#The Writing and Art of Cassie Kay

[cassiekayscreams]

Aaaaand now all the characters I didn’t get signed. Here are the classic Disney ones - Alice, the Mad Hatter, Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, and the Genie.

[wondereads]

Weekly Reading Update (10/09/23)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

A Bright Heart by Kate Chenli (5/10)

If you enjoy the currently very popular genre of stories about girls in historical settings getting a second chance at life with knowledge from their previous one, this has that sort of premise. It’s what initially drew me to the book. However, unless you like the genre, this book is pretty mediocre. The plot is very simple and easy to predict, and the main character, Mingshin, is pretty bland and perfect; she knows how to solve every problem. As such there’s not really that much tension since there are few challenges she doesn’t immediately overcome. The love interest and honestly most of the side characters are pretty one-note, and the writing fluctuates between the flowery words you’d expect from the setting and jarringly modern phrases. Overall, I was really looking forward to this book, but I don’t think I’d like it at all if it wasn’t a plot I know I enjoy.

Ouran High School Host Club Vol. 1 (9/10) & 2 (8/10) by Hatori Bisco

These are rereads, and it’s just so much fun to read this series. OHSHC is definitely a dated manga with some jokes that aged badly and a style that has fallen out of practice, but it’s so enjoyable, especially for someone like me who read it a while ago. It has one of my favorite openings, the chaos of the Host Club gradually discovering Haruhi is a girl, and the chapters, while mostly individual shorts, do a great job of establishing the characters and through lines for once the story becomes more serious. These volumes are honestly so funny, and Haruhi’s one of my favorite manga protagonists (and a genderfluid icon).

The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O’Neill (9/10)

Despite being a very quick read, a graphic novel less than 100 pages long, this was adorably sweet and actually made me tear up. The art is lovely, and characters are very well developed for such a short book with a lot of casual representation in terms of race, sexuality, and ability. The art is beautiful and really enhances the ethereal vibe of the whole story. Also, I absolutely loved the little academic accounts of the different kinds of tea dragons and how to care for them in the back! This is a book that feels like a passion project and is a great cozy fantasy read!

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (CR, 73%)

Cassie Clare was so close to figuring out that polyamory is an option in this book. She got it eventually, but the amount of times Tessa says she loves Will and Jem or one of them says they wouldn't be whole without the other...you have two hands for a reason! Otherwise, I think the pacing in this book is better than in the first one. I think a large part of that is Will's side of things with his curse and whatnot. Tessa's a lovely person but there's only so many times we can rehash her internal turmoil before it starts to bore.

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (CR, 33%)

This book stresses me out, which is part of why I'm making such slow progress. I turn in page in fear of what horrible things will befall the characters. I'm particularly attached to Dumai, and I just find her storyline so interesting.

Lodestar by Shannon Messenger (CR, 24%)

If there's one thing Messenger can do, it's make you empathize with the characters because ugh I just want some answers! I really hope some major leaps are made in this book; I feel like it's been a while since a big reveal (the brother doesn't count we barely know him). Also, it seems this series is really pushing Fitz and Sophie lately, which makes me suspicious. When it comes to the romance aspect, they just seem so bland to me, and I don't quite trust that the story is so adamant about them getting closer.

[aquato-family-circus]

Hi please please tell me more about Kay’s dynamic with Cassie i am staring at her so intently. What happens to their dynamic after (i assume?) Kay gets defeated / the psychonauts Escape her Weird Comic Book Trap

So I think my original conciet for Kay is that she's always been an artist & loves writing and drawing comics, sequential art, ect ect. She both admired Cassie's books as an adult but also felt resentful her own work never got as popular bc of her "childish" medium of choice. Despite Cassie having nothing to do with it Kay blames her for that so their rivalry for a long time is one sided. Like Kay will go to a book signing and be all smiles with Cassie and while Kay is thinking "Oh Cassie, my fated rival, someday I will best you", Cassie's thinking is more like "She seems nice :)"

Post-Deluge Cassie goes cryptid mode ofc and so Kay devotes her energy toward her craft and eventually works with the Psychonauts to make True Psychic Tales the popular comic it is. I think my og concept involves Kay getting let go at some point bc the direction of the comics wasn't to her liking? That part is nebulous, idk!

The trapped in the comic book bit happens after the games when Kay has. A REASON? to decide she wants to do that? that's the part that never crystalized and why I didn't do anything with the character. But the mechanics are definitely some kind of mental illusion or clairvoyance thing projected at a comic or something like that, maybe it's an extension of her mental world like a thought bubble of comic goodness.

I think Cassie would have to figure out the comic book logic and solve the problem on those terms if she wants to get herself and the Gang back to reality.

post-comic-hijinks maybe Kay comes back to TPT? maybe that's when she gets let go? she and cassie can start a book club and form a truly mutual rivalry now bc they are both intelligent women with Strong Opinions about Storytelling.

that's about all I have for her atm...

[wolfliving]

Thinking Through Interfaces, a syllabus

*That looks enlightening.

THINKING THROUGH INTERFACES

Co-taught by Zed Adams (Philosophy) and Shannon Mattern (Media Studies)

Tuesdays 4:00 - 5:50pm | 6 East 16th St #1003

Interfaces are everywhere and nowhere. They pervade our lives, mediating our interactions with one another, technology, and the world. But their very pervasiveness also makes them invisible. In this seminar, we expose the hidden lives of interfaces, illuminating not just what they are and how they work, but also how they shape our lives, for better and worse. We also discuss a number of pressing social and political issues, such as why we are quick to adopt some interfaces (e.g., smartphones and social media platforms), but reluctant to embrace others (e.g., new voting machines and Google Glass). 

(...)

RESOURCES

With a few exceptions, all readings will be made available on our class website, at http://www.wordsinspace.net/interfaces/2019/. We’ll provide everyone with a copy of Tom Mullaney’s The Chinese Typewriter and David Parisi’s Archaeologies of Touch.

SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

WEEK 1: JANUARY 22: INTRODUCTIONS

What is an interface?

How are interfaces differentiated?

Can an interface become a part of our mind?

Do interfaces shape what we use them to do?

What are the limits of interfaces: what problems do they not help us solve?

WEEKS 2 AND 3: CONCEPTUALIZATION 

WEEK 2: JANUARY 29: CONCEPTUALIZATION I 

Nelson Goodman, “The Theory of Notation” (Chapter Four), Languages of Art (Hackett, 1976): 127-173.

Florian Cramer and Matthew Fuller, “Interface” in Software Studies, ed., Matthew Fuller (MIT Press, 2008): 149-53.

Johanna Drucker, “Interface and Interpretation” and “Designing Graphic Interpretation” in Graphesis: Visual Forms of Knowledge Production (Harvard University Press, 2014): 138-97.

WEEK 3: FEBRUARY 5: CONCEPTUALIZATION II

Shannon Mattern, “Mission Control: A History of the Urban Dashboard,” Places Journal (March 2015).

Shannon Mattern, “Things that Beep: A Brief History of Product Sound Design,” Avant (August 2018).

We encourage you to think, too, about how interfaces might embody different cultures and ideologies. Consider, for example, feminist interfaces or indigenous interfaces -- or interfaces that embody universal, accessible design. You'll find some relevant resources in the modules at the end of this syllabus, and we'll explore many of these themes as part of our case studies throughout the semester.

In-Class Workshop (second half of class): small-group interface critiques 

Supplemental: 

Christian Ulrich Andersen and Soren Bro Pold, eds., Interface Criticism: Aesthetics Beyond the Buttons (Aarhus University Press, 2011).

Martijn de Waal, The City as Interface: How New Media Are Changing the City (nai010, 2014).

Johanna Drucker, “Humanities Approach to Interface Theory,” Culture Machine 12 (2011).

Johanna Drucker, “Performative Materiality and Theoretical Approaches to Interface,” Digital Humanities Quarterly 7:1 (2013).

Florian Hadler and Joachim Haupt, “Towards a Critique of Interfaces” in Interface Critique, eds., Florian Hadler and Joachim Haupt (Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos, 2016): 7-16.

John Haugeland, “Representational Genera” in Having Thought: Essays in the Metaphysics of Mind, ed. Haugeland (Harvard Univ Press, 1992): 171-206.

Branden Hookway, Interface (MIT Press, 2014)

Interface Critique (journal).

Steven Johnson, Interface Culture (Basic Books, 1999)

Matthew Katz, “Analog Representations and Their Users,” Synthese 193: 3 (June 2015): 851-871.

Kimon Keramidas, The Interface Experience - A User’s Guide (Bard Graduate Center, 2015).

Shannon Mattern, “Interfacing Urban Intelligence,” Places Journal (April 2014).

Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things (Basic Books, 2013).

Mitchell Whitelaw, “Generous Interfaces for Digital Cultural Collections,” Digital Humanities Quarterly 9:1 (2015).

Jeff Johnson, Designing with the Mind in Mind (Morgan Kauffmann, 2014).

WEEKS 4 AND 5: TYPEWRITER KEYBOARDS 

Our first case study is the QWERTY keyboard. This case raises fundamental questions about why interfaces are adopted in the first place, the extent to which their original designs constrain how they are subsequently used, and how particular linguistic politics and epistemologies are embodied in our interfaces. 

WEEK 4: FEBRUARY 12: KEYBOARDS & QWERTY

Andy Clark, Chapters One through Three, and Ten, Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again (MIT Press, 1998): 11-69 and 193-218.

S. J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis, “The Fable of the Keys,” The Journal of Law & Economics 33:1 (1990): 1-25.

WEEK 5: FEBRUARY 19: OTHER KEYBOARDS

Thomas S. Mullaney, The Chinese Typewriter: A History (MIT Press, 2017): Chapter 1, 35-74; Chapter 4, 161-93; Chapter 6, 237-53 (up through “How Ancient China Missed…”; and Chapter 7, 283-8 (through “China’s First ‘Model Typist’”).

Kim Sterelny, “Minds: Extended or Scaffolded?” Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 9:4 (2010): 465-481.

See Marcin Wichary’s forthcoming book about the global history of keyboards, as well as his research newsletters.

4-5pm: Skype TBD 

Supplemental: 

Louise Barrett, Beyond the Brain (Princeton University Press, 2015).

Andy Clark and David Chalmers, “The Extended Mind,” Analysis 58:1 (1998): 7-19.

Friedrich A. Kittler, Gramophone, Film, Typewriter, trans. Geoffrey Winthrop-Young and Michael Wutz (Stanford University Press, 1986).

Lisa Gitelman, Scripts, Grooves, and Writing Machines: Representing Technology in the Edison Era (Stanford University Press, 1999).

John Haugeland, “Mind Embodied and Embedded,” Having Thought (Harvard University Press, 1998): 207-237.

Richard Heersmink, "A taxonomy of cognitive artifacts: function, information, and categories." Review of philosophy and psychology 4.3 (2013): 465-481.

Richard Heersmink, "The Metaphysics of Cognitive Artefacts," Philosophical Explorations 19.1 (2016): 78-93.

Neil M. Kay, “Rerun the Tape of History and QWERTY Always Wins,” Research Policy 42:6-7 (2013): 1175-85.

Prince McLean, “Inside the Multitouch FingerWorks Tech in Apple’s Tablet,” Apple Insider (January 23, 2010).

Jan Noyes, “QWERTY - The Immoral Keyboard,” Computing & Control Engineering Journal 9:3 (1998): 117-22.

Kim Sterelny, The Evolved Apprentice: How Evolution Made Humans Unique (MIT Press, 2012).

Cassie Werber, “The Future of Typing Doesn’t Involve a Keyboard,” Quartz (November 23, 2018).

Darren Wershler-Henry, The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting (Cornell University Press, 2007).

WEEKS 6 AND 7: HAPTICS 

WEEK 6: FEBRUARY 26: PUSHING BUTTONS 

H. P. Grice, “Some Remarks About the Senses,” in Analytical Philosophy, First Series, ed. R. J. Butler (OUP Press, 1962): 248-268. Reprinted in F. MacPherson (ed), The Senses (OUP Press, 2011): 83-101.

Matthew Fulkerson, “Rethinking the Senses and Their Interactions: The Case for Sensory Pluralism,” Frontiers in Psychology (December 10, 2014).

Rachel Plotnick, “Setting the Stage,” in Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic, and the Politics of Pushing (MIT Press, 2018): 3-16.

Rachel Plotnick, “Force, Flatness, and Touch Without Feeling: Thinking Historically About Haptics and Buttons,” New Media and Society 19:10 (2017): 1632-52.

WEEK 7: MARCH 5: HAPTICS II 

David Parisi, Archaeologies of Touch: Interfacing with Haptics from Electricity to Computing (University of Minnesota Press, 2017): Introduction, 1-40; Chapter 3, 151-212; and Chapter 4, 213-264.

4-5pm: Skype with Dave Parisi 

Supplemental: 

Sandy Isenstadt, “At the Flip of a Switch,” Places Journal (September 2018).

Mathias Fuchs, Moisés Mañas, and Georg Russegger, “Ludic Interfaces,” in Exploring Videogames: Culture, Design and Identity, eds., Nick Webber and Daniel Riha (Interdisciplinary-Net Press): 31-40.  

Matthew Fulkerson, The First Sense: A Philosophical Study of Human Touch (MIT Press, 2013).

Gerard Goggin, “Disability and Haptic Mobile Media,” New Media & Society 19:10 (2017): 1563-80.

Kim Knight, “Wearable Interfaces, Networked Bodies, and Feminist Interfaces,” MLA Commons (2018).

Brian Merchant, The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone (Little, Brown, 2017).

Stephen Monteiro, The Fabric of Interface: Mobile Media, Design, and Gender (MIT Press, 2017).

David Parisi, “Games Interfaces as Bodily Techniques,” Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education, ed. Richard Ferdig (IGI Global): 111-126.

David Parisi, Mark Paterson, and Jason Edward Arches, eds., “Haptic Media” Special Issue, New Media & Society 19:10 (October 2017).

Rachel Plotnick, “At the Interface: The Case of the Electric Push Button, 1880-1923,” Technology and Culture 53:4 (October 2012): 815-45.

MARCH 11 @ NOON 

Share your final project and presentation proposal with Zed and Shannon. See “Assignments” for more detail. 

WEEK 8: MARCH 12 

Individual meetings to discuss presentations and final projects

MARCH 19: NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK

WEEKS 9-10: VOICE 

WEEK 9: MARCH 26: History of Vocal Interfaces (Zed away)

Mara Mills, “Media and Prosthesis: The Vocoder, the Artificial Larynx, and the History of Signal Processing,” Qui Parle 21:1 (Fall/Winter 2012): 107-49.

Danielle Van Jaarsveld and Winifred Poster, “Call Centers: Emotional Labor Over the Phone,” in Emotional Labor in the 21st Century: Diverse Perspectives on Emotion Regulation at Work, ed. Alicia Grandey, Jim Diefendorff, and Deborah Rupp (LEA Press, 2012): 153-73.

Confirm the assigned text for your presentation: send to Shannon and Zed a complete Chicago-style citation and either a high-quality pdf or a link to the online resource before class today, so we can update our class website with everyone’s material.

WEEK 10: APRIL 2: Contemporary Vocal Interfaces 

Adelheid Voshkul, “Humans, Machines, and Conversations: An Ethnographic Study of the Making of Automatic Speech Recognition Technologies,” Social Studies of Science 34:3 (2004).

Andrea L. Guzman, “Voices in and of the Machine: Source Orientation Toward Mobile Virtual Assistants,” Computers in Human Behavior (2018).

Halcyon M. Lawrence and Lauren Neefe, “When I Talk to Siri,” Flash Readings 4 (September 6, 2017) {podcast: 10:14}.

Halcyon M. Lawrence, “Inauthentically Speaking: Speech Technology, Accent Bias and Digital Imperialism,” SIGCIS, Computer History Museum, March 2017 {video: 1:26 > 17:16}

Lauren McCarthy, LAUREN. A human smart home intelligence (review press, too).

4-5pm: Skype with Halcyon M. Lawrence

Supplemental: 

Meryl Alper, Giving Voice: Mobile Communication, Disability, and Inequality (MIT Press, 2017).

Michel Chion, Sound: An Acoulogical Treatise (Duke, 2016).

Karin Bijsterveld, “Dissecting Sound: Speaker Identification at the Stasi and Sonic Ways of Knowing,” Hearing Modernity (2018).

Trevor Cox, Now You’re Talking: The Story of Human Communication from the Neanderthals to Artificial Intelligence (Counterpoint, 2018).

Brian Dumaine, “It Might Get Loud: Inside Silicon Valley’s Battle to Own Voice Tech,” Fortune (October 24, 2018).

Larry Greenemeier, “Alexa, How Do We Take Our Relationship to the Next Level?” Scientific American (April 26, 2018).

Jason Kincaid, “A Brief History of ASR,” descript (July 12, 2018).

Halcyon M. Lawrence, “Siri Disciplines,” in Your Computer is on Fire, eds., Marie Hicks, Ben Peters, Kavita Philips and Tom Mullaney (MIT Press, forthcoming 2019).

Halcyon Lawrence and Lauren Neefe, “Siri’s Progeny: Voice and the Future of Interaction Design,” Georgia Tech, Fall 2016.

Xiaochang Li and Mara Mills, “Vocal Features: From Voice Identification to Speech Recognition by Machine,” Technology and Culture (forthcoming 2019).

Luke Munn, “Alexa and the Intersectional Interface,” _Angles (June 2018).

Quynh N. Nguyen, Ahn Ta, and Victor Prybutok, “An Integrated Model of Voice-User Interface Continuance Intention: The Gender Effect,” International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (2018).

Winifred Poster, “Sound Bites, Sentiments, and Accents: Digitizing Communicative Labor in the Era of Global Outsourcing,” in digitalSTS: A Field Guide for Science & Technology Studies, eds., David Ribes and Janet Vertesi (Princeton University Press, forthcoming April 2019).

Winifred Poster, “The Virtual Receptionist with a Human Touch: Opposing Pressures of Digital Automation and Outsourcing in Interactive Services” in Invisible Labor: Hidden Work in the Contemporary World, eds. Marion G. Crain, Winifred R. Poster, and Miriam A. Cherry (University of California Press, 2016): 87-111.

Thom Scott-Phillips, Speaking our Minds: Why Human Communication is Different, and How Language Evolved to Make it Special (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).

Craig S. Smith, “Alexa and Siri Can Hear This Hidden Command. You Can’t,” New York Times (May 10, 2018).

Dave Tompkins, How to Wreck a Nice Beach: The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop, The Machine Speaks (Stop Smiling Books, 2011).

Mickey Vallee, “Biometrics, Affect, Autoaffection and the Phenomenological Voice,” Subjectivity 11:2 (2018): 161-76.

Bruce N. Walker and Michael A. Nees, “Theory of Sonification” in The Sonification Handbook, eds. Thomas Hermann, Andy Hunt, and John G. Neuhoff (Logos Publishing, 2011).

[akysi]

Hey everybody! I am SUPER DUPER EXCITED to announce my upcoming webcomic of my story, Starglass Zodiac! :D Some of you have seen a few artworks of Cassie, the main protagonist of this story, but now I’m putting it out there as the full comic concept that started the whole idea in the first place. Which means I can finally start uploading all of the art I made for it! This has been 2 years in the making, and it is the closest I’ve ever been to sharing one of my stories with the world, so I couldn’t be happier. ;u; The site itself isn’t up yet but it will be on launch day.

I’m really bad at writing story synopses, but here’s one anyway:

Starglass Zodiac is the story of Cassie Kay, a 13-year old girl born with a star in her left eye. Her life as a freshman entering high school begins in her unique brand of normal, until strange creatures appear that only she can see. After discovering a stone zodiac on the hill behind her house, Cassie is transported to the Astral Plane, a world amongst the stars. She soon discovers that the spirits of the 12 zodiac signs inhabit this world, and they need her help. Stars are falling to Earth at a rapid rate, their worlds are in jeopardy, and it all seems to link to the mysterious 13th sign; Ophiuchus. Can Cassie restore balance when the two worlds collide?

I will make another announcement on the day of release but for now, get hyped! It’s happening! :D

[cassiekayscreams]

Sam Wilson is my absolute favorite Marvel character. I’ve loved him since Captain America: Winter Soldier when he just immediately treats Steve like a person and a soldier in need of help and is immediately like “I do what he does, just slower.” What a guy. I remember when they announced the Avengers Campus they had Anthony Mackey introduce it and showed off Sam as Captain America. I was so excited to see him and we almost didn’t get to, but when we did - pure autistic joy. But first we met Steve. I drew the original 6 Avengers as itti bitties a few years ago when I was gonna try to sell stickers, so I just included those drawings in my book. But I thought I’d left Steve out because I didn’t think he would be there. Fun fact, there are more characters than what it shows on the app. So we met Steve first and I thought I didn’t have his drawing so I had him sign Sam’s. He was like “I don’t want to take Sam’s” and then I was like “you can share” and he was like “okay, we can share.” Then he and my sister had an entertaining conversation about Camp Half-Blood.

Immediately after this I realized that I had thrown Steve’s drawing in the book for the heck of it and literally facepalmed. So when we met Sam, I first told him he was my favorite, then I showed him the drawing of him, then I explained how I’d had Steve sign his drawing and thought it’d be funny if he signed Steve’s. He said he thought Steve would think the switch was funny. He said he liked the drawing and that I included his wings.

After Steve but well before Sam, when we were still trying to find Sam, we also saw Natasha and had her sign our books. She didn’t have much of a reaction to the drawing but offered to help us find other Avengers.

So the Disneyland app lets you look at characters but it doesn’t actually like. Track them or anything. It just shows the rough time and place characters might be somewhere. Other characters walk around completely unrelated to that. Sam’s window was something like 10:30-3:30. He’s not actually out for the entire window. He just might show up somewhere in that span. So we spent like the whole day circling back to Avenger’s Campus to find him and he came out at like 3

[cassiekayscreams]

And finally, the Disney princesses + some villains.

Belle, Cinderella, Anastasia (one of Cinderella’s step sisters; she had a super cute romance with a baker in the second Cinderella movie and also is the focus of the third Cinderella movie which actually might be better than the original if you haven’t seen it. She’s actually a sweetheart deep down so I drew her, too. Could’ve had her sign my book but the timing didn’t work out and also she was with Drizella who I didn’t draw so that’d be awkward), Pocahontas, the live action Ariel, 3 Auroras (I have a friend who’s very particular about her being in the blue dress, though she’s most often shown in the pink dress since Cinderella’s the “blue princess”, but my favorite version is both colors), Maleficent, and the Evil Queen from Snow White.

And that is finally all of the itti bitties I drew for this project. I think they’d make adorable stickers but since they’re all Disney characters, I can’t sell them on RedBubble, and I don’t have the capacity or time to make and sell the stickers myself. Maybe one day.

[cassiekayscreams]

We got the most signatures from Avengers Campus since we were hanging out there a lot looking for Sam, but these three I drew and we didn’t get their signatures. We also saw The Wasp and Ms. Marvel but I didn’t draw them since I didn’t know they’d be there. We did actually see Shuri our first night but we were rushing around and didn’t stop to get a signature. We also saw T’Challa a few times - he comes out hourly after the Dora do their presentation, but he doesn’t do signatures. The fun thing about drawing their costumes is that you notice the details as you draw them. T’Challa’s outfit is very classic and clean. Shuri’s is very decorative and even has a little tiara on the forehead. Reflects their personalities well.

[cassiekayscreams]

When we met Loki and showed him our drawings he said he liked them and that he was looking for some artists to assist him for when he took over Avenger’s Campus. He said he was looking to have some posters of him made. He also talked about fixing up the sanctum sanctorum with more gold, some green, maybe some black. We said we were down. He said he looked forward to working with us.

When we showed Thor he loved it. He liked that I also drew Mjolnir. He also asked if we drew Loki as well so we showed him our Loki drawings. He laughed and said “He’s never looked so nice. I don’t trust him.” And I was like “oh, like when he was a snake?” And he was like “Yes, and then he stabbed me! Recently he’s started doing a new trick. He’s been turning into a goat because he knows I like them just as much.” I love the sibling banter.

Shang-Chi and Kamala (Ms. Marvel) were actually the first signatures we got. They were together. My sister and I love the part in Shang-Chi when his dad talks about the Mandarin and says “and it worked. They were scared of an orange.” We quote it all the time. So I drew a little orange next to him. When I showed him the drawing he noted the orange and I said “it’s the Mandarin” and he laughed. He showed it to Kamala and said “It’s a drawing of me and my dad. Cuz my dad’s the mandarin.” And then made a pun about him being a cutie. It was very funny.

I didn’t know Kamala was going to be there so I didn’t draw her. But I told her she could sign Captain Marvel’s and then Shang-Chi was like “you should write something about you guys being best friends” so she wrote “Ms. Marvel + [blank] = Best Friends!”

We didn’t actually see Captain Marvel so uh. I forged the signature. I didn’t want to let Kamala down. But I drew Captain Marvel with her helmet on because I freaking love her helmet.

We met Spider-Man briefly while he was walking around. He loved my sister’s drawing. When he saw mine he said “My head’s not that big, is it? Is it?” We told him it wasn’t. My sister said it was just because he was a cartoon and he said “I’ll take that.”

[cassiekayscreams]

Impacts on the Host Body: Jeckyll’n’Hyde Miraculous AU

Intro/bio post

While the host and kwami are completely different people, they do share the same body, even if it changes form depending on who’s in control. Things do stay consistent. In fact, Mari and Adrien would be covered in cuts and bruises if it weren’t for the Miraculous Cure taking care of them before Ladybug and Chat Noir detransform. But there are other changes.

While Mari and Adrien might feel like they’re getting rest when they black out and the kwamis take over, the body isn’t, so they may still feel tired if Ladybug and Chat Noir pulled a late night.

In and of itself, the kwamis taking over doesn’t do any damage to the host other than disrupting their normal life. But using their powers - Lucky Charm and Cataclysm, for example - can be draining for the host body to support. That’s why there’s a five minute limit after using the power. However, the kwami can push past it or even summon the power a second time, but that will start to take a serious toll on the host.

A corrupted Miraculous/evil kwami also takes a hefty toll on the host.

[cassiekayscreams]

Abhor, Demon of Hatred

Also demon of wrath and war. Most warriors make sacrifices to him to appease him, as a curse from him can cost you in battle. He is often depicted with orc-like traits due to the war-heavy focus of orcish culture. He’s also depicted as dwarven or dragonborn for the same reason. He’s always depicted with dragon wings (usually red dragon, sometimes red shadow dragon) and fire hair. (He’s a hot head, lol.)

[cassiekayscreams]

We See You: Xena

I actually finished this like over a month ago but wasn’t sure about the wing colors. I finally decided to just post it. I can redesign her later if I still don’t like it.

Xena’s race is inspired by the Valkyrie and warrior angels (the in-world explanation is they’re inspired by her race). In her revealed form, she has wings, glowing golden eyes, and is surrounded by an aura of light. Her people are not stealthy. But they are excellent warriors.

Since true name magic is a thing, she doesn’t use her name. The twins nicknamed her Xena since she gives off that warrior Princess vibe. She ends up being the twins’ combat trainer. Also Ryker has a major crush on her.

When she’s dressed for warm weather she kinda looks like a Southern California girl. When she dresses warmer, she looks like she’s about to go camping, which helps her blend with the Washington crowd.

The last image is an attempt at drawing her in Ember’s style.

[cassiekayscreams]

Adrienette - Jeckyll’n’Hyde AU

Intro/bio post

When Adrien first comes to class, Marinette has a little freak out because she already has pictures of him on her wall - just because they’re fashion spreads she took out of Agreste Magazine, but still. Kinda weird to have pictures of someone on your wall that is now in your class but you’ve never met before.

Marinette’s crush does still develop because of Adrien’s personality rather than being a celebrity crush, though. Origins sort of implies that Marinette really isn’t close with any of her classmates and Alya’s her first friend. I imagine most of the classmates don’t actively have negative feelings towards her, but due to Chloe’s bullying and the fact that Chloe often ropes others into it (Kim), she’s wary of opening up. When Adrien stands up to Chloe for her - something no one else is really doing, and especially impressive since she’s been his only friend for who knows how long - it means a lot to Marinette.

Marinette: Th-thanks for your help…

Adrien: Of course. … Is Chloe always like that?

Marinette: Y-yeah, pretty much…

Adrien: I’ve never seen her act like that before. Of course, whenever we’ve hung out, it’s just been the two of us, so I guess I haven’t seen her interact with many other people.

Marinette: How do you know Chloe?

Adrien: Our parents know each other. She was my only friend for a long time. I can’t believe this is how she’s been treating others the whole time…

Marinette: I’m sorry.

Adrien: No, no, you have nothing to be sorry for. I’m sorry she’s been treating you this way. It’s not okay.

Marinette is awkward, clumsy, and stuttery around everyone. Maybe slightly more around Adrien due to the crush, but not enough of a difference that it’d be notable to others. In fact, as she starts hanging out with Alya, Adrien, and Nino more, she’d start getting more comfortable with them and actually having friends and would become less awkward.

For Adrien’s part, he thinks Marinette is very sweet from the beginning, though obviously quite shy. But it seems like she doesn’t have a lot of friends and, hey, he doesn’t either. As he gets to know her better, he’s pleasantly surprised by her sense of humor, playfulness, and how willing she is to stand up for her friends even if she won’t stand up for herself.

Marinette would gradually catch on that Adrien’s home life isn’t good. She would feel powerless to directly do anything about it (such as confronting Gabriel), but would do what little things she can to ease Adrien’s burden in the only way she knows how. Hanging out with him when she can, bringing him extra sweets and little gifts, letting him hang out at the bakery with her and her parents on the rare occasions he’s allowed to get away from the house and his other responsibilities. When he is stuck at home, they play online rpgs together.

They are both dealing with trauma - Marinette at school and Adrien at home - and they bond over trying to help one another with those. Adrien helps Marinette at school and Marinette helps Adrien outside of school. While they don’t necessarily realize or vocalize it, they know a little of what the other person is going to and want to help them. That mutual connection leads to a deepening relationship.

[cassiekayscreams]

MariChat - Jeckyll'n'Hyde AU

Most MariChat content is built on Adrien using Chat Noir to escape his overly controlled life and gain some freedom. But this Chat Noir doesn’t have any of the trauma from being Adrien, so that’s not a factor here. 

Things usually start off because Adrien knows Mari and interacts with her as Chat because he knows her already. But that’s not the case here, either. I’m not sure how it would start off because Chat Noir would see Marinette as just a random citizen. Albeit a cute one but. Not much different from others. 

Chat would sort of help Marinette calm down from spiraling. His overly chill, laid-back personality would help counter her overly anxious one. He would help her ground and refocus.

Chat would very much act like a cat - playing with her balls of yarn, taking naps, maybe even knocking things over when he’s bored, demanding pets.

Chat would listen to Mari talk about her crush on Adrien. He knows that he inhabits Adrien’s body but doesn’t know Adrien personally so this would actually be how he gets to know him. He concludes Adrien is an idiot.

Chat would also be very protective of Mari.

But they’d also just be dorks and banter.

Intro/bio post

[cassiekayscreams]

Gabriel/Hawkmoth - Jeckyll’n’Hyde AU

Intro/bio post

There are a few ways Gabriel could be handled:

Option 1: Gabriel is completely unaware he is Hawkmoth and unaware of the miraculouses

Suboption 1: Gabriel is actually a good father and good person, his alternate form is just evil. Comes with the angst of realizing he’s the problem and he’s even been putting his own beloved son in danger.

Suboption 2: Gabriel is still a bad father, he’s just a normal bad, rich, neglectful parent instead of also being a super villain. He may even resent his son after his wife’s death or just feel like he reminds him of her too much so he pushes him away.

Option 2: Gabriel knows about the miraculous and he actually found the butterfly miraculous and corrupted it, possibly trying to use the power to bring Emelie back. But he didn’t understand that you don’t control it and basically become possessed. So he’s somewhat aware of it in that he wakes up from a black out and understands why, but may be frustrated he himself can’t control it.

I won’t be going with Option 1.1 (Gabriel being a good father) because having a controlling, neglectful father is a pretty defining aspect of Adrien’s character. I’ve already changed his character quite a bit by taking away his freedom as Chat Noir; having a loving father would basically make him a completely different person. Of the remaining options, I lean more towards Gabriel just being a normal bad parent rather than purposefully becoming a super villain, but I’ll continue to consider it.

[cassiekayscreams]

Art Fight 2024 Attacks

Not very many this year, although I honestly didn’t think I was gonna do it this year at all. But here are the very cool character designs I got to draw this year 💜🖤

1- Cassandra, Vickielo ( @vickielo-art )

2- Ynele The’Dead, phantasmaghosti ( @phantasmaghosti )

3- Elyn Amarath, soupthecryptid

4- Vani’, Vickielo again :)

5- Elysia, tvstaticface