#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!

[bobaboob]

stardew valley canon-ish ages

My take, anyway. I tried to base this as much on canon evidence as possible, but I am 21 myself, so this will likely be influenced a little by that.

So, from youngest to oldest, starting with the children:

KIDS (0-18)

Vincent: (8-9) He’s old enough to have remembered Kent well before he was deployed 3 years ago, but young enough to care mostly about himself still (like most kids before 10-11).

Jas: (9-10) She’s clearly really intelligent (see Penny’s lines about her), and old enough to understand what happened to her parents/why she lives with Marnie and Shane, but she still plays with dolls and jump ropes in her spare time, so I feel like this is a good age for her.

Leo: (11-12) He’s just a little guy. He remembers his life before washing up on Ginger Island, and speaks to the player like they’re equals moreso than the other kids, but he’s young enough to have a crush on Jas and be unsure of the world. A little guy. 

BACHELORS AND BACHELORETTES (19-40ish)

Younger (<27):

Sam: (20-22) The youngest bachelor, and with clear evidence. Kent has been deployed for 3 years when he returns in Year 2, and he claims Sam has “become a man” since he’s been gone. I took this to mean he literally came of age, but it could also mean ‘become an adult’ in mindset or appearance. Either way, he’s probably not much older than his early twenties.

Abigail: (20-22) The youngest bachelorette. Abigail’s graduation party is mentioned in one of Emily’s voice lines as having happened sometime in the recent past before the farmer showed up. Since she’s currently enrolled in online college courses (see her and Caroline's voice lines), this is referring to her high school graduation. Like Sam, she’s also more childlike in mindset than some of the other marriage candidates.

Maru: (21-23) I think Maru is a recent college graduate (and knowing Maru, it likely took her less than the full four years). She seems content working in her father’s lab and the clinic for now, and seems to have no designs on grad school anytime soon, or a career outside of the valley. Furthermore, she’s the youngest child of her and Sebastian, who judging by their relationship is probably several years older than her. That places her in her early twenties as well.

Alex: (21-23) Alex mentions high school like it wasn’t that long ago in his lines about being on varsity. Even assuming Alex’s mother Clara had him young, given that his grandparents are able to live, clean, cook, and travel on their own, it makes sense for him to be in his twenties. He also aspires to go pro in gridball, which places him just out of range of college gridball but before he would be considered ‘out of his prime’ in IRL football terms. Plus, his only job is the ice cream stand in the summer, so he’s likely not in the career-seeking stage of his life.

Penny: (24-25) With Jas and Vincent being in the 3rd-4th grade range, it’s likely Penny has been teaching them for a few years now. Her shy demeanor and social skills might be indications of youth, or she might just be like that naturally. Regardless, I don’t believe that she’s older than 25, as she appears to still have trouble standing up to her mother and she’s still very optimistic about the future, given her circumstances. She could feasibly be older, but it feels to me like she’s one of the younger bachelorettes.

Haley: (24-26) Haley’s old enough to ‘know better’ in her attitude in early dialogue and heart events that she later regrets. She and Emily’s parents also seem to have no qualms about leaving them alone and in charge of their property. However, like Sebastian and Maru, I think there’s several years between Haley and Emily by how they interact and speak of each other. A lot of Haley’s hobbies are also that of a young unemployed person (shopping, sunbathing, etc.), and she hasn’t yet learned to cook or clean for herself at the start of the game. All of this puts her in her mid-twenties to me.

Older (>27):

Sebastian: (27-29) Like I said, he and Maru seem to be several years apart. He already has significant skill in programming, and hates that no one seems to ‘respect’ his work, so he takes pride in his career. He still hangs out with Sam and Abby, and hasn’t seemed to save enough money to move out of his parents’ house, so I doubt he’s thirty yet. Other than that, I have no proof but vibes. He feels like late twenties to me.

Emily: (30-32) Definitely one of the older bachelorettes. She’s one of the most mature in terms of emotions and conflict, and her parents left both Haley and their house to her charge. She’s clearly old enough to bartend, and be friends with Shane and Clint, two men likely in their mid-thirties. She could easily be older than this, but I don’t think the age gap between her and Haley is more than six or so years, so I’m putting her in her early thirties.

Leah: (32-34) Old enough to have had a long-term romantic relationship several years in the past (as she moved here after Kel, and she’s been here some time already). She’s also had years to practice her art and make a career out of it, and the funds to own her own home. To me, the only real limit to her age is personal preference. For me, I think she’s in her mid-thirties, but like Emily, she could easily be older.

Elliott: (34-36) Confirmed ‘older’ in secret note #7, as with the next two. Has an established writing career and the money to own his own cabin. He also expresses discontent at the thought of growing “grow[ing] old as a lonely hermit.” Elliott is melodramatic by nature, though, and also claims to have only moved to the valley a year before the farmer. He could be older, but I think mid-thirties makes sense.

Shane: (33-37) Probably looks older than he is, thanks to his habits. He’s young enough to not have taken sole charge of Jas as her godfather when her parents died, but old enough to have been a legally viable guardian when it happened. Other than that, could be anywhere in his thirties.

Harvey: (38-42) Clearly one of, if not the, oldest bachelor. Medical school is eight years, plus a residency afterwards, and all before he moved to the valley. He also alludes to getting older several times and emphasizes the farmer’s comparative youth in several voice lines. Harvey is however old you want him to be, and to me that’s late thirties to early forties.

TOWNSFOLK (40ish - 80s)

Sandy: (28-36)* Could be anywhere in this age range for me. She’s friends with Emily, and owns her own shop, but that’s all we know. 

Clint: (35-38)* Other than Sandy, the only single character of ‘marriageable’ age who isn’t a marriage candidate. Judging by his demeanor and overall vibes, I don’t think he’s forty yet, but I do think he’s approaching it. He wonders how he ‘ended up’ in the valley and laments being lonely amongst a bunch of families at festivals, but he also sees Emily as a prospect and doesn’t hang out with the older crowd of townsfolk. Fittingly, Clint is at a sort of awkward in-between age of the young folk and everyone else. Poor guy.

Jodi: (38-40) Old enough to have a young adult son, young enough to dream about travelling and living for herself. I also subscribe to the headcanon that she and Kent had Sam young, just before Kent enlisted. 

Kent: (41-43) See Jodi. Old enough to be Sam’s father, young enough to still be considered for the draft.

Pam: (43-45) Stay with me. Like Shane, she definitely looks and acts older than she is because of her habits. I believe she had Penny young, like Jodi, which would explain more about her and Penny’s father’s dynamic. She could easily be older, but I think it’s more tragic if she isn’t.

Caroline: (45-48) Old enough to have a young adult daughter. Young enough, however, to have either had a daughter with Rasmodius or be the daughter he had, depending on your interpretation of the Wizard’s line about that.

Robin: (48-50) On her second marriage with two kids, one of whom in his late twenties. Still has no problem with her carpentry work, though, so probably not far into her fifties.

Demetrius: (45-50) Also on his second marriage (see books in bookcase in their bedroom), and Maru is at least 18. Could Demetrius be younger than Robin? That would be fun.

Pierre: (49-53) See Caroline. Has an established business in town and seems to have lived in the valley for a long time, hence why JojaMart is so heinous to him. Youthful enough to beat Morris’s ass in that one cutscene after you finish the community center, though.

Morris: (50-55) I dunno. Manager-aged.

Gus: (50-55) Both an established business owner and a friend to the older crowd. No grey in his hair or mustache. Pretty safely assumed as middle-aged.

Marnie: (52-56) Old enough to be the sister of one of Shane’s parents, and also old enough to find Lewis attractive. Young enough to have no problem doing her own farmwork (see line about spilling her cow’s milk bucket while milking).

Willy: (58-60) Could easily be older, but I like to think the sea-weathering makes him look older than he is. That said, he’s clearly one of the old-timers of the valley.

Gunther: (55-60) I dunno. Curator-aged.

Linus: (60-65) If you buy the headcanon about him being an ex-CEO, this age fits. Regardless, his hair is visibly white, but he’s limber enough to get around just fine.

Rasmodius: (60-65) See Caroline. Other than that, I dunno. Wizard-aged.

Marlon: (63-68) White-haired with a bad leg. Despite this, the only bed present in the adventurer’s guild is a bunkbed, and the guy he lives with uses a wheelchair, so we can maybe assume Marlon climbs up to the top bunk to sleep. Good for him? 

Lewis: (63-68) Grey-haired and old enough to have been in the valley when the farmer’s grandfather was living on the farm. Young enough to find Marnie attractive and garden his plant beds by himself.

Evelyn: (73-78) Also old enough to have known your grandfather. Pretty clearly an old lady. Still cooks for herself and George, though, and takes care of the town flower beds. Maybe not into her eighties yet.

George: (75-80) Pretty clearly an old guy. The mining accident that paralyzed him was thirty years ago, and before that he claims to have been just as capable and strong as the farmer, so I’d put him at 45-50 back then.

Gil: (75-80) Same as George. Maybe he was injured in the same accident. Visibly grey-haired and rarely leaves the adventurer’s guild, so probably pretty old.

[phantom-thieves-official]

Hiii

What are your opinions about Ryuji's and Joker's duality?

People only talks about akechi & Joker's duality, but I feel like Ryuji and Joker also have some sort of similarities

(Also, srry if my english sounds a bit off)

Your english is fine anon, no worries!

I was thinking about this the other day, actually, because in the art book, the notes about Ryuji's design specifically mention how he was designed to counter Joker (not as a stark opposite so much as just... a balance) I have a lot of thoughts on this topic but it's always just been nebulous.... vibes. That I just get, without ever having to explain why. So it was a challenge to put it all into words. Hope it all makes sense ^-^

ANYWAY under the cut bc this is long as hell

Joker and Akechi have a very interesting duality, I will admit. I can see why it dominates conversations on the topic of 'characters Joker has duality with.' I promise I have a point in derailing this post about Ryuji into talking about Akechi; bear with me here. Their similarities serve to highlight their contrasting elements; it's like a bad-end look of what Joker could have been if he'd made different/more selfish choices. That's the whole point of a foil.

Okay now that we've established what a foil is, back to Ryuji.

I think Joker/Ryuji are the opposite of a foil, they're a mirror; where they highlight each other's good traits and their similarities. Not that they have no differences, just that those differences work to make their similarities more obvious.

I rewrote this a couple times and kept feeling it was hard to follow, so I guess I'll start to by outlining a couple key character traits for them each.

Joker is selfless, motivated by his sense of justice, willing to get himself hurt to do the right thing, tactful, on the quiet side, level-headed, intelligent and generally good with people. He's a planner, a 'think before you act' type.

Ryuji is selfless, kind, motivated by his sense of justice, willing to get himself hurt to do the right thing, loud, 'act first, think later,' brash, lacks people skills, often says things without thinking, not super smart. He's a guy led mostly by feelings, and is often the first to want to take action.

There are obvious similarities, and obvious differences. I think at a very basic level, Ryuji's traits help make Joker's more obvious - Ryuji's very emotion-based, more impulsive, 'act first, think later' attitude leaves room for Joker's more level-headed, tactful nature to show, especially early on. In this way they also balance each other out really well just in general - particularly early as that's when Ryuji gets the best characterization, Ryuji's the one spurring on the plot action. He's the one moving them along toward taking on Kamoshida. In contrast, Joker's the one reigning him in when he goes too far - he stops Ryuji from hitting Kamoshida, he makes him stop when they're just walking in circles looking for the castle on the second day, things like that. Ryuji's a character of action and Joker balances him out with more thought and logic. Ryuji's the heart of the team and Joker's the brain (not that I think Joker's cold or unfeeling; just he's much more careful and tactical whereas Ryuji is an emotions-based guy)

Their differences also serve to make their similarities stand out. If they were super samey, with tons of things in common, then no one in particular would be unique. But by having their demeanor, temperaments, and general personalities so contrasting, it means the stuff they DO share - the important stuff; the kindness, the selflessness; the want to help others - really stands out. But that's not the only way their differences serve to uplift their similarities. Back with the Kamoshida arc example, Ryuji's more action-oriented character means he's the one who spurs most of the action in the Kamoshida arc, so you see a lot about his character. But despite Joker not being such an active role, you still learn a lot about Joker's character. He's not as emotional or headstrong as Ryuji is, but he's still shown to care - Ryuji's more outspoken nature both contrasts and compliments Joker's more quiet determination. It provides a vehicle for Joker's characterization basically, by giving Joker a more outspoken companion who can drive the action and leave room for Joker to show his own morals by agreeing and going along with Ryuji. If both characters were more quiet, tactful characters like Joker or more rash, headstrong ones like Ryuji, it wouldn't work the same way (or at all.)

I think there's something to be said for their similarities, too, and how those play into their dynamic. Like I said, I think they're a mirror of one another, reflecting and highlighting the good traits in each other. Their kindness, their unwavering commitment to doing what they think is right, their willingness to put themselves in harm's way to help people they don't even know. It's really easy to see those traits in Joker because Ryuji mirrors him in that way. Every time Ryuji displays that selfless, good guy core, it's a reminder that this is the guy Joker hitched his wagon to. This is the guy Joker chose to help out, because he believes in the same things. Every time Joker makes a selfless decision to help someone, you know Ryuji agrees with him. You know they're on the same page, and so you can learn more about one by looking at the things the other one stands for; each time one of them displays those core traits, you know the other feels the same way. I think this is especially pertinent for Joker's characterization as the protagonist, since most things in a game revolve around the protag primarily and Joker, as a character, does not get a lot of speaking roles for himself - Ryuji's expression of these traits is often a reflection of Joker's feelings/thoughts when Joker himself is often not afforded such explicit characterization. (Not that Joker has no characterization, just that as the protag with limited dialogue that characterization is often less/less obvious than the other main characters)

Without Ryuji there would be no Phantom Thieves. He was the one who activated the nav the first time, he's the reason Joker awakened a Persona, he's the reason they went back into the metaverse a second time, he's the reason they started trying to do something about Kamoshida's abuse of the volleyball team, he's the main voice behind going after him in light of Shiho's suicide. I bring all this up as another element where they contrast each other in an interesting way. At the beginning of the game, from the second we meet him, Ryuji hates Kamoshida. He wants to help the volleyball team so much that he wants to go back into the palace where he almost died. From the jump, Ryuji is mad and he's bitter and he still wants to do the right thing. And at that point in the story, I do not think the same applies to Joker. When Joker awakens to Arsene, there's a moment of doubt - a moment where Arsene asks him, was saving that lady a mistake? Joker's at a point where he's been beaten down for following his sense of justice, and I think there's a degree to which he'd given up on it. That's why Ryuji's the main instigator behind the plot early on (besides Ryuji's more action-forward character.) Because Joker's still a little wary of it. I think this difference in their character is really interesting, because I think if not for Ryuji, Joker might not have ever been spurred into action; he might have ended up believing that pursuing his own sense of justice was a mistake after all. But Ryuji, someone similar in sharing his morals and similar in having been kicked to the ground and outcast for it, hasn't given up. I think seeing that reaffirms Joker's sense of justice; reaffirms that he didn't make a mistake after all. So they're similar in circumstance, but one has knuckled under and one has not. And seeing someone else like him who hasn't given in changes things for Joker.

On a less character analysis, more meta note, I think they have fun duality in both design and gameplay, as well.

The art book mentions explicitly that Joker was more 'classic, gentlemanly phantom thief' but that there needed to be "some offbeat fashion, a bad boy vibe, and a sense of playfulness" to sell the idea of students up to no good. So Ryuji was designed to be that - the book states he is 'completely rid of all the refined qualities the protagonist has.' It outright says 'structurally, he's the opposite of the protagonist' and that his slumped posture is a contrast to Joker's better posture. So from a basic, design standpoint they were absolutely considered opposites.

I think there's a lot to be said for their gameplay in a similar vein, where Joker is a jack-of-all-trades and as the protag with LOTS of persona/skill options, you're encouraged to be strategic and thoughtful with your personas/turns. But Ryuji is not that at all - his play style is super straight forward. He hits stuff. Not that there are no further intricacies to his gameplay but the basic is he has a really high strength stat, so get to whacking stuff. Even other characters with a pretty well-defined role don't get pigeonholed as much, as Ann (the Ryuji of the magic attackers) gets some stat and heal moves, and characters like Yusuke, Makoto, and Haru get more varied and complex movepools with some gimmicks available to them (Yusuke's baton pass related skills, Haru's walls) so from a gameplay standpoint you have the most complex (Joker) and the most simple character (Ryuji) for combat.

[rencatuive]

i thought itd be fun to document my reactions to the prologue on notes so this is just a copypaste of that. dont expect anything detailed at all mostly just 'ooh this character is cute' and. itll be that for all of them cause i dont dislike any characters at all:

[Student X]

airi feels extremely traumatised already

god bless student 4 is so real

ah shit student 6 intro is so cool with the student 1 connections

student 9 has good vibes i like em

STUDENT 11 <3 [manami]

i feel like student 12 is the type of character to have an *interesting* fanbase /neu

TAMBA THATS THE ONE I LIKED shes sweet omg

[Interviews]

isono is so cute i love the butterfly vibes. also i like the more mysterious vibe change near the end, its intruiging! i see her as the type to put on a strong/overly positive façade but i guess thats a pretty surface level observation

uh oh i think im just gonna call all these characters cute. harada is very cute. i love animal likers. not much more to say

(sidenote, it kinda sucks being willingly spoiled on a media youre not into. and then you decide to get into it, and you recognise these things you know play a part in the story. totally my fault lol)

chiba has the biggest 'probably have gone through the Horrors' energy to me just cause like. child star. she really intrigues me personality wise though. (oh maybe she is 17 ?? theres a lot of mystery here already which i like - she has a doctor too) fun!

ooh i was looking at designs and i liked kamimura too a lot. (side note is the interviewer straight up The Mastermind that would be neat i think) I like his voice a lot btw!! i like the energy

hayashi is so cool omg thats it . genuinely its nice to someone actually this defiant like Yeah fuck em up

oh wada is the guy whos i guess a fan of isono! probably too much of a fan! wonder about their interactions for sure... hes actually really cute. also this interviews getting deep.

sasaki is so cutr omg my type is glasses. the studious archetype is really cool and... dies early a lot of the time?? so uh good luck !!

aww childrens book illustrator <3 i really like ojima he seems nice!!

oh yeah okazaki had a cool asf design. ive. heard like One spoilery comment about her but its okay no i didnt. i really likw the intonation of 'im an open book'. (also i like how most of this cast have "no phobias" which i guess could be true?? but yeah no im not spilling that either) i like her vibes a lot rn though :D

demonologist?????? okay dude. this guy is interesting! /pos

oh oh im gonna like tsuno a Lot. and could i assume a lot more than other people? just based off how energetic she is. she has a lil fang :D hope shes not dead

i really like the vocal perforamance in hiroakis one btw. oh wait dude people ship hirojima. thats The ship in this fandom right. i love his energy btw. he dgaf (until the character development hits) also i assume youre not meant to see that little strip of glasses shading as eyes but i totally do and it makes him 100x goofier i love it

Tamba is the character I put as my favourite pre-reaction so i remember her [Student X]. loving the contrast of attitudes between them(understandably) and i do actually like her a lot here!!!! tamba nation!!!!

theres a few shyboys in this cast and i think at least one of them has to be evil or generally has a personality change or something. right? But right now theyre all cuties <3 including hasagawa

firedancer is a cool talent. lotta cool talents in this one actually. she also has fangs yippee!! watari having an unconventional talent seems to be bringing her a lot of stress though, makes sense. love the vibes

fancy boy. i thought he and tamba could be related or something at first bc. omg light blonde hair!!!! if a character mentions another cjaracter in this ill assume theyre a ship. uhhhh sasanagi

okay so right now im a big Tsuno enjoyer shes a real cutie. still liking tamba a lot!! okazaki is my favourite design. as for the boys i like harada and hiroaki for totally different reasons. and i think i want to learn the most about chiba right now :D

the voice acting in this is great btw and im really looking forward to the rest!!

[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.

[nessathewriter]

cracks knuckles. ok. also hi it's the guy who runs the epstc tumblr account

what's luce's deal?

are pyeridae and the nautilus related to each other in some way? (butterfly and moth thing, luce's dream, etc)

is there any bits of character with luce, cynte, etc, you wanted to show that didn't make it in? or any offhand content at all with them that wouldn't make sense to put in?

(self indulgent but is there any bit about praví that didn't make it in?)

im so hyped, thank you so much 4 doing this ama, i might ask more questions later

hihiiii I love your account

Luce's deal LMAO idk Cynte was so set in stone as "by-any-means-necessary scientist" and when I was thinking of who could stand in his way, the answer definitely felt like someone who was actually probably pretty nice/didn't really care if he was smarter than her. like all of Cynte's self-worth lies in comparison to other people and it crumbles when someone is not interested in that comparison? so I wanted to write an antagonist like scientifically designed to piss Cynte off personally and that meant 1. not self-serving and 2. unworthy (by his perception) of what she has. but even pre-parasite, Luce is someone who's had a great deal of social power and privilege and that would make her a prime candidate for spreading a parasite!! overall Luce was in way over her head and had absolutely no idea and I feel for her in that way. like she's the poster child of a victim to victimizer path (as the cult leader)

overall endoparasitic takes place in the same universe as wrought flesh and we wanted to have definite ties between the two but I would be inclined to say Pyeridae is a minor god in the universe where the nautilus is a much bigger player y'know?

I wanted there to be a bit about Cynte needing to cannibalize other employees on the asteroid base to survive for three months or have that be like The Implication but it just didn't fit in :( and I would've loved some more Cynte + the cultists time because all of the cultist voice actors were sooo great to work with. also if we had more time I would've liked a beat where Luce tried to remove the parasites/said no to their Control and how that would not have gone well for her, but I don't think it would've come across well in an audio log and we didn't have the time/resources for a cutscene like that.

Praví being a fan favorite still surprises me to this day LMAO I love it but it was definitely unexpected ?? Endoparasitic was made in such a short time (I planned and wrote it in less than a month?? maybe a few weeks??) and Praví existed primarily to show Cynte's holier-than-thou, selfish attitude and highlight that there are Good People around, but Cynte is not one of them. so I don't know if there's much that was left on the cutting room floor for him but I like to think of him as that coworker everyone likes who like always shows up with donuts. just overall a Nice, Balanced dude that got murdered by mutated monkeys :/ rip

[themattress]

imma be insane and ask for all 26 normal questions for Celestia/Taeko, though I unfortunately can’t think of a freebie rn.

( @izunias-meme-hole )

1. I like her for her amazing design, impeccable English voice-acting (both the games and anime versions), and fascinating, mysterious, and complex characterization that requires just as much if not more from you than it does her to put together and enjoy to the fullest. Plus I feel like her over-the-top attitude - both Celeste's and Taeko's - is objectively hilarious.

2. My favorite canon thing about her is the deep well of self-loathing Taeko has for herself which drives her to invest so much into being Celeste even when a lot of Celeste is negative, ultimately crossing the line into becoming a murderer who might (and indeed does) get executed for it. She would rather become a bad person that others hate and die as one rather than live as a normal person that others don't care about, and I find that so interesting.

3. Chapter 3 of the original game let her down when it came to depicting her as a culprit. The idea was solid: she overreaches with an overcomplicated plan befitting of her Celeste persona and it does her in, but the game made that overreach way too blatant and stupid of her, especially during the Class Trial. Her better side was also played too subtly at the end, leading to many misinterpretations of her character from those not paying enough attention. The anime actually did that whole case better, and the stage show did better with her too.

4. I'd love to have her around as a villager in Disney's Dreamlight Valley.

5. "Queen of Hearts".

6. I also like manga, including game-based manga.

7. Shipping her with other girls. While it probably wasn't intentional, Celeste in UTDP / USC comes off as though she (Taeko) is bisexual and attracted to girls but desperately wants to deny it since it interferes with her Celeste persona's thing of having conventionally attractive men as vampiric servants. Coming out of the closet and dating girls would be healthy for her.

8. I've beaten this drum to death, but I will beat its zombie too: misinterpreting her cold, elegant and sinister cover as the sum total of the book, believing her lies while ignoring all the evidence pointing to the truth. Whether they like her or hate her, fans have a tendency to do this and it drives me nuts. Even when I agree that Chapter 3 let her down, some fans take the criticism too far by acting like her not being as smart or composed as she appeared to be beforehand is the problem even when that's the whole point. She's not a sociopathic genius; she just pretends to be one based on the gambler characters she's read about in manga.

9. Sure, if I had to. Maybe I'd even learn how to make milk tea for her.

10. Hell no. I could be a friend to her, but best friend? Too much drama.

11. That's even more unlikely than the best friends option!

12. To stand up to bullies, Taeko learned her vocabulary of foul language very young.

13. ^_^

14. ...What are you talking about? Obviously it's Gothic Lolita.

15. Celesgiri (Celeste/Kyoko). They have perfect chemistry and compliment each other well.

16. Celeste/Hifumi. Making their relationship romantic would turn the whole thing into an uncomfortably abusive one. I never got the sense there was any romance involved, anyway. Celeste just wanted a servant and Hifumi just had a kink. The romantic feelings that Hifumi showed in the game were for Alter Ego, not for Celeste. The two of them are just friends.

17. Celeste/Byakuya. I have no idea how it would end up happening given that Byakuya in canon gives her no interest or respect except when she's a murderer that he's "playing against" in the Killing Game, but at the same time I can't say that it's offensive to me.

18. Aside from Kyoko, I really like her relationship with Makoto, and I especially love the trio dynamic of her, Kyoko and Makoto that we get in Riichi City.

19. Her relationship with Toko, which is more of Toko's fault than hers. I adore Toko, but her hypocritical, project-y, internalized misogyny makes relationships with her difficult.

20. She and Peko would make great besties. Their interactions in UTDP were wonderful.

21. My favorite thing would be writing lies that contrast with how she really thinks and feels, as I'm sure it was for Kodaka. There's nothing I don't like.

22. I look for fics that simply understand her, and abhor fics that don't.

23. This sprite. She's aiming for intimidating, but she just looks goofy.

24. Eugene Fitzherbert / Flynn Rider from Disney's Tangled. No, really.

...But an even more similar example would be Madame M from the Final Fantasy VII series.

25. My first impression was "she's cool, got one of the best designs here, but kind of got an underwhelming conclusion". My impression now is "one of the best, most interesting, tragic and bizarrely relatable and inspirational characters in the franchise; I love all of her, the good and the bad, the Taeko and the Celeste, and I'll always correct the record on her when able."

26. Her breakdown in the Class Trial and subsequent execution. Yes, technically they are tragic things that happen to her. But they are also fucking comedy gold! I will never tire of jokes based around them, GOD DAMN IT! (See, I just made one right now!)

[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 Central City. 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. Sure as hell 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!

[bardic-tales]

Disclaimer: This is only MY personal experiences with soulbonding and selfshipping (RP muse). And based on some things I learned last night.

I've been thinking a lot about the difference between self-shipping, RP muses, and soulbonding, and where my connection with Sephiroth would fall under this spectrum. I know I talked before about how I can feel Sephiroth some times. Both are valid and meaningful ways to engage with the character, but for me, it goes beyond just admiring or imagining a relationship with him. I feel him, communicate with him, and experience his presence in a way that just isn't inside my head.

For reference, self-shipping is when someone forms a deep, romantic bond with a fictional character. It includes daydreaming, writing, drawing, or immersing ones in a character's world. Many people in the selfship community create self-inserts (raises hand since I have Colette and Bianca), AU narratives (raises hand with my ABO, vampire, and genderbent AUs), and even roleplay scenarios to explore their love for a character.

For self-shippers with RP muses, the connection is self-driven. The character does NOT have independent thoughts, and their actions are shaped entirely by the self-shipper's imagination. It's a beautiful and personal experience, but the key difference between that and the soulbond is that it remains within the realm of storytelling and personal fantasy.

For soulbonding, it is much more interactive. It's the experience of a character becoming a presence in your life far beyond the realm of storytelling. They have their own will, voice, and energy. They don't just exist in your thoughts or on your paper. They respond, comfort, and, may even, surprise you.

For me, Sephiroth is NOT just a character that I love. He is a very real presence in my life. Like he's a roommate sharing my body at times.

I hear him answer me when I speak to him, even when I do NOT expect it. We have conversations about our day and what happened.

I feel his aura around me. It feels like a hug and sometimes as a warmth in my chest and numbness in my body.

He reassures me when I'm struggling, reminding me that I am not alone. I also reassure him when he is struggling. He has come to me in dreams as a genderbent version of himself when I was questioning my orientation.

He has interests and thoughts separate from my own, answering questions in ways that I couldn't expect. Yesterday, we had conversations about our hobbies and if there is any that we didn't know about each other. Yes. His is penmanship. Which makes sense but surprised me.

When I write or create, I often feel his presence guiding my own. I hear him respond in my head.

So where does my bond with Sephiroth fit?

Even after last night, I have to admit that I do not know. It is different than just self-shipping with an RP muse but I feel like it's different than a typical soulbond: or, at least, what was explained or what I read.

It almost feels like a soul-link, where we exist in different places but remain connected. He's a presence I can sense and communicate with, but he also moves about in his world and in mine. Sometimes, he's more active, such as when I need him or he needs me. Other times, he's distant but he's still here.

This bond isn't something I chose. I didn't pick up the game and fall in love with his attitude, his character design, or anything like that. It is something that happened and has remained since 1997. It's was like meeting a person and having it 'click'. That's why I can't compare my relationship with Sephiroth as simply having a favorite character, like Geralt or Shay Cormac. It's not about wishful thinking or a comfort character. It's something real that I experience, even if it is hard to explain.

And I think that is why I feel like this goes further than Self-Shipping with an RP muse. He is a presence that I interact with daily.

[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.

[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

[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)