#it also makes more sense to me personally based on their designs and attitudes

[turtleblogatlast]

I like to think alternate Leo was about 17 when he got ricocheted into the universe. I also like to think he turned 18 at some point as he was still away, becoming an adult and meeting that milestone in his life all alone.

[checkertrains]

Luci and Adam redesign/my version! 🍎🎸

Here’s the brief explanation n a bit of lore for why i designed them like this! (Warning, it’s basically just me rambling LMAOO)

Lucifer 🍎:

I let him kept the whole angelic aesthetic cause even if he’s a fallen Angel his features didn’t seem to get distorted or turn “demonic” (from what I’ve read anyways), so by that logic he can still be God most beautiful Angel, and it fit too cause Demons are usually more attractive or good looking to lure in people, deceiving people with their good look. He’s also kinda stuck in the past so usually he’ll appear in his heavenly robe or any old school outfits that he deems old enough

Lucifer in my version is more similar to his pilot personality, he’s more king like in this sense! And of course he’s pretty prideful, and is in denial about having Fallen, he still present himself as if he’s a pure Angel and hates having to interact with Sinners, he’s more lenient with hellborns as they are his rightful subjects after all. But yeah, anyone that isn’t him is often meet with nonchalant or cold attitude, he also doesn’t really care about Charlie whole Hotel, he doesn’t support it nor does he hate it. Cause it have nothing to do with him, he does think it’s a little silly and speak to Charlie like she’s still a child essentially. (He still like ducks in my ver heheheh)

Adam 🎸:

I wanted him to have something nature related in his outfit so I gave him some leaf lol, and his fit is changed so that it resembles a priest outfit more than a simple dress, the halo on his neck and hands restricts his powers, like a power dampener (I based them off of Sun Wu Kong headband!), the seraphim uses it to control how he acts, they can also communicate with him through them, commanding him without using too much energy, Words of god kinda thing. These halo can weaken him A LOT like at some point it can even stop him from using powers entirely, it doesn’t hurt him physically. The halo on his head make it so that anyone who look at him will only see a blur, or blurry version of his face

His helmet has three faces, when he’s wearing it he can see from either sides or all of them, it help him counter attacks, his exorcist uniform is just like his normal outfit, just with more gold, the horns on his head emit holy light, stopping any demons n Sinners from looking at him unless they want to lose their sight, he can also use it to gather up energy to shoot out a massive beam that can erase anything in it path. His wings are based on duck wings but more durable, water and blood can’t stick to it which is fantastic for clean up!

[yuerikoko]

I think I now get where all the Angela hate (and mischaracterization) came from

(Posting another ramble dedicated to my beloved yay)

I might sound like I’m beating a dead horse here since the Angela hate has died down as of recently but I still can’t help but wonder why she had received that much hate in the first place. What warranted her to get this much hate even until recently, whereas other characters who are written similarly to her, or have done much worse, are not as actively hated? Where did the popular fanon conception of her— one that portrayed her as an abuser, stalker and even r wordist at one point— also come from?

After some thinking and also me having known this fandom for 3 years up to this point, I think(?) I was finally able to trace where all this hate came from and where the infamous fanon version of her came to be.

CW: spoilers for WE and mentions of abuse/stalking/sexual assault and other potentially triggering themes. Please proceed with caution.

Also note: I do not intend to harass or call anyone out with this. Therefore, I will not be naming any names (if any) nor will I mention any works that can be triggering. This is simply a meta analysis trying to dissect a character’s fan reception, and while I may give my own thoughts somewhere down the line, I will also try to be as objective as possible with my observations.

0. Pre-C42

Before C42 came out, Angela did not receive as much hate. She wasn’t as popular as Jack or Elliot either, yet people didn’t have a reason to hate her at all prior to IPS. It was likely because she didn’t have much to remember her by other than being “Lars’s wife” or the S3 coroner, either due to the fact that she doesn’t have as much screen time as compared to other characters, or simply doesn’t have anything that makes her stick out as a character or as iconic as others in the team (e.g. Jack, Elliot and Marina for their designs, Lars, Carmen and Elliot for their attitudes towards the team and other people around them in general).

This, however, will be a topic of discussion again in a while, so please keep this in mind as we move on to the next point in this analysis.

1. The aftermath of C42 and C56

This seems to be the starting point of this whole hullabaloo, and understandably so. Angela had just murdered someone, betrayed us, and tried to frame other people for it (C42) and of course, people were upset about it, yet there were still those who had hope for her and tried to sympathize with her. And then came C56, where she returned, but as a colder, more aggressive version of herself that has pledged loyalty to SOMBRA and was willing to carry out their orders so dutifully that she was willing to plant a bomb. This, of course, likely fueled the hate and people had more of a reason to hate her when she made fun of Dupont’s death. Although one take in particular did stand out to me (and not in a good way):

The idea that she doesn’t genuinely love Lars.

Yes, I do understand that this is a very old take from 2016 and things may change from there, but I would just like to highlight how dangerous it is to perceive characters this way. Takes like these erase the complexities of her writing and essentially reduce her— someone who has had to make a lot of hard decisions to even be with Lars, which became the basis of the person she was up to that point— into a nothing more than a caricature of how people think morally gray characters should be based on whether or not they are deemed “good” or “bad” in the traditional sense.

I also do think certain plot holes in PS’s handling of her character in the final case also contributed to it. It felt ridiculous to see how a character whose most defining trait is being family oriented suddenly turned cold and bitter towards her old team, unhesitatingly claiming that they were enemies now as if their previous friendships did not matter. Maybe this was where the idea that she’s manipulative and/or possessive came from: since she was still clinging onto Lars and the triplets (that her literal last wish was to see them again) while showing this lack of compassion that would be unnatural to her past self.

With that said, the fact that she wasn’t as memorable as a main character but was more iconic as a traitor/antagonist did contribute to mixed opinions from the fandom back then. While a lot of people seemed to be mad at the things she’s done, there were some who thought it made her more interesting as a character. I guess it depends on subjective interpretation in this case, though unfortunately, back when WE first came out, many people fell into the mindset of black-and-white morality, and end up hamfisting complex and nuanced characters into extremes based on whether or not they like them.

2. Fanon/“Yandere” Angela

Following the events of WE, this seems to be a very common fandom perception of her. This subject is somewhat hard to accurately put into words, but I will try my best to give my analysis and thoughts on it, so please correct me if I get something wrong.

For those who don’t know, this is what a yandere is supposedly defined as:

TL;DR: yanderes are known to be violent, possessive and obsessed with a particular love interest. This may even go to the extent of hurting any potential “rivals” or even their love interests themselves.

If you have been in the fandom long enough, and especially if you’re into WE or Angela, you might find that there have been numerous fanfics that described her this way: as an absolutely horrible person who abuses and even stalks Lars in some, along with getting upset when others get close to him.

It may have originated from Wattpad, where there were two fics (afaik) focused on the concept of Angela being a yandere in itself. This, and considering the fact that there is barely any fan material of Angela (most especially fics) and that almost every fic that has her in it at the time either has her play an antagonistic role or use her as a plot device (usually for other ships to happen) may have contributed to the whole idea of her being a “yandere” that was almost universally accepted as the basis of her character in fics.

There is also that perceived manipulation and “sociopathy” from earlier that may have contributed to the idea of yandere Angela. A common fandom perception of her is that Angela has a warped idea of what love is and ends up displaying unhealthy/dangerous behaviors towards Lars as a result of her obsession (which she perceives as “love”). And as a result, she ends up resorting to actual criminal behavior in some of these fics: stalking Lars, physically abusing him and in one extreme case, even raped him. (Disclaimer: I will not be naming any of these fics since I do not condone hate or harassment towards the authors, nor do I want to further trigger anyone reading this by openly naming said content.)

This may have also been a big factor in contributing to Angela hate as the normalization of this depiction of her has led to people almost unanimously accepting this as her actual character.

I would like to say that I very much disagree with this take on her character. While yes, it is true that Angela does have questionable morality (e.g. she understands that what SOMBRA did to children is wrong and actively condemns it, yet was willing to blow up the Bureau hq knowing that Elliot and Sanjay are inside), her love for Lars seems to be genuine and even healthy for the most part. Time and time again, she has shown that she really loves him— hell, her laptop password even has his name on it.

3. Popularization of these misconceptions

As these fics were the only depiction of Angela in the fandom for a time, they are, by far, the most infamous depiction of her. This, along with the “I hate her because she’s a bad person and did bad things” majority, has then led to her getting this much hate from the fandom.

Moreover, there was a time in 2023 where there’s an influx in WE-centered fics, and that also resulted in most of the anti-Angela fics for the most part. This may explain the more recent hate directed towards her as compared to characters from other seasons.

Conclusion

Much of the hate towards Angela in particular stems from both severe misinterpretation of canon events and her character’s actions/intentions, and this version of her being extremely popularized to the point where people treated it like it’s actually her. The former mostly applies to around the time WE was still ongoing to after it ended (2016-2017 ish) while the latter could explain the more recent hate. Fortunately, it seems as though more people have the media literacy to read along the nuances of her character and understand her intentions before forming an opinion.

Anyways this was A LOT— probably even longer than the Carmen/Angela post but I’ve been thinking about this for just as long (there was a time I was afraid to admit I liked her because of how hated she was). Thank you for listening to my TED Talk, I guess.

[featherdusterbelphie]

drew WHB Belphie pre-debut because yes?!

Very long discussion under the cut vvv

HE IS HERE YESS (even though he is very late)

I'm very excited for when he drops even though it'll definitely take me a while before I actually get him because I'm f2p only and I have shitty gacha luck hahaha...

Anyway, here are my theories: for some reason, I have a feeling that he's very mean? Or like, he's one of those who will bully MC LOL

(though I can't tell if it's bully because he likes mc, or bully because that's just how he is)

Idk, I just think he'll be prickly because of the piercings. He has so many! Four helix piercings on both ears?! Also, it looks like he's wearing a windbreaker? Or some sporty jacket which makes me think jock...which is also not very sloth-like lmao. It reminds me of typical gangster characters like Draken from Tokrev.

(Though that will be a very interesting character but it's risky since we already have Levi and not everyone likes him <3 the reason why I didn't draw him very gangster-like is that someone said that he kinda looks inspired by Vkei and I wanted to incorporate that somehow)

I also think he'll have a very... interesting personality. I've drawn him all crazy in the second pic, but very relaxed and a little tired? in the first. That's because I really like drowsy/sleepy eyes and also because he's the representative of the sin sloth so it makes sense. As for the crazy one..I also think that aside from the mean attitude, he'll have a very energetic/eccentric personality based on the art. Like he'll be all up in your face talking about the weirdest shit because he wants to get a reaction. Or he's just one very informed and knowledgeable king who has many, many secrets.

Speaking of secrets, there is his hands. I know the other kings also have hands in their teasers, but with Belphie, I think the hands have more significance. Because like, why is it covering up most of his face??? The other kings at least have an eye, nose and/or mouth showing through the fingers, but Belphie only has his left eye with two pupils. I'm starting to think he's very secretive or mysterious. Maybe he's a reclusive king and that's why not a lot of demons know about him or his country? Or maybe he's as strict and 'militaristic' as Nifleheim's description says of their country? Or maybe he has a scar that he's covering up? Idk but I am gonna be disappointed if it turns out to be a red herring >:(

Oh, and another thing about the hands— I might be grasping at straws here but the fingers look like teeth. The way they're intertwined in front of his face makes it look like teeth, making me think either he has very sharp teeth or his idiosyncrasy is related to teeth (i know, this is beyond grasping at straws now).

Also, I didn't draw his horns because I have no idea how to draw his horns. I can't see it at all in the teaser art unless it's this thing beside one of his hands which is....?? I'm not sure. Because if that's so then he's similar to Valefor with a horn in his eye (correct me if I'm wrong huhu) and if that's the case, then he has a very cool design that's very unique from all the current kings (including Asmo if they're going to reuse the design they had of him from Love Unholyc)

Unless his horn is the black halo above his head? In which case, how the fuck is that connected to his head?? Or is it floating with magic?? I don't understand. Why the halo? Is he connected to the angels in some way? A traitor, perhaps? Is he somehow related to the angelification stuff that I barely know anything about?

ALSO ALSO what's with the Roman numeral six on his forehead??? Is that just a random tattoo or will that mean something lore-wise? If so, does that mean he's the sixth king to be before Lucifer? (this is assuming Luci is the last king and Asmo is the first king) Or is this a hint that he's the sixth king MC visits/breaks the contract with? If it's the latter...then I don't know if I have enough patience to play through however many chapters it will take until we get to Niflheim...and also...my phone storage can't handle it eheu

It could also just not be a Roman numeral six and it could be a Latin word/quote that I have no idea about because it's hidden by his hands. Salvi is the only Latin word I could think of with 'vi' but that means 'saved' and I don't know how that works with Belphie. Because then he got saved?? By who?? And why would he need saving?

So many questions and so many ideas, I wonder when they'll officially introduce him (hopefully not next year...).

Also, does anyone know when Lucifer's selfie card goes into the normal banners? Because I don't see him there and the only thing I'm sure will go into the normal banners is Levi's school card which will be three months from now iirc.

NEXT >>

[nitewrighter]

Ok, with beast boy’s og costume, you like the mask, hate the red and white color scheme.

Any thoughts on raven’s og look from the 80s? Her normal cloak over an evening gown and pumps. Fashion wise, I think it looks great, but it doesn’t seem to fit her personality wise, not then and definitely not now.

Though I imagine a modern story could call back to it, having her forced to wear the ensemble for a formal event.

Really not a huge fan of the 80's costume. I like the earrings gleaming under the shadow of the hood, but pumps? Really? Though yeah I agree it could be a fun callback in a formal outfit for her.

For me, on a design level, Raven is one of those characters where, I like her so much and she has so much going on that I'm pretty much never satisfied with whatever look they give her. DC Superhero Girls? Ew. Bombshells? Corny and lazy. Injustice? UGLAY. I know with the 03 show, the leotard had a lot of haters, but I honestly liked the leotard--I was in gymnastics as a kid, so I always thought there was something very elegant and ballet-adjacent with the long-sleeved black leotard, and this leotard also had the additional cool factor of the high neck. It's sleek, it's graceful, it's the look that made me fall in love with Raven's character to begin with. Plus, it was sportier than the high cut half-your-ass-hanging-out evening gown, and that meshed well with the overall looks of the team on that show despite her powers being more magic based than superhero sci-fi like the rest of the team. I also kind of like that it was slightly offset by those soft-looking short boots--those and the gem accents and the little sleeve cuff things added a little fantasy element to the outfit. I WILL say the DCAMU won me over on the sleeveless + long gloves combo by making them fingerless gloves.

I don't like when Raven's outfits incorporate too much of a 'bird' theme. So much of the time feathers just make her outfit look terribly busy, or it really doesn't match her restrained cool attitude at all. I do admire the ballsiness of the New 52 weird feather bone Griffith-Berserk-Eclipse-looking helm, but that look never really felt like Raven, at least it didn't feel like a Raven who was herself, if that makes sense.

For me, the ideal Raven look is one that brings to mind night and water, sleek silhouettes, fabrics that hang with a certain sense of weight but can also swish and sweep around dramatically. She's more of a shadow than a bird, to me. My design challenge for DC artists is "Forget about the bird thing for 10 seconds: How do we indicate to people that this is a half-demon interdimensional wizard girl, without making her outfit too busy?" Gem element good. Feathers bad. Don't worry about the bird--she can literally bring her own bird to the party with her Soul-Self.

I actually do like outfits of hers that turn the high-cut dress into more of a surcoat/overdress for like... a full superhero black bodysuit underneath. I am not a fan of the transparent looking tights, either make them opaque or keep her legs bare--sheer tights is just such a weird middle ground that doesn't feel like something she'd wear.

But yeah, anyway this is how picky I am when it comes to Raven's designs, haha.

[sonic-love-island-official]

Rouge (Bio/Character design ramble)

Want to have a ramble about Rouge because I'm feeling particularly obsessed with her character design at the moment. So, might as well do a little bio and a ramble on choices made for her Love Island AU counterpart !

More under the cut x

Rouge is a 28 year old jewellery specialist from an unspecified location (for the moment). She joins the fray with the intention of stirring the pot, potentially finding a summer fling and the allure of the cash prize.

She's your girl that has a specific 'type' and sticks to it to a tee. She is loud and flirtatious, but can also be quietly cunning. Rouge is a girl who thrives off drama and does anything to get her way. She disguises many of her true feelings beneath flirting or angry outbursts. Despite being one of the older girls in the series, Rouge doesn't have a very mature attitude (or sense of humour 🤭), which plays a part in her character arc on the Island. Along with this, she is learning to unlearn her pre-established self-destructive behaviours in order to become a better person, friend and partner... Eventually.

External design choices !! (visual appearance - incl. formation of base sim, references taken, makeup choices, fashion style... etc.)

Rouge's translation into The Sims 3 was a hugely enjoyable trial and error process. She was one of a few handful of characters that ended up getting a minor overhaul to their designs, as we eventually came to the conclusion that they no longer fitted the vibe of the AU. But. She looks stunning now, so Rouge Version 1 can be forgotten. Not really, Rouge v1 actually became a meme so we kind of have to keep her 'round hehe.

Forming the base for Rouge's sim was quite easy, as I was already inspired from the get-go. She was made the same day I made Shadow's sim, as the intention was for them to enter as bombshells (as they rightfully should). A lot (but not all) of inspiration was taken from her Sonic Adventure 2 character model because I immediately fell in love with it the first time I saw her ! Her exaggerated bust and hips made her look so short and adorable in gameplay and I know her design was not intended to be perceived that way, but here I am. I don't remember if I made her before or after I was aware of and joined the 'Rouge is Latina' bandwagon (I do believe this is canon ??) due to the fact I made this sim over a year ago when newly into the fandom, but I thought it'd be worthy mentioning here that she is and it's something we wanted to keep as part of her character.

I kept a ton of reference Rouge's core features, such as her big blue-green eyes, her wispy white hair, her slightly more voluptuous figure (to the best of my ability, ts3 is piss poor at creating differing body types grr. Don't even get me started on how I wanted to give Rouge more of a tummy) and her warmer skin tone. She actually used to look more on the orange side of tan before we kitted our game with a mod that gave sims less 'potato'-like features, so her skin tone seems more natural and even and less Fake Tan than what she was originally, making her look a little more like her counterparts in later titles, but she looks far more stunning than she used to. A sacrifice had to be made and perhaps that was for the best. Additionally, I put in some of my own creative choices as well, such as Rouge naturally having dark hair, as seen through the regrowth in her bleach-blonde hair (I thought it was white but I checked in CAS and it turns out there's the tiniest yellow hint in there. Even I didn't realise the level of detail I went into). Her face and her features are quite slender, accentuating her big eyes and her lips (which we decided was cause of Botox later into the development process, because that just seemed like something she would do and it was very in-line with characters seen on Love Island).

The miscellaneous parts of her appearance are very one way or the other. As seen in her default outfit (2nd & 3rd images), Rouge's makeup is accurate to the tacky colours seen on her reference designs. The blue cut-crease eyeshadow, the pink lip colour... But alternatively, she is also seen wearing more Love Island appropriate makeup - more neutral, blended shadows, highlighter, winged liner, false lashes, lip glosses. Her outfits normally match whichever angle she's leaning towards during that particular episode and a few outfits of hers are actually inspired by (or are near replicas of) pre-made designs from various games/official artworks ! It's all in the little things 😉

*Did I,, did I forget to talk about her piercings ? Yes, I did </3 Beneath her hair is tons of little sparkly earrings she's adorned herself with over the years, because it's Rouge and she can't resist a bit of sparkle. She also has a belly piercing :)

Internal design choices !! (personality, characteristics, psychology etc.)

Rouge does not get nearly enough credit for any of the internal workings of her character and having her in this AU gave us the perfect excuse to delve into Rouge's psychology a bit more in-depth. We decided to expand on pre-existing traits and add a few of our own in the mix, as to not take away from any of the brilliance Rouge already has as a character at least, in some of the earlier games she does... I've noticed that even though Rouge in this AU presents herself a little more immature, the way we've treated her character is far from that. Instead of being reduced down to what is essentially eye-candy, Rouge is shown to be a complex character of her own. She's witty, flirty, manipulative, materialistic, confident... all the common traits associated with her character, but she is also VERY guarded with her feelings. She struggles with vulnerability, commitment and the concept of actually being in love. It is possible she feels undeserving of good people in her life, hence why she seeks to ruin her positive relationships at any given opportunity. Alas... It is something for her to work out throughout the course of the series :) Like most of the main characters in the series, Rouge means well (some of the time) but is a right mess, and I like to think that adds to the relatability of her character 👍

Other fun little titbits I thought were worth a mention !!

Following a fairly popular headcanon (at least, from what I've seen, this is kind of the general consensus ??), Rouge is bisexual in this AU. She cracks on with the boys and has flirty banter with some of them, but also she expresses interest in some of the girls, too. Rouge being Rouge though, a lot of her genuine advances are dismissed for her 'joking', when in fact, that is not entirely the case. And Love Island being the show that it is, often prevents Rouge from fully pursuing any of the girls that caught her attention. Still doesn't stop her from trying though :)

Exaggerating one of Rouge's features, Love Island AU Rouge uses every pet name under the sun to refer to people by. She also loves making endearing nicknames for all the Islanders

[jamtlandsarkiv]

What is your opinion on SuFin from a Swedish perspective?

Thanks for asking! From a historical and cultural perspective, SuFin is a ship that makes a lot of sense. Sweden and Finland were the same country for almost 700 years (that's only counting recorded history), and out of the Nordics, Sweden and Finland share the most traditions. I encourage everyone to read this post by Nordickies, which explains in detail the interconnectedness between Sweden and Finland through history, and how it could have affected Björn and Timo's relationship.

From my perspective, I used to dislike SuFin a lot because of how it's often written with this "stereotypical straight couple" relationship. Sweden and Finland's characters were always forced into these roles and the historical background of their countries was always brushed aside because it contradicted the forced wholesome dynamic. My opinion on SuFin was changed by the works of Haranonaka (who unfortunately removed all of their Hetalia works from their social media accounts in June 2023, and I only have a few individual images saved). Haranonaka redesigned Finland to be a confident and muscular character, and made many beautiful comics based on the history and conflicts between Sweden, Finland and Russia.

My design and characterization of Timo is strongly based on Haranonaka's Finland, although I made him less outgoing and smiley because I like the idea of Timo being a stoic person with a warm heart who rarely opens up to others. When I write about Timo, I'm thinking about this guy. (Björn for scale.)

My interpretation of SuFin aligns with Nordickies' analysis, with some changes to match my Nationverse. Geographically, Timo was living the closest to Björn out of the Nordic 5. As a child, Timo was physically weak and emotionally sensitive, which led to him getting bullied by Björn. Björn eventually stopped bullying him when they matured and Timo hardened his sensitive side, but they weren't close during the period of Swedish rule and earlier. Timo had an idealistic worldview as a child, so he wasn't too concerned when his land became Swedish territory. He noticed the lower status of the Finnish language and banning of Finnish pagan traditions under Swedish rule, but at that point, he had become so used to Swedish rulers that he didn't think it was out of the ordinary. His worldview was shaken when Finland was surrendered to Russia and granted autonomy, which made him eager to adopt a Finnish national identity. During this time, he felt a lot of irrational anger towards Björn even though he knew that Björn wasn't personally responsible for Swedish-Finnish relations. Björn was ashamed of bullying Timo and wanted to repair their relationship, so when Timo was serving in the Finnish army during the Finnish independence and continuation wars, Björn would secretly travel to Finland to give him and his fellow soldiers military aid. At first, Timo didn't want to have any contact with Björn, but after he realized how much money and risk Björn was taking to help him, he softened his attitude. Over the years after the war, they slowly opened up to each other. It wasn't smooth-sailing at all as their stubborn personalities led to a lot of arguments, but they learned to cooperate with each other and realized how much they have in common.

My SuFin is the opposite of the standard fandom version, because they're a couple with a lot of historical baggage caused by an unequal power dynamic. Not to mention the drastic language difference between them too. It's much more interesting to me that Björn and Timo started off with a broken relationship and have to put in work and sacrifice to fix it. The personification of Åland is their child, which was also a source of conflict in their relationship!

[raytorosaurus]

i think where people get confused is that mcr did try very hard and very overtly to make their shows a safe space for queer people and women which is not a political act it just feels political because being queer and/or a woman means you exist in a space where your being is politicised by those around you whether you want to actively be involved in those politics or not. but, as you said, the art itself is personal and the message at shows is generally also about personal expression and learning to be yourself and take care of yourself. there's an element of respect each other/respect each others' differences but that's not political there's no call to action there's no fight for structural change and that's totally fine they don't have to be that

yeah no you said it, i totally agree. like i said, they're only political as far as all art is political - maybe slightly more because they made an active effort to engage with a socially outcast audience, tho in their minds that wasn't about specific marginalised groups like queer people, neurodivergent ppl etc - beyond their vocal support of women at shows/in the scene, they were directing their art just at people who didn't quite fit in in general. there's a big venn diagram there (and obviously some contextual cause-and-effect in terms of what kind of people tended to be unwelcome in hardcore scenes lol - even then, mcr never made any statements about race or whiteness) but it's not like gerard started a band to empower or liberate specific identities in a political sense - it was very consciously an effort to sing more about general unifying human experiences - i.e. ones lots of people can relate to. one of mcr's (especially gerard as lyricist) greatest strengths is being able to tap into those "universal" emotions like grief, loneliness, self-hatred etc. and make them a little easier to confront head-on or feel a little less isolating. that's literally why they're popular - if they had been overtly political they simply never would have made it that big! wait i'll let hanif abdurraqib say it because he said it best (brief snippet from his wonderful essay on the black parade in his collection they can't kill us until they kill us - 100% worth the cost of the ebook alone, and all of his essays are brilliant).

that idea is kind of at the heart of mcr and something i really appreciate about it. there's actually very little specificity in mcr's lyrics by design - it's meant to be projected onto and interpreted. that makes it inherently difficult to politicise bc good politics requires clarity of message and intention. that in turn makes mcr pretty apolitical by nature - which isn't a bad thing! different bands (like all types of art) exist for different reasons, and mcr's reason is catharsis and connection far more than it is any kind of activism. we can be pretty assured based on the lyrics and what we know of the guys that their politics aren't terrible and that's enough for me.

the real issue comes in when people act like mcr are political and give them credit for something they're not (and something they've never really claimed to be!). i get that mcr is a gateway band for a lot of people into harder/heavier music - it was for me too! - but even bands one step removed from mcr in the same scene (e.g. thursday) are leagues more political than these guys are.

this goes beyond mcr/bandom now but....tbh i think a lot of it comes from that relatively recent attitude that's common in online circles that activism is heavily rooted in personal identity (which ties in with the harmful pattern of, for example, white queer people acting like they're somehow above other white people in terms of racism) and comes more from individual thought, words, and discussion (in which using the correct language sometimes has more weight than what you're trying to say) than it does from actual community action. this isn't an attack at anyone btw - a lot of the statements about mcr's politics around here are pretty flippant and light-hearted anyway, i doubt too many people are taking them super seriously, but it's probably worth considering. overall, i'm not listening to mcr for politics and i'm certainly not looking to any of them for political guidance, but it's nice to feel connected to them and to all of you guys and to know that they support my identity, but that’s kind of as far as it goes for me.

[morgana-ren]

Hi Morgana :)) hope you're having a good day. So I stumbled upon this video and the discourse in the comments https://youtube.com/shorts/cbtSWTjXvZQ?si=8g19VZHJUNI-5niU

And quite frankly got curious as I didn't get to play much of an early access Astarion but I do remember how his attitude at the tiefling/goblin party seems a lil different from early access to launch as well as his noble to charlatan change. So I thought that I could ask the Lore Mommy do you think he was changed that much and or how these changes shifted your perspective on his character. Because personally I do view him as a decadent and somewhat hedonistic as Ascended and those traits do show in his Spawn persona as well.

So just curious about your thoughts on this:))

Okay, I ended up fucking rambling and getting off topic here. This is too long for comfort. I'm sorry I just ended up blabbing, I swear that wasn't the intention lmao. I ended up looking into the comments at aforementioned discourse and it just reminded me of shit, so please forgive me. I tend to r a m b l e with a fuckin capital R. I'm talking in a more general sense and not at anyone in particular, most especially not you, so please don't think that. It's just my observations at large. I love questions like this and I hope this doesn't make you roll your eyes.

So, I got the EA version of the game when it was still fairly early. It was Patch 2, if I recall. It was interesting watching the group develop and grow as the writers and developers decided some things fit more than others because sometimes the patches were so drastically different than the last. Wyll actually got an entire rewrite between the EA and the full release. All of the characters we had went through changes (except Karlach and Halsin because they weren't there but they were likely tweaked behind the scenes.) A lot of Astarion's concept was already written, but his character was absolutely tweaked. The art book and a lot of the released designs are very early. We had them as of patch 2 where he was drastically different. In the beginning, they very much were going more for the stereotypical 'evil' follower. You could play as a good character and he would still like you, but he was very much geared for more debauchery-based playthroughs. It's also important to note that we really didn't get to demo everything. We only got the first act, and some of the more shallow aspects of it.

The thing about Baldur's Gate 3 is it is written so well because no character is good or evil. They are rounded, genuine characters with stories and lives and opinions of their own. You can dislike them, but you have to acknowledge they aren't written to be banal stereotypes. Astarion was a bit more of an evil clusterfuck in EA, but even then, there was a deep pain inside of him, and he was using his callousness and lack of giving a shit as a defense. Even then you knew something was very wrong. He mentioned Cazador because you ran into the Gur hunter, and you knew he was kept as a spawn against his will and was tortureda and had a very dubious past, but a lot of the character development wasn't in the EA-- because they didn't originally intend for it to be there.

But that doesn't fully change his character like some of the comments and other videos and posts I see seem to suggest. It seems like a lot of people have an egregious misunderstanding of his arc-- especially on tiktok and youtube shorts where the audience is younger and more prone to projection and group-thinking, echo-chambery line of thought.

Here's the rundown from what I remember deducing with EA combined with my personal playthroughs now that the game has released:

Astarion was absolutely a shithead before he was taken and turned. We don't know about his childhood, mostly because he doesn't know or remember, but I can say with certainty that he didn't become a dickhead after Cazador. Being taken made him worse, but he absolutely was an asshole before he was taken. He probably wasn't the traumatized, terrified young man he is now, but he was probably a real shit-kicker. He was on the winding path to darkness and they make this clear.

(His childhood was not touched on in the EA at all. All you knew is magistrate, vampire, gur killed him, Cazador, slave, and his dickish, libertine attitude.)

He is a noble though. This much we knew. He is privileged. Elite. He took without caring and doled out where he saw fit. He was your stereotypical rich boy-- or that's the vibe he gives off. He doesn't give off 'I earned my way into power' like Gortash does. He gives off 'I was born into privilege and I'm making it everyone else's problem.' He's educated and very savvy with language in a way that those of higher education access learn to be. He is well spoken and snubs his nose at 'lessers' in a way you see the wealthy do so casually. He was likely living a life of luxury and emerging into his own life in an Elon Musk-esque sort of evil powergrab. He might've always been a pesky little troublemaker, but he very much has 'I'm rich and I don't care about you' vibes, even beneath all of the trauma. This did not develop from Cazador. This was preexisting.

He was young. He was impulsive and dumb. He never had a chance to emotionally mature. It's entirely possible that, had he been left alone, he might've blossomed into a better person. But do not be mistaken, he was a bad person. Honestly, it's more possible to me that he would have just become another corrupt patriar with the city in his coin purse. Either way, fate played him a different hand than the one his birth had decided on.

You are told that he is a magistrate back in the city, which is true. When you play his origin story, you get options relating to it and it's actually been referred to a lot since the EA. He absolutely was some form of up and rising politician seeking power. A man with high ideas of himself, libertine proclivities, a self-centered attitude, and very much not a good person. Probably not horrible or sadistic for fun to the degree he is now, but definitely spiraling that way with the path he was on. The seeds had been planted already before any of his trauma happened.

I assume he wasn't quite important enough that his death would cause an uproar, but probably an impudent little upstart with his eyes on high political power just getting his bearings in the political world with help from mommy and daddy. The kind of petty asshole who abuses any authority he gets and doesn't care who or what gets in his way because he has some shit to prove and a life to live, everyone else be damned. That kind of person. He had ideas and ambitions, and is probably very open to corruption from the get-go. The kind of politician that dies in the street and people go "Hmm. Shame." and move on because they weren't anything special or grand. Just another corrupt asshole getting what they deserved. Another rich daddy's boy brought to the knife by the populace.

He was mourned. Someone missed him. But it wasn't the people of Baldur's Gate. That's for sure. He was forgotten before he became a true problem. Killed and stemmed. Just. Another. Cruel politician. Just another bastard with a big head. Just another.

In short, he definitely made some enemies and had drawn the wrong sort of attention during his time as a magistrate. Being the peacocking, lovely, arrogant young man he is, I bet he'd managed to make more people unbelievably pissed off than any sort of admiration, which normally for the rich isn't a problem, but... when it is, it really is, as you can see.

Even in the EA, he is very open with you tells you that the Gur, likely unhappy with a recent ruling he made, jumped him and murdered him in the street and you can let him kill the hunter. Thing is, Gur are not a violent people. If they attacked him like that, he did something to warrant it. It had to have been pretty nasty for it to have that consequence. The main difference is in the EA (later, of course, but still) you can find out that it was not Cazador that sent the Gur hunter. In fact, it was someone different entirely. I think it was someone named Maiden Fel or something. I do not remember. They likely switched it up. It was not the Gur looking of their own volition originally, but neither was it Cazador. But the EA was also slightly disjointed and broken so it's hard to tell what was canon at the time.

Astarion, in his shitty early days, isn't shy about his slight racism. He seems to dislike everything that isn't human or elven. It's entirely possible he had racial/cultural biases against the Gur and ended up pulling a ruling that was extremely unfair. It would be fair for them to seek retaliation.

This is never officially elaborated on as far as I know, but I do honestly believe that Cazador was almost more coincidence than anything. He saw a young, beautiful boy and went "Hmm... useful." He smelled blood in the water and saw someone that wouldn't be missed and offered them eternal life, knowing this silver-haired young man would be foolish enough to grasp it. He probably reeked of privilege. He would take it with open arms and without asking why or what for because that is what he was used to. Privileged people do not ask. They take. Cazador knew this.

(The point of me running through his past is to point out that not everything can be blamed on his trauma. He was at least kind of a bastard before this ever happened. And both EA and release have the similar trauma background almost identically.)

As we know, Astarion died that night. In the street. In a puddle of his own blood. He was scraped off the cobblestone and thrown into the cemetary, where he emerged the next night to his new life-- to Cazador. He didn't die. Astarion the Magistrate died. But Astarion, the stuck up, pompous, selfish asshole very much did not. In fact, that very same noble was forced to swallow a taste of his own medicine-- and it was a bitter fucking pill.

It made him worse. Trauma doesn't always make you soft and sweet. Sometimes, trauma makes you hard and cruel and angry and spiteful. Sometimes it doesn't make you apologetic; it makes you venomous. It makes you a spitting cobra rather than a loyal, empathetic puppy.

(Notice all I say about projection) Honestly, for me, it's nice to see that representation. Because my trama did not make me kind. It made me hurt. And it made me angry. And it twisted my mind into ways of thinking that I do not like. And you almost never see that. You see a lot of people who are kind and soft and gentle, but you don't often see those of us that were ripped apart and never managed to sew back together right. We do not bend and break our back and twist our tongues for others. Sometimes we are hurtful and mean and things that people paint as evil. Sometimes you grow claws rather than thick skin. Sometimes you grow fangs rather than a bigger heart.

So, more in line with the actual question, they very much did change up his arc. He was meant to be much more manipulative and shitty. It was datamined in the original script, I believe. That much was confirmed way earlier in the early access. But more or less, they went 'Hey, maybe we shouldn't write such a vapid dumbass character because it doesn't fit with the theme of 'complexity' we're working with here. Maybe we should make him more rounded. Maybe we should make him a person.' His story had been mostly mapped, but his character hadn't quite yet. And I'm glad they did.

Having him be a vacuous, shitty stereotype would have been a massive disappointment, especially in a game that is so deep.

Here's the bit though:

It is a CONSTANT throughout the game, EA and release; Astarion very much is an asshole. He is throughout the entire game. He can get better, but he's a dick. No two ways around it. His trauma didn't make him terrible, he very much already was a selfish person who ended up getting stunted. He learned to lie and manipulate to survive, but he wasn't a sweet boy when this happened to him. He was a 'bad' person who had something horrible happen to him that opened up his body and made him defensive and cruel, because he believes the world is cruel and indifferent to suffering, which goes in line with his earlier pre-kidnap thinking of 'Who cares?' It made him bitter for sure, but he already had those ways of thinking. He didn't care who he hurt. He didn't care about anyone. That's the entire bit with 'libertines' and the elite. He was already bad; it made him worse.

He was a fucking jackass. But notice I don't say evil.

He is not a character that empathizes or sympathizes well. He doesn't care what others are going through unless you teach him to, and even then, he is still learning. He is capable of trying if you steer him there. But in general? He rejoices in cruelty, being a general nuisance, being selfish, being power hungry, and being self serving. These are not solely trauma traits. These are not all defense mechanisms, though they can be. Astarion is a rounded character that is complex but right now is not the stereotypical 'uwu sad baby' shit that people love to do to him either. They made him relatable. Gave him tragedy. And people love to latch on to that to paint us as these pathetic babies incapable of our own thoughts who need to be coddled and babied and defended.

From EA, they made him more rounded. They made him less cartoonishly gimmicky. He's still a very selfish jerkoff, but he is scared, and vulnerable, and they made a point to emphasize that. He is not just evil hot vampire. He is scared, vulnerable, rude, pompous, arrogant, selfish, terrified, traumatized, angry, subdued--

and the list goes on. He is a person. He is a relatable person. But these traits he respects in the beginning? Selfishness? Greed? Self-serving? These are traits he admired before that were amplified by his trauma. These are traits that we condemn as a human race, but we still hone and harbor. These are things we have and we see and we experience day to day.

And that is why it is so easy to judge him and condemn him and try to paint him in black or white and call him banal morality labels like 'good' or 'evil.' It's part of why we have these arguments over his EA versus now. Because you see these good/bad things and immediately need to justify your love or hatred for him and defend or condemn him because you hear them and go "No! Wrong! I know he's selfish but he's not evil and--" and all of those other posts we love. People struggle with nuance. That is why it is so easy for people to make these videos defending their views. They grab keywords and examples and go "See!" and show little tiny snippets instead of an entire person. Hell, we do it in real life too. We point out one facet of someone's life and judge and condemn them based upon it. With Astarion, we see so much more, but even then, people still struggle.

People have real experiences with these values. People have personal feelings and judgments based on those things. They feel a need to analyze it, but most people do not know how. They cannot say "No, I just don't like him" or "Yeah, I enjoy him" and leave it at that. Similar to how I'm ripping this open right now. And I'm not condemning anyone. Clearly I'm going on a tangent right now over it. It's fun to do. But people feel like it's necessary. Like they have to.

In those comments, someone points out that media literacy is dead, and I'm inclined to agree. Everything is black and white and must be tucked into neat little boxes that are easy for people to digest. A bad character is a bad mean evil irredeemable character. A good character is a good character that behaves good and does things we expect from good people. Humans are no longer humans. They are not complex. They are not nuanced. They are one dimensional creatures to be judged and executed. That is why people struggle so hard with games this well written. Because it is not that simple. It is not in real life and it is not in the game.

Also in the comments here, it seems like everyone is arguing over a nonissue. It seems to stem from the fact that there's a lot of discourse over liking a bad character. People feel like his newer design is 'justified' and even though he is 'a jerk,' he is not 'irredeemable.' The entire thing is asinine.

No one deserves redemption. That is the fucking point of redemption. That is the entire whole ass point. Someone who does not deserve it working to redeem themselves. If you deserve redemption, you don't need it. If you need it, you do not deserve it. People forget that.

I see this a lot. People demonizing others who enjoy complex or more nuanced characters that are not wholly good. People saying characters are irredeemable and terrible and if you like them, you're a bad person. If you like villains, you clearly relate and you're a bad person. If you like this person, you're just like them and must be condoning their actions.

It's so fucking stupid. I see it with books too. People jump on protagonists because they think the term 'protagonist' means hero, and people conflate the two. I could go on a whole (new) tangent about this, but the point is people are incapable of processing that now, because we've really muddied the waters with morality and we use shame rather than critical thinking. We operate off of gut instincts like 'disgust' and 'hatred' and instead of thinking about shit, we just shove it away and condemn, condemn, condemn.

A natural consequence of this is people jump like dogs to twist that character they love or hate into a victim or something beyond their actual story. They will jump through hoops. They will do whatever it takes to avoid the stigma of being a 'bad person' in the eyes of some internet tiktok teen with a billion followers or some tumblr mom because they have been raised to believe that makes them a bad person and they will deserve the ostrasizing they get. They will be bullied and driven from the internet and sent anons until they go into fucking hiding. It's not okay to just enjoy something anymore. You have to justify it to some asshole. You have to break it open and twist it and defend it or burn it. You can't just exist.

People project. And holy fuck, have they projected on Astarion. It's another natural consequence of having such an incredible, well written character. People see themselves in him. In fact, people see themselves in him so much that they inadvertently take away his agency again in an ironic twist because people with similar feelings or experiences feel like they 'get' him better and therefore have more say over a fictional character than the character himself, the person who wrote him and the man who brought him to life.

My point with all of this nonsensical and unrelated bullshit rambling is that I loved Astarion in the EA and I love him more now. I would have loved him if they left him 'evil' but kept him rounded. His ascended ending is him falling deeply into his worst instincts for control coupled with his entitlement and need for safety. His spawn ending is him relenting and accepting and trying to be better within reason. He will always be Astarion. But he can make efforts to be better-- or worse. But he is always Astarion, and Astarion is decadent, and a bit of a jerk, and a stuffy noble elite with standards. He will always be like that. He will always be Astarion. He probably does better there with someone to babysit like Tav, but even a single spawn Astarion made great strides and effort.

I think we take that for granted a lot. We get people all up in their feelings and lashing out at people who like one ending or the other. We have people calling other people horrible people for trusting Astarion in the end of his spawn ending instead of coddling him and taking his fuckin' free will away again. We have people throwing food like kids in a cafeteria and it feels like no one slows the fuck down and wonders why they feel that way.

I like Astarion because he's an incredible character. I like him more in the release because he's more developed. He feels real. He feels like me. (See, projection.) I get it. People are not always pure good or pure evil. These are words we made up because we're an idiot little species that needs to categorize, same as why we name shapes and traits. But I liked him evil too. I just liked him. He just interested me. I always liked him.

He feels better in the release. More fleshed out. Less foreboding and more understandable. He's not Viconia from BG2 who is basically just there to be an evil temptress for 'hehe evil' characters. But guess what? It's totally fine if you wanna engage with him that way! If you don't like him, or you don't want to bother with making him better, you don't have to. If that's all you want to do, then hell yeah, baby.

At the end of the day, he is a model we can use to dissect ourselves. He can help us understand how we view complex issues. But it gets frustrating when people highjack it with an absolutely egregious misunderstanding of the story. Like things are so simple, you know?

In the EA, he was cool. He was really cool. But we didn't know much about him other than 'hehe evil.' We didn't know much about anything, and man, did we like to theorize. I can remember doing it years and years ago before the fuckin' game came out. But ultimately, it was always a projection of ourselves. What we wanted. What we saw.

They made him a more fleshed out being. They filled in the blanks. He is an arrogant fucking asshole, and he is rude, and entitled, and pompous, and cruel, and self serving and greedy and all of that 'evil' shit, but he is also human. He is capable of deep and profound love. He is capable of caring. He is capable of so much. He can be selfless and loving and caring and gentle. He can be genuine and honest. These traits do not define him unless he chooses to cling to them-- and he only does if he does not learn. And when he doesn't learn? He loses himself and fills his destiny of being the wretched, terrible perpetuator of abuse both on the populace and you. And that was the point. That happens when you lose yourself and give in to fear. It can happen to all of us. And sometimes it does.

But it really also isn't that deep, in the same breath. If you like the ascended ending which is a bit more in line with his original origins, so what? It's a cool ending. It's neato. It still has a clear and blatant message, but it's a fucking video game. Do what you like. If you think it's hot? So what? If you just enjoy the goddamned doomed narrative? So?

Not everything has to be a trial of who you are as a person. Not everything is that deep. Sometimes the answer is as simple as 'shit is cool' and it ends there. If other people look deeper into it, that sounds like a 'them' problem. That's their need to justify. That's their desire. Both EA and release are fantastic. Some folks have preferences. I liked both.

He's my boy. I love him for who he is and what he has done for me. And I'm grateful I got to see his development. I'm grateful I get a well written story with incredible characters. If people think he's wholly evil or good, that's their sack of beans, my dude.

[g0ldgauntlet]

Why I Dropped Winter Moon.

Disclaimer: This is not a callout post on Merryweather (aka the author), nor am I insinuating that the Webtoon's fans are bad people for reading the comic. I was just personally unhappy with it. Also, quick warning for mentions of queer stereotyping, torture, and abuse. (Image description is in alt text)

Florence is My Least Favorite Member of the Main Team

Yes, we're starting this off with him. Florence is the first character of the main trio who the readers are introduced to in the story, and he's an irritating, hot mess. The man is unlikeable to the highest degree. He doesn't need to be a completely good person with a lighthearted personality to be appealing, but the problem I had was that there wasn't anything actually compelling about him. For a while, Florence's character just consisted of being the flamboyant gay guy of the trio with a horrible and selfish attitude, who also had broken fire magic and could win literally every fight that he was in, even when it really feels like he shouldn't be.

His gay identity was constantly made into a running gag that the author could use for jokes, such as when Risa would insult him based on his orientation, but those jokes never really landed for me. They felt awkward and forced (especially the Pride Month episodes, which were really hard to read). Him mistreating the people around him constantly made me wonder why exactly Gideon was even friends with him to begin with, and Florence's broken magic made every fight encounter that could have been compelling to follow...turn out very boring instead, as the predictable outcome would always be that the three main characters would win by a landslide in the end.

It is not until about 123 episodes in that we finally get to see some crucial depth to Florence's backstory, and later on, he faces consequences for how awful he's been to other people, putting him on track to trying to become a better person. By this point in time, however, it was too late for me to care about him. In comparison, we were given Risa (and her brother)'s backstory much earlier, and she receives character development in relation to it, all the way up to when we first find out about Florence's life outside of playing Magnolia Online. Speaking of episodes, however...

I Dislike The Comic's Pacing

I am not one to pressure creators to make content faster if they need breaks, but in the case of this Webtoon, it wasn't about how long it took for the episodes to be released. Each episode that's released is really short, and because of that, a lot of plot points in the story feel like they go on for far longer than necessary. For example, a segment of the story that goes on for, perhaps, 4-6 episodes could have actually been resolved in just 2-3 if more panels were included in a singular episode. A cheap gag that also takes up about 3 episodes for each one could have all been packed into 1 episode instead.

Again, to compare, this was a strength that I think Lookism had over this Webtoon, as I constantly remember Johan's backstory over the 7 episodes where it was tackled, but there was so much content timed in a way that made the reader want to learn more about him (with Zack and Mira even being involved as well). Everything was worth the wait, and I now wanted to know more about what the author would do with this character in the future.

Since Winter Moon had originally marketed itself as a comedy Webtoon, the short pacing makes sense for a story that relied a lot on quick gags for each episode. For me, however, this got old very fast.

Risa's Treatment and Arc

What the author did with Risa, admittedly, was my last straw, as it was the reason why I ended up dropping the comic. To start, I was never the biggest fan of her design. I figured that it followed a specific set of anime tropes, so I tried to brush past it as the comic continued. However, later on, it is then revealed that while Florence and Gideon are adults, Risa is only 17 years old.

Yes, I know that a lot of her outfits are fantasy costumes from a video game, but I still found the design choices to be questionable for a teenage girl whose avatar is directly supposed to represent her. It's especially weirder when I recall that Risa's comedic gag is supposed to be that she's a seductive, gold-digging priestess. This 17-year-old girl goes around online flirting and calling grown men "daddy" in hopes that she can get them to do her bidding. She tries doing the same thing to Florence to get out of a bad situation, but the gag is basically, "Haha, her feminine wiles don't work on him because he's gay!" Yep. Not because Risa is underage or anything, but because Florence is just not attracted to women...implying that there's a chance it would work if he was straight or bi.

I know that, realistically, neither Florence nor any of the men online would have any way of knowing Risa's age unless she told them, but the author does know her age, and he is the one who consciously wrote that into the story....Not to mention that he also wrote Florence making Risa his slave.

As uncomfortable as I was with this so far, I was pleasantly surprised when the author began to dive further into Risa's backstory and character development. Of the trio, she's probably the most compelling character, and the way she acts, whether she grows for the better or goes into a downward spiral, makes sense for a teenager.

My positive reactions to Risa end here, unfortunately, due to what happens next.

Part of the story subjects Risa to a plotline that involves a stranger of her past named Lance. Risa had been mean to Lance during their time together in Magnolia Online, and because Lance is chronically online, he took it so personally that he made it his mission to track down Risa, and abuse and torture her. This plotline was around for more than 28 episodes, with Lance being hinted at a few times but never actually doing much in the story until the Season 3 finale onward. This plotline's biggest problem was its pacing, which I had already mentioned was an issue for me with the Webtoon. Lance spends several episodes setting up scenarios for Risa to be bullied and abused by her classmates so that he can swoop in and act kind to her, attempting to lure her into a false sense of trust. This made sense for the arc so far, so I wasn't complaining. Then, we finally get to episode 42 of Season 4.

This was the start of when Risa was trapped with Lance, as well as a man that he hired to torture the girl. This torture session (as well as Risa's attempts to escape her aggressors) lasts for 10 consecutive episodes before Risa is finally saved by Deiderich, her brother.

That sequence absolutely did not have to be 10 episodes long. I think reception to it would have gone over better if a lot of the panels that were drawn out over so many episodes were compacted into a few. If I were to be generous, it could have been 5, but if I'm being honest, I think it only needed 3 episodes to get the point across to readers.

The sequence, as is, was extremely uncomfortable to read through, and also really unnecessary. Unsurprisingly, Merry received a ton of backlash over this decision - probably the most backlash he's ever gotten over the Webtoon at that point in the story.

As a former reader of the comic, I can confirm that Merry never warned any of us that the story was going to take this dark of a turn. It began with a bunch of awkward gags, but then it tried to take itself too seriously and the pacing issues became much more obvious over time. I think his fanbase had a right to complain about the whiplash that they got, especially with how long this took to execute. Merry seemed to get the message to at least some extent, as when I checked back to view the comic, Winter Moon's genre changed from "Comedy" to "Fantasy," and now the series is rated as Mature.

Mayui, the illustrator for the comic, was also tasked with portraying Lance's "ugliness," since this was relevant during the arc as well.

The problem with this, which was even pointed out in the comments, is that Lance doesn't look ugly at all. His "ugliness" is only portrayed through the usage of physical features that are very commonly seen on people of color. My first thought when seeing these panels for the first time was that Lance had identical features to Asian guys that I knew back in highschool.

When Lance gets plastic surgery to become "beautiful," his face is designed to fit the standard artstyle of the comic, which features thin-to-non-existent-lips and a thin nose. I just found it strange that Mayui made this decision to emphasize ugliness for the character, since from what I can recall, there are little to no black and brown characters in the Webtoon.

After this plotline was completed, I tried reading some more episodes. However, what Risa had been subjected to kept weighing me down, and eventually I just gave up and abandoned the Webtoon in its entirety. I did not appreciate seeing the only female character of the main team being subjected to so much for the sake of what was starting to seem like shock value based on the pacing of the episodes.

The Takeaway

I realized that the reason why I read Merry's comics was not because of his writing, but the artwork itself, and Winter Moon was no different in this regard. The artists that Merry would hire for each of his comics are all very talented at what they do, creating beautiful backgrounds, atmospheres, and facial expressions for the characters that are accurate to the moment that Merry was writing about. This is exactly what happened to me when I tried reading the original version of My Succubus Girlfriend - I thought the dialogue was awkward and not very funny, but the facial expressions and art for the characters made up for it by actually getting a laugh out of me.

As for Merry himself, however, I picked up on how his sense of humor seems to be more along the lines of what cishet white male anime enthusiasts would find entertaining (such as Lost Pause, who has gone on record to say that he and Merry are friends). This is simply something that has just never really appealed to me, and it wasn't hard to figure out that I'm likely not the target audience for Winter Moon.

If you like this Webtoon, then don't let me rain on your parade. I'm not shaming you for liking it - It's just not for me.

[scarlet--wiccan]

This is about an old topic, but whatever. One thing I’ve always specifically hated about the Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver book is that to me it seems like a complete rip-off of Darker Than Scarlet (but way worse since it’s more shallow, surface-level, superficial, it’s not willing to take risks and everyone is ridiculously ooc), and it's so obviously a rip-off that it genuinely confuses me that no one’s pointed out the similarities yet:

- About a white man with black hair & a black beard, a thick purple metal costume and a big headpiece who’s a Fantastic Four villain trying to control Wanda because of her status as a Nexus to serve a higher being by at first subtly controlling her life and sewing division between her and the people around her

- Is surrounded by the concept of Nexus beings and Wanda (+ Pietro in SW&Q’s case) being the child/ren of science and magic

- It also includes Wanda turning “evil” and getting more powerful because of that and getting a new design for it (her villain design in Darker Than Scarlet and her Chthon one in SW&Q)

I contemplated not answering this message, but I think it highlights the weird attitude and poor literacy I've been noticing in this fanbase over the last few years, which do go hand-in-hand with the inappropriate conduct I spoke about in this post. I'm not accusing you, the person who sent this, of anything-- but to be honest, I feel like I've been inundated with this kind of take since Scarlet Witch #1, and they're almost always unfounded and incorrect. I'm sorry, but I just think you're wrong, and I think you'd be a lot less miserable if you would approach this run in good faith-- which I believe it deserves, based on Wanda's character treatment-- and gave it a more thoughtful, informed reading.

The comparisons you are making are a big stretch, in my opinion. Immortus and the Wizard have little in common outside of general design elements, and their motives in these stories are not at all the same. Wanda struggling to control the Darkhold's full power is neither logistically nor thematically similar to what she went through in Darker Than Scarlet, nor does it turn her evil in any capacity. And revisiting established lore and recurring motifs with long-running characters is standard practice-- the story told in SW&Q and the last four issues of Scarlet Witch brought up existing concepts, yes, but it expanded on them with new ideas, pitched the twins against new villains, and sought to resolve several long-standing tensions and imbalances.

Whether or not you think the story achieved those goals or executed them well enough is one thing, but calling it a blatant rip-off is just false.

Orlando's dialogue and narration are sometimes difficult to get through, and SW&Q was absolutely rushed. I'm not sure if it was superficial, but it was certainly dissatisfying in many regards-- but I'm actually quite tired of hearing that Wanda, Pietro, or Max were "out of character." I will maintain that their personalities and emotional responses are completely in line with how they've been written over the last twenty years. These relationships are messy by design, and sometimes characters have to go through rough patches to reach the desired resolution. Again, it was rushed, and the ending was poorly executed, but I think it makes a lot more sense if you read it and Scarlet Witch (2024) as one long piece intead of two separate stories.

I'm not trying to be harsh or talk down to you. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, and I'm not writing rave reviews, either. But I have found, time and time again, that most of the criticisms directed towards this run are poorly founded, and even more poorly delivered. I see emotional, incendiary reactions and out of hand dismissals far more often than genuine, honest critique of either the story or the technique with which it is told.

[mikromikroula]

oc info dump incoming~~

Shared two oc inspiration boards on twt and some friends wanted to know a bit more but i didn't want to make a long ass thread so here we are :3

Bit of background info, this story is basically a revamp of an older one I had along with a mix and match of various ocs I had throughout the years. At this point in time, I feel this project is the most sound it's been and it starts to form itself. Not that i have written too far but it feels manageable for me, so that's good. Another thing, I haven't drawn all the characters in their most updated form but that's where these boards come in. They're not the most definitive version, more or so for the fun of it and the convenience to make changes.

Regarding the story itself, there is an overarching plot, a murder mystery the main character (Kleo) has been hired to solve, and smaller murders that she also works on and that introduce different characters each time (kinda like ace attorney in a sense, those smaller cases aren't too complicated and are quite short but bring things to the story and the development of the characters).

and lastly, some boards are smaller than others and i may have less things to say about some ocs as well, this is an inroduction basically.

ok so first up Kleo: She works at a detective agency as a detective/investigator that takes on the mysteries of the town. On top of that she is hired by Mia (more on her later) to solve that bigger murder case. She's basically Mia's assistant or agent if you will and runs various errands for her, not just investigating. She's themed after the moon and stars so that's a bit important. I'll leave the character development stuff for the story when i write it eventually or whenever I want to post about that too idk, but basically she's a bit of a loner and that's the starting point of her arc.

Characters that remind me of her are Klavier and Jolyne, her attitude/personality has similar energy to theirs. Also i'm inspired by their arcs to write something in the same vein for her. This part of the boards isn't too deep, I don't intend to mirror those characters but it's fun to see the combinations that'll come up (it's also based mostly simply on vibes tbh)

also she's the one i've redesigned most only to come back to a design i came up with last year

she does mean a lot to me, she's my lil skrunkly🤲

Next, Mia. This lady this lady... I don't want to spoil too much about her so this will be pretty short. She's Kleo's boss and veeeery mysterious. Personality wise she's pretty calm and confident and mysterious and a tiny bit mischevious. just a tiny bit. She has my favorite design and colorscheme so far, she's inspired by the sun and nature, in a "life" sort of sense. Her and Kleo's dynamic is very interesting and complex but also funny and goofy at times.

Fun fact about her she lives alone on her island, good for her. She has the Lisa lisa energy but definitely more mischievous. The other lady in the board is Amalia from a comedy drama series in the early 00's, she's pretty iconic at that and also has a very special role in the show, Mia's role is of the same importance. As I'm writing this I realized I didn't put Minda from Twilight princess on the board who is a huge inspiration :( anyway

one thing about her that I'm excited for is the artistic department. I've thought a lot of cool ways to draw her. that's it for her for now

did I mention she's mysterious

Agape: She's a costume designer in a film studio where the first case takes place and is a witness/suspect to the crime. Agape is one of Kleo's very very few friends and the closest at that. She doesn't have a very complex character arc in the beginning, mainly bcs of her role in the case, but her relationship with Kleo is a subject present from the very beginning. We will step into wlw territory with those too yes yes :3 She's the only person Kleo lets to get so close with her and Agape knows and appreciates that. They will also be working a lot together the two of them. I would like to talk about their dynamic and their relationship both platonic and romantic more but this is not the post for that so maybe another time.

Design wise, she's themed after hearts duh. There are a lot of red and pink accents as well as designer/seamstress themed details. She went to the Daphne Blake school of serving so there's that.

Leon: He's the hothead, overly confident and cocky yet popular with the civilians and media coworker of kleo. He's Kleo's rival at the agency who constantly gets all the good cases and the positive coverage from the media. He is in fact very good at his job but it has blown up his head. He and Kleo are polar opposites yet have more similarities than they'd might think. Throughout the story we do see his redeeming traits and his development into being a better person.

He's themed after the sun and his signature color is orange-yellow, warm and vivid colors in general

before i named him he was just "the jerk" in my head

some guy with no name yet: This guy ik people would love lmao. He owns a small machanic/repair shop though you will rarely see him *actually working*.Well he just doesn't do the fixing, more managing and running the whole thing is his job. He has mentor figure vibes as well being a bit childish for his age. I don't blame him though silliness has no age. He also seems to know much information about people, more than he lets on, hmm. Mia and him know each other as well.

the characters on the board are the vibe~

and finally Max: I've drawn him once but i'm not satisfied with how he looked. Max works at the repair shop I mentioned. That being said he's the only employee there :) it's just Max and the guy above, two silly guys at their pathetic bussiness (affectionate). Their dynamic is basically max doing all the repairing and the guy (i really should name him soon oh lord) doing the management ect ect. Those two are also the main comedic duo, like imagine your boss being absolutely incompetent at the main task of his job so you basically take it on by yourself, leaving him in charge of everything else which also doesn't suit him resulting to the bussiness running on your boss' pure charisma and luck. Anyway, Max is a very sweet lil guy and is always willing to help.

design things: GOGGLES!!!

certified cutie patootie🫶

That's the gang for now~ Writing this out made me want to draw them all but i've been busy and a bit art blocked these days :( i'm trying though

[bunniipop]

Head in the Clouds | Cumulus x Male!reader

Summary: “Well,” her tail wraps around my thigh, “I’ve been needing some company. To be blunt, I was hoping you’d stay the night with me, possibly more.”

--

Based on @purlty's design of Cumulus.

Word Count: 4235

Tags/Warnings: First Person, Oral(giving), anal penetration (receiving), oviposition/eggs, mommy dom, loss of virginity, docking.

Ao3 Link

I stared across the room, everything blurring around me as I could only stare at her. Her long, thick hair swayed perfectly as she moved. The mask she wore fit her face perfectly and so did the suit she wore, fitting tight on her body to show all her curves. I jumped at the sudden slam of a bag on the table in front of me, my eyes shooting up to the man in front of me. 

“Wakey, wakey,” Damon chuckled. 

I sighed. “You scared the fuck out of me.” I pushed his bag aside, folding my arms on the table. He rolled his eyes, sitting in the empty chair beside me. 

“Are you still just staring at her?” He laughed.

I hummed in response.

“Come on, haven't you even talked to her yet?” He pressed.

“Well, a bit.” 

Damon stared further into me, expecting something more. “Dude. You gotta do something.”

“What makes you think anything would happen?” I sighed. “I’m just some dude. She’s a ghoul, a part of the band.”

“You won’t be getting laid with that attitude.” He rolled his eyes, opening his bag as he took a glance at her. 

This ghoul in question? It was Cumulus; she was one of the keyboardists of the band, although she also did backup vocals. I’ve heard her voice before on its own and wow, cheesy, but she did sound like an angel. We hadn’t talked much, and it felt odd to be this head over heels for her. I looked to my left, scooting over as James came to sit with us. 

“You both up to anything fun?” He asked.

“Nope-” I was cut off.

“Dipstick here still doesn’t have the balls to talk to Cumulus.” Damon leaned over to look at James.

“Oh? What a coincidence. I think I have just the thing to help.” James reached a hand down into his bag, pulling out a heart-shaped box filled with small daisies taped to the front.

I looked at the two in disbelief. “Seriously?”

“Her favorite flowers are daisies.” Damon smiled.

James followed after him. “And her favorite type of chocolate is dark.” He slid the box of chocolate towards me.

I looked down at the dark red material. “Guys... I appreciate it, but really, it’s a mistake to try.” I chuckled, a sense of loss in my voice as I tried to clear my throat. 

“You never know until you try,” James reassured me. “You should try and talk to her before bed. Flowers would be fresh.” He stood back up, moving his bag over his shoulder.

“Thank you.” I smiled, playing with the ribbon tied around the flower stems. “I’ll try.”

Damon patted my back, grabbing his stuff as he stood. “Go get your dick wet.” 

Encouraging words. Sarcasm intended. It was always like being around teenagers who figured out sex words, but always entertaining. I looked up from the table, seeing Cumulus gone. She must've gone back to her room. I did want to hand this to her before it was too late. The daisies seemed freshly picked, and I didn’t know how long they could go without water.

I stood up, pushing my chair in before walking down the long halls. 

Brothers and Sisters weren’t allowed to be near the ghouls' quarters, but here I was. I tried to shake the growing feeling of anxiety, every step I took down the hall, every glance at a door to see if it was hers. Was I really going to face her? Even if I was just simply making a kind gesture; I was breaking a rule to come and do it.

I stared at the next door coming up, a sign reading ‘Cumulus’ coming into my vision. My grip tightened on the box as my hand rose to knock on the door. I hesitated. Why was it so hard to move my hand? I sighed, letting it drop as my eyes flickered around the door. I noticed some light seeping through a crack in the door; it wasn’t shut all the way.

My hand pressed against the door, slowly pushing it open. “Cumulus? It’s brother-..” A lump was caught in my throat as the door swung the rest of the way open; Cumulus stood not far from the door, in nothing but a light pink one-piece with a sheer robe wrapped loosely around her body. She turned to face me, seemingly surprised by my presence. “I’m sorry- I‌- I thought it.. well-” I tried to find what to say but stumbled over my words, my face growing increasingly red.

Her face twisted in a smile, her lips parting as she laughed. “I knew you were coming.” 

“You did?” 

“Mhm,” she hummed. “I heard you and your friends talking.” Her tail swayed from side to side in perfect rhythm as she approached me. I could feel my heart in my throat. Her tail wrapped around my waist, pulling me further into her room so she could shut the door behind me.

“I just wanted to bring these to you.” I hesitantly held out my arm, showing the box of chocolates to her. She perked up, letting out a cat-like trill. 

Cumulus took the box from me, examining the daisies on top. She had a smile on her face as her tail unwrapped from me, wagging happily. “Oh, I love these.” She put it off on her dresser.

My eyes flickered around, not exactly knowing where to look. She looked so pretty, but I didn’t want to seem rude by staring. “It’s starting to get late. I should get back before I’m caught here.” I chuckled nervously, rubbing my arm.

“Right, you’re not supposed to be here in the first place.” She smiled, her fangs poking out from her lips. “I’ll keep it to myself.”

I let out an internal sigh of relief, although I doubted she’d tell anyone either way. She’s always been so sweet. 

“Although, to keep that little secret. Maybe we could do something for each other.” She continued.

“Do what for each other?” I asked, watching her curiously as she paced around me, looking me up and down. 

“Well,” her tail wraps around my thigh, “I’ve been needing some company. To be blunt, I was hoping you’d stay the night with me, possibly more.” 

I froze in place as her tail traveled higher up my thigh, getting dangerously close to my groin. 

Cumulus circled behind me, her mouth close to my neck as she spoke. “I’d hope you join me. You are quite cute.”

“Really..?” I perked at the thought.

“Of course,” she giggled. “I wouldn’t lie to you, would I?”

I shook my head, knowing she never would. “I...I would like that then.” I gave a nervous smile.

“Perfect.” She chirped. She began to leave light kisses over my skin.

I bit down on my tongue, her chest pressing into my back. Her hands moved down to mine, leading me closer to her bed. “I have just the thing for you.” She hummed, her hands moving to suddenly start unbuttoning my shirt. She pulled it over my shoulders and down my arms, moving it to the bench at the foot of her bed.

Cumulus pulled away from my body, her hands slipping down my chest as she walked to the side of her bed. I stood in place, watching her curiously as she dug through a drawer. She turned back to face me and I saw what was in her hands; it was a collar and leash.

“I- Is that.. for me?” I stuttered over my words, staring at the equipment.

She giggled, walking back to me. Unclipping the collar, she fiddled with the leather, “I thought you would like it.” She reached up, wrapping the cool leather around my neck. It was now strapped onto my neck; but not too tight. “How’s that?”

“Good.” I mumbled with a nod, heat spreading across my face.

“Good,” Cumulus repeated. Her hand reached up to clip on the leash, and she slid her hand down it, giving a slight tug. 

I stumbled forward, catching myself right in front of her face. Her lips parted to let out a short laugh, I could see her fangs poking out. A lump sat in my throat that I tried to swallow. With both hands on the leash, she guided me further down until I was forced onto my knees. 

A smile was plastered on her face. Letting the leash hang over her wrist, she grabbed onto the fabric of her one piece. I watched with wide eyes as she pulled it over the bulk of her chest, her heavy breasts hanging free from the restrictive fabric. 

“See something you like?” She teased, swaying her body. My eyes followed the slight swing of her chest, making her laugh. 

Heat spread across my face, and I forced myself to look away. I couldn’t deny it though, her chest looked perfect in every way. “I do.”

“And what would that be, little one?”

“All of you.” I glance at her body. 

Her expression softened, and she let out a soft purr at the compliment. “Thank you.” Hums slipped from her closed lips as she continued to pull the fabric from her body until the pink suit fell to her ankles.

I took in the rest of her naked body, getting a full; yet close view. I could see the fur that lined over her skin. The white patterns of cloud-like shapes tainted random spots of her gray fur. Her heart-shaped tail coiled up behind her as my eyes traveled down ‌to the trail under her navel, spreading further into a soft-looking mound of fur. I tried to hide the steadily growing bulge in my pants with both hands, quickly looking back up at her face.

She tossed her clothing to the side, wrapping the leather around her hand to keep a tight hold. With a quick tug, I was forced forward. My heart pounded in my throat. My face was pressed up into her muff. I didn’t know what to do- I mean; I knew what to do, but what if I did it wrong? Do I have to ask her? Wait for her to tell me-? 

“Use your tongue.” She spoke, breaking me from my thoughts.

I gave a nod that only pushed my nose up into her clit, making her shiver. My head rolled back to let my tongue hang from my mouth. I pressed between her folds, letting my tongue explore her wet heat. A tinge of sweetness hit my taste buds. She tasted so good. I run my tongue up to her clit, feeling it swell and throb in arousal. 

Her hand moved down to run her clawed fingers through my hair. “Mm, just like that.” She reassured me.

I continued the treatment, letting my eyes close. I took her clit between my lips, suckling softly. The way her bud throbbed in my mouth mixed with her sweet taste was driving me insane; I needed more. Without a command or another tug of the leash; I bowed my head down, diving my tongue as deep as I could into her. 

A cat-like trill escaped her throat, the sudden pleasure causing her to grip onto the leash, keeping my face pressed into her. Her arousal spread across my face, dripping down my chin. 

I thrust my tongue as quickly as I could in and out of her, feeling her claws poke at my scalp in an attempt to cling to my hair. Her hips rocked back in rhythm with my own movements as I desperately licked up whatever taste of her I could get; swallowing down her arousal like it was the only water in a desert. 

She quivered above me, having to lean back against to bed to keep herself steady. “S...So eager... Good boy..” She stuttered out between moans. With a grip on my hair, she guided my face back from her hole and to her throbbing clit.

I eagerly took the swollen bud back into my mouth, working my tongue around the stiff flesh to find where made her squirm the most. A flick of my tongue across her tip sent her hips bucking and a moanful cry from her lips. I took turns sucking along her clit and flicking my tongue on her sensitive bud, making sure not to leave any place untouched. 

“Fuck- Keep going baby,” she cried, “I’m so close!”

My eyes peeked open to look at the sight above me, wanting to watch her as she came. I sucked along her clit before flicking my tongue side to side on it. 

“Hahh! Yes yes yes!” She repeated, cursing under her breath.

Her clit throbbed heavily on my tongue and her hips spasmed, bucking back into my mouth. I watched her eyes roll back and her mouth hang open as she let out a cry of bliss; cum painting over my mouth and chin as her orgasm rolled over her. I greedily swallowed down whatever hit my mouth, swiping my tongue along her folds to gather what I had missed.

Pulling away, I sat back on my knees. I licked up what I could from around my mouth, looking up at Cumulus. Her eyes were closed as she sat back on the bed, gathering her breath. Her body twitched now and then, recovering from the orgasm. I eagerly looked up at her as her eyes peeked open to look back at me.

A smile spread across her face. “You did very well.” She hummed. Her fingers soaked through strands of my hair, massaging at my scalp. It felt so nice, it was almost like I could start purring. “Let’s get you on the bed now,” she continued; using the leash to guide me up onto my feet. 

With not-so-shaky legs, she stood. I looked down to watch her hands; she unbuckled my belt, pulling it from the straps. Letting it fall where my shirt lay, she unbuttoned my pants. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, the tight feeling on my erection now gone as my pants were removed.

She stared down at the bulge in my briefs, heat spreading to my face. Why was she just staring? Was I not big enough for her taste? Anxiety crept up on me and I shifted in place, pressing my legs together.

“Quite a nice size for someone so small.” She suddenly spoke, taking the bulk of my bulge in her hand through the fabric. “Hefty too,” she giggled, pushing her palm against it.

“I am..?” I almost whispered.

She hummed in agreement, “Size isn’t an issue to me, little one. You did well enough with your tongue.” 

“Thank you... Mommy.” I froze as the word slipped from my mouth. “I’m sorry- I..” I tripped over my words, my face bright red as I tried to talk my way out of what just came from me.

She looked at me blankly before letting out a laugh, “I’m sorry, just, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that.” She covered her mouth in an attempt to stop her giggle fit. “If you really want to call me mommy, it’s not an issue to me.” 

I nodded, trying to wipe the embarrassing heat off my face.

“Now, where was I?” She cooed. With my attention back to her; she played at the waistband of my briefs, pulling them down to fall to my ankles.

I let out a slight hiss as my cock sprang free, slapping up against my stomach as it throbbed and twitched.

“Oh my.” She giggled, getting a good look at my size.

I was guided onto the bed, sitting beside her with her hand back on my cock. Her hands were soft over my stiff length, although a rougher texture rubbed into my sensitive flesh; making my breath hitch. It had only now occurred to me that her hands were laced with textured paddings, like the paws of a cat or dog. The mix of textures felt odd; but so good.

She sat up onto her knees, moving her other hand to my chest and pushing me down. Her hands moved to each side of my thighs, pushing my legs open. I stared down in anticipation of what she was doing, a whine escaping my lips. She giggled, shifting closed until I felt the heat and wetness of her pussy right over me. My cock eagerly twitched and I let out another pitiful whine in desperation.

Her tongue clicked at my impatience, but gave into what I wanted; pressing her wet folds down into me. She gave a purr, rolling her hips to spread her arousal. I couldn’t describe the feeling, it was so good on me, so much better than just a hand or a toy. 

“Mommy~” I whined, my hips bucking back into her. So close to slipping in, fuck I needed it. Her hips stilled, lifting above me. I panted, looking up at her quickly. 

She only tsked, shaking her head teasingly, “I didn’t say you could move, did I?”

I chew on the inside of my lip, “No..?” I answered hesitantly. 

“That’s right.” She cooed, only to press herself back on my cock. I suddenly felt something push into me, earning a sigh of relief from Cumulus. I watched with wide eyes as a long phallic-looking shape expressed from her cunt. It curved up in excitement, leaking a transparent liquid from its widened tip. My head tilted, watching the slimy flesh in curiosity. 

Her hand moved onto mine, guiding my fingers around it. “No need to be afraid of an ovicock, dear.” She spoke.

“Ovi.. cock?” I repeated.

“Mhm. It’s how we lay our eggs. Mostly infertile.” She giggled, lightly stroking my hand on her cock. “It makes a great filling.” She continued.

Wait, filling? My eyes traced back up to her face, looking into her lust-filled eyes. Was she going to fuck me? Wasn’t that supposed to be my job -- I let out a gasp; watching as her opened tip teased along mine.

Cumulus moaned above me, sliding my cock into the hole of hers. It fit almost perfectly, not stretching her out but filling her hole just right. She sat up on her knees to lean over me slightly. With a hand on her ovicock, she rocked her hips forward. My cock now covered in her arousal, slid with ease in and out of her.

The more she slid down, the tighter her walls were around me, making me buck my hips up with a moan. She let out a hiss, pulling back. My cock flopped back onto my stomach, dripping in slime that tainted my skin below.

“I can’t take this anymore.” She spoke. Grabbing onto my thighs again; she pushed them up and open, moving a pillow underneath my hips.

“Ah, wait! Please..” I looked up at her with watery eyes.

She quickly stopped, afraid she did something wrong. “I’m sorry, did I..?”

“No, no. I just.. haven’t had anything that big in me before.” I reassured her despite my red face and wet eyes, embarrassed by the situation at hand.

She relaxed from my words, hovering over me to rest both hands on my cheeks. Her thumbs wiped away my tears and her fingers coarse through my hair. “It’s okay to be nervous,” she cooed. “I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.”

“I want it though.” I quickly replied.

Her face softened, pulling away to sit on her knees. “We’ll take it slow, okay?”

I nodded, shifting on the bed to lay flat; aside from the pillow that kept my hips up. Her hands trailed over my thighs, helping spread them open once more. The soft feeling of her fur and pads traced my sides and chest, exploring my body. Barely noticing the feeling of her ovicock rubbing against my hole.

A soft whimper escaped my lips, feeling the sudden stretch as she coaxed her tip into me. Her cock was wet enough to act as lube itself, leaving no rough feeling inside of me as she continued to slowly push in. I let out a hiss as the bulk of her cock pushed through.

“It’s okay. You’re doing so well.” She cooed; moving a free hand to caress my cheek. 

“Mommy~” with a whine, I held onto her arm and took deep breaths. It felt so long until she finally stopped, managing to push her whole length into me. She was so deep, it made my body shiver and twitch every time I shifted; trying not to gasp at the feeling of her inside of me. 

“Look at that, you took it all like a good boy.” 

I pant, looking up at her with glassy eyes. “Feels so good..” I mumbled. My eyes slip shut, relaxing into the feeling of her hand rubbing my chest. I gave her a nod once I was ready, feeling the pain and discomfort subside as I grew used to her size. 

Her hips fell back, only to rock forward again; slowly thrusting in and out of me. She slid her hands down my body, grasping onto my hips for balance as she moved, light moans coming from her lips. 

My body lightly bounced at the thrusts of her hips gaining speed. My cock bobbed over my stomach, leaking precum down my length and over my skin. Our pants and moans filled the room around us, along with the faint sound of her arousal-coated cock sliding in and out of me. I could feel the slimy liquid spread around my hole, her rougher thrusts sending it everywhere on us.

“Shit!” I whimpered. My hand darted down to grab at her wrist. Cumulus rocked forward, pushing my legs up with her hips. Her hips slamming into mine now echoed throughout the room. The new angle allowed her to slam hard down into me. “Fuck fuck fuck..”

“Mmm, you’re so tight for me baby.” She panted. Her lips pressed against mine, leaving us in a sloppy kiss of mixed saliva, curses, and moans.

My legs hooked up to wrap around her waist, keeping her body locked into me. Her stomach rubbed against my cock in just the right way; almost sending me over the edge. I pulled from her lips to moan loudly, my body shivering. My head lay back and my mouth hang open; feeling a bundle of knots forming in my abdomen, building on pleasure.

“Fuck! Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!!” I chanted, letting out an almost high-pitched cry as that pressure burst; an orgasm washing over me. My cock twitched and throbbed into her stomach, splattering cum between us both. My legs shook and twisted, holding onto her tighter. Whimpers and cries escaped my mouth, tears pricking my eyes.

Her hard, deep thrusts continued through my orgasm. I could feel the twitch and throbs of her inside of me and I knew she could be close too. Her loud moans took over mine, slamming as deep as she could into me. Her ovicock throbbed, releasing a hot seed into me.

“Fuck..” I sighed, the feeling only seeming to make me cum more. 

Rough purrs escaped her throat, her head nudging into mine affectionately. My body jolts, feeling an odd sensation from her cock in me. A pulsing feeling came from her cock; she only hummed, seeming to enjoy the feeling. “Always loved this part.” She giggled.

It took me a second to put two and two together; the eggs. My face grew red with heat, burying it into her neck to hide the embarrassment.

Cumulus laughed lightly, stroking my hair. “No need to be embarrassed,” she cooed. “We’ll get you nice and full, then clean up, hm?”

I nodded into her. One by one, eggs slid down her ovicock until they laid inside of me. I couldn’t even keep count of how many there were, the feeling was too good. I let out a pitiful whine, feeling dizzy and just.. off. Was this normal?

She wiped the tears from my eyes, shushing me as whimpers escaped. With a faint pop, she slid out, her cock retracting back into her sheath. She shifted to grab something from her bedside drawer; it was a plug. I weakly spread my legs for her, letting her pop it in, keeping me full of her eggs and cum. 

“All better.” She spoke softly. “I’m going to get the bath ready. You can rest.”

I just nodded, letting my body fully relax back on the bed. She gently climbed off, disappearing into a side door that I presumed to be the bathroom. Running water hit my ears, confirming it had been the bathroom and she was filling the tub with water. I let out a sigh, letting my eyes close. 

“Baths ready, little one,” Cumulus spoke, running her hands through my hair. I gave a grumbled whine, shifting to roll over. She giggled, “Come on, it’s nice and warm.” Her hands moved down to my arm, helping me sit up and stand. She guided me to the bathroom and into the warm bath water.

Grabbing a cloth, she soaked it in the water and began washing me down. I let my eyes close, just enjoying the feeling of her care. I think I’ll be coming back here again.

[hunter-sylvester]

hey I saw you when I first got into the metal lords fandom but I didn't know you also liked shelter, what do you think Hunters opinion on would Ema be? (not that they have too much in common but i feel like he'd like her) Also, Hunters opinion on spoon?

Hey 🤘

I have been enjoying Shelter, but definitely in a much more casual way than I do Metal Lords.

I haven't really thought that much about how he'd feel about them/how they'd feel about each other, but I like the question. I'll have to base it off of the 4 episodes that are out so far, of course. Which isn't that much so this may change based on what else we see from the characters. (also might contain very very slight spoilers for those episodes idk just a fair warning)

Firstly, I don't disagree that Hunter might like Ema if he actually got to know her a bit. But I feel like on first glance he'd feel somewhat threatened by her.

Like, I think he might feel like she was sort-of invading his territory by being a weird, grumpy, alternative outsider. I also think he'd be a bit jealous of her professionally done temporary tattoos, although he would absolutely never admit that.

(this got kinda long, I'm sorry. I have a lot of opinions about Hunter and how he works/thinks lmao)

With how standoffish to new people both Hunter and Ema are I think it would take something of a 'forced' bonding moment for them to initially get to know one another. Because on first glance, Ema would probably think Hunter is just a massive dick. (Which is fair.) And Hunter would think that Ema is a dick. (He's got the self awareness of a wet rag.)

Basically, I feel like the first few steps of them getting to know each other would be an uphill slog through barbed-wire laden mud. But after that, and once they actually do get to know one another, I think they could make quite good friends in the long run. They're both (basically) canonically queer and I personally view Hunter as gay and Ema as a lesbian. So they could have quite a fun dynamic based on that and all their other quirks combined.

I think he'd dig her art too, he might even ask her to design an album/EP cover for Skullflower. That could be a nice initial way for them to interact in a more open way. Probably after the first mutual "yeah maybe you're okay, actually" moment. I don't think we've had much of a confirmation of Ema's music taste but she might like their music as well. And very very maybe she could even sing a chorus on one of their songs. That might be cool. Although I think it would take some time and personal growth on Hunter's part for him to want/be okay with something like that.

Now, Spoon. Weirdly enough, I watched an interview where Adrian was asked if Spoon and Hunter would be friends and I don't disagree with his answer:

"I think Spoon would give it a shot, I don't know if Hunter would be up for it."

In addition tho, I think if Spoon manages not to accidentally press too many of Hunter's buttons, he would be able to wear him down. (Which sounds terrible, but I mean it more in the sense that I think Hunter just needs a bit of time to get used to people.) Spoon seems quite accepting of Ema's general grumpy-black-cat attitude, so I think he would probably extend a similar patience to Hunter. Which I think is something Hunter needs in people, it's a quality I think Kevin has. Someone who doesn't take the odd snappy comment or what I call "hedgehog moments"* too personally.

*hedgehog moments or 'hedgehogging' is basically when someone feels threatened so they metaphorically curl up and stick their spines out in a reflexive attack to keep themselves safe. (I don't know if it's a term anybody but me and my friends use but it makes sense in my head)

I think Hunter would initially think Spoon is...well...lame as hell, unfortunately. And probably pretty annoying. I think one of the things that might help Hunter see him in a better light would be if Spoon impressed him somehow. Either by getting him in somewhere he's not supposed to be through the Janitorial Offspring Network or something tech related. Like, maybe getting him a download of some unreleased music he couldn't get otherwise. Like once he sees him do some 'cool' illegal shit his tune might change. Other than that I think just the persistent non-judgemental attention would do the trick over time. Spoon seems pretty loyal and like a 'fierce' friend. Which Hunter would appreciate with his abandonment issues and fear of being "invisible" (cough result of parental neglect cough)

Thank you for asking! I enjoyed scribbling my thoughts on this down ^-^ I do hope it's not too long and jumbled (I have adhd, if it's a mess, that's why)

As always, this is just my 2cents based on my interpretation of the character(s)

[selamat-linting]

so, last time i left off on homestuck, i was introduced with the cherubs, and meenah peixes' bizarre (afterlife) adventure. as always, some thoughts :

-i kinda feel bad for dirk lol. out of all the group, he was the one caliborn felt is the most tolerable to talk to. and worst of all, he kinda let him play his shitty games. eugh, if that was me, i'd just scoff at caliborn's threats on killing his sister and accidentally kickstarted the apocalypse too early since my ignorance pissed him off. to be fair, the porn drawing game feels like a pretty lackcluster attempt at trolling. its so cute how dirk draw himself kissing his crush.

-poor calliope though. last time i saw her she's very much a ghost, maybe stuck around the furthest ring along with the other very dead ghosts, but is somehow able to subtly influence things like guide caliborn into doing his quest from the viewport, and allegedly maybe stop meenah and vriska from having their duel and waking up john. this is only a maybe though, im not very convinced at my perception of events here.

-speaking of calliope and caliborn, this is where things started getting meta right? homestuck has always have a bit of metafiction elements to it, and a lot of its themes seems to be deconstructing and examining popular culture. act 6 is where things started getting off the rails, i mean, where references to internet subcultures gets more blatant, more up to date with the current time it was made (direct meme references instead of making its own inner jokes derived from irl shit like sbahj), and started to put a mirror on homestuck since it has grown into a notorious major fandom now. it makes sense that hussie would start writing about homestuck instead writing about the internet in general. there is no way act 6 can be something else. and it has its negatives just as much as it has its positives

-first of all, meme references in media has always been hard to do right. remember that burger ad fiasco? some of the jokes on act 6 doesnt land as well as in act 5 and 4

-wait shit i went off the rails. i want to talk about caliope and caliborn first. caliope is a hypothetical fan of hs meanwhile caliborn is a hater right? he was also a representation of misogyny which fits with the times. a lot of cringe culture ppl in the 2010s, at least the loudest ones, tend to be misogynists. i've seen the case over and over again. people who said they hate the fandom when actually they just hate to see teen girls having fun. they also tend to be ableists esp their attitude around bullying and autistic ppl but hussie is also an ableist too, so even though he was the one being bullied by cringe culture people online and benefitted from autistic kids making fanworks, he made caliborn to be the guy with a learning disability. hilarious bitch ig.

-but other than that, caliope's insult to caliborn implies that the murder he did was detrimental to his growth as person. not just metaphorically, but literally. im not so up to date with cherub lore and alien biology, but killing your headmate before their natural death and integration Sounds Bad. and based on calliope's word alone, it might even make caliborn perpetually stunted in cherub equivalent of puberty forever, unable to reach maturity. poor dude. but, is actually a pretty good commentary on toxic masculinity preventing one's full growth as a person because he can't allow himself to gain emotional maturity and do so called female activities.

-okay, moving on from the cherubs. the dancestors. personally, i like their designs, i spesifically love meenah, porrim, and aranea. meenah is scratching the vriska itch but with a different flavor. and i guess kankri, despite his massive annoying factor was nice too. i know a kid who actually act like him. the kid in my town went drunk with his friends and when his friends started being sad about his ex, the kid called him a sexist pig. a few weeks later i got news that this same kid persistently try get girls into having sex with him. educating him was a bitch and a half yknow and im not even that sad the kid decides to withdraw from organizing for now. but it is a bit hopeful to see that a kid like kankri, in another timeline, if given the chance to grow up and learn would be a terrific leader. maybe a few years later the kid in my town would change too?

-but other than that its... man how do i say this. okay, its bad. a lot of the characters are just there just for the sake of having to be there. hussie, you dont have to complete all 12 of the dancestors its okay. youre just wasting more energy animating stuff that you obviously dislike by now. like idc what they says, but the 12 dancestors wasnt even a good mirror of tumblr subcultures. its just there as a one off gag instead of something they wants to delve into later on. the jokes wasnt even that funny like, i've spent two years on reddit making fun of softboy nice guys and gamer gurls the joke is old at this point. and hussie seems to delve deeper into being an ableist asshole the more people criticize them. its pathetic to make a strawman character of your haters and criticizers. honestly, caliborn would have been a better character if its just a stand in for toxic masculinity instead of a homestuck hater. the story is too bloated at this point. just give it a rest.

-also, act 6 weakness is that most of the story elements would fly over someone who never know the heydays of 2012-2015 tumblr. okay, this applies to homestuck as a whole honestly. like its about the internet and american 90s nostalgia. only a terminally online person would fully appreciate it. but dear god the mental illnes you'll get if youre one of lucky demographics to understand... hussie might have hit and miss on some things, but when they're right theyre right. i do think there are merits on making things that will never have mass appeal.

-okay, now thats out of my system im gonna say that from now on, im not gonna take homestuck as seriously as i did yesterday. i can see this is the point where things started to fall apart. bloated character sets, too many authorial self inserts, plot is becoming overly convoluted, the social commentary are becoming incoherent. hussie can make an entire page about dirk explaining the downfall of western civilization using historical materialism to jake but this will always be the webcomic where the 'scariest' troll is a rapper who made vodka pie, slept in a bed of honks, and taped wings on his godtier cosplay.

-okay this is getting too long. on to facking part 2 of my post!!!!

[crispycreativestudio]

Zeke’s role as the ship’s cook was one of the first the team came up with. Out of everyone, her character has the most inspiration from family. “In Becky Chambers’ Wayfarer series, there’s a wonderful character who’s the doctor/cook onboard called (appropriately) Doc Chef,” says Creative Director Kylan Coats. “Cooking has always been an intrinsically intimate act; providing nourishment for others to live. Doc Chef occupies a unique role of not only a preparer of meals, but also a therapist and general caregiver for the crew. That role, while not as action-packed as say a pilot, is crucial for long voyages and one I definitely wanted to have in our game. Zeke is named after his great-aunt Zera, whom his family called ‘Aunt Zeke’ or “Na-naw.” She loved to cook and was a wonderful character in her own right. Zeke is also inspired by the friends and extended family members who have left high-performing and high-energy careers in business to pursue more artistic careers like cooking; who feel they can do more good in the world by baking over entering law, like Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character in Stranger Than Fiction. Regarding Zeke’s design, her standout bionic arms and backpack were inspired from illustrations by Josan Gonzalez.

“When I first saw the arms it clicked that our ship’s cook would absolutely have something similar. The visuals of an extra set of hands, and the self-reliance they implied, were incredibly engaging and uniquely sci-fi,” says Kylan. “From what I’d seen from my own family and friends, leaving high-energy careers behind didn’t mean the high-energy went away. Anyone who’s seen a professional kitchen can testify to their organized chaos. Zeke’s bionic arms are an extension of her need to always be doing something; maintaining a whirlwind of prepping and creating meals. It’s also representative of her desire to be self-sufficient; not relying on anyone else to do double the work another person would.” To be constantly busy means to live in the moment, leaving little room for reflection or contemplation. Allowing people to avoid confronting or dealing with issues is sometimes an accidental byproduct of this. It’s not uncommon to hear of people throwing themselves into work or hobbies following tragedies, and this is a core aspect of Zeke’s character. “Like the friends she’s based on, it made sense she would direct all of her energies outward, and those who are solely focused outward often do so to their own detriment,” says Kylan. “This led to Zeke’s bubbly attitude and eagerness to engage with the player and crew. The flip side of that is her caginess and subtle pivoting questions away when the attention is focused on her. It’s a really interesting dynamic to work with. Some of our narrative team have strongly gravitated to her character, which makes me feel like we created someone really authentic!”

But just who is Zera Hakkimirez? 31-years-old and a master chef, Zeke, as she prefers to be called, is a whirlwind of positivity and kindness aboard the hectic ship, offering warmth, food, and an extra hand (or four) for the rest of the crew. Like most of her crew, a childhood rooted in trauma follows her to every corner of the galaxy, with respite from her thoughts a rarity. But Zeke has her crew now, and a job to do. Using her duties and the wellness of her crewmates to distract herself from her anxieties and her past, Zeke keeps moving, keeps working, and stays busy. For Zeke, food has become the answer to every problem, and she uses her natural cooking talents (with the help of her bionic arms) to bring people together, because nothing breaks down barriers like a good feast and full bellies. Generosity, kindness, and an overwhelming sense of duty to help others are key tenets of her personality. When your crew is *this* crew, a kind heart and a caring soul on board is no bad thing.