#i also don't think size is as big a factor as some people think

[dreorig]

Oh wow, you just happen to be taller and broader than your mercenary boyfriend!

[ deadpool x dom male reader | nsfw under the cut | had this sitting in my drafts for a while now so uhhh forgive any mistakes :P ]

First things first. He thinks that's so hot of you.

He brags about you to everyone. Everyone. Random people, someone's he's fighting with, a friend; they all will hear about how handsome and tall Wade's boyfriend is.

Wade gets heart eyes when you both are in public and you hold his waist or hug him from behind. A subtle possessive squeeze on him will also do the job.

Wade will steal your clothes. He is 6'2, do you seriously think he'd ever have another chance to feel smaller in someone else's clothes anytime soon? Yeah, he's not losing this chance.

How many times can he ask to arm wrestle with you until you threaten to cut his vocal chords?

"So we can't get to decide what we're getting for dinner and we both want different things..." "Wade—" "There's only one way to solve this situation..." "Wade. No." "ARM WRESTLING!" "NO."

You will give him piggy backs and carry him around in bridal style either you like it or not. It's a demand.

He jumps at you randomly. First time he did that he jumped from behind, but you didn't know that was him, so your instincts made you grab that apparently stranger and throw him across the room, making him hit a wall. Wade fell even more for you right then and there.

Wade was mesmerised. You desperate; so you ran towards him, already chanting an infinite amount of sorry's. "Shit. Sorry, sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to—" your apology was interrupted by the sound of Wade's laugh, which took you aback a little. Wade jumped to his feet and into your arms, this time you caught him properly. He wrapped his legs around your waist and arms around your neck, his chest still trembling with laughter. "Do you know how unbelievably hot that was? Never stop manhandling me."

Wade can reach the top shelves just fine but will ask you to grab the things instead. He just wants to enjoy his tall dog privilege.

He will always go to the gym with you if he's not busy re-killing former US presidents, slaughtering some asshole or pestering Logan. Hell, Wade loves to see your muscles flexing and your sweaty self after a good workout.

Asking you to pick him up (like this) became a part of your workout routine. He giggles and melts in your hold because he loves the fact that you pick him off the ground so effortlessly, like he's a piece of paper.

Fuck him doggy style and slap his ass with your big hands and you'll hear the loudest moan ever.

So loud you'll probably need to slip a few fingers inside his mouth to keep him shut. You don't need any neighbours hearing what's yours only.

You know what they say about big hands, eh? Wade knows it better than anyone and God, he loves the way you stretch him. Naturally he's got a high pain tolerance, so you being big and making him see things without having to use a toy is just perfect.

Doesn't mean you never use toys, tho. Fuck Wade's face and make him gag on your big cock while he has a dildo deep inside him, he'll give you the biggest puppy eyes ever as he humps on your leg.

You reminding him of your size difference never fails to make him wet. Never fucking fails. Tell him he should stand in front of you to get a better view since you're taller and he won't hide the fact that his underwear is already stained with pre-cum.

No marks such as love bites will stay on Wade's body due to his healing factor, much to his and your dislike, but eventually you found a way to claim him as yours — he's got to wear one of your shirts while you so relentlessly fuck him and even after you're done. Your scent and sweat that lingers on the fabric make Wade's head spin, often leading him to beg for you to fuck him once again.

Plus wearing your clothes just feels right. The way they're always oversized on him serves to remind him of how much bigger you are. He's got a size kink, he can't help it.

"Aren't you my little bitch?" you increased your pace. "Fuck, yes, yes," he pushed his hips down, meeting your thrusts. "Did I fuck you dumb? Use your damn words," you growled in his ear. Wade's cock throbbed at that. He was indeed beginning to think you fucked him dumb, yet he replied, "Arghh— yes, shit, yes, I'm your little bitch~" "Yeah, that's right. Let me show you how a real man treats a little bitch like you," you slapped his ass so hard even your own hand burned a little. Wade came right away without even having to touch his cock this time. How many times was it now? Not that he cared, he just wanted more, more, more. You chuckled, pleased with your own work. "Look at what a slap can do to a little bitch in heat." Wade wasn't sure of what you really said, but his ears caught "little bitch in heat" and he smiled dumb, more than happy to know he was your little bitch in heat.

[theabigailthorn]

Surely with how popular you are you would have had a few cancelling attempts, but you're drama free. How? I thought you'd be target number 1 with TERFs.

So the thing is, people on the internet have and do try to wreck my life! But it's true that I get less of it than a lot of other women, and I often ask myself (and them) this same question. I think it comes down to a few factors. In no particular order:

I'm white and thin

I don't post selfies very often

The Philosophy Tube Jutsu: I never use my platform to say anything bad about individuals, so I don't make enemies

I'm British

I don't put my pronouns or the word 'trans' in my bio. I mention it if it it's relevant but to a casual troll looking for someone to go after there are more obvious targets

My brand: in terms of online content, my brand is 'Educational and Compassionate.' I try to be even-handed and listen to all sides and never be angry, and people are maybe a bit reluctant to get mad at someone who does that? In terms of acting, my brand right now is 'I'm Trying Hard and I'm On My Way Up!' which I guess people like?

I have a posh accent

I don't make online content about video games

I'm pretty enough that men like looking at me but not so hot it makes them angry

I transitioned in private before I came out publicly. I knew that when I did I'd get a lot of backlash, so I pre-emptively muted LOADS of words in my comments section and wove a kind of digital safety net

I'm so busy that I often miss whatever the discourse du jour is and don't get involved. As a wise woman once said, 'Do Not Tweet.'

I deliberately dress and present myself as 'classy' in public-facing stuff

Most of my content is scripted, so by default it attracts people who like to sit down and listen

Philosophy Tube is literally all about critical thinking and not taking things at face value. So if a typical Philosophy Tube Subscriber sees a post that says 'I saw Abigail Thorn kicking a puppy down the street!' they're more likely to stop and think, 'What's the evidence for this?' This means that when there are hate campaigns and lies spread about me (and there are, from time to time) my core audience sees through it and sticks around

I have very good mods! Big shout out to all the lovely people on r/philosophytube and all the people who moderate my livestream chats!

I have a social media manager who can look out for hate and pre-emptively guard against it

I don't hitch my brand to other people. I sometimes do little collabs or appear at events with other creators but for the most part I fly solo. That means if another creator blows up or posts something awful I minimise my chances of cancellation-by-association. I'm friends with lots of creators but for the most part I keep it behind the scenes (Learned this one the hard way!)

I'm not a sex worker. Those people get hate like you wouldn't believe - the sex workers I know are the toughest folks I've ever met!

I'm not very fun to bully! I do get death threats and hate campaigns and people make fake porn of me and libel me and all that stuff - literally every day - I just never talk about it publicly so trolls don't get the satisfaction of seeing me get upset. I just mute and block and move on silently. When I have to talk to a lawyer or the police about someone causing a problem, I handle it behind the scenes

Platform size. When TERFs in British media go after someone they tend to pick on people smaller than them, cause they're bullies.

I built my platform slowly, so I've had time to adjust and get used to how it impacts my life

People have tried to cancel me in the past and it's blown up in their faces, e.g. the Trump Transition Tweet Incident and the B*ck A*gel Affair.

To be absolutely clear, a LOT of this is luck and privilege. I'm not trying to blame the victims of online harassment: yes, some of these factors are things I choose to do but not everyone is able to make those choices. It's also the unwinnable game of respectability politics: yes I might get less hate because of the way I dress or whatever, but fundamentally that won't protect me if I get arrested and sent to a men's prison. These things aren't a substitute for a more just distribution of power. There's also this final possible factor:

It just hasn't happened yet.

[polyamorousmood]

Opinions on "one penis policies" and how to address and deconstruct them?

Oh lawdy.

So I am generally leery of one penis policies. They are both predisposed to and often arise from unhelpful beliefs, which means one penis policies in practice are often a little fucked up.

But❗ I don't think people asking for them are irredeemable assholes, and I think there may even be some ways to do it that are sensible.

Very long post, so

First, for this post from this point forward, OPP is short for "one penis policy"

For those who don't know OPPs are exactly what they sound like. The stereotype is that a cis bisexual woman in a committed relationship with a cis (straight) man will approach him about opening the relationship. He is sympathetic and wants to let her explore her bisexuality, so he allows her to see/fuck/date other women only, figuring that he should be enough to satisfy whatever she'd be interested in doing with men. But it should be noted that the inverse can also be true. This post, while talking about it in terms from this stereotype for simplicity, can apply to a variety of situations with the appropriate swaps of genitalia and pronouns.

Why I'm leery:

As with most things that get into sketchy😬 territory with polyamory (and nonmonogamy more broadly), OPPs almost exclusively arise from insecurity. And the thing about insecurity is that for most people, the more you concede to it, the worse those insecurities get, which can snowball later down the line. Having a rule the protects some of those insecurities can encourage people to neglect working on them through other means, and opens the door for the man to feel betrayed if it later becomes important for the woman to pursue another man for any reason.

In polyamory especially (as opposed to other forms of non-monogamy) where at least one goal is to fall in love, they're really restrictive for the woman -- how many gay women down with polyamory are there? That rarity means it may take years to find a suitable partner. And it puts a heavy burden on the woman not to catch feelings for any other men, which can be really hard and heartbreaking in the same way it can be really hard and heartbreaking to be stuck in a fully monogamous relationship as a poly person.

Its kinda sexist? Often, it arises from the belief that penis-in-vagina is Real Sex and anything the woman does with another woman can be therefore written off. Inversely, sex with another man might "taint her" in his mind more than another woman for the same reason. Here there's an intersection with the insecurities in that a lot of men seem to think their "dick game" is the most important thing to their partners (when most studies show things like foreplay are usually more important), so our example man fears the direct comparison of penis size 🍆 and other masculinity things that could never possibly come up with women (incorrect, but more on that later).

Or, the straight man here could be fetishistic about lesbians and thinks its hot his lady is fucking other women🥵, so that's why its fine.

There are particulars that are ambiguous, and these can often cause problems if encountered. How do trans people factor into this? What if our woman gets with a woman who prefers sex with a big strap? Is that fine cause its still a woman, or will the man still feel betrayed because its "basically a penis"? Does this not call into question the validity of the whole rule to begin with? These things are rarely considered ahead of time.

In short, they often are formed for shitty reasons and put an undue burden on the woman. The consent of it feels less than authentic on both sides -- if he were really okay with it, why would he restrict her and if she only wanted to date other women it wouldn't be a "rule" she had to maintain.

Why then, do I not denounce all OPPs?

Let's consider some examples of pure intentions that could result in an OPP. Or at least, not-fucked intentions like above.

I think its really natural to want to have something special between yourself and your partner. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting there to be something only you can provide your partner. Its very common to have certain activities, acts, terms of endearment, etc. reserved for a particular partner in non-monogamous relationships! Why should "PiV sex" be treated with such hostility, but "watching our favorite TV show" be seen as a reasonable thing to disallow your partner from doing with someone else?

The man is trying to be supportive and flexible. He genuinely feels he can offer anything she might need sexually/romantically with a man, because polyamory is new to him, and because she's still offering him everything he needs sexually/romantically. The simplest explanation is that its the immutable fact of his gender that's causing the dissatisfaction, and he's very sympathetic to that! In this example, he's a little confused, but he's got the spirit. Non-monogamy is a big thing to most people, and allowing it -- even with restrictions -- should be recognized as the monumental step it generally is.

With that in mind, maybe our man even recognizes this is a big insecurity of his, and wants to work on it. Maybe he plans to address these insecurities, but knows this will take time, and is allowing her as much as he can without it being too much for him. Should he not be allowed some space to adjust, to work on those things? Should we not admire him for trying to broker a compromise🤝 rather than shutting down the woman's desires?

The woman might be okay with it.👍 She may feel she primarily wants to date/fuck other women, so a OPP is a small concession to make for her partner's comfort and reassurance.

There's kink things. I know I said lesbian fetishization was a negative just a moment ago, but even with that there are ways to do it respectfully. I'm not going to kink shame. If our theoretical couple finds it hot for him to put restrictions on what she can do sexually even when he's away -- who am I to stop them? Or any other number of kinks could play a part here! "I'm your only Daddy, but I'll let you go on playdates with other little girls" is not my kink, but I think it should be allowed for the people that are into it. 🤷‍♀️Idk, I admit this is probably my least well explained paragraph but basically it being a kink thing may be a sort of shortcut which circumvents some of the earlier concerns about authentic consent -- maybe they're just freaks who like it like that.

So then. About that question of deconstructing them.

Careful examinations of motives and feelings of all parties is required to know whether any one OPP holds up. There needs to be a lot of work put into the conversation, preferably before the relationship is actually opened. Its going to be personal between those two people, and -- like literally fucking everything with polyamory -- its going to require a lot of introspection🤔 and good communication🗣️.

If you find yourself in a OPP you feel is too constraining, you're gonna have to make a lot of time to talk through it. Be prepared to explain in detail and several times why its problem to you, while reassuring your partner its not because you find him unsatisfactory in some way. Be committed to hearing him out and taking his concerns and insecurities seriously. I recommend making a point to let everyone air their grievances before working on problem solving any of them. As always, avoid blaming.

Then, here are some ideas I think could you could try to help ease some of the insecurities and issues a OPP protects:

Shift the special thing to something other than PiV sex. Make it something else meaningful to you both. It could be some other sex thing😏, it could be the restaurant you went to on your first date🍽️, it could be listening to certain songs🎼, it could be ballroom dancing💃, it could simply be a day of the week 📅you only focus on each other, it could be anything you both value, and it could even be several things!

It may feel more reasonable to allow your partner other guidelines instead of gender. This can fall into many of the same pitfalls of a OPP, but it can also be a good middle ground if negotiations are tough. Maybe she can only date/fuck people shorter than he is, or with a smaller dick, or who makes less money than he does. Maybe she can see other men as long as they don't fuck in the bed he shares with her. Maybe any number of other things would help reassure him while being less burdensome on her.

Offer a lot of reassurance🤗. This is hard and scary! If he is willing to work with you, you better be working with him, too! Tell him you missed him and shit. Tell him how valuable he is to you because he allows you this freedom. Help him see things from a better framework when he's struggling. Do all this even when he doesn't ask for it.

It may help to give him something in return.🎁 Like, don't get me wrong, a very transactional relationship is rarely the most satisfying one. But a simple "I recognize how much work this will be for you, and to show you I also willing to put in work for your sake, I'm willing to try [something important to him]" isn't unreasonable. I think its easy and kinda fair for him to grow resentful if he's asked to accept everything she wants without her giving him anything he values.

If he's trying but still genuinely struggling, put a specific time-delay on when things will take effect. This allows him to prepare for it mentally (without it being something that will maybe happen some day, and thus not soemthing he needs to worry about right now). It gives him time to mull things over, so he can come to her with any concerns before they're already in the thick of it. The length of time will vary based on the situation, but I think something measured in weeks would probably be fair.

Seriously consider anything else he asks for that would make it easier for him.

Best of luck out there! Go live your best, most free lives babes!!

[the-real-daddy-van-der-bellen]

this post is probably very doomerist, skip if you're having a nice day

but I was just taking a walk along the local mid-size river in my town, the river bed there is fairly deep, i am bad at estimating that kind of stuff, but probably five or six meters in height, fairly steep. And up to the very top, there was still debris caught in the trees, from the flood two months ago. So the water was at least up that high, maybe more, but the path was cleared now so I can't tell. I just know that is was a scary, devastating amount of water but we all know that.

and i know some people just say, floods happen, floods have always happened, 10 years ago, 50 years ago, hundreds of years ago. that is true of course, but i think it would be ridicuous to pretend that this big flood has nothing to do with climate change. maybe it would have happened regardless, but from what I know, climate scientists agree that the severity was due to factors that are due to the climate crisis.

It has been over two months. The dehumidifyer in my apartment building is still running, non-stop, 24/7, day and night. I don't even want to know how much electricity that thing eats up. Which might seem petty, considering my ground floor neighbors had to move out and it will still be months until they can move back in. but i am not worried so much about the electricity bill. i am worried because electricity does not just appear from thin air.

The damage is economically devastating for many people, but I can't stop thinking about how many resources all the rebuilding takes. Electricity from the dehumidifyers. New furniture means a lot of wood and plastics. Not too long ago I walked past a gigantic pile of fridges that broke in the flood. So much electronic waste, so many resources required to replace broken things. How many houses were damaged bad enough that they need to be completely rebuilt? Even concrete is a finite resource.

When we talk about feedback loops regarding the climate crisis, we're usually thinking about the polar icecaps melting, which causes the earth to warm up even more. but I've been thinking about how natural catastrophes like floods and the rebuilding afterwards is also kind of a feedback loop, isn't it? It takes a ton of electricity for example to have dehumidifyers running for weeks nonstop, electricity that still comes, at least partially, from burning fossile fuels, which will in turn cause more carbon emissions. more climate change, more devastation, more rebuilding, and on and on and on.

I also think that we are now at a point in the climate crisis where we need to be realistic and need to expect disasters like the flood to happen more often. It's scary. And the worst is, as an individual, there is not much you can do about it.

Don't build a house near a river, yeah, sure. My apartment complex is nowhere near a risk zone. No one, absolutely no one, would have ever expected this here. Because we weren't hit by rising groundwater. It was the surface water running down the nearby hills and pooling around the houses. There are no measures that the muncipality or anyone could have taken to prevent that. You'd have to build a giant wall around the entire town or something, but that would obviously be ridiculous. It's a new apartment complex, the first half was finished only two years ago, the second half barely more than six months before the flooding. I saw the new groundfloor neighbors build garden beds and plant flowers over the summer and now they had to move out again because the entire ground floor is just ruined. They tore out the walls and the flooring and it will still be months until these apartments can be lived in again.

I know people living in the area where the groundwater rose dramatically and took a long time to go down again. At least one couple still had pools of water in their basement six weeks after the flood. You can't do anything about that. You can't pump the water out before the groundwater sinks, it will just come back and possibly destabilize your entire house.

Is that not insane? Is it not absolutely nuts that we are all just supposed to go on with our lives, knowing that we can expect events like this to happen several more times over our livetimes? A flood like this is supposed to be something anyone living only ever sees once in their live, and their children never experience like it, probably not their grandchildren, either.

My aunt and uncle, who admittedly live in a high-risk zone were hit with a similarily devastating flood only 15 years ago.

Makes you wonder when the next time will be.

It's terrifying, especially since there are still so many people in power, in austria and all over the world, who COULD do something, who could have started doing something 50 years ago but didn't.

But people in power will just move to their second or third home if their first home should ever be affected by a natural disaster. And the 100.000 or more Euros it takes to repair and rebuild may be devastating to the average household but for them it is pocket change.

And at this point, we can only scramble to try and fight the symptoms, because keeping the disease in check seems pretty much impossible. Airconditioning in the summer (again more electricity consumption), build flood protection (more resources needed), but also you now need irrigation systems for agriculture because instead of a flood, a drought could hit you just as likely. None of these things are bad, we need to find ways to live with the climate crisis, because at this point it can't be prevented, it is happening and has been happening for decades. But so many things we have to do because of the climate crisis feed right back into it and will make it even worse.

[swifty-fox]

As callum is double the size of Austin and quite a bit taller, how do you think this affected the way bucky and buck were portrayed on screen? I know there's also a lot of physicality in acting and I found it interesting that in certain scenes - like when they're fighting with the British at the table, or at that party where bucky has a tense moment with his superior, or when bucky gets up and starts singing - that he seems like someone buck can be quiet behind, he can watch him go and be amazed/amused at what he might do and whilst all the noise happens around bucky remain in his own seemingly preffered quietnes. Buck also watches bucky a lot too, like he is as intrigued with this larger than life character as we are - until he needs to step in lmao.

Not to say a smaller person can't be formidable, after all I think callum is distinctly bigger than the real life Eagen, but for Apples interpretation of MOTA it fits that bucky is this bull of man. It makes the moments -like that super tense moment when crank says 'the people we're bombing didn't shoot down buck' or when Bucky walks into the bar after bucks been shot down and tells everyone they don't have to guess why he's come back and slaps a bill down, or when he won't give that nazi anything but his number - all the more tangible for us watching at home.

The use of callums size is very, very wonderfully executed imo and kudos to callum and the directors for that because I think it can be so easy to end up being a caricature of some tough guy JUST because of size as opposed to being tough in spite of it, that's the balance of physical acting imo you can shoe horn any buff actor into a role but it's how secondary his size is to Buckys rage of emotions that makes it impactful, it's wielded like an accessory to an already formidable character.

I also think it shows in callum and austins friendship like Austin in their interveiws is very content often to simply relax and laugh and watch and listen, he said they're cut from the same cloth and callum said their personalties are similar to buck and buckys I.e. introvert and extrovert but they're kindred spirits. - sorry this was long but I find the art of acting so fascinating when it's done well. And the phycality of buck and bucky is to me really well done and an important part of how they understand each other

Callum is only 2 inches taller than Austin! He's just....big. he's just broad. Austin is much more trim and it makes the difference look extreme but they are in fact very similar in height!

I think from what we know the real John Egan had a very similar bombastic personality lmao. I don't think they were really factoring in Callums height or size into the casting so much as his physicality. He plays the cocky self assured pilot so well. and one thing we know about John Egan was that he was one cocksure motherfucker

^ his POW with a very cocky popped collar.

I do agree that Callum injects a lotta physicality into his roles. i can spot him from a few pixels just by the way he walks. I think it's what lends to his charisma on screen but I also think yes it is virtue of being a big guy. he's got a lotta limb and a lotta body of course he's gonna use it in his acting, of course he's someone whos probably grown up being very aware of his size. Bet he bashed those long arms a lot on things before he learned how to control himself lol. I think of course he is quite physically intimidating in scenes where he needs to be and his size lends to it but it's just the simple fact of him being a big guy.

Austin is shy and an introvert and hates talking about himself, but loves talking about things other than himself. and Callum is willing to talk about anything lol. He seems like one of those guys who kinda has a thought on every subject. It's no wonder they mesh well, they're both deeply thoughtful guys and it seems like Callums open personality smooths the path for Austin really well. I doubt they have many awkward silences between them due to Callum being Callum

[professorbussywinkle]

Some people have kids because they want a slave...

....Think for a second

The obsession with punishment and discipline and "teaching them a lesson" often in brutal, unforgiving ways that don't teach them to follow their internal guide, but to fear your wrath if they do something you might perceive as wrong

The lack of respect for their bodily autonomy, their feelings, and their personhood

Treating everything they do or say like it's beneath consideration or without any value or significance if it does not serve you in some immediate gratifying way

The overemphasis on obedience being a central factor to how much moral worth they have as a human being

Using the provision of basic necessities(food housing, clothing) to justify mistreating them, treating the provision as something that can be withheld if they misbehave or "step out of line"

Believing their child is somehow always up to no good for no certifiable reason, to justify invading their privacy, denying them access to their social circles and means of communication

Publicly shaming or humiliating their child on camera and posting it on the internet in order to get them to behave in the ways you want them to

Soliciting their child's opinion, then yelling at them for disagreeing with you or "talking back". Also ranting at length about things they know their kids disagree with them about until their kid finally reaches a breaking point and says something, at which point, they're horrible combative children for constantly arguing with you

Treating their emotions as frivolous and pointless, or a sign of weakness not to be expressed freely and openly, forcing them to walk on eggshells around you for fear that anything could potentially set you off

Frequently telling them how lucky they are to not be physically abused. also not telling you what made them angry, leaving you not knowing what it was that upset them and them deliberately not telling you when you inquire about it

Using the excuse "I am your parent, so I know what's best for you" in order to force children to do something that is only meant to make the parent feel in control, and not for their child's well-being.

alluding that you are the sole reason why they can’t do whatever the hell they want and wished you didn’t even exist so they can have more freedom. (This one hits close to home for me)

These types of parents get off on this, literally...in an almost pornographic way it would seem, by pushing around, harming, and denigrating someone who's smaller and weaker than them, by exerting power and control over a little human being who is unable or unwilling to fight back against them, all so they can flex their big boy muscles, all so they can prove they have dominion over you and show you that you have no power to do anything about it, and then deluding themselves about how it's all about "discipline" or "teaching" so they don't feel bad about it

Does it make you feel so fucking powerful??

Does it make you feel so in control??

Does it make you feel so badass??

abusing and traumatizing a vulnerable little person half your fucking size and feasibly being able to get away with it under the guise of "discipline" with no reproach or recourse because you can't or refuse to deal with your own emotional damage??

Demon behavior.

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

Uniquely recognizable

a post on making fantasy people species that stand out but still feel enough like their mainstream counterparts that your audience won't get confused.

Like me, a lot of you want to use the standard fantasy people in your projects. gnomes, orcs, elves, goblins, dwarves, etc. But you don't want to use the same old typical designs you see in every fantasy roleplay game, movie, show, book, video game, whatever. Those designs have become iconic and ingrained in the common understanding of what those fantasy people are supposed to look like.

But it gets tedious, doesn't it? Sometimes it feels like the only difference between elves in different media is the size of their ears. Sometimes it feels like every fantasy people group is designed to be as close to human as possible and then their fantasy traits are just an afterthought. You're tired of it! You want to do something new!

But where is the line between a unique looking elf and a personally unique fantasy people that need their own name? How far can you alter the standard orc before it stops being an orc? And what are gnomes, anyway?

in this post, I'll be showing off a few of my own fantasy folks and talking about the balance between a recognizable design and a unique design. Including one of my own folks that began as something typical and gradually became something else, until I had to come up with a new name to avoid confusion.

first up: Goblins! what are goblins? if you asked a handful of random people, what traits would they consider the most typical of a goblin?

small, usually green, big ears, lanky limbs? frequently a large nose, sharp teeth, and yellow eyes? those are all common traits for goblins in media across the genre. here are a few sketches of easily recognizable goblins: (including one of my favorites, the goblin design of @pocketss)

(image description: three sketches of goblins. The only one directly labeled is the pocketss goblin, which is very small, has a round head and thin pointy nose, and large leaf shaped ears. it is wearing a little coat. the other two goblins are more typical of fantasy roleplay and video games, having large noses, crooked ears, and short bodies with long arms. one of them is wearing a mechanic outfit with overalls and goggles. the other is wearing a hooded rogue outfit. end description.)

these are all different from each other, but they're similar enough that you could glance at any of them and say "oh that looks like a goblin!" You've probably even seen similar goblin art from other tumblr artists, or your favorite fantasy media.

so now let's look at how I draw goblins:

(image description: a frog-like goblin standing in a cheeky pose, leaning on an invisible surface of some kind. They're nude, but have no external sexual traits. Their belly is a pale yellow while the rest of their body is light green with darker green stripes. They have a round face, yellow frog-like eyes, a small nose, long whiskers, and big bat-like ears. next to them on either side are lists of traits that are common for goblins in fantasy media, contrasted against the more unique traits of this goblin design. end description)

this is one of my fantasy people that I consider the most recognizable. They've got a lot of standard goblin traits! green skin, yellow eyes, sharp teeth, big ears, lanky limbs, and they're rather small. On the other hand, they also have several traits that make them stand out from the common depictions of goblins.

They're amphibious, they have whiskers and a frog-like vocal sac in their throat. their skin comes in different colored patterns like real life frogs. and they're also hermaphrodites in the scientific sense. my goblins don't have set biological sexes from birth. they change between laying eggs and producing sperm based on various environmental factors.

But I think it would be hard for anyone to take a glance at this design and not recognize it as a type of goblin. it strikes a pretty good ideal between the typical and the unique, in my personal and somewhat biased opinion.

Moving on from this, let's look at my depiction of gnomes. They're kind of on thin ice with that title, I don't think they're as easily recognizable. But at the same time, I'm not sure I can come up with an alternate and more fitting title. Gnomes are weird. I see them depicted in only a limited handful of ways in mainstream fantasy, and far more varied ways from independent artists. Gnomes come from a mythology where their name could have referred to several small fae things, or been easily exchanged with other small fae things and similar creatures. The most common depiction of them is probably the garden gnome, which has little in common with how gnomes are depicted as a playable race in roleplay games. but here are three ways I usually see them depicted:

(image description: three sketches of gnomes. the first gnome is labeled "dwarf lite" and resembles a short humanoid with a sturdy body, pointy ears, and a short thick beard. they are wearing a pointed cap and a durable work outfit with gloves and boots. the second gnome is labeled "mousey" and resembles a small humanoid with a hairy face, larger semi round ears, and a long skinny tail. they also appear to have small claws on their fingers and toes. they're wearing a collared shirt, vest, and simple pants. the third gnome is labeled "elf hobbit" and resembles a short humanoid with pointy ears and long hair, wearing a cloaked adventure outfit. end description.)

common gnomish traits include a larger nose, pointy ears, some form of facial hair, and a short torso with somewhat longer arms. The most common versions in mainstream media are the "dwarf lite" and "elf hobbit" versions, like no one can quite decide if gnomes should primarily be tinkerers or spell casters, and which role they're depicted with determines whether their design is more dwarf-like or elf-like. But the mousey with a tail gnomes are more common from independent artists. It reminds me of some illustrations of the Borrowers, and I do wonder if the artists had them in mind.

here's my gnome design:

(image description: a gnomish woman sitting casually and looking upwards with a smile. she has a pig-like snout and ears, as well as four-digit hooved hands and feet, and a stiff short tail. she is wearing a wrapped head scarf over her hair, an off-the-shoulder shirt, and long pants with a climbing belt. on either side of her, there are trait lists comparing the expected gnomish traits with my own different gnomish traits. end description.)

My gnomes do match the concept of being small, agile, magic using folks with a prominent nose. But mine are also not as small as typical depictions of gnomes, and I've gone the porcine route to connect them with my orcs rather than leaning into the typical dwarf lite or elf hobbit depictions. I would not expect every new viewer to see this design and say "oh, obviously that's a gnome." because the pig-like traits are very atypical for depictions of gnomes. But at the same time, they have enough in common, and gnomes are varied enough in other media, that it doesn't take too long to adjust the audience view so they accept this as a gnome. at least I hope it doesn't lol.

and finally let's look at a fantasy people design where I got too into my unique ideas and had to rename them because they just lost the most recognizable traits of the original thing.

I will admit that in middle school I was a Twilight fan and I thought the vampires in that series had a lot in common with elves, so I decided I also wanted elf vampires. Cringe, I know. But the elf-vampires kinda got away from that origin as I built up my world and characters, and I just couldn't keep calling them vampires! I had to think of a new title. But I also didn't want to work too hard at that new title, so I just took some letters out of "strigoi" and I'm going to say it shares in-story linguistic origins with the word "drow", so both of these groups were named after an old elvish term for "those who live below/ in the dirt/ at the roots". Stroi and Drow almost sound kinda similar. Close enough to claim linguistic drift, at least! So they are vampires no more, and I am quite happy with how they fit into my worldbuilding.

for comparison, here are a few typical vampire designs:

(image description: three bust portrait sketches of different vampires. First is an undead human, looking like a common human man wearing a coat, but his eyes are red and he looks very tired. second is a nosferatu, who is bald with crooked pointy ears, a sunken face, and big sharp teeth and clawed fingers. he's wearing a dark robe. third is the fantasy dracula, looking more similar to an elf with sharp teeth and red eyes, but his features are more angular and he has more facial hair than the typical elf design. he is wearing a fancy cloak. end description.)

and here's the elf-cousin stroi that just stopped being a vampire a very long time ago:

(image description: an elf-like man with curly red hair and a long tail. He is standing on his toes. His outfit consists of a simple pair of pants, a shirt with a broad neckline, and a slouchy square cardigan. on either side of him, there is a list of common vampire traits and a list of stroi traits. end description.)

vampires are typically some form of supernatural immortal being, usually undead, often having fangs and venom and special weaknesses. They usually have magical powers like shapeshifting and entrancement. They pretty much always survive on a diet of blood and nothing else and they're generally nocturnal.

when I created the stroi as vampires at the start, I designed them as blood drinking elves who came from a cursed bloodline, all descended from some revived dead warriors. In concept, this is a pretty cool idea! but as I got more and more into speculative evolution and fleshed out my world and characters and all my story ideas, I ended up changing a lot of details for these folks and eventually they just no longer resembled vampires! I don't think a single person would look at this design and think "that's a vampire". no, they're more likely thinking "that's a funny looking elf", and they're right.

my stroi are living creatures in a perfectly normal way, though they have long lifespans. Unlike the elves, they live on the ground and are primarily carnivorous, so they do have sharper teeth and they do consume blood as a result of consuming raw or less cooked meat. They are not strictly nocturnal or diurnal, taking their own shifts to be awake at different times of day, taking oddly timed naps as all carnivores do. They can use magic, like anyone in my setting, but they have no powers unique to them, and certainly no special weaknesses. They don't even have venom, unless you count normal mouth bacteria. So you see, they just don't share enough traits with vampires to justify the title. People see the word "vampire", and it gives them some very particular expectations that my stroi simply cannot fulfill. Their lore has changed too much.

and sometimes this is necessary for the creative process. coming up with a new title for your fantasy people when you realize they no longer fit their origin can be very difficult! but it's so much worse to keep clinging to that origin and trying desperately to maintain the traits that people expect to see even though it doesn't work for your project anymore. I couldn't even stick with my idea that the stroi could still be vampiric if they were brood parasites for the elves. it's another cool idea, but it doesn't fit what I'm writing at all.

Learning to let go of your old ideas and move forward with the new ones is an important skill. Maybe you really really wanted to have elves in your story, but you leaned so hard into some new traits, got invested in all of that, and months or years down the road you look back and realize your elves aren't so elf like anymore! you wanted them to be wolf-like, but you got so excited for your wolf-elves that you ended up with something else entirely. it happens! and it's okay to let go of the elves and move forward with your awesome wolf people. maybe you just have to go do some research on wolf people in mythology now and figure out if there are any other non-werewolf creatures you can take the name of and use as further inspiration to flesh out your wolf people. or maybe you'll have to come up with a whole new title from scratch.

the most important thing to remember is that you should be enjoying your creative process! whatever that ends up looking like.

[olderthannetfic]

why do some popular things have such small fandoms, in your opinion? like, John Wick is incredibly popular but has less than 2k fics on ao3 and there doesn't seem to be a big fandom presence on tumblr. there's shows with 10+ seasons that have incredibly small fandoms as well.

i know not every fandom is going to be, say, Harry Potter or Supernatural levels (especially if it's an older show and fics have been lost to time- i've heard ER lost quite a lot) but it's just... odd to me, i guess.

--

The majority of things don't get fanfic fandoms.

There are some trends though. Certain genres are more likely to generate them than others. SFF is pretty likely. Crime dramas are reasonably likely, whether that's people slashing buddy cops on AO3 or lead canon het on FFN.

Incomplete-feeling canons are a bit more likely, usually due to plot holes or a crappy ending that people want to fix—but not so crappy that everyone just gives up in disgust.

Relatedly, things where the art part isn't too intimidating are more likely than ones where the big draw is that author's exact way of writing or the fantastically subtle and moving acting in some arty movie about social issues.

Serial media are way, way more likely to generate a fic fandom than one-offs, and having a certain number of hiatuses but not ones that are too long helps. You want some gaps where people have time to make stuff before it's instantly jossed, but you do need new canon to reinvigorate a fandom periodically.

Things just being well known by lots of people does help relative to a similar canon that few people saw, but exact audience size isn't the main factor.

Some tasty character dynamics help a lot. Maybe shippy, maybe more found family. A world that people want to play more with also helps. Even the gen-focused fandoms tend to care a lot about the latter two. They don't just write about any old canon. There have to be certain hooks.

--

John Wick does seem like it fits some of the standard criteria. There's more than one movie. It's fun, dumb genre stuff, not super high art.

TBH, having more than like 5 fics already means it's a success as a fic fandom, so part of it is just your frame of reference. I know you say you don't expect HP, but you should be expecting the norm to be way under 100 fics, not nearly 2k. That's part of it.

But I suspect the big reason is that a lot of people find the films relatively complete as-is.

They're set in the real world (-ish), so the setting isn't that interesting to explore with a bunch of OCs in the way that people write their own HP or Naruto casts. People like the lead, but I don't think they fixate on his relationships to other characters. (Checking AO3, it looks like some people are writing basically John/self, which makes sense.)

For much of the audience, it's all about watching him use a lot of guns. So many guns. All of the guns.

Once the big screen spectacle is done, I don't know that people really want more unless it's more action movies with more visual awesomeness.

IDK, I don't think I've seen any of these beyond some clips, so maybe I'm missing something.

[sharkpedia]

THE CONTRADICTORY KIDDIFICATION OF SORBET SHARK COOKIE

Devsisters is lying to you.

Ok, bit of an exaggeration, but I'm not crazy, I promise. Hear me out.

This little thing. We've all been in love since we say them day 1 all the way back in the Tower Of Frozen Waves update for Ovenbreak, all the way back in 2020. After all, the design is pretty damn good and also cute, and they were a really fun character. And I love them too! Otherwise, this blog would not exist. But... A feeling has been creeping up on me. A slow realization, the makings of a weird conspiracy.

We take the fact that they're a child for granted. After all, how could they not be? Look at their size! The sheer cuteness factor! ... Not everything is as it seems. At least, it used not to be.

I realize most of Cookie Run's audience these days inhabits Kingdom, since it's a much more casual-friendly game and the one with the fancier degree of presentation. But, let's not forget, Sorbet wasn't introduced there. And they had not been called a child until Black Pearl Cookie came out. In fact... Let's look at everything one could examine for the possibility of Sorbet being a child before Cookie Run Kingdom came out, why don't we? Let's look at Ovenbreak, and Ovenbreak only.

1. Stature/Proportions

This is what immediately made people think Sorbet Shark is a child. They're incredibly short, and their limbs are stubby, as far as the land form goes. But... Come on, you can't get any more superficial than that. Let's look at 4 examples that deconstruct this notion.

A) Lychee Dragon Cookie: Stubby limbs, incredibly short. This CANNOT be a child, despite Mangosteen Cookie being a disguise used by Lychee, simply because... Look at them. This thing not only takes design cues from succubi, but also has similar abilities. Obviously removed from the more explicit connotations, but they're still there. There is no such thing as a kid-friendly succubus. B) Snow Sugar Cookie: Proportions are about the same as just about everyone else who isn't freakishly tall. Still a child, though, since they were featured in the Junior Cookie Challenge from the LINE game. C) Ice Juggler Cookie: Shockingly, not a child. Incredibly small, definitely has some behaviors that could be considered child-like; fooled me at first! Yet, according to the Lost Holiday event, she's not at all a kid, and outright denies it, and is presumably insulted by the fact Walnut Cookie might have thought she is one. D) Alchemist Cookie: I have seen... So much age discourse around this one over the years. So, so much. And yet, in all these years, with attention being called to cookie age a few times, she's never been included with the ones deemed children. She's just short. Incredibly short. In fact, about as short as Sorbet.

So, proportions are a no-go. Specially because once the shark form comes into play...

Woah there, when did you get so big?! In fact, looking at sprites, Shark form is about 2x as big as Sorbet's base form!

And... Hey look, the arms are a LOT longer too! In both sprite size and proportions between the two main renders! Hell, if you look at other known underwater cookies such as Lobster, Mocha Ray and Electric Eel, all adults, they're either perfectly on par or actually stubbier!

So... Not proportions. Then, maybe, ingame dialogue..?

2. Tower Of Frozen Waves

This is the only event Sorbet actually participates in as far as Ovenbreak goes, to my knowledge. So, let's look through it! Above is a link so that you can check the dialogue yourself if you so desire.

Okay, first scene and- HEY WHAT DO YOU HAVE THERE BUDDY

Ok, let's get something straight here. It's not stated that this is an alcoholic beverage. But come on. Sure buddy, pirates are totally gonna be partying with non-alcoholic beverages. And no, it's not "ohhh it's for kids they're not gonna have ACTUAL alcohol in there" because one, Vampire Cookie is constantly drunk off his ass, two...

We have literally seen cookies get drunk. Yes, this is from Kingdom, but this is about what the brand does and doesn't allow, so this is a good indicator (Besides, getting drunk isn't the worst when you have gotten somewhat comfortable with showing blood- er, strawberry jam.) There is no universe in which you could convince me that Sorbet isn't drinking totally-not-rhum here. Specially because everyone is drinking the same thing, out of what looks like a standard traditional beer mug. So either Pirate Cookie is encouraging underage drinking, or... Well, let's not get too caught up in that now. Let's keep going.

We meet Captain Ice Cookie, captain of a navy ship, who hunts down pirates and takes them into custody. Let's establish something now; Captain Ice Cookie is very, very motherly. It's a core component of her character. She let Peppermint on board simply because the kid thought her ship looked like a whale, and really wanted to get on it. A navy ship. Her weak spot for children seems to be something she can't really control, otherwise, she wouldn't be letting a child on a navy ship full of weapons used to hunt down pirates. Her nature is on display many, many times in various bits of text.

So, if she saw a child on a pirate ship, she would probably be concerned and ruthlessly berate Pirate Cookie for letting a child on board, right?

Nope. Absolutely not. Her soft spot for children is not even remotely on display here. Not for a second. And this endures through all of Tower Of Frozen Waves.

So either A) Sorbet IS a child, and Captain Ice is... Stupid, I guess? And couldn't recognize that? B) Sorbet is a child, but more importantly a pirate, and in Ice's eyes, any and all forms of basic human respect is something a pirate is not deserving of, no matter their age (Which, although funny, is... Absolutely batshit insane.) C) Sorbet wasn't written as a child during this event, at all.

The closest Captain Ice ever gets to showing any sort of concern for Sorbet is this moment, and even then...

For just about the entirety of the event, Peppermint is FREQUENTLY referred to as "little one" by Captain Ice, something Sorbet never once gets.

They're also a constant reason for Captain Ice to remind Peppermint to never trust a pirate, which would be... Really, really weird for her to insist upon if this was just a kid.

So, Sorbet and Peppermint go to Sugarteara, no one once addresses Sorbet as anything but an equal, or in any way imply that they could be a kid, they get Sea Fairy out of there, etc. Sorbet and Captain Ice never interact during the last few cutscenes. So not once, not even a single time, has Captain Ice demonstrated any sort of motherly nature towards Sorbet, not even the most basic one, past, you know, trying to get them not to die. Which is in her best interest, and probably part of her general moral compass. She only wants to arrest pirates, not kill them.

And... To my knowledge, Sorbet never gets any dialogue anywhere else in OB events or story bits! So... In the text, there's no implication as to Sorbet being a kid or at all young. They're just kind of inexperienced at being a pirate, because for most of their life, they were a shark, not a cookie. Speaking of...

Sorbet's Story card! This was later reused for Kingdom, which as we'll later see might have been a mistake, but either way... Phrasing here is very, very important. There might be hyperbole, but "Once upon a time" implies that this tale happened a decently long time ago, supported by the line "Saddened, the shark disappeared into the sea for ages.", which implies a decent chunk of passage of time. Not once is any indicator of youth ever stated here, and in fact, depending on your interpretation of the text, it's very easy to see the text indicating the exact opposite.

This isn't really related to Tower Of Frozen Waves specifically, but I felt it was worth noting.

3. Lightning round

Ok, this is just where I put miscellaneous things that may add to my point. Let's look at Sorbet's costumes real quick.

Pirate Overlord and Noctilucent Vigilante Apprentice!

One is Sorbet Shark in what's presumably the future, having made a name for themself as a Pirate Lord, commanding the seas and striking fear into those who hear their name. Pretty well decorated! Yet, despite the passage of time that would have taken place for Sorbet to get to this position, the proportions remain the same. They're even rocking some shiny black eyeshadow or something of the sort! Hmm... The other is Sorbet having joined Electric Eel Cookie's Noctilucent Vigilantes, a hypothetical group that cleans up trash from the oceans. It looks like a nightclub outfit. That's probably the point. They're even shirtless, and get an ear piercing. Would be real weird to do this with a child, not gonna lie.

Secondly, I wanna address something that probably furthered the notion that Sorbet Shark is a child.

On land, they're just about entirely non-verbal. People online seem to have... A bit of a problem, when it comes to even partially non-verbal characters. They're often babified, treated like children even if they're not. I've seen this happen countless times; non-verbal characters either get treated as "Ooooh so cool and mysterious" or "Awww babyyyy i wanna protect themmm" no matter the author's intent. Not a callout on anyone in particular, of course, but there's a pattern there.

Next, the concept art.

So... At some point, Sorbet was meant to be taller. And, although hard to tell, it's possible they may never have been intended to wear a shirt at all, just... Ever. If so, that would be really weird to put on a character meant to be a child from the start. Oh, and the shark form got slightly bigger between the concept phase and finalized design. Interesting, isn't it?

Now, for the crux of this whole thing. If you look at Ovenbreak, there is no proper, logical reason to believe Sorbet is a child. It's fine as a headcanon, it's whatever, but there's more to indicate that they're not one than there is for them being one.

And then the other game came out.

Kingdom has taken the series in... New directions. Some good, some bad, some... Interesting. Some blatant ripoffs of other more successful mobile games! Such as one with a 2-word title, with the initials GI, made by a company whose name ends in "hoyo". Either way, Kingdom makes... A lot of changes. A new backstory entirely for Dark Enchantress, the existence of kingdoms once implied to be left in complete ruin, etc.

I think you see where I'm going with this.

Eventually, Sorbet Shark came to Kingdom. There were no indicators of being a child, other than... Frankly, being woobified quite often by the characters around them. They kinda just existed to sit there and look cute and do absolutely nothing important. They save some people near the end offscreen, and that's about it. And, oh hey, costumes made their return, I wonder what Sorbet Shark g-

... Interesting. From Pirate Overlord to... Little sailor outfit. Quite the difference, right? Though it almost checks out, with how they were treated beforehand.

Oh yeah, Soda Islands also directly contradicts the Story card they reused from Ovenbreak. Fun!

They try to imply that Sorbet simply just went underwater for, idk, 20 minutes, and popped right back out as a cookie! Even though that makes no sense, as the Story card says that they disappeared for a long time.

And, to make things even more inconsistent...

Black Pearl. Buddy. You don't live in the Soda Islands. You live in the Duskgloom Sea. Hell, you have your own set of islands named after you. So either Sorbet went mach speed to the Duskgloom Sea, entered the cave, got the wish, and swum back to the Soda Islands, all in about an hour or so tops, or that makes absolutely no sense. Nonsense on top of nonsense! How incredibly fun!

You're seeing what I'm seeing right. Everything about Sorbet's age coheres in Ovenbreak, but then Kingdom... Yeah, it's a mess. Kingdom is trying to sell to you that Sorbet is a child, when plenty of information from Ovenbreak contradicts it; hell, it contradicts itself, since they reused the Story card from Ovenbreak, instead of making a new one that fit this canon. Said canon wouldn't even make sense if they did, since Sorbet would have had to make an incredibly fast trip from one sea to the other in order to participate in the Soda Islands story at all. And these two know each other! They have dialogue together! You can't even say Black Pearl is talking about someone else, because they have unique dialogue that calls back to this!

So... Here's what I'm trying to say;

Sorbet's current age is a retcon.

To those of you who don't know, a retcon is when a story makes an addition that either contradicts or alters pre-existing material. For example, Dark Enchantress actually being White Lily was a retcon. Not all retcons are bad! But if they contradict previous material enough, it becomes hard to take them seriously, and it calls into question the consistency and/or quality of the source material.

Sorbet Shark, by all accounts, is NOT implied at all to be a child in the source material, or at all young, is suddenly a child in Kingdom. And all the means used to imply that are direct contradictions of pre-established material.

But... Why? Why exactly would this be done?

Now's when the conspiracy theorist hats come on.

MONEY

I sincerely, thoroughly believe that the reason Sorbet was turned into a child with Kingdom despite previous contradictions, is because it made them more marketable. I'm not kidding. See, the thing that's made Sorbet so popular is their cuteness factor. The people at Devsisters knew this damn well. So here they have their new game, absolutely booming with players, full of opportunity for people to sink money into their favorite cookies. And that's not even accounting for possible merch revenue!

So, they have this character who sells well due to cuteness factor. Obviously, if they want it to sell even more, they need to do something. And so they did! They leaned into the cuteness factor as much as possible. That's like, their primary purpose now. They're only in shark form for about 2 cutscenes, and 1 small one that you need to find on the map itself. Most of the time they exist, it's in land form, the small, cute, marketable one. So they give them a cute little sailor outfit, and... Hm, what else could they do?

Well... People already see them as a child in the larger fanbase, right? And people find children cute! They want to hold and protect and care for them, and it instills that feeling of wanting to keep said child close to them. So...

Why not birth fanon into canon?

Many modern writers fall into this trap. After all, if the audience sees something a certain way, that must be because they prefer it that way. And if you wanna please an audience or sucker money out of them, why not change a character to be more the way they like? We've seen it happen countless, countless times in many pieces of media. Cinema, anime, comics, games, the works. As a Dragon Ball fan, I'd know! They turned my main man Goku into a complete bumbling idiot in Dragon Ball Super! He's never been book smart, sure, but he's experienced, has emotional tact, and can get really good reads on people. He's not stupid, just smart in his own way. Super just makes him an idiot. Because people kept making jokes and parodies where he's depicted as such, so Toei wanted in on the joke. And it backfired. Hard.

This, to me, is what happened to Sorbet. Much like Goku was turned into a complete idiot because the fanbase seemingly saw him that way, Sorbet was turned into a child because the fanbase largely saw them as one, and because it'd potentially help drive up sales related to the character.

This is all speculation, of course; you could argue endlessly about the why of the matter. But the fact is; Sorbet's age in Kingdom is, undeniably, as proven above;

A retcon.

... You know, assuming Kingdom and Ovenbreak are even the same timeline. Which, considering we've seen Gingerbrave escape from the Witch's Kitchen about 4 times now, all through different means and framed differently... Yeah, there's a good chance they're not really the same timeline anymore. So there's a possibility that OB Sorbet is not a child, while Kingdom Sorbet is a child, despite the designs and personalities (mostly design) being the same. So, either retcon, or split timelines. Pick your poison.

So, what I'm getting at is...

If you see Sorbet as not a child, and would prefer to keep it that way, you're damn well within your right. I know I never did, and I never liked the notion of them being one in the first place. Take it from me, an exhausted writer and (sort of?) fic creator, who loves overanalyzing media.

Peace out. Don't fight people over this little thing's age, because really, it's pointless.

Not even the creators of the character know what they're doing, after all.

See you all later.

[devsgames]

Game Optimization and Production

I wanted to write a bit of a light primer about optimization and how it relates to game production in the event people just don't know how it works, based on my experience as a dev. I'm by no means an expert in optimization myself, but I've done enough of it on my own titles and planned around it enough at this point to understand the gist of what it comes down to and considerations therein. Spoilers: games being unoptimized are rarely because devs are lazy, and more because games are incredibly hard to make and studios are notoriously cheap.

(As an aside, this was largely prompted by seeing someone complaining about how "modern" game developers are 'lazy' because "they don't remember their N64/Gamecube/Wii/PS2 or PS3 dropping frames". I feel compelled to remind people that 'I don't remember' is often the key part of the "old consoles didn't lag" equation, because early console titles ABSOLUTELY dropped frames and way more frequently and intensely than many modern consoles do. Honestly I'd be willing to bet that big budget games on average have become more stable over time. Honorable mention to this thread of people saying "Oh yeah the N64 is laggy as all hell" :') )

Anywho, here goes!

Optimization

The reason games suffer performance problems isn't because game developers are phoning it in or half-assing it (which is always a bad-faith statement when most devs work in unrealistic deadlines, for barely enough pay, under crunch conditions). Optimization issues like frame drops are often because of factors like ~hardware fragmentation~ and how that relates to the realities of game production.

I think the general public sees "optimization" as "Oh the dev decided to do a lazy implementation of a feature instead of a good one" or "this game has bugs", which is very broad and often very misguided. Optimization is effectively expanding the performance of a game to be performance-acceptable to the maximum amount of people - this can be by various factors that are different for every game and its specific contexts, from lowering shader passes, refactoring scripts, or just plain re-doing work in a more efficient way. Rarely is it just one or two things, and it's informed by many factors which vary wildly between projects.

However, the root cause why any of this is necessary in the first place is something called "Platform Fragmentation".

What Is Fragmentation

"Fragmentation" is the possibility space of variation within hardware being used to run a game. Basically, the likelihood that a user is playing a game on a different hardware than the one you're testing on - if two users are playing your game on different hardware, they are 'fragmented' from one another.

As an example, here's a graphic that shows the fragmentation of mobile devices based on model and user share. The different sizes are how many users are using a different type of model of phone:

As you can tell, that's a lot of different devices to have to build for!

So how does this matter?

For PC game developers, fragmentation means that an end-user's setup is virtually impossible to predict, because PC users frequently customize and change their hardware. Most PC users potentially have completely different hardware entirely.

Is your player using an up-to-date GPU? CPU? How much RAM do they have? Are they playing on a notebook? A gaming laptop? What brand hardware are they using? How much storage space is free? What OS are they using? How are they using input?

Moreover PC parts don't often get "sunsetted" whole-cloth like old consoles do, so there's also the factor of having to support hardware that could be coming up on 5, 10 or 15 years old in some cases.

For console developers it's a little easier - you generally know exactly what hardware you're building for, and you're often testing directly on a version of the console itself. This is a big reason why Nintendo's first party titles feel so smooth - because they only build for their own systems, and know exactly what they're building for at all times. The biggest unknowns are usually smaller things like televisions and hookups therein, but the big stuff is largely very predictable. They're building for architecture that they also made themselves, which makes them incredibly privileged production-wise!

Fragmentation basically means that it's difficult - or nearly impossible - for a developer to know exactly what their users are playing their games on, and even more challenging to guarantee their game is compatible everywhere.

Benchmarking

Since fragmentation makes it very difficult to build for absolutely everybody, at some point during development every developer has to draw a line in the sand and say "Okay, [x] combination of hardware components is what we're going to test on", and prioritize that calibre of setup before everything else. This is both to make testing easier (so testers don't have to play the game on every single variation of hardware), and also to assist in optimization planning. This is a "benchmark".

Usually the benchmark requirements are chosen for balancing visual fidelity, gameplay, and percentage of the market you're aiming for, among other considerations. Often for a game that is cross-platform for both PC and console, this benchmark will be informed by the console requirements in some way, which often set the bar for a target market (a cross-platform PC and console game isn't going to set a benchmark that is impossible for a console to play, though it might push the limits if PC users are the priority market). Sometimes games hit their target benchmarks, sometimes they don't - as with anything in game development it can be a real crap shoot.

In my case for my games which are often graphically intensive and poorly made by myself alone, my benchmark is often a machine that is approximately ~5 years old and I usually take measures to avoid practices which are generally bad and can build up to become very expensive over time. Bigger studios with more people aiming at modern targets will likely prioritize hardware from within the last couple years to have their games look the best for users with newest hardware - after all, other users will often catch up as hardware evolves.

This benchmark allows devs to have breathing room from the fragmentation problem. If the game works on weaker machines - great! If it doesn't - that's fine, we can add options to lower quality settings so it will. In the worst case, we can ignore it. After all, minimum requirements exist for a reason - a known evil in game development is not everyone will be able to run your game.

Making The Game

As with any game, the more time you spend on something is the more money being spent on it - in some cases, extensive optimization isn't worth the return of investment. A line needs to be drawn and at some point everyone can't play your game on everything, so throwing in the towel and saying "this isn't great, but it's good enough to ship" needs to be done if the game is going to ship at all.

Optimizing to make sure that the 0.1% of users with specific hardware can play your game probably isn't worth spending a week on the work. Frankly, once you hit a certain point some of those concerns are easier put off until post-launch when you know how much engagement your game has, how many users of certain hardware are actually playing, and how much time/budget you have to spend post-launch on improving the game for them. Especially in this "Games As A Service" market, people are frequently expecting games to receive constant updates on things like performance after launch, so there's always more time to push changes and smooth things out as time goes on. Studios are also notoriously squirrelly with money, and many would rather get a game out into paying customer's hands than sit around making sure that everything is fine-tuned (in contrast to most developers who would rather the game they've worked on for years be fine-tuned than not).

Comparatively to the pre-Day One patch era; once you printed a game on a disc it is there forever and there's no improving it or turning back. A frightening prospect which resulted in lots of games just straight up getting recalled because they featured bugs or things that didn't work. 😬

Point is though, targeted optimization happens as part of development process, and optimization in general often something every team helps out with organically as production goes on - level designers refactor scripts to be more efficient, graphics programmers update shaders to cut down on passes, artists trim out poly counts where they can to gradually achieve better performance. It's an all-hands-on-deck sort of approach that affects all devs, and often something that is progressively tracked as development rolls on, as a few small things can add up to larger performance issues.

In large studios, every developer is in charge of optimizing their own content to some extent, and some performance teams are often formed to be dedicated to finding the easiest, safest and quickest optimization wins. Unless you plan smartly in the beginning, some optimizations can also just be deemed to dangerous and out-of-reach to carry out late in production, as they may have dependencies or risk compromising core build stability - at the end of the day more frames aren't worth a crashing game.

Conclusion

Games suffer from performance issues because video game production is immensely complex and there's a lot of different shifting factors that inform when, how, and why a game might be optimized a certain way. Optimization is frequently a production consideration as much as a development one, and it's disingenuous to imply that games lag because developers are lazy.

I think it's worth emphasizing that if optimization doesn't happen, isn't accommodated, or perhaps is undervalued as part of the process it's rarely if ever because the developers didn't want to do it; rather, it's because it cost the studio too much money. As with everything in our industry, the company is the one calling the final shots in development. If a part of a game seems to have fallen behind in development it's often because the studio deemed it acceptable, refused to move deadlines or extend a hand to help it come together better at fear of spending more money on it. Rarely if ever should individual developers be held accountable for the failings of companies!

Anywho, thanks for reading! I know optimization is a weird mystical sort of blind spot for a lot of dev folks, so I hope this at least helps shed some light on considerations that weigh in as part of the process on that :) I've been meaning to write a more practical workshop-style step-by-step on how to profile and spot optimization wins at some point in the future, but haven't had the time for it - hopefully I can spin something up in the next few weeks!

[emeraldskulblaka]

What makes a stage adaptation of Tolkien's works relevant?

The big Tolkien websites/blogs/influencers care about many adaptations of Tolkien's works, but not all. I'm not overly familiar with non-stage adaptations beyond the Really Popular ones, so I don't really know what's going on there, but I AM noticing significant patterns and omissions when it comes to stage shows.

Only select productions are reported on, and what is reported on does not depend on the specific adaptation. I'm asking questions I can't answer myself; they're meant to help structure my thoughts.

Question: Are only productions by well-known, highly professional theatres relevant?

The answer seems to be a clear YES. While the size of the theatres varies, only notable regional, state, and commercial theatre productions are seen as relevant. It makes sense - they're better documented and widely promoted, not least because of their budget.

However, Kentucky Opera's Hobbit last month went by unnoticed. It was a children's opera, which brings me to the next question:

Question: Are Hobbit plays less relevant when they're performed by and for kids?

It looks like it. Strange, is it not? The Hobbit is a children's book. Let me elaborate on this:

Not only the Kentucky Opera's Hobbit, but also the National Children's Theatre of South Africa's Hobbit, and Wilde & Vogel's puppetry Hobbit (touring in German-speaking countries) barely rouse interest from Tolkien Societies or local fans. Is there no value in children's theatre to be found for adults?

Question: Are parodies not legitimate adaptations?

If the Hobbit is less interesting because it's for kids, and proper adaptations must be performed at renowned theatres, you'd think LotR-inspired plays aimed at fans of all ages would be interesting, but... no. Some of them are parodies.

Charles Ross' One Man Lord of the Rings played at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for two weeks, no one batted an eye. Fellowship! even has an official cast album, but 'the' Lord of the Rings musical is the only one, right? And The Wizard of the Rings in Arizona may have played a popular local theatre, but it's also... a parody! While memes and fun edits are popular, parodies are not.

Question: Is there a bias towards English-language adaptations?

Also a clear YES. Popular Tolkien bloggers/websites/influencers often write in English for an English-speaking audience, which however DOES NOT always live in English-speaking countries. I found the Tolkien Society before the German 'branch', and I've met Russians who found out about the rock operas through me, who is running a blog in English.

Non-English language productions sometimes offer surtitles during performances, subtitles for official recordings, and live broadcasts to overcome language and spatial barriers. The interest for these is still remarkably small.

Question: Does official licensing play a role?

Apparently, yes. Maybe it's the same motivation that makes people ask for 'book-accurate' adaptations, the desire to see your favourite characters and stories represented as true to Tolkien as possible, and the trust in the rights owners to ensure that. Maybe.

What makes me think that? The fact that people are asking for Silmarillion adaptations even though multiple Czech musicals, a Spanish musical, and multiple Russian rock operas and musicals already exist! Of course, those aren't English, and they're also comparatively small productions, but they're written by fans with lots of love for Tolkien's writings in their hearts, and that should be worth something..?

Ultimately, I think, it's always a combination of multiple factors, and I haven't even mentioned the most important one yet: The majority is quite simply not interested in theatre. Or not in all of Tolkien's works. And it's always easier to love what's popular: as a creator, you get more attention for your works, and as a consumer, you have a bigger variety of things to choose from.

[twig-tea]

Hi Twig!

I have a burning thought I needed to share. Aren't T-aras and themes surrounding them in this adaptation of Love in the Big City somewhat similar to the ones for Diary of Tootsies bunch? Or at least I feel like there are some parallels to be drawn here. I don't know if it's the presence of Kylie or like the importance of the support group (and what they do and don't share with each other) but I sense a weird connection. And I know in LITBC we concentrate on one character while in the DoT the focus is distributed rather equally (not to mention the whole tonal difference and the unhinged factor) but it's been running through my mind all day.

Hi Kat! I can totally see why Diary of Tootsies would be brought to mind when watching Love in the Big City, especially around the T-aras and the club scenes and Kylie. Though Bangkok and Seoul are very different cities in very different countries, and these stories take place in very different times in each of their countries' HIV prevention histories (Diary of Tootsies takes place years after PreP was approved and made available in Bangkok though before it was made available at scale across the country, while LitBC takes place before PreP was approved or covered by public health in Korea), there is something about the queer club scenes and found family that feels relatable across many cultures and decades. Other shows that also come to mind include of course GayOK Bangkok (Thailand), Getaway (Singapore), Handsome Stewardess (Taiwan), and films like Himitsu no Nacchan (Japan). Just one of the things I find so relatable to my own queer friend groups and that is in both shows is how we can be so mean to each other, and how knowing where the line is shows how well you know each other.

A non-comprehensive list of some of the other similarities:

Group dancing to choreography

Gossiping about dick sizes, whether or not someone is into you, and whether or not they're worth seeing again

Keeping things light with your friends even when you're having a hard time

Your party friends visiting in hospital and making sure you know they're there for you and love you

Struggling with the closet, the judgment of family members, code switching depending on who you're with and where you are

The comfort of a gay club as a space to relax and unwind

Dating people who are judgmental of the club scene and of the person they're dating (especially of different ages)

Themes of loneliness, searching for love, and not feeling like you're enough

As a card-carrying Club Queer who has dances I would do with friends, I relate to a lot of these things, so I always get excited when this aspect of queerness is depicted in media (it is of course not universal or mandatory, I am also friends with queer folks who never have and never would set foot in a club). An upcoming show that has this vibe (but closer to Diary of Tootsies than LitBC in terms of the comedy/drama ratio based on the trailer), and which I am very excited for, is The Nipple Talk, which starts November 1 on GagaOOLala.

Thanks for dropping this in my ask box, it gave me an excuse to think and chat about some series that don't get a lot of attention! If you want to chat about this more, feel free to DM me, I'm always happy to chat shows.

[doll-lashes]

Inside look at small business manufacturing in Japan

Written by Connie from the Atelier Pierrot team

(transcript available later in the post)

I wanted to document and share this informative post that was shared by Connie who works at Atelier Pierrot, containing an inside look into small businesses' manufacturing in Japan, which is a category that covers almost all Japanese lolita fashion brands. The post is focused on releasing plus sizing, which is not very common for a lot of Japanese brands. Below are the charts which were included in the post.

It was noted that for the Bustle Corset JSK, the sizing between Size 1 and 2 had more overlap, in the hopes of finding the best proportions. This was due to experimenting with sizing proportions and ranges, the goal of this was to potentially increase the range of sizing, while producing fewer sizes.

Below the "Keep reading" section is a plain text transcript, for anybody using a screen reader. I have made use of formatted headings in order to make it easier to move between sections, as the text is quite long.

Inside look at small business manufacturing in Japan

Japanese brands' manufacturing processes are usually quite mysterious, and I think there are lots of misconceptions overseas, especially when it comes to plus size releases.

Although there's some points I can't go into too much detail for, as the person leading the plus size releases for a Japanese brand I have done a lot of research and have a lot of stats to facilitate the development of these releases.

This will be quite long, and with a lot of interacting factors but I've tried to break it up into sections to make it more manageable for people with no executive function (like me).

General Release Size

The first thing to understand is - Japanese brands are all small businesses. They are not huge companies making 1000 of each dress. Typically, even the "big" brands are making 200-300 of each release, across all colourways. Popular releases will sometimes be larger scale. (AP is an exception, but their manufacturing process is very different and they're generally an anomaly in lolita - but still a small business that is at risk if just one of their releases is enough of a flop. They've also said that they have no interest in doing plus size releases, and they have a sufficiently large market in China currently that they don't need to take the financial risk of starting plus size).

Plus Size Market Size

Within this general market, the plus size market is actually incredibly small, and most overseas lolitas completely overestimate the size.

(For reference, in Japan Bust 100cm, Waist 80cm would be considered L/XL. Anything above this is definitely plus size. Remember that when a Japanese brand uses the term "plus size", they are likely to be referring to Japanese plus size which makes up the majority of their market).

For releases that have a plus size version, the plus size sales make up about 15-30% of all sales. Typically, it's 22-25%. This is the same for both Meta and AtePie (with overall sales numbers being comparative).

Say there's 300 items across colourways for a release (Meta's "regular" size and AtePie's Size 1), proportionally, it might have 75-100 items for all plus size pieces, across all sizes.

I've tried to show these ratios with the graph shared on this main post, but have not said the exact sales numbers. It's worth noting that the Douceur Cutsew had a particularly good sales ratio for plus size, and the Bustle Corset JSK is currently in progress, ending 7/21. The number of plus size sales will increase a little until then, but so will the Size 1.

Doing small-size runs (less than 50 pieces per size) is incredibly costly, which I'll go into more detail for later.

Differences in Japanese Vs overseas buying practices

Although of course they still buy some items secondhand, Japanese lolitas are FAR more likely to buy new and support the brands they love. However, most overseas lolitas tend to buy secondhand, or very rarely new direct from Japanese brands (even for accessories).

This obviously doesn't mesh well with the plus size manufacturing system, which has to be MTO due to the small market and risks of production.

Generally, when Japanese customers request an item be rereleased/made in a new colour etc, typically 80% of people requesting will actually purchase. When overseas lolitas make item requests, typically 30% will purchase. This obviously has a huge impact on each market's buying power, and is something that has to be considered when releasing items.

The influence of overseas customers is much less strong/reliable. However, the plus size market is largely overseas, making up about 80-95% of plus size purchases (regardless of brand). As you can imagine, this combined with the lower amount of overseas customers buying new means that the actual demand for plus size releases is very small.

(Actual demand = people who actually buy the items, not just a desire to have them made)

Plus size actual demand

As you might have noticed, Meta has stopped doing their Plus Plus size releases due to insufficient demand. Atelier Pierrot plus size releases (especially size 3 and 4) are currently under review, based on previous plus size sales.

I am really pushing to find solutions to continue plus size releases, but short of putting the manufacturer or brand at risk, there's very little extra that me or AtePie can do.

Japanese brands absolutely should not put themselves at financial risk for any release just for the sake of it being made, especially if there's insufficient support.

In general, the solution is - customers who want to see more of certain releases should support these releases by purchasing new, especially for plus size where the Japanese market cannot be relied on to bolster the sales. This is actually how I've been able to propose more purple releases with AtePie recently! Purple is relatively popular in Japan, but people really love it overseas!

If people don't order plus size items new, they simply will not be manufactured.

It's very unlikely to find the size that you'd need secondhand, especially in the colourway you like best, if only a small amount were ordered in the first place.

Manufacturing process and costs (general)

During the manufacturing process, the item is first designed (and print, if applicable), fabric, trim and colourways are chosen, measurements/pattern is modelled and decided. A sample is made (in the real fabric, to determine how it drapes etc). Adjustments are made to the sample and if necessary another sample is made. Brands will typically try to avoid making the second sample wherever possible because it's very expensive, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Then, the pricing is determined and if it's a general release the number of each item to be released is decided. Colourways are released in different numbers based on demand. As a gothic brand, Atelier Pierrot produces more of the black colourway of each item.

The price is determined by the overhead manufacturing costs, material/trim costs, pattern making, shipping of materials/products, among other things.

The sample commission and pattern cutting are the most costly parts of item development. Designers really don't make much at all and work long hours - for many of the "big" brands it still works out as approximately minimum wage, which is about 1000 yen per hour in Japan.

If the main designer is also the brand owner (e.g AtePie, Sheglit), of course they make more money but they still aren't millionaires by any stretch of the imagination.

Lolita is a passion project for many of the people involved, which is why brands may just stop if people get burnt out/lose that passion (Boz).

Manufacturing process and costs (plus size)

Plus size releases follow this same general process. However, multiple sizing means that multiple samples must be made. Samples must be made in all colours and all sizes to make sure that they come out as expected. For reference, the current AtePie Bustle Corset JSK samples were:

Size 2 - black x white, purple

Size 3 - navy, bordeaux

Size 4 - purple, black

These additional samples add a huge amount of cost (usually it's 200-300k yen for main piece samples in each size, but this varies). If an item is rereleased in the same fabric, another sample wouldn't be necessary. Items released in another fabric would need another sample.

Having small runs of less than 50 of each Plus Size sizing increases the cost per item.

Another additional cost is adjusting the patterns to fit plus size bodies. AtePie adjusts all measurements, not just bust and waist (shoulder width, arm circumference, arm scye, bodice length, skirt circumference etc). Most Japanese brands and manufactures aren't familiar with how to adjust patterns for plus sizing (especially Western plus size), so this stage often has to be outsourced, which is more costly. As time goes on, the measurement range would become more familiar and require less work/lower costs each time (which could be passed on to the customers). However, this could only happen with long term plus size production.

However, plus size dresses are always going to cost more than the size 1 to manufacture. I'm sure a lot of people are aware that the material cost is significantly higher. If a waist circumference is 20cm larger, to have proportional gathering it usually requires ~60cm extra fabric. Adding gathered chiffon on top means an additional 180cm of fabric. These material costs quickly add up.

A cost that many people aren't aware of is the "pattern cutting cost". Most Size 1 lolita releases fit on a single pattern sheet, to be cut out onto fabric by the manufacturer. However, plus size releases have larger measurements and usually require two or more pattern sheets (for main pieces). This is paid by sheet, meaning that this stage of the manufacturing process costs 2-3x as much as Size 1 for every single item made.

To avoid these additional costs raising the price of plus size pieces too much, AtePie absorbs a lot of these extra costs. However, this of course means that the profit margin is much lower despite all the extra difficulties/hard work involved, which is a strain for a small business (which all lolita brands are).

AtePie Size 1 and Plus Size Blooming Rose Corsets were the same price because we just absorbed all extra costs. The Douceur Cutsew had less than 1000 yen price difference (due to much higher manufacture costs), but most was still absorbed. The Bustle Corset JSK has a larger price difference because it's an incredibly expensive piece to produce (difference in volume of fabric due to all the ruffles, requires 2-3 pattern sheets to be cut, more QC costs etc), but AtePie is still trying to absorb as much of the costs as possible.

We absolutely will not force the plus size manufacturer to absorb these extra costs because we do not want to put them at risk of closing.

If Japanese brands were to spread these extra plus size costs to the Size 1/"Regular" size, it would alienate the Japanese market and greatly affect sales, which is really not possible when Japanese customers still make up the vast majority of customers

Quality control issues

It can be hard to find manufacturers that are capable of making lolita pieces. Lolita is much harder to make than regular fashion pieces, with lots of unique details and construction techniques. Brands really try to hold onto long term partnerships with specific manufacturers to minimise mistakes, but they still sometimes happen.

A common mistake is the skirt circumference, especially the lining - often the manufacturer can't believe that there'd be so much VOLUME to the skirt and make a mistake with the measurement. This is often at the initial sampling stage, but sometimes it's the occasional stock item and caught during the Quality Control stage.

Whenever possible, these are returned and corrected to minimise waste. If it's not possible to correct something, they may be sold as B Grade items.

AtePie works with a few different manufacturers for different types of items. For the one of the main manufacturers, we've been working with them for more than 30 years and they have a very good understanding of our designs, but mistakes are occasionally made still.

Manufacture in China usually has a much higher number of mistakes/QC issues, so although it's cheaper than Japanese manufacture it involves a lot more QC, and sometimes expensive/time consuming shipping back to be fixed.

These problems are all exacerbated by adding plus size releases. Manufacturers are unfamiliar with the larger measurements and more likely to get confused/make mistakes. It's more common to have mixed measurements (e.g. the bust is Size 3 but the hem circumference is Size 2). This adds a much longer QC period to make sure defective items aren't sent to customers, which is also costly in terms of labour.

This is why it's so vital that AtePie works to support the manufacturer capable of doing plus size releases without adding additional financial strain to them. We really really want the manufacturer to be able to continue making plus size pieces.

Risk for brands and manufacturers

Meta almost became bankrupt when they started doing plus size releases, and their current manufacturing system is not really sustainable or ideal for the future of plus size releases. Often doing plus size releases is a huge financial risk both for manufacturers and the brand involved.

As mentioned before, manufacturers that can do plus size are very rare in Japan. If one of the very few places that can do plus size closes down, it is highly unlikely it reopen. The current manufacturer in Japan that can do plus size pieces is currently in a very weak financial position due to a former contract with a (non lolita) brand doing plus size. If it is forced to close, it'll be a HUGE blow to plus size availablity in Japan (again, not just lolita).

Summary

As you can see, the plus size market is really not big at all, and on top of that it's financially risky for lolita brands to get involved with.

AtePie (and mostly me as the person in charge) are working really hard to try to make releases more accessible, but it is done out of passion for lolita and not because it's a lucrative market. If there is sufficient support, over time it may become easier to release plus size items more often, and with very little/no price difference (this is my goal!)

However, this is a goal that is entirely dependent on overseas customer support.

Buying new from lolita brands is the best way to show the brand where the market might exist and encourage more of the items you want to see. Supporting AtePie plus size releases will also allow us to in turn support the plus size manufacturer and hopefully allow them to continue making plus size pieces (not only lolita) into the future.

Even though this is a hugely long explanation, I've still barely covered the basics. I hope it was still informative for people!

[ikarus-angel]

To nie byl film | 1934

DISGUSTING GAY PEOPLE‼️📢📢

Hrk oh no this somehow turned into a failure of a love story help. Also Reich was his student once in an university in Berlin so that's GREAT.

Also their legal names are Wilhelm Jäger and Warsan 😩👍

I forgor Polands last name because errr.. polish.. 😔😔😔 sorr...

But yeah they are majorly dysfunctional I love them so much 🥺👉👈

Tho I don't think Poland is into bdsm, sorry guys, he's old 😔😔😔

Anyways I wrote an essay about why the heck Poland would fall for Reich err wanna read it? 🤗

Keep in mind that this is an AU and the people are very... well.. ...you know I don't have to explain AU's there's like thousands.

Reich does have a pretty big advantage over any other guy that might be a love interest for Poland.

1. He is already there - always

2. Polen knows that he's gay

3. Aside from his looks or personality he was his gay awakening in a sexual sense

4. Reich knows Polen is gay and supports him on his path of finding and accepting himself

Their living situation may also amplify this - Reich is dependant on Polen - not fully, he would probably not be homeless if kicked out, he does have savings and a job. But he does rely on him a lot. He is also socially dependant on him, being relatively new to Warschau, mostly at home. He meets new friends by Polen introducing them to him.

I would assume that based on these factors - with the newly discovered exploration of homosexuality - and being aware that this man is struggling, going as far as believing him to be severely mentally ill - he feels a strong sense of responsibility for this man. Perhaps he wants to protect him. Feel important to him. "Save" him, in a way.

Now, Reich's personality.

He is confident, intelligent, charming - but most importantly vulnerable. With Polen. With only Polen. And for some this might seem like a weakness, expecially to this time, but if you sincerely care for someone, it is very valuable. He knows that Reich has a strong character - but he also knows his spiraling, his low points, his habits. And it is important that he has those, and that Poland knows those. If Reich was perfect, he wouldn't need Polen. If Reich met his ex boyfriend (Italy) and ran away with him, he wouldn't need Polen. And that is just something he can't bare thinking about, I would assume.

He enjoys the attention, the affection, being accepted, being wanted. Who wouldn't? It's just natural. And Reich makes it so easy.

Also Reich isn't like. Ugly. That's a plus. His time in the Reichswehr also helped his shape a lot, tho he probably regressed in his depression.

Or I dunno maybe Polen just likes his partners fun sized.

[bug-memory]

Hey! I shipped all the Muriels! I did it!

Over the past three days, I have mailed out orders. Please keep an eye out for your Muriel box!

If you need your tracking number, please contact me and I'll gladly link it to you. I think BackerKit doesn't send them to people for some reason.

I'm gonna add a little cut here because I have some more things to say about the project as a whole!

So... First of all, in the future, I would like to avoid using Kickstarter and Backerkit as a platform for my dolls. I used Kickstarter because, at the time, I wasn't really active in the doll community and didn't know that most people just did a pre-order independently. I don't regret doing the Kickstarter, but I do think I'd like to try something else next time.

Aside from printing some smaller batches of new Muriel colors in the future, I will probably avoid 3D printing dolls as a final product and stick to using it for prototyping only.

My reasons for this are... The printed resin properties still just aren't there for me. I think the Muriels turned out just fine and I'm happy with them, but have found that when adding more pigment to them, they scratch easier, which was what I was trying to avoid in the first place by using Mecha/Tenacious. I think the pigment thinning it out further reduces its anti-scratch properties, but idk. (My ratio was 4:1 Mecha/Tenacious in case anyone is wondering). Because of this, coating the Muriel joints is a necessity rather than an option, imo.

I do plan to do some smaller batches of different colors for Muriels. I most likely won't make any more larger sized ones, though. All the colors for the Kickstarter are exclusive and won't be remade.

So... Projects coming up... First of all, Harold.

I should finally be getting his robe back next week, and will work on making it more "spooky," as well as print a prototype in what will hopefully be a close approximation to one of the color options from my caster. After I up my photography game, hopefully the photos are pretty enough to encourage people to pre-order him. I would love to do this in October--it is MY MONTH, after all--but also Harold is literally a ghost and a witch, and I think this is an appropriate spooky season for their pre-order. So, I really hope that now that the factors outside of my control are almost resolved, I can get this finished. If I work on him for a week, I can probably have the photo-worthy prototype.

Anyway, soon.

Future projects:

Violet and Lucian, my werewolf dolls, will probably take up most of 2025 for me.

They will have separate pre-order periods, so if people want both, they won't have to order both at once. I want them to be 1/3 scale, so they will be pricier (layaway is your friend, tho). I just really hope there's enough interest for them by the time I get to this stage (guessing, next year). I hope the extra income from Harold will help me get a casted sample for Violet, to see if anything needs to be changed engineering-wise. If for some reason it just doesn't work in 1/3 scale, I might go with a 1/4. I just really think a werewolf is worthy of a big doll. She will be a bit of an engineering challenge for me, but I think I can work out most of it by printing parts of her; I do plan to print a 1/4 one to test before going with the casted sample (which will cost upwards of $600 for a single one).

I think, for Lucian (which will just be a masc version of the werewolf sculpt) I can just edit the Violet file's proportions and hopefully keep the same joint engineering between the two.

Waaaay future projects I want to do:

Bisbee (1/4)

A big demon dude with wings (1/3)

A kobold? (dunno what scale)

[miminmimikyu]

Prodigy episode 17-18: something something about Janeway knowing since her academy days that she’s wearing a device next to her heart that (with minimal modification) is a bomb. What even was the context for learning that trick : ‘D

Scariest thing in these two episodes might be Janeway saying she might retire to a farm in Indiana now. That's such a death flag even though I know she survives!! Then again, the back of my mind says : "we don't know what she looks like in Picard, so grievous bodily harm isn't off the table.."

Wesley noo, showing up in a room full of angry Vau N’Akat and tell them “stop!” ,that's the plan?

Oh I love it when they put the date on-screen and I can add to my mental timeline. So it's been months since the wormhole was destroyed then?

I knew we could count on young Ascencia to help everyone out!

Oh, my apologies to Wesley.. subjecting yourself to months of torture to trick the enemy into building all the technology you need!!! That was an incredible plan! Not to be a Whovian again but: Doctor coded <3

Zero and Jankom have a right to be angry though, idk if any random crew members on Voyager-A died in that attack but it seems more likely than not. Then again, Wesley did say this path was “without endless suffering” and not “no casualties”. Anyway this plan is definitely going too well…

Ah.

For how much Wesley keeps talking about how “thought” is an incredibly important variable, he couldn’t predict that Gwyn would not leave her father behind. Well, I suppose that even with all those powers Wesley is still human.

(I forget how old Wesley was when his dad died. Maybe he’s so used to not having a dad that that legitimately didn’t occur to him. Because that would be a nice character thing that explains fallibility: he's been away from people too long, now there are some paths that he can't see because it gets harder to factor in other people's thoughts (feelings))

Janeway forgetting her birthday in Year of Hell and getting a present from Chakotay 🤝 Janeway forgetting the anniversary of Voyager’s departure and Chakotay giving her a present <3

How long has it been for Janeway that Chakotay’s was missing? How long has she been searching that she's considering retiring now that she's found him?

“With what you and I’ve been through, it does take patience” does it?? DOES IT??

EMH and Holo Janeway interacting!!!!! That was so sweet! (also so sad, since Holo Janeway is fated to blow herself up before she ever leaves the Protostar ;_;). But if we’re naming differences between Janeway and Holo Janeway liking all his holo novels is probably a big one. Oh, and now the role reversal has made it weird.

Doctor, you say you’re not a covert operative but I’ve seen Renaissance Man.. Notably that also was a story where Captain Janeway was so done with the doc and was veery not on board with socialising with him, so that makes Holo Janeway's admiration even funnier. At least Vice Admiral Janeway is getting along with him better now.

(btw I still don't believe he's on a first-name basis with her, like he implied to the Protostar kids in episode 1. iirc I haven't heard him do that in front of her? but it's so like the doc to play their relationship up to impress some newbies lmao)

(i know it's the fatigue but the novel in progress probably isn't helping)

Is this why there was a callback to Endgame two episodes ago??? Janeway you can’t use the Endgame strategy on her and offer up your brain as bait ,Ascencia probably read your file!!!!

The EMH is doing a Renaissance Man isn’t he? Fuck yeahhh he’s doing a Renaissance Man!!

I love this show, even the Loom get to be portrayed as living, feeling beings by introducing that scared and mistreated one in captivity!!!!!

Well, Ascencia didn't meet Chakotay so unless they have a final showdown I think she really is laser focusing all her Federation hate on Janeway and not giving him a second thought except when taunting Janeway

Oh my heart just grew 3 sizes:

I can’t believe there’s only two episodes left ;_; manifesting Gwyn finally catching a break after 2 series of shouldering all that guilt. Carefree smile time carefree smile time carefree smile time