#Lenore is hard to design

[virulent-spark]

Lenore is from Paldea, she’s a [former] member of Team Star. Her favourite Pokémon are grass types and rock types. Her aces are Scovillain and Klawf respectively. She’s brought in to be the lead singer of Virulent Spark, and sometimes uses tambourines when she performs. 

Her singing style is loud, raspy, and full of rebellion. 

[staryarn]

I need my brain to work so I can make the worst google doc of all time

[femsolid]

About the media in which male always get to talk more, can you give the source of that, especially when talking about books? I've been looking for this for my final school paper but couldn't even find something about the bechdel test used for literature.

Disney films may focus on female characters, but when it comes down to statistics, these women barely speak. Thats’s right, there are some Disney films with as much as 2% female dialogue.

Media also distinguish between males and females in a more subtle way: importance. ‘Children scanning the list of titles of what have been designated as the very best children’s books are bound to receive the impression that girls are not very important because no one has bothered to write books about them. The content of the books rarely dispels this impression’, remarked Lenore Weitzman and colleagues in their classic review of Caldecott winners, nearly a third of which had no female characters at all. And of course there are characters, and then there are main characters. The Dr. Seuss books are rightly classics, adored by children and a joy of rediscovery for parents. Yet as Lamb and Brown observe, in all the forty-two books he wrote, not one has a female lead in its central story. The power of the media to dish up a stripped-down, concentrated version of cultural values enables it to represent the higher status of males in this uncomfortably blunt fashion. Even in contemporary picture books, researchers find that this is a habit that dies hard, with writers and illustrators still less inclined to feature female characters. For example, the most recent analysis of the Caldecott winners and runners-up, together with 155 best-selling children’s books around the same time, found that males, overall, were featured nearly twice as often as females in title roles, and they appeared in about 50 percent more pictures. Nor does the use of gender-ambiguous animals or characters in books help to increase female numbers. This is because mothers almost always label gender-neutral characters in picture books as male. If it doesn’t look like a female, it’s male. I’ve tried labelling neutral animals and characters as female when reading to my children – it feels extremely unnatural, as you will discover if you try for yourself. (The reason is probably that we have a tendency to think of people or creatures as male unless otherwise indicated. In other words, as has been long observed, men are people, but women are women.) As within the pages of books, females tend to be underrepresented on TV and computer screens, and to miss out on central roles in advertisements and even cereal boxes. A recent survey of 19,664 children’s programmes in twenty-four countries found that only 32 percent of main characters are female. (This drops to an even more dismal 13 percent when it comes to nonhuman creatures like animals, monsters and robots.) And, a survey of the 101 top-grossing Grated movies from 1990 to 2005 found that less than a third of the speaking roles go to females, with no signs of improvement over time. As the Web site of the Geena Davis Institute, which sponsored the research, asks, ‘What message does this send to young children?’

- Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine

[lenorethequietbookkeeper]

Won't comment on every one of these but I'll gush about the ones that caught my eye

(Edit: by she I obviously mean Jolyne I'm stupid and forgot to proofread that oof)

what are all the kids jobs when they grow up

I'm gonna be honest not a huge fan of questions that apply to all 24 of the kids but I'm happy to answer this! Not all of them have been decided for yet but I'm super excited to talk about them!

James: Formerly Queen of Hell now Queen Mother and Headmaster of The Schneeflocke Finishing School for Girls

Josephine: Babysitter :)

Juniper: Jack of many trades! Doctor, scientist, professor, and principal

Jeremy: Hellpriest

Jane: Librarian

Janet: ahem...."courtesan"

January: Lieutenant General

Juno: Snuff film producer

Jolyne: Demonic lawyer

Jeffrey: Hitman

Julian: North Pole mechanic

Joy: Mrs. Claus lol

Journey: Offical Frost family archivist

Janleigh: Present wrapper

[hms-no-fun]

What was it like going from writing Homestuck characters throughout Godfeels to your original characters? Was it intimidating after so much time spent with just the Homestuck cast? I believe Lenore was the first to appear in a minor role at first, but then you have the Moon war crew, the Halo's AI and Epigone all take center stage as villains (especially those last two), but I guess you could also argue June's headmates were kind of OCs? How was it writing them in the beginning compared to now?

honestly, i never found it particularly intimidating. when i started Godfeels, i never planned to write beyond John and Jade and Terezi because they were the only characters whose voices i had a handle on. as the series continued and became more of a full-cast affair, that was the most intimidating part. learning how to write a convincing Dirk or Jane or Roxy or even Rose. the key i think is that Homestuck characters are a collection of traits which express personality in a few key ways. this is true of all fiction but it's an explicit narrative mechanism in Homestuck proper. i used to talk a fair bit about narrative building blocks, the ways Homestuck is perfectly designed to train you in the act of remixing characters. like, if i said "Jade Lalonde" to you, you'd probably have a pretty clear idea of what that character looks like despite the fact that this character does not exist in Homestuck. this is the nature of HS's hyperflexible mythology. the hardest part was just learning how these characters speak and why, which required a lot of revisiting the original comic and a multitude of drafts, and i still don't think i really got them down until well into GF3.1. the intimidation mostly vanished once i felt like i could set these characters up in a room and let them play off each other without me having to pause every few minutes to question their authenticity.

honestly, bringing OCs into Godfeels felt pretty natural. i understood the existing cast and the world they existed well enough that it was easy to invent interesting oppositions. of course it helps that, going into 3.1, i knew we were always heading towards The Land of Many Unique New Guys. i wanted to do new things with the existing cast and break from the established patterns of the series, and that meant blowing shit up and changing the status quo. most of the fiction i've written in my life has been original, so really, once i gave myself permission to do so, inventing new guys was practically second nature. frankly, this setting (particularly with the EWL) is a guy factory, because it takes HS's hyperflexible mythology as a foundation and then metaphysically incorporates the existence of MSPFAs and fan sessions to expand the possibilities. Homestuck characters are equations whose variables are remarkably elastic, so it's quite natural to shuffle the old variables around and swap some out with new ones. i think it's fun trying to find a type of guy that we've never seen in Homestuck but that still feels like a Homestuck character. the OCs i've brought into the fold in GF3 aren't independent creations that i shoehorned into this universe-- they were designed for and with this universe.

and then yeah, i mean, going back to GF2 even before Risk and Dare entered the scene, June herself is functionally an OC because she's a fusion of June and Vriska. that's the entire conflict of the story, is that suddenly John's become June and she's a Vriska now. i used to joke that she was my self-insert until a handful of haters decided to canonize it and use that as an excuse to write Godfeels off entirely (which is probably for the best tbh). really, i just wanted to relitigate the Vriscourse through the lens of a human character, explore the appeal of having a Vriska-like grip on your own agency and the ways that might turn out to be destructive. the hard part was finding a realistic middle ground between John and Vriska. by the time we got to 3.1 and the plural arc really kicked off, doing the headmates almost came as a relief. i'm having a lot of fun writing Dare because they're kind of the first time in this story i've actually been able to write a straightforwardly John character. it all feels fairly natural since, like i said, the entire process is supported by Homestuck itself.

when it comes to the Upsilon kids, i was inspired by the Omega kids of HS2/HSBC fame. i originally planned GF3 to be a mirror of the post-canon project, and that meant responding to their OCs with my own. but i didn't want that response to be linear! i didn't want them to feel like Another Group Of Homestuck Kids, nor an obvious direct response to the Omegas. GF3 is about escaping your normal and learning to live among new people, so i was very deliberate in keeping the direct-relations to a minimum. i'm sick of everything being about the characters we already know. it makes sense for HS2/HSBC to have the Omegas be the descendants of the main cast, so i figured i'd let them have that. the closest direct response is Edie, who felt necessary not just for the existence of Yiffy, but also because of Kitty from Kittyquest and the various other alternate interpretations of Jade's daughter that followed. i like the idea of "Jade's daughter" being a uniquely responsive variable, someone who is paracanonically defined by the absence of singularity. then came Dana, modeled after Dirk precisely because of his antagonistic role in GF2. they're both parts of an ongoing conversation with Homestuck-- OCs yes, but not entirely original either. Lenore happened as a result of my involvement with Vast Error, which is actually a huge inspiration for GF3 in general for how it takes Homestuck's template and changes many of the rules without feeling fundamentally unstuck from that context. that their version of Sburb is called The Game and operates on an entire different yet somewhat familiar logic is what gave me the idea to explore the Universe Engine as a system of infinite variables that the EWL must directly respond to. it can be anything. it can have anyone. and because Repiton is existentially cut off from Homestuck, i liked the idea of Lenore being this lone escapee from VE's continuity who's totally unable to go back or learn anything about her home that she didn't already knew before she left. last to the party was Alphi, who needed to be a combo breaker. six-armed muppet dressed like a prep! just an entire alien. she's by far been the most difficult character to figure out, but doing so was part of what gave me confidence in the Upsilons conceptually. these four characters should not get along. they are diametrically opposed in many respects, in stark opposition to the other kid groups who typically enter the story already friendly.

so you can see, then, how the act of writing the Upsilons is also an act of commenting upon the Betas/Alphas/Omegas. i want to see what it takes to make four people who hate each other fall in love with each other. i want to see what rhymes and what opposes. the fundamental challenge hasn't changed-- it's the characterization. once i've found their voices, the rest follows on naturally. everything new in this story is built from the bones of what came before. that's the entire project, top to bottom. yes we're in a completely new setting with a bunch of new characters after obliterating the previous status quo, but it IS still Homestuck. the hardest part of selling all these new guys was simply developing the circumstances which allowed them to emerge. in my own head i've always seen the gargantuan wordcount of Chapter 8 as the necessary cost of fulfilling that ambition. hopefully now, with 3.2 A1 and B1 finally in the can, you can see for yourself how despite all that's changed, Godfeels is still having the same fundamental conversation today that it was in 2019. albeit with a few new arguments :)

[snivel1]

I need to get these out of my system, so‼️‼️

Meet my ultra original Homestuck fankid!!

Dead-Eyed Cindy!

a.k.a. Cynthia Lenore!🗝️

A completely normal teenager, just like every other teen in Homestuck, trust!!🤚

More about her under the cut!!

(Note that this drawing was made when I just returned to HS and haven't yet seen some of the amazing variations of their designs here on Tumblr, so my design for Dave will probably be changed, idk)

She lived with her Big Sister, they were Strider's neighbors from a floor down

They lived in hard financial conditions, her Sister overworked herself to provide for them both and was almost never home to look after Cindy, which forced Cindy to fend for herself most of the time when she was little

She met Dave on the roof once, the meeting involved spying on his Bro and her Sister talking about some secret Older Sibling Stuff or something. It looked like her Sister was crying? Overall a pretty awkward first meeting

Cindy felt guilty often about their situation for some reason, so she helped with whatever she could in the house

But her relationship with her Sister was.. not ideal, it was very strained and painful for both of them, Cindy felt hurt from her Sister not being around much, even if she understood why that was

Even so, she still felt cared for and appreciated her Sister and her sacrifices

Cindy was bullied in school, I know, shocker, she was considered weird, dirty, ugly, scary, and was avoided most of the time. Some kids called her "Dead-Eyed Cindy", because of how her eyes resemble the ones of a dead fish, but she reclaimed that nickname for herself, because she thinks it makes her sound badass. She didn't know what friendship was supposed to be like, and convinced herself she was better off without anyone, but she desperately wanted to have real friends she could trust one day

She was very stiff emotionally when she first started chatting with Dave, but with time became more sincere and open thanks to also getting to know Rose, Jade, and John

She and Dave are both weird dead thing collectors, but Cindy prefers to collect animal bones and skulls. Their music preferences don't match like. In any form, but Cynthia greatly enjoys Dave's mixes and tunes, and always encouraged him to do more

She adores gothic rock, punk rock, heavy metal, screamo and any other "edgy" music genre you can think of

Of course she didn't have money to go to concerts and buy merch of her favorite bands, so all the posters in her room were home printed

She's all about that messy grungy look. Her hair? Intentually cut like that by herself. Smeared makeup? Her favorite style. Her clothes? Ripped and modified by herself. She wanted to ward off normies away from her this way, not caring about what other people think of her, and also just because she likes the style

She didn't like Rose's overly posh way of wording things at first(so pretentious), but they quickly clicked over shared interests in goth culture and the paranormal unknown, Cindy cares about her greatly and comforted her through the hardships Rose had to endure

Cindy didn't know what to think of Jade's strangeness and, quite frankly, didn't like her vibes at first, but warmed up to her greatly with time and really sympathized with her, Cindy really believes Jade deserves so much better, and is determined to let her know they care

John was very intimidated by Cindy at first, and Cindy assumed he just didn't like her, so she acted more coldly towards him, and it continued to be like that for a pretty awkwardly long time, but of course his dorkiness hooked her up quick, as it did his other friends, and they slowly but surely became very close; Cynthia became very protective of Egbert fast

Cindy always tries to put in work into her friendships, as she naturally doesn't want to be alone again, but also because she doesn't want her friends to feel left out or ignored, cause she knows what it's like

Which also seems like overcompensation, as she feels like she's not the best person to be around, so she tries to be helpful, even when she no longer has any mental resources for that

She had no clue about what kind of game Sburb even was, and she definitely didn't have time to ask when meteors suddenly started raining from the sky

No fucking way was she going to die if she could help it, so she fought for her and her friends' lives with all she had

How was she able to godtier and whatnot without entering the game? Beats me, you're asking as if I should know and write some good explanation for it and make it make sense🙄🙄💅 I just wanna play touoys, hope you understand💓

Cindy started questioning her identity along the way of their adventures on the meteor, and started using she/they/him pronouns

If I had to write about her relationships with all of the trolls we'd be here all day, so let me just point out the most relevant things here <3

Gamzee had a pitch crush on her, and they entertained the idea for a while, but she quickly recoiled from that when Gamzee, uh, started doing Stuff. She actively maintains friendships with Aradia, Kanaya, and Tavros, and is on good terms with Terezi, Sollux, and Nepeta. It's a bit more complicated with the others, though.. Their relationship with Karkat was very murky and tense at first, she wasn't having his bullshit, but he grew on them with time, when Cindy realized they both have similar goals and wants. She can't tolerate Eridan's bullshit and mostly avoids him, doesn't like Equius for his attitude and hates him for what he did to Aradia, Feferi.. well, they just can't find a common ground, especially because Feferi's royalty, and Cindy holds no respect for them. And Vriska.. he justifiably doesn't like her, at all, but is somewhat sympathetic of her issues.

She is a Page of Blood, and their journey of self-realization had to teach him that she can't win and please them all, that they can be their true self around her friends, and that he can also depend on others for help when she needs it

She learned to make chains from blood, his or otherwise, and use them in battle, and at their highest potential she can bind someone's body to another's and adjust what it means according to situation.

You're badly injured and there's no one else to help in sight? She can bind your body to hers and share their life essence with you, practically making it so you both share an internal system, and if she's healthy enough, then you'll be too in a second

He can drain someone's blood and give it to another if they need it, she can solidify blood inside someone's veins to make it hard to move

She can make a dying person's heart beat via a blood bind, but it's very draining for her and can be quite deadly if done hastily and improperly, and he can't do it when a body already went cold, at least they didn't learn how to, maybe with enough conviction and training she could one day🤔

Maybe with time she found even more uses and possibilities for her chains

She's a great motivator, especially if it's his friends that need morale, they always have their friends' backs

She's not a fan of being a leader, but can be if the situation calls for it

Overall, Cynthia is a person with an intimidating exterior, and warm and genuine interior!🥹

Here's the ref with both the casual fit and the godtier pajamas in full color👇

[alpaca-clouds]

Sypha as the Paragon

I will openly admit. I will always be confused by people, who call Netflix Castlevania nihilistic or cynical. Because... It really is not, is it?

The usual argument goes, that it is cynical/nihilistic mostly for showing cycles of violence. But that does not make it either thing. And it is one of those "media literacy" things, that I wish people would understand. (Because no, CV is not the only show suffering from that criticism while actually telling a very hopeful story.)

Usually the people will argue about this because of season 3. Aka: All the storylines (with the exception of Isaac's arc) in S3 ending in betrayal. The people then will further argue that either the story did dirty by especially Lenore, but possibly also Taka, Sumi and the Judge, or that those characters are the absolute worst and deserve to die.

But I cannot help but feel that both attempts are actually really bad takes.

So, let me talk about Sypha. Because it is fairly clear that Sypha is the paragon of the series. Which is interesting. Because one should think that Trevor or Alucard would be the paragons of the show. Sure, in some way Alucard takes a paragon role in season 4. But for the most part Sypha is the paragon of the series.

A paragon usually is the hero character in a story, who not just does all the heroic stuff, but also more than anything is exemplary for the "moral of the story". Very often they will also go on and inspire other people to do the same.

And that is the point: This is Sypha. It is not Trevor or Alucard, who are examplary for the moral of the story, it is Sypha. She is the one to do good not for any personal reasons, not for any cynical reasons, but because it is right. Because it is right to help people.

What makes her the paragon, though, is that the story does proof her to be right. In the end she converts the people around her to those believes, which is most notably in Trevor of course. Because he does start out as a cynical nihilist - but in the end is willing to die for this greater cause.

More importantly, though: The story validates her believes. It does end up confirming again and again, that while in hard times so many people will suffer and struggle, people in generall can and will be good - and do right.

Okay, but so what about the betrayels?

Simple. Kinda simple at least. It is our old favorite topic. Or rather the topic that keeps coming up in current media so often: Cycles of violence/abuse. This is the clearest in Taka and Sumi, because we know their story. They were slaves. They were abused. They are probably (at least judging by their designs) additionally from a group that was marginalized in Japan at the time. They indeed only know people lying to them and betraying them. And because of it they do the same in return.

With Lenore it is a bit more complicated. Because with her everything is subtext. While it is fairly likely that she is Scottish and hence the entire war in her Backstory that we know about has been linked to the first attempt at Scottish independence, we can just guess about everything else. But lets face it: We know what happened to noble girls who got taken prisoner by the English during wars.

And while there is not a tragic story to the Judge, he also is an example of how hard times provide those best cover for those corrupted by power.

In the end, Sypha (and also Lisa) are the ones who might as well turn to the audience to tell the moral: "Make the world better, and people can be good."

Hells, just to confirm it, they also make sure to hammer it home in season 4. With both Trevor and Isaac having their monologues about "building a better world", and "building a future for people to live in".

It would be cynical/nihilistic if what the story here said was: "Welp, some people will be assholes and they will inevitably get you at some point. Better be careful." But that is not what the series is saying. What it is saying is: "The world out there is hard, and some people know nothing but hardship. They will not know any better but to hurt others. But if we made the world better, they would not be forced into this situation."

Lenore is a tragic figure. Taka and Sumi are tragic figures. That is the point. They did not need to be "evil". But in the world they lived, they had no choice.

[blacknedsoul-blog]

Random Thought of the Day (III)

One interesting thing about Victorian courtship is that, in addition to all the conservative stuff (which has left us with wonderful little gems like the use of the most pompous symbolism to say spicy things through letters or postcards), it was a social activity.

Several of the season's events took place in public places, and those that didn't were designed for groups of people anyway. After the engagement (which lasted between 6 months and 2 fucking years), this did not change much. In short, the desirable thing for this period of time is that the first moment a couple would really have alone, without any interference and completely private, would be… their wedding night (the thing that Annabel and Lenore theoretically didn't have).

This all sounds really weird if you're not into the European Victorian courtship thing. And since it went into serious decline after World War I, after 1930, the whole thing would not only be a culture shock, it would also be an archaic tradition that would be hard to understand.

So I have this absurd image of the Misfits + Prospero and Ada having this long series of awkward situations as the White Raven starts to rebuild their relationship because they really don't understand why every time they interrupt what is supposed to be a date, they seem to insist on including them. You know, shit like "Oh, pet is playing the piano for me, she's really good at it, do you want to sit and listen, love?" or "We're sharing this bottle of wine that was in my suitcase by candlelight, do you want a glass?" While the responses go back and forth from "Uh…thanks, but no thanks" to agreeing to be a third wheel for a prudent amount of time before looking for an excuse to escape.

At least until someone gets tired and they have that whole discussion about how dates has changed in the last 50 years.

[taybatwo2]

Lenore Loomington Review Part 1 of 2

I already did a preliminary post on here where I compared her price point to other Monster High dolls and delved into some head cannon to try and tie down her design choices and give her personality (I want to pretend she’s worth $81.95 by getting really attached to her….)

Here she is in box! She came in really quickly. Her box has some really bright hot pink and teal and has a plastic slip cover with more teal designs on the outside. Good news: she already looks better than her promo pics, but her shimmery skin is a bitch to try and photograph.

Box photos and accessory break downs under the cut:

Trippy. :) The right side of the box. I like the effect, I just wish that the colors or the imagery tied more in with the character’s design.

The left side of the box has her name in a nice, specialized font.

The back has a poem on it saying that Lenore followed a light to a spooky garden full of strange creatures and plants, decided to stay (with some “persistence”) and she died, becoming a ghost. Well, that’s a start of something. The artwork on the back is fine too. The most interesting thing from this art is seeing the color differences in the art vs the doll (especially the shoes; seen here as a more lavender/duller color vs the brighter magenta that is seen on the doll).

A close up of the poem, the signature, and a bit of the artwork. The more I look at what I thought were vines on her accessories, might all be dewy spiderwebs….?

You can actually make out the detailed sculpting on the flowers better in this artwork than the actual pieces themselves (which is odd as I usually think that Mattel has the better sculpts when compared to competing companies).

The top of her box is also decorated.

Okay, now let’s rip this bad boy open.

Here’s the Certificate of Authenticity, taped to the back of the inside sleeve the doll is strapped to. They got specialty textured paper for this, but it feels thinner than the usual paper-board thick ones.

Here is the inner sleeve. It actually looks a bit menacing and it reminds me of looking at photo negatives.

Here’s a cute little rat, hiding in the corner, and the poem is also written in parts on the right hand side of the sleeve.

And here she is out of the box and after I ran a metal comb through her hair. Her hair is soft saran and is a bit fuzzy on the ends.

Let’s look at what she comes with…

Here is her unnamed spider pet….? Captor?? Accessory maker…? The candles are not removable, but at least it’s a different sculpt than the other spider pets of Monster High.

(Webby from G2; credits to Serendipity Doll Boutique for Memphis Longlegs and BuzzyLittleBee for the G3 Tarantula pic).

She also comes with a very tall, sparkly stand….and I get why it’s tall (so she can float) but it makes her hard to fit on my shelf, the bracket wants to bunch up her dress and my doll sinks farther down the stand once she is clipped onto it.

Here is her major “purse-akin” accessory. It has some cute detailing on it and it’s made of a really light plastic. Actually most of the plastic accessories feel like the really light plastic found on cheaper toys. I was expecting the plastic to be heavier and/or more rubbery (like the chains used in the Haunted Line). The spiderwebs are removable and the candle glows in the dark (which is a really nice detail).

Okay, her earrings!

They have the eyeball pansies on top (they’re kinda hard to make out). And dripping candles under it. Sadly, their flames do not glow in the dark.

Here is the head piece. It’s connected to a headband and it also doesn’t glow in the dark (booooo). It’s an odd size and I feel like the spiderweb should have either been much bigger or much smaller (like stopping at the inner spoke of the spiderweb).

Everyone (me too, not going to lie) was giving her crap for having hot pink, blobby looking shoes. And honestly, that’s because the photos for it were meh and the color was also….a choice….but I ended up liking them more than I thought I would.

The eyeball pansies shoe clip-on remind me of the Bloom and Gloom shoes (see Jane’s shoes? that hibiscus POPS in comparison to the mold Lenore was given)….but not executed as well. The sculpt on the flowers are really flat and blend in with one another. :/

Okay, now what shoes sculpt is hiding behind there???

Look at that hidden detail! The buttons have little button holes, all the little frills and stitching and all that filigree detail on the back of the boots….if only it was PAINTED….

The spectral waves on the bottom of her shoes are reminiscent of Art Class Draculaura’s paint shoes (credit for image: CoyoteCrowCollectables).

From her boots that I was pleasantly surprised with, to my least favorite piece from her: her belt…chest thing…

Again, the flowers don’t really pop out in the sculpt and it sits really baggy on her in random spots, it just doesn’t seem to lay well on her and needed a few more tweaks.

Now that her accessories are looked at, the next part of my review will focus on her dress(s) and comparisons to other Monster High dolls.

[house-of-vandernacht]

I'm sorry for asking but

What do you think of this?

I honestly think it BS buuut

Idk man 😐🤧🤧

I think they might benefit from doing some research on ghouls, and supernatural creatures, folklore myths around the circumstances of their creation, n brushing up on their history. For example: Strigori in particular have at minimum 7 ways they can be created "Living a life of Sin" and "Dying Unmarried" are two such ways. This could be applied to Bee, if we keep in mind that "Sin" in this case is relative to societal norms of the era. Bee's only 'sin' might be she enjoyed a night on the town, which was frowned upon by her peers. (By modern standards that's not sinful at all. In Annabel/Lenore's era it would be scandalous n off to the Asylum with thee.) We don't know anything beyond the fact Bee can and is willing to defend herself. No idea where ''Bernice is shifty'' is coming from. I don't read Bee as shifty, but a playful/mischievous woman who lived and learned to survive during 1920's prohibition era NYC, buts that's my own reading of her As for the overall designs of their manifestations, each Spectre bares the marks hinting at their cause of death and their alignment. Eulalie was burned to death, hence the ''katara painted lady strips'' I believe they are referring to, she died giving her life whilst comforting children so she's appears like a soft cute Baku that devours nightmares, ya know something that would be appealing to children. Morella died protecting someone, so appears as a guardian angel. All the malevolent spirits are some form of monstrous. Bernice's life was taken from her, as was Ada's = malevolent spirits: Where Ada's attacker chopped her limbs off, they are held together with string. Bernice was hit so hard her teeth were knocked out, hence the teeth appearing where her body took the most trauma. Read any folklore myth about White or Grey Ladies, and the one repeating theme ''they are beautiful and tragic, and deadly" Monty is a full on freaking devil with pierced nipples ffs, Will is a straight up mannequin and we have yet to glimpse what lurks beneath Prospero's outfit. As for Duke....

... the perceived shiftiness

.... has all been foreshadowing building up to Chapter 72 and the reveal of Duke's past life.

He's an god damn escape artist! Once again, this boils down to patience, and allowing a story to unfold, and a little media literacy. The only person we have straight up confirmation is a criminal of sorts is Lenore ''be gay, do crimes'' Vandernacht.

[chemicallywrit]

It’s Audio Drama Sunday and this week was full of bangers! This list is not comprehensive but it is what stuck out this week. Let’s goooooooo

🔥 The Heart Pyre continuously leaves me with the perfect impression of being in middle school reading under my desk. It’s so good it feels like I’m getting away with something. Maybe it’s because Rena is such a relatable protagonist. She’s just a normal girl! She’s just a little teen! What is she supposed to do! And that makes her even more heroic. As always, the choice this week was impossible and I can’t wait to see how it shakes out. Also, Logan And Finn Should Kiss 2k24. @theheartpyre

🗡️ SIDEQUESTING 😭 This episode is so SWEET. I love when Rion grows a little—Sidequesting is episodic and doesn’t lend itself to like, substantial character development. That is fine; it’s not the point of the show. It makes the moments Rion does grow, though, stand out like little jewels. This episode shone. @sidequestingpod

🗝️ Palimpsest is doing its slow burn thing, referencing itself over again as its name suggests it will do, and in this story, I am Very Concerned About That Man Lenore Married. He is condescending and dismissive and he is isolating her, and I DO NOT TRUST HIM.

📼 Within the Wires—oh my gosh, I literally screamed when the canned noises stopped. What is your game, Tony? What do you want with Brian?

🅿️ Podcube was short this week—Podcube is always short—but this episode had me cracking up at work. I love that this team manages to find new conflicts somehow. Man vs man, but they’re assassins and one of them is convinced the other is in love with the target. Why does this work? Why is this so funny? Please listen to Podcube. @podcube

🩸 Hemophobia continues to make my skin crawl. This episode reveals that the characters are Church of Christ, which, for those who don’t know, means they have a really specific set of beliefs about baptism that I KNOW are going to be perfect fodder for the Horrors. And yet it’s all so normal so far. Creepy. Oh, another thing this episode does is portray with perfect gut-wrenching clarity how strange and awful it us to be a devout teenager, and in like, four different ways. Incredible work.

🎣 Eeler’s Choice has some FANTASTIC sound design this episode as Ran comes into their own as a storm chanter—FRICK. I am worried about them. And their new ship. Please be careful and don’t get eaten by fungus. @eelerschoice

✨ Stories from Ylelmore is brand new and SO GOOD, oh my gosh, I am in love with the earnest delivery, the characters who are absolute BABIES, the genuine fascinating mystery. I can’t wait for more. @storiesfromylelmore

🍔 Midnight Burger’s THREE HOUR FINALE brought us home with Clementine. It wasn’t what I expected, and I think that’s kind of Midnight Burger’s MO. The fact that the tone of the dialogue, that the characters themselves, are so cynical and hard—it will trick you into believing that it’s a cynical show. Maybe it is! But it also fights over and over again for the idea that things can be fixed, that love matters, that you can save people and you have to try, you always have to try. And sometimes you win. And that’s how the universe is meant to work. It kills me every time. Also, shoutout to Alan Burgon, always the best, who I love to hear doing his actual accent. @midnightburgr

🐦‍⬛ Leaving Corvat. Oh my word. It’s a wellness cult. Sleeper’s in a wellness cult. I am really pleased with the development his character’s showing, being decisive and brave.

🍵 Gastronaut is going some places and I am OBSESSED. The relationship between Oscar and Polity is everything to me, and the fact that Oscar has gotten to the point where he refuses to ignore his responsibilities, he refuses to leave people behind—he is sometimes stupid, but he is trying and I’m proud of him.

🧟‍♂️ We are getting to the final episode of Precious Cargo in the Dead and y’all….it’s gonna get juicy. I’m not exaggerating, one of the zombie actors used watermelon to get things sounding juuuuust right. Our next story might be even better, too, I can’t wait to show you.

Thank you for reading! If you like what I do, buy me a ko-fi!

[beevean]

I know TvTropes is edited by different people, but I would dearly love to understand their general logic.

You find this in the YMMV page of Lament of Innocence:

Mathias is not afforded much grace for acting out of desperate grief, to the point that apparently some thought he didn't even deserve a second chance in the form of Soma.

Now, I would argue that LoI doesn't even expect you to cry over Mathias. It's very obvious that he has become a despicable person, using his friend as a pawn, causing the death of said friend's fiancée and not shedding a compassionate tear over her, and even believing he would be joined in immortality. But yes, I agree, Mathias is pitiable only to an extent: "wife died" is not exactly a compelling argument for rejecting humanity to the degree that he did.

... but then what about this, TvTropes? From the YMMV page of NFCV?

(you'd think Mathias would also get the moniker of Jerkass Woobie. nope)

One, NFCV didn't come up with the idea of Dracula lashing out due to the grief of Lisa's death. It comes from SoTN. NFCV only put more emphasis on it. Stop giving the show undeserved credit.

Two, really? Really. N!Dracula is really that sympathetic, that most of the voices he gets are all about how much of a poow bapyboy he is? What the hell do you mean, "he makes a good case against humanity"???? This piece of shit wanted to exterminate humankind and vampirekind (because he was aware that they'd all starve to death, he just refused to give a fuck) because one village didn't rise up against a bishop! When he yells "there are no innocents, not anymore", do you take him seriously?????

He does get a Moral Even Horizon voice, but it feels half-hearted, to say the least:

If you think it's hard not to sympathize with him and that being brought back as a treat rectifies it, then by definition it's not a Moral Event Horizon, because the very definition of the trope is that it's an act that makes a character completely and utterly unforgivable, on par with Griffith sacrificing the Band of the Hawk and raping Casca, to make a famous example.

(funnily enough they do the same with Lenore under the same trope, saying that apparently she understood that she crossed the line and tried to make amends. There's not, however, mention of Isaac killing innocent people and defiling their corpses for his selfish purposes. Inch-resting.)

I really, really am made uncomfortable by the serious apologism N!Dracula gets, and only because he cries a little more than his game counterpart. "He makes a good case against humanity", huh? Do you have any idea how many genocides started from motivations that were seen as reasonable? How many dictators tried, and are trying, to kill many for the perceived sins of few? Yes, I am fully aware that N!Dracula is a fictional villain, and he benefits from a cool design, suave voice, and multiple Pet The Dog Moments, I'm not really saying that his fans condone real crimes... but just like Lenore fans who justify her abuse and rape with real life rape apologism arguments such as "Hector consented at first" or "she wanted his own good", the rhetoric used here is honestly appalling.

But yes, on a pettier note, I'm also salty that game Dracula isn't afforded the same sympathy, even though he too is bereaved by grief. He just doesn't express it in a pitiable enough way. It's easier to go all 🥺 at a depressed man moping in a chair, isn't it? Ignore how said depressed man has hired two misanthropes to Forge demons to routinely send to slaughter innocent humans! It's off-screen, after all :) you don't need to see it :)

But you know who gets called Unintentionally Unsympathetic in the show?

And here I say what I said about Mathias: there is nothing "unintentional" about this, the show has zero pity for the peasants who were slaughtered. Much like you, person who roots for Dracula, the writing too painted them as stupid because believing the CHURCH BAD, and therefore, like all stupid people, deserving of gruesome punishment. Peasants are low-class and religious, and as such deserve death. "Cool" murderers like Dracula and Isaac, who are so intelligent and above the petty masses, instead deserve everything on a silver platter.

I really despise this show and the messages it sends. And the general anti-game bias, of course.

[low-tone]

There is an excellent video by Jimmy McGee about why Rusted Moss is so great to which I’d struggle to add – so I won’t. Instead, I’d like to talk about the major content update that came out a couple of months ago. The main attraction is the great climb, a 200+ room marathon pushing at the edges of the game’s difficulty curve. To say it is hard would be an understatement. However, it is also surprisingly fluid. At its best points, you find yourself swinging between platforming and combat seamlessly – without falling into the worst trends of kaizo platformer design where the path through is tightly prescribed. The larger room design encourages play that is fast and improvisational.

The boss design follows a similar beat, with large tracking patterns. Both Noah & Julie and FrØy benefit immensely from warm-up phases which allow you to learn their rhythm. The interpolation of ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ speeding up for each of FrØy’s phases was an especially fun accompaniment. I can’t help but wonder though if an intensification of the Seer fight (the regular final boss of the base game) was the most interesting choice. All three fights settle into a circle strafing flow, with the occasional specific call and response. Faxdoc (now Emlise) was quoted as desiring to make the game “weirder” now that they have confidence as a developer. Noah & Julie went down so quickly I thought there might have been an Agni & Rudra gimmick, especially because of their colour scheme, but no. FrØy has the excuse of being the final boss of Rusted Moss and does arguably reach the limit of difficulty which the mechanics can support (looking at FrØy?’s jumpy chainsaw for something that goes too far).

FrØy’s final stage also appropriates Puck’s pre-patch fight, where you just have to focus on dodging as his healthbar automatically ticks down. Puck now embodies that weirdness Emlise spoke of, and what I really loved about the base-game boss design. There’s an extended climbing section reminiscent of a lower intensity great climb, gated by destruction of his crystal hearts, and a finale where you snapcut across comic-panel challenges. It makes the fight far more memorable, with a similar quality to Lenore, Spirella, and Freia in that it slips you out of the familiar play pattern by introducing some friction. Lenore is initially frustrating by spawning Ichor (lingering poison) in her vulnerable flee state, but it changes the way you chase her – from being right on her tail to staying a controlled distance away and predicting where she will bounce. Lenore and Spirella are both damaged by external objectives, but one requires a slow and careful weaving between her web and the other a frantic chase away. Difficulty is best when it adds texture.

Anyway, Rusted Moss is pretty cool – you should give it a go

[thorias]

Apparently, the D23 panel wasn't much to write home about. Nothing juicy, no Deathbit reveal. Just a few art teases and other crumbs.

-There will be new costumes modeled after the Frank Quitley ones from the Grant Morrison era. Not the ones I'd go with especially when Scott just made the black leather joke for crying out loud, but the team do desperately need new suits (especially Rogue, Scott and Jean) because the ones they wore in 1x09 & 1x10 just ain't it.

-Havok, Polaris and Danger will appear.

-Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike will return, so it sounds like there will be a Wolverine spotlight episode.

-They showed some of the new designs, but we'll have to wait for the leaks to see those, I guess.

-There was a clip shown of Scott and Jean in the Quitley suits.

-Lenore Zann and Cal Dodd appeared, but aside from that Lenore quote, I don't think there was anything said that was worth mentioning.

And that's about it. Hard not to feel let down since we know season 2 is pretty far along. Looks like it's going to be a long wait. Sigh...

[perlukafarinn]

Rating Star Trek TOS costumes because why not! (part 2)

Mudd's Women (1x06). Delightfully tacky and I love the audacity of wrapping the third one in a sparkly blanket while the other two get full pageant gowns. The green dress is my favorite, that cut-out is to die for. 8/10.

What Are Little Girls Made Of? (1x07). I'm sorry but that jumpsuit goes so hard. This is the peak of 60s retro futurism, both impractical as hell and also weirdly utilitarian in design. I don't care that it would 100% give you camel toe, I need two. 9/10.

The men this episode get similar outfits but 10x worse. Dr. Brown actually might be wearing the same jumpsuit as Andrea but the shirt underneath ruins it. Kirk's jumpsuit is boring af but I think we can all agree I needed to include that picture. 3/10.

The Conscience of the King (1x13). Lenore wears six different outfits this episode and they are all terrible. I know she kills like a dozen people but her crimes against fashion might be the worst of all.The fur mini-dress with the shiny tights takes the cake, absolutely unforgivable. 2/10.

Balance of Terror (1x14). Our first look at the Romulans and they're wearing what seem to be carpets. I do like the color-blocking moment (very Next Gen) and the silly helmets absolutely delight me, so all in all not as bad as it could be. 5/10.

Shore Leave (1x15). I remembered Ruth's dress as being very conservative but looking at it again it's really not. I can't even tell what I'm looking at, it's like a see-through caftan over a bodysuit maybe? The hair looks great, though. 6/10.

Also from Shore Leave, these are the most baffling costume choices in maybe all of TOS. They look like furry creamsicles. They look like they skinned and dyed a bunch of tribbles. They look like they're from the red light district of Sesame Street and also it's Easter. Note the matching bellybutton jewelry, perhaps the most inexplicable design detail of all. 10/10, I can't help but stan.

[anothermoirafan]

VAMPIRES AND THEIR NAILS

Ok so I've been thinking abt this 4 a while and I came to a conclusion that if there is a true united and connected (no matter how badly) vampire society then there must be norms? Some sort of rules or traditions. Now unfortunately Castlevania doesn't tell us much here, except tidbits such as having philosophy and a general sense of who is and who isn't in the community. So let's use logic instead. So usually, in the animal kingdom and human culture, norms and expectations, especially of beauty, were based on proving oneself to be succesful and therefore of the ability to afford luxuries that stand against reason of need. Take exotic birds for example; the show off of colors shocks and appeals to females (usually) but also makes it easier to be spotted as prey. The takeaway is ofcourse, that the beadzzled male can simply, by strength and intelligence, afford to be bedazzled. During human history, at least for most of, it was a signifier of wealth and class to be chubbier or even obese. The unspoken context was that even though most couldn't afford to feed their family, you were able to eat more than you needed or even wanted. Similar thing was for nails. Famously, in China, during the Warring States period (around 475-221 BC) long nails became a status symbol; a symbol of not doing labour, therefore not needing to have nails cut short for said labour. An added bonus was definately that healthy nails require a good diet, oils and frequent washing for good appearance; and can be decorated for extra measure.

Now back to the vampires. Considering the long nails of every vampire we see, and the knowledge that they can even be used in combat (see for:Raman) we can safely assume that linger nails are part of vampire signifiers and naturally occur afzer the transformation aling with fangs. Even characters who we would describe as practical (Dracula, he's dramatic but a scientist goddamit he knows what could be under) have them. I checked but unfortunately we don't see much of Tera's transformation but it'll definately be cool to find out if it makes it into her new design. Now we could assume that maybe nails are results of age but I feel as if that were the case again they wouldn't be that common.

How do vampires see their nails? Similar to humans, one would think, but i feel like there's more philosophy in there. Many vampires see their nails as as proof and extension if their animalistic side, cue trying to cut them and keep the human-short (great example is Lenore, who out of all vampires seems culturally very much still human or at least she tries to be) or embracing it and having literal claws (Dracula). But I want to talk about the detail of Carmila having red nails. With no knowledge of vampire technology I'm gonna say she used a formula way back from the Zhou dynasty in China at around 600BC or the Ming dynasty. Either way nail polishes of the time were limited in color but we knew they had red and adored it.

Why did I have this rant? Because I believe vampires use nails as virtue signaling.

Think about it. Vampires as a species are very cruel and deceitful so it's hard to know where somebody stays. But nails? Immediately u get the picture. Carmilla didn't just look good in red, she was the only general with colored nails, even Raman kept them natural (prob for combat but still). Think of the implications? She saw her vampirism as an extension and addition to her greatness. The color? Symbol of passion and prosperity. And upkeep? Probably expensive and rare, I mean she is a war general, I doubt that leaves time for manicure, but she did it anyways, probably HIRING HUMANS for it too. AND it matches her outfit. So u have these old vampires who keep their nails long as they accepted it, and think "yea this works" when all of a sudden a Bad BitchTM walks in and how do they know she means business? Colored nails.

And what does that leave the rest with. Think of all the times Styria hosted parties, galas and meetings with other vampire nations, putting up a good face, just for Lenore to cut her nails. Imagine the outrage and pity. She's the diplomat!! And yet, in company, she keeps her nails short. She already looks like a young girl, probably turned against her will, and the nails? Knowing Morana and Carmilla that had to be a constant fight. How could she represent them like this? Does she hate the gift of eternal life they've all been gifted with?

I imagine she tried to keep them long. For some time, probably an important politics season. Maybe she liked them, maybe she was waiting to cut them off, when she accidentaly cut herself. The pain. Anyone who has longer nails can tell u this is more often than u think, and considering vampire length and probable strength those cuts are good and deep. She cries. Of course the wound is already healed, ofcourse Morana and Carmilla yell how it'll pass but what they don't get is that the pain still happened. And it will again. And nobody understands.

She probably likes Hector's hands. He kept his nails short, he's a man of work, and thinks she likes the possibility of what he can do. But she just likes the nails. She even sometimes tells him to cut them shorter, since she wants to see how long and gradual human nail growth is. She enever tells him that, she lies and says "claws are for vampires" and she hates it. When she kills herself, Hector goes through the quartet's rooms for things and information and finds so many nail upkeep sets, hell even Striga has them. And Lenore has. Well a clipper. She never kept more. She couldn't.