#and they're just there... because. no particular reason for it

[void-floyd-art]

For Lenan Thorne

What plant would Harding gift Rook? Harding would gift him a flowerbox full of poppies and cornflowers as a reminder of home! When they were hunting Solas, he told her about how he missed the flowers that would grow by his family's fields.

Do they like Harding's cooking? Lenan might be just as much of a disaster in the kitchen as Harding (The boy can prep his kills, but that's it!), but that doesn't mean that his taste buds have ceased to function. He would never tell her though, because he loves her too much.

What animal/monster would Davrin carve for your Rook? Davrin would carve him either a little nightingale (Lenan simply cannot stop singing or playing his ocarina!) or a halla (he is actually a surprisingly gentle soul, despite his hot temper).

Does your Rook like the walks in Arlathan with Davrin? Absolutely! The first time he saw an actual halla up close he almost started crying. "I never got to herd my clan's halla..." was Lenan's only answer when Davrin asked him about it later.

What is something Neve could call on your Rook for if she needs certain expertise for a case? Aside from Grey Warden stuff, he's really knowledgeable about plants, and flowers in particular. When they're out and about, he will point to different bits of flora and tell the companions wether those are poisonous and uses for them.

Does your Rook share Neve's love of fried fish? He has no problem hunting and prepping his own food, but for some reason can't bring himself to eat fish if it's still got fins and/or the head. It just kind of grosses him out.

Does your Rook join Bellara in her technical talks about the Fade and various artifacts or are they more content to listen? Lenan loves learning new things, especially about magic as he's only semi-recently finished his formal education in magic. So while he isn't all that active in those talks, he loves to listen to her deep dives and very technical explanations.

Do your Rook and Bellara read serials together? Sometimes. He tries to follow along as closely as he can, but he tends to get the details mixed up and crime stories aren't really his cup of tea to begin with, so he would rather just let Bellara rant at him instead of reading the serials himself.

What is your Rook's favorite dish that Lucanis cooks? He likes most, if not all, of Lucanis's cooking, but is particularly fond of spaghetti carbonara. No real reason there, he just really likes it.

What would Lucanis buy for your Rook at the Grande Market? Lucanis tries to encourage Lenan's hobbies, partially to get him to unwind every once in a while and partially because he likes Lenan's music, so he gets their leader a delicately carved and painted lute. Lenanloves it and uses every opportunity to practice playing it.

What dragon would Taash think your Rook would like the best? Taash thinks the Vinsomer might be a favourite of Lenan's because it shoots lightning and he's very fond of lightning spells himself, but really it's because that was the first dragon he ever saw up close.

Do they bring your Rook 'round the Hall of Valor to drink often? They would bring him along to the Lords more often, but he's doesn't really like alcohol and rowdy crowds. He still comes along on occasion and listens to their stories, but his mug only ever has juice in it and he leaves before the evening to avoid all of the Lords of Fortune looking to get drunk.

Would your Rook like Emmrich's mother's hazelnut torte? Lenan really likes sweet treats, never having had much opportunity to get any (apart from apples and mirabelle plums) growing up, so he absolutely loves the hazelnut torte!

What kind of tea would Emmrich make for your Rook? Emmrich's and Lenan's taste in tea differ and Lenan enjoys hot chocolate more, but he does still like some tea blends. (The sweet ones, obviously.) So Emmerich likes to brew him a tea he specifically keeps around for Lenan - a blend made from roses, apples and cinnamon. It's spicy and sweet and always seems to soothe Lenan.

Bonus: What is one thing a companion does to cheer up your Rook if they're feeling down? The companions Lenan is closest to are Harding, Lucanis, Davrin and Bellara, so while he's not on bad terms with the other three, they respect one another and come through for each other when it counts, these four are usually the ones to try and cheer him up.

Harding has known him the longest and understands that sometimes Lenan just needs to exist with someone else - no words, just being together and preferably in nature. She'll take him on a day trip or they'll sit down in the the conservatory together and silently relax in each other's company.

Whenever Lucanis finds Lenan brooding when he should be using his downtime to relax, he takes the younger to Treviso and they do parkour challanges across the rooftops. Afterwards, when they're sufficiently exhausted, the two go to Café Pietra, order coffee and hot chocolate respectively and just people-watch for a while.

Davrin has noticed the same thing Harding has on their first walk through Arlathan and will take Lenan with him to check up on the halla or go for a walk with Assan. Sometimes they talk - about hunting, about stories from when they were growing up or stories from Grey Warden training - but mostly they just bask in nature together. These trips usually end with them in some clearing or another and Lenan cuddling Assan. (Davrin puts up a token protest that Lenan is spoiling Assan too much, but he never actually does anything about it.)

Bellara has found, that Lenan greatly enjoys just listening to her talk - wether it's about magical theory, the possible functions of an artifact or how she thinks a certain serial might end doesn't seem to matter. So whenever he seems to be quieter than usual or retreat into himself, she asks him for his opinion on her theories about certain plot developments (for which she will inevitably have to recount the entirety of that particular serials plot, just to be sure he understands the significance of certain things) or asks him to be her sounding board for her theories and ideas regarding the Lighthouse, the Fade or Ancient Elvhenan. Sometimes they will spend time like that for hours.

Small Rook & Companion Questions:

What type of plant would Harding gift your Rook?

Do they like Harding's cooking?

What animal/monster would Davrin carve for your Rook?

Does your Rook like the walks in Arlathan with Davrin?

What is something Neve could call on your Rook for if she needs certain expertise for a case?

Does your Rook share Neve's love of fried fish?

Does your Rook join Bellara in her technical talks about the Fade and various artifacts or are they more content to listen?

Do your Rook and Bellara read serials together?

What is your Rook's favorite dish that Lucanis cooks?

What would Lucanis buy for your Rook at the Grande Market?

What dragon would Taash think your Rook would like the best?

Do they bring your Rook 'round the Hall of Valor to drink often?

Would your Rook like Emmrich's mother's hazelnut torte?

What kind of tea would Emmrich make for your Rook?

Bonus: What is one thing a companion does to cheer up your Rook if they're feeling down?

[asterkatt]

ISAT ACT 5 SPOILERS!!

okay I said I was going to give more thoughts on act 5 of ISAT and then uh. I didn't. oopsies. but we're here now!!

I loved Odile's friendquest in this act SO much. one of my favorite things about the way the game handled Siffrin's actions throughout the entirety of act 5 in general is that everyone's reactions to him were so DIFFERENT. but not only were they different, they had reasons for being different. it wasn't just "Siffrin says something messed up, hurts someone's feelings, pushes it down, rinse and repeat". each "breakdown" was specifically tailored to be character specific. to fit in with how they've behaved in the story thus far, as well as how Siffrin feels about them/tends to respond to them in particular. with Mirabelle, it really was entirely accidental. Siffrin didn't even realize how their wording might come across in the moment. It wasn't him lashing out in any way - just him genuinely trying to cut corners. Odile?? Odile's was very different. it's easy to see that there's a lot of tension between Siffrin and Odile - more tension than there is with anyone else. Odile has been a thorn in Sif's side - constantly observing and watching and theorizing about why they're behaving strangely. I did the sus quest. Sif knows that she has the ability to figure it out. Consequently, they have to be way more aware of her than anyone else. (side note that's not entirely relevant to this but I want to bring it up - the fact Siffrin believes that her constant eye on him is because "she doesn't trust you" makes me sick. because that's not it at all. they might pretend it is. hell, she might act like it is. but it's not and she knows that. she knows it's because she's worried because she cares and Siffrin can't understand that.) so I feel like they took the "mistake" of messing up with Odile harder than they took any of the other interactions. because how could they be so stupid. how could they forget. how could he forget that she always figures it out.

so of course he lashes out. not only are they being faced with the same blinding mistake they've made over and over and over again, it's also a reminder that she doesn't trust him. (and why should she?).

and then she goes and makes it all worse by calling him a "friend". because they know that's not how she sees them. he believes that she doesn't trust him. so it must seem like she's directly lying to his face - and she thinks they're too dense to see through it.

I love that Odile doesn't back down. she doesn't shy away when they start yelling at her. she doesn't let it slide just because she made them upset (Isa and Mira both probably would - though Isa would try and get them to talk about it later). she pushes, because that's the only way she's going to get any answers.

the way you can feel her anger when Siffrin hits her where it hurts the most (without even seeing her face) is just AUHGSKJDHFKJSH. the writing of this game. the details. never cease to amaze me. I love the way she snaps back. she doesn't get angry, she doesn't yell - and yet somehow it hurts just as badly.

I also love the way Siffrin reflects on it - the way they acknowledge that "she was only worried about you!!!" because deep down he knows that their friends do actually care about him. the way Odile handles the situation afterwards as well - at the clocktower?????? I love that you can tell she's trying so hard to make the "right" choice to not endanger them when it's not what she wants. she doesn't want to leave Siffrin behind. If they weren't going to take on the King the next day, I guarantee you she'd be using anything in her power to figure out what was going on with him. I don't have the exact quote rn but at the end of the sus questline she mentions that she can't let something go when she finds it odd - and this is BEYOND odd. but she has to put the safety of the whole group and their mission first, and I love seeing that side of her.

[emblemxeno]

Why do you take criticism of Fates so personally? Sometimes it seems like you think you're fighting for your life out there, defending yourself against people who want to come at you personally because you like a divisive video game.

On this site and others, I've been accused of being a pedophile, an incest loving freak, accused of supporting depictions of grooming/SA, supporting depictions of conversion therapy, and the ever constant "Freak!!" for liking the game.

I've also been called every substitution for the R slur you can think of for daring to have the controversial opinion of... liking a game's story.

There's also the omnipresent attitudes of "Yeah Fates fans can't accept the truth/shouldn't deny their favorite game is trash" and especially "Fates fans like the characters because they're horny/I can name two big reasons why people like Camilla". FE-tubers in particular say that shit constantly.

Like... I have good reason to be bitter lol.

You did get me thinking, though. Really, if all of it was purely personal against me, I... probably wouldn't actually give as much of damn? Sure it fucking sucks having heinous shit thrown at you, but it's nothing the good ol' block button can't handle.

But the fact that this attitude is just accepted and encouraged in the greater community? That's what sets me off, that's why I rant a lot. Because it's constant, it's everywhere. It's not a matter of Fates being divisive, it's the fact that you can't express a positive opinion about the damn game without coating it in irony and sarcasm. And that sucks. You shouldn't have to lie to have your thoughts be taken seriously and your person be respected.

To compare FE to Sonic again, for a long period of time people had to just be comfortable with the fact that they're expected to think Sonic games aren't good whatsoever and they can only be enjoyed in ironic ways. That kind of mentality fucking blows, and the community got understandably sick of it.

I refuse to not call out that same bullshit in the FE community. If that makes me seem unreasonable (in an overreacting, oversensitive way), then... well I'm not apologizing or changing how I feel, but I can make my approach more palatable in the future I guess lol.

[chanaleah]

hi! i was reading through your bio and i have a quick question about your bio. you say that you don't want to be called white/european/slavic/etc because you're ashkenazi, and i was just wondering if you could explain that. i'm a persian jew, and was raised in an area with a lot of persian jews, and i've never heard that sort of thing applied to jews who AREN'T ashkenazi. i've noticed that most non ashkenazim identify with both their jewish identity AND their diasporic host country. yes, ethnicity-wise, persian jews aren't exactly like "actual ethnic persians" because our ethnicity is jewish, but more of us identify with "persian jew" over terms like "mizrahi". i've noticed this for other groups like ethiopian jews (beta israel) or indian jews (bene israel) for example. on the other hand, most ashkenazim either don't care if they're called white or are staunchly opposed to being called white. i'm curious why that is. a lot of mainstream hollywood actors (natalie portman, scarlet johansson, andy samberg) are just racially white to most people, and ethnically jewish. is there a reason why ashkenazim in particular don't like being called "european jews"? is it because you don't experience white privilege that other europeans do? this is asked in good faith :)

Thanks for the question!

My impression is that this difference stems from the fact that historically, while of course they were still treated awfully in many cases, non Ashkenazi Jews were allowed to assimilate and become part of their host countries culture in a way that Ashkenazi Jews never were. My ancestors were never allowed to be a part of Poland or Ukraine or anywhere they lived. They were never welcome. They didn't speak the languages, or use the names, or practice the traditions. For me, when someone calls me “polish” “russian” or “slavic”, it is both inaccurate -- genetically and culturally -- it erases the oppression my ancestors faced living in those countries.

So in short, you are right in saying that many Ashkenazim object to being called European Jews due to the oppression we have faced -- the fact of the matter is that my ancestors were never accepted as European. They were never allowed to be European. However, today when Ashkenazim are called Europeans it is to delegitimize our Jewishness.

Hope this was helpful!

[theredcuyo]

College au where for reasons, Chu Wanning and Shen Qinqiu have to impart classes to each others' class

It was a subject in particular, very especific, they were Friends and decided this was the best course of action, it won't take more than a month

Except that they can't deal with 3 of the other's students in particular

This is all caused by the shared misunderstanding between both groups that their teachers are dating because they wouldn't trust anyone else that much (Except, that they have done this before, just that not to an "outsider")

Mo Ran and Shi Mei seem to have a silent agreement that their teacher can't date this one guy, and Xue Meng believes his Shizun deserves better

Yingying has been supporting Luo Binghe's quest for their teacher's heart for too long to let him fail like this, Binghe is full on plotting posible murderer and Ming Fan has been to Chu Wanning's office, such a mess of a man is not deserving of their Shizun

Worst part?

Neither Sqq not Cwn will believe each other about it

"Binghe being dificult? Class rep and model student Binghe?"

"Mo Ran... Well, yes, he's himself, but Xue Meng? He could never do such a thing"

Then, the shizunfuckers Mo Ran and Binghe go both to visit their teacher for particular reasons (bs they came up with because they missed them), learn about the problem they're having and switch to try and destroy each others' group because no one is allowed to bully their Shizun

Mo Ran learns that trying to roast Binghe is usless because the guy somehow makes that be witnessed by both teachers and is a master of crocodile tears, Shizun please don't be mad, he didn't start this!

Binghe barely comes out alive of all the rumours that surround him nowadays, since when was he heterosexual?! Much less have 300 girlfriends! Shizun please don't look at him like that or he will cry for real!

[mamawasatesttube]

"superman isn't kon's dad because they're brothers!!!" you're so close. you're so close to getting it. superman isn't kon's dad because their relationship does not exist within the confines of the nuclear family. you don't have to swap one nuclear family label for another one i promise you can just leave those shackles entirely behind.

anyways im just going to place these three sets of panels here in conjunction with each other. for no particular reason. you know.

superboy (1984) #63

superboy (1994) #85

superboy (1994) #94

[notebooks-and-laptops]

Back on my Neve should have been a Soporati shit.

But she SHOULD HAVE been a Soporati. DATV does VERY little in the form of interesting mage lore, and so her being a mage doesn't really add much at all. But her being a Soporati does!!

For one, Neve has the personality of someone who would look at docktown and be like 'the mages are doing absolutely nothing to help this place, and people say you have to be a mage or a Templar to make a difference but FUCK THAT'.

Secondly, it would be a way to really contextualise the poverty of docktown. Docktown is seen as 'poor' in the game but it doesn't really explain WHY or the systematic problems which might lead to this area in particular being poor. but Krem did! Back in DAI Krem talks about how the practice of slavery makes Soporati poorer; Soporati have to compete with mages who can do things quicker and slaves who can do things cheaper which means that they rarely stand a chance when it comes to work they could be doing. So they either a) live in poverty scraping by or b) sell themselves into slavery! It's systematic oppression! It seeps all the way down!

Neve as a Soporati could have talked about that, and how she saw that affecting docktown. Maybe it could even be something which led to some kind of riot pre-game that stopped slaves being brought in as regularly to the docks (because like. Docktown as Tevinters literal dock really should be crawling with visible signs of the slave trade coming from the boats; especially because we know from the comics/da2 that a lot of slaves are transported to Tevinter by sea). The riot itself would then be justification for why there is a political *cough* venatori *cough* presence in docktown at the moment to 'keep the peace'. This could ALSO highlight the stark differences between the templars in Tevinter as they would not be the ones relied upon to enforce order because they're viewed as kind of useless.

And that way, instead of the shadow dragons feeling very much like a white saviour-y, run by powerful, privileged people organisation we could see them as a more grassroots organisation in and of themselves; built up of Soporati who also have a high stake in abolishing slavery not just for moral reasons but because it's affecting them too! And Neve could have been the face of that!

I just. I really wish she'd been Soporati guys. I wish we'd got more lore about the different classes in Tevinter and how they affect your standing and your life.

[alynnia]

Daughters of Deepspace

THIS IS A LONG ONE. I have a habit of smashing ships I like together and designing what their kids look like. It started with just Sylus x MC but then I decided to do the rest and my mind began producing story ideas and I...got carried away. They're still all over the place. I want to do more with Dove in particular and have written a lot for her on the side, another post just about her eventually, but this post are just some summaries. Her situation in particular is extra angst because for some reason, I enjoy giving my favorites the toughest struggles. Names may or may not change. Made the designs in Life Makeover and I couldn't get the right shade for Pomme's hair color so pretend it matches Caleb lol. I wish there was a male equivalent because I would have made sons too.

I also like to give them problems. Not all of their lives are 100% happy and they have issues to deal with. One of them may or may not potentially be a villain.

Polaris

☆Energetic in contrast to her father, bubbly and curious to the point it gets her into trouble. Very "What does this button do? " type of character.  Her hobbies are sewing, plush making and being a professional crane game master. Her room is absolutely covered in plushies and comfortable enough that Xavier would fall asleep when reading her stories. In school she does decently, a social butterfly but some students are exhausted by her. Has two best friends and a boy with an obvious crush on her she is oblivious to. 

☆Relationship with father: Adores him. Her energy is too much for him to handle and she doesn't realize it. Always hanging on him, tugging on his sleeve, jumping onto his back and the poor man just wants to nap after work. Polaris follows him around and even pops up sometimes while he’s at work. When he’s too deep into an investigation and can’t get her back home, Xavier will continue with her tagging along being extremely careful she doesn’t get hurt. Though she does help him with her time evol. Around others, Polaris will brag about her father in a " My dad can beat your dad" kind of way and will get into fights over it. Once she gets a little brother, her attention shifts from Xavier to him, becoming the ever doting sibling.

☆Evol: Time. In short bursts she can speed up and slow down time making her appear to be faster than she is. As a combatant, she's able to plant traps and bombs while she's slowed everything down. There’s a limit to this as she can only do it a handful of times a day. The Hunters Association are eager to recruit her but her overly curious nature would need to be settled first since it causes problems. Perhaps if she was partnered with someone who has Resonance like her mother, she might actually be able to time travel.

☆Weapon: She's trained with a sword but she prefers explosives that are cute and shaped like animals. She finds them to be beautiful and fun ever since she was little. It started with firecrackers and Xavier's light illusions and as she grew it expanded from there. She mainly uses them as distractions but in a darker setting she might use them directly. When it comes to her swordsmanship, she learned from the best of course, her parents.

☆What is MC up to: A hunter captain. Polaris keeps tabs on who she interacts with for Xavier. After she has her second child she quits and stays home 

☆Her story: Something bad happens to her little brother and it's her fault. After this incident the family just isn’t the same and MC has gone into a depressive state she tries to hide. Polaris desperately tries to find a way to turn back time and undo but when she does find a way it may come at a greater cost, if it even works.

Jasmine

◇ Well behaved perfectionist honor student. She carries herself with grace, poise and a favorite of teachers and elderly. She has an interest in gardening, having her own garden of flowers and medicinal plants in the yard and flowers growing near her window in her room. They all are special to her, her “friends” that she chats with. Another hobby of hers is dancing, particularly ballet which she takes VERY seriously, correcting her dance partners to an annoying degree. Like her father, she's a workaholic. If she’s not studying, she’s practicing dance and if she’s not dancing she’s tending to her garden and if she’s not doing that, she’s researching. She will however, always make time for her parents. In school she has casual acquaintances but no real friends as she's far too busy to form meaningful relationships with others which raises concern with Zayne and MC. Another reason she doesn't have friends is because she also holds others to higher standards and when they are not met, she dismisses them. Warm on the outside but a cold nature within. Strict and blunt.

◇Relationship with father: Professional. She wants to excel past his expectations. She has it in her head that she has to be perfect which ends up stressing her out. Zayne worries since he sees so much of himself in her and doesn’t want her to miss out on the simple things in life but Jasmine is the type who insists she is perfectly fine and holds herself together until she bursts into a fit of rage in private. She hates that about herself, finding these emotions to be "tiresome". It would only weaken the family name and she can't let her parents down, especially her father. She has to be better than this no matter what. I can see her finding out about that suppression chip and willingly putting it into herself in secret.

◇Evol: “Healing” (Rapid cell generation) Jasmine loves her evol and is eager to use it whenever she can. She sees it as a way to emulate her father as she wants to become a doctor too to help her mother. She's well studied in biology to help aid her skill since her healing is simply speeding up the natural process. So needing to know how a limb should be set and where an organ should be is important less she causes more harm. Though, she does have the capability to use it offensively. Say she breaks the leg of an enemy she could heal it incorrectly on purpose, permanently hindering them. Or do it over and over again to get them to talk. She could have a career in (twisted) interrogation.

◇Weapon: None. She's not been trained by her parents as they wanted a peaceful life for her and believe that they are more than capable of protecting her themselves and keeping her from any situations where she would need to fight. That doesn't mean she's helpless as where she lacks in combat she makes up for in cunning (and manipulation). Jasmine also has an extensive knowledge in poisons and drugs, plants she is not allowed to grow but has a secret location where she does anyway. Later down the line, if she were to use resonance with someone to amplify her Evol, she could potentially use her "healing" to cause diseases. Rapid generation of cells can cause some very deadly results.

◇Her Story: With the chip implanted in her, she unknowingly becomes a puppet for an organization. The chip was off market and had been tampered with, perhaps former Ever scientists had something to do with it. Jasmine comes to find that there are gaps in her memory and a new mysterious disease is on the rise with certain individuals...

Pomme

♤Athletic tomboy. Her hobbies are working out, playing basketball, surviving her brothers and playing hero. She's physically the strongest of the girls. Having three older brothers, she knows how to hold her own against others and has a protective nature. It's every man for themselves in this household when the parents aren't around and being the smallest one, she’s in the trenches. She does average in school and is a popular basketball player, having her own fan club. She enjoys tinkering with mechanics, a fascination started by watching and helping maintain her father's arm and has put together little contraptions to protect her space and things from her brothers. She sees herself as a protector of the weak, a big sister to those younger than her and will beat up bullies for them. She wants to become a hunter like her mother so she can continue protecting people.

♤Relationship with father: Best friends and one sided rivalry. Caleb is strict with his sons but has a soft spot for his only daughter, telling the boys they need to do everything in their power to protect her...which causes some sibling aggression. They do love their little sister but sometimes the favoritism gives them a reason to pick on her when mom and dad aren’t looking. Pomme insists that she be held to the same standards as her brothers and Caleb keeps saying he does but he always ends up going soft on her which leads her to constantly trying to prove herself to him. So she sets traps with her mechanics, throws a kick and punch here and there that he blocks on instinct and does her best to try and out perform her brothers just to show him how strong she is. Caleb finds it adorable but shifts into colonel mode when things start to get out of hand. You can be sure she has no suitors either. Her brothers are on strict orders to tear up and scare away anyone that appears to show romantic interest in her and sometimes, Caleb himself will step in. She’s also not allowed to have a boyfriend until she’s 80.

♤Evol: None. She's the only one in her family without one leaving her to feel inadequate. Her brothers have air, earth and magnetism but Pomme? Nothing. She does however, know exactly the capabilities of her brothers and if ever in a situation where they are all fighting together, she is the one commanding them like a Pokémon trainer and laying out the strategies. " Alex! Ryan! Attack pattern B! Simon! You're on defense! " (About the names…they’re placeholders. Tempted to name them after the chipmunks but I will hold back.)

♤Weapon: Guns taught by her parents and unarmed, mostly grappling that she learned from dealing with her brothers trying to escape headlocks and being tossed around. She’s able to match the middle one (Ryan), can take down the youngest(Simon) but the eldest brother(Alex) is the final boss tier.

♤What MC is up to: Is finally back to work as a Hunter now that her children are older but has slowed down a bit. Each of them are about a year or two apart and she swears she’s going to get Caleb fixed one of these days.

♤Her Story: In an effort to save someone’s life, she ends up in an accident leaving her legs paralyzed. She's devastated as the one thing she felt she had going was her athletic ability and now she’s limited. She wasn't going to let that stop her so she wanted mechanical limbs like her father. Caleb didn’t like the idea at first, not wanting her going through the same pain and lack of feeling but after a long argument/discussion and making sure she is aware of the consequences he finally gives in. After getting her metal legs, they performed better than her normal ones. She didn’t care that she lost feeling other than pain during maintenance, the power was addictive. She wanted to be able to do more and began working on limb enhancers for her arms, body and eventually create a suit (similar to the ones in Bubblegum Crisis 2040) and essentially become a vigilante as a way to be the hero she wants to be. It starts off small, righteous, taking out petty criminals and saving cats from trees but over time the power gets to her head and she starts hunting bigger prey. Who needs Evol when she's got this?

Ariel

♡Ariel is creative just like her father and applies it to fashion in interesting ways. Seashell skirts, literal flaming dresses (That caused a small fire), coral hair clips, protocore bedazzled tops(expensive af), and driftwood hats (That still had creatures living in it). She makes just as much of a mess as Rafayel thus, she's given her own warehouse to work on her ideas. Sometimes his materials will go missing and it's likely because she "borrowed" them. In school, she excels in everything but sports due to being sickly and easily exhausted so she has to stay home most days. She was born with a weak body and can't handle physical activity for too long, including swimming. In the water, after about a few minutes Ariel just sinks like a rock. She can breathe underwater so she just finds herself laying on the seafloor. Staring up. Contemplating her "worthiness" of being her father's daughter and her Lemurian heritage.

♡Relationship with father: She has him wrapped around her finger. She's never in trouble for very long under him, as much as he likes to think he can keep her in check, all she has to do is give him The Look and he buckles. So she is very spoiled and will act over dramatically along with him giving their mother quite the show but mother doesn't let it slide making her the main disciplinary figure of the house. When it comes to anything Lemurian related she retreats within her proverbial shell. Ariel loves the stories of Lemuria, happy to hear them first hand from her father and visit exhibits about it but due to her weak constitution she thinks there was a mistake. Rafayel however, constantly calls her a princess of the sea, the rightful future ruler of the ocean and all should bow before his little girl! There’s so many paintings of her and her mother, intimidating her. He can’t stop doting on her which she finds embarrassing but the affection makes her even more self-conscious. If they ever had another child, would he stop loving her this much? (The answer of course is no, but she doesn’t know that)

♡Evol: Water. With resonance could probably lead into blood-bending but the sheer amount of power that would entail could be very dangerous for her.

♡Weapon: None, she just uses water but it exhausts her. She can also communicate with fish and they can help her sometimes. She’s only been in a dangerous situation with others once and that was a kidnapping for ransom money. She was quickly saved and the kidnappers were never to be found again but since then she’s got her own bodyguard that’s to be with her at all times. Maybe that bodyguard has a kid her age. Maybe her and that kid get along. Maybe that peer dedicates themselves to be her shield. Maybe a crush develops. 

♡What MC is up to: Stay at home bodyguard/mom that helps keep an eye on Ariel and her condition. She sometimes seeks out the thrill of being a hunter again but for the most part stays with her girl. ♡Her Story: She sees herself as a burden and is willing to do anything to “no longer cause trouble” for her parents. So she wants to make a journey, run away with the bodyguard’s kid to seek out a legend to “fix” her. They try to talk her out of it but she’s far too determined and so they prepare along with her, ready to follow.

Dove

♧Dove is a difficult, troubled youth. She's got quite the temper, gets into fights on a near weekly basis as a show of dominance and 'territory' claims, and a delinquent due to skipping school. She does have some of the best grades when she actually applies herself, but math and science are her worst subjects. When she does come to school, classmates are either afraid of her or looking to fight her to prove themselves. She doesn’t always win these fights, but when she loses the opponent tends to end up transferred or apologizing the next day through their teeth. Dove hates this. Her passion is singing, taking an interest in rock and metal, screaming in her room as she writes her own music. Sylus has gotten used to it, “ The little dragon is practicing her roars.”  She sucks at crane games but enjoys the challenge even if she keeps getting kicked out for kicking the machine. Always sneaking out of the house but it's rarely actual "sneaking" since Sylus always knows what she's up to and where she is. Where she goes varies. Sometimes old abandoned warehouses just to hang out and watch the going ons of the N109 Zone, sometimes to pick fights with thugs and sometimes the “old shopkeeper” to watch him work and to hear stories about her mother.

♧Relationship with father: Complicated. Her mother died in her time not long after she was born which caused Sylus to be distant. He still cared for her but the severing of half his soul and his daughter’s face being a constant painful reminder took some time to come to terms to. She's able to do what she wants, can have anything and he's even trained her in use of guns and fighting, he's still seemingly cold to her. Yet he's always got an eye on her. Be it the twins, mephisto, the tracking bracelet, no matter where she goes he always knows where she is and quick to appear if need be and this frustrates her to no end. She wants to escape his watchful eye and everyone bowing to her whim. She doesn't want the world to be handed to her, she wants to take it herself. The two do have bonding moments, such as he may have not-so “accidentally” taught her draconic which now leads them to having full private conversations in it (In the full post I have about her I’ll post what I imagine it sounds like but basically the FFXIV dragon speak), and while training together it’s her chance to vent out her frustrations and anger on him.

Evol: “None” as far as she knows up until a certain point. Due to who her mother is and her connection with the deepspace tunnel, there was a rare chance an offspring of hers would gain the ability of Planeswalker but only in relation to her mother. With MC being her anchor point, she can hop to alternate realities. 

Weapon: Guns but she mostly uses martial arts or a bat.Improvised weapons are another skill of hers so she’ll use whatever she can get her hands on like a steel chair or a pencil. 

Her Story: For some reason, Dove has dreams about her mother and the past lives she’s lived. Bits and pieces of it. She doesn’t think all that much of it until she starts seeing the men in these dreams that were with her. The famous artist, a well respected doctor, clippings of a co-worker of hers, a fleet colonel so she seeks them out. Upon meeting one of them, her Evol activates, flinging her into a different reality where her mother is alive and has a family with them and…meeting another girl who looks similar to her. Thus begins her journey of trying to find out more about her mom, meeting her alternate reality “sisters”, helping them with their problems while trying not to get caught and mend her relationship with her father. There may also be a common enemy who exists in each of their realities they have to deal with. 

Now I think many of us agree that Sylus should have twins. I also agree. I wonder what happened to them? Anyway, omg when Sylus finds out about Dove’s reality jumping he’s gonna want to join her so he can see MC again. Can he? Haven’t decided. Oh man and she’s with the other guys? AUuggh, it would be so bittersweet. And he’s already going to be on Dove’s ass about what the fuck is she doing talking with the other LaDs in their current reality and AKSAHDKAJHDSKH-

Sorry, I'm having too much fun with this too.

[marzipanilla]

chewing on the corner of the fandom particle board table like a dog w anxiety. there's something up there. I know there's something up there. there are so many people at this table there must be something Up There

lol who knows, but prolly not. I generally have to be at least a little mad at a piece of media in order to want to write fic for it, and I pretty much liked SU/F xD Though that might be a bad habit to have and I could try and break it ??? lol

When Steven finally does have a shitty moment w her bc being travel buddies CAN be straining and she's just like MUAHAHAH FINALLY and Steven just being all what was the point of leaving if you're still here !! what happened to the cave, loner Jasper ?? huh ?? What happened to the damn cave that was supposed to solve all your problems ?? idk how, but he'd have to hit a nerve eventually...

idk how you feel about that one film in particular, but Michael Keaton as the Vulture vibes for sure at that family dinner xD Bowls accidentally sticking to Peter's hands as he tries to help pass things around the table. Him desperate to get his damn web slingers... Nolan just like Why Am I At This Event, bored af. Mark just like Mooo-om you don't have to arrange playdates for me anymore, I'm not five. Peter and I can hang out on our own! Aunt May just all it's lovely to have company : )

lol Nolan like yes my human-sona is doing excellently in the friend department. success. Cecil wondering why the hell a guy known for wanting to unmask a kid vigilante is suddenly hanging out w a top tier hero... on a boat on a lake. what is going on there. JJ and Art just snarking at each other the whole time would be so hilarious. esp since Art would know they're chillin w Omni-Man and JJ doesn't.

You got web on me one(1) time and now I want you dead is a pretty hilarious thing. Debbie just having to be like ??? you don't even talk about villains this much! wtf is going on ! Nolan refusing to admit he basically had toilet paper stuck to the bottom of his foot one day. it is also just enough of an excuse for him to justify putting things off again, 'cause you know that man was desperate to stall for time xD Can't take over the planet until this one guy is on lock down ! clearly! totally rational ! it just fuels his obsession bc if he does succeed it means he has to carry on w Everything Else and that's a whole ass can of worms he refuses to think about. he actually has a truly disturbing number of images that show Peter IS Spidey but refuses to use them because he just wants to fuck W spider-man. the plan was to fuck w spiderman. he cant deviate from a plan. clearly. once he wraps up here he'll move on with everything else. promise.

Character decisions affecting the plot rather than external forces my beloved. where did you go. where.

I always figured an 'evil' AU of Debbie (that keeps her human) would be that she's like, a tv personality real estate mogul (making Mark not only a hero nepo baby but a genuine rich boy brat, and Nolan doesn't even bother w a job just hangs out as her kept husband when not acting as Omni-Man lol) - and like, branching off of that just her actually using her career to fund/manage a group of.. individuals.. would be awesome. Bc real estate capital CAN be used for so much ! her 'fighting crime' w real estate is actually something I have come up rather as a side note in two fic (tho one hasn't actually gotten to that point yet) and it's like ! she doesn't need powers to be useful! you can influence the world in many ways ! Which is Amber's whole fucking deal ! it's what Eve decided to do when she quit the main stream hero game ! let more normies in on that shit ! show the importance of the ground level ! No you don't save the damn planet Paul, but you're the reason the planet is interesting and doesn't suck ass !!

like have people point out Powerplex wasn't after justice, he was after retribution! if there aren't any laws in place for when heroes do shit like this, why NOT form a group who gets a stink worked up about that and makes it so there are? How opposed would Cecil be to not being the main authority on who gets punished for what? pretty pissed I think ! or does he twist it to his use? How nervous would heroes be to operate when they are suddenly faced with repercussions for collateral? does Cecil fight against it bc of shit like that, or does he say if you join my List of Approved People I will make you immune to that and end up consolidating a lot of power over a lot of people? How is any of it enforced? Give us a Civil War esque divide that's actually interesting ! Okay Mark, you're obsessed w people who fuck up going to prison- now the people have decided you need to go to prison. what you going to do? (tho I would like to tell mr prison is for criminals that you stole Shapesmith from his peoples' laws against his crime, tho it was a death sentence but that DOES raise another factor- what happens when his magical non-lethal solution gets turned into a lethal one by a court?) how do you justify the cost of keeping a being made of pure energy contained if it takes a cities worth of power to fuel one cell ?? give us fucked up shit like that !!

if it's the GoG on Cecil's pre-appoved list taking you in bc they're immune for staying in line? Your brother sure as shit isn't going to listen to anything these people say. Eve wouldn't want to kill people, but you know she'd be pissed ! How does new yet-to-be-renamed TT fit into all of it ?? If Debbie has resources at her disposal what is she doing about all of this ?? if shes doesn't is she just going for appeals in the court case?? having lawyers and media pick apart her fucking life in order to try and get her son out of this mess? pictures of Mark in the hospital bed after Nolan kicked the shit out of him plastered all over the internet as news stories run w it ??? what if Mark gets released bc yeah, you were trying to help, but his mom gets sentenced for aiding and abetting a terrorist? You figured out what he did and didn't alert anyone ! again what are the spouse testifying against spouse laws like in superhero world... do people pull the fucked up shit like 'he wasn't human and the law as written defines marriage as...' shit ?? do they call his false identity tax fraud and throw those charges at her too?? what are the immigration laws for space aliens in this universe...

alright back to the other point xD

Art being a big contributor and Debbie's connection to him resulting in a lot of ppl stepping in line bc of how important he is would be great! New player but w Old money. she knows a lot about the internal workings of the GDA due to what Nolan told her over the years and what she's seen herself ! she has important information on shit that has been confiscated from assorted villains over the years. She knows who the GDA prioritizes and who they don't! she recognizes their agents on sight !! forget the cameras in her house the last few years, they've apparently been stalking her since she met Nolan if her annoyance w the nanny plants was anything to go by. Was it a game they played while dating ? spot the GDA tail?

Titan being like this is MY city block and Debbie being like hmm : ) but is now MY city and Mark's incredible annoyance that their turf war seems to be about who can clean up the streets the most- who can support their civilians while collecting up the goons to go hit the GDA- promising stability and security for families while just fucking the government approved heroes in the process. Or Debbie trying to start a larger war like that but Titan holding on to loyalty to people who dont WANT to escalate. who is pushed out, who is pushed around- give me the fucked up bits and the beneficial to all the dynamics ! give me 'villains' like the ones we saw robbing the bank getting hired on as defenders / private security to new public works in an area. fuck your criminal record ! we don't care ! give us people who are terrified of the regime change ! who dont like heroes at all and want a non-powered person in charge and get pissed when they find out Debbie employs them ! maybe she doesn't ! maybe it boils into a fucked up divide about that outside her intention !! god have SoS have been an anti-hero group like many people speculated. Have Debbie have MET Scott ! have known him ! have been someone she chatted at meetings w ! have the betrayal come not in one episode while at a bar w a guy who instantly finds out who her husband was, but to someone she's been hanging out w ! whose kid and wife she knows ! who tried to get Debbie to help him build his court case against invincible but she pulled out, and then he finds out she's his mom??? GOD that would have been beautiful.

gah. the wider world politics on Invincible is just so threadbare. you're either one person in a storm whose life has barely any meaning while someone punches someone, or you're a psychotic dictator and there's no inbetween. there's a lot of inbetweens !! I don't think there's any leadership that isn't some form of totalitarianism?? Cecil expects utter loyalty (and is NEVER shown answering to anybody despite arguably being a branch of US government), Titan expects utter loyalty (he just helps swap out dictators for the Order in order to get a favor to be left alone lol), there really isn't enough info on the Coalition but one guy seems to be in charge of all of them at the end of the day, the viltrumites definitely !! the thraxans apparently demand Nolan do that to them !! I just !! there's more than one form of government. Even the hero teams runs off of 'one guy says stuff and we all have to adhere or else' and like !! can we see literally any other dynamic between people ??? show us the pros and cons of both !! no system is unfallable !! no collection of people is without friction !! 'the power has been returned to the people' the robots intone. ELABORATE ON THAT ??

While I'm not too familiar with the DCU- your batfam meta posts are intiguing- so in transfering some of the broader strokes from them- I think you tackling a 'Mark isn't Nolan's biological son' fic would be fascinating. Sort of a step to the side of the 'what if Mark never got his powers' fic that sometimes pop up in the fandom

OOOOOO chewing on this currently, hm, the much a distinct flavor of exactly what you’re talking about, but the potential for more family drama depending on WHO knows. Does Mark know?? Is he waiting every day only to be crushed? Does he confused non-Debbie features with Nolan’s? I suppose I’m not the most enthusiastic about non-power AUs, but I think there’s something very fun to explore about Mark having to settle with, if he knows all his life, he will never have powers? I think the trajectory of his dreams will obviously shift, I can see him still having that distinct fatherly idolization, but perhaps embraces being useful to the GDA? Cecil’s number one intern—only intern—curtesy of nepotism, ha! There is something tickling me about Mark taking the Robin Route/Role for the Teen Team in terms of having no powers, just insane skills, BUT there’s something way more delicious about intern Mark when s1e01 happens and Mark tries snooping around to find out the truth about what happened to his Dad.

I wonder if, with Mark having a whole another father, if they’re more or less distant relationship, depending on WHEN Nolan entered Mark’s life? Like if Debbie met Nolan later for this, or just for fun, they dated once, separated (Mark being born during then), then they happened to stumble into each others lives again and Mark’s already been born, anywhere from tween to teenager so there’s a gap in how close they are. I feel like one important aspect of the whole Family Drama is how close they’re supposed to be, a functional, loving family turned upside down? So I wonder what more distance does. I wonder how Nolan copes when his family is entirely human and he can’t project onto Mark.

I love thinking about these, omg.

[hellaverse-critical-confessions]

*cracks knuckles* Get ready for a long ask As an animator/artist myself, I have a lot to say about the character designs. I'm sure you've heard this before, but these characters are not animation friendly. More detail just makes it harder to animate. (While Bee is a notorious example, nearly all of the characters suffer from this) When designing a character for animation, you need to pick and choose the key parts of their design, because you're going to be drawing the same thing over and over. Another thing: The characters have so much freaking red to them. I won't dwell on this for long, but they don't stand out from the background because there's so much freaking red (Another thing that bugs me is that the characters don't look like what the artist wanted them to be like) Ex: Charlie doesn't look like a doll Vaggie barely has a moth resemblance Angel Dust doesn't look like a spider Alastor doesn't look like a deer Niffty doesn't look like a bug or B-movie styled aliens Ozzie doesn't look like a rooster Beelzebub doesn't look like an animal trainer (you would think with all the suits and shit she likes to use, an animal trainer's outfit would be perfect for this)

Another thing: Her characters reuse the same design tropes. Bow ties, suits, fingerless gloves, gold tooth, stick thin figure, top hat, etc I'd excuse it if this was a beginner artist (heck, I used to do this, but eventually learned and grew out of it) but this is a woman in her 30's who graduated art school. TL;DR The designs are bad and hard as heck to animate

Couldn't have said it better myself

I feel like, when Viv sits down to design a new character, her personal preferences come first and everything they're actually supposed to represent second. Sort of tacked onto the final product like "yeah sure that'll do it"

As for the details, if I may add on: not long ago I've studied screencaps of a character from Helluva for redesign purposes. The amount of inconsistencies I came across was surprising! I'm pretty sure he didn't even have an official ref sheet (nor has one been posted to date), but I've heard that even for more prevalent characters the animators only have the most basic turnarounds? Also stuff like Millie's hair and spots tend to be inconsistent. With so much gratuitous/weird detail and apparently lack of proper reference, consistency suffers

Everyone is also very spiky and full of triangles; I'd love a more soft or even square character. Also some different body types... I mean, remember Mimzy from Hazbin? I don't know if Viv does. I wonder if she's still gonna appear at some point. But anyway

On a more positive note, there's a lot of background character designs that I find really cool & enjoyable! Maybe I'll make an appreciation post for them sometime

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

By any chance did you draw Xingqiu's training uniform? 🥺

Or any more of the characters? 👀 Baizhu, Ningguang, Ganyu, Xianyun, etc.

I love your drawings and your character design and style in general 💜💜 ever since Cyanide Narwhal I fell in love

honestly you have amazing timing, i'd been sketching and cleaning these up for a while now hahah

edit: just realized baizhu's eyes should be a different color here. oh well. pretend they're red lmao

[daemonvatis]

So, as a non-parent with lots of opinions about parenting. The problem with kids smoking is 3-fold: 1) it's bad for their health, 2) it pollutes the shared air (and everything else without proper ventilation), 3) and it's illegal.

To the first point, it would ideally be enough to explain this to the child. If that's not enough, repeatedly drag them to doctors. If being shamed by a concerned stranger isn't enough, the inconvenience (and possible public shaming if you resort to that) of the ordeal should be about as effective a deterrent as you can morally provide. Also, if they've been smoking then they should see a doctor about that, get a bunch of tests that are medically recommended AND annoying.

To the second point, explaining the issue as social responsibility might help, but you can also suggest non-smoking alternatives, like nicotine patches. Not vapes because those are still horrible for you health and still pollute the shared air. They're also cool. If you're trying to prevent nicotine consumption, your suggested nicotine source can't be cool.

To the third point, the reason doing illegal things is bad is because the government will punish you for it. Also, with drugs you can get addicted and then not have a reliable source, which sucks. The personal risk is enough that people, when possible, should avoid illegal drug habits. It is the responsibility of the parent to ensure their child understands the risks so that they can make informed decisions.

And that circles back to my main philosophy throughout this. Punishment is bad. Trying to control your children is bad and doomed to failure. If a rule doesn't exist for a good reason, then it shouldn't exist at all. I believe in natural consequences and natural deterrents, which you can exaggerate (see the intentionally unpleasant aspect of the above doctor's visits) but which should always follow logically from the problem behavior. Take away their phone? Only if the phone itself is the issue. Regularly search their room? Legitimately a civil rights violation (though the US refused to ratify that particular bit of legal work) AND will just result in them finding better hiding spots. Take your kid to the doctor to get their lungs tested and their blood tested and their throat swabbed for cancer cells and their brain lectured by a knowledgeable third party because they've been secretly smoking for an unknown amount of time? Might be overkill, but ultimately you're just being responsible.

Hmm. Also therapy. Explicitly NOT as a punishment or deterrent but because your kid is obviously going through shit if they're making poor decisions behind your back. Your kid needs therapy. You need therapy. Everyone on this goddamn planet needs therapy.

A few months ago, I caught my 13-year-old son, “Daniel,” with a pack of cigarettes in his room. No idea how he got them, and he refused to tell me, instead insisting he had a “right to privacy,” which he knows is conditional on him behaving properly. That led to several arguments and him calling me some truly vile, misogynistic names.

complicated to have a right to privacy if it's conditional on not doing anything that you would prefer to keep private!

I think you want to diligently address his misogyny before it goes any further; read up on raising anti-sexist boys in a culture of toxic masculinity. Try Raising Feminist Boys and How to Raise a Feminist Son. Also, pay attention to the content he’s consuming and monitor his online behavior, as well as his communications with his friends; be on the lookout for incel/manosphere content. Many boys your son’s age are being indoctrinated by deeply misogynistic influencers and YouTubers.

When Daniel misbehaves, he should face consequences: loss of screen time, no outings, etc. In my opinion, a kid displaying this type of behavior should not have a cell phone, unless it’s a basic one for dialing in and out to his parents. Remain firm with him, no matter how oppositional he may be.

it's tough being a parent but I don't think forcing a kid to go to therapy and monitoring or taking away their communication with friends is going to fix them, although it might spur their creativity.

in the old days the suggested treatment for finding cigarettes in your kid's room was forcing them to smoke the whole pack until they puke, and I don't think that was necessarily helpful either.

maybe just tell him to get a really badass vape because cigarettes are fucking lame? I dunno man, parenting is hard.

[dustykneed]

(tsfs feels anyone? fanart below.)

You've been in his head.

But he says, never faltering, the words,

"I choose the danger."

It is in that moment that you understand:

He could never, would never,

Has never hated you.

Now you realize:

this is what humans refer to as love.

[cator99]

out of curiosity, would you consider yourself butch?

used to be a blonde underweight twink and now I'm a based jock still got the chanel bag and the sick albeit matured mind of a suckpig to prove it so I'm gonna let you decide whether you wanna call me that word just cuz I got a pussy and short hair. I promise you that there have been enough advancements made in the art of lesbian sexual dynamics in the past 50 years to broaden the vocabulary used to describe the plethora of types of masculine females.

[qoldenskies]

poverty au alternate names:

Empty Pockets

Sleep is for those with money

Fuck Coffee is expensive

giggles cause i got a name idea (thank you for the crane wives and thank you specifically that person who recommended mad dog to me. ive taken to calling it the kickback universe in my head so i guess that's what its called now) but that is definitely a vibe. i bet they splurged on that coffee machine soooo hard but they have like dollar store grounds and it tastes like shit and no creamer could save it. donnie drinks it black anyway which is a sin

its not like i could call it the "donnie is the only one with college opportunities because mikey is barely skirting by with Cs, leo had to drop out because unmedicated adhd, and raph skipped most opportunities for higher education especially with sports to focus on providing for the family, so donnie's doing running start while also working a job because his father's dercums progressed to a point where he cant even really go outside without being in immense pain because they dont have enough money or insurance to afford any real care (and no extended family to fall back on because splinter was cut off from them, other than a cousin across the country) and rely on april to drive them around, and then the landlord unexpectedly raises rent in an attempt to get them out and donnie because he's taken on the job of managing their finances decides to hide this from them and start working a SECOND job under the table that includes the fucking graveyard shift with a boss that barely pays him enough under the table and its partially because he's blasian AND trans, and this is also while he's going to running start college, while having a job to go to right after running start college, and also he has to worry about tutoring mikey and helping leo get a GED and groceries and like everything because he doesn't want to put more undue stress on raph who is the only line of support he would normally have here" au. although maybe it would be funny if i did?

i got carried away when making the joke. there's the premise i guess. i'll probably just write one big oneshot but because all of them have Prablems maybe i'll expand a little, right now im keeping the scope small so dont expect anything for a while since i have so much to do atm, i'll talk about if people want to hear more though! .... i did not expect to get as invested as i did. CANARY CONTINUITY FIRST

[cookinguptales]

finally watching smartypants and sitting here like, "yes, trapp, the principality of liechtenstein. a great place to share a birthday with indeed, as the birth of liechtenstein marked the end of one of the most brutal and corrupt witch hunts in european history."

see also: why I am not generally invited places.