#Thematic Themes

[visenyaism]

correct me if i’m wrong cos i don’t watch dune.. but i’ve seen people call paul a tragic character. except isn’t he a whole white coloniser tricking indigenous poc into believing he’s a prophet to serve his own interests? that’s inherently evil that cannot be a tragic character imo

so yes that is correct that is what happens. the tragedy is that he is a sixteen year old boy who gets a vision of this happening and he is TERRIFIED and absolutely does not want this to happen at all. He does not want the holy war he does not want to be the chosen one he initially very much wants to fight alongside the fremen as equals trying to liberate themselves from their current colonizer without becoming the messiah because they have common political cause.

And then the entire second half of the first book (and the second movie) are about the concessions he makes to himself bit by bit by bit (well it’s the only way to save his mom and sister. well it’s the only way to prevent nuclear war. well he does want his revenge. well maybe he IS special.) Until by the end he has lost 100% of his humanity, fully wants to be the messiah and is willing to manipulate people into thinking so, and has declared himself duke of arrakis in his father’s name and made a play for the imperial throne.

you’re right that it’s evil. the book and these movies agree with you. the tragedy is watching a child who desperately wanted to avoid this slowly completely lose himself to it anyways. i don’t think “tragic” and “evil” are inherently mutually exclusive.

[zevranunderstander]

i dont think i will ever be over dragon age 2. like. bioware made an epic fantasy story about a chosen one having to save a country and stop the apocalypse and then they made the second installment of the series be about the sociopolitical climate in ONE city through the lens of a family of refugees fleeing from the war of the first game and just. made it about political tensions and class dynamics and the influences of living in a church-mandated state and the growing tension over an occupied piece of the city and political killings and interpersonal conflict and power and its story is ENTIRELY character-driven. it has easily the most iconic set of companion characters. the premise of living through a story told over the course of ten years and knowing from the start that something really bad will happen in the end was so fresh and exciting. the fact that the acts really built on top of each other andhow much the city changed over time. and the game was so mature in terms of the topic of fighting against oppression in so many ways (im usually generous and say that the short development time left some things a bit wanting), and as much as some people say that the game treats mages and templars as being equally bad, i don't think that that is actually true about the game and it very earnestly tries to grapple with some pretty complex political dynamics.

and then the game completely flopped financially and was almost universally hated for its queer themes and its sympathy for "terrorism" and a lot of the things that stemmed from basically having no production time at all and then the studio just made another epic fantasy story about a chosen one that has to save the world from the apocalypse

[theoldkyokodied]

If you follow my main you had to know this was coming… anyway. Enjoy these bloodweave doodles :)

[miikpal]

galleria

speedpaint under cut

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Turtle Takedown Teamwork.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[ingoodjesst]

have you put the pieces together yet, detective

[branwinged]

seeing some prophecy discourse which has once again reminded me why i personally find the prospect of dany as the prince that was promised really compelling. and it makes the targaryens so much thematically richer. like, they only survived the doom through the power of prophecy and then the visions marked them forever and this thing, this blessing which gave generations of targaryens some existential meaning eventually morphed into a curse which brought so many of them great misery—"my brothers dreamed of dragons too, and the dreams killed them, every one." (aemon, affc) and in due course almost ended their line once again with rhaegar. but then dany happened.

almost four hundred years since the doom when prophecy saved them and nearly killed them again on the trident, dany was born. dany who carries echoes of all her targaryen ancestors within her. she's aegon the conqueror come again but she's also maegor the cruel when she promises the khals who had hurt her khalasar would die screaming. she's rhaenyra in her struggles to wield power and establish legitimacy as a woman, she shares her sense of egalitarianism with egg, and she drinks from the cup passed from rhaegar, i.e. inherits (what he once thought of) his narrative destiny to help defend the realms during the long night.

dany who is both their beginning, since she's the first targaryen created and introduced to us on page and the narrative end point of their dynasty. which reflects all the way into her arc being cyclical by design as it calls back to the foundation of the valyrian empire in essos—during the fifth war the freehold torched old ghis with dragonfire so nothing would grow there again and centuries later this girl, the last dragon, is going to help plant trees there again. it's not about retreading old ground or rejecting her house words but about redefining what it means to be the blood of the dragon. which is not to say all that came before her was meaningless since this recontextualisation is only possible through the three centuries of ancestral history weighing on her. and dany's very existence echoes back in time because the prophecy itself has influenced the lives of generations of targaryens. three hundred years of history, all the glory and the horror concentrated in this one person-point. the prince that was promised not simply as a figure of the long night but as someone who is the apotheosis of their house. dany as both their beginning and their end, because the iron throne is presently a symbol of stagnation, a world in stasis, and it has to go. no restoration, instead the old world dying in fire and a new world being born in the aftermath.

[lovegrowsart]

it's pretty wild to me that people don't see that aang running off to save katara in CoD is his luke in empire strikes back moment, where he runs headlong into his want and attachment and he's narratively punished for doing so and not learning his lesson - aang runs after katara despite guru pathik's warning, like luke runs after leia and han from yoda on dagobah despite yoda's warning; similarly, as a result, things go to hell in ba sing se like they do on bespin - aang enters the avatar state before he's ready and gets killed, and ba sing se falls to the fire nation, luke fights vader before he's ready, loses a hand, and symbolically commits suicide after vader tells him he's luke's father.

the difference between their character arcs is that george lucas and co. actually went thru with luke's hero's journey and understood the fundamental difference between attachment and love, whereas I don't think bryke understood this difference and then dropped this from aang's arc pretty much completely and replaced it with aang digging in his heels into his want and attachment and he gets rewarded with energy bending from a lion turtle, the avatar state from a random pointy rock, and his forever girl from the self-indulgent white men that couldn't bring themselves to give their hero a compelling character arc that meant he might not have gotten everything he wanted at the end.

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

There are people out there who genuinely think that the Starks aren’t thematically linked to ice in a way that is meaningful and central to the story? What?? I mean, never mind that they’re characterized as exclusively living in a frozen land, it is said that a Stark who goes south of the Neck melts. It’s not like their ancestral sword is called Ice. It’s not like they rule a castle called Winterfell. It’s not like their house words are ���Winter is coming”. It’s not like their banner is a direwolf (a creature that is now synonymous with the snowy north) running on what is described as either snow or an ice-white background. It’s not like they are consistently characterized with having icy or cold demeanors to the point of it being a house trait (e.g., Benjen, Ned, Jon). It’s not like they ruled thousands of years as Kings of Winter. It’s not like the Starks, the wolves, are said to be uniquely suited to surviving winter. It’s not like a big part of their house legacy and how they even came to be is the construction of a giant ice Wall. It’s not like a key historical event in the last couple centuries is the Pact of Ice (Stark) and Fire (Targaryen). Apparently none of that matters 🙄 It’s so disingenuous to claim that any house with First Men blood would take on the role of ice. No, that’s a special characteristic given to the STARKS, and their connection with ice and winter and snow has thematic relevance.

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

I could wax poetic about why Viktor's League backstory is inherently more interesting and more thematically resonant than where they went with him in Arcane season 2, but the cold hard truth is

a man covered in grease and probably blood who builds his own body out of scraps with his own two hands, can in fact build any contraption out of dinted metal sheets and a few screws including a deathray, performs deeply inadvisable operations on desperate but consenting people with his own tools, generates a cult following against his wishes because of his ability to inadvisably help people but the power's all his now anyway so he may as well, wants to clean up and save the undercity but is (only sort of) misunderstood as a walking Geneva Convention violation a freak and a supervillain, torments his arch-nemesis on at least a weekly basis and probably homoerotically hunts him for sport, had his life's work misattributed to people in the ruling class and is angry and tragic about it forever, tries to rip out his own emotions and is unsuccessful but pretends like he was not, is actually oddly kind to children, and is at the end of the day still just some guy,

is just hotter okay

[moongothic]

So I rewatched the entirety of the Baroque Works saga for the first time in quite a few years, and before that I did also finaly watch MelonTeee's video essay about the East Blue Saga. And naturally I am now plagued with some Thoughts™

So in her essay (which you should go and watch if you haven't already, let's be real) MelonTeee discussed how one of East Blue's key themes was people's treasures, be it items, dreams and most importantly other people, and the way people are willing to sacrifice their lives or their own dreams to protect those who are dear to them. Rewatching Baroque Works Saga, the key, long running themes I picked up on were that of

Trust and betrayal (Laboon at the time being under the impression that his friends had betrayed him and left him to rot at Reverse Mountain; Whiskey Peak is all about backstabbing people; Little Garden was about Dorry and Broggy's friendship being too strong for either party to believe the other had betrayed them; Croc's trust issues in Alabasta being his ultimate downfall)

Friendship and unbreakable bonds (Laboon's new bonds with Luffy and co; Dorry and Broggy again; the comparison between Chopper trying to say goodbye to Luffy and co only to be denied vs Vivi's farewell)

What makes a country, a good ruler and if/when is overthrowing a ruler justified (Drum and Alabasta explore these together)

And perhaps most importantly, protecting that what is important to you. And that one in particular I feel like is the Alabasta arc's main theme on its own, as it comes up over and over again.

The Rebel Army wants to protect their country from their "corrupt king" by overthrowing him; the King wants to protect his people from needless bloodshed and tries to avoid combat; Vivi wants to protect her people but also her friends and can't find the strenght to beg them for help lest they get hurt on her behalf; Luffy wants to protect his friends and Vivi so they don't get killed by the likes of Crocodile. Protecting those you love is an important theme in this arc, it is the arc's very heart as the conflict is was born out of that love. And that's why it's so interesting to me how Crocodile's motif seems to be being a protector, a guardian. And I'm not just talking about the "Croc is based on Sobek the Egyptian crocodile headed protector god" and "Guardian of Alabasta"- if that was all then I'm not sure I'd even go as far as to call it a "motif" for him, but it comes back to haunt us again in Marineford with the ever legendary

And that is just... curious. Because Crocodile as we know him is just Some Asshole with no weaknesses and nothing he cares about except for his own ambition. So being a protector being his motif, of all fucking people, is really interesting. Like, One Piece doesn't really do shallow villians, there's always a reason to why a character has become the way they have and why they're doing what they're doing.

Kaidou was raised in an environment where one justified the reason for their existence through strenght and combat alone.

Doflamingo hates the world and wants it to just fucking burn because he never let go of the entitlement of being a World Noble.

Lucci was brainwashed into becoming a warrior for absolute justice since he was a small child.

Arlong watched his people suffer from the oppression of humans first hand and that hatred consumed his heart.

Wapol was a spoiled nepobaby manchild who thought he should be allowed to do whatever the fuck he wanted because he's King.

Why the fuck is Crocodile the way he is. Why does he want to create a utopia, a military nation powerful enough to rival the WG itself. What has driven him to to strive for that goal. Why is being a protector his motif.

East Blue explored the things you are willing to do and the lenghts you're willing to go for your "treasure", the ones you love and care about. And Alabasta is about protecting them; even if not called that explicitly, Alabasta is about protecting your treasure. On one hand, having the man with no treasure, nothing and no one he wants to protect, as the primary antagonist of the arc that about protecting your loved ones is a great juxtaposition. Like there is an argument to be made that the reason Crocodile lost is because he had nothing to lose, while everyone else in the arc had everything to lose in this conflict and thus couldn't afford it, as they'd be left with nothing. And, looking at Alabasta on its own, as a standalone arc, that does work. But when you look at One Piece as a whole, when you look at everything that came before and after, I can't help but to feel that can't be the case, can it? Surely Crocodile has something he did want to protect after all?

[3hks]

Dark Thematic IDEAS (in the form of quotes) to Explore

"Don't trust blindly"

"Rules were meant to restrict."

"Things are not always as they seem."

"Heroes and villains are just titles."

"There's no such thing as 'right' or 'wrong.'"

"Heroes don't exist, and they never did."

"In this world, self-preservation is the key."

"This world is nothing but cruel."

"What is justice? It's different for everyone."

"Sometimes, sacrifices are in vain."

"People take advantage of others, and there's nothing one can do about that."

"'Good people aren't real."

"One can't save everyone. No one can."

"Don't expect heroes to suddenly show up when one needs them because they won't."

"It's survival of the fittest, no matter how one looks at it. The weak will always lose"

"Everyone is going to leave at some point."

"A 'happily ever after' only exists in fairytales."

"Perfection is a lie. There is no such thing as a perfect person, a perfect life, or a perfect world."

"Death, loss, and failure is inevitable."

"Sometimes the suffering is just not worth it."

"There's no god looking out for us."

"Not everyone wants the same things as you do. Not everyone wants a better world or love. Not everyone even wants to live."

"There is no perfect time for anything."

"Selflessness doesn't exist--everyone wants something from you. You can't give something without expecting something else in return."

"Forever? What forever? Everything is going to come to an end at some point."

"You can't get everyone to agree with you, which is why the world will never work together."

"There's no dodging the future and no hiding the past."

"You think that people were just born evil? Satan was once an angel too."

Apologies for making you all wait and then releasing something so small. As most people are probably aware, finals are coming up and unfortunately, I have to take them early so I'm trying to cram (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ) The next few should be better, if you have anything you want me to post about, let me know! I'd be more than happy to comply!

Happy writing~

3hks ^^

[jackdaw-and-hattrick]

Still obsessed with @starry-bi-sky ‘s Childhood Friends au so here’s a quick ghost design I did for Danny and Jason as teens.

[lady-quen]

Aight here goes ✨️Nothing✨️ aka the probably horribly unbalanced Mael fanspec. Keeping the necromancer green theme for the icons! Also credit to @soulbeastdragon for letting me use their post dividers as a base for my own divider 🫡

This miiiight get reworked several times *coughs* I did say I was doing it just for fun as someone who sucks severely at mmos, but if someone wants to give feedback also for fun go ahead ^^. Most details such as skill range, uptime, cd, and boon/condi amount missing for aforementioned reasons.

The spec would likely make good use of power and healing power builds and be good for cc and burst DPS or group healing. Keep in mind I'm not trying to come up with a balanced spec that fills specific gameplay niches the class is missing, but rather a spec purely for lore reasons.

Diabolist

"Devour death itself, and rise."

"The Diabolist has become closely acquaintanced with death, and chained themself to a demonic source of energy. Utilize the Diabolist Shroud to greatly enhance your equipped weapon skills, at the cost of taking constant damage."

Diabolists excel in burst damage and crowd control and gain access to Alysidomancy skills, creating spectral portals to draw on hellish chains to immobilize themselves for health and life force generation, or immobilize and pull foes for a quick kill. They also gain access to an offhand shield which provides boon stealing and pulling capabilities.

Skills and Traits under readmore.

Skills

Shield skills:

4: Putrid Aegis: assume a shielded stance, stealing boons for each time struck. 4s, vulnerable to cc

5: Hell's Gate: manifest a spectral portal upon the shield's surface, pulling and chilling the target. -> Hell's Breach: shield bash the target, inflicting daze and stealing a boon.

Profession skill:

Alysidomancy: use of demonic chains (short cast animation plays, can be cast while moving)

Slot skills:

Heal: Chains of Suppression: Immobilize yourself and gain stability and protection. Sacrifice life force to heal (chargable skill)

Utility:

Chains of Invitation: Open a spectral portal and use chains to pull out a shade*. (Can stack with normal shade. This version does not gain access to Haunt, but generates additional life force)

*similar to the Shambling Horror, the shade model is slightly altered, with a subtle blue fire effect instead of the green haze.

Chains of Esurience: Pull up to three enemies towards you, transfer a condition to each, and inflict chill. Generate life force and gain regeneration.

Chains of Terror: Stunbreak. Launch yourself towards the target and inflict fear.

Chains of Inevitability: Immobilize an enemy, corrupt a boon and gain might and fury.

Elite: Chains of Perdition: Immobilize and lift up to 5 enemies around you with demonic hooks, inflicting damage and gaining life force for each second spent suspended up to a max of 4. (Cancelable via stunbreak.) Gain 10s of might, fury and quickness. Bonus chance to trigger unique voiceline ("Let me hear you beg!")

Profession mechanic: Diabolist Shroud: Diabolists forgo Shroud-specifc skills in favor of greatly enhanced damage on currently equipped weapons. Life force does not act as a second health bar; Ticks down slower than usual but ticks down health as well.

Visuals: Diabolist Shroud spawns a fanged portal upon your chest, and every glow effect on the character turns blue. The Shroud's eyes are wide and circular. Character model and weapons gain a shifting, smoky shader.

Audio: loud chain rattling noises in Diabolist Shroud and when using Alysidomancies.

Traits:

Minor Proficiency: You can now wield shields.

Minor Adept: Faustian Bargain: Death Shroud becomes Diabolist Shroud, granting powerful offense at the cost of forgoing Shroud-specific skills and losing health over time. Gain access to Alysidomancies.

Major Adept:

1 - Self-Flagellation: Self-immobilize inflicts bleeding, but generates additional life force.

2 - Death's Gambit: Deal increased strike damage (15%) when below 50% HP.

3 - Squalid Symbiosis: Chains of Suppression now launch phantom links to nearby allies, sharing the amount healed. Reduced recharge on shield skills. Shield boon steal now shares boons with linked allies.

Minor Master: Hellhound's Ambush: Entering Diabolist Shroud grants 5 seconds of swiftness and stability.

Major Master:

1 - Fatal Hypothermia: chilling a foe additionally inflicts slow. (2s?)

2 - Malleus Maleficarum: Immobilizing foes grants might and inflicts burning.

3 - Feeding Frenzy: Using skill 5 in Diabolist Shroud additionally grants quickness and regeneration. (5 s?)

Minor Grandmaster: Terminal Lucidity: Gain health and protection when entering Diabolist Shroud. (Reasonably small heal)

Major Grandmaster:

1 - Sell Your Soul: 10% of vitality is converted to power and healing power. 10% of toughness is converted to ferocity and precision.

2 - Evergaol: immobilize effects on foes last longer. (2s) Immobilized foes take increased damage (20%?)

3 - Pandaemonium: Chains of Invitation additionally summons a second shade. Gain regeneration when both shades are active.

Associated Items:

Diabolist's Shield

Shorn Salvation (ascended shield)

Diabolist's Shackles (gauntlets)

Superior Rune of the Diabolist (power + healing power)

[mosstrades]

been rewatching a pretty good series

[mr-president]

“Yeah. I do.”