#but it did mean I had to do something to differentiate my design of her from myself XD so I did funky stuff with the red streak

[dawnlotus-draws]

Name checks out Melanie is a KING.

[glitchy-creations]

Update of this post!

I did all of the sketches for the character pairings I wanted to do for this ship dynamic and decided that I wanted to colour this one first! This one is with my Telemachus design and my oc Pyrrha!

I’m going to include more info about Pyrrha under the cut because it’s gonna be a lot and I don’t want to obscure y’all’s scrolling 👍🏻

Pyrrha info

To start, Pyrrha’s “original” name was also Ambrosia (I liked the irony of a demigod child of Hades having a name that mean “immortality”), I have since given her the nickname Pyrrha (based off her hair colour lol) to help differentiate her from my goddess oc of the name name!

Pyrrha originally started as a Percy Jackson oc from like my middle school days. Every now and again I allow myself one “Mary Sue” type character, and Pyrrha was that character for PJO. I have a hand full of other OC’s and Pyrrha is literally the only one who’s a child of the big three, I don’t even had a Roman demigod who’s one of the big three. Pyrrha was pretty much just an amalgamation of things i thought were cool about the universe; so she’s a demigod child of Hades and is a Hunter of Artemis who’s lived a rather long life. I was still wanting to keep close to canon lore as well even back then, so she’s always been way older than the other characters to adhere to the fact that Hades never broke the pact he made with his brothers about not having more demigod kids after WW2. She has since grown to be a more “Greek mythology media in general” oc like Ambrosia. With that in mind, her lore does tend to change based off the lore of whatever media she’s in!

Her General Lore;

In the past two years I think, I’ve decided that she’s originally from Ancient Greece, Sparta specifically.

Her mother was a mortal and came from a well off family though was a very independent woman. She was a “follows the beat of her own drum” kind of person.

While she never seemed interested in marriage (she actually never married) she was someone who valued fidelity. She was quite upset with Hades when she discovered that he was married while he was seeing her and was very sympathetic towards Persephone.

Despite that, she did love Pyrrha very much and the two were close when Pyrrha was young.

Pyrrha’s mother did, however, die when Pyrrha was young. She didn’t know her father outside of the stories of the gods and her maternal grandfather was always busy so Pyrrha grew up a very isolated and lonely childhood.

Pyrrha did seem to inherit her mother’s independence so she never seems bothered by the loneliness. She would usually keep to herself and entertain herself by learning to hunt and use a bow.

Pyrrha would later be sent to train under Chiron. I haven’t decided how this came to be, but I’d probably go with the idea that Hades had a hand in it. Maybe he saw her talent in archery and thought Chiron could help train her, or maybe he thought Chiron would offer a more stable, fatherly role for her.

She thrived under Chiron’s guidance and would excel in almost anything she did. Chiron would become a fatherly figure to Pyrrha and he was the one who gave her the nickname “Pyrrha” in the first place.

Note: I personally like this Reddit comment when I come to estimates ages of the characters in the Iliad so it’s what I have roughly based Pyrrha’s age on! She’s roughly three years younger than Odysseus.

Pyrrha did meet a young Achilles while with Chiron. She’s roughly eight years older than Achilles so ngl she thought he was a little bit of a brat (I the idea of little Achilles having a little bit of an inflated ego because he’s a demigod, had a prophecy about him, or a little bit of both lol). The battiness did mellow out over the years 👍🏻

Despite their little “rivalry”, Pyrrha did see Achilles as something of a little brother for lack of a better word. She did care for him, he just annoyed her more often than not 😅

This is a common occurrence with Pyrrha mostly because she didn’t have a strong family unit before Chiron. She tends to apply familial titles to the people she’s close to and care for.

Pyrrha would train with Chiron for most of her early life, though she would occasionally travel if the urge struck her. This was especially common in her later teen years. She would occasionally travel to Ithaca or other closer city-states.

She met a younger Odysseus a couple of times when she would visit Ithaca, but they weren’t like best friends. It was more like “oh, there’s that quiet girl who’s surprisingly good with a bow who I bump into every once in a while.”

When Pyrrha was roughly 22 she tried twice to join the Trojan War. It was more out of a desire to bring Helen back home to Sparta than for glory or anything. She may not have lived in Sparta for many years, but there was still some loyalty there. Of course she was denied both times primarily because of her gender.

She met Artemis sometime after (perhaps a year or two later when Artemis was not helping Apollo and Troy) and devoted herself to Artemis (the nature of how the hunt works varies depending on the media). I should probably mention that Pyrrha is aroace, so she also has no desire to marry or have any sort of romantic/sexual relationship with anyone.

As I mentioned in the second image, Pyrrha met Telemachus when he was 10. I imagine he was like the embodiment of child like curiosity so when he saw this strange woman with red hair and a bow walking around Ithaca’s marketplace, he just sort of started following her (Telemachus honey….no…)

Long story short, Telemachus ended up growing on Pyrrha and she sort of just started teaching him archery. Of course Penelope knew what was going on (Pyrrha promptly brought back little Telemachus home when she realised she was being followed) and was okay with it as long as Telemachus wasn’t getting in trouble.

Again, as I mentioned in the second image, Pyrrha and Telemachus started to form a “mentor-student” type relationship over the next ten years. He was also the one to decide first that Pyrrha was kind of like a big sister or an aunt figure to him. She also had a very good relationship with Penelope.

Once Odysseus returned to Ithaca Pyrrha would become closer to Odysseus as well. It definitely would prompt her to visit more often.

Everything after that is kind of dependent on what media she’s being included in.

Lore that’s subject to change:

The nature of Artemis and her Hunt is one thing that’s subject to change. This also ties into Pyrrha and her apparent eternal youth or “immortality”.

I think most are familiar with how the hunt works in PJO; young women vow themselves to Artemis, reject romance in all forms, and are given semi-immortality as long as they keep their vows and aren’t killed in battle. As Pyrrha was originally a PJO oc, this was the original reason for her young appearance.

Outside of PJO, I generally think of the hunt as it was depicted in mythology. I think this Reddit post does a good job at kind of summarising/explaining the hunt in mythology. Pyrrha would absolutely devote herself to Artemis for life given she is aroace, it wouldn’t be a big life altering decision for her and would probably provide her another sense of community or familial support in her mind (she would see the other hunters as her sisters as they are sister in arms so to speak.)

This would then bring her semi-immortality into question. I feel like it would probably depend on the media’s lore, or it just wouldn’t be questioned. Perhaps Artemis gave it to her as a gift as she had sworn herself to Artemis for life. Perhaps she’s garnered the favour of another god or maybe her father had something to do with it. Idk, I kind of don’t want to make it too specific to where it can’t be a flexible detail.

Even her demigod status is something that is (very rarely) subject to change. This is mainly in reference to Blood of Zeus and maybe the Hades games. I’m not sure if either media grants Artemis any kind of group of hunters (BoZ definitely hasn’t shown any evidence of one, though Artemis hasn’t been shown as a main focal character…yet).

This prompted a little discussion with me and a friend where I mentioned that if she was given god status at any point, she’d probably be a goddess of kinship; particularly if non blood related kinship. Obviously, this would be because she had a tendency to form familial bonds with close friends as such.

This point, however, hasn’t been fully fleshed out. BoZ hasn’t really explored the idea of a mortal becoming a god (not sure if it will be touched on in future season) and I’m not super familiar with the detailed lore of the Hades games. My biggest concern is keeping Pyrrha’s lore as close to the media’s canon lore as I can which is why these are flexible detail points.

I think that’s all I have for now! If you made it to the end, thanks for taking the time to at least skim my ramblings lol. I don’t want this to get any longer than it is, so if anyone has any suggestions feel free to ask me!

Also Pyrrha and her lore is not meant to be taken seriously as a part of actual Greek mythology. I have tried to keep as close to mythology as I can while having creative liberties for my of and her “universe”, obviously she’s not a real mythological figure and shouldn’t be treated as such! She was made just for fun! 💕

[ombrathefurry]

how do you generally design characters/choose color pallets?

whenever I try and create a good color pallet they always end up clashing and looking absolutely awful

i've tried using websites but they always end up being very bland, so i'm turning to the expert lol

the only character i've created that I actually. like. is the one that's just a black freaking tiger with rainbow glowing stripes, but that's because monochrome with color pops just always is flawless </3

Expert what expert

I'm by no means any expert, but I'm really happy you think my designs are appealing enough for you to ask me this!!

I ALWAYS try to come up with a character concept or idea for who they are before I start designing. Because of this, you see a lot of my designs turning out to be designed very strategically, with their features actually having proper functions and reasons to be there

This is why I have such a hard time with gifted designs. I don't know how to make them work without a background or concept I can really connect to properly.

For specific character designs, I usually think of and flesh out a basic idea in my head. Depending on how lucky I end up being, I can imagine every detail right off the bat. Other times, I have to put some work into it and experiment a little.

Here's an example of me working out a character design WIP right now

Development of Mr. V

Some characters just pop into my head exactly the way they are, like how Samuel did

Cogsworth too

Some of my characters come from dreams, too, and I just immediately sketch out my interpretation of the idea I'd had

Peter came from a dream about a white rabbit with a weird face killing a nuclear family's father leaving the mother and child alone with no idea what happened (it was disturbing, (there are more disturbing details,) which is why I made peter very unsettling)

Butch came from a dream that had something to do with fake peppino from pizza tower running around the It Steals maze area throwing cleavers at whoever he ran into

Dreams are a GREAT place to come up with character concepts

They give you a very solid ground before you start designing

One of my guidelines for creating characters is that they should be instantly recognizable as their own character. What are their special features? What defines them? What features would I keep if I were to draw them at the bare minimum detail? What parts of the design would make the character unrecognizable without them?

For example, Reena without her yellow.

Queen without her shadows.

You see this rule pop up a lot online, though mostly focusing on the idea of the silhouette of a character standing out from the others.

While I think it's a good option for when it comes to developing designs, I don't like worrying about it too much. I try to create the individual features of the character rather than immediately think about the silhouette.

All things considered, you're also totally allowed to break the rules to achieve something else. For example, Saleem and Minnow have identical silhouettes because I wanted them to give an uncannily similar vibe. Some characters who were derived off of others through dreams I might have had have very similar silhouettes as a nod to their origins, though have very differentiated individual features.

I look to various other artists and designers I like for feature ideas when I'm super stuck (usually when my ideas are more abstract)

for example, scrawl came from a very abstract dream and literally didn't have a face (they were just a bunch of hands and looked a little bit like a black void worm from Rainworld)

I took inspiration from Fooffle's Space AU Warren for his face, Sir Needle's sona's ears for his hair, and gave him this sweater from a random thing I found on Pinterest that I liked

Bennet (and the rest of the caravan gang) came from a dream about various different individuals riding on a wagon - Bennet specifically in the dream was Uncle Ben who runs The Urban Rescue Ranch. I ended up giving him the name Bennet in reference to this, as well as Uncle Ben's broad shoulders, muscular build and curly hair.

Queen's entire existence is inspired off of the protagonist from Bendy and the Dark Revival. As a nod to this, I gave her a partially monochrome color scheme with some accents. Queen's shadow face was inspired off of this specific fanart of Caesar from The Mandela catalogues.

(I can't find the source for the life of me sobs)

Mr. V was inspired off of Itward from Fran Bow, as well as Pastra's sona Clyde the veldigun. I gave him Itward's large hat and formal attire, and Clyde's long limbs and striped patterns. I also gave him deep halloween colors as a nod to both inspiration's aesthetics.

My biggest thing about features is there has to be a REASON why they have these features, but that's just personal preference (and there doesn't have to be a good reason, or even a reason at all every single time)

okay now for the main part of the ask (I've been stalling)

Sorry if this is disappointing, I don't have a process for picking colors that work together

It's a lot of trial and error, and some characters I've even stalled making profile pictures for because I don't know what to color them as.

to me, you can pick any color you want. It's actually very impressive to think about how many colors you could use.

I'll try to explain what I do know about the placement of colors, though. It doesn't matter what colors you use, but in my opinion, the placement of these colors is what really matters in designs.

Depending on how many colors I'm planning on giving the design, I like to split them up into parts. Primary coloration (1,) which takes up most of the design, secondary coloration (2,) which takes up less of the design but still a good amount, (Sometimes I have more, tertiary, quaternary, whatever, that take up about an equivalent ratio of the design as secondary,) and accent colors (3.)

Similar colors can also be grouped together in these sectors. For example, all the purple in this character would be primary, the greys secondary, and the oranges the accents.

For Chakra, his purples would be primary, all the bright colors of the wounds secondary, and his outstanding eyes accents.

Each sector should be different and differentiable from one another!

Divide your character up into sectors for coloration. Decide what colors go where. Sometimes it takes a bit of shuffling to find what works for you. Adding inbetween colors to branch the gaps between your selected colors can help tie things together, too.

To me, instead of WHAT colors you use, it all comes down to how you USE those colors.

Cordis is mainly dark colored, primary, with their secondary rainbow colors and their accented white features. Even with rather bright colors in their palette, they still come off as a dark gloomy character because of the placement/ratio of those colors.

Monarch has very clashing colors, though when separated and balanced out, they appear harmonious and work together.

Anyways that turned further into a rant about character design than anything else

I hope this helped :D

[quibbs126]

Could you make a Spinach and Blueberry Pie fanchild? (It's also meant to be Strawberry's biological sister i guess)

Here we are, this is Rhubarb Pie Cookie

So basically Rhubarb Pie here is a professor at Parfaedia, specifically she teaches plant magic and how to grow magic plants. She also likely has a greenhouse full of them. She’s a very sweet and friendly lady and she enjoys her job a lot. She also probably bakes a lot of rhubarb pies in her spare time and gives them either to coworkers or her students (as well as eats them herself)

Side note, I feel like I make way too many Cookies go to/live in Parfaedia, but also it’s like the only magic school we really know of, so there’s not that many options. I mean I suppose the Vanilla Kingdom might have something like that up and running, but usually the Cookies I get requests for don’t live there or I forget that they do

Also I kind of forgot about the whole “is Strawberry’s sister thing”. I don’t really know if she’s younger or older than Strawberry either

Anyways, on to design stuff

So she gets her name from rhubarb pie, since it’s a pie made of vegetables. Also the more common pie with rhubarb is strawberry rhubarb pie, and apparently their sister is supposed to be Strawberry, so it works as a companion name (even if Strawberry isn’t actually made of strawberries)

Rhubarb pie:

So as you might tell from the sketch, she wasn’t originally supposed to have a witch hat and she looked somewhat different, but I had the idea that she was a magic professor in my head, and so I decided to just give her a big witch hat. Also it differentiates her more from Blueberry Pie

Honestly I do wonder if I made her “pie” enough, since it’s really just her hair. I mean I suppose Blueberry Pie doesn’t have too much pie in her design other than hair as well, but she also has that sort of pie pattern going on on her dress. I tried to incorporate the design onto Rhubarb’s dress, but it didn’t look right with how I posed it, so I just went with the rectangles that are meant to look like rhubarbs (which I think might look off but whatevs)

I did try to incorporate rhubarb into her design though, with the dress pattern, the reds and greens and the red eyes, the frill and obviously the rhubarbs in her arm. Hopefully I did a good enough job

Overall I think her design’s pretty neat. I feel like something might be off but overall it’s pretty good

And yeah, that’s Rhubarb Pie, I hope you like her

[paracosmicat]

PLEASE talk about your Sentibug

AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT HER? 🐞❤️ (I LOVE YOU)

In my AU, the way she is able to be brought back is through the Peacock Miraculous. I personally think Adrien’s interest, now that he is free, should be Miraculous lore because it’s a natural side step given how much freedom and happiness his Miraculous has brought him and it would give Chat Noir a much bigger role to play in their hero business. (Also it makes more sense for him than for Marinette, because the Miraculous has been a chain, the opposite of what it has been for Adrien) And where does his research take him? Exploring the Kwagatama and uncovering that Sentibeings lives and memories are stored within the Miraculous, able to be brought back so long as they are willing.

That was my very long winded way of saying, Adrien had never really gotten over her death so he works with Félix to bring her back.

AND SO

Given that Adrien was the one to fight for her, he takes it upon himself to make sure she has a place in the world. He introduces himself to her as Chat Noir, but offering her a place to stay at his house does require that he reveals his identity. (Which, gives Adrien someone in his corner, which I love)

NOW

Figuring out her identity is something they work together on. Adrien nicknames her Coccinelle, French for Ladybug, as a temporary nickname and a way to differentiate their hero forms. I think she continues to use this for her hero form name as she helps them when needed, same with the other heroes.

Speaking of hero forms, I think it would be really funny if she could still do Lucky Charms but they were always insanely oversized weapons.

BUT FOR HER CIVILIAN FORM

The insanely talented @belowthesurface drew my vision of her civilian form!! And I will be using this art to make my next points and because oh my god did I mention how talented Moonie is???

I think Adrien finds it important to find her a name that she likes, so he researches it with her. They eventually come across Mireille, which means miracle/miraculous. As @ninadove pointed out, it’s also a bit older of a name which is suiting for her vibe given that a lot of it is a reflection of Nathalie’s touch!

As you can see their facial structures are similar but different. I would describe her features as Nathalie “filling in the blanks” much the same as when you see someone wearing a face mask.

As for style, I’ve made this joke so many times but I feel like her style is Nathalie’s “what are the teens wearing these days?” Very formal and business casual while still looking really really good.

And you know who would love her??? Félix!!! A Sentibeing who went against orders and paid the price but ended up making it in the end? A representation of his cousin making decisions for himself and refusing to repeat the awful patterns of the people before him? He would be ecstatic.

Her personality would be very sweet, shy, and lovey. It would be easy to say she had Ladybug’s leadership and determination, but she immediately agreed to doing “whatever you say, Ladybug” and she did not quip back at Chat Noir when Ladybug did. She was designed to be a sweeter softer version of her, one that Chat Noir would fall for, I think her personality follows suit!

Btw, anyone is welcomed to create content with her, if you so please. I love her I want more of her.

[originalwinnercheesecake]

So what do people actually think the background characters in the Underland chronicles look like

Just wondering. From all the (amazing) Fan art I have seen of Gregor , Lizzie, and Boots the fandom seems to have a pretty cohesive Idea on what they look like. Luxa also seems to have a pretty standard image in the fandom (Though wasn't she on the cover of the first design of MOS) with the only differentiation being how far along she is in puberty. Reminder if she was in the overland she would be in the sixth grade.

Other characters though Like really what do people think they look like. In my head Mrs. Cormaci is a plump/rounder women and I thought for years I had read that in the books until I saw fanart of her being drawn as more slim. Then I reread part of TPOB and was like Oh it never says what shape she is, I guess I just thought she was bigger because she is always cooking so much rich sounding food for charities. Then I remember seeing some one post once that what if she was Hazard's maternal grandmother. His maternal grandparents live in NYC, and Mrs.Cormaci is mentioned to have had a daughter.

Well that is bitter sweet because on one had that means that Mrs. Cormaci's daughter has been missing for years and in fact died without her mother ever knowing what happened to her (she also would not have known when her father died). Gotta then wonder if Mrs.Cormaci giving Lizzie her daughters old cloths is more than just her trying to help the Campbells while also declutter her house. But that also means Hazard has at least one Grandma who is really grand, if this relation was ever realized then maybe Hazard could come up to the overland for visits and stay with Mrs. Cormaci. Also she would probably have pictures of her daughter that she could show Hazard so he could remember what his mom looked like. Anyway I really liked this theory and wanted it to be cannon, but then i realized that since Hazard's overland features are his black hair and green eyes his overland relations probably have them to, and was like oh wow I never pictured Mrs.Cormaci having green eyes.

Another character I think about is Vikus. In my head the males in the underland Henry, Mareth, York all have short close cropped hair because they fight so much. Or in Howard's a short stack of wavy/curly locks cut just short enough to stay out of his eyes when wet. I do love the fan art I have seen of Henry with long hair though. But When It comes to Vikus , I guess since he seeks peace and is better relations, I usually imagine him with long grey hair and a long beard. to me he winds up looking kinda like men in biblical stories. Solovet however is muscled with a near shaved head. She is on the small side and slouches a bit when trying to appear as a gracious hostess and that plus her wrinkles make her seem non dangerous. When she is in planing/battle mode though she stands perfectly straight and those seemingly kindly wrinkles disappear, and she just looks completely terrifying.

Dulcet and Nerissa are other cases. Dulcet is described as being shy and very pretty. But as someone who works in childcare I can say with certainty that her hair is most likely a mess, her simple cloths likely have stains and crayon markings all over them. This girl is a beautiful mess. Then we have Neressa whom everyone knows is a mess. Since she is constantly described as wide eyed, tired, frail, to thin, and wearing her long hair a loose pony tail. But I don't often see it acknowledged that she canonically wears multiple layers of cloths at once or that her cloths never match.

I said most of the men in the underland would have short hair, could Hamnet have grown his hair out longer in the jungle, to try and make himself look different from how he did as a solider. Likewise I also imagine his lizard skin cloths being frayed and raggedy at the edges, much different from whatever military uniforms regalians wear. Anything to help hims see something different when he looks into the water. Can we talk about how when Gregor first meets Howard he describes him as tall and really strong, Then during his time with the plague Howard looses like 20 pounds and has scars wear ever he had bumps. Howard likely could not even fit into his old cloths after getting better.

What do Gregor's parents look like. We know they are both thin and tired. His dad's hair has gone completely white. Grace's cannot be to far behind with how hard she works and being in a state of constant worry for her family. Do fans still Agree with the theory that Grace is white and the Dad is black?

Also one more thing. Why does everyone think any of the underlanders that haven't completely greyed over have silver-blond hair. Like I know Luxa has that shade. Luxa would also probably be blonde if she has been born i t he overland. But it only specified that a silver tint was part of what distinguished the underlanders. Personally I always thought they could have any hair color (examples I imagine Howard being brunette and Mareth having black hair) but that it would always be paler than an overland counter part.

Like I know and respect that the characters descriptions are vague on purpose, and that the fun is that we can imagine them looking in so many different ways. But like really how do people imagine their favorites look. What little we get implies that the characters do not fall into the young adult novels trope of making them all look super hot. They are scared, beat up, anxious, and some are wearing cloths that do not fit them, some are missing body parts. To me that makes them infinetly more fun to imagine than most YA novel characters

So seriously if you have any strong clear/headcannons as to what you think certain human characters look like, please share them int he comments.

[thebleedingeffect]

oh i am so about to become an unskippable cutscene. ok so

my zeldaverse concept is that they all get stuck in the time AFTER the golden goddesses made hyrule but BEFORE hylias creation. each zelda has a varying amount of time since their adventure ended (i.e. totk zelda has been back home for a little less than a month. st zelda is in the MIDDLE of her adventure. sheik only sent link back to her time a week ago. its been 9 months since midna left tp zelda. zelda i zel's adventure ended 5 years ago and her great aunt from zelda ii ended one year ago. etc etc). the idea is that they all wanna get home, so they decide to try and use the triforce, but none of them know which one would be Worthy of it (as in having power wisdom courage). they go to termina [sksw zeldas idea. shes reaaaally trying not to let on shes hylia but still wants to be helpful] bc the fierce deity is their best shot at knowing which one can do it. FD (who appears as their links to each one of them respectively as to "present as something theyre more familiar with." ie botw zelda sees botw link, tp zel sees tp link, etc etc. they end up changing into malon for sheik bc hes still got baggage over link and impa and anyone else so FD chooses someone he barely knows instead.)

anyways FD tells them that all of them are capable of it if they focus in but their best bets are sheik, botw zelda, tetra, and hilda + albw zelda if they do it together (one from each branch of the timeline. kind of). so the gang splits off to find the triforce and erm yeah 🕺💃

also theres two oot zeldas. one for the adult timeline (sheik) and one for the child timeline, who never knew the horrors of war and got to know oot link unlike sheik. oops.

anyways herez my names wooooo (also they all chose them themselves hehe)

BOTW/TOTK - Coreulea (part of the scientific name of wild blueheart tulips which are the closest visually to silent princesses irl, so. shes named after her fav flower...)

OOT (ADULT) - Sheik (later Sage. this zelda awoke as the leader of the sages while the other oot zelda did not have to.)

OOT (CHILD) - Coda (the part of a song where you go back and repeat a portion you've already played before. get it. Coda says she wants something music related and Sheik is the one to suggest the name to her.)

MINISH CAP - Stonie/Quartzie (what her link calls her! used to think it was mean but shes rlly missing him so ..)

TP - Archer (bow of light. prefers to be called 'the archer' specifically if possible, lol)

ALBW - Hilda and Hue (like color. like painting. Hue liked the alliteration of their names hehe)

ALTTP - Maiden (describes herself as a maiden in game. theres more to it but ohhgh thatd require a lot of analysis and this is already so looong)

ZELDA I - Ura (in the og game u had another mode called ura zeruda after u beat the game which literally translated to "other zelda." its a little joke abt how many zeldas there are! she chose it bc its her real first name; zeldas only her middle name!)

ZELDA II - Somnia (from "insomnia." also the name her family uses to differentiate her from her great great niece. she thinks its pretty, if a little on the nose, but she cant blame her relatives for being that uncreative when shes been dead for 100 years, took the money they gave her to not claim the throne, and ran off with her boytoy lmaooo)

WW/PH - Tetra. she wanted a silly nickname too though so they will also respond to Captain

SPIRIT TRACKS - Spectra (like spectral! shes still a ghost here and has a good sense of humor abt it!)

SKSW - Lyre (another name for harp and sounds like "liar" because shes got a bit of a track record for not being entirely truthful about who she is ,,,,)

bonus zeldas who dont appear but i love them anyway:

80S CARTOON - Fresh/Freshie (MY DESIGN GIVES HER SCRUNCHIES AND LEGWARMERS💥) (AND SHE TALKS WITH 80S SLANG OK SORRY)

CDI GAMES - Gamelon

Mario Kart - Chassis [pronounced chass- ee] (Link's pitstop captain! no thats not how mk works. no i do not care <3)

SSBU - Hitbox

ok cutscene over. thank u 👍

YOOOOOOOOO your zeldaverse concept sounds so cool!! I've never even thought of the idea of time travelling to after the golden goddesses created everything but before Hylia's creation! :O that's such an interesting time period, I've never really thought about all that.....

Also them going to the fierce deity is so cool cause I have so many questions!! How does sksw Zelda know of the fierce deity? Does she have memories of him during her time as Hylia? Does fierce deity recognize her? If he does, does he willingly keep her secret from the rest of the Zelda's as he's correctly guessed that she's hiding it? How does the fierce deity correcting know of just who would be the most familiar to present as and does he know of all the Link's?

There's just so many questions and it's so funnnnnn to think about!! Also I like how he says that all of them are capable but Sheik, botw Zelda, Tetra, and Hilda are the most capable of wielding the full triforce... while sksw Zelda is right there... HMMMMMMMM........ sksw Zelda I have questions for you but I fear if I speak any of them out loud you'll combust <3333 love her though <333

The choices for all the Zelda's is so fun and cool to! I've never really thought about including both oot child and adult! I can most definitely see that being a major source of pain and angst for Sheik and I'm just super curious about Coda would react to that :o also I'm just a fan of such Zelda incarnations such as MARIO KART and SUPER SMASH BROS being involved in the middle of this.

idk that's just great to me, peak vibes, ideal even, CDi is also here SJSJJSJS

also?? These names are so so damn cute?? Genuine question, would you be okay with me using some of them? They're just that damn good but I totally understand if you would rather me not! I'm particularly in love with Coreulea for botw Zelda and Lyre for sksw Zelda <333 that's so so good and fits them so well, what da Hell.......

Also just to respond to your other ask here- I'd love to hear you talk about their personalities!! Lowkey I'm so happy that you decided to include spirit tracks Zelda, she's so underrated and amazing I love her a lot :((( and Spectra as her name?? That's so, so, I'm having a moment that's so damn CUTE

[bells-of-black-sunday]

Rambling like I said I would about Tarhos's league verse and Egg wanting me to

So first iteration of Tarhos's league verse was something I didn't really think about it was a few lines so my friends could still interact with him outside of a modern verse, but as I started researching more for Aatrox and Egg wanting to make a league verse for Haru I realized the themes of Darkin really fit him. Ptsd, the feeling of being a prisoner in your own body, etc. etc. I knew I could do a lot of it in terms of his themes I like to explore with him in general.

Then from there I thought about animals I could use for horn designs again not really thinking about what his host would be like at all. I was just thinking about what he might've been pre-corruption. I went through scarabs, various beetles, thorned lizards, and horny toads. And my first sketches weren't great, one I scrapped after like 5 mins and one that was way too jester-like even if I did enjoy it. It just didn't feel like Tarhos. Someone whose big, bulky and very traditionally knight-like.

And then Egg reminded me that Darkin take after their hosts and force their hosts to conform to them and that's what I really needed to start playing with ideas. I poured through the Ionian and Darkin cards in Legends of Runeterra, making a full board of all the darkin cards themselves for color reference and picking cards from the Ionian pool to make inspo boards arounds.

I settled on Windfarer Hatchling, Jeweled Protector, The Empyrean, and Herald of Spring, but ultimately after sketching and revising for a while I landed on the Empyrean not really trying any of the others even if I did enjoy the concepts I had for them. (I'm using the Herald of Spring one still just for something different) From there I sketched out things that I liked from my inspo mainly his ridges and beak while knowing I wanted to give him smoke that'd look like his hair. Because Tarhos's hair is what mainly differentiates him from a generic knight design as goofy as it looks sticking out of his helmet.

And then the more I sketched, the more he looked like something out of a medieval bestiary so I pushed that more while pulling elements from the card itself. His design came together rather quick after a lot of help (and by that I mean the main dragon body sketch) from Egg, because legit I was struggling so bad. And from there- the hardest part came to fruition his color palette.

Let me tell you when I studied these cards arts and splashes for darkin champs. (this is before Naafiri even out she was still in testing) As far as I could tell and still can tell, the darkin with the deep blood red and black color palettes are those with human hosts and most darkin only have 3-5 colors max in their palettes. I played with so many colors- reds and blacks, purples, ice tones, pinks and still couldn't settle on something I liked and this was before his smoke was even colored.

Then I played with many, many, many, gradation maps. Egg imputing a here and there and a little more before I found the base colors he has now. Mostly inspired by Naafiri's color palette with her stark whites that balance it out and Jorraals. And from there I started adding highlights to break up the dark patches of empty colors with golds like Jorraal's aegis and it really makes him pop. While he doesn't look like a traditional darkin you see on the rift, he'd still fit in the established of what darkin can look like and I'm proud of myself for that.

It also helps that Taarosh exists to show what dragon hosts can look like and the name similarity is very funny. But that's my journey with making him.

[rebrandedstoryline]

Rebranded - 12.3 - Revelations

Ayala learns something unpleasant about Sun and Moon. She corrects this problem. And Sun gets a bit emotional.

Word Count: 1,543

“Trash? You’re telling me that he’s been eating actual trash?” Ayala questioned, her voice suddenly taking on a rather stern tone. She very clearly did not like having heard what she had just been told. The solar animatronic offered a slow nod, unsure as to why she seemed to be so bothered by this revelation.

“Well, yes. The primary reasons behind our upgrades were to reduce our need to connect to a power grid and to reduce the amount of trash exported by Fazbear. The Pizza Plex would have produced a lot of waste if it had ever regained former popularity. That would mean a lot of food scraps and paper waste. Additionally, in my case, I would also be able to encourage kids to eat their fruits and vegetables.” Sun explained, speaking in a very matter-of-fact tone as he answered Ayala’s question. “... In Chica’s case, the upgrade would have played a vital part in keeping her out of parts and services. She had a corrupted string of code that gave her an obsessive compulsive disorder. Prior to the upgrade, she would try to eat trash and it would jam up her internal workings.” He added, not even sounding slightly bothered by the fact that he had been specifically designed to eat trash.

The woman only seemed to grow more distressed upon hearing this.

“You... You guys can’t actually taste it though, right?” Ayala inquired, at this point blindly grasping for any snippet of information that would somehow make this situation less horrific from a human standpoint. The idea of being forced to live off of trash was not a good one. It was something literally considered inhumane and probably illegal; if it was something a human was being forced to endure. That question was what made the animatronic offer an unhappy expression.

“Unfortunately, we can taste everything just fine. Apparently being able to taste what we’re consuming is meant to allow us to be able to differentiate between what is consumable and what isn’t. Metal and stone taste very different from paper and wood.” Sun explained, a sort of scowl on his face as he did so. “It’s... It’s not all that pleasant, but it serves a purpose! Trash is messy and attracts pests. Pests carry diseases, which could make people sick. So the easiest solution is to get rid of the trash in a clean and efficient way. By consuming it.” He added, attempting to validate the importance of his unfortunate circumstances.

At this point, Ayala responded by abruptly getting up. Apparently whatever work she had to get started could actually wait. There were more pressing matters to attend to.

“Yeah, no. Go get Moon.” Ayala ordered rather sternly, walking past the very confused Sun as she made her way back into the kitchen.

Still, the animatronic complied. His assumption was that she was about to establish some additional house rules for them to follow. Ergo, Sun made his way over to the closet that his brother had claimed as their hideaway hole.

Being polite, he knocked before opening the door.

“What?” Moon grumbled, clearly not in the mood to be disturbed. He reacted to the light much like a nocturnal animal, curling away from it as if he needed to protect his eyes. Not that he actually needed to do so, he was simply in a bad mood and wanted to be left alone.

“Ayala would like to talk with us.” Sun responded, his voice sounding rather apologetic. He did not wish to bother his brother. Still, if the woman wished to speak to Moon, then Moon would have to reluctantly comply.

Such was noted as he began to get up so that he could crawl out of the closet. The space was not tall enough for him to properly stand, so he had to kneel and creep out.

“What does she want?” Moon grumbled, getting himself out of the closet and standing up. Various joints throughout his body clicked as everything settled back into place.

“Well... I’m not sure. I brought up the issues about fuel and she seemed to be upset. So... She might want to establish some more ground rules.” Sun stated, answering Moon’s question with an obvious amount of uncertainty. He honestly wasn’t sure as to why Ayala wanted to talk with them.

The nighttime attendant offered a groan at this, following after his twin as they led him to the kitchen, where they found a rather peculiar sight.

Ayala had started cooking again. Now, Moon was not so much confused as he was annoyed. Sun was the one who had gotten confused. Because Ayala already made herself something to eat. She had a bowl of food sitting on her desk.

Had she just decided that she wanted something else?

“What do you want?” Moon groaned out, annoyed at having been disturbed. He also had no interest in watching the woman cook. He was not like Sun in that regard. He more or less had the mindset that he would stick to what he was good at and leave it at that.

In other words, he had no interest in branching out and learning new skills.

The woman did not immediately respond. She simply finished with whatever she had started to make; which seemed to be some sort of crispy little cake made from the mashed potatoes. She made multiple of them and put them on a plate.

Once she had finished cooking, she brought that plate over to the animatronics and held it out for them.

“Eat.” Ayala commanded, sort of glaring up at the two. Which, naturally, confused the animatronics.

Was she mad at them?

Was she mad that she had to feed them?

Sun had already explained that they could subsist on the unwanted scraps without issue. Still, she prevented them from asking any further questions. If either Sun or Moon attempted to speak; and they did; she immediately shut them down with a repeat of her command.

She was not asking them to eat. She was telling them to eat.

Sun was the first to do so, though he did so awkwardly. He was unfamiliar with food prepared in this manner.

Still, he ate it.

To his surprise, it was rather pleasant. Actually, it was probably the most delicious thing that he had had the luxury of eating.

Then again, he was accustomed to soggy pizza crusts and actual trash. Any normal food would be ambrosia by comparison.

“Golly~ This is really nice. What is it~?” Sun inquired, smiling down at the woman with a curious expression. While he was still a bit confused about having been ordered to eat, he could still acknowledge that the food was delicious.

Moon, meanwhile, became hesitant to try the food. And not for the reasons that one might expect. But Ayala’s intense staring inevitably made him obey. If only for now.

The food was good. He just found himself not wanting to eat it.

“Potato cakes.” Ayala replied, before turning around to make her way back to the stove to clean up the mess she had just made. “I figured it’d be easier for you to eat than straight up mashed potatoes.” She added, bringing the dirty dishes to the sink so that she could wash them.

“Well... If you say so. But...” Sun began to speak, only to cut himself off. He wanted to ask why she had gone out of her way to make them something to eat. Then he recalled a phrase that she had told them when they first became acquainted with each other.

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”.

Don’t question a gift someone gives you, simply accept it.

The woman, meanwhile, was more or less able to guess what the question would have been.

“Look. This isn’t Fazbear. This is a Home. My home. While you’re here, I’m going to take care of you. I don’t produce enough trash to keep you two charged, and even if I did, I wouldn’t want you eating it. Its trash. I have other means of getting rid of it.” Ayala stated, casually responding to the question that Sun failed to actually ask. All while she went about the business of cleaning her dishes. “On the other hand, I can more than afford to buy enough food to keep you two running. You know how cook... Or at least one of you does. If you need to eat something, then eat. You don’t need to ask.” She added, pretty much establishing that she did not want the animatronics eating trash. She would rather them just eat normal food.

Which was admittedly something that neither Sun nor Moon seemed ready to comprehend. Both wound up just standing there silently with some degree of surprise present in their features.

In addition to this, Sun found himself sort of awkwardly glancing between the plate of potato cakes that he was holding, and Ayala. Until eventually his expression contorted a bit.

He suddenly looked as though he might start to cry. His hands even began to shake a bit, causing the plate to rattle somewhat against his palms. This caught the woman off guard, as she couldn’t understand why he suddenly seemed so upset.

[earaercircular]

Marine Serre: "If we change the way we dress, we can make many more things change"

Suit, sweater, boots, beret and 'leggings', made with the same old fabric

In just six years, the young designer has managed to create an independent brand with a production model based on recycling that has become big, but it cannot be giant.

When in 2018 Karl Lagerfeld[1] was asked, in one of the last interviews he gave, who was the best new designer on the scene, and he was given a choice between Virgil Abloh[2], Jacquemus[3] and JW Anderson[4], the Kaiser replied: "The one I like is Marine Serre. 1.50 tall and an iron will.” The designer praised very few professional colleagues in life, but then he had never complimented a promising 26-year-old who, moreover, did not represent the elitism that Lagerfeld surrounded himself with, much less worked in the field of luxury, at least not in the luxury in its most classic sense.

Four years have passed since then and Marine Serre[5]  (born in Brive-la-Gaillarde (F), 1991) is already the complete opposite of a young promise, but rather a benchmark in which the new generations of creatives who want to change how things look. She grew up in a middle-class family and studied in Marseille, far from the prestigious Parisian schools. She paid for her master's degree collection, in 2015, with crowdfunding. Two years later, with that and a subsequent collection, she won the LVMH award, the most prestigious award for emerging design in the world. With those 300,000 euros, and while she was working as an intern at Dior, McQueen and finally at Balenciaga, Marine Serre created a brand of the same name that today has a turnover of 15 million euros and has no less than 100 employees. “When I started, everyone told me that upcycling (creating new pieces using old fabrics and garments) was not fashionable. That I was an artist, that the idea was fine, but not as a business. It turns out they weren't right,” she explains via Zoom. Today upcycling is on the lips of all firms, large and small, "because they have realised that every day one more person decides to spend their money on something that makes sense, especially now that the world doesn't have it," she says. But Marine was a visionary when she decided to build her banner with that waste, too extensive, that the textile industry generates. She was also when, between 2018 and 2019, she dedicated her shows to the climate catastrophe and "dressed" her models with masks. “The situation has not changed, it is getting worse, at Christmas it was 21 degrees!”, he says, “but I always say that, within the horrible pandemic, many people have reconsidered their way of consuming, and they do it in a more emotional way, or simply they do not consume and prefer to keep what they have. That is something new, and even more in this business”.

Portrait of Marine Serre

If Marine Serre has built a financially secured banner with a hundred employees, it is, in part, thanks to the t-shirts and accessories (also the masks) stamped with her logo, the crescent moon, that first went viral thanks to absolutely all the celebrities on the current scene and then her ever-widening cohort of followers.

A symbol that, although it has been confused with Islamic references, for her means "optimism, transformation and change" and that little by little has been settling in the minds of the whole world, perhaps overshadowing each novelty that she designs: "But I don't care. It wasn't even raised as a logo. It was a print that I thought at the beginning to refer to a political change (a parade that imagined an alternative nation, with the moon as a uniform) and that, due to the demand, gradually became what differentiated me. I haven't even changed the tints or colours from the start, and it still works six years later. It was casual, but very advantageous, because many times thanks to that crescent moon, people come to my brand and discover it. In the end, it has been loaded with values”, argues the designer.

An alternative business structure

With discover, Serre refers to a business, the only one, in which 80% of the products are made with old fabrics and garments, which always acquire a new life internally or in local factories. “It has been very, very difficult to get here,” she says, “especially keeping this business model in mind and, at the same time, wanting to maintain average prices, accessible to more people. Obviously if we do everything in Paris and in this way it cannot be cheap, but we try to have a tight profit margin so that it reaches as many people as possible [the average price of a garment is 300 euros]. At first it was difficult for us to survive because it is a brand model that is very different from the usual one, but now that we have shown that it is possible, I think, what could be better than learning how to turn garbage into something beautiful?

In order to remain faithful to her ideas, almost everything she earns is reinvested in hiring equipment, “because everything is done here. There are people dedicated to looking for old fabrics in stores or markets, another is in charge of making the patchwork with those fabrics… it has been very expensive to create that structure and turn it into a realistic offer”. The rest has been invested, for the last two seasons, in creating huge parades open to the public after purchasing a free ticket. The first, last June, on an athletics track; the second, this January, in the Parc de la Villette. “The security and equipment needed to house 2,000 people is very expensive, but as long as I can afford it, I'll keep doing it,” she says, “because I don't believe in the idea of shows being something very exclusive to the same people. I want this to be like a concert or an exhibition, if you want to come, come, and if you don't want to come, don't come. Actually, a show should be for people who consume or like my brand, wherever it comes from”.

In recent seasons, Marine Serre has given a twist to her identity. The patchwork and, of course, the moons are still there, but the result is much more basic and extensive, garments of all kinds to wear in any circumstance. “I am no longer the new designer who has to make the new skirt of the season or a show that is a fairy tale. I don't know if they're basic or not, but now, after six years, I'm looking to make fashion that makes sense. I already have, I think, a defined identity.

Now it's time to take upcycling to the street ”, she assures. It is not easy, taking into account that it is about recycled, unique garments (“and fashion has become something homogeneous, where everyone looks at what the next door is doing”, she thinks), but Marine has started her little revolution where the big brands always start, that is, with a bag: hers, how could it be otherwise, in the shape of a crescent and called Eclips: "I started making accessories very early, but we sold them quickly and didn't I was able to meet the production demand with recycling standards, and starting to produce new objects goes against my philosophy", he explains, "until we came up with the idea of creating a fixed structure, a kind of skeleton that we fill and decorate with different old fabrics, denim, tartan, flowers… that means that it can change every season and that its clothing is affordable”.

(Real) Influence on the street

She is 31 years old, has a prosperous and independent project in a sector dominated by conglomerates and like some, very few, cult brands, having a cohort of fans who wear her clothes almost like uniforms. All this seems incredible to Marine, but for her it is not enough: “The other day I met a girl on the train who stopped me and told me that what I had achieved gave her hope. I didn't quite know what to say to her… especially since young people have it very difficult in a world like this”, she says.

“Then I started to think about it, and of course I am excited to see people in my clothes, because that means that my ideas find answers, but I think that what it is about, is changing mentalities. As if I take a shirt from my boyfriend and make a dress out of it, the normal thing would be that we get used to doing that, creating with what we already have. In the end, clothes are a very powerful tool, people first look at what you are wearing before they talk to you. If we change the way we dress, we can change a lot more things.”

Source

Letici García: Marine Serre: «Si cambiamos el modo en que nos vestimos podemos lograr que cambien muchas más cosas”, in: El País, 10-03-2023

[1] The daughter of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow, Apple Martin, becomes an unexpected star in the Chanel show. At 18 years old, the daughter of the British singer and the American actress, owner of Goop, has been one of the guests in the front row of the haute couture show at the Parisian maison. https://smoda.elpais.com/celebrities/la-hija-de-chris-martin-y-gwyneth-paltrow-apple-martin-se-convierte-en-estrella-inesperada-en-el-desfile-de-chanel/

[2] Shannon Abloh, Virgil Abloh's widow, steps forward and will lead her husband's brand. "I do everything for the 17-year-old version of myself," Abloh used to say about the reasons that led him to continue creating and producing constantly. She is now his widow – with whom he began dating when she was 17 years old – in charge of preserving the creative heritage of the designer. https://smoda.elpais.com/moda/shanon-abloh-la-viuda-de-virgil-abloh-da-un-paso-al-frente-y-dirigira-la-marca-de-su-marido/

[3] https://www.jacquemus.com/en_fr

[4] The phenomenon of surreal bags: an explosion of creativity or a strategy to go viral? This type of accessory, where practicality is put at the service of the imagination, works as the perfect hook to attract attention among the constant barrage of novelties. https://smoda.elpais.com/moda/el-fenomeno-de-los-bolsos-surrealistas-explosion-de-creatividad-o-estrategia-para-ser-viral/

[5] https://www.marineserre.com/ Read also https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/674463265285406720/marine-serre-queen-of-textile-recycling?source=share

[k-s-morgan]

Hi! I've been in the Hannibal fandom for two years now. Rewatched the show many times and yet Will Graham still confuses me like no one else. Hannibal's design is complex but somewhat understandable after watching the show again again. But Will's design is like a loophole. He can empathise with the killers. That means he can understand them. If he can understand them then why does it feel good for him to kill them? How does it work for him exactly. Does he feel for the killers? If he felt for the killers then what about his violent tendencies towards them?

I've always thought that he is like a God. A God of the killers. The killers offer him their design and he takes sacrifice in return of understanding. But how does his psyche work exactly?

Hello! Oh yes, Will is a very confusing character - it’s his defining trait, and I think that’s because he lies to himself, to others, and to us as an audience. He wants one thing, wants to want another thing, does the third thing, and making sense of it is a complex process.

I think Will’s empathy is a big red herring. I agree with Freddie here: he understands killers because he’s one. He has an almost supernatural gift that helps him recreate the situations almost exactly as they happened. He understands what motivates killers, he might sympathize with them, but I think he might also envy them their freedom to be what they are. They are a reminder of what he is and what he can’t allow himself to have. But most importantly, they are a way for Will to find a compromise with himself and feel better about his true self. Killing bad people is an excuse to justify his darkness, but I don’t think it’s a part of his design per se. 

I agree with you that Will is like a God - he and Hannibal both are. That’s one of the things that separates them from others and elevates them above everyone else. Let’s make an overview of Will’s victims.

1) Hobbs. Hobbs was a monster and Will killed him. But it wasn’t about justice and righteousness, not according to him. Killing a person and feeling pleased that you saved someone versus liking the act of killing itself are drastically different things. Many police officers have to kill in their line of duty. Very few of them get off on the act of murder. Those who do are killers, and they are especially dangerous if they immediately try to follow it up with another murder. Will never once says he liked killing Hobbs because he made this world better. When asked, he says that he felt a sense of power. This is a motivation of many actual serial killers. If Will was just glad that he saved Abigail, he would know it's normal. He wouldn't have been almost on the verge of a break-down and haunted by Hobbs. So it’s not about helping others, it's about murder, even if the victim was a monster.

2) Stammets. Will had no reason to try to kill him (which he admits to doing). Based on his and Hannibal’s talk, he understands that he just wanted to feel what he felt after killing Hobbs, and this makes him panic. So again, no someone. He’s chasing the high of killing someone, and Stammets is the most appropriate victim. 

3) Ingram. On the surface, it looks like Will wanted to avenge Peter and himself by proxy, hence pulling the trigger on Ingram. However, after Hannibal manages to stop him, days later, Will complains about losing a chance to feel how he felt when killing Hobbs. Murder high is his main motivation again - everything else is background or an excuse, depending on your reading.    

4) Randall. Will threw away the gun on purpose to make the murder more intimate. This is not about justice and this is not about protecting himself because by doing this, he reduced his chances. Will also beat Randall up until he wasn't moving. There was no reason to snap his neck. Mutilation, cannibalism that followed, keeping his suit, admitting he enjoyed the murder and calling it his design - this is about murder and WIll’s love for it primarily. The design part is especially important: based on it, we can conclude that Will loves a performance just like Hannibal.  

4) Chiyoh and her prisoner who Will set up. Chiyoh was innocent and didn't deserve to die. Her prisoner might not have been guilty - in fact, Will was the one to suggest that, and yet Will still set him up. It was a game and he was an observer - he lied in waiting for Chiyoh’s scream. He then turned the body of a losing party into art. Very creepy and very like Hannibal.

5) Chilton. Will clearly explained his motivation: he wanted Chilton to pay just because he wanted to be famous and messed with Hannibal by writing his ridiculous book. Will showed no remorse and admitted he did it on purpose.

6) Police officers he set up to be killed by cooperating with Francis. The ones he stepped over without a second look. They were innocent and they were a collateral damage. Will is a cruel God who doesn’t bother with mere mortals as long as it fits his purpose. In this case, his purpose was freeing Hannibal. Everything else was still a blur in his mind. 

7) Francis. Enjoyed the murder, admired the blood, called the situation beautiful.

8) Bedelia. She's innocent in comparison to Will and his body count. If Will faced no repercussions and continued getting more and more people killed, she had every right to go free. But God doesn’t have to be fair, and Will proves it by targeting her. 

What does it all say about Will’s design and philosophy? Apart from Godlike attributes and indifference toward collateral damage, I think Will is led by his bloodlust - he just tends to control it and direct it at specific targets. 

Will might prefer to kill “bad people” in the first two seasons, but it’s the process of murder that excites him. So I see his righteous choices as a preference that helps him justify his dark nature partly, not the core reason for his violence. Hannibal seems to be moved by his interest in human nature and his hunter instinct, but Will, I think, is a truer killer because he actually feels drunk on murder. Unlike Hannibal, he looks downright euphoric when/after he kills Randall and Francis. In TWOTL, Hannibal is more focused on the fact that his dream came true and he and Will killed someone together, but Will seems primarily caught up in the murder after-shocks themselves. Hannibal thinks about Will, Will thinks about how beautiful blood looks under the moonlight.

So, post Fall, I believe that at first, Will will stick to killing bad people like murderers, but once some times passes, his need for justifications will fade. He’ll move on to rude people, only his rude will differ from Hannibal’s. Hannibal doesn’t differentiate between genders and ages, but I think Will will. He’s interested in a feeling of power, like he himself says, in a sense of dominance, so he’ll look forward to a fight. He won’t be interested in attacking a teenager like Cassie, for instance, because the power imbalance is too prominent. But as soon as someone more equal does something Will heavily dislikes, something that wakes his bloodlust (a personal insult, physical or verbal abuse toward other people/animals, etc.), he’ll attack. He’ll be careful - he knows how to avoid being caught, but it will still be unpredictable and passionate. Will is a storm to Hannibal’s calm.

Then there is unpredictability. Hannibal tends to plan everything methodically. The only times we see him being impulsive is in Europe, where he’s descending into self-destructive mode, so it’s not a norm for him. For Will, though? Will consists of unpredictability, and Hannibal is fascinated by it.I think Will is going to kill when an impulse strikes. For example, he might go shopping, without having any dark plans, and end up murdering someone because the circumstances pushed some unfortunate soul onto his path. Will might or might not display the body depending on his mood. Today he can be in an artistic mood, but tomorrow he’ll be in a violent and impatient one, wanting to destroy the body entirely and leaving a total mess behind.

How Will would prefer to kill? In my opinion, in an intimate way. It doesn’t mean he’ll be weaponless, but something like a knife would fit his tastes well. He’d be able to feel it plunge into his victim’s body, tearing through skin and muscles, etc. - personal and intimate. Akin to what he did with Francis - his feral half-snarl, the way he paused after stabbing him before opening him up - it was dark and mesmerizing. Will might get into strangling, too, because it takes a lot of time and it is even more intimate. It might end up being his favorite. So, I can see him using his hands or small weapons to fully sense what he’s doing to a victim. This is something that he has in common with Hannibal because from what we saw, Hannibal also enjoys more intimate and prolonged murders that give him a glimpse into a person’s pain and struggle for life.

[ziezie13]

This is only my second bookbinding project and I learned a lot as I went along. Maybe one day I will do a standard 8.5 x 5.5 book, but today is not that day. I really wanted to showcase EverythingButColdFire’s fics for Fanfiction Writers Appreciation Day. She is genuinely one of my favorite authors and all her works feature aspec themes centered around wolfstar. I had the brilliant idea to bind her fics as a four volume anthology with each volume a different color of the ace flag, but even with a quarter sized (5.5” x 4.25”) layout there was only enough to fill two books. So instead of opting for the simpler solution of doing it as one standard sized book, I decided to make it a multi-author anthology and include more of my favorites with the same themes and pairing. I think this set might just be the favorite thing I own at this point. I love it so much!

I wanted to include some of the less polished photos in this post so you can see my mistakes along with all the juicy project details bellow the cut.

General

Vol. 1: 30,059 Words / 6.5 x 4.25 Layout / 192 pgs Vol. 2: 29,612 Words / 6.5 x 4.25 Layout / 192 pgs Vol. 3: 28,657 Words / 6.5 x 4.25 Layout / 192 pgs Vol. 4: 28,657 Words / 6.5 x 4.25 Layout / 192 pgs

Spine Font: ILShakeFest Title & Body Font: Garmond

Programs used: InDesign, BookletCreator, Illustrator, and Cricut Design Space

Materials

Text Paper: Staples Pastel Multipurpose Paper, 20 lbs., 8.5” x 11”, Cream End Papers: Paper Place Cover Paper in Wine, Ash, and Black; For the white I just used some paper I had lying around Cover Paper: Anittaart Black marbling wall art and abstract paper, StudioRobertWu Grey Fine Hand Marbled Paper 18” x 24” for Bookbinding or Paper Crafting (bouquet), Whaline 24Pcs Marble Pattern Paper Pack, MarblingArtStuff Hand Marbled Paper Book Cloth: Kona Quilt Cotton Fabric Solids in Berry and White, Sew Classic Solid Cotton Fabric in Black and Grey, Lite Ez Steam Ii 12X9 5 Count Mull: Super (Mull, Crash, Tarlatan) Fabric Thread: French Linen Thread Glue: Jade 403 PVA Adhesive, Methyl cellulose Headband: Offray 5/8”x21’ Grosgrain Solid Ribbon in pewter, black, white, & purple Book Board: 4 ply chipboard Needle: Sewing Needles - #18 Darner Titling/Decoration: Cricut 12” x 48” Vinyl Transfer Tape, Cricut 12” x 48” Premium Glossy Permanent Vinyl, Craft Smart Acrylic Paint in Metallic Gold Brushes: Wide Colour Shaper - Firm Flat, 2”, Various small brushes

Methods

Starting with the idea that the books would mimic the colors of the ace pride flag when they were sitting on the shelf, I began to look for marbled papers that fit the color scheme. I decided to go for a very classic look with a cloth spine and corners and marbled paper cover. I modeled my design after some late 19th century bindings. I also took inspiration from my set of The Spiderwick Chronicles basing the layout size from it and incorporating a continuous design across the spines.

For the typeset I kept things very simple. I choose Garmond as the font for everything, using small caps and italics to differentiate the typography. In my first typeset I included all the meta info from AO3 in my copyright page but since each book in the anthology features multiple fics I decided to put that info in an appendix and reworked my copyright page. I think formating it in a pyramid shape adds a bit of fun and whimsy and I really like it. I also included a table of contents up front for this one with fic summaries so I can pursue through the different fics as I wish without flipping through the entire thing. The last thing I did was write an introduction giving context as to why I choose these fics and the meaning of it to me. An intro is very fitting for an anthology but it might be something I consider doing for other fics I bind as well. It was a very self reflective exercise and helps preserve some of the fandom history.

Since I picked such a unique layout size I had to have my text paper cut to the correct size. I took it to a local print shop which charged me $5 USD and had me in and out within five minuets.

I printed at home with my Canon iP8720. It has no problem printing at all kinds of crazy sizes, but it is a manual duplex so I print one signature at a time to mitigate printing mistakes. Last time I printed a fic I ended up using a lot of cyan and magenta ink even though the text was black and white, I tried checking the black and white box before printing this time but it didn’t seem to help. However, when my cyan and magenta cartridges ran out I kept printing and there was no drop in quality so I think next time I will take them out before I start printing or replace them with empty cartridges to save on ink.  All four volumes ended up being 192 pgs (with some filler pages included in the back of some) so I opted to do 8 signatures with 6 sheets each. Having at least 6 sheets per signature helped keep the swell low enough for my square back case binding.

I worked smarter not harder this time by making a jig out of some card-stock for punching holes. I cut the card-stock to the same size as my text block then measured and punched the holes. Then I insert it into the center fold of each signature and punched the holes again. A couple holes ended up off-center when I wasn’t being careful which was mostly fine, but did result in some unevenness after sowing if you look very closely.  

Since I was doing 6 text blocks at once I used my hardback National Geographics as a gravity book press. I used the method of alternating the direction of every other signature to distribute the swell evenly.

After consulting Levy (Salty Tech Books) and Des (Celestial Sphere Press) I decided to use a French Link without tapes given that the text block was less than an inch thick and I wasn’t doing any rounding. I think the French Link is very sexy and it had the benefit of me not needing a sewing frame so I could do them all on my couch while re-watching Attack on Titian. The results were fantastic though my hands were sore the next day after doing 4 books plus authors’ copies.

I tried to do my headbands the same way as my last project i.e. folding the ribbon over a peice of string and gluing it. But the glue wouldn’t stay (possibly because this ribbon is synthetic) so instead I glued the ribbon and folded it over a piece of scrap card stock. I still had to hold it down for a minuet or two for the glue to dry but it worked.

Moving on to the casing, my original intent was to use the foil iron-on from Cricut for decoration and lettering. My friend’s roommate has a Cricut Maker and was generous enough to let me use it. But once I started weeding I quickly realized many of my design elements were too small and would get pulled up with the larger pieces. It was much easier to pull up the small pieces leaving behind the larger ones, so I moved on to plan B. I picked up the cheapest Cricut brand vinyl I could find which I used to make a stencil sticker for my design. It worked out much better thought it would though it still took some patience and practice to weed around some of those rounded letters. I used the Cricut transfer tape to apply the stencil which was critical, though I think a generic brand would have worked just as well if not better here because I really didn’t need such a strong adhesive.

I ordered DecoArt Extreme Sheen Paint in 24K Gold but it was not what I was expecting at all. It seemed to have more of a glitter effect than the metallic finish I wanted. I ended up using an old bottle of Craft Smart Acrylic Paint in Metallic Gold which I had in my hoard. The paint is probably a decade old and had separated. I did try remixing the pigment and binder but wasn’t very successful so I did a test swatch with just the pigment and was very please with the results. I also ordered Liquitex Professional Effects Fabric Medium and experimented with mixing it with both acrylics. The purpose of the fabric medium is to reduce the chances of cracking and peeling, help with durability, and keep the paint soft and flexible as it dries so that it moves with the fabric. Essentially it turns regular acrylic paint into fabric paint. It is not supposed to effect the color of the pigment, but I found that the Liquitex made both acrylic bases much lighter and decided not to use it. I did have some problems with my titles bleeding when too much of the separated binder got mixed in with my pigment and I ended up redoing those ones completely, but if I got a good chunk of pigment with little to no binder it applied very well and the effect was fantastic. I heat set the paint with an iron using some scrap fabric as a barrier and ironing each section for 10-30 seconds.

When working with the cover papers there were a few quirks. The black marble had the pigment rub off on my fingers a lot and I had to be careful not to get it on my other materials. It did get smudged onto my text block a bit in the end but it is probably not noticeable to the causal observer. I also had it tear a little bit as I was gluing but I was able to repair the tear fairly easily. The gray paper from StudioRobertWu did wrinkle a little bit but I think that is just from my own inexperience and the wrinkles blended in fairly well and flattened out after drying. I used 100% PVA to apply the cover papers and applied the glue directly to the paper using a Wide Colour Shaper to apply a thin layer. Applying the glue to the paper first is meant to help reduce wrinkles as the moisture from the glue makes the paper swell and expand so if I had applied it to the book board first then the paper would swell after it was placed creating wrinkles.

The biggest problem I had when doing the casing was that when I removed my adhesive stencils for the double line details on the front and back, the adhesive would always damage the cover paper. I used several work around to mitigate the damage but I would not recommend this method for anything other than book cloth.

Casing was the most stressful part of the whole process for me. But by the end I think I worked out a system that works for me. First I glued down the mull with some methyl cellulose (thanks Six!), then I applied a mixture or half PVA half methyl cellulose to the back of the end paper with my colour shaper. I held up the back board of the casing and aligned the end paper as best I could and stuck a sheet of wax paper in the fold before shutting the book after a few seconds I would open it back up and apply the glue mixture to the other face, put another sheet of wax paper in the crease, and shut the book again. I ended up with varying results but I attribute that to a need for more practice.

Overall I am very happy with how the books turned out and while I made plenty of mistakes I know those will decrease with experience.

[sugarcubetikki]

Love Languages - Adrien and Marinette

Talking about Adrien and Marinette’s contrasting love languages!

I think Marinette's love language is pretty obvious. Her two major love languages seem to be gifts and acts of service.

Marinette mainly expresses her affections through gifts. She's always making gifts for Adrien. And when it comes to giving those gifts, she's always super afraid and literally acts like giving them would be a declaration of love or something. You can see her getting freaked out over giving Adrien a gift in both The Bubbler and Cat Blanc.

Oh, and she's well prepared too...she has a chest full of gifts FOR HIM.

(Who does that? Normal people with crushes don't. Marinette expresses her feelings in an exaggerated manner).

In the Gamer, she gives him her lucky charm bracelet. This scene is very prominent. Marinette's major love language is through gifts and the fact that she's giving him a gift without stuttering in this scene is just...beautiful. Also, it's not something she planned beforehand. She literally took out her lucky charm bracelet and was like: Here, you can have it. She said it like it was no big deal. I think this scene really explores her feelings for him and it's where you see more of her genuine feelings without all her awkward and exaggerated shenanigans.

The reason why her prominent love language is gifts is pretty obvious to me. It’s quite obvious that she’s not very good with words, and I believe she has even mentioned that in the webisode, she struggles to express herself through words, she can never really say what she truly means. 

Therefore, the best way she can express love is through gifts as she's able to use her love of fashion and creation to express herself in a more comfortable manner.

She also seems to understand the value of gifts much better than others. She's very connected to them even if they seem weird.

In Befana, she says that she doesn't really care what the gift is, she cares more about the person giving it. Despite her grandma and Tikki's weird gift, you can see her put use into both gifts as she made them into a purse and pendant. That shows that she values gifts and she used her skill of design to make something out of even the plainest gifts.

Moreover, she was swooning completely over the Lucky Charm bracelet that Adrien gave her. Well...she does swoon a lot over him. But this is more prominent as she values gifts A LOT, she was all like...he actually brought me a gift that he made by himself. To her, that's very important. Someone reciprocating your own love language is the most dearest thing to a person.

Moving onto Marinette's 2nd love language, this one is acts of service. It' not as prominent but it's still important. Her first love language seemed more vividly expressed and she mainly used it to express her feelings towards Adrien. Mainly Adrien.

However, acts of service, I feel like this expresses more of her general love. She uses it mainly on everyone. It's not mainly specified to Adrien like her first love language.

She's very generous and she's always helping others. You can see this when she's both Ladybug and Marinette. She's always doing favours for other people despite her troublesome double life.

As she's not good with words, she represents general forms of love through her actions. But she doesn't use her prominent love language towards everyone as she does to Adrien. That's the differentiation.

Also, as I stated above, when someone else is reciprocating your own love language, you can understand it more and it makes you feel special.

There's one thing I noticed. The umbrella scene is an act of service! And Marinette is NOT the one expressing it. Adrien is!

No wonder she fell in love with him in that moment...

Adrien was reciprocating her own language, and since she understood it more, that's why it had such a huge impact on her.

She's shown to believe that actions speak louder than words in multiple situations (maybe because she's not too good with words as mentioned).

I feel like she expresses her first love language more and she likes receiving the other one more. BALANCE.

Of course, out of all the love languages, she uses these too the most and since she can understand these two languages, she's quite skilled at them. She understands both of them easily.

Luka seems to express acts of service more. And since Marinette seems to like receiving the love language more and the fact that she also understands it better. It makes sense why she sees Luka's feelings more prominently in comparison to Adrien.  

I did NOT make this meme. The credit goes fully to the original creator.

Anyways, let's move on to Adrien's love languages!

His two most prominent love languages are words of affirmations and touch.

Narrowing down his main love languages were really difficult, since he’s so love-deprived, he’s very accepting of all forms.

It does make sense as it's something he lacked most of his life. His sheltered life means less affection. I can see his mom being affectionate but Gabriel doesn't really strike me as the touchy-feely type (bad parenting things). I think the loss of his mom made him just crave this even more. Word of love, gentle touches and hugs. It's what he understands and expresses more. You crave what you lack more than what you have.

It was really tough for me to actually differentiate between these two but I finally came to a conclusion.

I feel that words of affirmation is the one he expresses more. It's more prominent and there's actually a lot of proof too.

Cat Noir:  It's precisely when something is important, that it's important to say it, no matter what.

Puppeteer 2 shows that he understands the importance of words and it actually makes a lot of sense as it's his prominent language (Ironically, Marinette is awful at words, true opposites).

He does express it more vividly towards Ladybug than anyone else. He compliments and encourages her during battle most of the time. I guess you could say his flirting is a form of his love language too.

(He also does express it towards Marinette a lot, she comes a very close second as he's always complimenting her too. More proof that Adrien DOES have feelings for Marinette, he's just confused).

In Dark Cupid, he was planning to write a poem for her, and that's another sign that he's pretty good at expressing his feelings through words (another contrast to Marinette's struggle in writing a poem).

He's also very flustered when Ladybug is complimenting Cat Noir.

Like in Gorizilla when he blushes during the scene where Ladybug tells him she trusts Cat Noir.

Of course, this is very general, but a reminder, I feel this is more of his expressive language than receptive one.

As for his more receptive language, it’s touch. He also uses it a lot though mainly my confusion to what his prominent language was. Because he's a very touchy person (especially towards Marinette and Ladybug). Not to everyone but he does touch and talk a lot, with people he's close too. He's always putting his hands on their shoulders or something.

The way I could differentiate is that he actually likes receiving gentle touches and hugs more. You should see the way he reacts...

In Simon Says, when Gabriel lunges in for a hug, Adrien is genuinely surprised. I mean the more obvious reasoning is that clearly Gabriel is not a hugger so that's probably he was surprised with his cold father's show of affection. This isn't really the only instance.

He's surprised when Ladybug hugs her in Miracle Queen. His gasp shows it. In Prime Queen, when Ladybug grabs onto his hand. He's also surprised with Marinette's cheek kiss, even though it's normal in France to express gratitude via cheek kisses, he's still was surprised with his mouth agape and everything.

But his surprise isn't a bad thing. He actually seems happy with his touches. We all know his face is beaming more brighter than usual.

Before I end this, I'd like to comment on how their love languages seem to clash.

As they clearly have different love languages, opposite languages, they face difficulty understanding the other's language. This may be why there so oblivious (Ladybug is less oblivious because she does know now but she always faced difficulty understanding Cat Noir's actions in the past and saw his flirting as cocky and irritating).

I don't blame them. Their love languages are very different: Adrien's love language is more direct and simple whereas Marinette's is more indirect and confusing. This even matches their characters  (simple and straight forward vs convoluted!).

They are getting better at understanding each other's contrasting languages. Ladynoir has developed more in that department. Adrienette has a lot of potential for development in S4.

(I wrote this some time ago, before the New York Special, it could lack some context from there, but it looks fine to me...at the moment...)

[nuttynutcycle]

I just discovered your blog, and I'm in LOVE with your writing! I'm completely obsessed with Familiar, so if it's not to much to ask, could you write a continuation? Thank you so much, your snippets and prompts are greatly appreciated!!

Familiar - Pt 2

First part here

On a scale of one to ten, this was either a -2 or a 12 on the good idea scale. Hero double-checked the address Villain had sent her before looking back at the tiny house. The paint was peeling, steps were rotting and that roof was definitely of the leaking sort. Somehow, she had expected Villain to live on the rich side of town.

When he had invited her over to work on their assignment, her thoughts had been torn between screaming trap and find some evidence. The second side won. If there wasn’t anything in there to prove who Villain really was… Well, she’d have to find another way of getting proof to show the authorities. She knocked and noted the cracked windows to her side. After a few seconds, Villain opened the door.

“Hey, I’m glad you could make it. Come on in.” He led her down the musty hall towards a suspiciously normal bedroom. “Thanks again for making the trek all the way over here. My mom hasn’t been doing too well recently, and I’m trying not to leave her alone for too long.”

“Of course, I get it.” Hero let her eyes trail over the spartan room. The only furniture was a bed and two chairs beside a fold-up table covered with books and scribblers. Funny, the number of times Villain escaped from her with stolen cash made her think he’d at least have better furniture. Or a safe to put the money in. Maybe it was hiding in the closet? Although in this neighbourhood, keeping money lying around might not be the brightest idea. “It’s good that you’re taking care of her.”

He nodded, avoiding her gaze and moving his stuff from the table to the floor. “Hopefully, this next surgery will be the one that works.”

“Yeah, it’s tough watching people you love go through painful things. My sister has a heart problem right now, and it’s terrifying to watch her energy come and go.” Shut up! Stop telling him personal things. “Yeah.” She finished lamely.

Their gazes locked in understanding. Hero was the first to break away. “Ready to start the pain?”

They worked on the assignment in silence for a while. Honestly, there was probably a special punishment designed for whoever invented assignments over ten pages long. This just wasn’t fair. Hero sat back, running a hand through her hair. “I think this is karma's way of punishing me for not reading the textbook.”

His lips quirked. “There’s a textbook for this class? That would’ve been helpful to know at the start of the semester.”

“Want to know how tired I was at the beginning of the semester? I can’t even remember choosing my classes,” she pulled a hand down her face. “I think I just closed my eyes and pointed at the screen.”

“You could have been in differential calculus. Or worse, accounting.”

“Or Phys Ed. Did you know our university has a course devoted to badminton?”

Villain laughed. “What a racket. To think, I could have spent time swinging my arm around and gotten credit for it.”

“But then you’d be missing out on the glories of this assignment.”

“And a friend.”

Oh nope. Big nope. Wait, Hero reconsidered. Were they friends?  They did chat after class and had studied a few times together, but that didn’t mean- wait. Huh. Time to deflect with awkward humour and process these feelings later. “I thought you saw me as a role model, but that’s cool too. I’ll just have to find a new lackey.”

“And here I thought you were friends with me for my brilliance and good looks.”

She felt her cheeks begin to burn. “Yep, it’s all for your looks. If you seduce our professor, then we don’t have to do this assignment anymore.”

Villain rubbed his chin. “I’ve never seduced a professor before. Would I have to wear a sweater vest?”

“And a tweed jacket. It’s the only way.” Her fingers twitched, and she was suddenly very aware of him. The light hitting his hair, the way his lips curled when he was amused… Bad, very bad. This is your official ABORT MISSION alert. Find some evidence on the dangerous criminal and get out of there. She cleared her throat. “I’m parched. Could I get some water?”

Villain nodded, standing and leaving the room. Hero leapt out of the chair the moment the door shut behind him.  Her eyes latched on the only place one could hide anything in the sparse room - the closet. She yanked it open, feeling her heart speed up at the sound of Villain opening a cupboard in the kitchen and turning on the tap.

The closet was small and impressively dull. Clothes and boxes littered the tiny  shelves, with no signs of the files or weapons she was looking for. A flap of a familiar fabric dangling from one of the top boxes caught her eye. Bingo. Hero gingerly reached to feel the consistency, making sure she wasn’t wrong before bringing the authorities in, and accidentally bumped an elbow against the side of the closet. The box plummeted from its precarious placement and met the ground with a thump. No! She scrambled to pick up the box and the spilled-out uniform when a movement behind made her pause.

Villain stood in the doorway, hand clenched around a glass of water. His eyes darted to the clothes on the ground. “What are you doing?” he asked quietly.

Hero’s throat went dry. She tightened her grip on the clothes and tried to look surprised. “S-something fell in your closet, so I opened it to check what it was.”

“Huh,” Villain said. “That’s unfortunate.”

He knelt, gently taking his outfit from her hands and placing it back in the box. “You weren’t supposed to see this.”

“Clearly.”  Hero swallowed and prepared to run if he attacked. Worst case scenario, she had beat him before and could do it again. Theoretically. “I didn’t mean to-“

“I know.” A familiar calculation crept across his face, making her hands shake. Villain sat across from her and blocked the only exit, placing the cup of water between them. She felt trapped against the closet.

“You know, if this had happened a month ago, I would have killed you without a second thought,” he said mildly. “Guess you’re lucky.”

A horrifying reminder that she was not dealing with her awkward classmate anymore. “What are you going to do instead?”

Villain shrugged, seeming far too calm for the situation. “I don’t know yet. Talk, I guess?”

“I won’t tell anyone.” Hero said, lying through her teeth.

“Unfortunately, I’m too old to believe the promises of others so easily.” He trailed his fingers through the thin carpet, tracing patterns through the material. “Even yours. The stakes are just too high.”

“What’s even worth all the stealing and destruction?” she asked quietly. “Why do you do it? “

The  fingers paused. “It started out as one job. My mom needed treatment, and we didn’t have the money to pay for it. Then one treatment turned into two.” He shook his head. “Before I knew it, I was on the city’s most-wanted list.”

Her shoulders tensed. “Will you stop when the treatments are finished?”

“There have been other benefits to criminal activity.” Villain ducked his head, cheeks turning pink. “Lots of amazing people to meet. I haven’t decided yet.”

She leaned against the wall beside the closet, feeling safer with something solid against her back. “I don’t know if meeting people through crime is worth a lifetime in jail.”

He gave a bitter laugh. “You’d be surprised.”

Hero picked up the forgotten water sitting between them and drank, if nothing else than for the excuse to avoid responding.

His fingers trailed larger patterns in the carpet. “I never wanted you to find out- this is one of the first friendships I’ve made since I started university. I don’t want to lose that. And I don’t want you getting hurt, but this does put me in a tight position. I won’t let you inform the authorities.”

Hero pressed her back further against the wall.

Villain took one look at her wide eyes and softened his tone. “Just don’t tell. If I get one inkling that you’re about to turn me in, then..." he sighed. "Please don’t make me choose between you and my mom.”

He would know it was her. Hero didn’t think she could after this. Or fight him, knowing it was for his mom’s medical bills. She pursed her lips, making a highly regrettable split-second decision. “Alright. But only on one condition: you stop once her treatments are done.”

He twitched. “I told you, I haven’t decided yet-”

“I’m making the decision for you.” She tried to sound more confident than she felt. "Deals are much easier to trust than promises.”

“No. I’d miss-” Villain stopped, clenching his jaw. “I can’t let certain people from that life go yet.”

Something clicked. The girl he liked was from his criminal life… Oh gosh, Hero probably knew her. The brunette villain from the southside? The redheaded weapons supplier? Stop getting distracted.

“I trust you. Give it up as soon as you can.” The words slipped out before she could stop them. “For me.” That was even worse. Was it possible to die from a foot in your mouth?

Villain relaxed his shoulders. “Yeah. It’s a deal.” He stuck out a hand and Hero grasped it, shaking firmly and ignoring the sinking feeling in her chest. So like, a 5 on the good idea scale.

@revrevrew-personal @spruceandpine @sailor-cat2 @literally-just-kirby @emerqlds @chaoticgoodandu @notsocharmingmagician @flying-paperboat @touchedbyanerdyotaku

[chromes-corner]

i keep asking 4 characters on the bingo thingy but i can’t help myself

so… dark cacao & caramel arrow ?

YOU ROTTED MY BRAIN SO BAD WITH THIS BOTH OF THESE ARE REALLY LONG

im doing caramel arrow first >:)

caramel arrow is fucking cool. i love her outfit so fucking much ughhhh its so pretty the black and white motif of the dc kingdom is my EVERYTHING!!!! AND HER FUCKING WEAPON???? DUAL BLADES THAT ATTACH INTO A BOW???? THATS LITERALLY WICKED I WANT ONE OF THOSE!!!! also i eat up strong female characters like theyre my last meal on earth i just adore her resolve and her loyalty and her STRENGTH shes a BOSS of the GIRL NATURE

despite me loving her so so much, i cant help but feel as though she got SHAFTED in the story relevance department. the only role she really plays in the 13-14 story is that shes the means by which gingergang infiltrates the castle. thats honestly all she really does???? and thats SO DISAPPOINTING!!!!!!!! she couldve been so much more!!!!!!!!!! not to mention how she acts when she finally finds dark cacao. instead of, i dont know, yelling at him for abandoning her and the rest of the kingdom and saying that his long-winded message of telling her to get help was fucking STUPID, she just kisses his ass and says “ok lets go fight!! i never gave up on you!!” LIKE DUDE SHOW SOME SELF-RESPECT AND SAY “HEY MY KING IM LOYAL TO YOU BUT YOURE FUCKING TERRIBLE AT THIS!!!”

THEY DIDNT EVEN LET HER GET REVENGE ON AFFOGATO LIKE GRRRR ok i get its rated like 12+ so they couldnt have her straight up murder him BUT STILL!!!!! she couldve put an arrow in that bitch’s back as he was running away. damn. caramel arrow should be allowed to murder because shes hot. but the recent bond story with her and affo is really fucking funny though so ill let this one slide.

 another thing is that i wanted to badly for her to have a one-on-one with dark choco the way he and dark cacao had. like, i wanted her to have a chance to ask him why. surely he doesnt have a vendetta against her like he did with his father???? he probably wouldve spoken with her, albeit briefly, considering she was literally his apprentice or something. we couldve learned so much about dark choco before the whole sword thing went down and about dark cacao back in those times. sighhhhh the girlboss was gatekeeped :( 

i really like her but once again she falls a little flat because the story doesnt give her a ton to do which sucks so hard :pensive: ily caramel arrow youre my homie forever <3

dark cacao the absolute MANWHORE second because I ACCIDENTALLY GOT CARRIED AWAY AND STARTED RANTING SO HARD IM SORRY

FULL RAMBLE UNDER THE CUT

i have very conflicting opinions about the king of not-my-problem. do I think he's hot? unabashedly. Do I think he's a terrible person? also unabashedly.

ill start with what i like. first off........ patrick seitz is a fucking phenomenal voice actor and GOD he really nails it with dark cacao. he's on my list of voices that i want to read me bedtime stories. second off, god am i a sucker for his design. the big chunky armor hits me right in my paladin soul. the color palette is so simple yet so striking, and i love how his violet-tinted grays and blacks contrast with his sons warmer tones. that's a neat little detail that really differentiates them and draws the generational line further beyond just ideals and alignment.

theres so much to fucking unpack about this man when it comes to personality and dialogue. i do NOT feel like going back and reading through that again until the emotional damage from the first time wears off, so just roll with me here. god FUCKING damn he actually got an entire arc for his personality and it STANDS OUT. pv and hb remained mostly static throughout their stories but dark cacao got the fucking special treatment and ughhhhh its so good.

i just...... excuse the pun but i adore how his soul jams theme is actually baked into his arc. with the other two ancients, it was their jams trait (light of truth and light of passion) that HELPED them finish their arcs, because they had both lost those things along the way and their journeys were about reacquiring pv's missing truth and hb's faded passion. with cacao, its his jam's trait, his own resolution was the very thing that was HINDERING him. he was so set in his ways BECAUSE he still had his strong resolution that he failed to realize that HE was the problem with his kingdom and his relationship with his son. god FUCKING damn that subversion from the norm WAS SO FUCKING REFRESHING AND I COULD GO ON ABOUT THIS FOREVER BUT I WONT!!!! THIS IS ALREADY SO LONG AND I HAVE ANOTHER THING TO GO OVER OK

okay so... theres something i really dont like about him. dark cacao is a terrible fucking king and dark choco was mostly in the right to try and make him change his ways (obviously he shouldn't have sought out a cursed sword to do so, as only bad things can come of that but still). all dark cacao could focus on was the wall. somewhere along the line he made it HIS burden alone to protect the world from the licorice sea, and because he put all his time and resources into that, others suffered because of it. his neglect is what caused the villages under the rule of his kingdom to waste away into ruin. hell, even citizens living in the CITADEL were suffering, for christs sake. resources were being depleted for this one project until there was nearly nothing left. my man may be earthbread's top emo model, but mans a FUCKING TERRIBLE KING. AND THE KICKER????????? NOT FUCKING ONCE DOES HE ACKNOWLEDGE THE DAMAGE HES DONE IN HIS NEGLECT!!!!!!!! NOT EVEN A FUCKING "HEY IM SORRY I BASICALLY ABANDONED EVERYONE BECAUSE I WAS TOO BUSY FIGHTING MY DEMONS FOR THIRTY YEARS" FUCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hes cool in odyssey tho

BTW IF YOU READ THIS FAR HERE TAKE THIS SICK FUCKING PIECE OF ART FROM THE ART BOOK AS A THANK YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY INSANE RAMBLINGS

[sullustangin]

Darth Marr and Satele Shan:  Names and Priorities

I’ve reached the point in my Yavin fic that I’m starting to use Marr’s POV on occasion.  One of the things I’ve been chewing on (likely to the annoyance of others) has been the Marr-Satele-Theron dynamic during the Yavin 4 op.  It’s clear that Satele and Marr have put aside differences and have become friends (as much as a Force ghost and a self-exiled Jedi Master can be friends) by Chapter 12 of KotFE. 

I give credit to @swtorpadawan for posting about Satele on Yavin 4 a few months ago and being willing to have continued discourse about the post -- thank you.  In comments and reblogs, there’s been discussion about how to interpret Satele’s references to Theron during the op and her motivations for why she does this. 

This is a spin-off of that post, since I’ll be focusing more on the dynamic between Marr and the Shans instead of Theron and Satele. 

During the Yavin op, Theron is consistently referred to as Theron, not as Agent Shan or as Shan.  The issue of his last name is avoided.   A few people (including me) have the headcanon that ‘Shan’ is a common name in the galaxy, like Smith or Patel or Garcia would be on our world; two people named Shan does not a family connection make, necessarily.  It would explain why Theron doesn’t have a code name (though he jokingly? complains about it on first meeting). 

And yet, Satele avoids using the name in reference to Theron.  So does Marr.  And Theron doesn’t insist on being referred to by his last name, even though his peer, Lana Beniko, is referred to as ‘Beniko’ by Marr. (Satele never addresses Lana using her name.)

Why the dance? 

Honestly, when I try to reverse-engineer dev!logic, in terms of the game design for Yavin 4, I’d guess it was done to help the player differentiate between Grand Master Shan and Agent Shan.  And maybe that’s all it is: calling Theron “Theron” just keeps the player from getting confused, especially if the player isn’t a Jedi and doesn’t know Satele; and/or skipped the Forged Alliances quests and thus doesn’t know Theron.

Within the universe, however, what’s an explanation a player can come up with?

The Spies in Question

Theron’s name was broadcast across the galaxy as a wanted man for killing Colonel Darok.  He was to be apprehended on sight, but Theron was a spy; spy agencies to this day rarely let any images of their active duty agents be circulated, even if they do go rogue or defect to the other side.  Theron’s image in direct connection to his name and job as SIS agent would be on a need-to-know basis.  This has led me to headcanon that Director Trant was well-aware of Theron going off the grid; in fact, he aided and abetted it.

Lana, on the other hand, was a known member of the Sphere of Military Offense.  She commanded troops on Hoth.  She had a known face, and there was an Imperial bounty contract on her head, per Theron at Manaan.  If anything, Lana was in as much danger as Jakarro; someone could try to claim the bounty on her head, since the bounties weren’t lifted til the end of the Yavin op.

And yet, Theron’s name was the unspeakable one. 

Satele and Theron

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I feel that the dynamic between Theron and Satele is not that of son and mother; both of them have gotten past that decision.  Rather, it’s more similar to a child who was given up for adoption looking for some sort of acknowledgement from his birth family -- it’s not love.  It’s not approval.  It’s.... complicated.  Acknowledgement of existence.  Acknowledgement that the decision had impact on Theron well beyond his first year of life.  Acknowledgement that Satele hurt Jace. 

I’ve interpreted Theron’s bristling at the use of the term “my agent” to be more directed at the possessiveness of the word, yet how far apart they still are, despite the biological connections.  Technically, Yavin 4 was the first time they worked on an op together.  This was their first professional collaboration.  They haven’t seen each other socially, they can’t talk about their issues/relationship/whatever.....and they have to save the galaxy together.

Giving up Theron doesn’t mean Satele felt nothing. She privately struggles with what she did and how it turned out -- still does, based on 6.2.   However, she, like Jace and Theron, believe in serving the cause at great personal cost.  Seeing Theron beat to hell after Rishi bothered her -- it would bother anyone with any sense of compassion (which she does have).  Theron got the beatdown he did because he was taken by the Revanites.  Revan attempted to convince Theron to join him on Yavin 4 by invoking the idea that they are flesh and blood -- family.

Pretty sure Revan wasn’t talking about the Malcom side.  Satele knew that.  Was there a sense of protectiveness for Theron because of what happened immediately before Yavin 4?  I think so, yes, but it’s not motherly.

Theron’s experience on Rishi probably made Satele hyperaware that if Theron was of interest to the Revanites, then the Empire would doubly interested in Theron if they knew that he was not only an heir of Revan, but that the Grand Master of the Jedi Order was his biological mother.   Referring to him as “my agent” may be Satele’s way to avoid using any part of his name on Yavin 4.

I’m willing to bet, regardless of any efforts to ignore or conceal Theron’s name, that Marr quickly figured out that the agent who managed to outfox Revan, resist torture, get Marr’s attention, and unravel an intergalactic conspiracy was something special to the Republic.  Odds were that this agent had acted against the Empire.

Marr would be interested.

The History of Darth Marr and Satele Shan

Prior to Yavin 4, Marr and Satele had most recently squabbled over Makeb in the Hutt Cartel expansion through their various operatives.  When Marr saw Satele on the Imp side Battle of Rishi, he bowed.  He respected her and she respected him.  I didn’t get any other impression from their interactions. They saw each other as equals, though on rival sides; that creates tension, since a fight between them would be a draw or mutually assured destruction.  It’s highly likely they fought against each other in the previous Galactic War (which I’ll talk about below). 

Marr was born in 3702 BBY, Satele in 3699 BBY.  They’re about the same age, and they ascended almost equally quickly when the Sith returned in 3681 -- Satele is 18, Marr is 21.  I have spoken about how Satele and Jace (who seems to be somewhere between 16 and 20 in the trailer) were essentially just kids when the conflict started.  So was Marr.

The big difference, in terms of how their characters are constructed, is that we have the end product of Marr.  Period.  We don’t know what his name was before he took on the name ‘Darth Marr.’  We know nothing about his family, his relationships, his struggles.  As Marr said later to the player in KotFE, he wanted to be a symbol to the Empire.  Marr did not let himself be just a man.

Darth Marr is not the singular leader of the Sith.  Marr is the head of the Sphere of Defense of the Empire for decades, and as of the Battle of Corellia and the death of Darth Decimus, he also becomes the head of the Sphere of Military Strategy.  With 2 of Military Spheres in his grasp, Marr was the de facto leader of the armed forces of the Sith Empire.  The Sphere of Military Offense passed from Baras to Arho and then to Arkous after Ilum.  When Arkous is killed by the player’s character, there is no indication as to who was the next head; that Sphere is never spoken of again in-game.  We may assume Marr took hold of that.  Either way, he has become the de facto leader of the Sith Empire.  His voice, his robes and mask -- immediately recognizable to the whole galaxy.

The creators of content for SWTOR took the opposite approach to Satele. We can read about how her mother Tasiele was forced into exile when Satele was still a child.  We meet Satele at 18 in a SWTOR trailer during the first Sith incursion at Korriban.  We see her in comics fighting against the Empire.  We see her at the Battle of Alderaan against Malgus.  In Annihilation,we see bits and pieces of her falling in love with Jace Malcom and hoping she doesn’t get too attached... until a pair of permanent complications occur in 3667 BBY:   Jace was severely maimed in the Battle of Alderaan, and Satele got pregnant.  Jace’s injuries made him a much harder person than the soldier Satele met in 3681 BBY; he scared her with his hatred of the Empire. 

I’ll take a moment here to say that Satele wasn’t dumb or naive when she made the decision about Theron.  Satele was at least 32 years old, possibly 33 by the time Theron was born in 3666 BBY. She wasn’t a teen having a knee-jerk “oh noes, he’s evil” moment.  She had been in a constant state of war for 15 years when she got pregnant.   It’s in that context that Satele was concerned that Jace’s hatred could drag their child to the Dark Side... but also, Satele’s love for her child would make it impossible for her to serve the Republic without a second thought.  She couldn’t fight and die for the Republic if she was always preoccupied with coming home to her baby.

So she let Theron go.  She had other adventures.  She was at the Treaty of Coruscant.  Satele founded Tython.  She became the Grand Master of her order.

We don’t get any of that pathos or glory with Marr.   Marr IS.  Marr is the Empire. He is the best of them.  He has been, is, and will be. 

The odds are pretty good that Marr and Satele met each other in combat, directly or indirectly. The bow on Imp side Rishi is a big thing for me that points to that.  Also, look at their responsibilities during the last war.  Marr was responsible for not only defending Korriban and what would become the Imperial core, but also any gains the Sith made over time against the Republic.  That’s the job of the Sphere of Defense of the Empire; taking planets was somebody else’s rodeo, not Marr’s.  His job was to defend... something the Imperial people living on these planets would love him for.  He was their protector against brutish Republic troops and their systemic corruption. 

Satele was responsible for winning those territories back; we see her on counter-strikes against the Sith.  Satele is cast as the liberator of people imperiled by the spreading Sith Empire, not a conqueror taking new territory.  Marr probably had to defend against Satele at least once in their careers, possibly multiple times.  If she was absent from the front lines for any period of time, Marr would have noticed; he had to anticipate the next move of Republic counterstrikes as part of his job. 

And indeed, Satele was absent for an extended period.  How long Satele was absent from the battlefield due to her pregnancy, we don’t know. Satele did continue her battlefield duties for “months” after she found out.  The only information we have about post-partum Satele is that she stopped visiting Baby Theron at 6 months old, according to Lost Suns.  I don’t think she could just skip off at random while in command, so I think she probably was off the battlefield at least 10 months (last 4 months of her pregnancy, 6 months post-partum), possibly as long as 18 months, since Gnost-Dural reports she was assigned to duty with the Republic Navy at some point in 3665 BBY.  She did give birth on a random planet in a cave, so she didn’t exactly have the best medical care immediately.  Maybe there were complications. Maybe she did show early. We don’t know.

Regardless of the timeline, Marr would have been paying attention.  Marr would have noticed when Satele Shan stopped fighting for the Republic.  Where was she?  What was she doing?  Was this part of a greater plot by the Republic?  What were they planning?  And when Satele did return, he may well have wondered what she had been up to.  But no matter; she had returned.  Marr had to be ready.

There’s no obvious indication in the game as to when Marr figures out Satele and Theron are mother and son.  He makes no comment to indicate that he knew before Rishi.  Based on Marr’s dialogue in game on the Imperial side, he heavily suggests that he knows who Theron is by the time Iven, the former commandant of the Imperial Guard, is taken into custody and it’s time to interrogate him. Satele objects to Marr’s plans to torture Iven.  “And what do you think your agent has done in the Republic’s name?” is Marr’s response. 

The delivery of ‘your agent’ is indicative that Marr knows.

Theron himself stated at the end of the Imp side romance that if he was indeed recruited by the player to join the Empire, people would be suspicious that he’d be working for his mother.  That would have to include Darth Marr. 

Personally, I would guess that the after-action reports from Lana and Theron would have some clues for Marr.  However, once Theron had healed up from the Rishi events, Marr may well have taken one look at Theron standing next to Satele, and then had an epiphany so immense it gave him a headache that Lana felt across the compound.  There’s the answer.  That’s why she disappeared for almost two years, twenty-nine years ago. Theron Shan.

(According to Jace in Annihilation, Theron has some similar features to his mother. He doesn’t specify which ones.)

The Lie of Omission

A lie of omission is permitting an inaccuracy or a falsehood to continue to circulate without correction, even though the person knows the truth. (In contrast, a lie of commission is when you actively make something up or contribute to the lie -- you commit the act lying.)  Marr signals he knows who Theron is by the time Iven is retrieved from the Imperial Guard training facility on Yavin, but he never says the name Theron Shan out loud.   It’s simply “the agent” “your agent” or “Theron.”  But not Agent Shan.

The use of “Theron” in the Pubside story is most eyebrow-raising.  

Marr calls people by their titles. Marr always keeps professional distance.  Underlings are uniformly referred to by their titles.  Lana doesn’t like titles, so Marr doesn’t refer to her as Lord Beniko or Darth whatever;  it’s just Beniko.

Calling someone by their first name is highly irregular.  He does not refer to Satele as such until 6.2 (and that might be the Socratic Problem of Marr in the player’s memory rather than the real Marr).  It’s always Grand Master or Grand Master Shan. In a unique instance in the game, Marr calls Theron by his given name when he finds the Imperial Guard’s buildings in ruins during the Pubside story:  “But given the destruction Theron describes, it’s mostly likely a distress call.”  This is before the Pub operative annoys Marr by going to the Imperial Guard facility by themselves; it’s not said in anger or in irritation.  It’s said under ‘normal’ circumstances (if circumstances on Yavin are normal at all). 

But why?  Why not “Agent Shan”?  That would differentiate him from Grand Master Shan.  Just referring to the pair as Grand Master and Agent would work too; how many Grand Masters and SIS Agents are running around on Yavin 4?  Why is Marr avoiding attention to the man’s last name?

And why doesn’t Marr hop on this and use it to the Empire’s advantage?

Pragmatism and Prioritization

Marr is not a Jedi.  Marr doesn’t do things for the greater good.  He does things for the Sith Empire and for the people of the Sith Empire.  Offing Theron Shan?  Definitely on the agenda.  So is killing Satele, eventually.

But not now.  Not on Yavin 4.

Marr is probably the person closest to knowing what Revan is going to try to do in order to make the Emperor take physical form again so he can kill him.  It’s going to involve a lot of dead people.  That can easily happen; up until this tiny fragile cease fire between Marr and Satele, the Empire and the Republic have been engaged in a hot war. When they first make camp on Yavin, there is a real possibility they’ll frag each other regularly.  This is why players have to do daily quests, in theory -- to build good will between the factions. 

My partner is a military nerd and a Star Wars nerd.  He watched both version of the Battle of Rishi.  His conclusion:  based on the ships we see, Marr had more than twice the number of troops that Satele did (I put the numbers in my Yavin 4 fic).  The Imperial troops, at Marr’s word, probably could wipe out the Republic forces on Yavin 4, pack up, and head back to Dromund Kaas in time for tea.

But they won’t.  Marr wouldn’t permit it.

He knows how dangerous the Emperor is, and if he does let his troops kill the Pubs, they feed him. There also appears to be some sort of weird mystical thing going on with Revan’s bloodline.  Revan knew highly personal information about Theron (and Theron says so when the player opens the temple later on); somehow, Theron was able to use that connection to get Revan to give up Yavin 4 and secure an invite there at the end of the Rishi op.

Marr knows about this.  Marr doesn’t know what Revan would do if Marr did kill Theron or Satele, plus there’s the more predictable possibility that the Republic would respond to the death of Satele Shan thanks to the Jedi feeling it through the Force.  Chancellor Saresh would not let that opportunity pass by, even if it did feed the Emperor; we saw that at Ziost. 

Grand Master Shan is a public figure.  Her name and her power is obvious to everyone in the Yavin camp.  Theron, however, is everything his mother is not.  He is a spy.  His face is not known to the general public.  His work is secret, his exact abilities unknown.

Sure, the last name is common enough....

But Theron and Satele have never worked together before.  They’ve never operated in such close proximity before.  Yavin 4 would be the first time all the pieces could fall into place to someone observant.  Marr is many things, but one of the things he really gets annoyed about in regard to the Sith is their arrogance.  They get such fat heads that they can’t see obvious danger or they overlook aliens and non-Force Sensitives to their own detriment. 

Marr isn’t arrogant.

He doesn’t think he’s the only one who can see a family similarity or sense some connection between them.  Saying someone’s name is a powerful thing; we get upset when someone screws up our name.  It’s how our attention is attracted.  Shared last names of interesting people attract attention.  Attention leads to distraction away from the primary goal of stopping Revan and the Emperor.

That’s something Marr doesn’t want to deal with right now.  Revan and Emperor now.  The Shans later.  He avoids referring to Theron as “Shan” so as to reduce any chance that some young Sith will attempt to make their bones killing Theron, since that would spell doom for the Empire, whether through Revan’s anger or the Republic’s revenge.  It would also help empower the Sith Emperor to retake physical form, which is the last thing Marr wants him to do. 

Exposing the Grand Master as having a secret son would remove an ally from the field for Marr; Marr doesn’t want to destroy his assets before he’s used them to their full ability.  There’s no point in burning Satele Shan on Yavin 4 before Revan is dealt with. 

...And Marr respects her.  It’s a cheap way to win against a rival he knows to be his equal.

Marr wants to end Revan and the Emperor now, in that order, to defend the people of the Empire.  He’ll worry about the Shans later.  Marr will let Theron’s last name be overlooked and unmentioned, if only because it makes his job as Defender of the Empire less complicated for a few months.

**

Thanks again to @swtorpadawan​ and also @inyri​ @shabre-legacy​ @theniveanlegacy​ for discussing the original post about Satele and Theron and making me think about this.  

Headcanon Postface:

This last bit is purely my headcanon ideas about Marr, so you can leave here if you so desire. I’m placing them here rather than making a separate post and having to link back to this one. 

As I’ve described previously, we have the finished product of Darth Marr, with none of the personal insight that was provided for Satele Shan.  Who’s under the mask?  Nobody knows, really.  His first comic book adventure takes place in 3678, when he’s about 24 years old.  There’s nothing about his life beforehand that would let the player wonder how his past life affected his current decisions.  Marr ultimately would do the best he could for the Empire, regardless, but knowing if he ever hesitated, ever had second thought, had a regret -- that would make him mortal. 

And Marr is an icon, not a man, in the grander SWTOR universe, per the writers. That’s the point driven home to the player.  So that leaves it to fan fic to take off the mask or not. 

In “The Planter of Trees and Other Tales from Yavin 4,” Marr comes to this conclusion about the Shans’ relationship after observing two Shan chins.  He then alludes to understanding Satele’s decision to conceal Theron’s existence.

After Marr had gained his seat on the Dark Council (late 3680s, early 3670s), a lot of Sith families wanted him to add to their prestige. The man needed a legacy; he needed heirs.  Marr had already set himself on his path, however; he understood that it was better to be an icon.  If Marr was a normal man, he would be weakened by family connections, love, protectiveness, concern for his personal future.  Instead, Marr’s devotion to the Empire was unmatched and pure.  In the public’s eye, he was the great defender. He was the perfect Sith.

Marr never did have a public wife or a political marriage. His private life -- better secured than Imperial state secrets -- produced a  daughter that did not inherit her talents from her Force-Using parent.  Marr had been relieved that his daughter was not like him.  It meant she would never be pressured to come into public life. It meant she was free of the burden of his legacy. 

Lately, I’ve considered that, regardless of having access to the Force or not, a child of Marr was always in danger of becoming a pawn.  She was something Marr’s enemies could use against him, if they ever found out about her; being Force-Null simply meant that others could not detect her as easily. That may have also have been a concern of Satele in regard to Theron, especially as she rose through the ranks of the Jedi Order.  As soon as Marr could let his daughter fly away from Dromund Kaas, he did.  She was free. 

She died shortly before the Sack of Coruscant.  Marr did not go to her. The Empire had to matter more.  That doesn’t mean he didn’t love her.  He just never could prioritize her over the Empire. 

In my fic universe, Marr understands Satele’s choices.  He can keep his mouth shut.  For now. 

Theron is far more dangerous to the rival faction than Marr’s daughter ever was, however; he is an active player in the war, while she... just got caught in the middle, in the end....

Revan and Emperor now.  Shans later.

**