashion detail, and as characters they were shown to be more naughty than they were evil, unlike characters such as Valtor. ( Valtor is so hot though ok) Making the witches seem just as cool and trendy as the fairies, instead of demonising alternative fashion and individuals.

Setting & Plot: The setting of Alfea was so perfect to me, it was the epitome of girlhood as was most of the show. The mix of fantasy with sci-fi was very unique and was representative of the harmony between the girls' both brains (being the futuristic technology such as the hover cars) and beauty ( being the colourful decorated buildings). I absolutely love 2D animation in general over 3D, it's a literal drawing on paper come to life which makes it appear more alike art than trying to be alike real life. The world building I thought had so much love put into it, how the girls each came from a different planet with its own customs and traditions aka culture and it all came together so naturally as one big universe. The focus on representing many features of our own Earth in the show only made the showcase of unity and community more applicable to our own lives and therefore inspiring.

As for the plot, the same idea applies. The show was originally directed at an audience of tween girls, many times their intelligence was undermined and producers would convey a very surface-level plot with many adversity plots being centred around stereotyped ideas of what young girls worry about. For example things Stella worries about in many scenes, although the contrast lies within these things being insignificant to the overall plot. In this way, these common worries aren't minimised but young girls are shown to have more complexity to them which they realistically do. Such as when Stella found out Brandon wasn't really a Prince and she didn't care. Each fairy having their own personality itself showed that the girls weren't being dehumanised or, defairytised as harmful stereotypes of the docile, or shallow, tween. Another important feature many shows savour for adult shows is character building! It is just as effective and arguably more important in childrens shows to convey realism in the way humans are able to grow and change. Many of the girls such as Bloom are shown to have difficulties within their family or with self-image, real concerns for young girls. This affords the characters a complexity and relatability factor appealing to real girls who can see themselves within a fairy and their struggle.

I don't think 'adult topics' should be limited towards children shows, I've realised the entirety of my favourite children shows do explore these topics. This is because these topics such as grief or trauma realistically don't just impact adults but children too, only in a different manner. This is how it should be represented within children's media too, in an age appropriate manner while also respecting the intelligence of children. We too often depreciate the depths of what children feel and know and at their age they don't have the complex words to describe it, rather they immitate the words and actions of role models. Role models are also able to be within media, representation within characters of their own age showcasing a healthy way to deal or communicate with what they experience or feel is a positive way to aid children on a mass scale. Overall I very much appreciated this about the plots of Winx, it is a shame from season 5 they changed their demographic to a younger audience and dropped the complex plots as that is what attracted me so much to the show.

My favourite character: Since I was a little girl it was always Flora, I think it was mostly because I saw myself in her not just through appearance but through her shyness, sensitivity and genuine care for others. Although I have grown these are still core parts of who I am, feeling responsibility for others and having to mature fast due to expectations placed on me as an older sibling. As well as the desire to connect to nature, that has only grown in me as I grow up and realise how the modern way of life is so disconnected from it. When I am under the trees or laying in a bed of grass or atop a body of water it's a feeling of rejuvenation I can't seem to recreate anywhere else. Now my ideal life would be to live within the countryside on a little farm planting fruit, veg and flowers. I think my connection with Flora was indicative of what means the most to me in my core as it has only flourished with time. Her relationship with Helia being so gentle, with him gifting her a poem speaks to what I've realised I deserve too although... my wants are a little messy. It might seem juvenile to think so deeply about Flora's relevance to myself but I think it's important in understanding yourself to figure out what about something or someone made you so attached to it/ them, before life got confusing. So I think there's something in going back to things that magnetised you before you even developed a sense of self, it helps me at least in understanding myself. I also loved her outfits duh!

[hermajestytak]

Her Majesty, Our Almighty Tallest Lady Miyuki

She was a lost character that never made it to the show proper because The Trial was never finished and never adapted post cancelation. She was voiced elegantly on the spot by Melissa Fawn in The Trial's Invadercon script reading, but was never officially voice acted, animated, or even colored.

Yet...despite never making it to the show, more than many other cancelled characters, something about Miyuki resonates with the Invader Zim fandom. Take a look throughout the fandom and you'll see her time and time again. In fanart, she's romanticized and illustrated as elegantly as possible. In fanfiction, she's a crucial character to the backstories many Irken fan characters.

There's many reasons why this is. For one, her name is gorgeous. One of the few facts we have about her is she was named and created after storyboard artist Miyuki Hoshikawa.

The name Miyuki itself holds different meanings depending on which kanji its spelled in: 美幸 means "beautiful fortune/happiness," 深雪 means "deep snow," 美雪 means "beautiful snow, and 美由紀 means "beautiful reason for history"

The association of Miyuki with snow has lead to some depicting her lead color as snow white. However, the most common color to depict her in within the fandom is blue, usually a cereulean blue. Other colors she's been drawn with include yellow and green, but the popular blue depiction arguibly makes her even more loved by the fandom because it makes her stand out from the usual green/red/violet color palette of the Irken Empire and, quite frankly, it makes her look gorgous.

Speaking of standing out, another reason for Miyuki's popularity is her gender. Female Irkens are much rarer characters in the series than Male Irkens (most likely because they take 1-2 more steps to design than their masc counterparts). Of the 50 named, individual Irkens on the series, only 7 are female (a whopping 14%), so Irken girlies are a rare treat for the fandom and of them, Miyuki is by far the most powerful.

In fact, Miyuki was most likely the most powerful Irken in history (that we know of). Red and Purple have to split their power between each other and Spork was only Tallest for a very short time. However, Miyuki was both a solo Tallest and one implied to be Tallest for a while.

Speaking of the tallest, Miyuki is one of only four that we know. Of them, her reign is the oldest. We don't know how long she was tallest, but she perished when Zim was over 10 years old. In the fandom, she's often depicted as being the tallest since before Zim was even born, so she likely reigned while our most important Irkens (Zim, Skoodge, Red, and Purple) were smeets that would have been taught to look up to whoever was tallest.

One interesting, debatable note about Miyuki's character is how much better of a tallest she supposedly was. She openly worked with the Vortians that Red and Purple went on to betray during their reign, so we know she was a more strategic and responsible tallest at least. However, some fan depictions take this a step further and headcanon Miyuki as "the rightful tallest" so to speak: a more merciful, kind, and virtuous planetary leader to contrast Red and Purple's cruelty. In other words, the fandom has a bad habit of really romanticizing her.

What these depictions tend to forget is that Miyuki was proud of her Empire. The very nature of an Empire, especially the Irken Empire, is to expand their rule. The Massive was designed during her reign to expand this rule by conquering nearby planets. She may have been a more competent Tallest, but a Tallest nonetheless and in the Irken Empire, intergalactic colonization and war is extremely glorified no matter who the leader is.

So I personally headcanon Miyuki as not a merciful, benevolent Tallest that the entire universe loved, but rather a Queen of England type figure whose adoration, regalness, and acts of kindness within her empire serve as a distraction from her and the control brains' cruel, empirical nature; she's beloved by her kind, but despised by everyone who sees the Irken Empire for what it really is: an intergalactic colony of genocidal ants.