#but really theyre just a general animal thing

[neoluca]

kiylian, my disco kyrii oc <3

[dreamsy990]

drew some of my fav ody designs! wasnt originally meant to be also replicating the styles but thats sort of just how my brain works. except i didnt copy the lineart styles of anyone here so its DEFINITELY a bit uncanny for a couple of these (LOOKING AT YOU QINNY IM SO SORRY) but whatever

the designs featured here (from left to right) belong to: me, @gigizetz, @neal-illustrator, @irunaki, @bigidiotenergytm, @qinnyanimation, and @foopsie-daisy

[jackass-jones]

Really into the episode of Ouran where this girl confesses her love to Mori but he doesn’t feel the same because he’s into Honey and the girl’s reaction is just like YIPPEE I LOVE YAOI THATS SO COOL FOR YOU YAY 🥰

[thenamessparkplug]

a very unfortunate series of events has lead me to thinking about lucids again

don't worry ill be normal* by morning by ohhhhh man ohhhh jeez

*as normal as I can physically get about lucids

[beneaththebloodylake]

oh so she really is from kansai. ive been wondering about that for literally ages but never managed to catch where shes from in the anime

[waywardsalt]

not sure if pointing out that the two ships that most influence bellum x linebeck for me are meruem x komugi and benrey x gordon makes it easier or harder to understand

[logsone]

[luvelii]

I've been watching heavenly delusions and frieren reactions with like actual discussions etc and it's so interesting how wildly different people interpret things.

Things I thought were clearly laid out are just ignored by the discussion

They often speculate or ask things which have already been answered in the text but they missed it

And that part is super frustrating bc the people seem confused by things which are pretty clearly laid out

The frustrating part comes when they then wildly misinterpret what is happening

[buggachat]

SEASON 6 ILLUSTRHATER THOUGHTS

honestly, I was expecting the animation to be more jarring for me than it actually was. It was actually really easy for me to get into and tbh just looks really nice. Adrien is the character I'll need to get used to the most, but I like his look fine, I just need to get used to it.

But like. special shoutout to nino. NINO????? NINO LOOKS. SO FUCKING CUTE. I love him so much I want to squish his face?? I'm almost unable to watch this episode in a normal way because I'm too busy staring at Nino's adorable face the whole time.

the DJWifi was so cute in this episode. theyre so sweet

in general I really like the redesigns of all the characters. I think they all look like... them. Like Nathaniel looks more like Nathaniel to me, Kagami looks more like Kagami, Sabrina looks like Sabrina and Ivan looks like Ivan. I can't describe it — they look like they've matured enough to have a better understanding of who they are. I like it.

Also, the intro sequence. If there's still any doubt about whether the show will address "marinette's lie coming back to bite her / looming over her" this season, I feel like the intro answers that pretty clearly and with a distinct tone

Another thing — the background characters look soooo much better in the new animation. Not only do they not look like terrifying low res monstrosities like they did in the old show, but they have such a wide array of distinct body types that i really appreciate. a lot of diversity in the crowds w race and disability too. and they look good. it's really refreshing.

I. LOVE. the new butterfly-telepathy sequences. the way that butterfly!lila talks to her victims in a little dreamscape where she's able to use her body language and manipulation tactics. I cannot actually emphasize how much this strangely excited me. It feels so much more emotionally impactful and interesting and dynamic and Lila than what Hawkmoth did

I know people are going to be upset about Marinette being awkward around Adrien again, but I feel like it makes a lot of sense to me. In the more general sense, it makes a lot of sense for this soft-refresh of the show that is marketing itself to a new audience to re-introduce the adrienette dynamic in a way that is just a smidge redundant to old fans. This is kind of important background on how Adrien and Marinette have always been with each other and the context of their relationship! That's important to show.

As a more in-character/universe explanation — while, yes, Adrien and Marinette started to get much more comfortable in their relationship in the old season, they never really got time to BREATHE. they were awkward and messy for the majority of their time together in s5, and then right as they started to get comfortable, Gabriel started puppeteering Adrien in a way that made things pretty tense for them, and then a whole whirlwind happened where he was sent away, and then his DAD DIED and he presumably spent a lot of the summer in mourning and— and— i dunno. I don't think it's too much of a stretch for me to believe that their relationship still feels awkward, especially when a new butterfly villain just popped up and likely reminded marinette of the whole Fiasco and threw her into mega-stress mode.

Their relationship isn't technically all that "new" like they act like it is, but this IS actually probably the first time they've been able to go on regular dates like this! So it feels new, they're still sort of in that "new" stage. Before, Gabriel was keeping Adrien away, and then Adrien probably wasn't in a good headspace for a lot of the summer after he died.

(Also, I just enjoy watching Marinette be awkward about Adrien. I definitely prefer them re-treading some old ground to new audiences than for their relationship to feel too jarringly different than how we've seen them interact in the past. I wouldn't want the time skip to be used as too much of a crutch, especially when I expect that Adrien spent a lot of it in mourning)

But anyway, they're still kissing in the season intro, and this is only episode TWO of the season, so I'm excited to see them gradually get more lovey dovey as the season goes on. (Or for Marinette's stress and guilt to overwhelm her! Who knows! I'm down!)

Oh also, Ladybug looks SO GOOD. she is so shiny and pretty and I love the red in her hair and i love her and I love ladynoir talking about their relationships and and and. and. i love them. thanks for coming to my ted talk

[kcrossvine-art]

Hi fellow adventurers!! A few weeks ago i caught wind of "Delicious in Dungeon". I'm not really an anime person, but I am a TTRPG, CRPG, and cooking person- . And holy shit. It is so good i  convinced my partner to binge read the whole thing. I'm caught up on dungeon meshi, the anime, and just yesterday i also finished dungeon meshi, the manga.

Its rare to come across a serialized story that is so thematically cohesive and knows its characters so well. All of the bonus content like the artbooks and monster tidbits are just the icing on top.

So, inspired by Ryōko Kui's writing and illustration I'm going to attempt to create a recipe for every single Delicious in Dungeon recipe!-

Today that means Huge Scorpion and Walking Mushroom hotpot is on the menu!

(As always you can find the cooking instructions and full ingredient list under the break-)

MY NAMES CROSS NOW LETS COOK LIKE ANIMALS

SO, “what goes in to a Huge Scorpion and Walking Mushroom hotpot?” YOU MIGHT ASKThis is one of the pricier dishes until we get to the kelpies and dragons of the menu-

Rock lobster tail

Porcini mushrooms

Shiitake mushrooms

Snow fungus

Small potatos

Fensi (glass noodles)

Water

OPTIONAL: your choice of dipping sauces

There was a crossover/promotional event in Shibuya which featured various realworld dishes from the series. They had one for Huge Scorpion and Walking Mushroom, but they used prawns.  while those cook better in a hotpot, they also didn't look enough like the scorpion for me, they also used udon noodles for the slime and a seaweed/kale(?) mixture for the algae. If you're looking for substitutes due to price or availability i would start with those ingredients.

AND, “what does a Huge Scorpion and Walking Mushroom hotpot taste like?” YOU MIGHT ASKI hope Senshi would forgive me for technically cooking the lobster outside the pot, once he tastes it.

Okay im always partial to veggies but wowowowowowowoowowowow the snow fungus and the mushrooms tasted soooooooooooo good in the lobster stock

A nice delicate layering of different flavors

Try to get a bite with the lobster meat and shiitake together, dip in butter then chili- trust me

Its up to you what texture you prefer if you want to put the noodles in at the end or put them in halfway through the meal. Either way dont go for eating those first as theyre very filling

I think this would pair well with a citrus drink, something light and clarifying

This would also pair well with being extremely high and hungry (if you feel safe cooking while inebriated lol) very calorically dense

For the trial run I did one lobster tail in the pot with everything else, and one lobster tail off to the side to be picked apart. The former is more in spirit with a hotpot, but it got rubbery as the meal went on and lost its nice taste. The latter may be a bit more work but all you have to do still is boil it and set it aside. I found it held up much better. It was also easier to get inside the shell.

. If you have hardshell maine lobster available, i think it would be superior to rock lobster (keep in mind crustaceans will get rubbery if cooked too long in the pot) . Green onions and/or lotus root would make excellent additions

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From getting the ingredients out to sitting down and eating, id say it took maybe 30 minutes max? It'd vary on how fast you can prep vegetables and get the various implements heated.

Hotpots are not something i do very often as i'm usually just feeding myself. I think thats why a hotpot makes perfect sense to start the series off. If you want to set the tone of "take care of yourself, eat food with others, and use what you have" (generally speaking) there is nothing more simplistic, flexible, and defeats-the-purpose-if-you-eat-it-alone than a hotpot. Gather around and let your friends bring ingredients to the pot if you want to fill your heart up extra full <3

I'm doing something different here because unlike previous recipes where i used a bunch of different sources and made my own recipe out of hodge-podging it, or just used another persons recipe entirely if they did it really well, i made this more whole-cloth based off of what i had available, what I could discover through research, and my existing knowledge. Instead of the recipe being 50/50 original, this one is more 20/80. So. I'll pass the final verdict off to you guys :D 

What would you rate this recipe out of 10? (with 1 being food that makes one physically sick and 10 being food that gives one a lust for life again.) Did you love it, did you hate it? What're your thoughts on what I could do different, and what would you have done instead?

🐁 ORIGINAL RESIPPY TEXT BELOW 🐁

Ingredients:

2 Rock lobster tails

3 Porcini mushrooms

2 Shiitake mushrooms

Snow fungus (a good handful, should rehydrate in the hotpot)

2 Small waxy potatos

Fensi (glass noodles)

Water/lobster stock

Method:

Lightly rinse all of your vegetables beforehand and let them dry.

Vertically slice the porcini mushrooms. Cut off and dice the stems of the shiitake mushrooms. You can slice the tops if youd like.

Peel and cube the potatoes, roughly an inch each.

For the lobster tails; Boil a pot of salted water. Keep the shell on. Weigh the largest tail and add 1 minute of cooking time for every ounce of weight.

When done, strain the lobster from the water. Pour the water into your hotpot as the base. Serve the lobster on the side so people can pick the meat out to dip into the hotpot.

Bring the hotpot to a simmer. Add the potato cubes, snow fungus, mushrooms, and noodles.

OPTIONAL: this wasnt in the show, but its fun having sauces on the side :) i had oyster sauce, dry seasoned chili dip, melted butter, and soy sauce available

[kelocitta]

How do you draw scavs so Shaped… I want to push mine more but they just look like they’re suffering and in pain and Not Having A GooD Time

There still pretty rough for me to be honest, but I do have a good idea of how I think they 'work' in terms of anatomy and physiology and I think that helps a lot.

In generally I just keep a big head and a big chest and build around that. If you watch them move around in game, they tend to barely use their hind legs and instead swing themselves around and pull themselves forward with their arms. Their almost always bent forward in that gorilla-esque stance, and I think keeping that helps a lot to maintaining their shape and vibe. It's a big part of why I kept that even when doing 'anthros'- they just don't feel right if you treat their spine like a human spine! Otherwise you can stylize the anatomy quite a bit Really though, I think fully thinking out how you think fake animals work and what theyre similar too, what is most comfortable for them in terms of movement compared to things like humans and cats, etc helps a lot

Some animals I pretty directly pull inspiration from: Gibbons: Long armed apes, although I dont think scavenger's move exactly like them. They are mostly just a good reference for how something with such weirdly proportioned arms would use them

Hares: Just overall vibes, but also their resting posture translates nice to how I consider the body to work. Greyhound (and other lean sighthounds): Large chested but very lean. Weight and fat distribution and limits between species is a neat detail to consider. With something like a greyhound, their healthy weight is very thin looking- to the point they can often *look* underweight or overweight individuals can look 'normal'. I kinda think scavengers are similar! Healthy scavengers just naturally look kinda thin and scraggly. (In contrast, I like to think slugcats are more like humans in that they have a huge range for healthy weight, but tend not to visibly show weight gain/loss unless its pretty extreme.)

Aye-Aye: Their weird ass hands and feet (less fingers though)

[deminetly]

𓏵 A GUIDE TO SCRIPTING FRIENDSHIPS

──────────────────

YOUR FRIENDSHIP

┆what kind of friendship is it? is it chaotic, fun and full or adventures or deep and inspiring? maybe its just calm and supportive? maybe even a mix of all of these?

┆what do you want them to bring out in you? consider that if you script them to be really crazy and rebellious, you might turn out that way aswell. if you script them as calm and responsible, they probably wouldnt come with you to explore an abandoned hospital or shoplift some cute clothes

┆duo archetype examples golden retriever + black cat, chaotic + responsible, mom friend + menace

┆how long have you been friends? are you just gonna meet them for the first time and build up the friendship overtime or have you been friends for years and know each other really well already? if youve already known each other for a while, how did you meet them?

┆traditions maybe you get ice cream together every sunday, maybe you go for a trip every summer

┆hangouts what do you do together?

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

THEM AS A PERSON

basic info template here

┆traits to script weird, interesting, selfless, creative, supportive, caring, sweet, open-minded, fun, funny, adventurous, understanding, silly, helpful, thoughtful, unhinged, deep, positive, loyal, empatchetic, shy, cool, patient, passionate, wise, trustworthy, generous, humble, brave, reliable, inspiring, authentic

┆general vibe are they loud and chaotic, deep and mysterios or soft and calm? a mix of all of these?

┆energy level are they hyper or more towards the calm and chill side?

┆skills you can script them to have any skills that might benefit you like them being a hairstylist so they can help you dye your hair or being super good at math so they can help you with your homework

┆hobbies

┆a fun fact maybe they hate mint gum, maybe they have a secret tattoo that only you know about

┆friendship love language do they show affection by hugging you, complimenting you, making you gifts or asking you to hang out all the time?

remember - scripting every small detail about their personality is not necessary, your subconciousness already knows what you like in people

you can use already existing people/characters as insipration

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

THINGS TO SCRIPT

you guys dont have the same style (could cause fights while shopping)

theyre always getting you small but thoughtful gifts

they match your energy

they always have time for you

they always have interesting stories to tell you

they give amazing advice

you have a secret hangout that only you know about

they are very good at school and always willing to help you

they have the best taste in music, movies, shows, books, etc and introduce it to you aswell

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU DEVELOP FURTHER

describe your friendship in 3 words

whats your go-to activity together?

why are you friends?

whats your favourite memory together?(if you havent met yet, whats something you cant wait to do with them?)

how do you two balance each other out? are you opposites that attract or two peas in a pod?

have you ever gotten into a fight? why? how did you fix it?

how would they describe you?

do you guys have a shared secret?

do you go to the same school or maybe even work together?

do you guys have a shared dream? (ex: travelling to another country together or starting a busieness together)

whats their signature scent?

whats the craziest thing you have done together?

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

SCENARIOS TO SCRIPT

you discover an undergroud club together

they surprise you with the tickets to your favourite band/artist

they make you a playlist and you go for a late night drive listening to it

going on a spontaneous road trip

you start a prank war (harmless of course)

sneaking out to go to a house party together

building a tree house

finding a stray animal and taking it home to raise it together

you start a yourube channel together

getting matching nails/hair/outfits

getting a job at the same place and working together

starting a podcast together

karaoke

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

EXTRA

make them a playlist

make a moodboard for them/your friendship

design their house

script in a pet for them

write a story about one of your most memorable moments

[anime-grimmy-art]

People always be preaching bout snowleopard or avian Alhaitham, but WHERE is my BULL representation. Kaveh literally calls him bullheaded in so many fanfics Ive read, yet I barely see Alhaitham represent his darshan’s animal. But like, him being an aggressive herbivore that can literally bodycheck you so hard your bones shatter is such a fun concept ngl.

Even though I think giving human characters in genshin animal traits wouldn’t change much about them (I mean, Tighnari also only has like, better senses), I do have some funny headcanons about BullHaitham and LionKaveh.

I think while, as theyre mostly human, they dont often act on instinct, there’s still some things that makes em kick in. 

I hc that Alhaitham and Kaveh’s first meeting was mostly the same, with Kaveh approaching Alhaitham, but instead of just chatting, Kaveh approached him from behind and Alhaitham’s damn tail just looks like the most enticing cat toy and Kaveh couldn’t help but pounce. He got it way more under control now, but it still sometimes happens.

Same with using Alhaitham’s horns as his cat tree. Those damn pointers just scratch the itch perfectly.

Sucks for Alhaitham even more, cos he hates when his horns are jostled, cos they’re one of the bigger sources for his headaches. He does use them sometimes to prod other ppl (mostly kaveh) when he gets impatient.

Despite Alhaitham being really calm, when he’s really relaxed or tired (ie in the morning) his ears and tail often wiggle or flick ever so often. (which, again, sucks for him cos it just makes Kaveh swat at his tail.)

Also, I did call Alhaitham a herbivore, but since he’s more human than animal, he does eat meat too. He finds it amusing how ppl always reacted so shocked when he does so.

I also find the thought funny of them using phrases that are kinda animal specific to them. Like Alhaitham saying “Kaveh, you’re waving the flag” when Kaveh’s pushing things to far, cos, ya know, bull fighting. or like Alhaitham calling Kaveh a housecat to tease him.

Thinking about bullfighting, I’d think he needs his headphones not only cos of his sensitive ears, but because they help him generally block out and ignore stuff, cos if he sees sth flap about too much, it gets him agitated rly fast. (ie, Kaveh’s pacing and flowy clothes bouncing about in his periphery is torture for him)

[bobopeebo]

can you please do general laito headcanons if possible? i love ur blog already!

General Laito Headcanons

tried to wear contacts for a few years when he was younger since his eyes reminded him too much of his mother; feeling disgusted with himself every time he looked at his reflection, until eventually giving up and just choosing not to look at his reflection as much as possible

constant strong, dark urges to hurt people, even his own brothers, but hides them well behind his playful persona

a fear of rejection; forcing himself strongly onto people will typically make them try to get away from him anyway so he’ll never have to know what it’s like to actually try and win someone’s love. he thinks he’s too dirty to be genuinely liked

doesn’t understand the concept of love, doesn’t believe it exists and thinks everyone else doesn’t know what it is either and that they’re just fooling themselves

actually a talented artist with beautiful cursive handwriting too. owns a few sketchbooks that no one will ever see

despite his usually tendencies, he has a thing for cute and fluffy things like animals, plushies and desserts; something he and kanato used to bond over as children

not too bad at basketball - slightly above average from all those times ayato would invite him to play

can’t cook to save his life but has mastered the art of omelettes

is scared of hates clowns and spiders. thinks theyre too obnoxious and just plain weird (and creepy)

really likes tattoos and piercings. thinks they add a lot of personality to the deteriorating shells which are human bodies

he himself has a snake tattoo on his hip because that’s what he would get compared to most; thus eventually growing fond of them

didnt get more than that because his pain tolerance is actually not that high

if you were to put him in a trivia contest; he would press his button before you could blink and answer majority of the questions right; attesting to his cat-like reflexes and interest in random facts and topics. history, pop culture, biology, anything that seems fun to him for a little while anyway

used to get jealous of subaru when he used to see how his mom would care for him. really wishes he could experience that. really misses the mom he never had

a lot of these secret aspects of his personality are his inner child still trapped inside, hiding. all because he had to grow up too soon.

poor baby :,(

> 𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕒𝕤 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕤𝕞 𝕠�� 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕖. <

Your beloved, Bo.

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

All of the background/minor characters in Helluva Boss are much more interesting than the main characters and I’m entirely certain it’s because they aren’t forced into the Stolitz universe and they’re the only reason I watch the show now.

Like, look at this imp family/single parent unit here.

They’re watching the trial, but before that the imp woman was washing dishes and the son was grabbing cookies off the shelf.

Hi! Thanks so much for reaching out.

I absolutely agree and I think there are a couple of reasons for this—

First—The imps actually have RULES for how theyre designed as a species.

These rules are really simple, and so pretty much anyone can design an imp.

1. Imps have red skin and yellow eyes.

2. Scars, birthmarks, freckles, and other skin markings are white

3. All imps have horns. Biologically female imps have black horns and black hair, and biologically male imps have white hair and white and black striped horns.

What’s nice is that, even with these general guidelines, there’s plenty of room for variation in designing imps. Some imp’s legs are bent like a satyr’s some have more human legs, they have varying lengths of tails, different body shapes and sizes, etc.

Idk if these design rules were in place for Imps as a species from the very beginning of the show, but I think having these rules helps A LOT because it means the character designers do have freedom to make unique and appealing designs, while not getting TOO crazy, which prevents them from being too over-designed:

(All character design sheets by Erin Frost—former artist and character designer for Helluva Boss)

Second—due to being background characters, they’re less likely to over-designed in general. This hasn’t always been the case (and sometimes still isn’t) with Hellaverse shows, especially Hazbin’s Pilot:

I don’t even think these are all necessarily “bad” or incompetent character designs on their own, but they have a lot of little details, and when they’re all squished together like that, it causes some pretty rough visual clutter. Charlie is supposed to by the main focus of the above shots, but she doesn’t really stand out from the background crowd.

Same with shot of Alastor watching the broadcast—he stands out a little better since he’s silhouetted, but the characters in the foreground having so much going on really detracts from Alastor as the main focal point.

This is also just like. Not a very good composition. I’m really not trying to be mean or rude but, the characters being so overly designed and having such similar color palettes really muddles things.

Also—because there are so many design elements trying to be incorporated at once, we sometimes end up losing all those little extra details that are added due to the visual clutter. I didn’t have any idea Alastor was a deer until like 2 years ago, because his antlers were so small I never noticed them. I thought he was an owl, tbh.

I think we get the most overly complicated designs when the character artists and designers are given like. 3 or 4 different themes or ideas that they have to blend together. Alastor is a deer AND a “radio demon” AND a practitioner of voudo. Angel Dust is a spider AND a mafioso AND a porn star. Some of those ideas absolutely end up being lost because so much is trying to be fit into the design.

The most infamous example of this is Queen Bee, who’s supposed to be a honey bee, lava lamp, fennec fox, party girl, and apparently also an animal tamer?

And I’ll be honest, I’m actually one of the few people who kind of likes her design. I think if you were to simplify her and take out a lot of the extra details, she could still be a fun sparkle dog-type character. But there’s so much going on with her, that a lot of her design elements get lost.

Like, apparently the little pink mark on her forehead is actually a closed eye??? Like I think it’s supposed to be an Ocelli, the third “eye” insects can have:

But it’s just like. Closed usually I guess. In theory, it’s not a terrible design idea for an insect character, but Bee has SO MUCH going on visually that this design choice gets entirely lost. I just thought it was like. A weird symbol on her forehead, and it took me AGES to realize it’s supposed to be her Ocelli or a third eye.

This happens a lot with more of the main characters in Hb and Hazbin, because they’re apparently supposed to be SO many different things that the character designs get too cluttered.

I think this is the main reason for a lot of the less appealing character designs in the Hellaverse, because they’re trying to be like. Ten different things at once. The imps avoid this fate though because, other than maybe their general profession and age, they’re supposed to be imps. They have those design rules we outlined before. I think thats what makes the biggest difference and is also why Mammon is actually the best design of the seven deadly sins because he’s literally just a round jester you look at him and your brain goes “yep that’s a jester” and youre not left trying to figure out what he’s supposed to be for 10 minutes. He’s not trying to be seven things at once. He’s a jester. With some extra arms. Sorry I was wrong when I said it was belphagor before. It’s mammon. Dudes literally just a jester.

[fandaniel]

@campanellacat hello bo @isabelopaque hello katie. welcome to my lecture about a guy from a mmorpg that i really love that most fans of said mmorpg do not like. this will be multiple paragraphs because IS NOTHING EVER SIMPLE!!!!!! ffxiv spoilers. all that.

to cover some basic set up, fandaniel is a fragmented soul of a man named hermes who lived thousannnnddds of years ago and hermes is humanoid but not Human. he is apart of a ancient race of giant creatures that possessed great magical ability and could shift forms easily. all animals and creation was made by this race, but there was a system in place where every creation would go through approvals and testing before just being set out into the world.

heres the thing. hermes was the overseer of all this testing, he was a very kind man who struggled with the peoples understanding of what was 'living'. often times if any creature presented any problem, a wing damaged, aggression, you name it, they were meant to be killed. people saw creatures they made as creations, if it did not benefit them, better their collective society, it was to be thrown out. as well in this society, there was a lot of social taboos, mostly around being a individual. everyone dressed the same, to express discomfort out of term was socially not. great. for their world is to be perfect.

hermes with this issue of life and what is or isn't living and if there is anything better out there, made meteia, a secondary magic that was highly responsive to emotions. the meteia is a hivemind of birds that can travel into space, read peoples emotions and minds instead of using words. their job is to explore the universe, find any life, how they life, and report back. he let one meteia live with him, he gave her free will to leave, feeling bad about keeping her pinned to earth. her name is meteion! she reports the findings of the other meteias :3

things are fine, he makes meteia in secret (scared of people finding out he is Questioning the world around him), and he keeps on testing creatures on a big sky island with a bunch of other researchers. but then his teacher who took a higher role in government wants to pass on, in their race, death is a choice made by people who think their job is completed, for their soul to be recycled into something new. this idea of Wanting death really fucks with hermes and he tries to deny the role, if he took it, his friend would die. peacefully, but he felt there was so much more in his life he could do.

also, the role is called fandaniel. if you worked in government in this society, you were called the role you are instead of your name. why its called fandaniel?? i dont know. just a reference to final fantasy xii and as far as i know has no connection to xiv.

also there is some time jumping stuff, timeline stuff in a 'this always happened this way' thing. but your character from the future goes to the past to learn what the fuck fandaniel (hermes) did to doom the world in the future sooo much. it is also generally odd because hermes is. as i will use a photo from the lore book.

hermes is very sweet, quiet, even a bit shy and clumsy at times. compared to fandaniel. (i forget if i took a picture of this but its about the words on the wiki)

after telling a few companions you find while trying to research hermes, you tell them basically i dont know What he did but he is probably going to destroy the world. so. they confront him and hes like huh?? and shortly after meteion starts getting a message from the other meteia. she starts panicking, running away, even trying to kill herself before she can report her message. but everyone tracks her down because what the fuck is your bird doing hermes 🫵 but then hermes runs off with her because theyre 10000% going to fucking kill her.

so you track him down where he ran with her, and the meteia start listing off their report. all life is dead, they felt every emotion of every creature dying out there, plague, famine, war, etc. the meteia tell him there is no meaning to life, there is only death in the end. and everyone outside of him is like hermes. we need to take your bird to be studied. and thus he freaks out, he chains up everyone, letting meteia free to try to kill the world. in his eyes, it was a test of humanity's will to life, just as he did to every creature, it was humanities turn to be tested. he erased everyones memories (including himself, important because he sees it as his right as a person to fight) besides two who got to run away before so.

seeing himself as a failure, not knowing the whole story, he believes genuinely that he killed meteion. its very clear he views her as some kind of daughter. he takes the role of fandaniel, feeling terrible about them coming there to give him that job and seeing him at his worst.

long story short, world gets reallyyyy fucked. the other person who isn't the player (who goes back to the future to give humanity a chance to fight back now knowing what it is attacking them) has to split the world into many, splitting most everyones soul into many smaller souls.

fast forward a few thousand years, hermes soul was one of the souls that was split up into many. he exists as a lead scientist of a highly advance society named the allagan empire. but the issue here is that his society has regressed, there was no motivation, people were cruel for fun, testing on each other and not advancing their empire. to find reason, to find that answer for why we live, he brings back the dead emperor of allag, who tells him there is nothing after life, there is no meaning. the empire fails no matter how hard-- now named amon-- tries to fix it.

one of the people who's soul didn't get split up and lose their memories confronts him, basically, if he assumes his souls role as fandaniel, then he can continue his work, be immortal. and well. he gets aaaall his memories back (including all the stuff with meteion and erasing his memories in the past) and it fucks him up badly to know he doomed the universe and he had no idea how to fix it! nihilism roots deeply. he sees his purpose, the purpose you set for him thousands of years ago, he is the bringer of the end of the world.

once all the other guys who would stand in his way get killed off, he sets his plan in motion. basically, strike as much fear and chaos as possible, make giant scary towers, kidnap people to harvest their emotional negativity, let meteia kill them all. he acts incredibly deranged, unreasonable, he is just like This.

but truly he can't lie to his own nature. there is small hints that he isnt All about this in how he interacts with others. he is a liar to himself. he sees himself in the past as not himself, but a man who ruined his life, doomed to repeat this cycle again and again if he doesn't erase everything. death is a gift in his eyes i believe. and he knows no one will agree with him, and god, he really doesn't want you to agree with him. show him hes wrong. fight back. he has so many chances to stop you but he just doesn't because he wants to know the outcome. a researcher and academic on every level.

and yeah he kills himself in the end but NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!! hes fine. i think the thing that tops this off is that the short story where hermes is unaware of meteion but cant find a answer he is Hopeful even.

plus when you meet him in the afterlife after he kills himself and you fight him again, he is coming to terms that he is just Wrong, he doesn't want you to ever agree with him, or even empathize with him views.

WHATEVER. I LIKE THIS FUCKING FREAK!!! LAYERED!!!!