#a story doesn't need to be 100% accurate to be beloved but it does need that care and respect to their characters that people have loved fo

[the-monkey-ruler]

Goodness, jttw will never run out of different ways the story can be expanded. I don’t know if there are any other books like this. I think something that helps is that there’s no ip law and religious people are more relaxed (I mean when Chinese take creative liberties, it gets iffy when it’s non-Chinese).

Xiyouji has been going on strong for nearly 100 years of media! It truly is a work of art that embodies the human spirit and can be adapted and relatable to any generation to any person. Not matter where you are from or how old you are there is always going to be something so human and so touching in Xiyouji that just captures people for years to come.

Here's to another 100 years of Xiyouji media!!

The closest thing I can think of to another book or franchise that is this widely known could be like Shakespeare but that sadly has been teetering in the past few years. I kinda miss the modern adaptions of Shakespearian plays. And they don't even have games so another disadvantage.

It helps that Xiyouji mostly cameos Daoist and Buddhist figures in its story, hence while it does have a lot of religious messages and is a religious pilgrimage leads to a lot of fantastical worldbuilding and a great way for both patheons to be included. The only other story I can think of that has that kind of storytelling in like Dante's Inferno which while it is well-known certainly doesn't have that much of a media presence.

[charlie-ver]

hey i see you reblog a lot of stuff about asking about ur ocs, so here goes! pick one of your faves, and i'd love to hear about how they went from initial design concept to where they're at now, and why you made the changes you did along the way! it's real cool to me to see why and how other artists make the design decisions they do :)

(I went OFF sorry I started kinda talking about lore as well ;w; )

OK!! Hi, thank you for the question. So, I don't know how familiar you are with them, so while Liam has had the most redesigns, it still stayed in the same park.

Let me then talk about my beloved man, the blorbo, my one and only husband, Ignis Azario. UNFORTUNATELY I lost all the old art and made this some time ago, so the outfits are less accurate than to what they were before, but:

This, Nicholas Nazet, was later "replaced" by Ignis. I am putting it in quotes because while I lack the art, they're still the same concept to me. Since I was more just thinking about them and had little time for art, most of the evolution in terms of visuals happened off-screen.

(I know this is boring, but I'm just thinking about him right now and also this will be shorter than, like, Liam, who has been making me rot on the inside since fucking 2020. Who are you, sir.)

First the evolution went via text only, because, well, I was writing about these two. I don't remember which story it was, but I think it was the one the beginning of which I later reused for "what does it take" (as I don't know who you are I don't know if you know what I'm referring to - I very closely guard with whom I share my stories). Anyway. He was still a magician. This was actually around 2020 I think? There are some doodles of Actual Percy in my 2020 - 2021 sketchbook and there is a mention of Ignis/Nicholas and also a doodle of Already Ignis? It gets a little scattered because it clearly is BEFORE Ignis became who he is but the second page has and actual doodle of Actual Ignis with his broken horn so I'm assuming there must have been a few months between those pages.

(this sketchbook page says: Elite hunter, along with Ignis (which is written over "Nicholas") Azario (also his lover)) --> PRE-HUSBANDS ERA HERE

this is on the page next to it: already Ignis as he is now, so there was quite the TIME between those

Anyway, yes, Nicholas' surname was at some point changed first to "Nazario" actually and then to "Azario". The actual inspiration for Nicholas was from some random visual novel about ghost/demon hunters.

I think I've them just let Ignis sit for a while, until one fateful day in 2021 when I was playing around with color palette challenges. That was when this hot thing was born - around 20th of September, to be specific. I just wanted to draw a hot and evil guy. That's it.

You can see that this is very out of character, and actually not even canon now. It used to be - the moment I made this design, I knew I needed to keep him, I knew I needed him in my life. I also wanted some actual character that started out forced-evil and little fucked up but ended up good. So initially Ignis was still with his terrible mother and acting as a killing machine way until his adulthood.

As you can see, I liked this so much I have not changed the colors since.

And then I added more marks, because I wanted to. As lovely of a body as is the one above, theeeeere was just some lack (: also I wanted more of the lighter color in general. (you can see that he doesn't actually have a mark here on his chest - that came later as well when I was developing the general concept of Hunters more)

Latest change came last year, where I added a scar to his back from an exorcism (:

And... Yeah, that's it. I probably have more interesting timelines in terms of purely design evolution, but Ignis definitely changed the most? Just not gradually.

Also the others (Liam and Rein for example), feel free to ask for more, but you asked for a favorite and that's 100% Iggy, my beloved <3

[blackgirlsuperherorants]

This was posted in the comments of a Loki post. I obscured the user, because no shade to them, but this needs to be addressed. Loki is a villain. I need you guys to understand that bad guys can be good, can be nice, can be sweet, can love. They can be good in other contexts, but that doesn't mean they aren't ever a villain. These shows are giving you nuance so that you will understand that. Because in real life, nobody thinks they're a villain. Nobody does anything thinking they're the villain. Everyone thinks they're right, and everyone has people who will tell you they're good (in most cases.)

I've seen a lot of Loki fans pretend that he didn't do the killing he did of his own volition. That Thanos or the mind stone corrupted or coerced him. There's no evidence that that's true in canon. Just because someone says they don't enjoy killing, it doesn't suddenly erase that they did murders. And Loki did long before he got to Midgard. Those were not his first kills. He was raised by Odin.

Loki took people's lives. There are people in that universe for whom he stole their most beloved person. He's a villain.

Does that mean he doesn't also have good qualities? Of course not. Does that mean he can't change? Obviously not, that's what his redemption arcs have been about. But to suggest he's never been a villain because he self-reflected well is just ... naive, at best.

Think about the villains in your life. The bully. The abuser. The bad friend. Do they think they're 100% bad? Did you always? Do they not have people who love them? People who they love? People are complex, in real life. Odds are, YOU'RE someone's villain.

Stop saying "Loki isn't a villain" when you mean "he isn't all bad."

Especially because he's obviously done bad things, in nearly every iteration of him. Even if you think they're funny or cute. Even on an interpersonal level, he's done bad things. Just be honest about the story being told. Stop making bold, sweeping claims that aren't accurate. Loki is still a mass murderer who had questionable morals and an over inflated ego until he learned better. And learning better doesn't necessarily erase the harm he caused. Let him be a nuanced character and stop pretending he's simply good.