#but the overall one is joy because of folks like you out there enjoying the content

[pixiemage]

I legitimately think a lot of people get too hung up on how other people write or draw characters (both in MCYT and outside of it). I sometimes feel like there's so much bitterness towards fellow fandom members just because they've chosen to enjoy a character or corner of the fandom in a different way. Do you picture the characters the same way the creators are IRL? Fun! Do you have a much more fanonized interpretation because you want to separate the characters from creators? Great! Do you tend to lean toward one kind of design overall in your art because that's just how you enjoy the act of creation? Fantastic!

Short, tall, thin, fat, human, hybrid, something entirely undefinable - every single option is correct. Every single option is right. That's the point of creativity and creative liberty. That's the point of fandom and the whole reason why fan art and fan fiction exist - to take what canon gives you and make something, whether that something clings to canon's every note, or if that something turns canon on its head. Especially if it turns canon on its head.

This is a vast fanbase built upon a sandbox game, and any creations we make should be treated the same. It doesn't matter if it doesn't fit the bill for what someone else thinks, and it doesn't matter if it doesn't fit some standard mold. If everyone else views Grian as a parrot avian, but you love writing him as a cod? Do it! If a lot of folks depict Tango as a blazeborn, but you fucking love the idea of him being an android? Well, for god's sake, what's stopping you? Make him an android! Does everyone else write Bdubs as short, but you think it'd be really funny if he was taller than half the hermits, so the short jokes are even more ridiculous? Then, holy shit, I wanna see that!

But to roll back to the point, fan creations is meant to be fun. And all of you out there being picky? As a viewer of other peoples' art and writing, don't go telling people they're "doing it wrong". Don't be critical. Don't tell someone they need to "do better" if their portrayal doesn't line up with what's in your head. There's no rules here. And similarly, there's no quota we need to meet on variety. There's no law someone is breaking if they're not following your expectations. If you're a viewer of art and fics, and you're pissed at someone because you believe they don't draw or write someone tall enough or short enough or thin enough or fat enough or young enough or old enough - make it yourself. Don't detract from someone else's joy just because their version of having fun in the fandom doesn't line up with yours.

People are going to create what they love. People write and draw from a place of inspiration and enjoyment and fun. If they choose to share it, they're doing that for free and of their own free will. They didn't share it for you. Fan artists and fan writers aren't here to be your dancing monkeys, we're here to just have fun. If you aren't seeing enough of whatever you're expecting to see, then don't demand it from other people who were proud enough of a piece of art to share it with the world. Make it yourself.

[amadouers]

[ … ] ❀ you’re not from around here, are you? i figured because you totally just missed gianna yun walking by. don’t tell me you don’t know who she is ? they kind of look like jennie kim and i could be wrong but i think that they might be 28 years old right now. they’ve been living in palmview for the last month. and i don’t know if anyone has ever told them this before but they kind of remind me of tashi duncan from challengers. if you stick around the town long enough you might catch them in action working as a professional tennis player on hiatus. you see this town isn’t really that big of a place, some folks like to call them the fallen angel of palmview! they took a liking to the name too after a while, go figure. oh crap, they must have heard me yapping. they’re coming this way. i got to warn you though, rumor has it they can pretty stand-offish at times. i wouldn’t take it too seriously though, from the times i’ve spoken to them they seemed pretty ambitious to me. we see each other all the time since they live in that 3 bedroom apartment beside me over in coral cove. i better leave you to it. it was nice meeting you!

statistics  .

full name: gianna yun jiyeon nickname(s): gi, gigi, gia age: 28 years old date of birth: january 16th, 1996 hometown: long beach, california living arrangement: harborview residences #4a, coral cove sexuality: bisexual occupation: professional tennis player

biography  .

there was no doubt gianna yun was destined to do big things in her life  –  she was enrolled in all sorts of classes by her parents growing up, but it was tennis that stuck with her the most. she was later deemed a tennis prodigy, quick to garner attention for her exceptional skills and dedication to the sport from a young age. her parents were supportive from the start, very much willing to do their best to help her achieve her dream. after all she was their pride and joy, that much was obvious.

she made her professional debut at the age of eighteen and attended stanford university on a tennis scholarship. gianna had been playing consistently since then, winning tournaments left and right, steadily climbing through the ranks until she finally rose to number one after she won her wimbledon title and the third grand slam overall, besides winning gold in 2020 tokyo olympics.

it's safe to say she was already at the peak of her career by the time she turned twenty-five, even became the most sought after athlete for brand deals and endorsements.

driven by the need to stay on top of her game (the news reported that gianna yun had been holding the number one ranking for almost 186 consecutive weeks now), she pushed herself a little too hard when she was confirmed to make a return for 2024 paris olympics, leading to a serious injury during one of her trainings. due to doctor's advice, she was pulled out from the olympics and had to undergo a whole year recovery, much to her dismay.

it was every athlete's worst nightmare. she had trouble adjusting to her new routine for the first few weeks, felt restless that she couldn't play for the time being. tennis is all she's ever known in her life, and while she did think about the worst possible scenario (which includes her not being able to play tennis again and have to retire before she's even ready for it) before this, gianna didn't expect it would come so soon. truthfully, she's terrified.

she came to palmview to stay with a friend, an attempt to start fresh in a new place, although she hasn't done much in regards to meeting people, content with keeping the small circle she already has for now. usually one to keep to herself, she spends a lot of time visiting the local gym to work out since that's the only thing she enjoys, other than trying to stay in shape, and has only recently gotten back into playing tennis on her doctor's guidance.

connections  .

best friends with veronica lee

friends with kyro lee, adya khatri, olivia lockhart

exes on bad terms with daniel de luca

doesn't vibe with nell mason for personal reason

a fan of charlotte james' work

[starflungwaddledee]

clearing my inbox of a variety of asks with text replies, or ones that will get art answers later but that i still figured i could get back to now with simpler responses in the interim.

lots of anons, but i'll ping anyone who i can!

topics include: general nice words + people's theories (thank you!!), dededesign, daroach (sorry), sentient ancient artifacts, magolor (sorry...), whispy woods (SORRY...). there's also a decent scattering of awtdy and clockwork heart tidbits but they're all over the place, and a small collection of increasingly desperate asks hoping bandee will be released from morpho dee 😂

oohh this one is actually super old, sorry that i never got back to it! i get a little overwhelmed by the Nice Words ones sometimes and i'm not sure what to say besides 'thank you!!' because it means a lot to me and 'thank you!' just sometimes feels like it doesn't cut it...?

anyway, i'm very grateful!! i'm thrilled if i could inspire you to try out any constructed-language work of your own!! i'd love to see more of that going on in the kirbyverse so if you ever give it a crack feel free to lmk!

i'm glad you like the full penguin dededesign; quite a few folks seemed to enjoy that actually and i was pleasantly surprised! i haven't drawn that much of most characters besides bandee, to be fair, but the next comic will be about dedede and should answer some of the other questions i've been getting about him too!

i should say that it's likely the totally full penguin design won't make it for the comic, because it's hard to draw the sheer length of their bills from many angles or having the expressiveness i need for dedede, and i really only did that one for funsies. but i'll hopefully find a nice compromise!

aaaa the joy of being mentally unwell about The Characters and The Story. thank you, glad i can be of service! 👍

this is quite perceptive of you to notice and it's definitely something that occurs in the timeline. due to galacta knight's influence (and kirby's altered reputation) visitors and threats- both international and intergalactic- start to think twice before risking an approach.

alas, because daroach appears in the timeline before galacta knight's switch-in occurs, he would already be in contact and friendship with kirby. that unfortunately means he'd meet the same fate as the rest of kirby's existing allies.

@i-only-created-this-to-read a little similar to the above ask, yes, the intergalactic picture of popstar is definitely changed by the presence of a violent, otherworldly warrior and a ruthless hero. i also answered your questions about necrodeus previously and am not sure what else to say about him.

i have confirmed before that dedede is not dead, and more about his scenario and overall role in the plot will be revealed in comics. but i will say that he's a smart guy, despite his silliness, and a loving king. he absolutely came to the same conclusion about the frequency of his own possessions as well, through no small amount of heartbreak.

i definitely headcanon the Lor as sentient; in the light novels, bandee also speaks to her fairly directly. i actually headcanon all the Ancient artifacts as having an amount of sentience (this seem in line with what we've seen in canon, so i don't think it's a reach) and the lor herself seems especially benevolent to me.

our headcanons for the novas are different to yours, though that plays more of a role in the clockwork heart au. i quite enjoy your theories about how the ending might go and you've definitely picked up some details!! i won't confirm or deny anything, but i will say the lor is present in the AU, and that magolor has enough knowledge of artifacts to know that a wish on a wishing star could be a viable solution.

it took a while for folks to start asking me about magolor actually, which i found kind of amusing because he's the deuteragonist (second protagonist, after bandee) of the au!

i do definitely think that canonically magolor lives on the lor starcutter; though he does say he wants to buy a holiday home on popstar! however in awtdy, unlike the dream land four three, magolor's entire timeline is trashed from the get-go by galacta knight's arrival

some of these answers will take me longer to get to as i'll provide them in comics (it should be a fun reveal at least), but i will say: he hates popstar. he hates it there. he'd give just about anything to be anywhere else.

until he meets bandee, of course.

the rest of popstar fare a little better or a little worse at various points in the au, kind of like in the mainline canon timeline. for the most part, galacta knight isn't that interested in most of popstar. he enjoys living there, it's peaceful and undeniably pleasant, and frankly he'd like to continue doing so!

he can be convinced (by kirby, and the maintenance of the lie) to perform care to some of its citizens when necessary- such as rebuilding after a crisis. but in general he minds his business in dream land, and occasionally off-world or interdimensionally with kirby and bandee on missions.

whispy, who also keeps to his own in the woods and is just a cantankerous old tree, is probably fine. at least up until star allies, when he, you know. gets possessed.

@pumpkinnkidd oh absolutely.

@torrentialchaos2 that would be a different story to chrysalis au, i think! one i could write, but haven't. chrysalis au is specifically about bandee, you can't really extract him from it? 😭 but if morpho possessed magolor it would depend on a lot of things: like what is everyone's relationship to him when it happens? i think even when he comes back from his redemption arc, magolor and the gang are friends, but it's not the same as bandee, who is a core member of their unit.

we've already seen what happens when magolor gets possessed and kirby has to Beat His Ass to get him back to normal. and we've seen that when morpho possesses others who are capable fighters, kirby doesn't hold back. so maybe that? magolor is a magical little guy; he's got a better chance of getting spat back out unscathed.

i could however probably write a version of this for magicapple if i wanted, which would be much more emotionally pulverising lmao

@trainerbob23 thank you!! this one took me a bit to respond to sorry, but i'm grateful for the warm welcome! the AUs are definitely my primary investment and i'm glad that folks are enjoying seeing them develop! some of them are connected to each other (awtdy + it's various endings/alts) but others are separate.

i also do have some backstory/lore for starstruck dee, which i'll hopefully get to soon as well. i would say that she is... very much related to stars and the cosmos, yes.

@eliastheownerof0axolotls this one was part of a longer ask (that i've answered part of, and still have another part of in my queue... sorry;; ) but i think this part- especially in terms of kirby- has probably been mostly answered by now! both kirby and dedede have significant roles!

i view dedede as having a mentor-like dynamic with bandee as well as with kirby, and they all care about each other very much! but (especially because they are all adults in my hc) he also absolutely trusts them to handle themselves.

referring to this post and the (cw angst) art at the end. i will hopefully answer some other asks about the clockwork heart au which will satisfy more of its overall premise and timeline and all, but in regards to the peculiar image...

why that picture is completely normal!! bandee is super fine and normal in it and everything is great and good and fine and fine and fine and fine!!! hhahaha!!!

(something very bad is happening, lmao. entirely doomed by the narrative.)

speaking of bandee being doomed by the narrative:

some tags here as well, but i just love the frequency of these...

bandee gets possessed one time and everybody loses it... quick!! when will he get unpossessed!!! save that little guy!!! he's sad so we're sad!! (relatable. everyone is so valid.)

the tags on the main posts about morpho dee are just full of people screaming and crying and being like "NOOO I HATE THIS SM I'M IN PAIN /pos" and it's so good hahahaha

sorry to the folks who hate to see him going through the blender, he's being spun in the microwave at like 90mph on my blog. but don't worry, chrysalis au does have a predictably good ending; though obviously bandee has some capital S Stuff to unpack afterwards!!

🌟⭐✨

aaand i think that's all for now! hopefully if you've been hanging out for an ask for a while you're answer is here, and if not (and possibly even if it is), it's most likely taking me so long because i want to do an answer with art.

i'll try not to let these build up again like this, thank you for your patience!

[pausegame]

I think Rook is so precious.

Idk if it's just because I'm a weenie and tend to lean more paragon dialogue choices and I know folks have expressed their discontent that there isn't an option to be genuinely mean which limits RP/personal character building, and that all dialogue choices are just Nice With Different Tones but I'm not against what some perceive as a Set Personality à la Commander Shepard, who IMO always felt like a Tough With Different Tones sort, which was fine, considering they are a military person, but lacked in empathy for me.

There is a wonderful amount of vulnerability and compassion with Rook that makes my heart swell with so much joy. I love that Rook gets to touch their companions. I always disliked that my Inquisitor couldn't give Dorian a hug, because he probably could've used one, and that outside her love interest the only physical contact she could provide was giving Varric one hug. ONE. Granted, Rook doesn't get to really hug anybody at all (and Taash and Bellara definitely could've used like four), but I like that Rook repeatedly comes to hold/steady Bellara, that they are close enough to Emmrich for them to reach out to each other, and going to reach for Harding and being there for her physically is a thing.

Unpopular opinion: I've never been a fan of Hawke. Idk if it was a combination of fanon or them being a product of the 2010s' love for Jerks With a Heart of Gold type who is both a Goddamn Hero and Just a Guy. I never liked DA2 for a myriad of reasons but Hawke being almost their own entity as much as Commander Shepard probably had something to do with it? Locked in as human, default faces, etc. The voice acting wasn't bad by any means but there was a poshness to both voices that just didn't sit right in my soul for the underdog type, and a commoner. Like Fereldans have a certain accent. They sounded noble when they were just normal. IIRC, Male Hawke also voices Vaughan from the City Elf Origin in DA:O. Even when DA2 was essentially Hawke running around putting duct tape on everyone's problems and barely holding things together (theoretically something I would enjoy bc I love broken characters struggling to do their best) there was something about the overall presentation, performance, and characterization that felt a little artificial and superficial about them that never vibed for me. Like their entire persona was designed to be So Relatable but also Cooler than the traditional hero we got in the Warden. They have quips and their merry band of friends is a mixed bag. Unlike the Warden who is a traditional Chosen One Hero, this is An Underdog you can root for. They have some edge. Except my Warden had way more edge and was even more of an underdog than Hawke ever could be (Hello Tabris ILY)

The fanon interpretation that Hawke could punch the demon and walk out of the Fade with sunglasses on completely nonchalant adds to this mythical Cool figure that I just never liked.

And I single out Hawke compared to the Warden who has the most flex room and no voice and the Inquisitor who feels like a professional leaning towards Shepard but who has moments of emotion that make them feel more candid and real, because Hawke walked away from their game with a Specific Characterization, despite the fact that I picked all the goodie-two-shoes options because that tends to be how I play these types of games.

By comparison, even if Rook is locked in as being The Nice One in The Nice Game, I think there is a level of struggle and sincerity even in the Purple dialogue options with Rook that I love. They hoot with their whole chest and zero shame at owl statues (and pretty convincingly). They make really bad hand puns and are genuinely bummed when everyone else tells them to stop. They are silly and can be embarrassed while still being a bit of a smartass. There is a level of approachability in Rook I never felt with Hawke, who was painted as quite legendary with their Smartass Personality. I love how candid and Not Cool Rook can be. That underlying kindness that drives all of Rook's choices makes them less cool, but again, very tangible.

I also love that unlike Shepard, Hawke, the Inquisitor and even the Warden, Rook isn't The One to Do It All. Lucanis gets the final blow on Ghilhin'nan after Davrin or Harding makes the ultimate sacrifice. Rook is just hanging there. Rook is dragged away before they can even free Lucanis in that moment. I love that when saving either Treviso or Minrathous, even if Rook's presence makes the difference it's because of the dagger, not because they're legendary in any sense the way Hawke is Champion or the Inquisitor is The Chosen One. I love that even though Rook gets to blue/red lightsaber duel Elgar'nan in the final fight it's still a team effort because the two other party members are still present in the scene, and depending on which ending, those two or three companions are key to taking out Solas. Rook may be the leader like Shepard, but there is a level of mortality and falling and failing that exists within Rook that doesn't in Shepard, and I absolutely love that.

[thebardisabird]

Oh, great and Holy Barb, I request that you bestowed to us lowly folks on your blessings fic of our bois at a parade to kick off and celebrate this tremendous month of ze pride

Oh my god stop it, I'm literally three birds in a trenchcoat just tappin on a keyboard lol But YES LET'S GO! Happy Pride my loves! Be who you are, love who you are and who you want to and remember that you are safe and loved here 💗 The fellas at a pride parade (hope it's okay if it's like long headcanons), under the cut!

Osomatsu is here for a fun time! While he thought he was always so sure of his sexuality being the playful skirt chaser that he is - he came to realize that men are just as hot. So while he's not exactly dressed up for the occasion of the parade, he's definitely in the spirit. No one is safe from Osomatsu, he's gonna attempt to rizz up as many people as he possibly can. What he doesn't get that pride is about all about love! Very soon enough he ends up completely outrizzed and a shy mess the rest of the parade -especially with all the cuties in the very showy outfits!

SPEAKING OF SHOWY OUTFITS! This is it, for Karamatsu. Being the canon bisexual of the brothers, this isn't his first pride parade. He goes all out for the parade: body art, sequins, big gogo boots, and a long luxurious blue robe with an elegantly printed K on the back of it in gold. The amount of love he gets for how good he looks from so many people at pride fills him with warmth and makes him feel so seen. But it means the most when his brothers are amongst those people hyping him up all the same.

Choromatsu is proud to even just be at the parade. Considering himself pansexual, he feels the love when he sees many other pansexual people enjoying the parade just like him! Though he's very overwhelmed by all the good looking people at pride. So many sexy outfits and incredibly attractive people has this poor man in shambles. He is in the crowd, sweat pouring down his face because he is overwhelmed with all the baddies surrounding him.

Ichimatsu is here to support his brothers and ultimately, himself. Seeing so many people happy and proud of their sexuality is a reminder for him to be proud of his own. He's not as outspoken as his brothers, and the amount of people attending the parade does make him feel a tad claustrophobic...but he truly gets the vibe of self-acceptance and joy coming off the people at the parade in waves and that sparks his own pride.

Jyushimatsu, while his orientation is unknown, is having a blast! His energy is super infectious, and with the help of a collaborative effort between Karamatsu and Todomatsu, pulls off a very cute multicolored overall ensemble to show his support! You can hear him from a mile away laughing and yelling amongst the other parade-goers. But don't be fooled - Jyushimatsu knows the importance of pride, and he's very happy to be celebrating with everyone!

Ohhhhh Todomatsu - being at the pride parade is his time to be vainer than ever - but for a good reason! Decked out in pink from head to toe and shining brighter than a disco ball, Todomatsu makes it clear that he is here to stunt this pride season. However, that does not stop him from showing love to so many people at the parade - taking pictures, mingling with others, and even dancing! His philosophy for pride is celebration of the self; being proud of who you are and being loud about it! Expect him to put on his cutesy persona tenfold!

[thisaintascenereviews]

James & The Shame Is A Human Overboard With Nothing Left To Love: A Review

Country music is synonymous with few different topics of conversation, but the context of which it’s discussed depends on the style of country music. If you’re listening to mainstream country, you’ll probably hear a ton of songs about Jesus, God, and praising Christianity, which is all fine and dandy, because people have the right to practice any faith they choose (even if they don’t practice one at all). The thing is, if you dig deeper into alt-country, folk, and indie country, you’ll find a lot of artists that criticize organized religion and examine its role in society and how harmful religion can be. One artist that does this is Rhett McLaughlin, but you may know him as one half of the YouTube duo Rhett and Link, as well as Good Mythical Morning. A couple of years ago, McLaughlin announced a country project that he calls James And The Shame. James is McLaughlin’s middle name and he said that “and the shame” comes from the shame his middle name gives him when thinking about his time as a devout Christian.

So far he’s only put out a couple of projects, which include his 2022 debut Human Overboard, and the 2023 EP Nothing Left To Love. I wanted to talk about both of these together, because they’re both relatively similar, yet you can also hear some growth from the album to the EP. Regardless, both of these records are wonderful, and absolutely worth your time. If there’s one aspect about James And The Shame that I love, it’s that you can listen to this without any context at all without knowing who Rhett is. This isn’t your average “YouTuber music,” and this is music that can stand up on its own, especially if you enjoy country.

McLaughlin’s sound is also incredibly interesting, opting for an old school country sound but still mixing some modern folk-pop into the mix for good measure. Human Overboard keeps the old school country sound, whereas Nothing Left To Love has a more Americana and singer-songwriter feel to it. There’s less twang on that EP in the instrumentation, although McLaughlin’s voice still has a Southern accent to it. It seems like he’s playing with other sounds and influences on Nothing Left To Love, but Human Overboard isn’t one note, both in terms of the instrumentation and the lyricism. The latter is what James And The Shame focuses on, and that’s one of McLaughlin’s strengths of many.

Before I talk about the lyrics, I wanted to talk about the overall sound some more, especially McLaughlin’s voice. His sound is very warm, inviting, and familiar, and his voice is the same way. He has such a good voice, I was blown away the first time I listened through these albums. Everything about these records is just so good, but it’s clear the focus is on the lyrics and what he’s saying. That’s a good thing because he has a lot to say. The lyrics are where these albums truly shine, and a lot of this record is about two things — his deconstruction and his family / friends. The EP expands his lyricism a little bit more, but it stays in the same wheelhouse.

If you’re a deeply religious person, let alone somehow that doesn’t want their beliefs challenged, this isn’t for you. McLaughlin doesn’t say anything negative about Christians as people, but he does criticize certain things that Christians do, such as “In Vain,” where he poses the hypocrisy of Christians not liking when people use God’s name in vain, yet they’ll use God as an excuse for why their football team won, or how their politicians got into office. It’s a double standard, isn’t it? The album is full of songs like that, especially about him growing and realizing that Christianity is not full of love and joy that he thought it once was.

[redrikki]

Now that I've finally finished the Netflix Avatar and have had a bit of time to reflect, I'm ready to share my thoughts.

As adaptations go, it was worlds above the Movie, but not quite as good as the Boy in the Iceberg. It's impossible to say on account of how the original series re-wired my brain, but I think I would have enjoyed it as a stand-alone series if I'd never heard of the original.

Overall, I really liked the casting and thought the actors had some pretty great chemistry together. The folks playing Zuko and Iroh really sold me on their relationship, as did Katara and Sokka's actors. The boy who played Aang did a really good job, but his relationship with Katara and Sokka never came off as anywhere near as close as it did in the cartoon, but I suspect a lot of that came from the fact some of their most touching moments weren't included in the live action.

Over all, the effects were really good (except Momo). Fight scenes were brilliantly choreographed and the integrated the bending effects well. On the other hand, the show runners were a little too focused on showing off in ways that were, I thought, a detriment to the emotional weight of things. For example, the Air Nomad genocide scene felt so focused on the spectacle of the violence and cool bending techniques that the actual horror of it fell flat.

The characters in the live action were very different people than the cartoon, especially the core three. It's like the writers read every internet complaint about Aang, Katara, and Sokka and decided they would be more likable if all of their flaws were removed in favor of more (or different) angst. And, to be fair, they altered their backstories enough that their very different personalities made sense in context, but it still...How do I put this? An adaptation, like any fanfic, is a conversation with the source material. And the conversation the Netflix show runners wanted to have with the cartoon is one where becoming "strong" is paramount, overcoming prejudice is bad because you shouldn't have had it in the first place, and "adult" stories don't have room for whimsy or joy.

Removing Sokka's sexism and changing his Koyshi Island arc might make him more likable than cartoon Sokka, but also erases one of the key themes of the show: breaking false barriers and learning from others. Iroh and Guru Pathik really spell it out in the second season, but it's there from the beginning in Sokka and Pakku's story lines. Sokka is so sure of the proper order of society before Suki shows him that the dichotomy of women and warriors is a false one. In the live action, this message is erased in favor of reassurances that he too can become a strong warrior. With Pakku in the cartoon, he changes his mind about Katara, not because of the quality of her fighting, but because her necklace made him realize that the rigid frame of patriarchy hurts everyone, including him. In the live action, he agrees to accept help from Katara and the other women because Katara fights good. He doesn't end up teaching her because she's so strong she doesn't need to actually learn from others. Over and over again, the importance of strength is highlighted, while accepting the wisdom of others and breaking down barriers is downplayed.

In terms of characterization, I really liked what they did with Iroh and how it impacted his relationship with Zuko. In the cartoon, season 1 Iroh was very much playing up the idea of a wise old man mentor who didn't do chick-flick moments of actual emotional intimacy. Netflix Iroh is still wise, but he's unapologetically vulnerable in a way cartoon Iroh isn't. Cartoon Iroh is with Zuko because he feels guilty over what happened and wants to save him going forward the way he couldn't save Lu Ten (or himself). There's a bit of that with Netflix Iroh, but he also clearly needs Zuko as an emotional crutch. The result is a relationship where both parties are more vulnerable and open with each other and it's not just Iroh lecturing while Zuko shouts abuse.

Katara got done dirty by the changes to her character. Key character-building episodes like Prisoners and the Waterbending Scroll got cut and her character felt flatter as a result. Where was her compassion which drove her to risk it all to help others? Where was her anger about what had been stolen from her culture? For that matter, where was her jealousy with Aang over how easily bending came to him? The Netflix version took a moment to celebrate how awesome Katara was that she didn't need a real teacher, just a scroll that had been kept from her for 'reasons,' but then they had two different moments where 2 boys who didn't even bend her element had to mansplain it to her. The actress did such a great job, but the writers were too busy treating Sokka as god's gift to give her the characterization she deserved.

[seriouslycromulent]

Soooooo ... I just finished episode 6 of ST: Picard, season 3

... and can I just say ... How can anyone not love this season so far?!

No, seriously. If folks are complaining about Picard this season, I have to question whether or not they were ever fans of Star Trek, in general, and Star Trek: TNG, specifically.

Forgive me, but this is going to have some spoilers below. So if you haven't watched episode 6 yet, please keep scrolling.

...

Is it safe to squee?

...

OK.

Seriously, folks. I fangirled so hard throughout this entire episode, you would've thought I've never experienced joy before. It was that f*cking awesome!

Oh "The Bounty," how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

(Almost) the entire TNG band getting back together again in one episode

The first appearance of Geordi LaForge looking all distinguished and sh*t

The younguns sneaking off to try and figure a way out of this mess while the parents argue and deliberate

Riker's "We're all gonna die" line

The trip down starship memory lane including a moment for Seven to reflect on what the USS Voyager meant to her

Me immediately recognizing the Bird of Prey from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

The cameo by Daniel *motherf*ckin'* Davis as Professor Moriarty. Oh. My. God! I literally leapt out of my seat when I saw him appear on screen. That was such a beautiful gift. Michelle Forbes last week was an amazing, but bittersweet gift. But this. This was just a truly beautiful gift. Thank you to whomever made that happen.

Geordi still being a badass engineer even though he's all "play it safe Dad mode" now

The flashback to season 1 Riker for a quick recall of "Pop Goes The Weasel" which he somehow manages to recognize by the isolated keys on their own 30 years later

Brent Spiner cycling through all the "Data's" he's played over his career, and me immediately recognizing Lore before he even said his name

Amanda Plummer just killing it with the villainy. I'm here for all of it!

And that ending?!?! Oh. My. God. Come on. How are folks not loving this?!

See. I honestly don't get the folks who are complaining. I know a lot of us Trekkers are fully enjoying this, but for the ones who aren't ... Honey, I don't know what to tell you. This season has been so much more than I ever expected, and I'm in ... just ... pure bliss with this episode and this season overall.

And no. I'm not just watching this season alone. I loved Star Trek: Picard seasons 1 and 2 as well. So much so that I was sad when I heard they were only going to do one more season.

But oh boy! What a season to end it on.

I am in deep smit with this show. And just to be clear, I also love Star Trek: Discovery, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds. I even like Prodigy, even though I've only watched about halfway through the first season.

Yes, I'm one of those Trekkers who loves Trek with my whole chest, so it was unlikely that I wouldn't relish this final season of Picard. But I never expected to love it as much as I have so far.

At this point, I'll probably cry when the season finally ends, but that's OK. Because I'll just watch it all over again to experience this joy one more time.

[celestial-kestrel]

So this did WAY better than I ever thought it would and I'm super glad! Mari Lwyd is special to me and it brings me so much joy to see other people enjoying her.

If I had known this post would of got spread so far I would of probably gone way morein-depthh about the tradition overall.

So to clear up WAAAAY more things I've seen over the years here's some more facts and information!

How do you pronounce Mari Lwyd?

So I often see Mari Lwyd's name get pronounced as 'Marry Lewd' online and this can be a little disheartening especially as it turns up in informative videos made by people outside of Wales. It's actually pronounced as 'Marry Loid'. I think the W throws people off but in Welsh the letter W is a vowel that has an OO sound. Similar to book, nook, hook, etc.

What is the song like? What are the words?

So this is hard to explain because it can change regionally and it's actually usually tailored to the area, the establishment and the person you are doing it with. It is usually in Welsh but some regions will do it in English if the area is not Welsh fluent heavy, or the person they are talking to is not fluent. I personally experienced Mari Lwyd bilingually where one of the merrymen would translate into English as I live in an area where most people speak English first or English only.

But an example, being in English, would follow like this

"Hello, would you like to allow Mari in? It's so cold out here and we're chilly." "No, last time you came you made a ruckus and broke the tranquillity!" "We promise this time will be different! If you give us some ale then we'll be on our way." "No, you said that last time. You drank all our ale and refused to obey!"

This goes on for a while until Mari is allowed entry which then once Mari is allowed entry, folk songs will be sung, music played and lots of drinks to be had. The folk songs can vary place to place. In my local area I remember Sosban Fach being sang but that's because it's a song a lot of non-fluent Welsh people will know at least some words to.

Is it cultural appropriation to make a Mari Lwyd or partake in the tradition if I'm not Welsh or outside of Wales?

So this is a little hard to answer because I'm just one single Welsh person and I don't really have the authority to decide definitely if it is cultural appropriation or not. But it depends on the context for me. For the most part, she's a folklore character. The whole tradition is designed to share stories, and folk songs and keep the Welsh language going. She and the rest of the cast are there to help share those things to more people and keep them alive. So I don't think inherently it's cultural appropriation to partake in the traditions as they were always meant to be shared. I think it only becomes cultural appropriation when she's turned into something that she's not. Turning her into a cryptid, a Halloween creature, just taking how she looks and making up creepypastas, making her talk (or rap) or changing her into an entirely new character. I think that's what makes it move into cultural appropriation territory as it's no longer what it was originally.

Anyway, I hope that adds even more things if people are interested! Here's some more videos.

Here's a sweet 40 second clip of Mari Lwyd dancing to some music being played. There is camera flashing at points.

Here's another video going over the way the tradition goes and gives more details in words much better than I'm able to.

An example of a Mari Lwyd head with a information how to make the snap noise happen. Has a really good show of how the head and jaw moves.

Now this one isn't about the tradition at all but a really funny skit featuring Mari Lwyd that lives rent free in my head 24/7 and I need more people to see it. Flashing lights and not PG.

It's that time of year again where Mari Lwyd starts to be talked about and shared around and an INCREDIBLY misleading post gets shared a lot. As someone who grew up with Mari Lwyd I wanted to clear some things up.

Also hello, if you are unaware who Mari Lwyd is. This is about the Welsh tradition of the horse skull who visits houses during the Christmas to New Years period in Wales asking for alcohol.

First off and probably the most important one:

Mari Lwyd is not a cryptid!

I can not emphasise this enough. She. Is. Not. A. Cryptid. There is no story or mystery about a ghost or zombie horse roaming the Welsh valleys. She's not even supposed to be a ghost or a zombie. It's just a horse skull on a stick with a guy under a sheet. She's a hobbyhorse and a folk character used to tell Welsh stories and keep songs alive. When people spread the misinformation that she's a cryptid, it's the equivalent of saying Kermit the Frog is a cryptid.

She is actually only one character in a wider cast of characters who go door to door or, in more modern times, pub to pub. The cast of characters can change town to town and village to village but there are some common ones I see time and time again. The Leader, the Merryman, The Jester and The Lady are just some I see regularly. Punch and Judy used to be more popular a few years ago but I haven't seen them in a while as their tradition has mostly fallen out of popularity. In most cases, almost the whole cast will be played by men. Even the characters are considered and referred to as female. Though this again depends and varies by which group is partaking in the Mari Lwyd tradition.

This point also goes onto my second point,

Mari Lwyd does not rap.

I think this comes from a very common misunderstanding of what rap is vs spoken word. Rap is a very specific style of music originating from the African American communities of the USA and has it's own structure and motifs unique to it. It's a lot more complex than people give it credit for as a style of music and just flippantly assign anything similar to it as being rap. If someone is talking fast or reciting poetry, it is not rap. Or anything that is an exchange of words between two people is not a rap battle. Mari Lwyd does not do rap, actually something that gets left out of these posts is the fact Mari Lwyd does not even speak. It's actually the Leader, who does all the speaking and song based banter between the house/pub owner for entry. Mari Lwyd just clicks her mouth, bites people and bobs her head around.

I think Mari Lwyd is a really beautiful and unique part of Welsh culture. She's not actually as wildly celebrated as a lot of the posts make her out to be. Actually, I think most Welsh people themselves learn about Mari Lwyd through the internet as well. Her popularity is increasing thanks to the drive of local groups wanting to keep the traditions alive and a renewed desire to document Welsh traditions before they're gone. Which is why it's such a shame that she's turned into something she's not to earn horror points on the internet. I think this is why it bothers me so much to see the misunderstandings of the culture and the folk tradition. Mari Lwyd's origin is very hot debated as well as how long it's been going on for. But I think it's thanks to a lot of traditions like this that the Welsh language and our stories weren't lost forever. Welsh culture is recovering as is the language. But it's still in a very fragile place. I think it's why it's important to document and correct information when it's spread.

Anyway, if you want to see the tradition in action, here's a lovely video from the Cwmafan RFC going to one of the pubs for charity. It includes the song exchange with the pub owner for entry and the whole pub singing and joining in once Mari Lwyd and the rest are inside.

As well with another video from St Fagan's showcasing the more traditional and door to door form with the larger cast.

[unmeiokaemasu]

FE:E first playthrough: thoughts

so uhhh. I guess I should write down my feelings about Engage?

My feelings about it have been pretty bittersweet. In a vacuum, I enjoyed it a lot:

it’s a story that fits in perfectly with some of the lighter entries in the franchise

that said there were moments that I found genuinely moving in the story

I’m glad it was a lighter entry because I mean it when I say games cannot and should not keep one-upping themselves, the games industry is terrible to its employees and they deserve to be treated better, which means trimming down on things like graphics and branching paths and whatnot is good in between bigger entries

the gameplay was fun, I like a lot of the new or new-ish features like the stuff in the Somniel

even though I didn’t overall like the art style, aspects of it did grow on me, especially seeing it animated

the cast really grew on me

Alear may be my favorite player avatar right after Byleth (and Mark the tactician from FE7, the absolutely hilarious non-entity)

the music is great and I’ve been humming it constantly

as dumb and gimmicky as the emblems were I think they did their job of seeming cool enough that some folks may want to go back and play their games

I enjoyed the game enough that I immediately started another run to try some different things.

So then, the things that’re bothering me...

I saw someone say that they liked Seadall “even though he wasn’t a very good unit,” and that kinda...well it’s a good example of what I feel like we may be leaving behind. Of course, if you were used to Three Houses, and even Awakening and Fates, you’d be a used to a dancer who fights pretty much on par with your other units. But with the earlier games, where dancers don’t even have the option of fighting and are completely support units, they’re still some of the most valued units within the FE community, and I’m not alone in saying dancer units are my favorite overall type. Recruiting them always feels like “ah yes, now it’s over for the forces of evil, now I can really play the game.”

...but to get that effect, you do have to play the older games. I know because I started with three houses, and my first playstyle was absolutely just sending in all my most powerful units and having them tank damage until they broke through the enemy. And that’s fun too! But after playing some of the older games, I really got an appreciation of what makes this series so special. I’m bad at strategy games. I’m not just not one of the elite, it’s very challenging for me to think several steps ahead. But Fire Emblem games are beautifully designed in a way that teaches you what resources you have at your disposal, and helps get you to a point where you can be making much more complicated decisions. I’ve yet to win a Maddening Mode in any game, but it felt great when I was finally able to beat a hard mode run of 3H, and when I beat my beloved Blazing Blade and Path of Radiance without all of the modern amenities like a rewind button. Maybe some day I will beat a maddening mode, or even beat the next chapter of FE4 that I’ve been stuck on for months! :D (haha, as if, I’ll never beat FE4)

I’m not mad that people may not like the older games, or sad that people may never play them. I’m not sad that people prefer Three Houses to the earlier style of gameplay, even though those same people would probably be good at / get enjoyment out of the earlier games. ...except that, if enough people dislike features, like, for example, less-combat-capable dancers, then those features may fall away...and then all the FE games will be about building your units they way you want, and not about being given a puzzle and saying “your tools are limited, but there’re lots of solutions, get creative!” ...and that would be a loss. I don’t want to get Old Man Yells At Cloud about this, so I’ll say I hope to be surprised. I guess as long as FE keeps bringing joy into the world, that’s enough.

SO, the one thing that really stung about the game itself was...no paired endings for units!!? What the actual heck!?!? Did I miss how to get that to happen or is there seriously now way to hear that two characters in particular work together / live together / fall in love / etc. after the war depending on who you supported people with?? Paired endings have been a thing for a long time in this series; Genealogy introduced the thing where depending on who you pair up romantically, you get kid units in the next generation based on those pairings, and the GBA games all had a variety of romantic and non-romantic paired endings for characters. I’m not asking for extra voices S-rank scenes, just little blurbs of text at the end of the game! I know I can write my own but that’s missing the point. It seems like a petty thing to miss, but like, if I’m not invested in these characters’ relationships, why would I care about supports at all outside of gameplay mechanics?

Also the ending I got for Alear’s ring support was extremely boring. I feel like they stripped a lot of the romance out of it because...idk cuz in the Japanese version they wanted it to be ok for you to ring-support the kid units or something. idk. And don’t give me any “Alear’s a dragon and will live longer than all of them,” Fire Emblem human characters have been marrying dragons all throughout the history of the game. What I’m saying is just because Ninian wasn’t in FE6 doesn’t mean she had to die early if you have her marry Eliwood instys you cowards--wait where was I. Oh right Engage pairings.

*sigh* so yeah, that was the biggest gripe I had with the game itself, and it seems like an easy thing to fix. My experience with it was highly personal, I mean FE’s been my hyperfixation for like two years now so I’m incapable of being Normal about it, and because of that I don’t want to really engage (...) in too much discussion about it, cuz I’ll either feel sad or say something I regret. Or let’s be real, both.

But overall I hope people like Engage, at least enough to keep the series going, and if the series does permanently change, I’ll just cherish the time I had learning about it and enjoying it.

[prof-peach]

(OOC:) Professor, I gotta say... You're one-of-a-kind. You're one of the first blogs I ever followed on here, and seeing of of your comics dubbed on youtube is what rekindled my passion for pokémon.

I don't really expect an answer, but I judt hope that you read this and know that you've made my life a lot better with your creativity and talent.

Cheers!

I have mixed feelings about the youtubers responsible for dubbing my work. They never asked permission, and I only found it thanks to a friend sending me a link. I was not told. Kind of a poop move on their part.

They linked my account sure, but its kind of an...underhanded thing to do?? Just prefer some honesty I suppose, would have been ok with it if there was some open dialgoue going on, but they chose not to do that, questionable methods. That aside, hon im super glad you found the original blog no matter the reason. I just like to see folks enjoying the content and vibing with the franchise in ways that suit them best. Pokemon as a whole have focused so wholly on the younger fans, that anyone over the age of 13 is kind of left wanting. So thats where this blog, the comics, and the content comes in. I fully appreciate the message, I alwasy see them, and often read them and feel like at least ive made some ok decisions in my life thanks to the support. Alwasy makes me day. May your life continue to be good and wholesome, and when its not, at least we can all fall back on pokemon. Have a good week buddy!

[endobiologist]

Trans Guy Tips #4; Socially Transitioning

Now this one is a tricky one, and it's a situation almost every trans person has to go through at some point in their life, unless they stay in the closet for life, but if you're planning to come out, and you don't know how to approach the situation and don't know how to judge if it's safe, I hope I can be a reliable guide for you on this journey.

This is usually the first step in any trans person's journey, before they physically transition, (which some don't as well). However here we're talking specifically about trans men.

So while some of the things I say could apply to trans women, always remember I'm writing about trans men from a trans man's point of view, so that's the targeted demographic here.

Once I learn more about trans women's struggles and things they go through, since I don't have the personal experience of it, I will definitely write trans women articles as well, and as well non-binary people.

So let's begin, with a list of important things to keep in mind whilst coming out to the world or at least to your family and close friends.

1. Safety is everything.

Always no matter what.

A good way to test if someone is going to be safe to come out to, is to casually bring it up in in a conversation topic, something like "What are your thoughts on lgbtq people, or specifically what are your thoughts on trans people?"

If they become aggressive and violent about it, and start being transphobic or defensive or any of the signs of bigotry, do not and I mean do not come out to them yet.

If it's a parent, I'd suggest at least wait until you're of age to move out, or have moved out, to come out to them. Sometimes people will get verbally and physically violent towards you if you come out to them and they're not accepting of it, so the most important thing is to always judge the reactions of people, and if they react well, then you can come out to them.

2. Always choose trustworthy people to keep your secret whilst you're in the closet.

There's been a lot of people who trusted idiots who they thought were their friends and they ended up outing them to the whole school they were in, etc. etc. But there was a lot of stories about this happening multiple times.

Make sure the people you tell would take the secret to their grave, especially if you're in an abusive household and can't come out for fear of violence.

3. If you're in a very abusive household, especially one that's openly homophobic and transphobic, as hard it is, please wait to come out as long as you possibly can until you have a place of your own and you're safe for sure.

A lot of people have been known to kick out their own children on to the streets because of them being LGBT, or do much worse...

Now of course these are some of the worst case scenarios, but being LGBT you always have to think about every bad thing that could occur so that you can prevent it.

4. When it comes to actually coming out, I would always recommend bringing a good friend or close family member who supports you, so that you have backup, not only for them to chime in and tell their piece and defend you, but just them being there makes the other person not want to be as violent towards you, because they fear what others will think of them.

If you're coming out to an extended family member or anyone, don't trust to do it alone, always bring a good friend.

5. One of the best ways to come out that I've seen are ways that are jokey and hilarious!

It seems to smooth over and make it a much more pleasant transition for everyone, and usually even homophobic people won't get too mad, they might even laugh!

I've seen people bake cakes with the words "Surprise I'm gay!" on it, things like that.

Just little cute things that are nice to do for your parents or people you're coming out to, but make it a surprise and that you're actually lgbt!

Now remember though, always follow the first rule and make sure safety is priority, but if you know you're safe, but you're just not sure they understand, starting out with jokes helps a lot.

6. The second step you should do after coming out is always try to explain your side of the story.

If there are people who don't let you get a word in, let them know that you have important things to say and that they need to listen to you and then they can say whatever they need.

Explain how it feels to be trans, explain why you know you're trans, of course you shouldn't have to ideally, but unfortunately a lot of people won't understand unless they're given more information, as the subject is completely foreign to them.

I know my grandma specifically reacted so well, all she did was ask me questions about it, and once I answered all her questions, she hummed in satisfaction and she never questioned it again and completely accepted me.

And a lot of times you'll get people who are pretty neutral, people who will call you by your chosen name and gender but don't really totally care as much as you want them to, but they still go along with it and just kind of assume you know what's best for you, which is a really kind thing really.

I've had a few people react neutrally and it's actually relaxing, there's no pressure put on for being gay, either over positive or over negative. but I have to say as a trans person and gay person, and grey-ace person, I love the people who ask questions the most.

I don't mind answering, and it means they're trying to learn more about something they don't understand, which means they have a huge heart and huge open mind.

Some people may get annoyed at the constant questions, but I absolutely adore them.

To me, every time someone asks about me, they're showing interest in my life and my feelings.

7. Next the scientific method.

Look up on any scientific article anywhere, and you'll find studies done on trans men and women's brains.

It was shown factually multiple times, over and over, whenever they repeated it it did it again, that trans men have the same brain structure as cis men, and trans women have the same brain structure as cis women, and non-binary people have somewhere in the middle. This was factually proven, you can look it up, so if they try to use science to defend against you, educate that that science is actually for LGBT rights and has explained how it works even.

8. Try to be gentle when it comes to pronouns.

For a lot of people, especially people of foreign languages where some languages don't have genders, or will have different genders, or other things like that, or even just English speakers that aren't used to saying 'they', or your family not being used to your pronouns yet.

It can take a while, and I know it's frustrating, it could take even a few years for them to finally get it right every time.

It's not supposed to be an attack towards you, it's genuinely hard to reprogram yourself when you think someone is one thing your whole life and then it turns out they're the other thing! So be sure to be gentle with them while they're practising, remind them every time they make a mistake, but remind them gently, as they are trying to do the right thing, they're just slipping up due to habit.

In general, be patient with non-lgbt folks, if we're mad at them, it just drives them away, rather than driving them toward us to help and assist us.

We should be grateful for our allies.

9. Once you've come out and your parents probably still have questions, I would recommend sitting down and having family night where you read together some good articles about transgenderism, and LGBT+ in general.

If they're not familiar with it, this type of education can help them a lot to understand the terminology and how to address you, and basic respect for trans & lgbtq+ people.

Overall it's a learning experience for both of you, and it would be amazing to do if they're willing to learn.

Remember that it's a journey for all of us, and everyone has a lot to learn.

10. When selecting your name, I have one piece of advice/a question for you; "Does it spark joy?"

The most important thing, it doesn't matter how odd sounding it is, or differently spelled it is, or whatever your name is, if you enjoy your name, that's what matters.

Always pick the one that calls out to you.

And it's okay to change it from time to time, people need time to figure out who they are!

And with that, I conclude my fourth part!

I hope you were helped by this in any way, and thanks for reading.

[caelestis-composition]

killshot anon! YEAH i totally agree w/ your view on kaeya. it's so weird to me that people will blame him for his role in a situation he was forced into as a child through no choice of his own. that itself had to be traumatic, not to mention everything that happened later. i hate when people say he's untrustworthy - like yeah, he's lied, so has everyone? it's clear he does it mostly to protect himself. not to mention that (& sadism) can be symptoms of trauma. kaeya deserves nothing but happiness

take a seat folks it’s time for a “brynn should’ve been an english major” lesson! today we’re gonna learn some literary theory; specifically, we’re gonna apply psychoanalytical trauma theory to kaeya’s backstory and current character. killshot anon i bet you never thought this would result in a whole ass essay.

disclaimer one! you are allowed to dislike kaeya! i am not saying you need to like him or his character, you’re entitled to your opinion and i’m not here to change your mind.

disclaimer two! i am in no way an expert and this is all for fun! this is just my silly little analysis of one of my favorite characters as someone who’s studied literary theory and rhetoric and can also apply personal experience. seriously analysis is like a hobby to me and this is just an excuse for me to ramble about kaeya.

disclaimer three! this contains lots of spoilers! basically for everything we know in-game, general knowledge as well as stuff from his voicelines and character story. don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers.

since this is going to be filled with spoilers and is about to get really long, everything will be under a cut. for those who wanna read my dumb super informal essay: enjoy!

final note: yeah this is over 2000 words long can you tell i like analysis

⭒

let’s start by getting a quick rundown of trauma theory out of the way. to begin, what is “trauma?” in this case, trauma is going to refer to an experience that greatly affects and changes one’s life; attitudes, memories, behaviors, mental state, etc. while not all changes may be bad, per se, the overall effect of trauma is generally a negative one, which is why it’s so significant. literary trauma theory, then, explores these changes and the impact of trauma in literature. it analyzes the psychological and social effects of trauma, explaining what those effects are and why they happen. in the context of a specific character, trauma theory breaks down said character’s behaviors, feelings, and general mentality in relation to their past experiences; trauma theory hopes to explain to others the reasons for why a character may act or feel the way they do, all based upon the character’s experiences, particularly traumatic ones. our character today is the lovely kaeya alberich, with the “literature” being genshin impact. i’ll be referencing kaeya’s wiki page to ensure i get all details correct for his character story and voicelines.

it would be good to review kaeya’s backstory before delving into the actual analysis. though we don’t know much about his life before living in mondstadt, we’re told he was sent as an agent of khaenri’ah. and by “sent,” i mean his biological father abandoned him in a completely unfamiliar land to serve khaenri’ah’s interests and fullfil his mission—what this entirely entails hasn’t been revealed. mondstadt, however, welcomed kaeya “with open arms when they found him.” crepus ragnvindr took him in as his adopted son, with diluc as his adopted brother. kaeya and diluc were “almost like twins,” so close they “[knew] each other’s thoughts and intentions without a word.” he’d began a new life in mondstadt, one surrounded by friends and family that loved him; one that was completely shattered by crepus’s death. kaeya arrived at the scene of the disaster, and was led to believe diluc was the one who killed their father to “set his father free” from the effects of his delusion. there’d always been one big question in kaeya’s life: if it came down to it, who would he support? the nation that abandoned him, but he still felt loyal to, or the nation and family that took him in and really loved him? overrun with guilt, kaeya confessed his purpose to diluc, sparking a fight between the two brothers. in this fight, kaeya receives his cryo vision. though both brothers stepped away alive, they’ve never been able to make peace with one another. now, kaeya is the eccentric and charming cavalry captain of the knights of favonius; a man who gets his way by using any means necessary, regardless of whether or not it seems right.

kaeya’s not evil; he’s morally ambiguous, and that stems from what appears to be a general distrust of others. his life is one shrouded in secrecy. from the moment he stepped foot into mondstadt, he was surrounded by secrets. even now, he doesn’t talk about a lot of things, namely his past, vision, and feelings. though he’s always willing to get information out of others, kaeya never reveals anything about himself. he repeatedly tells the player they can confide in him, but whenever you try and pry into his life, he deflects your questions with some sort of witty comment or flirty remark. anything he does reveal is vague, or spoken in some sort of “code.” for example, his “interesting things” voiceline. he tells us about the owl of dragonspine, how it “seems to look right through you, while letting go of none of its own secrets,” and then tacks on a “quite fascinating, don’t you think?” it seems like an awfully accurate parallel to himself; kaeya does all he can to get information from others, but never gives anything about himself. now, this whole thing—his relationship with diluc falling apart and his need for secrecy—could have probably been avoided if he had just come clean about his mission years ago. so why didn’t he? to start, kaeya was a literal child. not only are children unable to properly tell the difference between right and wrong, but they’ll also typically follow their parents’ orders blindly. kaeya had just been abandoned, and he wouldn’t want to risk being cast out by mondstadt as well if he came clean right away. you see, there’s this thing about trauma, something that trauma theory states. traumatized people feel a sort of shame or guilt regarding their traumatic experience; they’ll keep quiet because they don’t want to cause problems or bother others with their issues. of course kaeya wouldn’t tell the truth about his past, he doesn’t want to destroy the genuinely loving relationships he’d built in mondstadt. his fight with diluc only proves what he was afraid of: if he’s honest, he’ll be abandoned again. and if kaeya’s used to all the lies, why should he bother changing?

another thing, if he’s not going to tell the truth, then why would he have initially gone along with his father’s plans? again, he was a child. he really had no choice, and was forced into a very wrong and cruel situation. there’s a good explanation for this, too, which is also stated in trauma theory; traumatized people will still do their best to please their abusers. especially if said abuser is a parent, that will drive traumatized people to work even harder to please them. although his father hurt him by ruthlessly abandoning him, kaeya still sought to make him and his homeland proud. he was willing to be used as a tool for their gain; that is, until he found people who actually cared about him. he was an impressionable child, of course he’s going to obey orders. but as he gets older, he feels torn. does he serve those who abandoned him, or those that took him in? his father—and arguably, khaenri’ah as a whole—hurt him, sure, but he still feels some loyalty and connection to his former home. instead of revealing anything, he lets the situation play out. that way, he can’t be blamed when things fall apart.

the thing about claiming he’s untrustworthy is that hardly anyone in-game believes that. he’s adored by the older folks in mondstadt, and foes and allies alike find him easy to talk to. despite seeming lazy and uninterested in work, kaeya takes his job very seriously. in fact, his story states that crepus’s death was the “first and only time kaeya failed in his duty.” the “only time” is especially important, because it signifies kaeya still fulfills his duties successfully. he’s had a total of one slip-up, and hasn’t failed since. no, kaeya is not untrustworthy. rather, kaeya finds everyone else untrustworthy. it’s not unlikely that this is a direct consequence of being abandoned as a child. although it’s been established that kaeya and diluc were very close as children, when crepus dies, kaeya assumes diluc is the one that killed him. in order to jump to such an extreme conclusion against someone he was so close to, there had to be some underlying sense of distrust. furthermore, kaeya expresses feeling as though he doesn’t belong anywhere. he was abandoned by khaenri’ah, and then worried he wouldn’t be accepted by mondstadt. he is, but there’s still that worry. if you place him in your teapot as a companion, he tells you that your home feels like someplace he belongs, following it up with a “heh, who’d have thought…” kaeya still feels as though he doesn’t belong in mondstadt; despite the fact that he’s a high-ranking knight of favonius and rather popular, he still feels like an outsider. he doesn’t trust that anyone actually wants him around, and he finds joy in testing peoples’ trustworthiness. it’s noted in his story and through his voicelines that the beloved cavalry captain has a rather sadistic nature. he likes putting people into difficult situations, to see what decisions they will make. he does this to both opponents and allies, testing to see who’s going to back out and who’ll keep fighting; in the sake of allies, who can he trust? or who will turn tail and abandon their teammates at the slightest hint of danger? i mentioned it previously, but kaeya doesn’t care what measures he has to take so long as his job gets done and he gets the answers he wants. it’s a sort of self-preserving mindset, putting himself above the safety of others. kaeya’s trying to protect himself, which makes sense with all he’s been through. he doesn’t want to be hurt, and instead finds pleasure in threatening harm upon others. it’s twisted, sure, but it’s because he can only trust himself in a world that he believes is out to get him. he’s got as many enemies—if not more—as he does allies; of course kaeya focuses on protecting himself first, whether physically or through keeping his secrets, well, secret.

his most obvious traumatic effect is definitely his alcoholism. but he uses it as a distraction, not just to wallow in self-pity. this is seen again in his story, particularly in story 3. it’s found that when his favorite drink, death after noon, is out of season, mondstadt’s crime rate is decreased drastically. at face value, this just means kaeya spends more time working when death after noon is low in supply. but kaeya doesn’t skip work to go to taverns; it’s already been established he takes his job very seriously, so this means he actually patrols and tracks down threats while off work when he can’t indulge in his favorite alcoholic drink. he doesn’t get drunk simply because he’s depressed. if he did, there wouldn’t be a drop in incidents when death after noon is out of season. no, kaeya uses both the alcohol and fighting to distract himself. after all, it’s a little hard to think about feeling sad when you’re either drunk out of your mind or fighting for your life.

despite being so secretive, kaeya gives us glimpses of his true emotions from time to time. as previously mentioned, his flirty attitude is nothing more than a mask to hide how he really feels; and kaeya is terribly, terribly lonely. that may be why he seems so extroverted. constantly being around people should, logically, drive away that feeling, but it doesn’t work like that. when he talks with the player, he frequently expresses disappointment when you have to leave. each time, though, he dampens the weight of his words with playful or flirty language. he’s lonely, but doesn’t want you to know that, like he’s afraid of asking you to stay. he takes the seriousness of his feelings, and basically bends it into some sort of lighthearted joke. kaeya hides his true feelings—negative feelings, to be exact—so that he doesn’t bother anyone. which is, again, something that happens with traumatized people. he displays that hesitance to reveal his true feelings, because there’s a shame or guilt that comes with his past. he doesn’t want to bother others or hold them back, so he puts on a smile and amps up the charisma. one other very important thing—but very small detail—i would like to note is his feelings toward family. his fell apart not even once, but twice, and kaeya still holds familial relationships in high regard. we know he doesn’t exactly care how he goes about getting his work done. he doesn’t pay attention to what’s “right” or “wrong,” so long as he gets what he needs. but one of his informants, vile, notes that the cavalry captain has one exception: he won’t work with those who threaten others’ families. in fact, kaeya claims those who do should be hunted down and destroyed. even though his own families have caused him so much pain—and he ended up estranged from both—he still understands the importance of having people who love you in your life. because he didn’t get that.

kaeya’s not evil. ultimately, as a knight of favonius, his goal is to protect others, because no one was there to protect him. and because no one was there to protect him, because he’s been hurt time and time again by people who were supposed to love him, kaeya has taken to protecting himself. he hides any and all negative feelings with a charismatic, friendly façade, because he thinks it’ll drive away his persistent loneliness. any “bad” actions of his were hardly his fault; he was forced into a life of secrecy and lies, and then abandoned by the first people who truly loved him. kaeya’s a multi-faceted, tragic character, one that toes the line between good and evil, and that’s what makes him so interesting.

[kuwdoravids]

Year End Vid Review: 2022

Year-end round-up/meme: 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

March Memory Leak (tumblr) (The Matrix Resurrections, Neo, Neo/Trinity)

June Come Back For You (tumblr) (The Witcher, Istredd) Wild Green Yonder (tumblr) (Shrek/Witcher, Shrek/Fiona/Donkey, Geralt/Yen/Jaskier)

August Control (tumblr) (The Witcher, Ciri)

November Brother (tumblr) (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Geralt, Eskel, Lambert, Vesemir)

Read the meme questions beneath the cut!

Random process notes:

I actually made 4 vids this year. "Brother" I made in 2021 and just didn’t post until 2022. But I gotta have Brother show up somewhere in one of my vid review lists so here it is.

4 vids in one year is the fewest vid I made since 2022 and 2018 but that’s mostly because I’ve had like, four mental breakdowns and have been hyper fixating on writing Witcher fic so I did not finish as many vids as I usually do. I didn’t even start that many new vids either.

Overall thoughts:

All of the vids except one are Witcher related. The non-witcher vid is Matrix Resurrections which was more of a soul statement vid that I got to make about the themes of the movie and mental illness.

My Witcher hyperfixation remains strong. I’m very pleased with all the vids I finished and started this year. They’re all quite different, musically and different characters, too. It was a good vidding year even if I didn’t finish a few other projects before December closed out.

Favorite Vid:

Come Back For You. I fucking adore Istredd and Royce Pierreson’s face is so lovely. This vid is all about the vibes for me, but I really enjoyed playing with the visual cues in this—Istredd sitting/transitioned into the monolith, the shadow puppets/Yen and Istredd, so on and so forth. It was a delight to cram all my Yen/Istredd and Geralt/Istredd feelings in here while also managing to touch upon the scholarly aspect of his character since we got a few great scenes with him in season 2.

Hardest to make:

Memory Leak. I had the bulk of this made in about a week in January but I got stalled out in the last 25% of the vid because I couldn’t figure out the flow. But I took some time away from the vid and was able to come back with fresh eyes and manage to finish it in time for VidUKon.

Most successful:

Memory Leak. I was able to accomplish everything I wanted to do with this vid- touch upon the visual narrative of the past/present/reality, showcase Neo’s yearning for love and surviving through the psychological torture he’s been under for decades. And I was able to do that with a very specific song choice—Albert Salt’s cover of Blink182’s “Adam Song” remains one of my most favorite covers I’ve worked with. It does wonders for this vid. I’m so proud of it. And I had a blast watching folks lose their minds while watching the vid at the convention, too! So much joy.

My best vid:

Wild Green Yonder. Aka the Shrek/Witcher crossover that people have gif’ed but I watched all 4 Shrek films and was delighted to discover even more parallels. Everything about this vid is everything I wanted—the joy, the squee, the parallels. The surprises. It really is my best this year.

Most fun vid:

Wild Green Yonder. Not only is using Joey Batey’s music from The Amazing Devil great but the very specific fantasy tropes that happen in both Shrek and Witcher is just so goddamn fun to play with. Especially when it came to Geralt fishing the djinn out of the water for his wish and Shrek trying to also get his wish for everything to go back to normal. I adored playing with the internal motion and eyeline of the characters so that it appeared Shrek was looking at Jaskier and Fiona was smiling at Geralt in bed.

I just wanted to escalate my squee because I really enjoy this trio dynamic a lot and it is my happy place. And I am sure that anyone who watches this can feel the fun!

Also it’s my hope that everyone who watches comes away shipping Fiona/Donkey because the Yen/Jaskier parallels were SO FUN.

Things I learned in 2022:

The more that I write, the less that I spend time vidding. Simple as that. I had a few other vids I wanted to finish in 2022 but my brain meltdowns and anxiety made it hard to follow through.

That being said, I also learned that it is a lot of fun to keep chasing my Witcher joy.

In 2023:

I want to finish my Moonhaven vid and probably start my season 2 Witcher vid and probably a Witcher Blood Origin thing that all of 13 people will watch but it’s what I want to make so that’s how it’ll be. I have a few ideas here and there that I might tackle but it really is a matter of how much anxiety brain I can stifle to focus long enough for clipping again.

I also keep meaning to archive the rest of my catalog on AO3 and Tumblr, so that’s something I am going to attempt to do over the coming year. Over 200 vids to go…

[dtowngurl4488]

Random ramble #5:

There are several Calzona, Otalia and Regina "sexy lip scar" Mills fic ideas in my notebook and on my phone that will hopefully come to life on the page at some point in the foreseeable future however with every day that I can't find Supergirl stories specifically about the Danvers sisters, Dansen, Astra, James, or Andrea, I get the urge to just do it myself. Anyone else feeling like this??? Like on AOL, why are there only like 6 Dansen specific fics out of 46 total fics with Esme tagged?! HOW SWAY?!?!!

Prompts, snippets and one-shots are cool and add to the overall joy of reading but where are the stories? The show's writing may have gone completely off the rails but they always gave great nuggets of content that I would be so sure would result in dozens of fics and why wouldn't I, it happened all the time. Like the moment Andrea popped on the screen, she and Lena were serving big ex-girlfriend energy and with the way the masses obsess over a lady loving Lena/Kara, I just knew the fics would follow. But that didn't happen eventhough all the pieces were there just as all the SC pieces were there however it became clear that she didn't make the cut. It seemed it had already been determined that Kara reigned supreme and the only acceptable alternatives for Lena were either Alex or Sam. The same can be said for Kelly despite her having a bigger support group, it would seem when it comes to Alex that Maggie is supreme while Sam or Lena are acceptable. Now, none of that is to say that folks should write about things or characters they don't like but IT IS to ask why the folks that do like them aren't writing??

But let's not get hung up on ships. It's more than that cuz people aren't writing about Eve killing Jeremiah and Alex finding out about it OR the Midvale trip for Jeremiah's funeral and Alex's lash out OR Astra being alive post-crisis OR Kara truly reconnecting with her parents, people or culture and how that would affect her OR the Olsen siblings as Guardian OR the survival of Kenny Li...and I could go on all day but I won't lol.

Yet sometimes, I get irrationally frustrated at the idea that there are literally hundreds or thousands of Supergirl fanfic writers and I feel like the only way I can find what I'm yearning for is to write it myself. And I find myself going, "why do I have to write it? I don't want to write it, I want to read it and be surprised because I don't know what's gonna happen or how it's gonna get there. I want to enjoy other people's imaginations and adaptations!" Yet, despite feeling this way, I do in fact have Supergirl fic ideas in my notebook and on my phone. I'll get to them and hopefully others will get to theirs as well, so fewer people, if any at all, can relate to this ramble.

What are your thoughts?

*Sidenote: Why do you folks not comment on this app? 🤨*

[lucky-komainu]

Dear Artists 12

Have you ever felt the tangible experience of someone clicking Like instead of Retweet?

A lot of us measure our success by how much our work spreads and sells. We feel comforted and satisfied when folks purchase our work and enjoy what we put out. It feels great knowing that people genuinely enjoy our artwork enough to share and buy it. It's thrilling when folks give us constructive criticism, showing that they care and know that we can improve our work to propel us further.

But on the opposite end of the spectrum, a hidden 'feature' we experience is when we're given Pity Currency.

This is what I call transactions of money or support that is given to us for us, versus for our work. I want to stress that this form of transaction is NOT BAD. It is a very important form of support that allows us to do what we do. But many don't see the negative side effect that can begin to creep up underneath that.

When my wife and I vendored at a convention for the first time, our work sold at a success rate we couldn't have predicted. It was an exhilarating feeling.

A few years later, that feeling was absent. We received quite a lot of money that year as well, but when it came down to counting the end result, I realized that a large portion of the money coming in was from friends or folks who just handed us the money, not asking for art in return.

Barely any of our artwork sold that year. I actually broke down sobbing later on over it, which was a shock to friends given I’m the one that never cries.

It feels similar to always getting positive comments on your work. The 1-to-3 words that express joy, but can feel empty due to the lack of explaining how they feel about the piece. Why do you like it? Why did this particular piece attract you? It's all well and good to give us kudos, but if we don't know what's good about our work, how are we supposed to improve on it?

How are we supposed to know where to go if we get Likes but not Retweets?

I lot of us get lost in our adventure to improve because we never know where to improve. The most common form experienced is the classic “Should I practice backgrounds first or color theory? Should I practice poses or do muscle studies??”

This feeling can build up. It can be absolutely devastating in large doses, because it makes you realize that while people are willing to support you and like you, it doesn't show you whether or not people enjoy your work on its own merit.

I'm not going to tell you to stop accepting Pity Currency or ignore positive comments on your work.

But I'd like you to understand the difference, and if you have felt this difference before, to know it isn't just you. I'd like you to understand that your work is worth something and a lot of it. I'd like you to understand to never stop your work just because it isn't being recognized or appreciated enough to hold its own merit.

Take a day out of your busy schedule and hit up your favorite artists. Retweet and Reblog the work you enjoy the most. Tell them why you enjoy it. Let them know how crisp and smooth their linework is. Let them know their colors are on point and vibrant. Let them know their expressions and poses are addicting. Let them know you appreciate such an artist blessing you with art of your favorite characters and being in the fandoms you are.

Let. them. KNOW.

And then let the ones who support and follow you know that this is the kind of thing you crave. Something you should crave! Ask them during streams why they come to them. Ask them why they follow you. It is the best way of knowing how and where to go.

For those supporting artists, let them know why. Your words may not pay the bills, and I don't ask you to stop donating, subscribing or sending money. But that support pays in positive mental health. It pays in getting an artist up every day. It pays in energy and excitement.

Personally, nothing is more thrilling than seeing someone comment with why they like a piece or my work overall. I may downplay it, I may self-depreciate publicly, but it means more than you can ever know.