#and i thought that was a REALLY REALLY cool concept i could try and portray here.. also note which eye colors are visible on each

[puddii-ng]

swan lake x valkyrie

[cececat]

STH FanStory Recommendations:

As well as writing, I have found myself also reading an awful amount of Sonic-related fanfiction and comics recently… So, I thought I’d share a few of my favourites in case anyone else has found themselves hyper-fixating over this fandom like I have recently 🦔

I’ll try to put them in sections but please note that quite a few of the topics tend to overlap. Oh and also, there happens to be an awful lot of Sonadow shipping too, because even if it’s not always the key focus in the story, it always seems to make its way into the things I consume now apparently 😅 So I’ll be sure to tag with 💙🖤❤️ if that’s relevant.

I hope you like this list (it took quite a while to put together) and be sure to show all of these stories and creators some love! 👇👇 👇

And obviously I had to start this list by plugging my own fanfiction stories, because I've been putting so much work into them and they will be updated regularly, while also making lots of other stuff as well... So please follow and/or subscribe for that... 😉 archiveofourown.org/users/cececatcreates

Live Action Universe:

Concord by EvieNyx (@evienyx) - [Complete] 💙🖤❤️ Focuses on Shadow after the third SCU movie. It’s really cute, and I feel like it accurately portrays movie-Shadow’s thoughts and memories, mixing together elements of the films with fan theories and other STH media canon.

Project Guardian by AealZX @aealzx - [Ongoing] Again, after the third SCU movie (there’s quite a few of them 😅) but Shadow is taken in as a fourth Wachowski sibling, who has to recover from severe injuries. Some art is included, and it’s just really sweet all-in-all.

Secrets In Our Quills by @nebrasska-alasska - [Ongoing] 💙🖤❤️ I’m sure many of you are already aware of their amazing stories, but this one is the longest so far, and also the closest to being completed. But if you like Sonadow slowburn and plenty of gay fluff, you should definitely read all of their incredible fanfics.

A Junk Yard Of Possibilities by CrazyForClones (@crazyforclones) - [Complete] This story looks at what happened to Agent Stone after Dr Robotnik’s death and focuses on the potentially adorable friendship that could blossom between him and Tails.

Family Loading… Please Wait by Humanities_Handbag ( @humanityinahandbag) & Invader_Sam (@smerfols) - [Ongoing] This quickly became a favourite, as it did with many others. 💕 It starts all the way back with the Wachowski’s adopting Sonic and then Tails and Knuckles and eventually Stone and Shadow, and it’s just the biggest, cutest family dynamic.

What Makes Us Who We Are by EmmaSmoke ( @emmasmoke8) - This is about the Mobians doing certain things their Earth animal counterparts would naturally do. My favourite parts are definitely Tails doing adorable fox things and Tom and Maddie trying to figure out what the heck all their anthropomorphic alien children are doing. 😅

Suspended by CheetahBoy (@90sfr3sh) - This looks at what could have happened if Sonic and Tails didn't get rescued by Maddie and Rachel during the second film. It's such a cool concept, I'm very excited to see what happens next! 😁

General / Alternate Universes:

Sonic Wave by Sharp_Silver (@sharp-silver-fanfic) - [Ongoing] I really love this story! 💕 It’s basically a full retelling of the STH universe lore, taking elements from all different bits of media. It’s been crazy good so far, so please give them your support!

Weird Science by satan_official - [Ongoing] 💙🖤❤️ This one is really interesting and it sort of makes me think of Equestria Girls (for any MLP fans out there!) but instead it’s Sonic and Shadow who are stuck in human bodies on the human world. It’s a bit different but really great so far 😁

Fixing Fractured Worlds We Briefly Broke by TheLittleStar_tm - [Ongoing] 💙🖤❤️ This is a fellow Prime fanstory, focusing on the trauma of all the Green Hills characters we already all know and love in the aftermath of season 3. 💔

Boom To Another Dimension by Gamerblade - [Ongoing] Explores what could happen if the SCU Live Action film characters were sent to the Sonic Boom universe, with pretty regular updates being uploaded so far. 😊

Into The Tailsverse by TheCatCacoon - [Ongoing] This one has a bunch of my favourite little two-tailed foxes, and, as someone who is also exploring bringing different Miles Prowers together, it’s intriguing to see how someone else writes these characters 🦊

Culture Shock by foggystarrs (@foggystarrs) - [Ongoing] 💙🖤❤️ Purely a Sonadow fanfiction, but it looks at hedgehog / Mobian courting behaviour and is just really cute 🥰 If you are a fan of oblivious gay and alien hedgehogs, you’ll probably love this one.

Others / Comics:

Sonic Desolation by Wren Rivers (@sonicdesolation by TrenchCoatGecko) - [Ongoing] This is a crazy detailed comic set around the events of the Sonic Forces game where Sonic is struggling with PTSD from what Infinite did to him during his imprisonment.

Heart Of A Monster by SuperEmeralds (@the-heart-of-a-monster by @superemerarts) - [Ongoing] Another insanely detailed comic, which is a retelling of Sonic Unleashed. Its so well done, plus there's a gentle sprinkling of platonic Sonadow.

Team Dark Supernova Odyssey by @sharpedgedfool (@teamdarksupernovaodyssey) - [Ongoing] This is a space opera comic revolving around found family and adventure themes, set as a hypothetical spin-off to the Shadow the Hedgehog video game.

Sonic Boom Revisited by @multiisketch , @mama-qwerty. & @star-stages (@sonicboomrevisited) - [Ongoing] This comic is amazing. A bit darker than the original series, but has just been so gripping so far. Regular updates too! Definitely recommended! 👍

Second Chance by @sumju - 💙🖤❤️ - Who doesn’t love a Sonadow comic?? Plus Tails is adorable as usual (and reminding Shadow of Maria 😭) so that’s an added bonus 🧡

Infested by @flightyalrighty - [Ongoing] Viewer discretion advised for this one, it seems pretty dark...

Ask the Sonic Verse by @verizzafai (@asksonicverse) 💙🖤❤️ - [Ongoing] This is a fun, silly ongoing series which focuses on different versions of Sonadow all being stuck in the same room and getting sent questions from the audience.

Low Light by @verizzafai (@soniclowlightau) 💙🖤❤️ - Only a few pages so far, but looks very promising!

Broken Future by @teamchillidogs 💙🖤❤️ - [Ongoing] A tragic re-telling of an alternate ending of Sonic Adventure 2.

Silver's Parent Trap by @evilgenius-prower 💙🖤❤️ - A silly AU where Silver is actually the adopted future child of Sonadow and goes back in time to try and save his dads lives.

Eggsperiments by @prince-less - This is a new concept so there's not much content about it yet, but I really hope it becomes either a proper comic or fanfic or something similar, because I'm such a sucker for alternate stories of Sonic and Tails being the best brothers, and this a really cool idea 🥺

Sonadow Future by @torusonicpilled 💙🖤❤️- [Ongoing] Another newer one, with a few fanfic chapters and a few comic pages, but they've already got me interested from the idea that Tails can be resurrected, so I'm excited to see where it goes next ☺️

Sonic & The Olympus Heroes by @miitarion - Not sure if this will be continued as it was only shared quite recently, so might just be a one-off, but the art is incredible; Definitely worth a read! ✨

@mercurio-shadowz - They've not been following a particular storyline, but their art and short comics (especially about Shadow being a closeted gay disaster) are awesome. 🤩

Incomplete / Unfinished:

These are a bunch of stories that I really grew to love but they either stopped too long ago and so are presumably forgotten about, or may have been abandoned entirely and will likely never receive any conclusions. I’ve included when they were last updated, but only read these at your own discretion! ⚠️

• Can’t Defeat A Genius Without Taking His Brain by xenoon [4 months] • Deepest Desire by Tirainy [5 years] 💙🖤❤️ • Mad About You by Cherivide [1 year] 💙🖤❤️ • Sonic The Second Speedster by ItsZaira [1 year] • Sonic the Vagabond Hedgehog by @trekkerac (@tatck) [1 year] - This quickly became a favourite; Sonic and Tails' relationship is so adorable 😭 But you might only want to read the first issue and think of it as complete, since the second issue isn't complete and hasn't been touched for a year or so... 😔

I've tagged as many people as I can and might come back to this list later if I find more that I enjoy, but for now I think (hope!) it's mostly up to date 💖

[reflectionsofacreator]

[takes a long drink from my Arizona iced tea] so like one of the central themes for FFXV is like, growing up, sure. You know that, I know that, whatever. Coming of age, coming into your own, taking the mantle of king, whatever you wanna call it. Cool, awesome, we love a good coming of age story!

But I find the sub theme of that one to be probably the most fascinating? By and large, all the chocobros have to deal with the fallout of being lied to by the adult figures in their lives, and it's the most prevalent with Noctis and Gladio. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of it in Ignis and Prompto too, but the particularly insidious way that Noctis and especially Gladio were lied to sometimes gets me.

See I don't even really think it was actually all that intentional. Not really a conscious act by Regis and Clarus, or the society around them? More like... I dunno, the lies that you get told by your parents as a little kid and you grow up to realize that the world is a lot different than you thought.

That being said, Noctis was absolutely lied to by his father; both about the nature of the King of Light and the idea that he'd succeed Regis as reigning monarch. Regis did it out of love, knowing that Noctis would die young, and reasoned that Noctis should get to have a relatively normal life, but it was still a lie. Gladio, likewise, was lied to by his father and Regis, told that he would be the next monarch's Shield, that he would fulfill a role that's got a pretty set expectation in their society.

See, Gladio expects Noctis to act a certain way, to act as King, and he gets increasingly frustrated when Noctis doesn't, or can't live up to that. He's not precisely wrong to expect it either, given their roles and their statues, and knowing that they're taking the throne during a full blown war. The problem is that Noctis was never taught how to be the thing that Gladio was told Noctis was going to be? And that's what causes friction with them all the time. It's fascinating, watching it play out and realizing the underlying issues with their relationships actually have very little to do with them as people and instead because of what they were told to expect from each other.

Gladio is also his own kettle of fish that I don't think the narrative is quite self aware enough to articulate properly, or even get into. Gladio falls into the trap of toxic masculinity very often -- struggling to articulate his feelings, expressing most of his feelings as anger, picking fights rather than talking about what's going on, using his strength as both a character aspect and bonus, etc. The list goes on. There's also the fact that he's sort of portrayed as a bit of a womanizer and the masculine ideal; tall, rugged, strong, etc which plays into all of that. XV plays him very straight (and straight) with these concepts, and just sort of ... expects it to be fine? Which is at odds with how the other three bros interact and are more emotionally available towards each other, leaving Gladio as one of the weaker bros in canon.

It kind of sucks too, because like, there's so much to unpack with him? His DLC is about wanting to have the strength to protect Noctis on the surface, but really when you look at it... you could also argue that the DLC is about Gladio's fears that he'll end up as dead as his dad did (ha, try that for alliteration) and the crushing weight of failure. Gladio has every right to fear his mortality, fear the fact that he is, nominally, the first in line on the battlefield and the the last defense for Noctis. If Noctis is to die, they will go through him first, and that's! Scary! But the game doesn't really get into that, hardly at all, and it makes picking up the pieces for Gladio kind of frustrating. Out of all the bros, he's the one I have to dig the most to find any kind of depth despite being prime real estate for it.

Anyways Gladio and Noctis' dynamic is fascinating if you actually start to unpack it, especially because it's built on the lies that their fathers fed them as children (that they themselves also bought into). I'd go so far to argue that between the two pairs, Noct/Gladio is in much more of a dire need to sit down and actually hash out what they are to each other, outside of their king/shield dynamic. Noct/Iggy certainly has shades of that, but Ignis has decided that they are friends and that he will defy fate if he must, let the world burn if he must, to save Noct's life. That has some depth beyond king/retainer that they're presented as. Noct/Gladio are sort of just... falling into the king/shield dynamic because they're expected to, and it sort of hampers their relationship and their communication.

I'm gonna scramble them both like eggs, probably into an omelette. They make me Think you know

[hollowed-theory-hall]

What are your thoughts on vampires in the Harry Potter universe? The little we know suggests that vampires are mortal and can either be born or turned. Full-blooded vampires appear capable of passing down their traits genetically, creating half-vampires, or turning wizards into vampires. How do you think the concept of vampires fits into wizarding society?

Hello 👋

Vampires are a weird one. We're told so very little about them, and they seem more like an afterthought rather than fully-fledged beings. That in itself actually tells us something important — that vampires are kinda rare and not beings you will just stumble upon.

Vampires as Beings

As you mentioned, vampires in HP are capable of reproduction (Lorcan d'Eath who is a half-vampire), this to me suggests they are not only mortal, but that they can't actually turn other humans into vampires. I mean, if they could, they wouldn't need to reproduce. Also, the fact they are mortal (albeit with even longer lifespans than wizards) suggests they are alive and not undead as vampires are usually portrayed.

So basically, long-living but not immortal bloodsuckers that can't actually turn via a bite. The fact they can't turn humans actually makes how they are treated by wizards make much more sense, so that's what I chose to believe. Further quotes and explanations in the next section. It's under a cut because it got long:

Vampires in Wizarding Society

So how are vampires seen in the wizarding world?

I copied all the quotes from the books relevant to this to try and create a cohesive understanding of wizards' treatment of vampires and the interactions between wizards and vampires.

“Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin’ outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience. ... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o’ trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject — now, where’s me umbrella?”

[...]

The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell’s lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he’d met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days.

(PS)

Vampires seem to live in secluded societies of their own, completely separate from wizards. Such vampire communities exist in Romania and in the Black Forest in Germany. In general, it seems vampires rarely leave their own communities and that they don't often foray into wizard spaces. Vampires are spoken of as cool mysterious beings because most wizards have never met a vampire in their life.

So vampires, unlike werewolves, are treated more as a dangerous curiosity rather than a physical threat (especially in the UK where there don't seem to be any major vampire communities).

That being said, wizards do treat vampires as dangerous. It seems reasonable to them to be traumatized by vampires.

Remember I mentioned I don't think HP vampires can turn with a bite? The whole thing with Quirrell is a bit of a proof of that. He was supposedly terrorized by vampires, that was everyone's assumption, so, they would then assume he was bitten and had his blood drunk, I mean, what else would vampires do to terrify him so much? But no one is concerned Quirrell is then a vampire even if it's logical to think he was bitten.

My conclusion from this is that vampires bite for food and the victim isn't turned. I assume most bite victims just die of blood loss, hence the danger factor. The fact vampires can't turn others is a major factor in why they seem to be treated with slightly more respect than werewolves.

I mean, an international singer (Lorcan d'Eath) can be a known part vampire and no one has a problem with it. There seem to be no rules against vampire employment or ownership of homes the way there are against werewolves. And I think this is because they are considered beings and not a disease the way Lycanthorpy is.

Harry looked into the shadowed eyes of Sirius Black, the only part of the sunken face that seemed alive. Harry had never met a vampire, but he had seen pictures of them in his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, and Black, with his waxy white skin, looked just like one.

(PoA)

Harry just explains here the vampire look and I wanted to mention it. The fact Sirius is said to look like a vampire (and some descriptions from HBP) suggests vampires in the DADA books and in wizards' minds are, in general, hot.

This quote by Dean and some stuff I'll mention later:

“Wonder what they’ll give us next year?” said Seamus Finnigan gloomily. “Maybe a vampire,” suggested Dean Thomas hopefully.

(PoA)

Suggests vampires are seen as hot, mysterious, and dangerous by wizards and there are most definitely erotic magical novels with vampire love interests. Basically, vampires are seen as sexy, dangerous, exotic, and mysterious by wizards who never met them (which is most of them).

Ron and Hermione were standing underneath it, examining a tray of blood-flavored lollipops. Harry sneaked up behind them. “Ugh, no, Harry won’t want one of those, they’re for vampires, I expect,” Hermione was saying.

(PoA)

This shows some of the vampires' better treatment from werewolves. Even though there aren't many vampires in the UK, Honeydukes has blood-flavoured candy for vampires. They are seen as respected enough beings to have their own candy lines that are sold in wizarding shops. I don't think any other magical creature can say the same.

I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year!” one of them shouted. “I’m a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures.” “No, you’re not!” yelled his friend. “You’re a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron. ... but I’m a vampire hunter, I’ve killed about ninety so far — ”

[...]

“That woman’s got it in for the Ministry of Magic!” said Percy furiously. “Last week she was saying we’re wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it wasn’t specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans — ”

(GoF)

But they still are seen as "dark dangerous magical creatures" by some of wizard society. A wizard claims (he's 100% lying) to be a vampire hunter, so I assume some think that's something that should be done.

Even though Percy mentions vampire hunting is illegal according to the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans. So while some wizards think vampires should be hunted down (like some people think werewolves should be hunted down) they are treated as human and therefore are protected by wizarding law, unlike werewolves who are discriminated against legally to a much worse degree.

“Harry, I’d like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old student of mine, author of Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires — and, of course, his friend Sanguini.” Worple, who was a small, stout, bespectacled man, grabbed Harry’s hand and shook it enthusiastically; the vampire Sanguini, who was tall and emaciated with dark shadows under his eyes, merely nodded. He looked rather bored. A gaggle of girls was standing close to him, looking curious and excited.

[...]

“I would be delighted to write it myself — people are craving to know more about you, dear boy, craving! If you were prepared to grant me a few interviews, say in four- or five-hour sessions, why, we could have the book finished within months. And all with very little effort on your part, I assure you — ask Sanguini here if it isn’t quite — Sanguini, stay here,” added Worple, suddenly stern, for the vampire had been edging toward the nearby group of girls, a rather hungry look in his eye. “Here, have a pasty,” said Worple, seizing one from a passing elf and stuffing it into Sanguini’s hand before turning his attention back to Harry.

(HBP)

The final quote I want to bring up is the only vampire we ever see in the HP books. Sanguini is described exactly like Sirius is in PoA and how vampires are shown in DADA books, so there is some truth to these descriptions (or Worple found himself the perfect poster vampire to walk around with). The gaggle of giggling girls is also noteworthy as it adds to the idea that wizards see vampires as sexy, mysterious, and dangerous in a good way.

The fact both Worple and Lockhart find popularity and success with their books about vampire life, again shows wizards are curious and interested in reading about these mysterious beings called vampires. I'm sure there is a lot of trashy fiction dedicated to them because of that.

Sanguini, though, seems more interested in the girls' blood than anything. Like, it seems he doesn't mind drinking the blood from a bunch of random school girls, but it's hard to say if it's a vampire issue or that Sanguini personally just doesn't give a shit (Harry does mention he looks bored).

I find it odd how Worple talks to him like a dog, though. It shows again, wizards' sense of superiority. Even though they treat vampires like curiosities (which is better than most creatures get) they still don't see them as equal even if they are in the camp that doesn't want to hunt them down.

What's more surprising is that Sanguini listens. It's possible Sanguini and Worple are fucking and they are into that sort of thing, and that's my personal headcanon for it. Sanguini was there as Worple's secret date and nothing could convince me otherwise.

[wysecollection]

I've been thinking a lot about 2020 internet (especially tiktok) system "community" and kinda how fucked up it left a lot of people with CDDs, especially those with introjects. I'm not gonna fakeclaim cause I don't fucking care, so please don't make it about that. Whether or not these (mostly children) had CDDs is really none of my business. There was just so much misinformation that was so easy to internalize and then be confused about being "wrong" about.

Thoughts below cause this is long as hell.

Introjects from fiction were a huge target because people on the outside thought it was cool to probe at their "favorite fictional character". And then these people who, whether or not they had CDDs, just fed into it and probably made it worse for themselves thinking they had to be exactly like their source to be a "real" introject. There was so much focus on source memories and acting canon that people didn't learn why introjects exist within the disorder.

Then there were all these labels that I don't really care where they initially came from, but names for whatever different "kinds" of fictives someone had, like what kind of source they had beyond a book or show. In my perception, it just turned into a competition a lot of the time. Who can have the most outlandish source? Who can have the most sources? Who is the most problematic from their source? Who has the most "traumatic" source memories?

There was also the notion that systems could/should always control who fronted and/or know who fronted, and it really messed up the perception of CDDs. I feel like now more than ever, people outside of a system are convinced that a system can get someone specific to front, and people with CDDs feel like they should know all the time, when that isn't the case. Yeah, most alters have specific roles and triggers. Does that mean they'll always front when you'd expect them to? No. It's a complex disorder.

It turned into a game for a lot of people, systems and non-systems alike. It turned into something fun. DID/OSDD and adjacent disorders are not fun. They can be funny, for some people sometimes, but in the end they are disorders. You wouldn't tell someone with Schizophrenia how cool it is that they experience hallucinations, so why do you tell systems how cool it is that they "have people in their head"? Because the perception of DID has been so utterly ruined so that people believe it is just alters. They forget or never learned about the fact that people's identity is fractured in such a way not because it's cool, but because of repeated, inescapable trauma.

Trying to teach people now that CDDs mean you are parts of a whole is such an uphill battle. Trying to convince people that they're not always or usually going to know what their inner world looks like, or be able to go there and remember things from it (since altogether the concept of an inner world is VERY different in reality from what it's portrayed as online) feels impossible. Trying to teach people that different systems have different amnesia barriers and different experiences with switching, and that it a lot of the time isn't "the body is empty and it takes twenty minutes for someone new to switch in" is so difficult, despite non-systems being so invasively curious about switching all the time. Trying to determine how to tell someone you have DID without being immediately associated with all of this misinformation also feels impossible.

The more I think about CDDs how they actually are, the more actually makes sense. All this just blatantly wrong or misconstrued information left a lot of systems thinking they were supposed to have everything about their system figured out, including their inner world and alter roles, and that they had to act/present a specific way to actually be a system. The more I internalize my experiences, the more I realize I'm just like a lot of other pwDID, because I didn't use social media as a primary source of information for a medical disorder.

There is no real closing thought or conclusion to this. No real advice I have. Don't rely on social media for information, don't convince yourself you need to be like anyone else to "actually" have DID.

[yumeka-sxf]

Spy x Family Exhibition Pamphlet

I got my copy of the Spy x Family exhibition pamphlet! I wanted to make HD scans of some of the notable pages and try to translate if I can.

First off is this great "Main Character Correlation Chart" (sorry for my amateur editing, all I have is MS Paint!)

I love how Bond has a different "bofu" (woof) for Loid and Yor!

Several of the pages show the creation process of the manga, starting with rough sketches to final drafts, using chapter 1 as an example. There were a lot of pages for this, so I just scanned the ones that showed the end of the chapter.

Probably the most interesting pages of the pamphlet are the early character designs/concept sketches. Most of these have already been shared by @sy-on-boy on her post here, but I thought it'd be cool to have them in HD! Unfortunately, even with higher quality images it's very difficult to decipher Endo's handwriting. I could make out just a few words here and there, and Google Lens is very unreliable when the writing isn't clear.

The first page has early concepts for the Forger family, Loid, Anya, the WISE logo, and the Eden uniform.

Things to note are that "Oscar" was a working name for Loid, as was "Yolanda" for Yor. What's also interesting is that a beta version of Franky is shown along with the Forgers. Unfortunately I can't make out the notes about him, but I think this has significance because of a sketch on the next page...

Most of the next page shows concept designs for Yor, with a section for Bond and Yor's coworkers on the bottom.

However, what's really intriguing is the sketch in the upper right of the whole family, titled 疑似家族 (pseudo family).

Once again, a Franky-looking character is with them, and he has the title "Uncle" (叔父) Was an uncle originally going to be part of the main Forgers? Was he actually related to Loid or Yor, or if that character did eventually become Franky, maybe he would just pretend to be Loid's brother? I can also make out the word "otaku" (オタク) in the notes for this character as well as "enjoying life" (人生を楽しんでる) Also in the notes for beta Yor it looks like 最強 (the best/strongest) and バカ (idiot/dummy) All I can make out for Loid's notes are 孤独 (loneliness) I think? And what's up with the older and more sinister looking Anya? She really looks like Ashe there. But these are all just early concept designs/notes so I wouldn't take them too seriously.

The next page titled "East and West During the Cold War" has concept designs for Franky, Yuri, Fiona (referred to as a female WISE spy), a male WISE spy, Melinda, and various assassins from the cruise arc.

The first interesting thing to point out is the notes next to the very crudely drawn woman at the bottom of Yuri's concept designs. It says "Yuri's girlfriend?"(��ーリの 彼女?) though I can't make out clearly what the rest of it says. For the Franky designs, I could make out "tsukkomi or boke". So it looks like at some point Endo was deciding whether to make him more of a tsukkomi (straight man) or boke (wise guy) personality. There's also mention of giving him a high IQ (IQ高い). Also, the fact that the sketches include Melinda and the cruise arc assassins gives the impression that Endo had ideas for these story elements very early on.

But the character relationship chart in the lower left is really intriguing.

I'm not sure how accurate these translations are so take them with a grain of salt, but they do make sense to me. But I have to wonder why Anya and Becky are connected to Desmond. For Becky, it could be because her family has ties to the Desmonds, but why Anya? Could the "mysterious institute/lab" she comes from have ties to Desmond too? Again, these could just be early concepts from ideas that Endo is no longer using, so best not to take them literally. Also, the lack of Shopkeeper/Garden in the character relationship charts, the concept art, and the exhibition overall, really does portray them as a "mysterious organization" that Endo perhaps didn't plan out until later in the series' development and is still trying to figure out. But as far as this sketch, I have to say that despite how terribly crudely drawn all their little heads are, it's easy to identify every character...proof of Endo's top notch character design skills!

Another sketch that stands out is on the same page...

It's a very rough drawing of what appears to be either Loid holding Yor or Yor holding Loid with Anya next to them. But honestly it's such a rough drawing it could be any other parents+child. All I can make out of the text directly above is "My wife is stressed!? At this rate..." And the drawing next to it also appears to be two parents and maybe two children? I also have no clue what the "WJ4C 9/20, etc" at the top means. Very mysterious sketch, lol.

The next page has Eden related concepts, including Becky, Damian, George, and various teachers. The drawings in the bottom section appear to be an alternate/abbreviated version of how the Forgers met.

Pretty funny that an image of Franky is covering what's supposed to be a sketch of Demetrius. The text from Franky says "I can't show you this information yet" which is pretty solid proof that Demetrius will make an appearance in the series eventually. There's also nicknames for Damian and Demetrius in the notes - "Dami" and "Demi."

Some notes on the Eden page says there's 2,000 students in the school, with 13 grades divided into 8 classes/houses. The chart on the left is a list of teacher names and their classes, all of which are given names of colors. None of the teacher names have been used so far in the series.

And all that's on the last page of sketches is a continuation of the previous page with the early concept of how the Forgers started (it honestly looks pretty cute, wish it wasn't just rough sketches). And the following section looks like drafts Endo did for promotional material.

The final pages of the pamphlet are the new extra mission chapter which I already fully translated here.

And that's all I'm going to share for now from the pamphlet! I could spend more time trying to decipher the concept art notes but it was giving me a headache after a while, lol. But if anyone wants to try translating them, go ahead (I have higher quality png files of all the scans if needed...they were too big for Tumblr). And again, these sketches are just trial and error pre-serialization ideas that don't necessarily reflect Endo's final vision for the series, so I wouldn't dwell on them much other than for fun theorizing.

The pamphlet does have other interesting information, including an interview with Endo, a timeline of his work on Spy x Family and other manga, and his notes about random things from the series. So I might return to translating the pamphlet at a later date when I have time/motivation.

[twentyfoursevenghost]

i have spent way too long trying to put this together ohhhh my god

to preface: i am personally not a wincest shipper, but i do enjoy gothic horror and talking about weird stuff so here we are. none of what i say here means i think anything happened between them in canon, cause i honestly don't, it's just a collection of thoughts about the way family is portrayed in the horror of Supernatural. also, this is pretty much entirely in reference to just the first five seasons because that's where i find this theme to be most glaring. okay cool thanks

long post under the cut

essentially, the first five seasons of the show very much fall under the American gothic genre, which revolves around the rational vs irrational, puritanism, guilt, the uncanny, and monsters. obviously a lot of that comes in the plot of the show itself, but we also see a lot of these points hit with Sam and Dean, the way they behave throughout the series- their relationship with their parents and the concept of family as a whole, their ideas about sex and romance, and their relationship with each other.

the amount of people thinking Sam and Dean are together and slightly line-crossing throwaways said by the guys is, frankly, fucking weird. but the family dynamic this show focuses on is fucking weird. if they had leaned more into this messed up idea they created, they could have made a very solid family horror. we see the crumble of the american dream and nuclear family- caring mom dies violently, working veteran dad turns into a cruel, abusive parent fighting (literal) demons. again, what better way to continue that theme of a disturbing tragedy under the surface than to imply the sons' relationship is incestuous?

there's also the fascination with purity and morality and how that relates to two people who spend their time in the grimiest, most crooked parts of reality. they know they're dirty and immoral, that there's something wrong with them that makes them incapable of being clean. between the two of them, there is so much guilt about that wrongness. again, a theme that would have really felt like something within the story if they had leaned into the idea of incest.

it's no wonder wincest "won" in the end. the reality of the situation was that Sam and Dean only need each other. they are each entirely fulfilled by the relationship they have with one another, no matter how much they try to say they aren't. no matter how guilty, disgusted, or stubborn they are about it, it's true. and that is part of the overall horror for them. because of their broken, screwed up childhood, they are extremely codependent and cannot escape the taboo reality they have created to cope. it's obviously wrong and condemnable, but so is the abusive and neglectful situation that would have led to it happening. the implication that because they were left alone to only interact with/rely on/comfort each other for most of their lives, their relationship took on the most unacceptable form it could is not completely out of the range of the type of crass horror the show is trying to convey.

i don't have to say that incest is wrong. however, i think it can be used as a very, very crude way to portray the type of horror Supernatural was going for- a vulgar exposure of the grit beneath the initially "perfect" family. it makes sense to be implied in a story that represents child abuse and neglect and its results in such an over-the-top, obvious way. therefore, i think the show could have gone a lot harder with it, and sometimes i think they maybe should have for the sake of not feeling so noncommittal when it is implied.

anyway hopefully this makes sense, thanks for reading my rant lol

[theladyheroine]

Characters for the New TMNT 🐢

❥ Hello everyone! So this will be similar to my previous Kingdom Hearts posts where I’ll try to predict a few things for the future! It’s just for fun but I hope you guys enjoy! 💚

⚠️ Also quick warning, there are spoilers for the Mutant Mayhem movie & the Tales of the TMNT on Paramount! ⚠️

Casey Jones - Okay, so I understand there was a scrapped concept art for Casey Jones from the Mutant Mayhem movie. But whether Casey ends up being a boy or a girl, I really wanna see their friendship again! They always have good chemistry together, & I can imagine them meeting if Raph tries out for the hockey team at school! Jones is like the best player on the team so Raph has some beef. 😅 Not intentionally but I can see a rivalry happening (lol).

Karai - This was more of a what if moment but since the Shredder will likely appear in the sequel movie, Karai would be like one of those characters that turns good in the end. Likely because she never wanted to serve the Foot Clan in the first place. It would also be cool if she went to the same high school as the main cast, either before or at the end of the film.

Slash - This character was also what if moment, since Slash is usually a small villain. But I really like what the 2012 TMNT did, making him a hero during his arc! I feel if he did show up in MM universe, I can see him being a bit of an antihero at first? Or some kind of mutated crook before agreeing to help the turtles out.

Mona Lisa - Raph’s love interest I feel was pretty underrated until the 2012 version put their own spin on things! She’s one of my favorite characters & I’d love to see her again! For this version, I would like to see a human design since we haven’t seen that before! But then she gets mutated later on & perhaps that can be a new story in the future? With humans getting mutated too at some point.

The Rat King - So, I’m actually not so sure for this one? I know Splinter was the Rat King temporarily during the Tales of the TMNT show. But I did see a post, unfortunately I can’t remember where 😅🙏, but someone said that Bad Bernie might end up being mutated? I can see that, especially since he already looks like a rat or mouse. And he did come back after the East River 3 Arc.

Miyamoto Usagi - Okay this was a lot tougher than I thought. 😅 I understand Usagi is like from an alternate dimension usually? And for a funny spinoff series, that could still work? But maybe more on the science-style of things rather than the magic side? Like maybe TCRI makes a giant portal & the turtles get sucked into it. Landing in Usagi’s dimension by accident!

Venus de Milo - I have yet to see the 90s movies but I’m still a big fan of Venus de Milo! She is so cool & I feel she’s a good contrast to the boys. I’m not sure if she’d be related to them or not, but we can stick with the cousin thing for now. Anywho, for her backstory, I feel maybe she was another experiment from Baxter Stockman? Or maybe TCRI who wanted to recreate his project but she escapes! And meets the turtles!

Irma Langinstein - So I only know Irma from the 2012 version of TMNT, but if she were introduced into MM I feel there’s a lot of cool stuff she could do! Maybe she’s a human friend April makes or she’s some kind of ninja turtle fan girl (lol)! But so far I’ve seen people portray her as a super smart kid & becoming best friends with Donnie, which I like!

[lucalicatteart]

Finally finished my weird hanging painting thing (originally a secondhand partially-done 'paint by numbers' kit that I found at a thrift store and kept to repurpose lol)! Imagery somewhat based in my own worldbuilding projects, and text written in my constructed language for one of my fantasy species, but also vaguely inspired by old tapestries and illuminated manuscripts and etc. I've never been great at neat clean patterning or text, but it looks cool from afar, and I always enjoy making "props" or things that are somewhat like real objects that might could exist in my world. :0

(additional pictures/info under the readmore)

-

Here's what it was originally! I probably didn't have to actually have a river running down the middle because it further makes the composition of the whole thing weird (various connected yet separate locations and things happening, instead of one unified event being portrayed), but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fully cover up the already existing paint that was there.. and I can also kind of justify it by going with a more "all the imagery is just symbolic so it doesn't have to make exact sense" approach lol.. How is one half of the grass green and the other is suddenly snowy? shhhh.. it's not literal.. shhh...

Made a vague sketch, then painted over it, and then added more distinct lines in black pen. Center image first and border second.

The very last thing was the text, which actually took forever to translate because my conlang is still only like.. partially done, and some of the grammar is not worked out exactly how I would like it to be, so a few sentences I had to think about for a long time before just going "eh, this is probably not how I would do it if I considered it more, but I'll go with it for now" lol . I also am not entirely satisfied with all of the characters for the writing system, but again, it's good enough for a quick project, it doesn't have to be 100% accurate and perfect because it's a fake language that nobody knows anyway lol.

I thought about breaking down the text and translation here like I have for some of the tidbits of Avirrekava (the language) in things I've posted in the past, but I think it would take too long and is not interesting to anyone but me ghghj, so for the sake of getting the post out quickly, I shall not spend an hour typing All That lol.

The general jist of the writing though is that it's just about the Avirre'thel being cast out from the other elves, after abandoning their magic for immortality as a means to truly attain perfection (an important concept in elven culture), the usual, blah blah blah, but how it's Actually A Good Thing, because the gods are wrong and immortality is Cool actually and they like the shitty frozen lands they were sent to, so it's fine that everyone else is being a Hater about it lol

Lastly, here's a few photos outside in the sun to TRY and show the gold detailing actually shimmering or showing up! It really doesn't come through in photos, but there's plenty of little golden spots to highlight light or Importance.

Mostly the fire, the pink sparkle that represents magic, the red drop that represents blood, the light behind Inaashi's hands and head (common symbol for the elven religion/one of their main gods, shout out to anyone who read the ancient elven religion post and recognized that lol), the sun, and the symbol for the Avirre'thel/country of Navyete at the very top. I did a few other gold bits, but they're not highlighted because they're Significant, more just that it looked more symmetrical to have some gold on the border too lol.

Other things of note: The animals are not actually significant to Avirre'thel culture really, I just wanted to put a cat and a bird because I like them lol. (I also wanted to have a few funny looking creatures, as I was slightly trying to go with the 'in some old medieval painting the anatomy and perspective is very weird' vibe, though I think some of the other parts of it look too Normal to pull it off entirely). Same with the four leaf clover, which means nothing in their culture - but these are the only areas where stuff was just added self-indulgently .

Bligabata (giant cabbage that grows along rivers in Navyete) making an appearance! The architecture of the building IS based on actual concepts for ancient elven/older Avirre'thel architecture and metalwork. The Avirre'thel who's turning away from Inaashi/elves/magic and collecting blood, is doing so in a Special Bowl, as is part of their culture (collecting it in the hands, or just in a normal vessel would be disrespectful, they have Specific Bowls which is the only thing blood can be kept in, etc.).

The figure that represents Jhevona (and thus, a closer connection to magic, celestial imagery, etc.) is in weird ugly teal, which is not necessarily a color or design associated with them, as I don't have much common culture (like clothing) worked out for Northern Jhevona (who the avirre'thel would have come into contact with) yet, BUT everyone else is in more Typical colors (a northern elf in green, Inaashi in lavender + white + blue, an Avirre'thel in darker purples and reds).

Some things, like the four figures in the corners, and the two people + fish in the stream, do not currently have a meaning, but in-world they would.. Like, I could make up lore for how they're culturally significant and it would be true because I am god of the world, but I don't have anything currently. But just know.. they DO mean something, I just haven't decided it yet, maybe kind of fill in as I go, come up with a meaning later lol. Probably along the lines of an old myth from the ancient elven religion, a story, etc.

-

I don't know, probably other stuff, but that's my Trying To Keep It Short rambling for now lol. I'm just glad I finally finished this! For how vaguely sloppy it is up close (everything being completely freehanded, only used rulers once when doing the initial sketch and lining where the border should be + my hands are shaky + the canvas is bumpy + my handwriting is scratchy and terrible + etc. etc.) it still took a REALLY long time, even when not trying to make it all perfect. Especially if including the text translation + writing, which took like 3+ hours itself.

Maybe all the asymmetry/lack of things being centered is NOT because I was too lazy to measure anything, but is actually because in-universe, it's a practice illustration made by some young apprentice who has to work on little canvases for years before he can be trusted will a full sized mural or tapestry. It's his first week on the job! of course he's uncoordinated! don't laugh at him!!! lol

[ar-mage-ddon]

Hi! I was wondering if you were willing to share any tips/advice when it came to your art processes? Whether it be lineart or composition or anything else really! I’m obsessed with how good your art is dhdhdhd Thank you for your time!

HAKJSD THANK U!! i kinda do most things by vibe so idk how coherent this is gonna be but i'll try my best ajhsdha (these also aren't gonna be the traditional rule-of-thirds/color-theory type of advice because frankly i don't think i'm qualified to give advice on that stuff LMAO this is just what's sitting in the back of my head when i draw)

i'm probably not the best to ask about composition because 99% of the time i'll just be flipping through concepts in my head like a slideshow instead of actually thumbnailing things (which you should absolutely do to help you visualize things better if you're unable to in your head); i literally just operate on a scale of "i think it would look cool if i did this" either based on symbolism (ephemerweek 1 vs 7, for example, where it looks like ephemer is reaching out to bring player/the viewer towards the light behind him vs ephemer facing the light on his own without looking back — in both of these i wanted it to look like he was being blotted out by a harsh light, like when you try to hold an object up to the sun and it becomes impossible to see) or a neat concept (i.e using transparency to make it look like a character is coming through the screen, or something simpler like in my last skuld post where i vaguely wanted her hair to make the shape of a crescent). why am i already rambling. BASICALLY i encourage you to think about what exactly you wanna portray and the methods you can use to reinforce your idea; try to play with the medium if you can! think of themes! be dramatic!!

don't be afraid to mix up your lines when it comes to lineart! you can vary your lines depending on the piece to match the kind of tone you wanna use; sharp and bold for something that's energetic and flashy and colorful, light and thin for something that's melancholic, etc

doing a basic, quick skeleton sketch first to get an idea of the pose you want will save you so much time and headache good lord. i often still find myself getting carried away and not doing the basic sketch first because i wanna hurry up and get to the Fun stuff (especially if i have no specific plans and just wanna doodle), but having it genuinely makes things so much easier and also helps to avoid ending up with stiff poses; personally i like using planes/rectangles more than stick figures since it helps more with the actual figure (and use a box instead of a circle for the head, it's easier to visualize the exact angle you want that way). be better than me and remember to do the basic sketch

this is probably a personal thing but honestly there is nothing more important than having satisfying Shapes. i don't even know how to explain this but it's like . have you ever looked at how a line curves and thought "fuck that's a nice line, i like that line"? i sound insane i think i'll just put some examples under a readmore but i guess the gist is visual appeal?? like if something felt satisfying to draw, whether that's a curl in the hair or a curve in the silhouette or how clothing wrinkles flow, then chances are it'll be satisfying to look at, too (and on the other hand maybe you could take advantage of this to go the opposite direction to make something feel more unsettling?)

be aware of where the viewer's eye will tend to go first and try your best to do that part well; unless your composition is specifically pointing to a certain place or isn't character-focused, it'll likely be the character's expression/face

learn how to use gradient maps, tone curves, and color balance layers they will save your life when it comes to coloring

i think i'm running out of tips now but if you use clip studio paint, use this if you need help on figuring out perspective for objects or backgrounds

that's all i can think of atm HAKSJDHK hopefully some of this actually made sense !!

and here's some examples of lines or smth that i like that will hopefully make me look less insane. triangles are the best shape btw

does any of this make sense. is this thing on

[avelera]

I'm not sure where to ask this, so I thought I could ask you, maybe?

Do you know, if I expand on a magic system in a fanfic, meaning actually define what it is, create names for concepts and lay out rules that.... could be guessed from the orginal but aren't stated, sometimes, and sometimes just make up things, can I put that magic system, my parts of it, on a later date, into orginal fiction? Or, if I transform the world in the fic through the use of plot into a world which would resemble (or be, really) a world I'd use as setting for orginal fiction but, without the context of the fanfic, you wouldn't guess that that's that, can I do that? Can I reuse a plotline I would use for a fanfic, and portray it in an orginal work as something which happened in the past of the orginal work, with the events in the fic even as they were being plausibly, but not explictly, a part of the, uh, fanfic's orginal material?

I feel this may be a silly question, and the answer feels like it should be "obviously yes, those are your ideas", except for the last one which feels more iffy, but, I'm still worried? I dont want to start writing orginal friction right now, I want to try something more casual, but I feel that if I put the cool ideas about plotlines and worldbuilding into a world of something which doesn't belong to me then I'm like, giving it up? Like it doesnt belong to me anymore, it belongs to... I don't know, the collective conciousnes of the fandom in question or something.

Um. To ask in a way that is less, these long and confusing sentences up there: can I put something orginal into a fanfic (like an oc) and then use it in an orginal thing I'd sell for money? (without renaming the oc?) If you dont feel like you can/don't want to answer this, could you still post it, so maybe one of your followers might? 😅 Thanks in advance! ❤️

I think what you’re asking in a roundabout way is “can I file off the serial number and use something from a fanfic in original fiction?” And the answer is yes, it’s so common we have a term for it. Just look at 50 Shades of Gray, which is perhaps the most famous example of this, in which a Twilight fanfic was turned into original fiction.

Now for the next part of your question as I understand it with regards to the magic system: the things that get copyrighted, if you have a legal concern about using bits of another magic system, for example, in your own work tend to be things like proper nouns.

I can have a school of warrior monks who fight with magic swords made of light and channel the power of the universe to move objects, I just can’t call them Jedi. And if you look closely, many many magic systems in original fiction are borrowing bits from other magic systems. No one is getting sued unless you use specific proper nouns or original words that are unique to other stories. Otherwise it’s all plausibly deniable.

Now the bigger thornier question is: are you providing enough foundation in your own story once you make it original that a reader can understand what’s happening without knowing about the fanfic you wrote or the other universe? Because that’s the difference between a good original story and an incomprehensible one. You have to rebuild those foundations in your new story without leaning on the old one. The best way to know if you’ve done that correctly is to pull in a beta reader who is unfamiliar with the other work and ask if they understand your story as it stands on its own (and, of course, if it’s entertaining).

Hope that helps!

[cptn-merica]

thoughts on peggy carter

i think my biggest issue with peggy carter is marvel is trying to push agendas and pander to audiences as a cop out for formulating a dynamic character. it's obvious she's supposed to be a feminist icon. that's totally cool. i appreciated that as a kid, since i was sick of women being portrayed as weak. the way i see it, peggy suffers from weak portrayal, not portrayal that she's weak.

--

before the peggy fans comment/reblog, "omg not another stucky blog posting peggy hate. leave her alone!!" i don't hate peggy, I just want a clearer picture of who she is. i enjoyed her in the mcu but i wish marvel would've given her justice within the writing. this isn't hate for hayley atwell either. she did really good in her acting, enough so i watched more movies with her in it intentionally.

--

peggy always read to me as a half-developed side character -- no matter if she's the main character. my one of my biggest complaints is that she seems to have little to no motive. motive is what drives people and your main character having consistently unclear motives is sloppy writing.

helping steve? sure, she's his commanding officer and she seemed to like him.

"win the war"? well sure, that was a lot of other people's motives in ww2. why did she even join the war anyways? what convinced her to sign up? she didn't have to, she could've done other work. what was so compelling about the war to her?

for the what if episode: why'd she choose to take the super serum?

my point here is: there are too many points where one questions why she did ___ that could have been better defined (esp in the what if series).

--

marvel can make her much more interesting (and to me appealing) character by not putting her in comparison to steve. they would be forced to solidify her character instead of wimping out and saying "well she's the love interest." I'm not saying that she can't have both a relationship and be a strong woman - many women have/are both. however, when your entire personality depends on your relationship to one person, it's not very healthy or wise.

the concept of marvel pushing for steve and peggy's relationship is fine, that's how romance novels are made. but the lax follow-through on character development removes my interest for the ship. how good romance novels bring interest to each character is by establishing them. they also used peggy as way to pander for chris evans himself - she was an easy way to get steve rogers out of upcoming plot lines. (side note: chris evans is totally justified in not wanting to work for marvel anymore, they just should've handled his character's ending less sloppily)

as for the ship - i would see more value in the steve x peggy ship if i could tell what type of person peggy is. especially when you take away steve. i see value and interest in steve and bucky because, even though bucky was made as a sidekick to steve, he has a strong character. would i want to see him even more fleshed out? yeah, ofc. would i say he's more fleshed out than peggy? yes, because in one movie you can tell who bucky is and why he's doing things. i see why people ship steve and peggy, and I see why people ship steve and bucky. both stances are valid.

i haven't seen it yet nor i do know if i will watch it due to personal time and budget constraints, but i hope that the agent carter series strengthens her character.

ultimately, peggy is the victim of poor and sexist writing.

(note:: this is my personal opinion & analysis, based on the first two cap movies and the what if series. im not speaking for anyone but myself. if you feel like her character is rich enough and you're satisfied by her portrayals, that's great, I just wanted to share my stance. again, i don't hate peggy, I just want a clearer picture of who she is and why she does what she does)

[hildannette]

You are literally so real hello that. phenomenon annoys me a lot.. i like thinking of ryuji and ann Trying to become somewhat friends with goro, but its cool just thinking what they could talk about on their own . (Like just ann and goro, without mentioning joker, or just ryuji and goro) And of course, ann is perfectly awesome on her own, not only with another character(s)

Also gonna be real im not a super sumihead (lol) but i do like her and she has a lot going on..like. guys theres a lot to unpack here where all the sumiheads at. Ok they're probably there HSHSHD but its true you see her more in the bg of stuff u_u

YESSSSSSSSS YOU GET IT

i honestly don't inherently hate ann and goro friendship. i truly don't. i used to think it was a cute concept actually, if anyone were to have patience and kindness with him after Everything i think it'd be her. but now i see it and i immediately get defensive bc the way they are portrayed is just... bad. i especially really hate how people seem to have turned them into the stereotypical "gay man and his girl best friend" dynamic in all of the content for them bc they simply... aren't like that. it's not their personalities. and i think if people wanna do sh//uake while making ann friends with akechi they need to be not misogynistic about it. make her an important character instead of just having her pop up when akechi wants to go to the mall and go #GirlShopping and talk about love advice. like people in general need to do a way better job of checking themselves with the whole "yaoi and their girl best friend" thing bc so often it's just misogyny and acting like women are nothing but side characters

AND THE SUMI THING... jesus christ idk if you saw that one clip from persona 5 tactica promo material where it's sumi, joker, and akechi and the camera is on sumi for like 0.2 seconds before it switches to joker and akechi for several seconds and she is just like. no joke in the background. and i was SO MAD when i saw that. and i thought the general reaction would be outrage. bc she is just as much a part of the game as akechi is, so whyyyyy would they do that, give my girl some goddamn screentime. but no. the sh//uakers made so much art of this exact moment. sticking her in the background. it was a whole trend. and it's like. that's so fucking annoying!!!!!! she's not a background character of sh//uake. her ties to them account for like. maybe 1 hour total of the 150 hour game that is p5r, and many of the other hours of the game have moments that distinguish her and make her an interesting character in her own right. but i legit don't see content of her that's not primarily sh//uake content anymore, and when she is in ship content of them, she is often metaphorically or even literally shoved in the background

and it's like. that's misogyny. this is misogynistic. you do realize that right.

there is a right way to both ship men and include women in your content, but the p5 fandom certainly hasn't figured it out. please. i am begging you guys to do better

[pansy-picnics]

Okay hi! I first want to apologize for how long this will be, but I just found your page and am sort of new to tumblr.

For one, your art is amazzingggg! Every fandom you're in is heavily blessed. It's especially awesome for myself as a tts geek, to see so many dedicated to creating content. As far as the unknighted ship goes, from what I can tell, and this may be totally wrong so please correct me if it is, you want more people to be in the ship? I 100% agree that the division in this fandom is honestly detrimental to its growth, however, I feel like it keeps the peace in a way.

I myself like new dream and am fine with the poly ship, but, i was speaking with a friend who doesn't ship unkighted and cassunzel at all. They were explaining to me how it seems like most of the unknighted shippers do prefer cassunzel, which is again fine. I'm not sure if that's a fact through and through but the sentiment is there. But it got me thinking about how that perception in itself could disuade newcomers who are more into the Eugene/Rapunzel relationship? As far as division goes, I mean.

Again it's no problem to have favorites, in fact it's actually great that this fandom has so many spaces to include people who have a particular liking to any one thing, but it's rare to see anyone here really neutral on pairings if that makes sense? I know those people exist, but even beyond ships, our favorite characters, platonic relationships, and much more are pushed usually, very individually.

Love Cass? Great there's a ton of blogs for that! Rapunzel? Eugene? Varian? So many blogs for them too with art, concepts, etc! But with this fandom being so tiny- and that other weird anon we shall not mention by name, I think as long as people aren't flat out rude to each other, maybe a little separation is alright. Not everyone mingles well together. Maybe it's for the better?

I hope this wasn't annoying to read oops- but I am interested to hear your thoughts, if you feel comfortable responding.

oh no absolutely and i really enjoy these kinds of discussions!! i 100% agree lol and i’ve never meant to make it seem like i don’t. the distance between the fandom is absolutely what keeps the peace and as much as i SAY i want people to branch out more i know if it actually happened it would probably just leave us with even more division and infighting LOL😭

the neutrality is VERY rare and it’s honestly the only reason i’m so passionate about it, because i’ve never fallen into any of those divisions and it makes it really hard to find likeminded people!!! it’s why i put so much effort into my characterizations and how i portray all the dynamics, it tends to cater to everyone because i’ve never been able to pick and choose favorites myself haha

i would love for more people to find enjoyment in uknighted dream especially, since the dynamic is so important to me, but i totally understand it’s just not everyones thing and thats cool too!! :) i’m a bit surprised about the idea that most of us prefer cassunzel though, i never thought about it that way especially since i’ve never had a preference myself. i do sometimes find myself drawing cassunzel more, but that’s less because i prefer them over new dream and moreso because i feel the need to be super upfront about it…💀 i’ve had a lot of new dream fans comment on my uknighted dream art who seem to COMPLETELY miss the point and/or just disregard cass entirely. when i try to be subtle abt it most people don’t acknowledge it so most of my art is just me like violently pointing to them like LOOK!! she’s in love with BOTH of them!!! THEY’RE KISSING!!!!

as someone who’s been super involved with the uknighted dream community i’ve never felt like any of us really have a “preference”, a lot of us are hardcore cassunzel fans but that’s a given cuz that’s usually what drives us to the polyam ship in the first place. i have seen a lot of people argue that like “its just an excuse to ship new dream and cassunzel at the same time” and like….Yeah???? thats kind of the point??? 😭 i really don’t understand how people make it out to be a BAD thing bc like. the point of fandom is just to do whatever and have fun. so what if we wanna ship two pairings at the same time. why NOT just shove them into a polycule

it’s not like cass and eugene don’t have chemistry either???? they obviously care about each other and they don’t get along solely for rapunzel!!! i can’t speak for all ukd fans obviously but i think in my experience most of us did just start off “shipping two things at the same time” but with all the substance involved they VERY quickly become a set. cass and eugene’s dynamic whether platonic or romantic is really fun to explore and they all bounce so well off of each other i think it’s perfect!! they all just mean so much to me ok. they’re all equals and at the end of the day that’s really what i try to portray most in my work :3

[water-god19]

So this is it…we’ve finished x-force. All issues done. All story lines done and all interest done. So why do I still feel like nothing happen? Was time wasted? Was it really all for nothing…

Fair warning I do ramble on for quite a long time, but it’s for good reason! Anyways…let’s begin.

Chapter 1: A Promising Start/ First Impressions

When I first stumbled into the new era of the X-men I was originally very skeptical. For someone who doesn’t have any comic book knowledge outside of a few DC and Spider man comics from the early 2000s I was expected to be lost. But then after reading a little of the new era, made by Johnathan Hickman, I was truly intrigued in what I was seeing. Sure I had questions…many of which I wouldn’t get the answers to unless I read spin off comics of the new era. Despite that I was beyond HOOKED!

When I first saw this I immediately thought back to deadpool 2 and what they did with X-Force. Now not everything as memorable in that incarnation of the team you still had colossus, deadpool, and domino. 2 of which was seen here and the last one would come a little later. Outside of that I knew a lot of these characters already:

Beast

Wolverine

Colossus

Jean Grey

Deadpool

Domino

I’ve seen all this characters at some point in my life to give the X-force branding of comics a try, and thankfully I did. Sure, I didn’t understand a lot of the context behind why certain characters acted a certain ways but I could appreciate how rare those moments were. Most of the time if I just kept reading the issues I’d understand what was going on, especially in relation to the newer characters.

Kid Omega

Omega Red

Sage

X-23

Black Tom (I think that’s his name).

The dialogue between both the old and newer characters, to me, really sold me on this new era. It got me invested with what could happen to these characters. On the side note, I don’t really see many people talking about this, but the art style of these characters are VERY COOL!!! It looked fun and expressive! I’ll show examples of why I love the art so much throughout this. It really says a lot about what your gonna read, for better or for worse.

If it wasn’t obvious at this point, I clearly haven’t read comics or even x-men comics for years. So when you hear my opinions just remember that my knowledge on certain things are fairly limited in most aspects. I. Don’t. Know. Everything. Yet I’m still enjoying what I’m reading so far, with or without connections to the past. To me that only enriched everything, not the pinnacle of my interest in this initially. Anyway…let’s continue

Chapter 2: Enjoying the concept material

In my opinion, the first couple of arcs with x-force seemed like they had promise. They had a lot of interesting stuff going on. Take this for example.

Colossus, a mutant that everyone has heard of and it known for his heroism snaps the neck of this random mutant…THAT RAISES HUGE FRICKING QUESTIONS OF YOU ASK ME! Like why is he killing people? What’s the importance of this character to him? Based on how this is drawn it looks as if he struggled to kill her even though his face doesn’t portray that, the veins on his muscles do. Speaking of the art colossus looks more cold and distant being in his metal form…and every time I saw him before he never gave me that impression. It was always more light hearted rage fulled or disappointed dad (thanks Deadpool 2), but never cold murder. a more underrated question, HOW OLD IS COLOSSUS?! I mean he has a fricken beard now…didn’t know he could grow one.

Or…what about this!

Why does Jean look so…classic and basic in her design? Compared to Wolverine and Hank she doesn’t look like she belongs there. Even though she’s going through Omega Red’s mind she seems to be the odd one out. Speak of designs why does Hank got mad scientist energy now? Wolverine…more understandable since I’m pretty sure this guys a villain. Although this looks more painful than any super hero interrogation I’ve ever seen before. This doesn’t even look like interrogation, this looks like torture.

What really caught my eye in all this was the moral ambiguity at play here. Reading early x-force a lot of that was present, and as some one who loves seeing situations within the grey area this satisfied me greatly. Look at this conversation between beast and Jean.

Now I’ll address this later, but look at the points they make. Normally the X-Men are depicted as people who want coexistence between humans and mutants, yet here Jean weights the two evils and says lying is for humans not mutants. She views that as the bones honest path for x-force than what beast did.

Although beast, surpassingly, does have a point. A lie would only suffocate the process needed to save their nation. They already have enemies who would want nothing more than to harm them, so what’s the point in letting them strategize when he can just kill then now? Why should let billions die in the future when we can kill one person now and save billions?

Do the end’s justify the means…that’s for you to decide.

As for me though I’m picking up so many mixed signals here from beast on this one. Look his eyes, their blackened, this is mostly for evil, corrupted, shady, malevolent intent. Yet there’s a sense of honesty when beast confesses his mindset here. It’s almost as if he himself doesn’t enjoy the ruthless calculus of war at affect here. He hates himself for it. He wishes he could be on Jean side and yet after experiencing so much pain and damage he doesn’t see the point in being hesitant with those who want to hurt you. For him the line was drawn when they even had a thought of hurting Krakoa. Even Jean, who has her back turned towards him, seems to be getting what he’s saying. In some way she gets it. But she doesn’t want to get it, she doesn’t want to understand his reasoning but she does.

First time I read this I was stunned! Like all this was just one panel?! Wow! I really hope this continues onward. I would love to see every character get this much depth in them!

I could go on here for ages about this stuff, but if you really read x-force this is kinda what it’s about. At least until we get towards the end…which is where I started to realize the issues in all this beauty.

Chapter 3: Problems in paradise

Remember when I talk about how much I adored the concepts of what I was seeing? How much I loved what the art brought to the table so subtlety? Well…look at this.

Do you see anything wrong with it? Probably not. And honestly I didn’t either when first viewing this.

Just colossus suspiciously murdering someone. Initially I didn’t think much of this because I thought, “hasn’t he killed before? Why put such emphasis on this one?” But look back x-men history the writers and artist always illustrate the emotional distress of colossus murdering any one. He has never taken any pleasure in doing it, and he hardly does it. So when he does do it you gotta ask, “what did that person do to deserve that response from him?”

Anyway we’re getting side tracked here. Next photo.

Do you see a problem here? Again probably nothing. Art looks great, nothing outstanding but nothing terrible either.

On to the last photo.

Did you spot the issue? No? Well, just look at the number on the top left and right side of the photos. Do you see it now? I’ll explain. The first time we see colossus arc really begin is in the 24 issue of the comic. The next time we see it is in issue number 39. The very end of the arc is issue number 46. You could argue that his arc spanned several issues in between them…I wished it played out like that. The reason why I chose these 3 photos is due to them being the only time we see the colossus arc take center stage. Now you probably asking, ‘okay so if his arc wasn’t taking center stage then what was?’

This is what was taking place:

Change in X-Force leadership

The quiet council putting colossus as a member.

Beast going rogue and wolverine in pursuit of him

Kid omega disappearing in a fight after a corrupted Cerebro goes on the loose.

Kid Omega coming back, not really a kid anymore, but he has x-force follow to the future to deal with beast.

Beast and wolverine have a massive fight.

The build up to the Fall of Next before it was officially dubbed so. And so much more.

All of this was happening alongside the colossus subplot, it’s a boring waiting game. For someone reading this for the first time it felt like watching an amazing episode air for the first time only to wait a week or two later for the next episode. (Disney plus)…

But it wasn’t a week or two long it was YEARS! Years for a plot that could have being unraveled by some common sense by professor x only for it to never happen, despite them being in the same room with each other so many times! You literally see him on the quiet council every single day and get you don’t ask how he’s doing? Especially after seeing his behavior towards his own teammates?!

To his lover at one point?!

Thematically this works…but for the viewer this feels scattered and rushed. Hell the photo on top isn’t even from X-Force it’s from Immortal X-Men! Why is his arc being stretched like this, only to have no impact on x-force directly? I get it, if we spread out colossus influence it will show the readers how big of a problem this really is. The ripple effects of you will. But when the ripple effects don’t lead anywhere for a long time, constantly put to the sidelines by other major events, and then given a mediocre finale it doesn’t increase the impact it lessens it.

Not to mention the conclusion of this arc is simply colossus killing his brother which is earned don’t get me wrong, I loved that. His brother deserved death. But the very second we see colossus again it’s with x-force as if nothing happened. I don’t even remember if we had a conversation or a look into colossus psyche after everything happened. It’s just straight to the Fall of X which is already happening by issue number 43.

This doesn’t even stop at colossus though, domino has that same issue. Being skinned alive, tortured by an forgettable villain, and having it all be undone by a res set button called resurrection just feels wrong. Makes it seem pointless…

The true tragedy by far isn’t even those characters…it’s by the series main stars of the show.

Chapter 4: Beast Agenda Finale/Shattering my expectations

So Wolverine vs Beast. Again, another great concept from X-forces writers and editors. And another disappointment. Why? Because every time we get close to the conclusion to their huge fight beast manages to slip away. This one…this one got me the most upset. I remember waiting around for ages to see the conclusion of this arc, this cover art didn’t help.

Yet, despite the lies this cover baited you with we don’t even get close to the finale of the beast saga. He runs away, and the only thing that does die in this issue is just beast many clones. Boring, and useless.

But you want to know what really left a nasty scar on me during this arc. The characterization.

Was gonna show an example but I reached the picture limit…didn’t even know there was one.

Anyway, what I mean is characters don’t talk naturally. It’s always it either drive forward the conflict or to build up the conflict. There’s rarely any moments we’re characters just talk about what’s going on in their lives. It’s just moment to moment action. Feels lifeless.

Going back to beast, after reading what people think of this version of beast…I see where your coming from I truly do, but I love this version of beast. He’s actually the incarnation that got me interested in every other version of the character because his actions had context and if you had the context it would enrich the actions of this character. It wasn’t required but you were rewarded for doing so. Despite his very obvious flaws he has a point in a some of what he does. Or at least there’s an external reason that tragic on why he feels the need to do this. As explained with the Jean and Hank conversation I’d like to think the reason why Hank is fighting so hard for this country is because everyone saw what happened to Genosha! No one wants their homes to be destroyed by those who hate them the most. Not even that but it shows how broken Hank truly is from everything…that’s depressing yet intriguing to read.

And I wished this version of the character was treated with the same respect as the other incarnations and not given a shitty finale. A finale that completely reboots his character and pretty much states to the readers that we as the writers are done with this character and all that hyped up facade was worth nothing…no redemption and no future. It just hurts…and as I go back into the past to see better conclusions for this character I fear this version of the character could fall future and future down the rabbit hole.

This is why I hate reboots.

Last thing I want to say on this character is the art. What. The F@$&. Happened.

Beast (Prime), as he is referred to now, looks the exact same as the one in the past. For anyone thematic reason this could have, all I get from this is laziness. From an artist and thematic lens’s they should be different. If they had made them both different it would hit home how time has really change these characters. But since they look the same I guess that nuance also doesn’t mean anything. The art used to be diverse and fun while also being serious and dark. Now it’s just flare and boring not to mention lifeless. It’s just another pointless experiment for a pointless finale.

Anyway, thanks for reading this very long post, took me about 4 hours to finish this. Had a lot to say obviously 😂. Hope this gets you to understand how I feel about this whole thing, anyways thanks for reading and take care! Oh and if you want a better deep dive into the personality of both beast go to @positivelybeastly he does a wonderful job on that front.

[lryghe]

MDZS thoughts; adaptation and change

I may be leaning too much into my literature class roots, but I could (and may end up) writing an essay on how the live action version of MDZS ‘The Untamed’ drastically altered just sooo much to do with everything, including characterisation and my personal favourite to rant about; themes and concepts (if you’ve seen ANY of my other posts, you’ll know I talk a lot about this). I’ll have to remind myself to write ‘show’ or ‘live action’ instead of ‘film’ because my literature class has been studying change through adaption of Jane Austen novels into films and that’s really what boosted me to write this. As a preface, yes, this post will contain spoilers from both the original novel AND the live action show, and if anyone has made a post like this before, please link it to me because I would love to see someone talk about it! 

To begin with, the characterisation is both parts my favourite and my worst enemy in the show. The live action completely changed like, everything to do with Wei Wuxian and his character arc. Both the novel and the show provide an introduction to his character based off his flirtatious ways, charismatic personality, and insane talents, but the more the show goes on the more it delves away from the original Wei Wuxian in the novel, who deals with tremendous amounts of guilt and shame for his actions, while carefully trying to keep up his balancing act, before finally just giving up and having his corpses eat him or whatever. It’s such a stupid thing to nitpick I know, but it's so important to the themes of MDZS (which is something I'll talk about later). Because there's a distinct lack of disgust Wei Wuxian feels towards himself for the atrocities he commits, his character deviates from someone who is working towards self-acceptance and penance for his actions, to an upright genius who has never done any wrong, a victim in everyone else's scheming. But that in itself is doing a disservice to him, because he did bad things, he and everyone in the cultivation world acknowledges this, but he worked past that! He died for his sins, he came back 13 years later and actively fixed his behaviours, took responsibility for his actions, and learned to live with himself. Wei Wuxian’s character development is incredibly important, and to make him some type of sacrificial lamb who has always been the victim eliminates half the premise of the novel. That’s not to say that I don’t like Xiao Zhan’s interpretation or acting though! I definitely think he’s incredible and did so good as Wei Wuxian, but the live action is so messy compared to the novel, so much so that it’s quite difficult to get to the core of the story. 

On the topic of acting, I do quite like Lan Wangji’s live action interpretation, because dear lord, physical cues make it sooo much easier to like him (respectfully though, I am Lan Wangji’s biggest fan). In the novel it’s REALLY hard to move on from the fact that he has no outward reactions or anything to say that isn't ‘Wei Ying!’, but the drama did an incredible job of portraying how complex he actually is. Seeing his minute facial expressions in the drama was so important to his growth as a character, and the illustration of his growth and maturity is only emphasised through the live action (especially when they had the screentime to give him individual scenes with his brother to highlight the fact he’s not just a love interest for Wei Wuxian, he’s his Own Individual Character who is so cool!). 

All of MXTX’s works stick to a central theme; redemption. Just think about it for a second. MDZS follows Wei Wuxian and his works towards forgiving himself for his actions as the Yiling Patriarch while also acknowledging that he was doing what he could to protect those he cared about (and very occasionally, himself), Lan Wangji silently standing by him in solidarity. In TGCF, Xie Lian strives over the course of 800 years to forgive himself and finds solace in Hua Cheng and his unconditional love and devotion. In Scum Villain, Shen Qingqiu’s very existence is defined by the grave (read: pickle pot) fate had begun to bury him in upon his transmigration, spending years attempting to reach salvation after the sins the original Shen Qingqiu had committed, eventually realising that he owed it to Luo Binghe to be better, to stay by his side, to help him find peace with his past actions. And unfortunately, this theme isn’t portrayed very well in the live action. The show places far more emphasis on how Wei Wuxian was always right regardless, meaning there was no need for the guilt and repentance. Of course, he deserves the world, and I would pluck the stars out of the sky should he ask (Lan Wangji Momenta), but it doesn’t erase the fact that this is a vital point to his character! He isn’t supposed to be invulnerable and have an instant happy ending! He and Lan Wangji work like dogs, unravelling decades worth of lies, solving a couple murders, ridding the world of a few serial killers, and so on and so forth before any type of safety is given, any type of redemption is reached. 

Which brings me to another key theme in MDZS specifically. The idea of hard work. “Oh, but lryghe, this is such a reach, what are you even talking about?” LET ME COOK! Please! Nothing in MDZS comes easily, ever, which is great writing on MXTX’s part because who wants a novel where everything goes right every single time, and nothing is ever difficult? Things just so happen to work out for every other one of MXTX’s protagonists, but in MDZS everyone suffers for like, a really long time. I’d say about 15 years specifically (counting the war and its aftermath). Similarly to the novel, the live action delves into the idea of hard work and suffering as part of a process to achieve what you want. All characters are actively working towards what they want, they all have clear motivations, and they struggle, horrifically so in places. This is my third favourite thing about the live action, how it actually managed to bring something salvageable to the table in terms of themes and key ideas. Good for them! 

My all-time favourite thing in terms of the live action adaptation is the physicality of it. The characters are right there, and the acting clearly explains their motivations in places. The costumes are incredible visual cues to their thoughts, which is something we don’t see in the MDZS novel since its all from Wei Wuxian’s perspective. I do have to say though, some characterisation moments does in fact piss me off astronomically. Why did Jiang Cheng have to have some type of tragic romance with Wen Qing? Why was Jin Guangyao the one pulling the strings to kill Yanli? I appreciate CQL so much because of this physicality but it could do without some of it I do think. 

I ended up writing an essay. I’m sorry. If only my literature teacher could see me now... Mrs [redacted because what if I get sued?!], please give me an even higher grade on my next assessment, I deserve it. Also, this one isn’t as well thought out as it could have been, you’ll have to forgive me. I am in fact someone who spends too much time writing these thoughts instead of, oh I don’t know, focusing on my classes. 

Words: 1271 

Reading time: 4 mins