#but that's all fanon. or just personal headcanons... so really entirely up to you to include it or not

[seawitchkaraoke]

Y'all arguing over whether real life SMP is canon or not, methinks y'all don't know what the word canon means

[incorrectbatfam]

Types of obnoxious batfam stans

Written by an obnoxious batfam stan

Not really a rant but something I've noticed over the years interacting in different spaces and I've decided to make your problem now.

Please note that I'm not saying there's any "right" way to be a fan because we all suck by virtue of being comic nerds, but there are certain kinds of batfamily fans that stick out to be in particular.

Anywho, here are 12 kinds of annoying batfam stans that you've probably run into and you better get a laugh out of it *points gun to your head*.

1) The Newbies Who Never Heard of Google

There's no shame in being new to something. It's a phase that we're all guaranteed to go through, whether we're 11 or 101. However, in this day and age, so many things can be easily googled that you don't need to shout every question you have into the VVorld VVide VVoid. If you need comic recs or a reading list, google it. If you wanna know a character's origin story, google it. If you need to know the color of Batman's underpants in a particular issue in 1965... well that's probably too specific for Google but Reddit will definitely have an answer.

2) The Middle School Authors

Before the 13-year-olds get up in my notes, I'm not saying everyone that age writes like this. Middle school is a state of mind. These fanfic writers usually stand out in a few ways.

They're oftentimes first-person POV or reader-insert. Give Y/N a break, she's tired.

The grammar is stunningly atrocious. I get if you're inexperienced or if you're writing in a second language, but we are in the prime era of autocorrect. If you need help, it's right there. Also, fuck c*nsoring b*d w*rds and fuck "unalive."

The characters do things that are out-of-character because the author is projecting their own personality. Bruce Wayne is a lot of things but he does not listen to the fucking Mountain Goats.

There's a lack of experience or research when it comes to certain topics. That's not how physics works. He can't walk that injury off. And that's definitely NOT how you do the horizontal hokey pokey.

3) The Neckbeards

Unfortunately, these basement-dwelling mouth-breathers tainted the image of what a comic fan is, though that's been changing recently. Still, we've all seen them. They gatekeep via pop quizzes, 'cause obviously you're not a real fan unless you know what page 10 of Batman #138 smells like. They give unsolicited commentary on people's cosplays, nitpicking the guys and being gross toward women. And heaven forbid the comics add a little diversity.

4) The Moviegoers

Nothing inherently wrong with getting into the fandom via the movies, nor is there anything wrong with sticking to that. I just feel like we're two different species of Galapagos finches, you know?

5) The Christopher Nolans

Separate from casual fans of the Nolan movies. I'm calling them the Christopher Nolans because these people have a tendency to reach for the grimdarkest thing possible. It's like they cannot fathom Batman having any other emotions besides punching and gargoyle brooding.

6) The Canon Purists

Wanna share a fun headcanon? NO, because Stephanie Brown never used cherry lip balm in the comics so therefore that must be the absolute truth. These people are a stickler for comic accuracy to the point where it's like... why bother interacting with the fandom in the first place? The worst part is when they're adamant on following a single continuity and refuse to consider anything else. This is comics we're talking about. Everything either has been or will be canon at some point.

7) The Fanon Worshippers

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the people who base their entire perception of the characters on something either they pulled out of their ass or that their mutual with 16 followers came up with, despite evidence directly contradicting it. I love WFA, but I feel like that's partially responsible for further perpetuating certain popular myths. Also, these fans tend to focus solely on the batfam/their ships. It's one thing to have some people in the foreground vs. background, but put some respect to Bart Allen's name you goddamn cheesecakes.

8) The Golden Age Dads

These guys aren't really obnoxious. I actually find it kind of cute how they think Jason Todd is still dead.

9) The Chronically Online

I have a rule of thumb when it comes to discourse: if it's not something I'd hear about at a bar, it's not worth my mental energy. Some people haven't gotten the memo, though.

These are either the well-intentioned but misinformed teenagers or grown-ass adults beefing with children because they don't have a life. They have takes that are oversimplified, rage-inducing, TikTok algorithm attention-grabbers that no one cares about in real life.

Don't get me wrong, we've got a bunch of issues in comics and fandom that are worth discussing. However, there comes a point where you're splitting hairs and need to go the fuck outside. I'm not gonna link the post 'cause I don't wanna call them and their 7 notes out, but the other week I saw someone saying Stephcass was a racist ship because something something colonialism parallel. You gotta be Elastigirl to have that kind of reach.

10) The Corporate Simps

I love comics. I appreciate the writers and artists. However, you will find my carcass in a ditch before you catch me licking the boots of DC/Warner Bros. Basically, these fans, fewer as they are, can't seem to fathom that their favorite franchise can (and does) put out some steaming motherfucking garbage.

11) The Hot Cosplayers

Not actually annoyed, I'm just a little jealous. Stop being hotter than me, please and thank you.

12) The One With A Punchline For Everything

Wait–

[angelfoxx]

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° “…US?”

…in which their feelings for you become apparent.

FEATURING: simon “ghost” riley, john “soap” mactavish, & keegan p russ I AM SALIVATING

WARNINGS: suggestive, but nothing nsfw. yet 😇 also so sorry i write k**gan’s name and i just get fucked up. i just can’t behave myself. so i lose my mind a little in his section eek

NOTES: excuse my rather small starting lineup; i’m still new to the game and all of its lore and i’d rather get to know the characters first rather than make horrible headcanons based off of their fanon interpretations. you know, like making a six foot ten war criminal dresses in a fucking executioner’s hood a little uwu baby

— SIMON “GHOST” RILEY.

✧ Everything I see on TikTok regarding this guy makes him seem like a fucking demon in the sheets. I really don’t get that vibe. Especially not at the start of a relationship.

✧ The first time you meet, he thinks you’re attractive. And then he pushes that thought aside, because he’s a soldier. He’s actively at work doing a high-risk, high-stress job. You’re attractive, yes, but he’s not going to pursue you. This is not the right time for that.

✧ Things develop after…like, a long ass time. And it’s not sexual in the start. It’s, like…you’re cleaning your gun down after a mission, and you get a clean rag thrown into your lap. You look up into those hollow soulless fucking eyes and Ghost just shrugs, not meeting your gaze but instead just vaguely gesturing at your gun. “Your rag’s dirty. You’re rubbin’ dirt int’a the thing.”

✧ It’s small things like that. Things that are helpful but always laced with a comment that could be considered sort of rude or abrasive. He doesn’t notice; he only realizes that he’s coming off as rude and probably pushing you away after he makes a comment on your form being lazy and Price, sort of quietly laughing, asks why he’s so insistent on snarking on you. He replies that mistakes like yours could get you hurt. Which, they could. But so could everyone else’s, and he doesn’t make comments about them. So…?

✧ Phase two of him trying to…hit on you? Exist with you? Who fucking knows. Anyways, he just stops talking. He’ll still throw you clean rags, but he won’t make a comment about how using a dirty rag is ruining your gun. He’ll still make a point out of sweeping fallen food and shit off of your spot at the table after you eat, but he doesn’t grumble and scoff at you not to waste anymore. He resorts to silent acts of service to the point where it gets annoying. He’s always quiet, but now he’s unnervingly quiet and honestly, is it still him if he doesn’t catch you for random things every now and then?

✧ The silent stage can go on forever, so a catalyst really saves you. The catalyst comes when a new recruit gets a little too aggressive; a small argument about your ability on the field turns into a minor brawl. Aforementioned brawl immediately ends when the recruit dares to put their hands on you and shove you and Ghost, like some six-foot-one demon cast from the pits of hell, appears behind you and gets very up close and personal with them. Asking what the hell they think they’re doing, asking if they think that’s a good way to have a team on the field, et cetera, et cetera. Basically, he makes the recruit feel like absolute shit. Oh, and he doesn’t look at you the entire time.

✧ So, obviously, now you have a weird situation at hand. You’re getting ready to go to sleep and everyone’s sort of looking at you funny, because there’s no reason for a fucking lieutenant to jump in and break up an argument like that—pulling people apart, sure, but not so suddenly and not so aggressively. The recruit hasn’t spoken to you. Ghost hasn’t spoken to you. So, anyways, you pay him a visit.

✧ You go down to say thanks, and for some fucking reason, the guy can’t take a compliment. Or gratitude. He says you were slower than the other recruit, that it’ll get you killed on the field, et cetera. He can’t just shut up and take the thanks.

“I’m telling you, I…I came down here to thank you, of all things. Can you cut the criticism one time and accept it?”

Ghost stiffens. It’s not a thousand-yard stare anymore. It’s just a wide, pissed-off glare. For a long minute, he’s silent. And then…

“Welcome.” His voice is grumpish. “Happy?”

“Sure.” You manage a little smile. It’s sort of funny; he can’t just take your thank you and drop it. “It’s improvement.”

Ghost nods once, albeit stiffly. “Okay.”

“…so, you gonna tell me why you did it?” You ask it as a joke. You aren’t dumb. You know he wants you gone. You’re expecting a harsh “get out” or something of the like. You aren’t expecting an answer.

“Disrespect makes ignorance. Ignorance makes casualties.” Oh. An actual real, reasonable answer. Surprising. Ghost himself seems a little surprised; he blinks owlishly again, and he doesn’t say anything else. He’s just a big guy standing in a little room with a skull mask on.

“Oh.” You swallow. “That’s…rational.”

“Were you expecting irrational?”

“No. I wasn’t expecting anything.” You scoff. “You’re not exactly chatty.”

“I don’t waste words.” Ghost’s eyes narrow. “I’m not dumb.”

“I didn’t call you dumb.” You shrug. “I’m just surprised you gave me an answer that wasn’t bitching at me.”

“I don’t bitch.”

“You do.”

“I’m not a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl, recruit. I don’t bitch.”

“Even Price thinks you bitch. At me, at least. All the time.”

✧ Price thinks he bitches at you? And he’d told you? Oh, no, no. Externally, Ghost is stiff and stoic. Internally, Ghost is shitting bricks. Price had told you that? Straight-up told you that? Oh, no. You and Price talk and he comes up in conversation? Oh, no, no, no.

✧ He addresses this with Price, obviously. Storms in all puffed-out and pissy and asks what the hell he’s doing gossiping about his soldiers and Price just sort of laughs him off, asking what he’s talking about and then why he’s so upset that he’s bringing up one of his best men to one of the recruits.

✧ Oh.

✧ Ghost swears up and down it’s not like that. He swears and he bangs the side of his hand on the table and he curses on his own heart that it’s not like that but the whole time Price is laughing because in all of the years that he’s known Simon, not once has Simon broken through Ghost. But now, he has. The stumbling over words, the defensive aggression, the way he’s pacing so furiously—oh, Simon Riley is melting down inside that big mask and it’s equal parts heartbreaking and hilarious.

✧ Cue Price becoming a wingman. Ghost swears he’ll kill him every time he puts you two together to spar or puts you two on cleanup duty or god fucking forbid you’re in the doghouse doing some foul task and Ghost has to watch you. God fucking damn the captain, because he knows Ghost will grumble and complain but with you, he’ll eventually stop that in favor of helping you. And it’s sort of heartwarming for him to do his nightly rounds and it’s all quiet but there’s voices coming out of the kitchen and he can hear Ghost in that gruff, grumbly tone telling you how to mop and you snidely telling him that if you can’t do it right, then maybe he should do it instead. And he objects, of course, and then within ten minutes Price watches Ghost’s shadow come up to yours and he hears the mop change hands.

✧ It takes you a long time to realize that you’re really being assigned to Ghost’s side for every fucking thing you do. It takes you an even longer time to realize that Price tends to pass by you two on occasion, and every time he does, he’s smiling. And it takes you a ridiculously long time to realize that Ghost isn’t always radiating heat; whenever he takes the mop from you or takes the gun you’re cleaning from you, whenever he finishes off a task that you’ve started, it’s not that he’s always that hot. It’s that, under that mask, he’s flushed.

✧ It takes you a very, very long time to realize that the legendary Ghost has taken an actual liking to you.

— JOHN “SOAP” MACTAVISH.

✧ Thank fucking god this guy is next. Slow burn ass Ghost makes me want to rip my eyes out. Just have passionate angry sex and talk about your feelings after. Christ.

✧ It’s not exactly a secret that the minute you arrived on base, you gained an admirer.

✧ Soap isn’t someone who rarely gets hooked on someone else. The guy’s a walking heart eyes emoji. The difference with you was that it wasn’t the kind of attraction that had him sweet-talking you over drinks that night.

✧ This was different. Rather than chase, Soap wanted to impress — and, well, he tried. He tried his fucking hardest. He tried so hard the other higher-ups noticed. How embarrassing.

✧ Every time you’re in the room, he somehow gets even chattier. His voice drops. If he’s working out, he starts loading weights onto the bar he’s using to an almost comical degree. He loses his fucking mind. It’s like he short circuits. Which is ridiculous, because he’s a fucking soldier. What the fuck is he doing trying to lift five hundred pounds on a Tuesday morning? Why is he freaking the fuck out?

✧ The thing is, right, is you’re not exactly hovering over the guy. You have your own agenda to adhere to and also, it would be really weird if you just started laying praises on him, so you go about your day as regular and poor Soap is left heartbroken and also achy-armed because you literally could not care less that he’s lifting double, triple his body weight.

✧ Literally every higher-up notices. They make jokes about it and he borders on threatening friendly fire. It’s just a little crush. That’s all it is. Yeah. And so when you’re all doing team sparring and you keep winning, he’s just watching you like a lovesick puppy because it’s just a little crush. That’s all.

✧ Price can’t have his soldiers slacking off. Of course not. He can’t have them getting lazy — so he orders Soap to go up against you. Because, you know, he seems out of it and you’re the best of the recruits, so you’ll go against someone better. Yeah. That’s why he calls him out.

✧ God bless the poor guy. He panics for like three seconds and then makes a very thickly-accented taunt about how it’s unfair to you to go up against him. You, of course, in the spirit of good fun, reply to his taunt and tell him to prove it.

✧ He goes into the circle with you. He goes into the circle with you and he fucking falls apart.

You’ve quickly learned that talking is Soap’s weakness. If his mouth is moving, his feet fall behind.

“Get enough sleep last night, MacTavish?” You dodge a flying fist. “You look a little sleepy.”

“Got plenty.” A wry grin crosses his face. “Don’t worry about my beauty sleep.”

“I have reason to. You need it.” You wrinkle your nose. “Bad.”

Soap’s jaw drops slightly, and — there! — he hesitates. Probably out of surprise, but it’s enough. Deftly, you lunge in at his knees, swipe them out, and…hm. Simple. Almost too easy, actually, to pin him.

Soap’s heart is pounding under your hand. His chest is flat against the ground, but you can feel it through his back, which is wild in and of itself. He grunts when his cheek hits the ground; he mumbles something akin to “bloody hell”, but you can’t quite make out the words.

Grinning, you sit back and kick your heel up against his neck, keeping his head pinned down. The cheering you receive mostly comes from recruits who are impressed with your skill.

The minority is higher-ups, exchanging amused glances. They seem awfully humored with the sight of one of their own being pinned so easily by a new recruit. Hmm…

✧ From that point on, Soap somehow manages to watch more of your sparring sessions. He usually just watches, rather than critique; if you ask, he’ll just say you certainly seem to be doing fine. If you ask for help, though, he’ll help you. Christ, he’ll help you. He’ll genuinely spend time assisting you on whatever is troubling you.

✧ Eventually, after a long training day, you decide to ask Soap to join you in the ring. You genuinely just want to see how you stack up to a “better” opponent; you’ve apparently pushed beating him to the side. Or you just want to do it again. He doesn’t think of that, though.

✧ He’ll come in (after teasing you just a bit) and he will spar with you, just giving you advice and pointers mid-action. He’s whipped, but he’s also still a trained soldier. He knows what he’s doing, and once he gets through the brain fog you seem to weigh down onto him, he is genuinely helpful.

✧ Still, after you’re both hot and panting and finished and resting on the sidelines, you have to ask him why he helps you so much. You have to ask if it’s because he thinks you’re lacking, or bad, or if it’s some sort of personal vendetta for that one time in front of the recruits and the higher-ups.

✧ Soap just laughs and, rather awkwardly, rubs at his neck. He avoids eye contact, and he bites his lip, and he tilts his head around before he dares answer you, tone sheepish. “Consider it a, ah, personal interest.”

— KEEGAN P RUSS.

✧ SHITS MYSELF VIOLENTLY. SO SORRY

✧ i love this fucking man so very much and i don’t know jack shit abt him because i need to play ghosts and get the first hand experience like I don’t want to spoil his character but I URRRGHHGGGGG

✧ imma try to do him justice but sorry if im missing on important lore

✧ He’s not as uptight as Ghost, but he’s not as whipped as Soap. He’s somewhere in the middle; he’s aware that you’re attractive but he does push it aside. He’s working. You’re working. He doesn’t have time for that, and it’s also a safety concern. He remembers what they did to Ajax, and god fucking forbid they try to pull that shit with anyone else to use as bait.

✧ When he’s at base, he’s busy. He’s devoted to his work and he doesn’t cut corners to chit-chat. The most social he’ll really get is at dinner; he’s the kind of person who will eat with the group, but rather than talk, he’ll really just listen. he’s me fr fr

✧ Getting to know Keegan is sort of awkward because he’s just not super outgoing. He’s attractive (if your radio is on and you don’t buckle at the knees the first time you hear his sexy deep pantywetting voice over the thing, are you even real?) and he’s got the whole mysterious quiet guy thing down, and yet when you approach him to try and strike up a conversation with a simple question (“So how was your day?”) he’s prone to just looking at you and raising a brow and answering sort of flatly. (“Same as every other one. What, did something happen?”)

✧ Most of your bonding actually occurs when it’s just the two of you. You’ve bumped into him late at night before — sometimes he’s at the range shooting targets and fiddling with a variety of weapons, or sometimes he’s in the kitchen scouring the shelves, or sometimes he’s in the gym working out when nobody is there to bother him and ogle his fine ass fucking body holy shit his thighs. He’s a little easier to talk to at night, actually. Maybe it’s the lack of a crowd, but the first time you stumble into him making himself a pot of fucking tea at damn near midnight, he actually seems friendly.

“What are you making?” For a moment, you panic, thinking that you might’ve just scared the shit out of poor Keegan by speaking so suddenly and from behind where he’s standing beside the sink, a little humming kettle in front of him. His shoulders god his fuckinf shoulders i want to lick them don’t so much as twitch, though — and then you remember the guy’s entire job is stealth and observation. Hell, he probably heard you across camp.

“Tea.” Yeah, he couldn’t sound less concerned. His voice is as low and gravelly as usual; he sounds a little more relaxed, actually, not so brash and shout-y. “Chamomile.”

“Sergeant Russ drinks chamomile tea?” You laugh a little, sort of tentatively. You two aren’t strangers, but you’ve only had a few conversations…if you can call brief exchanges conversations, of course.

“…yeah?” Keegan actually sounds confused; it’s dark in the kitchen, but you can make out the outline of his head turning over his shoulder. “What, you got a problem with that?”

“No. No, sir. No problem.” You shrug. “I just didn’t peg you to be the chamomile tea type.”

“Didn’t you?” The short scoffish bark Keegan lets out is a brief laugh. “What did you peg me for?”

“Dunno. Black, I guess.”

“Are you calling me boring?”

“No.”

Keegan hums in response to that. He busies himself with pouring his tea and thank fucking god your eyes have adjusted to the dim light in here because god, his fucking hip to waist ratio under that gear is something wicked and you let your conversation slip. You’re in here for a snack, but you don’t want to bother—

“You come in here for somethin’ other than staring?” Oh. Good. This is the Keegan you’d expected after hearing him sass half of his team on comms. You can hear the edge of a grin in his voice; there’s a shuffle as he turns around and then a wooden groan as he leans against the counter. A short second later, you hear the almost exaggerated slurp of tea.

“Crackers. I’m hungry.”

A wooden scrubbing sound. He’s moved over, presumably to let you open the cabinet housing boxes of sort of dry, not particularly good crackers. He doesn’t say a word; he just keeps drinking his tea and pretends to ignore you as you make your way over, crouching down to fumble for a bag of crackers. Pretend, because you can feel that he’s watching you. His presence on the field is invisible; his gaze in the kitchen is not. Still, he doesn’t bother you; he lets you get your crackers and retire to the edge of the counter across from him to snack, and he doesn’t say a word.

“Are you always so quiet?” You gesture vaguely at the slight shape of him. “Is it just part of the job?”

Keegan laughs, more to himself than in response to you. “Sure.”

✧ He is, generally, pretty quiet. His usual demeanor is laid-back and observant; if he’s not under stress, though, and you start talking to him, he’ll respond almost always with something mildly sarcastic. You come to learn that he isn’t actually boring. He’s got a quick sense of occasionally-dark humor. Sometimes he laughs at his own jokes—usually after he’s started to walk away from you. He’s fiercely protective of the Ghosts and any recruits training near or with them. He also doesn’t seem to mind you.

✧ You’d hesitate to say you two were friends — it always seemed like there was something in between you, though you couldn’t name what — but you were friendly, and it was nice.

✧ During group dinners, he’d stand against the wall behind you. Or across from you, though usually doing that meant that he’d make a game out of trying to get you to squirm under his constant staring. He’d run into you late-night in the kitchen and make casual, not uncomfortable, small talk. Hell, at one point he offered you a drink post-training and made a sort of point to always offer you one whenever you had returned to base and were lingering around in the later hours.

✧ After a particularly long day, you find him in the kitchen, just drinking straight from the bottle. He offers you the thing — he seems more than a little tipsy, but when you decline (he’s been drinking directly from it, and…the fuck does army hygiene look like?) he sort of half-laughs and says, sarcastically, “What d’you look so horrified for? Too good to share a bottle, princess?” and then he immediately excused himself afterward.

✧ You know that saying, “drunk words are sober thoughts”? Yeah. Yeah.

✧ i need the fatty part of keegans thigh in my mouth right now i need to bite it i need to bite it and go rrrrrahrhrahrah like a fucking rabid dog

[mrabubu]

Ok so I just enter to Tumblr and the first thing I see are hate comments for a post?...

I honestly loved what you did, I'm relatively new to the fandom and the first thing I saw about Leo was Leosagi fanarts which confused me because they're not even in the same series?... But people defended it so much that I thought that was a normal ship that the entire fandom liked and that's why I would have to get used to it, then I find out your blog and I'm so in love with the way you portray Leo with y/n it means a lot to me! So, in short: thanks for speaking up about it and I just really love your drawings and animations ✨

Thank you, I appreciate your words ~

But, honestly, this is scary to see how much some people downplay Leo and his personality to just him being gay (when he's not and his personality and character arc are MUCH more than that) and deceive others into thinking leosagi is canon... I saw other case like this, and I myself at some point though it was something until I checked everything and realised that, no, it's all just headcanon that some really forcing into others and even creators themselves.

I hope you don't mind if I leave some of my thoughts on this ship under your ask, but I've watched the first episode of Usagi Chronicles because I wanted to a) see what all the fuss is about, b) try not to make people think I'm critical when I haven't even watched the show. I'm going to leave my thoughts below, so, if people want, they can read them. If not, then, please, don't. Those are my personal experience. If you like leosagi and want to continue ship it, do it. It's not my business. Under the line I'll be talking mostly about those people who, again, forcing this ship into fans and creators.

So, I watched that first episode while my friend watched the whole series, and, honestly, my thoughts were "huh..?". Like, Usagi to me felt like diet Leo. They're basically have the same personality, but Usagi is less charismatic and even annoying... Leo to some is also annoying, but he still has his charms and strategic mind. And from what I've heard, even by the end of the season 2 Usagi stays pretty much the same. Honestly, I don't see how this ship can work without heavy fanoning both characters. I wouldn't be surprised if many aggressive shippers haven't even watched Usagi Chronicles and ship leosagi because: a) they need to ship Leo with a male and Yuichi is an easy choice, b) they just look cute together. Because if past movie Leo would meet past season 2 Usagi they wouldn't stand each other. And in a relationship they would get bored of each other pretty quickly, because there would be no dynamic or chemistry. Good friends? Maybe. Partners? No.

I'm not going to talk about Miyamoto because as far as I know he has a canonical love interest and a child.

And all this led me to a question: is THIS what people want...? For creators to butcher a character so they could have their fanservice?

[eliyips]

HOW DO YOU MAKE X SO FRIENDSHAPED?!

But also genuinely curious about the design translation from the actual skins to your interpretations due to the small but mighty details added in

Infodump as hard as you want!

If i ever pass up an opportunity to talk about my X design, it will be because I am either dead, or dying!!! neither are true at time of posting, so here you go! I will be going over my ENTIRE design process for Xisuma, starting with my initial design:

My initial design for Xisuma wasn't anything special, in my opinion. Most of what I included was directly ripped from the classic Doomslayer. Though, the face scars were inherited from fanon, of course. :) The changes that I did make were in service of having things make more sense for Xisuma. Namely, the belt buckle, and the fabric covering the arms...

The belt buckle is simple - bullets didn't really make sense as a design motif, all considered - but the fabric is more complicated. I have a couple different ideas about why Xisuma wears the suit, but I haven't settled one way or the other on some of the specifics, so forgive me if I'm a bit vague. Ultimately, It is just my impression that X is not comfortable having his body visible more than it needs to be, whether that be for health-related reasons or for personal/emotional reasons. I don't intend to ever draw Xisuma with his helmet off, because of that. To me, it feels like a violation of boundaries. To be perfectly clear though, that's just for me - more power to other artists who draw him without the helmet/armor! :)

By the time I was full-on fixated on Xisuma, I realized I was unsatisfied with this first pass at his design. Mainly, in regards to the helmet. So I did more work on it!

I feel like my re-design process for the helmet is a good example of the importance of using reference. :) I did a lot of unsatisfactory sketches before pulling up pictures of real helmets, at which point I feel like I settled on something I was happy with very quickly.

Specifically, I referenced motocross helmets! My choice of reference was mostly driven by my passing interest in sports equipment design, though motocross helmets are similarly bulky and have the same distinct mouthpiece as X's helmet, so I think it was a good choice. I also feel like the pixels at the top of Xisuma's skin can be pretty easily read as the brim of a helmet, so it works out!

Other than the motocross helmet influence, I also made the choice to add tubing to the sides and back of the helmet. This rolls with my headcanons about the purpose of the helmet, connecting to air tanks on his back! I also think it helps to distinguish him from the doomslayer, in addition to the new helmet shape.

The only other changes I made were to the helmet's palette, added a few additional grey tones for contrast, and the positioning of his scars. I decided I wanted them to be a little off-center, leaning towards his left eye. I'm pretty inconsistent with how I draw the scars though, lol, so it changed again by the next time I drew him.

At this point my design is mostly settled for him, and I don't expect it to change very significantly any time soon. I don't have much else to say about it, but I listed the other iterative changes I made to the design above! I figure I will continue making small tweaks to his design every time I draw him :)

That said... I have yet to answer your initial question! So I will answer it now:

"HOW DO YOU MAKE X SO FRIENDSHAPED?!"

My answer is that it's (almost) all in the eyes!!! I have already talked pretty extensively about Xisuma's eyes. So I won't dwell for too long! In short, human facial recognition is very closely tied to the eyes. The ability to see the eyes of a character clearly affords you a lot of flexibility when it comes to making a design seem approachable, or "friend-shaped." I painted over a screenshot of doomguy to illustrate my point!

My drawings tend towards being a little cutesy, of course, so that helps :) but you can see that the bright, saturated color, big distinct eyes, and less harsh expression all contribute to making him seem like he is less of a threat, despite this literally just being the doomslayer.

Another thing that helps is, again, related to the style I draw in. My art is very "clean" looking, not gritty. I use a lot of soft shape language and don't texture things too heavily. With Xisuma specifically, I also make no effort to make him seem intimidating. I use very neutral angles when drawing him, I don't frame him in a way that makes him seem intimidating or imposing, I don't pose him too confidently or angrily. Because he's not that kind of guy! Though it would be an interesting challenge to try and make him look as intimidating as possible :) I certainly think he could be quite scary, if he wanted to be. Just a matter of what I'm trying to convey.

... I think that's all I have to say for now! Once again, blown away by all the nice things people have to say about my Xisuma design and my art. Everyone here has been so kind and encouraging, and I really appreciate that. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to yell about Xisuma! If you have follow up questions, by all means, I am ready to answer :)

[bish-0-p]

i finished reading Power of Shazam! and i have some thoughts that i wanted to share. buckle up

firstly, i am so tired of "billy joins the batfam" stories, especially because 99% of the time the bats are reduced to fanon tropes with personalities that they don't actually have in canon. not to mention, mary is never included in these stories. it would be one thing if this was New 52 billy, who is only mary's foster brother, but the majority of what ive seen takes inspiration from the idea of billy being a homeless kid in fawcett

so why are we throwing billy in with people who live halfway across the country, when the bromfields are right there?

if you're going to write a fanfic where billy (and, hopefully, mary) joins another established superhero family, why not have him be taken in by superman? though they argue a lot in canon, their morals, abilities, and worldview are much more similar. they admire each other!

additionally, a lot of the time other members of the marvel family are completely ignored. freddy freeman only ever appears to be a romantic interest for billy or mary, tawky tawny shows up in some fics for a moment or so, but dudley and ibis the invincible are nowhere to be found. even black adam, doctor sivana, and mr. mind are underutilized!

Power of Shazam! is such a heartfelt story, when you look at the bigger picture. it's about a boy who's had to look out for himself for so long learning to trust family again. it's about him sharing the burdens of the responsibilities he has, and also sharing the guilt. billy feels so much guilt all the time, and it's absolutely gut-wrenching at points. there's an issue where fairfield, the twins' home town, is nuked to get back at them. and billy just has a breakdown

i have my criticisms on how New 52 handles billy as a character, but him having anger at the world is not out of character. billy is a very, very angry boy— why wouldn't he be? his entire life was taken away from him, his trust was betrayed again and again, the people around him think him to be incompetent

but he still finds joy in life. he's silly, he's funny, he always sees the bright side to things. and this run does a phenomenal job of demonstrating just how complex he really is

there's also the problem of mary and freddy acting subservient to billy. throughout this series, mary is explicitly referred to as captain marvel several times. she's captain marvel as much as billy is. and much of freddy's arc within this series revolves around him outgrowing the "junior" tagline and becoming captain marvel 3. they're not just a team, they're a family

they protect and look out for each other. this is what i want to see more of! i have fun with fics or headcanons where billy gets looked after by another hero, but if that's the only way you interact with his media, it's a disservice to his character and the characters of his family

read Power of Shazam! look into these characters. and please stop reducing these complex and dynamic characters to tropes

[britcision]

Alright, it’s time to talk about Lycion and dysmorphia and being a trans allegory

Because… yeah, I think a lot of people can really relate to being scared of mirrors because you hate everything you see in them, and going to extreme lengths to get a body you love

It’s not a complicated allegory

But, and I think this is pretty important and possibly more useful to the trans community than declaring him ours and trans… dysmorphia and dysphoria are not exclusive to trans people

They’re not even particularly related to any part of the body; it can be any part of it

And like 15 years ago when I was learning about trans issues and shit, I went and did a little research, because I eat knowledge. And y’know what fully settled any questions I had?

Found a case about a lady with what is currently being called body integrity/identity disorder, which is basically dysmorphia so severe that people have otherwise healthy limbs amputated to be able to live life in a body they can stand

This lady got both legs fully amputated, got a wheelchair, and became a pillar of her community where before she was almost bed bound

And y’know what, if that’s a thing that can happen and we can all agree that removing her legs was integral to her health, y’know what seems completely trivial by comparison?

Every gender affirming surgery ever

And y’know what is even more trivial?

All the other transition measures that have nothing to do with surgery, like hormones, puberty blockers, and social transitioning

Being trans has become a super political idea for basically no reason whatsoever, but it’s harder to maintain that ideology if you learn about things like dysphoria and dysmorphia as just medical conditions that absolutely anyone can get, and then look at what that means for gender dysphoria

Cuz if peoples’ brains can decide an entire limb has Got To Go then yeah, they’re probably also capable of deciding “that pronoun is Wrong” and we can take that just as seriously; it’s a much easier fix and also free

Basically I’m saying Lycion is our gateway drug cuz if you can understand this elf hates his body so hard he became a werewolf about it, are you really gonna throw a fit over someone getting a packer?

None of this to say you can’t or shouldn’t headcanon him as trans (and unless it comes directly and unambiguously from Ryoko Kui it’s a headcanon, nothing wrong with that it’s what fanon is for)

Just, y’know. Sound folks out on him without mentioning that part right away for your own safety and possibly entertainment 😁👉👉

Oh and super important: he’s not canonically cis either. Pretty sure it was just never specified. Enjoy and apply this knowledge across every character ever whose assigned birth gender isn’t brought up in canon

The thing Lycion definitely is in canon is a goddamn furry and an otherkin allegory, and arrested for awoo crimes. He’s one of only 5 characters in the Adventurer’s Bible with a stated gender (the others being Otta, Kaka, Kiki, and Inutade - everyone else has pronouns but no gendered nouns in English at least)

(Lycion’s “definitely a man” - or “definitely male” in the official translation, which technically excludes him from the gendered committee altogether)

You are, of course, welcome to disregard canon in all things you do - I personally encourage it, it’s much more fun to play in the space and do your own thing, and Dunmeshi has deliciously efficient story telling; there is so much empty space to play in

[pineappleciders]

Could we get headcanons for how would it be being Team Craig beloved adopted child? Like- idk- reader is this sweet kid who wants everyone to be happy and then Craig and Those guys are like- the protective parents while Clyde is reader's adorkable big brother 😱

craig and those guys adopting a sweet reader who acts like their kid/little sibling; platonic headcanons

includes: craig, clyde, tolkien, jimmy, and tweek

A/N: i know tweek technically isn't apart of catg, but since he often is in fanon i decided to add him!! people r always debating whether jimmy or tweek is in craigs gang but why not both!!!!!!

personally i see tweek as the butters of catg. like he's there sometimes but not all the time ykwim

whenever craig and tweek get into a dispute it's like watching your parents argue

despite you being the same age as tolkien, your parents often leave you with him as your babysitter (your parents love him to death) and you two always end up playing games and eating snacks

they're kind of. confused about you. like craig might treat you like butters at first but gets berated by the rest for it once they all realized ur actually cool and not stuck-up

jimmy ruffles your hair and treats you like you're his little sibling, and goes 'oooooo' and asks constant questions if you have a crush on someone

if you're shorter than tweek he leans on your shoulder or head, because he knows it pisses you off. then he giggles deviously about it

craig is kind of. always trying to get your evil side out. like he's completely convinced you're not 100% angel and he tries to annoy you to get you to get angry

u and clyde hang out a lot. like you're always at each other's houses, people at school started to actually think you two were related

lots of video game nights. you all come to someones house (usually tolkiens because he's loaded) and play video games on the couch and in his room all night long. also lots of sleepovers

i feel like when ur choosing teams for a sport or a game, some of them are begging for you on their team and some of them are begging that you aren't on their team

jimmy, tolkien, and clyde want u on their team. craig does not. he doesn't because he thinks u suck (he doesn't mean it, he just wants to be a dick. unless you actually do suck)

with tweek it depends. like he might agree with craig and he might not. it really depends on what the thing you're doing is

clyde leans on your shoulder when you two are standing in the halls with a smug look on his face (he wants to embarrass you)

tolkien (and sometimes jimmy) always help you with studying and homework. like they'll teach you the entire subject and make sure you're prepared for the test

jimmy cracks (un)funny jokes to embarrass you in front of your friends

they get all pissy if someones annoying you. craig in particular is not afraid to get physical if you're getting bullied or something. he'll never admit it though

tweek likes to annoy you, but he's also probably one of the more sentimental ones (next to tolkien and jimmy). like he'll be there for you emotionally and stuff, even though he isn't always the best with feelings

jimmy is very encouraging. like if you're down or anxious about something he'll listen intently and give you the most motivational pep talk you've ever heard. he cares a lot and shows it with quality time and just being there!!!

tolkien is very good at listening. he might not understand everything you're going through, but he tries very hard to hear you out and give advice. he also reassures you that he's always there for you

craig isn't the best at showing his own emotions in the first place, so he's kinda. panicky if you're sad. he's learned a lot from tweek though, and will listen closely and try to validate what you say.

clyde doesn't always understand, but he tries. he'll listen to you talk and gives shitty advice, and is generally kinda knuckle-headed. he genuinely cares though

craig tells you about his silly little interests, and like forces you to play with stripe. he also rants to you about space and shit and you always fall asleep to it

whenever everyone falls asleep in the living room while playing video games, you're the one left awake, and you can't help but feel immense happiness at how peaceful they look.

[twilightprince101]

IN BUGS AND SNAX

I've recently been seeing more Bugsnax friendos get into In Stars and Time. Like, five different people I met via Bugsnax are now doing fanart and fanfics for it (if you know you know).

And I think it's a shame. Because that number should be SO MUCH HIGHER

So Bugsnax fans who are unaware of this lovely RPG, here's my pitch to you as to why I think you'd like In Stars and Time and would really enjoy it.

For ISAT fans who never heard of Bugsnax, read along if you wanna. This post is primarily for the opposite, but you may find something else to dip your toes into as well 0w0

Extremely cute / lovable cast that holds so much depth and complexity than meets the eye

Look at these goobers. Look at all of them having fun. They all seem like the kind of squishy chibi type OCs you would find on tumblr, right? Wholesome uwu babies?

Hahahaha

WRONG

Well, kind of yes but still WRONG

These characters have so much emotional complexity that it can be genuinely hard sometimes to pick a favorite character between them all. Odile isn't just the "mom of the group," she has her own reasons for being on this grand quest that stem all the way back to her family lineage, her relationship with her parents. And it all gets explored for every last character, just enough where you can fill in the gaps yourself, but you can still feel that there's so much more under the surface.

You know that bit at the end of Beffica's sidequests where she reveals that, despite her bitchiness, her reason for being like that is because she has a MOUNTAIN of trust issues? And that she never tells lies, but wants to unearth truths before she gets hurt? Remember how you felt when realizing that fact? That's there with ALL of the main cast here. Hope you've got your snorkel because there's so much for you to dive into.

2. Gameplay that adds to the narrative and puts you within that world/the player's shoes

This is my personal headcanon and I don't know if it's intentional on Young Horses' part, but I always felt that running around and catching all of the Bugsnax for the grumps in Snaxburg was intentionally designed to make you feel like Lizbert. You replace her role as town "therapist," you solve everyone's problems in a kind of regressive way that ends up hurting a lot of people. Despite the gameplay being fairly simple, it still added a lot to the plot, to give you that sense in the endgame of "oh. oh god, i really fucked up." You are forced into the shoes of that world/character through the gameplay and it hits much harder as a result.

That intentional and thoughtful game design is present from the moment you start up the game, all the way to the end. In Stars and Time has the best "ludonarrative harmony" I have ever seen. Ever.

The way that the game and story is paced makes you fully understand what Siffrin is going through, the constant slog through the castle (without it ever feeling grindy by the way!), zoning out through the same bits of dialogue. At any given point, no matter how dramatically Siffrin acts, you understand emotionally why he is at that point. You feel his exhaustion, his surprise, his desperate hope, his "i'm going to try fucking anything at this point" attitude. The entire way from start to finish, you feel it.

I refuse to say any more because doing so would spoil the game. But trust me when I say, if you noticed what Bugsnax was doing there with player/Lizbert parallels? You'd love this game.

3. "What is Straight?"

So you know how we all collectively agreed that Gramble is trans? and that Wambus/Triffany are the most bisexual straight couple?

How would you like those types of characters.... but have those conversations out loud?

Listen, I love this fandom as much as the next person, and I am a Transble believer at heart. But it's easy to forget that those are all just talked about in fanon, you know? (Despite gramble literally being trans flag colors listen i KNOW). We get certain bits of characters being introspective about their genders and gender roles, like Wambus being really stubborn with his farm and wanting to maintain a sustainable way of living, being "the breadwinner," for him and his wife. And Floofty feeling like an outcast for behaving in a way that is not "socially acceptable" while being nonbinary. But we never talk about those specific subjects directly, about sexuality, gender identity and the like. Not that Bugsnax NEEDS that, it's just something the writers never really thought to include.

But In Stars and Time... it scratched an itch I never knew needed scratched. Take the thirteen different pieces of character complexity and condense it into five. The discussions that the main party have in relation to their identities, both sexual and gender, are some of the most phenomenal pieces of writing I've ever seen. I've talked with asexual people who played this game who were like "finally, FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT." Finally getting some characters that resonated with them so, so well. And there is a discussion about halfway through the game with a transgender character that absolutely floored me, because so many post-transition character arcs that I see are related to dealing with transphobes and accepting your slay self queen/king/my liege. And that's good. It's cool. But I feel I've seen that so many times now I know the basic plot beats. And ISAT throws in a unique twist to it that I rarely see and the influence that their past combined with cultural pressure it's just, it's SO GOOD. You gotta see it to believe it man, I'm leaving out so much shit here you need to check it out yourself.

4. It will reach into your chest and strangle your heart with its claws

Despite how cute both games can be, they can bash the back of your head with a steel chair of emotion.

You know that feeling you get when you complete a lot of bugsnax sidequests? When you realize Triffany will never get the closure she wanted; when you've helped Wiggle chase this dream of a muse that doesn't exist, and that it was (at least partially) your fault? Well how about if that was the entire game?

This game has some of the highest highs and lowest lows, emotionally speaking. A lot of ISAT also has that same sort of emotional ambiguity Bugsnax has; certain plot points will never be resolved, because that's just life. And you're forced to sit with it, sit in that guilt and resentment because this isn't a problem that can be solved so quickly but you still tried and that arguably made things worse.

Yes, an argument could be made that because Siffrin is not a self insert like The Journalist, then there's a layer of disconnect. But remember what I said in point two: you understand every step Siffrin takes the whole way through because you play it. You sit in it. And no matter how dramatically Siffrin acts, it will be hard to deny that you wouldn't do the same in their place.

5. A big mysterious twist that will emotionally gut you and leave you to dry

Obviously I can't put much here. It'd spoil Bugsnax for ISAT fans and spoil ISAT for Bugsnax fans, more than I already have. But for the fans of each respective games, you KNOW what I'm talking about. And there is an equivalent in the other as well.

If the image of Siffrin making that face intrigues you in any way, especially compared to what I've already shown you. Then go in the game blind. The scene this is from blindsides so many people and once you hit That Face, you know the true game has begun.

----------

That's about the best pitch I can give for Bugsnax fans to play ISAT. I really do feel there's a lot of emotional overlap between these two, even if they're completely different games by nature. There's a lot to love and sink your teeth into.

If this is your first time hearing about either of these games and any of this sounds intriguing to you? Trust me. GO IN BLIND. The gameplay/story blend may not click for everyone right away, but if you let yourself sink into this game, if you let yourself connect with it, boy oh boy does it connect. There is truly nothing like In Stars and Time and/or Bugsnax, and the more people experience this game, the better. Trust the process, slink into it.

I promise you won't regret it.

Thanks for making it to the end have some silly little guys

[speakingwords]

Marauders Fandom, a huge nightmare.

WARNING: this post is long!!

Hello, everyone. Today I conducted a thorough analysis of the Marauders Fandom, searching across multiple social media platforms, and discovered that this fandom is the most disturbing thing I have ever seen. I have been reading CANON Harry Potter since I was a kid, and I know almost everything there is to know about the series; however, people appear to be incorporating fanon into the canon, which I find strange and unacceptable.

It is acceptable to dislike the author, but changing and twisting the entire story until it is unrecognizable and laughable is strange. Like, the Marauders fanbase should read this post and consider seeing a therapist! IMMEDIANTLY!

For example, let us start with something I find strange: everyone is gay. It is fine to be gay; I am gay myself, but making every character gay and claiming it is their entire personality is laughable. I have read canon and looked at the wizarding world's perspective, and I am going to say this: they probably do not even accept gay people, and purebloods probably do not even know what a gay person is, and probably despise anyone who is. Gay people were not always as accepted as they are now, and the wizarding world lags behind in some ways, so they may have bad ideals, which they do. If you could stop making every character gay, because they most likely aren't, and probably just have close friendships and are a canon STRAIGHT, do not make a character gay just to be likeable or for your own pleasure; everyone should be comfortable with a character's sexuality and should not have to change it. It is disgusting, and you look really weird doing it. You are fetishizing gay relationships and gay people by doing it that way. I honestly throw up when I see how you people treat these characters; why not create your own or something? These are not your little dolls that you just throw around.

“Fetishizing a character or making being gay their entire personality can be harmful and offensive to members of the LGBTQ+ community. Making a character's personality all about their sexuality can imply that it is the only thing that defines them as a person, and can reduce them to a stereotype. Additionally, making a character gay solely for the purpose of shipping them with someone of the same gender can also be problematic, as it can perpetuate stereotypes and objectify gay relationships.

It is important to create well-developed, complex characters who just happen to be gay, and to show that they are more than just their sexuality. This can create representation that is not based on harmful stereotypes and that shows the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community. When creating characters, it's important to focus on their personalities, goals, and motivations, rather than solely on their sexuality. It's also important to avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes and objectifying gay relationships.

It is important to be aware of and sensitive to issues related to representation in media, and to ensure that characters are portrayed in a way that is respectful and inclusive, rather than perpetuating harmful tropes or stereotypes.”

Please make sure you aren’t doing this because its actually extremely offensive to do so. It also does not help justify or improve a character's appearance, nor does it make them more attractive or less disgusting than they were previously!

Making characters transgender is something else that I find strange and disgusting. I believe it is okay to be trans; that is who you are; however, changing a character's canon gender to your liking is disgusting, regardless of the reason; unless it is your character that you created, do not do it. I have seen so many Marauders fans change the genders of characters or headcanon them as trans people, which is not true, and you guys make it their entire personality and something they have to have to be attractive, so go take a shower. If you are doing these things, stop. Instead of trying to change someone else's character because you want them to be a certain way, create your own character.

“Changing a character's gender, making them trans, or headcanoning them as trans can be acceptable if it is done with respect and sensitivity. It's important to remember that trans representation is still relatively new to popular media, so it is important to be mindful of how it is portrayed.

However, making being trans a character's entire personality and making them unattractive unless they are trans can be problematic and could be seen as fetishizing trans identity. It's important to be mindful of how these characters are portrayed and to avoid perpetuating stereotypes or objectifying trans folks. It's also important to recognize that trans identity is just one aspect of a person's identity and should not be the only defining characteristic of a character.

When it comes to a character created by someone else, it is important to be respectful of their choices and not change their character without their permission. However, if you're creating your own character, then it's up to you to decide how you want to portray them. As long as you are respectful and mindful of the way you portray trans identities, it can create meaningful representation for a community that is often underrepresented in the media."

Another thing is changing characters' entire personalities; I understand it is what you want to do, but the way you go about it disgusts me. But you guys change a person's entire personality to make them what you want and attractive in your eyes, or what you want from a character. To be honest, you should just start creating your own characters. Can you please stop changing an author's characters so much that I can not tell who they are and fetishizing them? It is okay to do whatever you want, but it is getting out of hand. Also, it makes a lot of people uncomfortable, and I have heard several people say they are no longer fans because of you.

“It's generally not a good idea to change a character's identity, personality, and characteristics to the point of being unrecognizable. This can be problematic and can come across as disrespectful and disrespectful to the original creator of the character and to the fans who love and appreciate the character as they are.

Changing a character to the point of being unrecognizable and having them solely defined by a specific trait could potentially be seen as fetishizing, especially if the trait is related to a historically marginalized or underrepresented group such as a certain race, sexuality, or gender.

In general, it's important to be respectful of the original creator's intentions and not change their characters too much. However, if you want to create your own original character and make them completely different from the original, that is more acceptable and allows for more creativity and artistic freedom.”

Last but not least, they are changing their race, ethnicity, and nationality. When did we decide that such behavior was acceptable? I find it strange and disguising, especially changing a white character to different races and things to make them more appealing and pleasant to your taste; I find this to be extremely problematic in general, as seen in the Marauders fandom! Especially if the character was originally of a different race, ethnicity, and nationality but is now white and something else. I know the author isn’t good, but this kind of behavior is unacceptable.

“Changing a character's race, ethnicity, or nationality to make them "better" or more attractive is not acceptable, as it can perpetuate harmful stereotypes and may be seen as disrespectful and insensitive to the original creator of the character and to members of that community. The same is true for making a character's race, ethnicity, or nationality the primary focus of their personality, as it can be seen as fetishizing and objectifying.

When it comes to a character created by someone else, it's important to be respectful of the original creator's choices and not change their character without their permission. It's important to remember that representation matters and that changing a character's race, ethnicity, or nationality can be disrespectful and harmful to the members of the community that the character represents.

It's also important to be aware that changing a character's race, ethnicity, or nationality can have broader implications on society and culture, especially if the character is a popular cultural figure. It could perpetuate harmful stereotypes and may be seen as exclusionary or racist.

In short, it's important to be mindful of the implications of changing a character's identity and to refrain from doing so. Instead, it's better to create an entirely new character that aligns with one's vision and values.” 

Also, forget about the Marauders vs. Snape rivalry; it is just straight up bullying. The Marauders fandom enjoys making excuses for their characters, but there should be no excuses for these characters, and I will link something below that explains why this is bullying, and I would like to quickly address the Marauders fandom.

Could you please, Marauders Fandom, stop changing characters and fetishizing them? I should not have to ask you to do this; it is common sense. Why do this is my question; you guys are so disgusting that you resort to such strange behavior.

[wickjump]

Hey. Hey come here.

*gets really close and whispers in your ear*

Nightmare with leg problems/chronic pain in legs that he doesn't want to admit/acknowledge until one day he literally falls down in front of one of his gang members (like Killer for example) and finally needs to acknowledge it and is forced to go to a doctor and finds out he needs to use a cane (or be a part time wheelchair user or something) and he's very upset about this and Dream is confused on why there hasn't been any attacks on AUs recently, meanwhile the gang is helping Night get used to this.

*runs away*

(Sorry if this was inaccurate on chronic pain idk much about it)

OOH OOH ME ME i have chronic pain!!!! granted in my back not legs BUT I HVAE IT!!! aw i love chronic pain headcanons they make me feel happy. it’s good to be in pain when other characters also are so you can write it well (i recently was in the emergency room for it)

i feel like he would find other ways to continue his work even without the use of his legs (ie using tentacles to walk/move around, which we’ve seen him use before, and def have other types of pain—head pain and migraines, for example, because half his head was blown off. he 🤝 horror )the worst migraines ever)

he’s a very work oriented type character, regardless of interpretation he’s often doing work in some shape or form, whether physical or paperwork; i don’t think that would change at all. i love aid users btw, especially hcs too theyre so underrepresented, and i def think that works for other characters, but nightmare,, wouldn’t, the same way i haven’t gotten a cane despite how that would probably make my life easier. I’m a ‘tough through the pain’ kind of person—I’ll feel it regardless, it’s best to chuck pain meds and get on with my day. and nightmare does have options—again, tentacles, the ability to grow said tentacles and generally shift to provide aids on his own.

sans would use a cane/wheelchair 100%, as would most other classic variants or swap papyri. they don’t care nearly enough to make themselves feel pain on the daily for sake of “usefulness” or “appearances”. nightmare, i just don’t think would. he views his cause as too important and neglecting his pain like i or others can do seems more fitting. he’d despise not being able to move as ‘freely’ as he’d like even if it would be better for him. on worse days he sits down the entire time in his office and makes his henchmen do his dirty work. he’d find ways to work with it—he is 500 years old after all.

but holy shit do i LOVE the headcanon where he has chronic pain in his legs!!!!!!!!!! i feel that he uses something that acts like a cane but isn’t sometimes, something like a staff that he subconsciously uses to support himself while still looking ‘prestigious’ or whatever the fuck. but traditional aids? no way. he’d sooner die than go to a doctor, he’s too full of himself and cocky to get help from someone, especially one he doesn’t know. even in a fanon approach where his gang urges him to do something about it, he’d rather make a remedy for worse pain himself.

idk just my thoughts!!!!! also don’t skip out on getting aids or pain meds nightmare is immortal and a fucking stuck up asshole and an idiot. go to a doctor. get checked out. get prescription pain meds and aids if you need them. do all the things, don’t do what i do im just a dick to myself and probably a bit of a masochist given how little i ask for help with these things 😭

ANYWAY YA!!!! love this hc so much thank u anon,,

[reptilian-rapscallian]

orpheus and eurydice vs wolfstar?? i NEED to hear your thoughts!!! (as a classics nerd marauders fan i can't believe i didn't think to draw parallels between ships n mythology sooner)

Reblogs, this ask and an ask from @transwolfstar has officially convinced me.

I've always gone back and forth on who was who in this scenario, but I've come to the conclusion recently.

Orpheus is Remus, Sirius is Euridyce 100%.

Orpheus is what I believe Remus would have been if he hadn't been attacked by Greyback. He grew up loved, and as sheltered as he physically could have been from the world until he went to school. Orpheus was one to see the best in the world, what the world could become. He was a loner through and through, which is so Remus coded tbh. Remus is connected and grounded, which I fully believe Orpheus was, based on the way he used his musical talents.

Euridyce being Sirius is something I'm so genuinely passionate about. He sees the world for what it is because he's been through such extreme hardships. Euridyce and Sirius are kindred spirits through and through. Not only that, but in the original myth Euridyce was a nymph. The way Sirius' beauty is so heavily emphasised throughout his mentions in the books and films (to the point that I lowkey love the being part veela headcanon) is so Euridyce.

This leads me on to THEIR LOVE. Orpheus falls head over heels for Euridyce, but not just because she's a minor deity, because of her. Because she's his soulmate, his everything, the person he's willing to literally go to the end of the earth for. This is so fucking paralleled by Wolfstar. They love each other so genuinely unconditionally (according to all canon that I read too much into and a lot of fanon), and Remus is willing to fight, even kill an old friend, with very little real confirmation/context, at the drop of a hat for Sirius.

Remus loses Sirius for the first time tragically in the same way Orpheus loses Euridyce (on their wedding night). For both, it isn't permanent, in spite of the fact that they believe it will be. Euridyce is in the underworld, which is known to be a genuinely traumatising afterlife that causes you to lose all sense of identity, and Sirius is in Azkaban, which feeds on your positive memories and forces you to lose all sense of self.

Orpheus seeks out and cares for Euridyce so deeply, using his skill set (his music) to save her from the underworld. This is a bit of a stretch, so you can completely disregard this one, but Remus is a more subdued character (because he grew up in more hardship than Orpheus, moulding his character into a more reserved one), making his staying with, looking out for and understanding Sirius without words his own variation of this.

All of the waiting; both Orpheus and Remus knowing that every second in their own respective torture was stripping them of their soul, their identity. Then, when they're finally reunited, they get no time together. Orpheus has to lead Euridyce, walking for days, without looking back, without ever knowing if she was really following him, if the gods had tricked him, if she had been taken or hurt at all on the way back. Remus and Sirius are immediately thrown back into a war, with no way to keep one another safe. Every day was one of uncertainty, and they had Harry, the child of their dead best friends, to look out for every single step of the way.

They both end in tragedy.

Orpheus, when he's out of the final stretch, the cave, turns. He looks for Euridyce. Whether it's on instinct, because she trips, because he believes he's been tricked, or because he could hear her crying the entire time and finally reached his limit, he turns around. He loves her so much that he searches for her, and he loses her because of it. Remus, however, allows Sirius to walk into the trap. He hears the panic, he knows that Sirius will go straight after Harry, will walk straight into the trap on his own, and brings the Order. He tries to keep Sirius safe. His problem is one of looking away. Of being so caught up in the war, that he can't even register what is happening until it's over. Until Sirius has been taken from him, even though he did everything he did to keep him safe. For both of them, it looks like they're going to make it, that everything is going to be okay, until it isn't. One painfully human moment, and they're both gone. Orpheus because he doesn't trust his circumstances and looks back, Remus because he trusts them too much and looks away.

Still, there was never an ounce of blame appointed to Orpheus or to Remus. The poem Metamorphoses by Ovid puts it perfectly. “Eurydice, dying now a second time, uttered no complaint against her husband. What was there to complain of, but that she had been loved?”

Sirius is taken through the veil. Remus doesn't know if he is truly in the afterlife, or if he's trapped in between, suffering helplessly and wishing for relief. Wishing that he could take it all back, or that he could just die. He can't even go after him and find him. He has to hold Harry back, hold him together. Orpheus doesn't know how long it will take Euridyce to lose her mind in the afterlife. For everything that he fell in love with to be stripped away, for her to become nothing but a being of eternal suffering. He attempts to use his music to get back to the afterlife, but he cannot.

Orpheus is eventually killed, as is Remus. Both too soon, both not soon enough.

Right person, not enough time.

It's absolutely heartbreaking, and it's what I spend my every waking moment thinking about.

[utilitycaster]

What ACOC fanon are people getting so upset over?

Come traveler. Let me tell you a tale. For I, too, was unaware of it until they went absolutely bugfuck all over Twitter. But if you don't want the whole long-winded epic: people shipped Belizabeth Brassica and Saint Citrina and while there has been no evidence indicating this will or not be confirmed or even mentioned they FREAKED OUT about how Matt would OBVIOUSLY destroy the "widespread" fanon (it is not widespread), specifically implying he'd do so in a bigoted way. Then some D20 guests noticed because the people saying this are not like, unknown fanartists (in fact one implied they had been asked to create art for the season but forgot to check their DMs) and were like "this is entitled and stupid and needlessly cruel to Matt, who is like, a guy we personally know and generally like." The people then, rather than saying "my B" and taking this to the DMs like a normal person who wants to talk shit, repeatedly doubled down. As of a few hours ago they were accusing Jasmine Bhullar of subtweeting them when she was in fact merely promoting an entirely unrelated show, it's sparked both a heartfelt discussion about how Matt's discussion of body dysmorphia has helped people and a conversation about how there's toxicity in all fandoms but the D20 community refuses to even acknowledge it; and also I think they've burned their chances of ever doing fan art for an actual play of any size in LA, Chicago, New York, London, or the centroid that represents an equidistant point from all the McElroys which is, I believe, hilariously for Amnesty fans, in the Monongahela National Forest.

Anyway POV we're around a campfire, I'm drinking something lightly alcoholic, and you wish to hear of The Drama At Length:

Do you remember Belizabeth Brassica, aka Broccoli Pope loosely based in appearance on Queen Elizabeth I (technically renaissance rather than high medieval but like...people constantly mix those up in D&D so it's fine)?

Great. Now do you remember the Rocks Sisters? Not the twins played by Siobhan and Emily; Amethar's four older sisters who died in the Ravening War, before the story started: Rococoa, Lazuli, Citrina, and Sapphria. Rococoa was a general; Lazuli an archmage (and Caramelinda's wife before she died; Caramelinda then married Amethar because while Lazuli had been a love match, this was a beneficial marriage for political purposes); Citrina a devotee of The Bulb; and Sapphria a spy and diplomat. They get talked about a lot, for sure, but their presence in the story is to be absent and to haunt the narrative.

Anyway the fanon is that Citrina and Belizabeth were in a relationship. In canon, I believe all we know is that both were devotees of the bulb; that Citrina held positions that might be considered heretical by some (she was a passionate believer in love matches and supported Amethar's marriage to a commoner in the Dairy Isles) and that Belizabeth ordered that she be killed.

Here's where this gets fun. So ACOC aired pretty much exactly three years ago, and while I think it's considered by many to be a high point in D20's oeuvre, a lot of fans have, you know, kept up with D20 on the whole and not dwelt on it in depth. But a small group of people have been consistently focused on this ship between an NPC who is vitally important to the narrative but shows up in fewer than a third of the total episodes; and a character dead before the story ever started. Which, I need to stress, is fine; the joy of headcanons is playing in the empty spaces.

Flash forward to 2023: a creative director who was generally opposed to revisiting past campaign settings and preferred standalone has just amicably parted ways. Neverafter has gotten mixed reviews (I have to see the last 8 episodes; this is anecdotal but some of the editing choices, plus the both dense yet meandering plot, brought the momentum of a truly fantastic TPK and resolution early on to a shuddering halt), and really nothing but A Court of Fey and Flowers has truly stuck for some time. The fandom has been clamoring for Fantasy High Junior Year for quite some time to no avail. The switch to 10-episode sidequests from 6 episode sidequests has met lukewarm reception. In short: D20 could use something flashy to revitalize their next sidequest. Enter: Matt Mercer as DM.

Now, a lot of D20 fans who are not part of the (significant) overlap with CR fans hate Matt Mercer. This is in part because a lot of people who got Big Mad about ships in Campaign 2 went to D20 and proceeded to badmouth Critical Role, a show they happily watched and made art for until roughly episode 107-ish of Campaign 2, proclaiming it homophobic (wrong two women kissed); racist (one of the women who kissed is a dark-skinned woman played by a white woman, which would have still been true if she kissed the other woman but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯); and probably problematic in other ways. To be clear I am not saying Critical Role is above criticism, and it has made its missteps, but like, the fact that these complaints showed up conveniently only when a ship didn't happen and mostly from like, white teenagers who proceeded to simultaneously call the cast transphobic and deliberately get their names wrong means this is not the criticism that is valid and worth considering, as is the fact that technically Matt had nothing to do with the ship not happening, but they've realized being an asshole to Marisha about her character's romantic choices will rightfully get you flayed alive. Also some D20 fans just hate Critical Role in the way that if you live in Boston you're supposed to hate New York and vice versa but if you say "why? what if I just want the baseball boys to have a good time together?" no one can answer.

Anyway here's a diagram to illustrate the group I'm talking about; they're the green dot:

So: a couple of them decided a smart thing to do on Twitter in front of God and everybody was to say that they were worried Matt would contradict this "widely established" fanlore because he is not plugged into the ACOC fandom. They then proceeded to specifically (jokingly, but like, in a shitty way, still where everyone could see it) say that Matt would probably introduce Belizabeth as being married to her husband because she is 100% straight.

Now there's a bunch of problems here, and people pointed them out. Namely:

This is a weird thing to assume Matt would do, ie, automatically make an arbitrary NPC definitely straight, even if you're joking about it; like, he has a pretty decent track record for making NPCs of varying genders and sexualities, especially by C2 and C3.

This is not even widely established fanlore; this is a tiny group of fans of ACOC. See below for more on that.

Even if it were widely established fanlore, it's unlikely Brennan would know either.

Even if it were widely established fanlore and Matt or Brennan were aware of it, they are under no obligation to adhere to fanlore, because it's fanlore, not the established canon of A Crown of Candy. This does not make fanlore bad! It just means that creators are allowed to ignore it in the same way that fan creators are allowed to ignore canon; this is a two-way street.

Therefore, because this is fanlore, even if Matt did say "here is Belizabeth and her husband, and she has only ever been involved with men" this would not be homophobic because the character's sexuality has never been established and straight is one of the possible sexualities she could have. Obviously if he went super hard on her straightness that could get weird but that's a fucking bonkers stretch.

When people pointed it out, this group and a few other people who just fucking hate Matt kept dismissing them as CR fans. Then it caught the attention of various D20 guest cast members or people in the broader TTRPG scene, who have pointed out that like...the actual play and TTRPG industry is a place where basically everyone in a particular region knows everyone else and they are all good friends and this is shitty. The D20 fans mad that Matt is DM-ing The Ravening War kept doubling down and started making outright ad-hominem attacks on Matt (notably his appearance and dress which is like, shitty and irrelevant to this fanon thing anyway even before you consider the body dysmorphia) and whining that because they've made some charity fanzines, a thing people have been doing since the dawn of Star Trek TOS, they deserve...something. People rightfully called them out as 1. entitled brats and 2. needlessly cruel. They keep whining that CR fans are dogpiling them when in fact like, the entire TTRPG community including, as far as I can tell, the D20 community who overlaps with CR fandom and even the D20 community that does not but is neutral on CR, is like "you suck, you started it, this fandom is not exempted from typical fandom toxicity, and you will look back on this in 5 years and vomit from embarrassment."

Anyway this is all kind of tiresome, but also pretty funny because literally I'm expecting a bunch of fanartists who are immensely high on their own farts to be 100% blacklisted from ever receiving a commission from like, any Actual Play of note and also a lot of fans; there's an outpouring of support for Matt that far outstrips what there would have been without a handful of idiots starting shit; and also the season is fully filmed anyway so if this ship was confirmed noncanon, it happened a few months ago anyway and there's nothing anyone can do.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, pretty much all these losers are still 100% going to watch The Ravening War anyway so like, this has all amounted to a net positive for everyone but them.

[its-the-sa]

Here's another giant ask because I've been thinking about this for a while and I needed to share it with somebody.

The scavenger chieftain is really merciful towards Arti, given the circumstances. When I first reached that part, I was expecting to be sniped by a spear from across the map. But he doesn't attack you, despite having every reason to. Like, the Metropolis scavengers most likely have literally nothing to do with the scavengers that killed Arti's kids, and it's not like they understand why Arti is doing what she's doing. The scav king knows Arti has killed countless members of his group, probably people he knew personally and cared about. Maybe even his family.

But he doesn't attack you. You have to start the fight. He just points to the exit. He wants you to back away, to stop before you take this final step and seal your fate. He should have all the reasons in the world to want you dead by now, but he gives you a final chance to walk away.

It's what made me interested in the scav king as a character. For some reason, he doesn't want to fight you. One idea I had is that he's well aware of Arti being trapped in a cycle of violence, either due to having experienced something similar or his understanding of karma. (He has the mark of communication and I'm willing to bet he's met the Metropolis echo, who was also trapped in a cycle of violence. He's probably heard an explanation of the cycles and karma from Five Pebbles as well.) So, he knows very well what Arti is getting herself into and hopes that maybe she can still see reason before it's too late.

Another idea I had, and this is totally fanon and not supported by anything in-game but I thought it sounded fun- what if they knew each other before? Like, what if they were friends all the way back when Arti lived in the Garbage Wastes and wasn't hostile to scavengers, and the scav king was just a normal dude. Just a regular John J. Scavenger. Eventually, he finds the citizen ID drone and brings a bunch of his friends to the Metropolis, gets the mark of communication from Five Pebbles (who, I imagine at this point, doesn't really care that much if the scavengers live in his city and only gets mad at them once they start ripping out bits of his can). Flash forward years later and this normal scav is now a chieftain with a prosperous tribe, and he's wondering what happened to that weird red slugcat he met all those years ago when they re-appear out of nowhere and begin violently murdering his tribe members. That would be A Little Awkward Huh.

That's just my silly little headcanon, I'd love to hear your thoughts though. How do you interpret the scav king's actions here?

bro, you pretty much just summed up exactly why i ship them lol.

the scav king is the ONE person who refuses to treat arti like a monster, even when she's so far gone that she even disgusts and horrifies herself. he's the one person who will not feed into her spiral of self-loathing, no matter how hard she tries to earn his hatred. he refuses to strike first no matter how many times she tries to kill him. he always tries to reason with her. he always fights one-on-one, even though he has an entire kill squad ready to back him up.

but he doesnt let her victimize him, either. he gives her a choice, and he respects the choice she makes even when it's the wrong one. he kills her without hesitation when she forces his hand, but then he's always ready to offer mercy again, always ready to give her another chance.

and i just feel like that's exactly what arti needs. someone who is both compassionate enough and resilient enough to weather the storm of her rage until it burns itself out, and still be willing to offer mercy when she's finally ready to accept it.

... what was this ask about again? lol

RIGHT, ok. so. motivation. lets do this.

first of all I love the idea that they knew each other in the past. it would make a lot of sense, and it'd fit perfectly with my headcanon that arti used to be friends with the garbage wastes scavs before everything went to hell. and I love the drama that would come from two old friends having to fight each other to the death.

it's not the case in my personal headcanon though, just because I already have a backstory fleshed out for the scav king that would make it pretty much impossible for them to have met before.

however, i DO think that he sympathizes with arti because he's been though something similar. I think he lost someone very important to him when he was young, and just like arti, he also threw himself into a futile quest for revenge because he didnt know how else to cope. but instead of going on solo rampage, he raised a whole ass army and started a war.

he got to where he is through sheer spite and thirst for vengeance. he never really wanted to be a leader; he just wanted manpower to throw at his enemy. but after seeing his people get killed in service to him, he realized he is responsible for them now, and he needs to put their safety and wellbeing before his vendetta. so, while he is still angry and he does still carry his old grudge, it no longer consumes his life. he's learned that there are more important things to live for.

so, yeah, he definitely understands arti's rage. and he sympathizes with her, because he has his own people's blood on his hands, too. but he's learning, and he's trying to be better, and he believes that arti can be better too if someone gives her a reason to try.

...also, his default personality has 0.00 aggression and 0.99 sympathy stats, so he is arguably just wired to be Like That, lol

(i say 'default' because technically his stats are randomized each time you fight him, but he always uses the same sprite, which is scav king ID 8875. so to me that ID's stats are the canon ones, lol )

[qprsmackdown]

c!Emerald duo propaganda:

Let me tell you. We've got two guys. They live together. They live miles away from everyone else but they live in a little cabin in the snow together. They would die for each other. One HAS died for the other. One is in a monogamous relationship with the personification of death and the other is one of the most widely headcanoned aroace characters and it in no way ever devalues what is considered as one of the most unshakable relationships in the story

"For you the world" — Technoblade to Philza. They are so loyal to each other, legit the healthiest and strongest relationship in the fandom

"For you, the world, Phil." -Technoblade "Sometimes one friend is all you need." -Technoblade “I’m following Techno to the gates of hell... and if he wants to take over the world, god dammit I’m gonna help this man.” - Philza “I followed him to the ends of the earth, through fire and flames.“ - Philza (about Technoblade)

They live together. They kill together. They're raising a polar bear and a very anxious enderman hybrid. They committed so many war crimes and looked good doing it<3 "For you, the world" quote my beloved. Anarchism swag😎

Silly guys of all time! They took over the entire world together once <3 (pre-dsmp but still canon to dsmp) they blew up a country together <3 gotta love 2 guys who commit Literal Actual warcrimes. Also the way they trust eachother just unconditionally is just soo ouuuugggghghhhh i love them. iirc I remember a part where techno was basically just talking about how he'll basically never trust anyone again. TO Phil. Who was very obviously an unspoken exception to the "never trusting anyone" thing. It's been a while so idk if I remember it right but aaaouuuugggg their relationship was so good. Also "for you the world phil" AAAAAUUUUUUU (although the context of that line is much sillier than people usually remember but they are silly guys <3). Ooouugghhh I have so much I could talk about but it's late so I can't think of it right now but they are sooooooo important they are everything to me. This is kinda bad propaganda bc I don't know if I'm even remembering things right and am vaguely incorrect but AUGH. EMERALDDUO

Consider: the fanon immortals being very old friends thing which is a trope i will never not love, and also taking over the world with your qpp is so pogchamp of them

Two anarchist immortals who have been besties for an indeterminable amount of time, but at least for hundreds of years. Took over the Earth once just to show that they can. Back-To-Back Badasses. Each other's consciences and also enablers. Lived together in the middle of nowhere tundra biome, in connected little cottages with their bazillion pets.

THOSE BITCHES WERE LIVING IN THE ARCTIC TOGETHER IN THEIR GAY LITTLE COTTAGE WITH LIKE 100 ANIMALS!!!! They’d both often talk about how they’d kill and die for one another, they’ve been together for centuries despite Techno being all but confirmed Aroace and Philza being married to someone else!! I think they definitely had a QPR going on because like. The person you’re closest to and have lived alongside for god knows how long u gotta at least have SOMETHING going on there imo.

They are both imortal livelong best friends who have been there for each other through war and and other personal hardships They are partners in crime, both arnarchists who took down a nation together and both live in retirement together They only trust each other wholeheartedly (aka they both belive the other wont betray them) and Phil is the only person Techno feels he can be himself around (aka be soft around).

Apparently their qpr had drama in the past bc of this one fic but tbh i dont really get why These two are literally just. The best. There's absolutely no romance between them, but they're the closest of friends, and they care about each other so so much. And they deserve all the things. They live together in a house in the arctic in a commune for anarchists. Basically everyone in the Syndicate are their adopted children. 'For you, the world, Phil' -Technoblade (Just like to say this too, Techno is not Phil's son in the DSMP universe. It's been canonically confirmed.)

They’re two dudes who spend all their time together, built their houses next to each other (and connected it w a bridge), started a commune together, took over the world together, have FRIENDSHIP EMERALDS, and are genuinely such good friends (these are the characters but the irl guys were really good friends until techno died too)

Just a bird and his pig chilling as kings

"for you phil, the world" is treated like this big dramatic line as they take over smpearth but in context its bc they were arguing over something silly and techno laughed and conceded to him and like... just look at then they're ride or die besties emerald duo ftw (on a sadder note i constantly see philza wearing techno's merch on streams and videos and just... man i miss seeing them together)

immortal warriors who have promised to follow each other to the ends of the earth, through fire and flames. they are each others most trusted person without a doubt. when trying to retire from the wars that plagued the server, they both retired in an arctic tundra where they lived together.

These guys cant be seperate from each other anymore than like three days. Like, on top of also doing the antarctic empire together in earthSMP, they just moved to the arctic together to just enjoy life and retirement together. They understand each other like no other bc they've known each other forever. Also bc if we take the titles of bloodgod and angel of death literally you get something something being willing to spend eternity with the other because you care abt them. These two are fine being isolated from everybody else and chilling on their own bc thats all they need

Their relationship is defined by a connection that has lasted for centuries. Despite everything, they always go back to each other. They live together in a cabin in the arctic. They also like murdering together a little too much.

old men committed terrorism and then they settled down :)

For you Phil, the world Immortal best friends spend thousands of years together, conquer the world, found a empire. Phil has a kid with his goddess wife, Techno wind up joining the kids rebellion against the country he founded. When that goes wrong they start a commune called the Syndicate. They are so ride or die. I love them

please they live together theyre best friends theyre immortal together they love each other and phil is married to a god PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

[okkotsuus]

associated songs (jjk) !

features: yuuji i. megumi f. nobara k. yuuta o. maki z. toge i. satoru g. suguru g. toji f. kento n. sukuna r. choso k.

contents: manga spoilers. some fanon because not everything has been revealed yet. song headcanons. character analysis. angst. tw because jjk lore is fucked up. strong language. megumi, yuuta, gojo, and geto favoritism. sukuna's part is a lot of reaching because we know nothing about his backstory. 3.4k words.

yuuji itadori is working for the knife by mitski. this song shows yuuji's change in character during the shibuya arc, how nothing goes his way any longer and his will is worn thin again and again. "i cry at the start of every movie, i guess'cause i wish i was making things too" this shows yuuji's passion to make a life for himself, to make something that will last in this world beyond death, his grandfather's dying wish. "i always knew the world moves on, i just didn't know it would go without me" with this we can see yuuji's desperation to catch up to people like megumi and nobara but the world passes him by over and over again (ex. cursed womb, junpei). "i start the day high and it ends so low 'cause i'm working for the knife" yuuji goes into everything with hope and positivity but it often ends up with him losing something or feeling some sort of grief, his heart is broken over and over again by jujutsu. "i always thought the choice was mine, and i was right, but i just chose wrong" this resembles yuuji's choice to absorb sukuna, something he thought ws his descision and only something he could do. but when sukuna merges with megumi he is forced to consider whether he made the right choice and he acknowledges that he is not the only one who can do such. "i start the day lying and end with the truth, that i'm dying for the knife".

megumi fushiguro is who are you, really by mikky ekko. this song shows megumi's evolution as a character from a quiet boy to a true sorcerer (see: domain expansion discovery, shibuya). "so you feel entitled to a sense of control, and make decisions you think are your own" with this we can see megumi's attitude of superiority towards yuuji at the beginning of the series, and his general attitude towards his peers until his development. he feels that due to his long running experience and power, along with his intelligence, that these people are below him. "you are a stranger here, why have you come?" with this we can see megumi's hesitance to trust anybody, especially new people. this applies later in shibuya where he is unwilling to trust the incarnated toji (at the time, the correct decision), which ends up with his father recognizing him and killing himself to avoid hurting his son any longer. "who, who are you really? and where are you going?" megumi really has no sense of self for a decent chunk before shibuya, he is kind of just there. he has a personality but he does not have a reason for being like all of his peers do, he does not know who he is or what he wishes to do, he's just doing it to do it. "i have nothing left to prove, 'cause i have nothing left to lose, see me bear my teeth for you" in this we can encapsulate his development when he discovers chimera shadow garden. it's messy and last ditch, he has nothing left to lose and no one to prove himself to so he throws t all on a desperate attempt to try to create something truly for anf of himself, it's as messy as it is true. and it is what sets the path to allow megumi to define himself.

nobara kugisaki is primadonna by marina and the diamonds. this song shows nobara's materialistic nature and her confident personality as well as her more complex backstory. "all i ever wanted was the world" with this we can show her past, when all she wants is to spend time with saori, which at the time is her entire world. "would you do anything for me? buy a big diamond ring for me?" with this we can see the more materialistic sides of her personality, which all come from her humble upbringing in that little town. "i know i've go a big ego, i really don't know why it's such a big deal though" this resembles nobara's more confident side, where she is really proud of who she is and often cannot understand why others are not (see: the situation between her and momo about mai). "fill the void with celluloid. take a picture, i'm with the boys" nobara hides her sadness by living it up, because she wants to be able to go to saori and tell her about all the amazing things she did. she doesn't want saori to feel bad for leaving her, she wants to find her and then they can have fun just like they did when they were children, fun in the way that they couldn't have back in that country town..

yuuta okkotsu is little dark age by mgmt. this song helps show yuuta's greif at rika's death and his transformation into a sorcerer. "the ruins of the day, painted with a scar" this represents how yuuta never truly got over rika's death, the scar being her curse, something that he carved but will never leave him.. "and the more i straighten out, the less i want to try" as yuuta goes through his life, rika wreaks havoc unintentionally, making him give up on ever living a normal life again: rather isolating himself in misery or straight up trying to kill himself instead. "oh-oh, forgiving who you are, for what you stand to gain" yuuta harnesses rika's power and temporarily is able to control her cruse in order to gain power when he needs it. but it is not whole and complete and is done quite selfishly, rika has not gotten peace yet. "just know that if you hide, it doesn't go away" yuuta tries to supress rika for so long rather than embracing her and this just ends up making things worse for him, even when he tries to hide her by channeling her power into a sword it is not anywhere near his peak after he releases rika from the curse in his fight against geto. "oh-oh, i grieve in stereo, the stereo sounds strange" in yuuta's grief he creates the curse that rika is. unintentionally he curses this little girl and keeps her soul with him for nearly a decade after death, blaming her the entire time when he was the one who chained her soul to himself. eventually she finds peace and is able to pass on, but yuuta will forever be left with this constant reminder of his dead, first love and it is the source of all of his power. to give up and move on would be to relinquish what gives him strength, so he's trapped in this loophole of grief to keep the flame of his strength alive, never able to give himself the closure he gave her.

maki zen'in is oh no by marina and the diamonds. this song shows maki's development and past almost seamlessly, it also shows her parallels with toji well. "don't need money, don't need fame, i just wanna make a change" this shows how maki is not a sorcerer for the money or regard, but to change things. she just wants to change the jujutsu world, specifically the zen'ins so that there can be a place for her and mai to be safe. "i know exactly what i want and who i want to be" maki does not question who she is and her goals despite constant shame and ridicule by her clan, and eventually her own sister, she stays true to herself through it all. "i'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy" maki ends up nearly dying at the hands of a curse and she emerges changed. eventually she realizes her strength at the cost of her sisters life (will be more explained later) and fulfills the gap that toji left behind, fully embracing his legacy. "'cause i feel like i'm the worst, so i always act like i'm the best" maki's aloof persona is brought on as a way to cope with always being shut out and put down, she acts like she's better than everyone because all her life she was told she was below everyone. "if you are not very careful, your possessions will possess you" maki's sister sacrifices herself in an attempt to save maki and perfectly recreates toji's famous weapon out of her body. maki uses this sword and slaughters nearly the entire zen'in clan. he rage takes her over and she becomes more of a possession of violence for that period.

toge inumaki is soap by melanie martinez. this song shows how toge must constantly think about what he says and how when he does not it can be catastrophic. "guess i better wash my mouth out with soap" we can take this literally and think that all the words inumaki is able to say are always so negative, like he is constantly telling cursed to kill themselves pretty much (see: blast away, explode, get crushed). "i'm tried of being careful, tip-toe, trying to keep the water warm" it must be so emotionally and mentally taxing to constantly watch what you're saying like inumaki has to constantly. think about wanting to say something so desperately but you can't, or if nobody could ever understand you again. he can never truly talk and express himself vocally without risking hurting somebody or himself. "i feel it coming out my throat, guess i better wash my mouth out with soap" with this we can see the pain that comes with inumaki from just speaking, like his power makes him. just one simple word can destroy his throat. "god, i wish i never spoke, now i gotta was my mouth out with soap" in assumption, if inumaki ever accidentally spoke without thinking, he would feel such an insurmountable guilt. it's something as simple as a word and he is able to cause so much pain, it would make anyone hesitant to ever speak again. inumaki's power is such a double edged sword in its effectiveness and ease of use, it effects his every day life where he can never have experiences that all his friends do so easily.

satoru gojo is seventeen by marina and the diamonds. this song encapsulates his character and his development pretty well. i saw this on tiktok (can't remember the user) and i agree wholeheartedly. the chorus is especially compliant to his character."i felt you question the way-ay i was brought up as a baby" this can exemplify the effect that the six eyes and limitless had on his childhood, because he can never have an experience that is comparable to any other person. "could never tell you what happened the day i turned seventeen" his arc for s2 is when he is seventeen, including everything that happens with suguru. "the rise of a king, and the fall of a queen" this resembles satoru and suguru's relationship, as gojo climbs and becomes the strongest; suguru falls to the burden of his curse and his ideals. in the end, gojo becomes the strongest and suguru 'falls from grace' in that he becomes a curse user. the song fits him well beyond the chorus as well. "oh, you were embarrassed if me 'cause i used my tongue freely" this is an example of how, despite being the pillar of it, gojo constantly brings shame to the higher-ups with his attitude, especially in his younger years. "no, no i'm not your little slave, no i don't twist and turn that way" this also shows his relationship with the higher-ups in how he so vehemently hates being a pawn for these people that he hates, how he is used as some weapon. i could go on and on about this song and gojo but i'll cut it off so there isn't too apparent favoritism.

suguru geto is my old man by mac demarco. this song shows suguru's change into the very thing he hates. how he loses all of his morals, which were the only things that truly kept him sane, and becomes the one thing he vowed to never become. "look in the mirror, who do you see? someone familiar, but surely, not me" we can see the struggle that he goes through as he changes, as we saw with his physicality in the manga. as his entire worldview shifts drastically he and everyone he knows no longer recognizes him, he becomes a different person. "but it just can't be. look at all the steps that brought you where you are today" we can see suguru questioning his entire life up until that point in this. we see the struggle he goes through as he so desperately tries to cling onto the shreds of his morals that he once held so highly on a pedestal. "as a heart grows stronger, sometimes love is pushed away" this resembles his relationship with satoru, in that as geto and suguru are finding themselves, they become distant and lose each other in the process. "oh, no, looks like i'm seeing more of my old man in me" this shows suguru slowly recognizing that he is falling apart at the seams. he is seeing all the things he once hated in himself, he is becoming the once thing he vowed to never become, and he is losing everything he held dear all at the same time..

toji fushiguro is oh no by marina and the diamonds. this song shows his struggle with being born as a non-sorcerer within one of the big three families. "want it fast, want it hard" in a literal sense we can take this onto toji's physicality, he is extremely fast and extremely strong, something he was able to achieve unlike any other human of this world, something that the sorcerers that looked down on him could not. "i'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy" this can exemplify toji's unraveling during his fight after gojo resuscitates, how he gives in to the feeling that he pushed back, how he feels fear for the first time, how he feared dying and actually dies. "if you are not very careful, your possessions will possess you" toji's unwillingness to back down and his will to fight drives him to his death in his battle with gojo as he loses at the one thing he is good at. "tv taught me how to feel, now real life has no appeal" in this, we can see just how dull toji is when he is not in battle, how he blows all his money gambling without a care, because he does not truly wish to be alive. "i'm gonna live, i'm gonna fly. i'm gonna fail, i'm gonna die" again, in a literal sense, we can apply this to the difference between his two battles with gojo, how he is so haughty at the first but unravels in sight of his demise at the second. toji's convoluted character is describe soundly in this song.

kento nanami is nobody by mitski. this song represents nanami's despondence for society and most people, despite this he just wants to live a normal life, the life yu haibara deserved to have lived. "my god, i'm so lonely" after haibara's death nanami didn't really have anybody to lean on, he was the only person who truly understood him, so he leaves the jujutsu world to try to live the normal life that his best friend deserved. "venus, planet of love, was destroyed by global warming. did it's people want too much too?" nanami's life is destroyed by sonething that should not happen to children, so he becomes obsessed with not letting other kids (yuuji) experience similar tragedies, because there was no adult there for him. "guess i'm a coward, i just want to feel alright" nanami wishes to be happy and normal, he wants to work so he can retire and live a long carefree life. a life away from jujutsu sorcery and it's despondency, but he eventually winds right back in that world, saving someone just like him. "and i know no one will save me" nanami is incredibly at peace with the concept of dying, so he does not expect to be save , he does not hope for salvation (see: mahito domain, and when he actually dies). nanami lived a life where he never truly healed, he never truly had someone by his side that understood him, that person died in yu haibara over a decade ago.

sukuna ryomen is the fruits by paris paloma. this song represents sukuna's identity as the original curse, but it also incorporates some of his past as a sorcerer and his past with uraume. "i have no time for confession, for i'm too busy committing sins" sukuna does not acknowledges the travesties that he has committed, because he simply does too many of them to be able to remember. "'angel' he calls me, does he know that i'm failing from a precipice that i tripped of long ago?" uraume worships and serves sukuna despite his horrible acts and his terrible personality. but does he know that sukuna was once the very thing they fight against, that he was once a sorcerer, that his fate as a sorcerer lead him down this path as the kind of curses. "for if i'm going down, i guess i'll take you with me" sukuna is the kind of person to drag someone down with him. urarume stays with him even beyond death, helping to aid him once he revives because he truly trusts and believes that sukuna will return. "i feel your lips kissing my feet, but even so, oh! oh, call me a devil" sukuna was worshiped during his time on the earth, yet so many people despised him and called him a monster despite claiming to have him as their deity. even when he was in complete power there were still people praying on his downfall despite claiming to be praying to him..

choso is fish in a birdcage by fish in a birdcage. this song helps to explain choso's relationship with his brothers and the value he places upon them and eventually yuuji. "my brother always sings me songs, with his beak he tries to soothe me, he makes me feel that i belong" choso and his brother makes each other feel whole. they make each other feel normal when they are truly the only beings like each other in the world the only half human half curses to ever exist. "so carry me from these walls, brother of mine, show me the world outside" choso feels the duty to free all of his brothers from their cursed wombs, to fee them from their imprisonment. he wishes to show them a life they can truly life, a happy life (see: picnic scene where he thinks yuuji is his brother). "i'm counting on you, to be my wings and my eyes" him and his brothers agreed to fully rely on each other, they vow to protect one another no matter what, they trust each other wholly. "you gave me more than i could ask for, indistinguishability" once his brothers leave this world, he feels nothing but grief. but when he becomes deluded that yuuji too is his brother, he cannot help but feel so grateful to have another chance to protect his baby brother, a chance of redemption. maybe yuuji really is his brother, is his mother was kenjaku's vessel and noritoshi kamo (he old one) was also his vessel, they would be sort of related.

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