#its easier to answer there!

[dapper-lil-arts]

…how does one learn to draw thicc bodies? I have a tummy myself and your characters get me wanting to draw but I’m kinda stuck rn with the “how’s” of it all. Any advice?

here's the some advices! - plan out the pose you'll draw/where each aspect of the character will be before you even sketch! (example: where their limbs and parts are positioned to indicate angle, gravity, etc) dont be afraid to be loose with it; have a separate layer just to plan out before you go! a pre-sketch if you will. a lot of artists comit to a pose they dont notice is wrong too soon, and regret 3/4s into the art theyre doin, it happens. - use a LOT of reference. and i don't mean just real people and real studies, i mean artists you like! like scour artists blogs for really interesting potential bodytypes, styles, poses, all kinds of shapes and sizes; examine the small details of what makes each individual style work! if you can apply the strongest parts of multiple artstyles into your own, you'll be pretty damn good! it's all about having an analytical eye to the references you use. (hell, copy my style if you think it'll help lol) - draw extremely frequently! and i mean if you get to at least sketch/study drawings a lil bit every day, your growth will be exponential! i first gained my tablet 3 years ago. you wouldnt BELIEVE how much my art has grown since, like goddamn i drew like ass; but i drew extremely frequently! (i'm always trying to draw once a day! unless divine intervention ensues lmao) - don't be afraid to get it wrong, lower your own standards! theres a big chance it'll take a bit before you draw something you feel is worth it, but its important to remember you will always be bad at something before you're good at it. i look at my old artworks with embarassment, sure, but they're also a steping stone! i'm proud of where i got. - when it comes to anatomy, this is something that i just can't explain properly on text (stop by my streams sometime and ask me again lol) but pay attention to the sizes of the heads of the characters, their limbs, their hands, think about what the size of everything means to their actual proportions, how believable they are. (an example: a tall character will have a large body but a belivably small head, its a slight adjustment, but when you see it well, you'll notice it always when it comes to height.)

[m1d-45]

will you promise that i'll see you again?

summary: your people refuse reason, and their damage refuses to heal. when it seems as if the whole world has left you, your dutiful knight still remains by your side.

word count: 2.3k

-> warnings: implied suicidal ideation (reader + unnamed side character), reader's previous deaths are mentioned in somewhat graphic detail

-> gn reader (you/yours)

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me || @chaoticfivesworld || @raaawwwr || @yuryuryuyurboat || @undrxtxd || @rainswept || @wanderersqt || @rozz-eokkk

< masterlist >

“you’re one of the only things keeping me going, you know.”

dainslef turned to you in surprise, the even neutrality to your tone a sharp contrast to the rapid pace of his heart. he wasn’t a fool, he knew that the hunt had to be taking a heavy toll on you, but this…

this was more than he expected.

he knew he was one of a pitiful few who saw through celestia’s false puppet, who knew you for you and not their mirage. he knew that the entire world was hellbent on erasing you from existence, that you’d been forced through your own death countless times as teyvat pulled you apart and pushed you back together far from the scene of your would-be murder. he saw the golden scars across your skin, the dried remains of blood lining the wounds you hadn’t been able to patch yet. he’d been the one to wash them away, not minding the refuse soaking into his gloves if it meant your hands could be clean.

he recognized the dull exhaustion in your eyes, the same as the ones he saw in the reflections of lakes. tired, worn, barely there, hanging on by one solitary string that was wound so tightly around a desperate hand.

you had always been his reason for continuing. when the traveller broke down and the ruler of the abyss hid from the sun, you were there. when the chasm’s mud clung to his boots and the memories in his head burned as nails forced between his eyes, you were there. his rosary was kept tight to his chest at all times, familiar prayers pulling him up in the morning and forcing him to sleep at night. he was alive for far, far too long, but you made it bearable. you were his duty, his promise.

he never once thought that he’d be yours. then again, he never thought that he’d have to defend you from the ones you once called friends. time never did pass how he expected it to.

“…leading light?”

you looked down, twirling blades of grass around your fingers. he had led you up to a mostly desolate area of sumeru, west of bayda harbor. it close enough to the sea, forest, and desert that you could reasonably make an escape through any of those routes if need be, while also providing a rather pleasant view. the sky was bleeding red and gold as the sun sank below the horizon, a remarkable sight that fell on blind eyes. there was no use trying to enjoy nature’s beauty when he still kept one hand on his sword and both ears pricked for the slightest sign of danger.

you shouldn’t have to worry about your safety. you shouldn’t have to prioritize based on how likely you are to get hurt, or how easily it would be to make an escape. you still flinched when the wind blew a little too quick, used to it heralding armored footsteps and battle cries. in another life, you were welcomed with open arms, able to enjoy yourself without constantly being on high alert. teyvat did what it could to adapt; the air was still, frozen in time, barely a bird chirping for miles. it was meant to be comforting, he thinks, but dead silence was more unnerving than any breeze.

“i mean it.” he could hear every shift in his cloak around your shoulders, the heavy fabric doing little to soothe your stress. it was yours more than it was his now, to the point he felt claustrophobic wearing it. how long had he been traveling with you? the days blurred.

“i don’t doubt you.” he never would. never could. he’s not sure, even if he somehow wanted to, that his body would allow him to treat your words as anything less than fact. “but i don’t understand what you mean.”

you were a god. the creator, the first, the one that shaped the sovereigns scales and laid the foundations of earth. you predated the archons, celestia, the very skies themselves…

and he, somehow, was a driving motivation for you?

his words must have been funny, a sharp laugh tumbling out of your mouth. it was bitter, humorless, and somewhat raspy. he made note to find some water for you later. “what else could i mean?” you turn to him, some of his confusion lost as your eyes found his. even this burnt out, deep bags set beneath them, you still managed to steal the very air in his lungs. “you’re the only reason i’m still here.”

he didn’t know what to say. what was there to be said, when you were you and he was him? when the world had abandoned you, it made sense you’d cling to what remained faithful. it was merely coincidence he happened to find you first, that’s all. coincidence that you trusted enough not to run from, coincidence that you allowed to care for your injuries. there was nothing to say, because you held nothing for him in particular, only leaning on him out of need. he had to believe that. what was he left with if that wasn’t true? an awkward truth hid beneath his well-known lies, too large for him to see the edges, let alone to contain.

“please… do not say such things again.” to ask of his god what he could not ask of himself was surely some form of heresy, as was willingly laying aside his guard when he was the only one who was tasked with protecting you. he pulled his attention from the tide below, from the rustling trees, holding faith that the world would not be needlessly cruel. he stepped forward, kneeling beside you. even up close, you still seemed painfully small. “it is your own resilience that has allowed you to persevere.”

it’s the earth that leads you from danger.

it’s the water that follows you wherever you go.

it’s the leylines that whisk you to safety.

it’s the wind that warns you of what’s to come.

it’s the you from the past that protects the you in the present.

it’s the you in the present that provides for the you in the future.

it’s you, from everywhere and everywhen, continuing to fight.

and yet you sigh. you look away, across the sea, tracing fontaines skyline. “it really isn’t. i was lucky to run into you when i did.”

you had just crossed the wall back into the forest, burning hot and shaking. he was the lucky one, in truth, to be able to pick your figure out from the sand below. perched on a high cliffside, even mitachurls were reduced to small brown flecks.

you had worn a cryo mage’s cloak, which was what initially drew his attention. abyss activity wasn’t uncommon in the area, but a cryo mage in the desert… that was cause for intrigue. he stepped forward and slid down the steep face in front of him, a slight puff of dust marking his landing in the desolate sand of old vanarana.

he didn’t know what to expect. you stumbled around the jagged remains of a tree, heading for the statue of the seven. he followed, only growing more confused. cryo and dendro did not react with each other, and there was no way to “slow” a statue. a scouting mission, maybe? but why a cryo mage, when pyro would have been far more advantageous in the case of an attack?

he leaned around the corner carefully, prepared for the sight of a staff or the chanting of abyssal magic filling the air. the entire world seemed to be holding its breath, frozen in place and waiting for some trigger to continue.

he saw none of that. you were collapsed at the foot of the statue, faint wheezing only making it to his ears by virtue of the standstill around him. you held no staff, commanded no magic, your chest barely moving with air.

he’d never seen a mage seek out the archons when dying. one hand squeezed the handle of his sword as he crept forward, ready to strike should the situation turn against him. the sand barely shifted beneath his feet, his own heart sounding too loud to his ears. you did not move, showing no signs that you had noticed his approach. he still didn’t trust it.

your cloak was tattered and torn, with thick gloves atypical of a mage. they reminded him more of hilichurl wraps, which was strange considering you wore no mask. your face was instead covered by what looked like eremite cloth, just as stained and dirtied as the rest of your clothes. what he could see looked almost human; in another life, he could believe you were a weary traveller, lost amidst the sand.

he was acting foolish. if the abyss had a human tool, he needed to figure out why. he reached down, undoing the sloppy knot of your veil and letting the brocade fall limply to the grass.

…grass. he blinked, eyes flickering between the ground and your face, not sure which was harder to believe. flowers had bloomed around you, protecting your body from the blazing sands, and he’d be a fool not to recognize the face plastered all over every bounty board.

he didn’t understand. if nothing else, he thought the archons would have enough respect for their creator to know when they were being lied to, yet before him was barely living proof of the inverse. sweat beaded along every inch of exposed skin, deep-set heat exhaustion burning you from the inside out. how could you be a threat? how could they be so blind?

he looked again, the shine of elemental sight straining his eyes, catching flickers of the dendro energy pouring from the statue. you were the only one the archons would feed. you were the only one to make the very earth break its own rules, allowing lotuses to bloom from barren soil. something painfully similar to rage threatened what remained of his rationality, and it took all he had to push it aside.

that didn’t matter. if he went off on some banal revenge quest, he’d be no better than them. your safety mattered more. he picked you up and set aside how calm his curse felt, beginning the trek back to his camp. behind him, the flowers already began to wither, losing their persistence without you to foster it.

perhaps that initial meeting was luck. but these was no luck involved in your trust in him. when you woke up and saw him at your side, you chose to trust him. you chose to believe that he was not like the others, that he would protect you, and he was forever grateful for that trust. nobody could fault you for being angry, for being spiteful about what you were put through and choosing to lash out. nobody would have the right to be upset if you chose to vent your wrath against those that had hurt you.

but you didn’t. you chose, again and again, to believe in the world. you chose to let them live their lives, even if it meant getting hurt again in the process. you chose a quiet life traveling with him over the comfortable life on your throne. to willingly choose to travel with a disgraced knight to spare your people guilt… he couldn’t decide if it was noble or reckless. either way, he was selfishly happy that he was the one to stay by your side.

“i won’t try to convince you. but, please.. do not give up on yourself so easily.” i know far too many who have died by the same hand. “the world and its opinion does not define you. only you get to decide where fate leads.”

you lean towards him, and he thinks you might have passed out- but no, your head lands on his shoulder with far too much precision. he stiffens, not used to existence without a constant pain beneath his skin. “how motivational. you tell all your soldiers that?”

his heart is beating too quickly, thoughts unusually hard to grasp. you’re the only one who could have this effect on him. he only wished it wasn’t now, when your belief in yourself was on the edge. “i mean it. none of this is your fault, and neither are celestial actions the people’s fault. i know that you are hurt, but i don’t want you to accept that main needlessly. you shouldn’t have to view your creation with such pain.” slowly, carefully, he raises the hand closer to you, doing his best not to disturb you as he settles it on your arm. he’s can only hope that the contact brings you as much comfort as it does him. “if nothing else, believe me. promise you’ll at least try.”

he doesn’t think you’ll agree. why would you make a promise to one who represents the heaven’s betrayal? why would you let him hold you close at all, when you can surely sense the bindings of those who tried to kill you wrapped tightly around his soul? he doesn’t know. all he can do is hope.

“…alright, dainslef. i promise.”

twilight has long since fallen, and yet he smiles for the first time in centuries.

[casualavocados]

"Who is Ai Di to you?"

Nat Chen as CHEN YI KISEKI: DEAR TO ME (2023)

[lokh]

what do you think toshiro's version of laios would've been like if he was still with the group during the shapeshifter shenanigans

there have been a few speculations in the tag and among the fans and they are all very good SO i am going to take this opportunity to insert a bit of my shipping bias as i like in my interpretation LMAO agdsfgdfgv

i noted that in actuality shuro seems to have a very good grasp on laios' character??? this is most obvious in the manga later on but even seeing how he criticises laios in their fight... iirc nothing he says is actually untrue or wildly exaggerated, and while he does express frustration over something he feels like laios Should have control over (noticing his cues), he is also aware that laios isnt being malicious and that hes Just Like That. what i mean to say is that while i think his version of laios may seem more pushy and in-your-face, i dont think it will be overwhelmingly so. if its post-fight, i think the idea of laios (and marcille) being willing to do anything to get falin back made a big impression on him, as well as the idea that they need to eat and rest in order to succeed in their goals, so those aspects would be prominent in his version. he seems pretty observant, so i think for the most part the physical traits would line up, but i think there would be specific things that stand out to him that would appear strangely striking on his version of laios (like. idk something about his eye colour or the subtle contrast of his armour and chainmail. he seems to have a weird sense of aesthetics if extras are anything to go by lmao). if hed actually been paying attention all those times laios had gone on about what the hell ever, then it might be even MORE hard to tell apart his version since he would also have a good grasp on what laios should know. so either his version of laios is pretty difficult to pick out, OR despite the character being accurate his appearance is too. stylised lmao (exaggerated features or something) OR!! they just get him to pull out his monster gourmet guide thing and are able to tell from there. iirc everyone was surprised at its appearance so its possible toshiro had also never seen it before

IN MY IMAGINARY SHIPPING SCENARIO............ lets say that his laios isnt able to be picked out immediately and that the monster guide thing also doesnt immediately occur to anyone. what the real laios Specifically notices is how close this other laios keeps getting to shuro. and hes like. ??? why is he getting so close to him, theres no way i get that close to him??? but no one else seems to be picking up on it as weird, so hes having a small crisis like do i REALLY get that close to him???? and now that hes on the outside he notices shuro subtly leaning away and he feels both a wave of shame and..... protectiveness??? (JEALOUSY??????) and he immediately steps in and grabs him like Hey!!! cant you see hes uncomfortable???? weve been through this already!!! and like. ok i cant believe im doing this again but i need to separate this into different endings

a) the whump route: i dont think shuro ever envisioned Actually Telling laios about his frustrations outside of being basically cornered into it. has he ever spoken up against what was expected of him?? has he ever been confrontational???? i think part of what held him back from expressing his frustrations, along with the cultural norms, could be fear of what the reaction would be. if he had done the same in any other aspect of his life (his family, his inheritance), i think he would expect disappointment, disapproval, more proof that he doesnt add up to expectation. to be honest i dont think he Truly believes that laios is the type of person to react like this. but it was strong enough to prevent him from acting and i think would be projected onto his image of laios. maybe fake!laios says something dismissive like Well if it really bothered him hed say something right? what, he cant even stand up for himself? cmon, shuro, prove that you cant handle it just like everything else. and thats pretty much the fastest giveaway that it isnt really laios. of course this would be a HUGE tonal departure from what the actual episode/chapter was, so:

b) the dumbass route: both laioses break into fisticuffs, and, yes.... barking. and so they speedrun the entire encounter as the shapeshifters true form appears and, after laios points out that thinking too hard about others versions of you can tear apart groups and peace of mind, they pointedly do not speak of it again. they think about it though. a LOT

c) the normal route: both laioses argue normal like and the group ends up being able to tell them apart because the fake laios goes on a little too long about how theyre all here for falin and everyones like ok its not like he DOESNT love his sister but.......... the rest of the scenario probably goes like canon, though then i would want to see what everyone Else thought of shuro

[dukeofthomas]

Do you see my vision

[youssefguedira]

K or N for Joe and/or Nicky

K. On the edge of consciousness.

Yusuf wakes slowly, so slowly that he can’t see and isn’t even sure he can open his eyes, only half-sure he still has eyes, and that’s how he knows there’s something very, very wrong. He can’t move, can’t hear, can’t even smell anything. He doesn’t remember exactly what happened to him, but every part of him is burning, and he’s fairly sure the weird aching sensation in his head is his skull knitting itself back together, which. He really, really didn’t need to know what that feels like. 

There’s a scraping in his chest when he breathes in, but at least he’s breathing. 

Where is he? He could be anywhere. He could be in the middle of the street, could have been dragged away from the fighting from someone who had seen him breathing through a wound that should have killed him immediately. When he wakes, what will he find? Will they have taken his weapon? How long has he been dead? 

Will Nicolò be able to find him, if they are separated? Will he even try?

Slowly but steadily, he starts to hear something: a high pitched whistling that sounds like it’s coming from deep inside his own head. The darkness begins to lift, leaving flickering amber lights across his vision, and a shadow in front of him. 

There’s a voice, too, one that sharpens into words as Yusuf’s hearing begins to return. He doesn’t understand their meaning, but the cadence of them and the voice itself is familiar. 

“Are you awake?” Nicolò asks softly, switching to Arabic. 

Yusuf tries to make a sound in response. Whether it’s audible he doesn’t know, because the only noise he can really make is a rasping exhale, but Nicolò hushes him anyway.

“Do not… you can be slow,” Nicolò says. He’s more comfortable with the sounds of the language now, but still doesn’t always string sentences together well. “We are safe. I am here.”

He’s made aware of where his hand is by the feeling of Nicolò reaching for it. Yusuf manages to make an actual sound this time, but still can’t form words. Nicolò squeezes his hand gently. 

“I am here,” he says again. 

Eventually, Yusuf’s skull seems to piece itself back together fully, and his vision sharpens, letting him see that they’re backed into the corner of the two remaining intact walls of a house ravaged by fire, Nicolò crouched in front of him with his sword in hand. There’s a trail of blood leading to where Yusuf is lying now, and a section of the room that has collapsed. He can piece together enough. Nicolò would have had to drag him over here.

This time, he manages to make a sound, even if he can’t quite form words. Nicolò looks down at him over his shoulder, and there is blood on his face and in his hair, and only then does Yusuf notice the bodies in the room. 

“Okay?” Nicolò asks. 

Yusuf manages to nod, and it sends a spike of pain along his spine. Nicolò turns slightly to look at him properly. 

“You are almost done, I think,” he says. “You did not… you were asleep for a long time. I did not know if…”

“Nicolò,” Yusuf finally manages, hoarse.

“Rest,” Nicolò says. “I am here.”

(letter asks)

[carlyraejepsans]

Do you enjoy underfell? I thought you disliked aus /genq

i don't dislike the concept of AUs itself, I'm just not a fan of like... the subculture that spawned around them in the UT fandom specifically and how it eventually took over almost all canon content (especially when it limits itself to the bros)

i like aus visually! i am an artist at heart after all. it's just that, if I'm going to care about them as stories and not just fun design ideas, my bar is uhh almost impossibly high the further you move from canon lolol.

[puppyeared]

Ask game! 6, 8, 11!!

6: Age you get mistaken for

8: Want any tattoos?

11: Best friend?

[simplydnp]

hi! i know we are tagging tit content with #titspoilers but do you know if i need to also tag it in reblogs as well or just the op tags are enough? because i dont wanna spoil it for someone😭

good question!

the post will always be blocked if the tag is on the original--but only blocked on your blog if you add the tag after the fact. i'm planning on putting it on every post i make regarding spoilers--reblogs included!--simply because some people might not have tagged the original post, and as i'm not blocking the tag, i can't tell if it was on it or not.

i want to be extra careful just due to the nature of my blog ☺️

[lovesickeros]

lord its so dark in here the sahara desert of tsaritsa content you are like a shining oasis. your characterisation of her compels me & mihoyo would be hard pressed to top it imo.!! caaaaan i humbly request yr thoughts on her first meeting w a reader of any kind, or maybe even multiple kinds (sagau, sagau god au, isekai, etc) if you so desire...

it really is like a desert here. being the fan of a character we aren't getting until the last damn nation is driving me up a wall but i will persevere bc if nothing else i support morally bankrupt women in media. we r in a severe drought over here but i do my best. unfortunately nothing i say is ever coherent so pull out your translation notes its abt 2 be messy

also this got out of hand but thats bc first meetings w the tsaritsa are tricky to write + a LOT of her characterization lies in deeper exploration then just surface level yknow...NOT A DIG AT YOU this is just my excuse for rambling. gently pats the tsaritsa she can hold so much complexity i do not have the word count to delve into it completely :]

gonna talk cult au for a bit here though because that's 99% of my content. and honestly? she thrives in sub au's of the cult au like villain au + imposter au. it's basically made for her. i mean, early days, the imposter au had been going around for a little while but one of the first few ideas was the Fatui taking reader in so like. it kinda technically actually was. pretty sure cult au Tsaritsa popped up because of the imposter au. a lot of it's writers kinda left though which. man am i getting old or.

anyway.

there isn't much of a chance her first impression is all that positive. at best it's usually neutral, imo, but rarely if ever positive. specifically because i view the Tsaritsa as someone who isn't as fanatical as most of the acolytes typically are towards the creator. she's not exactly going to worship the ground you walk on unlike a certain geo lizard. which is partially why i think she thrives in the sub au's i mentioned.

imposter au, for example. she meets you at your lowest. there's no gaudy extravagance or pampering from the acolytes waiting for you because your own acolytes have turned on you. for all intents and purposes you aren't a "god" at all. which is why i don't think she meshes well with normal cult au reader. the Fatui are made up of outcasts, basically, and imposter au slots right in just perfectly. you're weak, at your lowest, when you meet the Fatui in the imposter au. and the Fatui can help you, too.

a mutual exchange, really. the Tsaritsa sees a tool she can use to one up the rest of the nations and especially Archons, and she has no qualms about you using her and the Fatui in turn. you both want something out of it, after all. whether you just want to be safe from the rest of the acolytes, or you want revenge, or whatever else..she'll give you the power to fulfill it, and she gains the strongest piece on the chessboard when all is said and done.

the best way i can describe the first meeting is "practical", i suppose. she sees an opportunity in you. the ultimate gamble. because if she "saves" you, and you dont trust anyone else because they tried to kill you, well..she holds all the cards, doesn't she?

but the Tsaritsa, imo, is just as capable of being just as fanatical towards you as anyone else. she just won't worship you as the creator. but as yourself? clawing your way back to your divine power and taking back what belongs to you? the Tsaritsa is, to me, a character who's character flourishes in long-term fics more because she changes a LOT between "just met reader" and after having been with reader for some time. she's practically apathetic at the beginning but a lot of her character, in my characterization, shines through LONG after the first meeting.

[ianmckellen]

Anakin & Obi-Wan / Darth Vader & Obi-Wan Gif Headers requested by anon - 6 headers (640x360) | 4 different border versions are under the cut - please like or reblog if you take one  - credit isn’t required but it’s appreciated - requests are open for other headers!

[dreadfuldevotee]

very glad I follow so many loumand enthusiasts like you. there will always be idiots detracting from what they had together but louis & armand liked each other! that is a very important part of the story! they had intelligent conversations and clung together to escape loneliness the way all vampires do and tried their best to take care of each other despite being way, way too fucked up to even care for themselves.

Ha, thank you! It saddens me that I feel like im out here fighting demons over them, but not that much because I love talking about them. If Loumand has no fans, I am dead and there is no afterlife because I would be scratching my feelings out on them on all the walls in Rolin Jones's house.

And, yes! It's really easy to point out all the ways these two didn't mesh that I feel like we don't spend enough time talking about how they fall together in the first place!

Louis is trying to find what it means to be himself, now with Lestat seemingly dead and the growing distance between him and Claudia, and is attracted to Armand's allure. Their courtship is a lot more classically romantic in their long walks along the river and philosophical conversations over smokey Parisian backdrops. It's not really touched upon, but Armand is vastly educated (a grumbling acknowledgement of a rare MDR good move) and willing and capable of engaging with Louis in ways Lestat wasn't (Season 1 conflicts sprouting in no small amount out of Lestats unwillingness and inability to understand Race). Coming off that explosive dynamic of Loustat, Louis finds Armand as a more easeful experience. I think it certainly helps that even Claudia, judgemental of Louis' romanticisms, is unthreatened by Armand's advances on Louis until he quite literally puts his hands on her.

For Armand, Louis is a breath of fresh air. Once again- hating his job and the role he plays, Armand is so attracted to Louis' independence and connection to humanity. He's not only curious about Louis but also feels safe with him. Its easy to misunderstand the bench scene, but that moment is about Louis speaking to that scared child Armand revealed to him and saying "I am staying here with you, you aren't alone", and Armand's metaphorical sigh of relief that he can share this burden with anyone else. If i had to describe their relationship in one word, the answer is easily "Safety"

[definitelynotshouting]

why is it an onion? love ur work btw

idk what ur talking abt these are clearly the same thing 😌😌😌

[lover-of-mine]

I think the biggest thing that I think about in terms of the likelihood of Buddie going canon is the Eddie queer realization arc of it all. We all can recognize that if Eddie realizes he’s queer, it’s gotta lead toward Buddie - getting them both out of the closet to end up with other people just doesn’t make sense narratively. Keeping that in mind, even putting Buddie aside if they abandon the queer Eddie arc I will be heartbroken because they have tried TWICE to get him out, and the timing just didn’t work out. First because of network, then because of rushed production and the rushed storyline fitting Buck better. If they changed their minds now after knowing what we could’ve had, it would be worse than never knowing that it was planned or thought about. It feels like we keep having near misses and if that happens again it would be a tragedy.

The thing, Eddie being queer means making buddie, no matter the order they do it. Let's go back to possibilities before 704 and Buck being canonically bi. We know that they wanted to make Eddie go first. I don't know if they wanted to make him go first because Marisol was easier to write off than Natalia but then they switched things up because Natalia couldn't come back, and then they ended up not knowing what to do with Marisol because they ended up having to keep Eddie with someone not to trigger buddie, it is part of one of my theories tho. But no matter what you do, if Eddie is confirmed as queer buddie goes canon (please know i consider "going canon" any acknowledgement of feelings, not just a getting together scenario) because where Buck has a thing with men, Eddie has a thing with Buck. You can't realistically make Eddie realize he's into guys and not make him realize he's in love with Buck. So what I think happened is they told Ryan they were getting him out and they brought Tommy in for Eddie and they had a general idea similar to what we actually got with buck to happen with Eddie but then they switched things around because they realize that they didn't want to trigger buddie yet for whatever reason. Because you can't make Eddie come out and not confirm his feelings for Buck and you also can't give Eddie your boyfriend that's not Buck and not have Buck freak out. Buck would not handle Eddie getting a boyfriend well, so if Eddie got a boyfriend you trigger buddie no matter what because they have to push Buck into a feeling realization or else they make they make Buck look homophobic.

So what I think happened was that they reached the conclusion that it was easier to just push Buck out of the closet and work whatever they wanted until they got buddie because I think they realize that they couldn't make buddie happen yet for whatever reason. They made Buck come out so that Buck could get used to the idea that he's into men and then we're going to get Eddie finding out that he's in love with Buck. Getting Christopher out of the picture is the perfect setting to make Eddie realize stuff because Eddie has been father for as long as he's been an adult because Christopher was the teen pregnancy so Eddie never confronted his own feelings so he's going to have to. Personally I think that you have to get him out, if we don't get Eddie out while Christopher is away then what are we doing? But the thing is this we know for a fact that they were trying to figure out how to get Eddie out, if they are trying to figure out how to get him out, and they actually got Buck out, there is no way they're not going there. Like, it would be stupid. Especially because they let Lou tell us that it was supposed to be Eddie and then later Tim confirmed the situation, that means that they don't mind that we know they were exploring ways to make Eddie queer. So they are playing a very dangerous game if they are not planning on making buddie canon because we are threading some very dangerous waters here because they are bordering the line of being queerbaiting, and they're not going to be technically queerbaiting, because Buck is canonically bi. but the use of Ryan in Buck's queer arc and the way they told us that Eddie was supposed to go first, makes it so they have to get them both out. Because the promotion of this is all over the place when you look at it. It's insane that they keep using both of them to promote Buck being bi. Like, it makes no sense if it's not going to end up with both of them out and together. And ABC doesn't mind the queer part of Buck so we have no reason to believe that they would have a problem with the queer part of Eddie the same way Fox had, because we also have Oliver on record saying that fox was the one blocking them. The marketing of season 7 does not make sense if they are not planning on getting them both out. But no matter how they get Eddie out they are making buddie canon because they if Eddie figures out that he's attracted to men. he's instantly going to realize that he's in love with buck. And even in a situation where Eddie goes first it would trigger buddie anyway because we saw Buck lose his shit about Eddie making a guy friend, imagine if Buck saw Eddie with a man, like, on a date with a guy, he would lose it. It wouldn't work so you have to push him into a feeling realization if Eddie gets a boyfriend, so Eddie queer means buddie and for whatever reason they were not ready for buddie yet (maybe they needed more time to play something out, idk?)

Or I am right and they were doing a trial run for the reception of them actually being possible and Buck's a lot more popular and people are a lot more lenient with what they let Buck get away with so if the storyline of Buck being bisexual didn't go well, they could backtrack the situation a lot easier than if they made Eddie queer. And then a lot of things happened in the in between because Tommy was well received and they got an early renewal so they had space to play with it and we ended up with season 7 b being the way it is because it's actually setting up what they want to do with season 8, it was not self-contained anymore because they're not working within the 10 episodes that they thought they had they were working with 28 episodes and things are out of control. Because they mess up the pacing of the season anyway because they tried to make an 18 episode season into 10 episodes and they failed to deliver everything they wanted to deliver, so I think that the main thing is that they didn't have the time to do what they wanted with buddie romantically, so they kept Eddie in the closet (also because Buck being bi was a marketing gold mine, they are probably projecting queer Eddie to have a similar good reception, putting both arcs on the same season when they had another one confirmed and could use queer Eddie to boost their numbers the same way queer Buck did in s7 wouldn't be a very smart play from a business perspective) because they did lay the foundation. Buck is now bi and they made it very clear that Buck is Eddie's partner. The question now is getting Eddie out of the closet and figuring out how to get them there. But that's very easy to do now that they have 18 episodes to play with and that they don't have Christopher so that makes so they have to explore some aspects of their relationship that they haven't explored yet. But again, that's just a theory.

[sweetpastillas]

no reggie's memory wiper doesnt work to make sense within the story timeline. he implies it was initially developed in the 60s, and if that's the case he would have utilized it to erase the team's memories of viktor's powers to be fully sure.... and if he needed the memories back for the oblivion plot he could just as easily return them.... granted allison's rumors are useful but deadass if he wanted the ultimate failsafe he wouldve used the machine....

[popfizzles]

Question- How do you determine what preexisting Cuphead characters you feel are worth messing around with and putting your own flavor to? You obviously gravitate more towards the NPCs than the bosses; is it purely just their blank-slate, simple sort of charm that makes them more appealing to play with? Is it the fact that it's easier for you to smoosh your ocs into situations with the NPCs rather than the bosses? Is it both? Or some secret third thing? I'm curious!

I think my fascination with the NPCs started way back when Cuphead was super popular (probably back in like. 2018?), and I found a serious lack of any fan content surrounding them.

Like, I know the Bosses and their fights are the whole point of the game, but I liked the little guys you could talk to and have actual conversations with! They're cute!!! They give you little quests (like Buster who wants Cuphead to juggle five parries in a row, or perfectionist Silverworth who wants them to get S ranks on every boss fight)!

It was odd to me that they were SO looked over, I figured there would be at least a LITTLE bit of fan content for them? Maybe a small cult following?? But if it existed, I never found it.

So, like any good little grubby-handed satyr would, I grabbed them and ran >:)

I still want to figure out the bosses and get designs/personalities behind them eventually!! I like pretty much all of the Isle One bosses, even getting some [recent art out of Cagney!]

But in the meantime, I'll be figuring out the NPCs first. They deserve a little time in the spotlight, don't you think?