#like the mystery/noir kinda style

[stabbystiletto]

🥳🥳🥳🤯🤯🤯🥳🥳🥳😏😏😏😃😃😃😃😃

STOOOOOOOOOOOKED 😆😆😆😆😆

THEY'RE DOING A CHUCKY HOUSE I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER BEEN ON A YEAR THAT THEY DID A CHUCKY HOUSE??!! (though i did go that one year where he took over the Terror Tram lololol that was so much fun ☺️☺️☺️)

Also can we just appreciate them doing not just the Phantom of the Opera, but also Jekyll and Hyde, the Invisible Man, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame??!! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

Like yes they always do a classic Universal Monsters house, but it's usually some combination of like Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, Bride of the Monster, the Wolfman, with something like Creature from the Black Lagoon or The Mummy thrown in every now and then.

THESE ARE ALL UNCOMMON ONES THEY'RE DOING THIS YEAR THOUGH, GOOD FOR THEM!! 👏👏👏🥳🥳🥳👏👏👏

Unrelated note, not super excited about the Terror Tram theme (like these mutated bugs who are people exterminators or something??) but I appreciate that they're doing something different, I'll give them credit for that 👍

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Bunch of Stuff Coming in August

July 2023 Wk 5

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Laws of Attraction (Sat iQIYI) 2-3 of 8 - Oh good, we now know that Thailand has the same statutory rape laws as the US. Dub con is as dub con does. MEANWHILE Oh my God I love evil lawyer cutie so much. Him and his beautiful weaponized smile, maybe my new favorite character. I like the way this director is playing with noir mystery tropes, settings, and archetypes too - it’s feeling very 60s pulp, I’m getting gay Travis McGee vibes. Grandma knowing that her grandson likes boys is so sweet. I have to be completely frank here, this is what I wanted from both Manner of Death and KP. I truly love this show

Hidden Agenda that isn’t hidden (Sun GMMTV YouTube) ep 3 of 10 - It’s a very Cyrano de Bergerac kind of narrative... If Cyrano fell in love with Christian instead of Roxanne. Mock date was fun. 

Low Frequency (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 8 - Into the lion’s den. Investigation begins. Why isn’t the ghost acting lookout? Who are these random side characters? I’m confused. Half way through kiss is right on schedule tho. 

Wedding Plan (Weds YT & iQIYI) ep 2 of 7 - The kiss was nice, but it’d be nicer if Nuea had punched Lom. Manipulative arse. A trash watch is happening!

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki) ep 4 of 12 - Meh. 

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI) ep 5 of 8 eps - The hazing has begun + secret relationship and it’s kinda like a v soft SOTUS. Dino is getting a bit too controlling and obsessive for me so it slid down the ranks. I much prefer La Cusine’s version of this dynamic. The friends protecting Dino’s interests were funny tho - boy is so obsessed he outsources his stalking. 

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 10 of 12 - Max is BEST BOY. I hate Kawi. Tra la la. Trash watch here.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Jun & Jun (Korea Thurs Viki) 2 of 8 - Our ex idol is a total FLIRT. Nice to see an uke with agency. I mean baby girl is a newbie worker bee… but still flirty, good for you, sweetie. I see your little lip bite and so does your soon to be husband. Speaking of, I love Choi Jun’s style of seme aggression: a little sleezy + a bit too handsy + ultra clever with his words. Plus tie tug!!! Also threatening to take off your TAILORED suit so baby wears your shirt and smells like you? HOT. Boy you sped right past American style and into Italian - that’s real Corinthian leather, that is. 

Stay By My Side (Taiwan Fri Gaga) 5 of 10 eps - Mid series kiss right on schedule. Thank you for never upsetting me, Taiwan. Omg. Such boyfriends. Only Taiwan gets this sappy. I have to say, I watch this show after Tokyo on purpose. (I need the pallet cleanser.) Still, I’m scared that the perception will be that Bu Xia is using Jiang Chi, not in love with him, when the truth about ghosts comes out. Why doesn’t BX’s useless sister do something for her disaster brother? I guess JC likes a needy boy? Oh no, the kiss confusion. Lip touch but rejection (?). Nooooo. I suppose they have to draw this out for 10 eps. Gah, they’re so cute. But BX is a bit dim, isn’t he? Poor thing. 

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga) 4 of 12 eps - Shin is such a worrywart, over protective, over the top boyfriend. I guess we saw a little bit of give from Minato? More than usual, baby steps. This is Japan after all.

Tokyo in April is... AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 7 of 8 - Japan’s favorite trope = the running of the gays. Kazama knows everything now. Ep ends on one of my few triggers. SKIP! Japan you better NOT go there.

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) ep 11-12fin - terrible ending, he turned back into a cat and the whole thing was pointless. I am very annoyed. 4/10 FATALLY FLAWED 

It’s airing but ...

Stay With Me ... NO I WILL NOT! And you can’t make me.

In case you missed it

Stay (Pinoy YouTube) finished its run at 7 eps. It’s mostly English & set in LA (shudder) so I did not bother. I say little to no chatter about this (that’s normal with the Pinoy stuff tho). Did anyone watch and enjoy? 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Coming August 2023

8/1 Stay Still (Hong Kong Tues YouTube) 5 eps - Yes we have had BL from Hong Kong before, but that was... before... who knows what it’ll be like now. Hayden, moves into a new apartment and starts a complicated relationship with his neighbor’s grandson, Damien, after an unexpected kiss. Meanwhile: Archie rekindles a romance with his high school sweetheart, Kelvin, who is now married.

8/11 Love Class Season 2 (Korea Fri Viki) 10 eps - Hyun, Minwoo and Joo-Hyuk are looking forward to their freshman year at college. But trials and tribulations of love that await them outside the classroom: from learning about maturity to being unable to forget the scars of past lovers. (All new cast from season 1.) 

8/12 My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat ????) 8 eps - hum. 

8/19 Love in Translation (Thai Sat One31) ? eps - Two strangers start working in a cafe together.

8/20 My Universe series begins (Thai Sun iQIYI) 24 episodes - This is sampler pack BL, 12 pairs, each pair gets 2 episodes, not entirely sure on the order they’ll drop in. Known couples include EarthBank from Destiny Seeker and KaownahTurbo from Love Stage!!!, mostly fresh faces otherwise. Jane to direct several. 

8/22 Kisseki: Dear to Me formerly known as Miracle (Taiwan Tues ????) 13 eps - From screenwriter Lin Pei Yu (We Best Love, H3: Trapped) features a student doctor forced to take care of a gangster. I love the premise and like the writer, I’m thinking Viki or Gaga will get this one.  

8/24 Man Suang (Thailand movie domestic cinemas) - historical drama about Thai burlesque with KP’s MileApo. Tong is in this one too? 

8/? Sing My Crush previously Follow The Wind (Korea ????) 8 eps - supposed to have released in the first half of 2022 this is a adaption of Myung’s webtoon, from the director of My Sweet Dear, and the Love Tractor production house, looks like Korea does About Youth.

8/? Why R U? (Korean remake)  is supposed to be out this month, filming started in sept 22. I find everything about this hilarious. I mean if Korea remakes it, we lose all the sexy and then... would we have a story at all? No we would not. Not even for six short eps. It’d be like one of those mesh shopping bags. 

We can probably expect a new BL from GMMTV too, to slot into BMF’s spot mid month. 

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I do love a hyung romance, and this aggressive ghost-ish thing is working for me. (Low Frequency) 

Hidden Agenda + My Ride. 

So coy

I agree with @heretherebedork​ that these two make a great side couple but I am utterly in love with...

HER. (All Laws of Attraction.) 

(Last week)

[thrillhoues]

My pitch for a Tim Drake solo is to do away with the romance + superhero tropes that have been a hallmark of his previous stories, and refocus more heavily on a noir detective story with corresponding art that hearkens to early noir cinema to 80s new noir / erotic thriller films. Ground Tim so much, and focus so heavily on Tim's biases and flaws, that it distinguishes him from the other Bat-books by being less of a superhero book altogether.

What that means, sadly, is no romance with Steph or Bernard. For a few reasons, I think romance needs to be put on the backburner, heck, even altogether repudiated. Not because I don't want queer Tim or queer stories, but because I think it's good rep to have an unattached mlm character who goes on dates, who's occasionally happy and unhappy single, because gay and bi dudes don't need to be attached to have value. Plus, frankly, I find the need to match characters like Tim or Jon up instantly after they come out kinda sus - it feels like "we're just like you" thinking rather than reflecting on the fact that mlm folks have a range of emotional and romantic attachments beyond monogamous or single beyond samey romances.

Film noir detective is a genre that allows for a few different things - a focus on the protagonist's flaws and weaknesses, it generally involves an evocative, shadow-heavy art style, and can essentially explore a different kind of mystery. Often systemic. Tim confronting a queerphobic plainclothes villain who wants to, idk, do something nefarious on a bigger scale, like a neighborhood, that could allow for excellent commentary on the ways that systems fail people.

And a focus on a character's flaws would let me (though I'll likely never write for Tim in earnest lol, I'm just shooting the shit) to differentiate the character from other Bats simply by reflecting on his history in clear terms. Honestly I just want Tim to shine, but not to the detriment of Damian (who rules) or Cass (who rules) or Steph, Dick, other Bats (who rule).

[arbiterlexultionis]

Poltergeist pt. 2

Lol I didn’t even notice all the spelling mistakes in the tags of my own post until just now so I’ll be addressing all that first.

At first glance Frostbite’s the muscle of the organization, because you know the whole 9 foot tall yeti with arguably the single most metal and least metallic prosthetic arm in the world, but then he throws on a Lab Coat and starts cooking up a storm. New flavors, figuring out how to more efficiently bind and mix the ectoplasm with the energy drink, experimenting with different ratios of plasm to product, the whole nine yards. Maybe even figuring out how to incorporate the absolute masterpiece that is Jack’s attempt at making anti-ghost juice and resulted in pro-ghost juice, otherwise known as ecto-dejecto. That experimentation would have two results. The first one is just a premium version of the normal Poltergeist drink that has a bit more of a kick to it, like an energy drink X 2, but it’s ectodejecto so it’s kinda healthy for ghost. The other is essentially supernatural five hour energy/potion of mana restoration and or healing. They pop em like senzu beans.

Walker. He’s is absolutely having a blast about all this. His whole shtick is being an old timey cop. He’s practically straight out a old noir film, black and white coloration and all. And while sure, he has a whole bunch of prisoners to look after, he’s self aware enough to know that a lot of them are in on trumped up charges that arn’t fair. It’s nice and all, but it’s just not the same as proper criminals, investigations and getting to go full detective. So now that he’s got proper criminals to chase? Mysteries to solve? Old timey prohibition era shenaniganery to enjoy? He’s all in. Enjoying his job more then ever. Straight up vibing. No one’s seen him smile this much in decades. Not sense that one human criminal famous for killing cops kicked the bucket, became a ghost and pissed off enough people for someone to ask Walker to track him down. He’s straight up Giggling during his first high speed chase with Danny. Danny and his boys are in on it too. When I say high speed chase I mean an actual car chase, not just flying. He wasn’t planning to get caught in the act by Walker, but when he was he pointed at the vintage police car tricked out with ghost tech while climbing into his similarly tricked out pickup, tossed Walker the keys and was like “that one’s yours! We’ve got some killer jumps set up down the road so maybe try and drag it out a little? We’ll send you the footage afterward, even if you catch me.” Asides from cameras to capture footage of the jumps there were also speakers playing chase music. That type of style was a bit more modern then Walker was used to, but it was nice. More than nice. Similar speakers were set up in his prison shortly after the chase to play fight music whenever a prison riot or fight in the yard starts. He’s still legitimately trying to arrest Danny, and Danny’s bound and determined to get away, but they are having way to much fun with the whole ordeal.

So that’s what I have for now, enjoy your days, drink your water and comment any cool ideas you come up with pretty please with a cherry on top?

[catofthenine]

Gothic Pursuit in Childhood

(Gothic Baby) @/rebysky on tiktok and instagram

Hey Ghouls!

I've been pondering on what to post next, and I feel like taking a break from the horror hosts may be a good idea. Before I continue with Elvira, I'll talk about the horror host between Vampira and Elvira: Sinister Seymour, who seems to be forgotten in the world of horror hosts.

ANYWAYS. Today, as I procrastinate from my finals, I'd like to cover the childhood pursuit of the gothic. In my personal experience, I have always been more in-tune with the macabre, and apart of that may be caused by being an outsider.

Many goths I know are somewhere on the autism spectrum or are otherwise neurodivergent- some of the people I've known have mood disorders like Bipolar, while others have learning disabilities like dyslexia; this can often cause a feelings of difference to manifest in children. This is why it is important to be welcoming and inclusive within the community; though gatekeeping is important to keep a steady definition on what is goth/gothic, many people find solace within being goth as they "embrace the weird".

From what I've seen, it is also pretty common for children to feel a connection to the eepy-creepy-spooky-ooky before they are exposed to goth music. Which like, kinda implies that it's more atmospheric than defining, but the community is connected through media, which includes music

I actually was afraid of Depeche Mode as a young child- my mom wouldn't be able to play Violator in the car with me because it would be so frightening.

I was a big fan of scene and emo aesthetics as well when I was younger, but ultimately I was very into supernatural mythology, creepypasta, Tim Burton, and Halloween-horror-esc vibes. I think this shaped who I became as an adult, and why it felt so finally validating when I first drew my eyebrows into a traditional gothic style.

One of my best friends is also super into the gothic subculture. We grew up besides each other and both had childhood interests in the supernatural (think aliens, monsters, werewolves/werecats, vampires, etc.) and in our tween and teen years we experimented in gothic and alternative styles, interests, and hobbies.

I've also seen many anecdotes from other goths that they were drawn to more "edgier" cartoon characters like Danny Phantom, Buttercup, Gwen, and The Hex Girls. Some people say that they preferred watching childhood movies and TV shows like Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated, Invader Zim, and Courage the Cowardly Dog for example.

Many people also say that some of these gothier characters were apart of their queer awakening; this makes a lot of sense because gothic expression has always been Queer; The androgynous expression, betrayal of western gender roles, and in some cases, the becoming the antithesis of Christian societal expectations for a wicked, sinister, and satanic-inspired outward expression will always be subversive of heteronormativity- this isn't to say that non-queer people cannot be goth, or that they can't celebrate themselves within the gothic community, but it is extremely important that in all areas of the subculture, queerness is in the seams.

And so, in many cases it seems that taking a liking to the gothic is almost innate to us, makes us feel home, and allows us to celebrate ourselves as different. Continuing off of this post, I think I'll be a little mean and critique the modern subcultural appearances, but we'll see how much work I get done this weekend lolz.

Song Recommendation: Creep Show by Plastique Noir

Thanks for reading!

Rest in peace,

-Cat (Catofthenine)

[anileesstupidlilblog]

Get to Know Me Better <3

(I'm pinning this in case I want to add anything)

Hi, if you'd like to know more about me here's a few things. . . (just a warning, it's really long)

I love to draw, sing, and dance. My drawings are kinda 2 sided, I love drawing cutesy things that appeal to my more innocent/agere side, but I also love drawing spooky, creepy stuff that appeals to my dark/spooky-loving side. My favorite singers are Annapanstu, Caleb Hyles, Lydia The Bard, and Taylor Swift. (sorry if I spelled any of those wrong.)

I'm into more things than just Bluey and Resident Evil. I really like The Sims 3 & 4, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, My Little Pony, FNAF, Paw Patrol, 101 Dalmatian Street, Helluva Boss, Disney stuff, Two Sentence Horror Stories, Justice League Action, Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, The Good Place, Batman The Animated Series, Octonauts, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Poppy Playtime (especially the Smiling Critters), Justice League Unlimited, and Sonic Prime. My all-time favorite movie is Resident Evil: Retribution. My favorite actor is Milla Jovovich (sorry if I spelled it wrong).

I also like just about everything the stereotypical girl likes: makeup designs, decorating, stickers, dresses, feminine hair styles, boys. But I'm a guy -ish (agender)

I love anything horror: horror games, horror movies/shows, horror stories/creepypastas, etc. I also love Sci-fi and fantasy, and I love sitcoms (I love the drama).

(Also, sorry to the people with OCD, the tags are a mess)

[dotthings]

Gotham Knights 1x07 "Bad to Be Good"

Thank you to the writers, Allegre Rodriguez & Michelle Furtney-Goodman.

Loved this ep overall. Also bless this series for how it films Misha Collins. Who is himself a work of art.

Following on that theme from the past few eps, Cullen's concern about saving the painting from the black market, where it would wind up hidden from public eyes, is very community-minded of him. He also genuinely cares about the role of art. Steph also takes this up, as we're told they talked about "the importance of art." But also during their coffee and art talk, found a link to their immediate interests and needs.

Harper wonders why she or the Knights should care about works of communal value. She only gets interested when Steph tells them the paintings were all owned by Alan Wayne, which is a link to the Court of Owls. Harper needs a specific and immediate purpose link that involves self-preservation or protecting people she's close to before she cares. Cullen and Steph see a bigger picture but are also motivated by the specific interest and needs, they do both.

Carrie and Duela are a really fun chaos duo, opposites conspiring together and bickering the whole time. Carrie's judging-you-both faces at Eunice and Duela, the epic eye-rolls, Carrie regretting all her life choices, Carrie's thinking FML how did I wind up in this mess. And then Duela eye-rolling over Carrie. Comedy gold. The beginnings of that friendship was unexpected. They're demonstrating different points on the morality and ethics scale. This show has a lot of moral relativism. "Potato, tomato, little bird." Carrie was morally right, but wrong in this situation, Duela isn't ethical, but Duela's antics allowed them to save Detective Green's family.

Eunice stabbing Duela's hand with the ballerina from her music box was very hard core.

Turner seems like he's emerging as more of a leader in this ep. He's also using the bat-toys. Following his dad's legacy, but in his own way, not trying to be Batman.

I immensely enjoy how Misha plays every scene in this like the lead in a classic Hollywood noir or suspense thriller. He's got some great Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart vibes going on. That shot of the cordless phone ringing, looming ridiculously large in foreground, is also vintage Hollywood, Hitchcock kind of style. Misha has the range, the gravitas, and the camera adores him. And Harvey's a whole meal of a character here (on top of being an absolute snack), one of the few decent Gotham leaders, a regular guy in over his head, wondering if he's going mad, trying to solve the mystery, plagued by his inner demons, while being a good person, but shadows over his shoulder.

Lauren Stamile does a great job playing Rebecca March. Her role here is the femme fatale of classic Hollywood. Vulnerable, sincere, yet a touch dangerous. Doesn't mean Rebecca is lying. But anyone who's watched some of those old films knows there could be some plot twists. I wonder where this arc is going to lead.

Steph tending to Harper's wound outside the warehouse and in the end scenes. Their cute flirting. The little smiles. After Harper saved Steph from mobster bullets, Steph taking care of Harper's bullet wound. Enemies to reluctant allies to sorta kinda friends to lovers? Yes please.

Cressida going to Harvey for help...might be sincere. It's looking like all of Gotham is in deadly peril, so much so that Cressida's fear for the fate of millions is overcoming her fear for herself. If the Court's bigger picture plans are a lot more dire than just controlling Gotham financially and socially. Something has scared her badly. Or it's another ploy.

That's one of the fun things about this series, there's a lot of layers, and secrets inside secrets and things not being what they seem.

[anilec-dragon-art-and-stuff]

Alright. I finally sat down for the introduction of the first character. This needs a little disclamier that wasnt mentioned in the Story overview. This character is primarily an NPC in a campaign i am running. Its a premade campaign (CR's "Call of the netherdeep") and therefor will include characters (like the rivals) or special items (mostly the vestiges of divergence) in here. Tho some of these might have changed effects or adjusted personalities to better fit in with the narrative it of course needs to be said that i do Not own these. They are not characters created by me and I am not using them for a commercial gain or anything similar. Its basically like writing a fanfic for an existing story and inserting your own OC. Except the existing story is kinda just the supporting cast (except one of them. For shipping purposes)

Also I will write the Most important things about the backstory. But some things might only be hinted at. Because they will be a topic of an actual Story. And i dont want to spoiler that.

But without further ado lets get into the Profile for the character.

————————

General Information

Name: Abires Blackwood

True Name: Doxitan Sable (i will make a separate post for them)

Nickname: Usually doesnt like to be called by anything else than his name. Later on in the relationship however Galsariad calls him "Dox" in private and "Nor" in puplic (the last one is elvish for "love" and also sounds similar to the french word "noir" which means "black")

Age: 110 years (appears as mid 30)

Race: Changeling (appears human)

Class: Warlock

Pronuns: He/Him (Technically the entire character is genderfluid as a changeling, however in this persona he identifies as male)

Romantic orientation: Demiromantic

Sexual orientation: Asexual

Physical Appearance

(You can also just check the included drawing.)

Eye color: Purple

Skin color: Pale/greyish

Hair color: Black

Facial Hair: Black mustache and goatee

Height: 1,74m

Weight: 85kg

Body type: Somewhat slim, but not too skinny. Also without clearly defined muscles.

Tattoo: Across his chest is an old tattoo of a slave mark, that is meant to magically force obiedience. (Picture will follow later. Maybe)

Scars/Birthmarks: Numerous scars of cuts, burns and so on primarily on his torso and arms. On his right shoulder puncture wounds from pitchfork prongs that ran through his shoulder and came out on the other side. Scars of deep cuts to destroy the tattoo on his chest, nullifying its magic.

Fashion style: Prefers elegant or fancy clothing, most of the time a suit or similar.

Accessories: Often seen with his walking cane (despite him not showing any signs of problems with walking). Also he always has a piece of golden jewelry with an ingraved scale (usually its a decorative piece on his hat. But can also be a ring, necklace or similar.)

Posture/Gait: Elegant and confident

Other notes: His physical features (mainly skin and eye color combined) are usually quite off-putting for others. However his charming behavior counters that and makes people look past it)

Picture:

Drawing made by me

Psychological Traits

Personality: Most of the time appears as charming, making himself seem very likable (however this is mostly used as a manipulative tactic). But occasionally he might seem mysterious or even off-putting or strange. Some people might even call it creepy.

Temperament: Highly depents on circumstance or topic of conversation. Most of the time he is patient. But if you try to dig too deep in his past or about his true identity he becomes short tempered and violent.

Hobbies: He doesnt really have time for "hobbies" as he spends most of his time trying to further increase his abilities and gather more power. He does have a passion for torture tho.

Morals/Virtues: Does not have a moral code. He genuinely doesnt understand why torture or murder is NOT an appropriate response to someone minorly inconveniencing him.

Phobias/Fears: He says he doesnt have any. Deep down fear of trusting people and getting hurt by them. Also afraid that people find Out the truth about him. However He meets all of these with violence.

Angered by: People trying to find Out his true identity. People betraying his trust. (Later on: People trying to hurt his Partner. Or others flirting with said partner)

Bad habits: Solves most of his problems with violence. Often to the extreme.

Favorite sayings: "Oh, you always have choice. You just have to make sure, its the right one"

Secrets: He is a changeling (that one was obvious)

Abilites etc.

Physical abilities: Shapeshifting, Fae charm and temptation

Magical abilities: Lets call it warlock magic to make it easy (DnD). Also control over shadows. Can take and use peoples souls (however he can only aquire them through deals). On that note: can strike magically binding deals, in which he ties in the other persons soul as a "collateral". Is able to attune more magical items to himself than would normally be possible. However that required a price he has yet to pay. Aside from that he can request aid from his patron god if certain things (especially for a deal) are out of his abilites.

Magical Items: Blood-Cane (his cane is a powerful unique magic item forged from the iron extracted from the blood of hundrets of people), Shapechanging clothing (he can willingly change the Look of his clothes. So he doesnt need an apartment full of clothes because of his different personas)

DnD related Magic Items:

Illusionist's Bracers

Helm (in his case hat) of teleportation

Cabal's Ruin (Vestige of Divergence)

Robe of the Archmagi

Languages known:

Common, Sylvan, Celestial, Ancient Celestial

Relationships

Partner/Significant other: Galsariad Ardyth (Character from "Call of the Netherdeep", however this relationship was recently established and therefor is non-existent in any stories dealing with his backstory)

Parents/Guardians:

Real parents: unknown

"Foster parents" (even if unknowingly): Grio Romez and Zanra Romez

Children: none

Best friends: Childhood best friend used to be Christina Stim

Friends: Galsariad before their romance. Otherwise none.

Enemies: Noone in particular, would consider people that have wronged (or minorly inconvenienced) him as such

Mentors/Teachers: First the few followers of Calfras, later Calfras himself

Patreon God: Calfras, the middle man (God of deals and pacts)

Personas: Doxitan Sable (his true self), Jessica of Waterdeep, Dominance, Tex (will probably at some point make Profiles for All of them)

Short Overview of Backstory

Born in the Faewilds, but shortly after was selected to replace a stolen human child

Therefor lived the first 8 years of his life as the human boy Baelen Romez

Through an accident, the people of his town found out, and had a violent reaction (They were planning to slowly torment him to death. They also were the ones who gave him the slave tattoo. Not with the intention to sell him, but to use it as another torment method.)

This betrayal of people who he trusted, especially since he never really did anything wrong, caused Not only huge Trauma but also messed him up in the head (as in he is a psychopath because there is actually something broken in there)

Was saved from the Situation by the god Calfras, in exchange made a pact with him

The god helped him over the next decades to increase his Power and abilities

When he was about 40 years old, he returned to the City he grew up in to get revenge (will write that properly)

In the following years had a multitude of quest/adventures to gather his magical Items and so on. Not worth putting it individually into the overview, might be written in short stories at some point

At about 100 years of age, has managed to Not only gather a lot of magical Power, but also made his way into several courts as adviser or similar

A few years later (this is where the "recent" startes aka the time where my campaign started, tho the PCs are not in These stories) he met Galsariad Ardyth and agreed to help him in his studies of the arcane

Over the years they became friends (but He wouldnt really admit that)

Galsariad did eventually find Out the truth about him (how THAT went down, will be written as well) but managed to survive it

Eventually they even Fell in love, tho it took some time for Blackwood to admit that

That is so far up until what can be called "the present day", because Most of his stories will be either backstory stuff or fluff (maybe smut?) With his SO. However there is no Set date or year or timeline. So it might move along into the future as well or especially the stories with Gal might jump to different years depending on the story. I'll try to include a rough idea of when a story will be set.

————————

Alright wonderful. That was A LOT (can you tell i really like him lol?) Anyways now you know everything you need to know about him to deal with his stories I guess.

Soooo See ya!

[project1939]

Day 44- Film: Don’t Bother to Knock 

Release date: July 18th , 1952.

Studio: 20th Century Fox 

Genre: Noir 

Director: Roy Ward Baker 

Producer: Julian Blaustein 

Actors: Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe 

Plot Summary: Pilot Jed checks into a hotel where his estranged girlfriend Lyn works as a lounge singer, hoping to win her back. She spurns his advances, but when he goes back up to his room, he sees a beautiful woman named Nell across the courtyard. He calls her, eventually going to her room, where they drink and flirt. But some strange things are happening, and Jed slowly discovers something isn’t right with Nell. 

My Rating (out of five stars): ***½  

Overall, I enjoyed this film. It was short and pacey with its mysteries and suspense. It was not a glamorized or sentimental film at all, it was a typical edgy and cynical noir. Widmark and Monroe were both highly effective and helped elevate the material. 

The Good: 

The unsentimental realism. Like many noirs, no one was really a hero. Everyone was flawed, and the world they inhabited was flawed. It didn't try to shove sentimentality into a story it didn’t belong in. 

The lack of any non-diegetic sound. Like The Narrow Margin, this film had no scored soundtrack. The only sounds we heard came from the environment in the film. In The Narrow Margin it was the sounds of the train, in this movie, it was the sounds of the hotel, particularly the bar-room music. To me, all the ambient sound makes things much more dramatic.

The short space of time the plot took place in. It was basically just a few hours of one evening. I love the detail that movies like this are able to show when they aren’t moving from day to day and scene to scene at lightning speed. 

Monroe getting to really act and not just play a ditzy character. It’s nice to see her play these non-glamourous non-ditzy roles. She certainly wasn’t just sexy eye-candy in this. I wish she had gotten to do more roles like it. 

 Richard Widmark’s unlikability. He was so good at playing a pretty unlikeable guy, and I appreciated it. 

The way the mystery slowly unfolded. The film didn’t spoon-feed us information about Nell or Jed. I enjoyed piecing things together slowly as the film went on. 

Nice little noir details. I enjoyed the colorful details like the lady selling photographs in the bar, the speakers on the wall in the rooms that you could tune to the radio or the hotel bar, the patient bartender, the lady with the uncooperative Dalmatian, the nosy old couple who lived at the hotel...  

Anne Bancroft as Lyn. I didn't recognize it was Bancroft at first, but she was really interesting in this. I liked the character Lyn, although I didn’t always like her style of singing. 

Thurston Howell again! This is the third movie that he has showed up in now for 1952! (And Alan Hale, Jr. who played Skipper was in the Westinghouse movie tonight!) 

The Bad: 

The ending with Monroe was a little melodramatic. I wished it had reeled itself in just a bit. 

The reunion with Jed and Lyn. It kinda made me mad. She deserved better! It seems like there’s a trend in a lot of media from this time where the message to women is, “He’s not that bad! Maybe he was an asshole or treated you crappy... but he says he loves you now! Don’t be so choosy! He’s at least somewhat decent, so come on, take him!” 

[starrlikesbooks]

Hey Castor, i'm trying to find a book to buy for my roommate for his bday. He likes fantasy and sci fi, and i only ever read more grounded, english-lit type stories so i'm totally lost. But then i thought, "hey! My longtime mutual Castor will surely know what's up." Have you got any recs? Preferably something from the last year, so he's not likely to already own it. Sincerely, world's biggest Don't Touch That Dial fan.

Hello best friend anon! I'm not sure what kind of vibe you're going for/what type of SFF your roommate leans towards, so here's a variety of vibes

The list got long, so here's a read more!

Cozy/Domestic

Kaiju Preservation Society (Domestic Sci-Fi 100%! Kaiju like Godzilla are kinda real and their gigantic interdimensional creatures most of the characters study like secret zoologistis. Except the MC. They lift boxes.) 🌈friendly

Legends & Lattes* (I know little about this book beyond sapphic fantasy running a coffee shop. If he likes cozy fantasy and is in bookish spaces, h knows about this. If not, but he seems like he’d dig it, he’ll love that you go it for him!) 🌈

We Could Be Heroes (Slightly older, but not well known. Very down to earth superhero/supervillain friendship where tone of them saw their mind powers and was like oh geez um I guess I’m supposed to rob a bank? and the other saw their super speed and went sweet I’m gonna get all the delivery tips) 🌈ish

Even Though I Knew the End (Magical noir. I’m counting this as domestic because a lot of the plot revolves around the MC’s partner and their shared life, as well as her motivations towards keeping her brother save and thriving. This would also fit under “mystery” though) 🌈

Weird and/or Unhinged

The Atlas Six* (Underground government picks taps someone to join per each division, but 5 of them are 100% gonna die) 🌈

Anything by Jason Pargin (AKA JDATE or Zoey Ashe*. JDATE books can be read as standalones and the newest one is about a gamified kids toy that’s demanding human body parts so a cult can summon something to end the world)

City of Nightmares (Gotham atmosphere, if you fall asleep you might turn into your literal nightmare. MC’s sister turned into a giant spider and ate her father, MC is both afraid of everything and willing to threaten people with violence in order to get what she wants, which is, namely, not in terrifying positions like being kicked out onto the street) 🌈friendly

Hell Followed With Us (If he’s horror leaning, and/or into trans people embracing the monstrous and destroying evangelical cults! Though if he is and he spends time in bookish spaces, he may already know of/have read this one) 🌈

The Sky is Yours (Not a new book, but not one ever talked about so probably safe. Basically a Jetsons future, except they can’t use most of their cool technology or thrive because they’ve been being tormented by dragons for like 80 years that won’t stop burning their city down. This one is also kinda satire styled.)

Mystery

Self Portrait With Nothing (Magical portraits, lost mothers, off beat and kinda weirdly emotional while also having a bit of a mystery plot. Extra points if he’s into The Raven Cycle or The Dreamer Trilogy at all.) 🌈friendly

The Library of the Dead* (Edinburgh based urban fantasy with an amateur detective tapping into the occult. Also, ghosts!)

The Bruising of Qilwa (A novella about immigration/xenophobia and a also mysterious, fatal illness that may be murder.) 🌈friendly

Witness of the Dead* (Came out about a year and a half ago. This is a mystery set against politics in a steampunk fantasy world, and is sure to be a bit dense in spots. It's a companion novel to The Goblin Emperor) 🌈

Questy

Last Exit (Plays out like the end of an epic. Former friends from college have to reunite and cross world again as darkness slips out and they try to reach their long lost leader, left to the other side.)🌈

Soulswift (A little older, but not by much. Girl gets semi possessed by the god of another culture’s religion AKA the Lilith figure in her own religion that she’s a nun in. Forced allyship & forced proximity leading to a lot of cultural understanding and romance, on the way to make sure she doesn’t actually die.)

Lost in the Moment and Found (In a series of novellas, but works as a standalone. Girl finds a door to the place lost things go, and enjoys adventure- but things aren’t as they seem. Big content warning for grooming & attempted SA!)

The Stardust Thief* (A thief, a Djinn, and a prince have to go on a quest for a legendary magical lamp! Based on 1001 Nights.)

Gay!

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance (Treaty based marriage with an assassination plot ramping up the tension. Big big content warning for SA and PTSD!)

A Marvellous Light (Murder mystery with magic and forced allyship/coworkers to lovers between a magician and a regular Londoner who accidentally got the job.)

Light From Uncommon Stars (This could also passably go under the Weird category, but it’s just so inherently queer it needed to be here. Women takes souls of violin prodigies to win back hr own soul. The other main character a formerly homeless transwoman sex worker who suffered abuse, and the teacher’s love interest is an alien with kids including an AI daughter, who’s super into running her donut shop. It’s also very diaspora and Asian centric!)

*have not read yet

[seeminglyseph]

I’ve been sick today and yesterday and I don’t know where the days met, everything’s a little fuzzy, but somehow I’m watching a video about Ken Penders’ Sonic the Hedgehog and I really do feel like. I wish someone would cover it from the POV of someone who read the comics like…. Before the lawsuits and the memes. Like everything feels like “so I heard about these crazy comics and looked them up, this is crazy!” But like.

I know I wasn’t the only kid reading these fucking comics. There were other people who read these books and liked these characters, and cared about the plot lines maybe because they were 10 and didn’t know how storytelling was supposed to work. It’s one thing to be 35 and go “wow that’s fucking stupid” and another thing to be a literal small child, the target audience for Sonic the Hedgehog and be like “oh, shit, this series is cool!” Like yeah of course I didn’t know what Lemon SunDrop poisoning was as a literal 9 year old, but I remember reading a comic about the Chaotix solving a Noir style murder mystery so many times the pages fell apart.

That’s almost part of the Penders betrayal, like… yeah as a child I really enjoyed some of this stuff, and now it’s gone and trashed because he literally pulled the Sonic OC “my original character do not steal” on everything he ever contributed to a medium that is by its nature collaborative.

I grew up with a hyphenated name, this may seem like a nothingburger concept to have a problem with, but it’s also a situation where a lot of people decide either that they know better than you what your name is and will correct you, or they will simply ignore any information you give them about your name and just kinda call you whatever part of the hyphenate they like best. Julie-Su was a character whose name was not at all like mine, but also had the hyphenate that made my name so complicated. It feels stupid, but she was like my favourite character as a little kid, this obscure comic character no one knew about. But it’s all messed up now.

Maybe I should try and write an essay one day…

Edit: it should be noted like… I don’t like Penders, I don’t know a lot about his politics but it’s mostly iffy or bad what I do know. And a lot of the comics did go off the rails hard. I enjoyed the comics as a child, in part because as a child I could buy Sonic comics at the 7-11, and that meant I could actually buy Sonic comics. The world was different in the 90s man. I didn’t have information about creators, I read a comic book and then ran around creating an imaginary adventure about being a freedom fighter animal person. Like. I didn’t have the internet at all period at the time. I didn’t have a computer.

[signalwatch]

WB Animation Watch: Scooby-Doo and Krypto, Too! (2023) Watched:  01/02/2024 Format:  Max Viewing:  First Director:  Cecilia Aranovich It's not to say Scooby-Doo and Krypto, Too! (2023) is particularly good - it has issues.  But it was better than I figured, which is possibly damning with faint praise.  Look, I'm just not a huge fan of Scooby-Doo, which is hurtful to Scooby-Doo fans, but here we are.  But I do find myself checking out some Scoob from time-to-time as they do these guest-starring movies, like the recent one with Elvira.   As a DC Comics nut, it has a lot to love.  There's deep cut jokes exploiting a breadth of DC comics and animation history.  You'll maybe recognize bits from cartoons and movies, and you'll see items like Kandor.  Lex Luthor is a really funny supporting character here.  Not notes.  I laughed. Of course I'm a Krypto the Superdog fan, and he's in the movie, but he doesn't talk - which, look, Krypto hasn't had so much as thought-bubble in the comics since the 1970's.  But that's a bit limiting for a show with other talking dogs.  So it kinda sorta works, but.  Maybe a bit confusing?  Still, I'm just happy to see Krypto, so bonus points. As an animation fan, it has some challenges.  My Scooby-Doo was made in the 1960's - 1980's, by the cheapest animation house outside of Filmation, so this looks like Star Wars by comparison.  But my in-house Scooby-Doo expert has assured me that they've done better by Mystery, Inc. in recent years, so I'll just agree with that.  But for someone expecting Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? style art and maybe Challenge of the Superfriends, it's... fine.  Really, it looks like the art in DC's Scooby-Doo and Batman comics that I pick up once in a blue moon if Krypto or someone shows up.    There's some funny bits in the movie - there was a Velma's glasses bit that kills.  And I liked some of the gags about, like, the valet at the Hall of Justice.  But some of the old, worn out gags from Scooby-Doo are no fresher in 2024 than they were in 1984.  And there was no gag they couldn't stretch until you were like "I get it.  Enough." And that included the finale "fight" that went on what seemed as long as any DC superhero movie ending - ie: way past the point where it wore out its welcome.  Which may have been a gag unto itself.  And, of course, any DC fan worth their salt could telegraph the ending twist. I did have a couple of moments watching this cartoon that made me just sort of stare at DC over the past twenty years or so and want to ask "why do you make it so hard when this is so simple?"  Like, DC needs a Superfriends cartoon, or some version of the Justice League on Max or Cartoon Network, aimed at kids.  I know they have some marketing research that tells them "this is for people between 16 and 24", but that is *nonsense*.  They haven't even tried since I was in middle school.  And I'm old now.* And seeing all the villains piled on Metropolis, which is treated as a gag, also made me realize why I don't give a shit about most DC events in the comics.   They aren't just the straight up Legion of Doom vs. Justice League match-up that wouldn't just feel like some wank-fest that will be meaningless to most readers.   If they can make DC Comics work better in a Scooby-Doo cartoon - where the characters don't even really appear - than in most DC media, it may be time for a rethink. *say what you will, but the Justice League cartoon was airing at 7:00 at night.  That was not aimed at kids.  And they buried Justice League Action, which was great, at like 6:00 AM.  It was insane. https://ift.tt/gNLwxCV via The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/Ev8gqRn January 03, 2024 at 06:13PM

[soupmanspeaks]

ngl I think I was cooking with this, so to add on, I think most definitely Q!philza would 100% have piano leitmotif I think that Q!foolish would have one that has synth, mostly because he's an upbeat guy and 80's synth especially sounds so positive and upbeat, and since he is sorta working with the federation now, it gives that cold, techno music vibe as well, and maybe Q!vegetta could have a brass sort of theme, with tubas and trumpets, and trombones, a hero-sort of theme, since he's considered a very formidable opponent. Maybe then Leos leitmotif could be a sort of electro swing vibe? even though swing/jazz is really different than big brass orchestras, it kinda just fits leo's personality yk? it sounds a bit fun and bouncy and upbeat! but also a bit classy and reserved, like a mix of leo's parents!! maybe Q!forever and Q!philza could have like, a SU amalgem sorta thing when they are hanging out together? two opposing music styles (hip hop and classical piano) making this mix that blends the two together? idk it would be cool though lol I think Q!Maxo would have a sort of spy/noir kind of thing? lots of softer notes, maybe some lone trumpet moments? mostly for the trumpet pun, but also because he also likes to figure out the mysteries of the island in a clue finding sort of way, he DID make a machine ai that can help trace the origins of things like audios and images and whatnot. But Q!cellbit would also kinda fit that sort of thing, that man solves mysteries a whole bunch yk, but maybe his would have drums? I'm getting percussion vibes honestly, not so much a rock sort of thing, but not really a jazz sort of thing...Lofi maybe? 24/7 beats to research on how to take down a hidden society residing on the very island you crashed on that harmed your children? Q!slime and Gegg would 100% have a funk bass theme with 808 and electronic doot doots Q!quackity would defo have a sort of funky trumpet sort of theme, but then after he gets taken by the federation, the rotary of the theme gradually becomes more and more aquatic/technical, which references his involvement and subsequent demise (?) by the federations hands yk Q!jaiden I think would have a chiptune flute leitmotif, not only does it have like, a technical sounding nature, which goes in line with the technological-esc nature of the federation, and it also tries to emulate a woodwind instrument, which goes with the whole bird hybrid hc Q!jaiden has, but chiptune is just so silly /pos like I personally think it fits Q!jaiden a bunch :DD Random but I feel like dapper would just have like.....A choir alt-rock theme, like with a huge big pipe organ delivering very low notes, but also like a bass guitar with a theatre esc tune?? idk think of like... flight of the crows by jhariah lmao idk ooo but then Tallulah would deffo have like, a Broadway esc leitmotif, maybe like tambourine w/violin but also a bit of piano? and maybe a bit of flute as well??? like maybe something that sounds like the beginning part of Polyphemus from epic??? idk if that REALLY fits but I'm kinda just spitballing at this point lmao

also I am by no means a music expert I'm just rambling so if I need to be corrected in my term usage please tell me lol

I think if qsmp was a show, q!phil's leitmotif/theme would primarily be piano, when he, chayanne, fit, and ramone were having their epic moment at the difficult ship, I'm pretty sure the music that was in the bg contained piano and during tallulah and chayanne's temporary death, a somber piano song played Idk I know its a coincidence, you can't script those sorts of things, but like I think it would be cool if Q!phil had a piano leitmotif!!

[below-average-fangirl]

I just watched the Reacher movies and man I dont care what ppl say, Tom is awesome in them and does quiet brooding so well. I totally get the ppl who read the books and had someone else in mind, but I really have no idea why the second movie gets so much shit as a movie, I kinda preferred it. I especially love the scene on the plane when the girl is talking about her father and his face when he's listening to it.

Hey anon,

Glad to hear you enjoyed them. I do think both films are underrated, and if Tom Cruise had been playing a similar character with any other name, Reacher (2012) would get a lot more props for being a solid grown-up film of the thriller/action genre. It’s quietly stylish and beautiful, with a focus on making the action clear to the audience, which means no shaky cam to hide poorly laid-out action sequences or excessive editing to add tension where none exists or to get your main character over a fence. From the opening sequence, through music and action, it lays out the tone and style of the film so succinctly while immediately immersing you in the story.

I understand why fans of the books were unhappy with Tom Cruise being cast, despite the blessing of the author, Lee Child. Every reader will have an image of a character in their heads, and it can be hard to see certain actors in certain roles. Unsurprisingly, the biggest complaint against Tom Cruise being cast was to do with his height, as he very much does not fit the description of "extremely tall, extremely broad, long-armed, and long-legged" with "hands the size of dinner plates." Now I've never read the books, and while I understand why fans were unhappy, I think Christopher McQuarrie utilizes Tom really well in the first movie and uses his physique as an advantage.

For the type of thriller that the first film is, it leans more toward noir than straight up crime action; a character over 6' would have storytelling pitfalls. What works in a book can translate to the screen very differently. That doesn’t mean that a Reacher who is more faithful to the books in terms of height and build couldn’t work. The new Amazon Prime series has been very popular, but any man who is as big and as imposing as Reacher is described is going to stand out, and you would have to actively address the fact that he would be someone who is hard to take down in a fight. Instead, with the casting of Tom Cruise, the film shows how people underestimate him, such as the guys in the bar who think they can take him out with little hassle. 

Then there’s the fact that the character of Reacher is a drifter, someone who slips in and out of town, leaving no trace. Well, if a guy is 6 feet whatever and built, people are going to remember him, and it will make it a little harder for him to slip away unnoticed. But not a Reacher who is built like Tom, and Christopher McQuarrie shows this brilliantly with the escape on the bus at the end of the car chase. It actively plays into the character being a drifter; he just disappears into a crowd.

The second film, Never Go Back, is a more typical thriller/action film with a family road trip added in that I like because Reacher is being forced into a situation he usually avoids, having to work with others. Never Go Back is well balanced, with Turner and Reacher both being highly capable and highly motivated individuals. When Turner expresses to Reacher that she wants to get these guys more than him, we see that he took this on board during the interrogation scene because he leaves it to Turner. I wish his falling into an assistive role had continued with Turner fully solving the mystery that they're smuggling drugs, I feel she deserved to solve it. But at the end of the day it is a Jack Reacher movie.

I also like how both films handle the potential romantic dynamic. With Helen there is a hint that if he were to stay, he could very much have a life with her, but the film knows not to force it, and I like that there’s no kiss. Despite the chemistry between them, it really hasn’t been earned, and any kiss would have felt forced and more like the film doing it because of the type of movie it is rather than it coming from the characters. With Turner, we see how similar they are. Yes, at the start there was some mild flirting and intrigue about each other over the phone, but their connection is one where they’re better as friends, and that's okay. In the end, it's the potential of the father-daughter relationship with Sam that leaves a bigger impact on Reacher than the romantic one, which we also saw a little of in the first film with Sandy. His interactions with her, especially in the office scene, were more paternal, and he never really tried romantic charm to get information out of her.

Ultimately, I think both films have more merit than people give them credit for. Neither is perfect, and I don’t know if either one would be in my top ten Tom Cruise movies, but if you can look past the casting issue of Tom as Reacher because of the height thing, each of them is a rewarding watch.

[ilikekidsshows]

Hi! I saw your post about ML but with Alya as deuteragonist instead of Adrien and how it change the theme altogether and now I'm wondering what if Kagami is the one who receive the black cat? Say she's already in Paris that time and was waiting for her fencing class or something where she meet Fu. How the bug+cat dynamic could be? Thanks a bunch!

Okay, so, the way I see it, Marinette’s counterpart is a big factor in what genres the story of Miraculous emphasizes. Adrien is romance and the magical girl escapism, Alya would be identity mystery and Kagami would be superhero action (and magical girl escapism).

Like, here’s the thing; these three options for counterparts all have different ways of dealing with problems. Adrien tries to understand, de-escalate and heal hurts, Alya tries to investigate and find answers to problems and questions, Kagami faces problems head on and refuses to back down. Kagami is the character most consistently shown to be ready to throw down with an Akuma without a Miraculous. Kagami is a warrior. Her being the deuteragonist would mean that the show would probably be more action-oriented, to give her more space to do things that suit her character.

The BugCat relationship would also be less of an easily established status quo that then gets shaken up later, because with Kagami and Marinette, who calls the shots wouldn’t be clear at first. Tikki and Plagg might each tell their holders that Ladybug is the important one, but that doesn’t mean Kagami will just accept it. Let’s face it, Kagami starts the series as standoffish and with a need to prove herself. Meanwhile, Marinette starts the show as unsure and flighty. Kagami would not accept a rookie Ladybug as her leader. However, Marinette would also not want to argue the matter. She already plays lip service to the idea that she and Cat Noir are equals in canon even if the stories themselves don’t treat them as such and Adrien just accepts her at her word for seasons 1-3. Kagami would insist on having more of the load from the start.

Kagami is very goal-oriented with a single-minded focus on any goal, while also being proud of her own abilities. I can see her feeling the need to show that she’s at least as good of a hero as Ladybug. There would be a bit of a rivalry going on there, since her presentation as Ryuuko in ‘Ikari Gozen’ does show us that Kagami wants to be taken seriously as a powerful, competent hero who can take care of things herself. Ladybug having a leg up with her purification and healing powers being so essential would be a bitter pill for her to swallow as a hero just starting off, especially since she’s the one mostly fighting their enemies while Ladybug puts plans together, since I do think Kagami would still do much of the brawling and crowd control stuff Cat Noir does in canon.

However, Kagami's drive to prove her competence would also be likely to feed into Marinette's feelings of inadequacy, since Kagami is even more into professionalism than Marinette as heroes. As such, they'd both kinda feel the need to be "more" while they learned how their teamwork would work best instead of them almost instantly stumbling into a style that seemed to work like Ladybug and Cat Noir did.

Basically, I think Ladybug and Neko-chan would need to build up their trust in each other, rather than them being able to take it for granted the way Ladybug and Cat Noir do, or them having an easy rapport the way Ladybug and Alya-Cat would. So rather than the relationship getting reconstructed later, the story would focus on constructing it to begin with. This, of course, means that the story would have less focus on Marinette’s civilian relationships, since the point of the Ladynoir relationship being so easy in seasons 1-3 was specifically so that so many episodes would be about Marinette and Adrien (or Marinette trying to get with Adrien) instead of their superhero selves.

Another important aspect of Kagami to take into account, however, is that she is fundamentally very similar to Adrien. She starts off as more uptight, but her relationship with Adrien really showcases how much she’s also been looking for an outlet, something she can do where she doesn’t have to be the perfect daughter her mother expects. She just needed someone to encourage her to go for it, and we know Plagg is a big believer in doing things for yourself on occasion. So I do see Kagami softening as time goes on and she learns to trust Plagg and Ladybug. I imagine Marinette being startled when her hero partner actually goofs off with her for the first time.

To sum up; deuteragonist Kagami would most likely lead to a bigger focus on the superhero side of things, rather than the civilian side. The main vehicles for this focus would be more outright fight scenes as well as building the Ladybug/Black Cat team’s trust and cohesion. They would want to be able to work together, but it would be challenging at first.

[metalichotchoco]

The psychic detective series of skins just drip style from their pores, combining noir sensibilities and persona esc graphics and patterns make it truly a slight to behold. Too bad we won’t ever see them for pc I would’ve totally used it for my senna.

Anyways Veigar’s design already lends him to mystery settings just inherently, it’s just what role to fit him into to really sell character.

I choose for him to be on senna’s side, her old slightly world weary mentor that still looks out for the kid. Veigar being a mentor figure is kinda super perfect but it’s never been explored. You can use his roughness to Recontextualize the whole character. So instead of being imprisoned and tortured for his scars, it’s a side effect of all the long nights working such a job. Also he could also use the puzzle piece motif since he stacks infinitely just like senna (and Nasus)