#my personality varies greatly depending on the environment that I’m in

[uchiha-gaeshi]

I’m calling off my SI/OC fic.

[noxianwilled]

Okay weird one but does Katarina have any beauty routines? She’s consistently moving and I’m curious how she has time to care for her beautiful hair

send me questions you have about my character

— @witchcraftandburialdirt

the funniest thing is that you started with 'weird one' and i've been asked about kat's hair before lmao the answer is more about the reason why she keeps it so long but it's here if you're interested (the short answer to that one is it's vanity)

but okay so! beauty routine! she doesn't. have much of a routine in any sense, unless she's in noxus. the nature of her work means she's often traveling, and away from home for weeks; how long she stays there between the next assignment likely varies, too. even when she's in noxus, if her missions take her far from prime, she won't be returning home that fast either.

the lack of routine means she makes do with what she has. sometimes her only means of bathing will be a river, sometimes she'll have access to an inn, but invariably she stays as clean as possible (which, yeah, sometimes it won't be very possible when you're just trying to kill people and survive). but kat does have a noble background, and she does very much care to stay clean and smell nice kasdnfjkasdnf

like i said in that other ask about her hair, if she learned anything from her mother, it's the importance of presentation, and that it can come a long way depending on how one wishes to be perceived. there is also just the fact she can't stand to stay dirty for a long time. sometimes the beauty routine is just washing yourself with the most basic soap ever, but that's better than nothing.

with her hair specifically, beyond washing it and trying to keep it clean while at work, that also involves thoroughly combing it, which anyone with long hair can tell you can be greatly time-consuming, so depending on the situation, she won't get to do it every day and her hair will become messy. what she does for the most part is multitasking. there's a lot of preparation before she does strike down a target, and other than studying the environment in person, a lot of it can be done reading up on her targets while she takes care of her hair.

the closest she'd have to a routine, when there's room for it, is to wash it every other day (it's so long.... she's so active.... she'd have to wash it frequently), brush it every day (if she has the time and if it's necessary, more than once), and braid it to sleep (to make things easier for herself the next day when she has to comb it again). when she can afford the luxury, she'd wash it with herbal preparations and other such products, and brush it with scented oils in the days it isn't washed. if work results in her hair being more neglected than she'd like, as soon as she'd have the time she'd take proper care of it, going the extra length to ensure her hair stays healthy and well-cared for, hydrate it using certain plants/oils and such.

while caring for hair that long can be greatly time-consuming, it's really the only sort of vanity-related thing she indulges on; it's also the only time to herself i think she invariably takes, when possible. modern verse kat has it so much easier keeping up with her rapunzel vanity project

[crispy-ghee]

Hello! Firstly I just wanna say I love your work, both your own personal drawings and stories, as well as the collaboration pieces with Isei. I was just wondering what your process was for your building of your Yautja clans?? I wanted to try my hand at making my own, so I was wondering what pointers you may have.

Hi! Thanks so much for the kind words, it actually makes me really happy that anyone is enjoying the stuff I enjoy making. Worldbuilding can be a lot of fun, and awesome that you're gonna try your hand at it!

I have a lot of thoughts on worldbuilding, and to be honest my approach varies here and there depending on what I'm making or writing, but I'll see if I can't gather my general thoughts into something more succinct instead of going off on a long ramble haha

STARTING INFO

When you're worldbuilding for a pre-existing IP, it's good to keep in mind the stuff you already know about the race/species. This seems really obvious, and imo you can mess around in and out of canon if you want bc it's your clan and you should have fun first and foremost, but it's something to consider.

(But also keep in mind that this isn't something you necessarily have to think about right away, it can come later in your process, but I'm just mentioning it here.)

With Yautja, there's the physical aspects that make them distinct (mandibles, crest, reptilian/mammalian, tendrils, claws, tall on average, tend towards warmer climates, strong, etc) and what we've seen of them culturally (glory/trophy hunters, honor code, matriarchal, etc etc). The cool thing though is that when you're coming up with a hook for your clan, you can either choose to follow these rules, or you could find something interesting in subverting them.

What if it's a clan of smaller yautja? What if these live in the cold? What if their clan doesn't give a shit about hunting? etc etc

Speaking about Hooks...

The Hook is just sort of a jumping off point where you can start building your clan out of. It doesn't necessarily have to be a hook for the audience, and it might even change or be discarded as you go along writing, but it's always good to have a place to start.

Hooks can honestly be anything and inspired from anywhere. I'm going to be honest that most of the time I don't really go searching for hooks, they're moments of inspiration that kickstart stuff. They're usually what causes the worldbuilding.

A lot of that (and a lot of worldbuilding, actually) is actually input. Being curious and learning things, consuming things, etc etc. Expanding your visual/mental library. It's not something that i do purposefully, necessarily. It comes from stuff I've read about, movies and documentaries I've watched, some tweet I saw, a picture on my dashboard, a wikipedia article I stumbled into somehow, a story a friend told, so on and so forth.

That being said, you can totally find a hook if you just ask yourself the right questions.

But the things that can be hooks, like I said, can vary greatly. It could be an idea you had out of nowhere, a novel question, a theme you want to explore, a cool image you saw, a costume you wanna try out, anything! For example:

Maybe you already have a character that you designed that you want to build the clan around. The character can totally be the hook. What are things about the character that might hint at what society they grew up in? Do they have a specific attitude? Quirk? Is there something about their appearance? The clothes they wear, the way their tendrils look, their coloration?

Maybe you saw a location that was really neat! What if Yautja lived in a place like that?

This clan is stealthy!

This clan likes animals!

This clan makes art that looks like _______.

This clan engages in a lot of warfare.

I liked this idea touched upon in a predator comic I read, can i expand on that?

What if a Yautja did Basejumping?

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...

Brainstorming! Ask lots of Questions!

I ask a lot of "why" and "how" after I figure out my hook (or hookS). It's an easy way to get stuff kickstarted.

How do they do that? Why do they do that? Is it ritual? Is it something else? Is it based on their history? On their environment? On their Lore? On their social structure?

And then just keep asking why after you answer that question, and then you'll have a pretty good foundation that you can maybe mess with or discard or change completely or use for an even better idea.

Like...lemme use the "Yautja Basejumper" as an example.

Why would this Yautja base-jump? Is it for a practical reason, like it helps them hunt a specific animal? Is it for a ritual reason? Is it for the thrill? Is it to prove themselves?

How do they do it? Do they use high tech to do it, or is it low tech? If it's low tech, what materials do they make their parachutes or gliders out of? In human base-jumping, what tools do they use, and how can I translate that into Yautja maybe? Or is it a completely different approach?

Do they basejump off of mountains? Is it something they do because they live in the mountains? Or is it maybe something they have to travel to a specific place to go do? What is this place? Why do they go there? Is it for a spiritual reason? Coming of age? Is the place itself significant? Does this have something to do with their history, or a legend that they have?

If base jumping is important, how does this affect what they find attractive or cool? Do they like really tenacious yautja? Is being more aerodynamic a boon? Would the wear anything specific for the act, bits of decoration? Is there an animal they want to look like?

So let's say just going through those questions, and asking myself why and how and other questions from that intial hook and then the answers I gave. Here's a (very very very rough) potential initial thought:

This Yautja clan base-jumps as a coming-of-age ritual. They live at the foot of a tall mountain, and young hunters climb to the top to prove their courage and tenacity. Part of the ritual is making your own glider--and if your glider doesn't hold up because you rushed it, then you get really hurt or die, and that's your own fucking fault. They're doing it to mimic large flying animals that once-upon-a-time roosted on that mountain but don't exist anymore, which had cultural/mythical significance to them. Maybe their ancestors used to ride them. This clan are able to fight in flight, unlike many other Yautja.

And then you can build off of that or change it, do research and look stuff up related to it to see if you can add more stuff, keep asking more questions about the things you decided on, etc.

Forever and ever and ever.............

Anyway, that's my worldbuilding approach, haha. It's basically "learn a lot of stuff, ask a lot of questions."

I don't know if that was helpful at all, but there ya go!

[vasiliquemort]

~Commissions time~ 

 Oh, hello there~

 It would be absolutely wonderful if you distribute this post or even want to support my projects and order something special for yourself;зз Below I have described in detail almost all the necessary information, but please do not hesitate to write and ask me for any reason in a private message or ask - it will be my pleasure to tell or show you more, and I am always glad to have pleasant acquaintances*** 

 What can I do for you: 

Design and illustration of your original character (based on references or text description) 

Your portrait, a portrait of your loved one, a celebrity or a person you like (including historical figures) 

A portrait of any artistic character - from any fandom, and although my work is closer to gothic fantasy, it is a great pleasure for me to work with new themes and develop myself. The fandoms I'm most familiar with are listed in tags;з

 I like to design clothes on my own, interpret the appearance and style of characters, but I am always very attentive to the interests and desires of other people** 

I do portraits in three formats - bust, waist-length and full-length, and with three different stages of completion - line art, flat color and full shadow work. They can be completely different in style, and you should pay close attention to the difference in the execution of these formats - the busts are always more detailed in the character's features, the atmosphere is more consistent in waist-length paintings, and full-length drawings are well suited to demonstrate clothing design or depict a scene. 

On average, I complete the work within three to four days, but in case of various circumstances I leave myself up to a week, the lion's share of the time (usually the first day) is occupied by sketch and line art, as well as the background - depending on the complexity and its cost , and the duration of the work can vary greatly, but on average I do them in a day or two. 

I can make completely different backgrounds for you - for bust or chest-high portraits, graphics or bokeh with some elements of the environment are more suitable, for full-length portraits, you can perform both art nouveau design and full surroundings with a landscape or interior design. 

 What can I do and approximate prices:

- Bust of one character up to the chest. 

Sketch: $ 30 

Flat color: $ 35

Shadows & Color Treatment: $ 40 

 - Portrait of one or more characters up to the waist. 

Sketch: $ 45 

Flat color: $ 50

Shadows & Color Treatment: $ 55 

For background + 5 $ minimum. 

 For each new character + 10 $ 

 - Character (or several) in full growth. 

 Sketch: $ 60

Flat color: $ 65

Shadows & Color Treatment: $ 70 

For background + 10 $ minimum. 

 For each new character + 15 $ 

 I also accept tips - most often they are included in the cost of the background, which is done at the end, after the main character design. 

Whoa !! You’ve read almost everything! Thank you very much! Here, under the cut, I describe the whole process of work and how we pay. This is very useful information about most of the questions that you may have, if you want to purchase my work, I advise you to take a look too;) 

 How do we work on an order? 

Please feel free to contact me via Tumblr or mail for any questions you may have! ~ If you have an interest in my work, and you want me to create something special for you - share this with me in a message, we can discuss all the details and cost of your painting** 

After I discuss the content of the painting with the client and receive additional materials from him (a photo of the person I am drawing, or references that are close to what is expected of me), I start creating the first sketch. 

In accordance with the request, I make a sketch of the future painting, which will contain all its important elements and an approximate color scheme (if any) that I will use. At this stage, you can freely make your amendments, and when the content suits you, I will ask you for an advance payment of half the cost of the work without price of background (through Paysend). 

After that, work on the portrait will begin. Its duration varies on several factors - to a greater extent on the volume and complexity of the work itself, as well as on my own workload with other orders. I will contact you at various stages of the work readiness to show its progress and make the necessary corrections. 

After completing the portrait, I will send you its version in low quality- you familiarize yourself with it, and after you pay the rest of the amount, you will receive the final result of our work! ~ 

[nixienotes]

Do you have aphantasia?

Aphantasia is the inability to visually see things in your “mind’s eye” meaning that when you close your eyes and try to picture things - nothing ever actually pops up. This is a recent term and it seems to be growing in popularity and study leading people like me to realize that my friends and family can actually see the things described when they try to. Now aphantasia is a spectrum, and your experience with visualization can vary depending on where you sit on it. It can range from black and white, muted colors, blurry images and more. I myself have a wonderful world of absolutely nothing waiting for me when I close my eyes and because of this I actually find it very hard to focus when they’re closed! It makes falling asleep hard to do, and dinner prayers and yoga classes a little awkward when I’m caught looking at the floor...

How does this effect spirituality and witchcraft?

Greatly, for me at least! So many practices start with the word visualize, and most divination techniques require to some degree the practice of receiving visual messages or cues that come from outside of our physical environment. While called “psychic” by many in the past I’ve always clarified it feels more intuitive and while I might not actually see anything, I sort of just know things like a truth. The way you know a strange face is your third cousin or coworker in a dream, purely because your brain has decided it to be so. On top of that, it seems a little unfair to me that many people have the ability to create mental sanctuaries or scenes in their minds to be used for both magical and mental health benefits while I’m left quite literally in the dark.

So what can we do?

I’m no expert on how our brains adjust to this deficit and to be honest I imagine it varies greatly from person to person. One thing I’ve recently been drawn to are ambience videos on YouTube. An accidental find likely due to both my search for background sounds and things to use during tabletop rpg games, as well as the search for nice ASMR videos to sleep to. I was suddenly bombarded with “cottagecore” “dark academia” and “royalty core” playlists and scenes as well as the beautifully composited or 3D rendered environments that are often set up with ambient lighting and animations. These videos have become a new kind of background noise for me to have control over my mental space and mood without having to rely on a brain function that simply doesn’t work for me.

I’ve also thought about the sort of posts we see here on tumblr: where you see witches making shrines, altars, and sanctuaries using video games like Minecraft, the Sims, and other creative sandboxes to have physical and visual places to practice.

If you’re creative in the arts I also urge you to try sketching out some moods and scenes that can be personal to you in your practice. Try collages and painting or working on perspective drawing to aid in landscapes and interiors so you can create dreamscapes of your own!

Here’s a wonderful playlist of some ambience videos that I quite enjoy (not created by me) in case you’d like to incorporate them into your practice or daily life. Now I’m excited for a lazy afternoon I can shape with these scenes to set a mood or vibe that can keep me focused on my work, and the immersion is a new sensation I’ve quite enjoyed and hope you will too!

[girlmeetsliv3]

Violent Delights: One

Violent Delights

(In collaboration with @jooniescupcakes​)

Genre: Horror, Suspense, & Psychological Thriller

Pairings: Gang!Jimin x reader ; BTS x Reader

Sypnosis:“These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which as they kiss, consume.”

Release Date: Sept 29, 2020 @ 8 p.m. (GMT-4)

Word Count: 9.2k

Author's Note: It's finally here! Almost a year in the works, but Violent Delights The Series is finally kicking off. Thank you for all the love, support, as well as critiques the one-shot received. I hope this re-telling can both capture and surpass the twisted charm of the original. I would like to thank Min (@jooniescupcakes) for helping me outline and plot the story and for contributing. I greatly appreciate it. This story will be darker, gore-y, and a lot more twisted than the original. So strap in & happy early Halloween! Trigger Warning: This story contains subject matter not appropriate for all ages. This story contains mental illness, emotional, physical, and mental abuse; as well as abuse of power, manipulation, and toxic relationships. All of which play a big part in this story. It is never my intention to sensationalize or spread misinformation about mental disorders, please take the "medicine" used in this story with a grain of salt. Links to helplines can be found in the navigation of my blog. Lastly, this is a work of fiction and does not portray the character of Bangtan Sonyeondan.

The door slammed shut harshly as Hanbin rushed to bolt it locked, by his side, he tugged an inconsolable YN through the small house. There was very little time until she arrived. He maneuvered his way through the piles of old dirty clothes, the children had long become accustomed to the stench coming from the kitchen, the dust, and grime that covered their home. It’s why no one came over. Not that anyone was allowed over. In the center of the room framed on the wall shined a family portrait mockingly. Hanbin was short for his age, just eight years old, but it allowed him to navigate through small openings and hide in tight spaces. It was a survival tactic.

“Shh, YN. You need to calm down. She’ll be here soon.”

“i-I wuh-wanted to help, Binnie. She was hurt -”

Hanbin pulled on his sister a little too harshly trying to draw her attention, it caused her lower lip to quiver as she tried to hold the tears back. That wouldn’t do she didn’t like it when they cried. “Helping people only gets you into trouble.” Outside, the slamming of a car door could be heard. Quickly Hanbin located the small broom closet and helped YN inside. The jiggling of the doorknob was barely above a whisper, but it rang as loud as the fire alarm in the children’s heads. YN began to hyperventilate knowing what was coming even if she didn’t truly understand why. 

“It’s okay,” Hanbin rubs her cheek affectionately. “Just stay inside, be quiet, and don’t try to help.” Just like that he closed the door and locked it. He silently hoped YN hadn’t skipped lunch that day. YN cowered under the old headboards, her only company the dusty cleaning products and cobwebs, the second the screaming started she covered her ears and closed her eyes.

“Miss YN?” The nurse’s bright pink scrubs served as a strong contrast to the muted tones of the rest of the building. YN cast a glance around she was likely the youngest person there, but everyone around her shared a similar air of ennui that YN had long grown to associate with doctor’s offices. Slowly she stood up following the nurse as she guided her through what appeared to be an endless labyrinth of doors. After stopping abruptly the nurse turns around and smiles though it’s evidently rehearsed. “Don’t be nervous, Dr. Kang is one of the best doctors here.” How many times hadn’t she heard that before? YN offers the nurse a smile making sure it is wide enough to crinkle the corners of her eyes. That seems to suffice the woman enough for her to finally knock on the door.

Dr. Kang Daniel was certainly young for his profession, but that provided some relief for YN. It would be nice not to spend almost an hour with someone that looked to have been around when Freud was. “Please take a seat.” He gestures over to a chair in front of the desk and YN notices there is little decoration around the room. It’s also missing a clock, but thankfully she sees Kang is wearing one. YN notes the time: 5:36 pm. Forty-three more minutes to go. 

“I apologize that we’re going to have to go through all of this, but its procedure.” He lightly shakes the file in his hand. Most doctors operated digitally now, so that stood out.

“It’s fine.”

“Let’s get to it then. Why are you here YN?”

They went over the usual things and YN was quickly growing a bit bored, her eyes danced around the room as she did find it very strange that it seemed so vacant for a personal office. “Bored?” Her eyes snapped back to his, Kang wearing an unreadable expression. “I apologize for the lack of decor. I recently moved offices, so this will be my last day here.” YN frowned, “I thought I was to be your new patient.” Kang nods, “Yes, but our sessions will be held in my consultation. It’s closer to downtown so you might save yourself the trip.” How does he know I live closer to downtown? Perhaps seeing the further furrowing of her brow Kang speaks once more. “Unless you live far from downtown?” YN shakes her head feeling the tension leave her body just a bit.

Slowly he closes the file and leans forward, resting on his elbows. “I know this isn’t the most comfortable environment. I also know how jarring transfers can be and that they can halt any sort of process…” YN zones out of the conversation having heard it a thousand times since she was eleven years old. The rambling tends to have the same conclusion every single time.

‘I want us to be friends.’

“I want us to be friends or something similar. I know there are some barriers and guidelines in our relationship, but don’t think they aren’t malleable. I’m here if you need me.” 

YN mulls over what might serve as an appropriate response, aware that taking too long might ruin the pseudo-friendly atmosphere and she doesn’t want to have any more problems with psychiatrists. “Thank you, Dr. Kang. I’m sorry I’m just a bit nervous.” The sheepish smile that follows afterward is enough to convince Kang. Perhaps he isn’t a bad man but YN has encountered his type far too often: those striving to make a difference. Always trying to make things better. Always trying to help. 

“No one will help us, YN. No one cares about us.”

“So let’s move onto your family YN -”

“Actually I wanted to ask you about my medication.” Kang seemed surprised at her interruption but encouraged her to continue. “Dr. Lee only gave me enough medication to last the transfer, so I’m almost out.”

“That won’t be a problem. I’ll be taking you off the medication for a short time anyway.” What? Kang’s attention was now on his computer, not bothering to look at YN in the eye. “I need to run some tests and in order to do that your system has to be clean.” 

YN hadn’t been off her medication for a long time. Sure the dosage varied depending on the treatment, but going completely off was unheard of. Especially so soon. “Don’t worry,” Kang smiled. “There shouldn’t be any potential side effects and if there is I’ll give you my private number. In case of emergencies.” What was supposed to be a soothing smile only unnerved YN even more. YN nodded once more though she felt her anxiety begin to swell up in her stomach. Her heart rate speeding up, but YN knew a panic attack wouldn’t do her any favors. It would make her look like an addict and they would lock her up for sure. It’s only a matter of time. Now that the issue had been cleared Kang cleared his throat, “Now what I was saying about your family -” 

YN stood up abruptly thankful the minute hand had finally landed one above the four. “It’s 6:19 our time is up.” She gestures towards his wristwatch and an annoyed look masks his face before it went just as quickly as it came. “It appears so.” His hand covers the watch in a motion that could hardly be described as casual. Kang waves her off, “It was a pleasure meeting you, YN. I’ll schedule the tests for Friday and I’ll see you Wednesday.”

“In other news….updates...gang violence…”

YN wandered through the aisles looking for inspiration or something to satisfy her cravings. In her hand lay open her phone just so she wouldn’t have to keep making eye contact with the older woman behind the cash register. The employee peered at her as if YN was one of the dangerous criminals the news anchors droned on about.  YN keeps looking over the message her social worker sent her: you have to be there at least a month before I could put in a transfer request. When YN bent down to read the label, she felt the woman lean over the counter. YN rolled her eyes and picked up the packaged bulgogi before grabbing a sports drink and a small fruit salad.

Once she saw YN was an actual paying customer, not a shoplifter, the woman’s expression changed. Her smile far too gleeful for this time of night. “Will that be all, dear?” Her voice too high to be sincere. Nonetheless, YN nods and forces a polite smile on her face. Even wishes the woman a safe night for extra measure. Before YN could walk out of the store, the woman responds with her own form of goodnight. “I would be careful walking home tonight. There’s been a lot of crime recently.”

 It is a bit cruel that the second YN exits the store and turns a corner someone begins to follow her. She becomes aware of it instantly, her senses having been trained from a young age to pick up on the small imperceptible changes. Instinct was not to be ignored. The wind became thicker and the streets a little too quiet. YN wouldn’t look up, but if she did, surely there would be storm clouds looming. Don’t acknowledge him. Just keep walking. People like that enjoyed prey. The game. No one wanted to face off against a predator being one. Unless this was a different kind of predator then YN really ought to call the police. For once she was thankful for the pocketknife stored in the inner pocket of her jacket but disappointed that her pepper spray remained stashed in her bag.

Her groceries hung heavy on her arm, but YN was too far from home to attempt to sprint. So she would have to wait it out, YN could take a few punches. Surely whoever it was would become tired after following her for too long. By the time YN had walked ten blocks, she realized that was not the case. The person was still behind her, though there wasn’t much that she could tell much about the person. They were likely taller and considering their persistence they were a threat.

YN could pick up distantly on the booming bass that likely came from one of the many clubs scattered downtown. It meant she was near her house, that she could likely get home. The houses looked familiar she was probably not too far from home. Hope began to swell in her chest until another idea dawned on her. That’s exactly what they want. If the person had followed her this far they wanted to see where she lived. Abruptly YN turned left towards the direction of the main street, she was likely in a back alley of some sort but the bass only got louder so that helped propel her forward.

Towards the center of the alley, YN saw three figures huddled over on the ground. She was too far off to hear what they were saying, but based on their movements it seemed mocking in nature. YN wasn’t able to decipher what was occurring until it was far too late. A man is wriggling on the ground while bleeding profusely from the side of his head while two men stand above him. Blood is spattered on both walls and their clothes are covered in it. There no longer was a presence behind her the real danger now lay in front. In the form of a tall raven-haired man and a slightly shorter blonde - the latter of which YN made eye contact with.

YN bolts down the alleyway in the opposite direction aware that the blonde is hot on her tails. As she rounds a corner she feels him catching up to her right on her before he abruptly slows down. He doesn’t want the chase to end.

56...57...58…

YN counts the streets aware she’s nearing her apartment but isn’t about to lead him straight to her doorstep. In her peripheral, she sees one of the neighboring buildings which contains a doorman stationed there twenty-four hours. YN uses the last bit of her strength to push through the glass doors tumbling at the steps, but the doorman is there to catch her. “Miss, is everything alright?” YN turns around to catch a glimpse, but there’s no one behind her. Though she does note something disappointing: her groceries are gone.

When YN unlocked her apartment door she felt this immediate wave of tranquility hit her. It had taken a while to convince the doorman not to contact the police, she didn't want to be in bigger trouble, but the man had finally agreed after stating he would walk her back home. Once in the lobby, she took the stairs just to be safe. Quickly, she turned around securing all three locks, and headed straight for the bathroom. YN never understood the sentiment behind showers helping unwind, then again she never spent enough time under the water to allow for that. Baths weren't a treat - they were a utility. Like most utilities YN didn't have a lot of available growing up, so she learned to adapt.

Still, it was long enough to let her mind wander to everything that had occurred today. YN wasn't quite sure about how she felt about Dr. Kang, he unnerved her in a way other doctor's hadn't before. Then there was the issue regarding her medication: YN hadn't been unmedicated since she was eleven and that was a time she didn't want to go back to. Then there was the person that may have followed her and the man that definitely did. My head hurts. She rinsed herself and shut the water off, drying herself quickly with her towel. The chase had been real, too real, everything in YN's body had reacted instinctively once she met his eyes. Those dark eyes that had pierced into hers. The blonde man wasn't just chasing YN - he was hunting her down.

But what about the other person? YN hadn’t seen them, but she had felt them trailing after her. However, why would someone do that and especially for so long? The blonde man had only really tracked YN down for two blocks, but even then it felt shorter. The other person simply observed her. Didn’t do anything. Was there even someone there? YN glanced up, catching her reflection in the foggy mirror. The mist had dispersed in some sections, but not others so the only thing she could see were parts of her face. Faltering in her step, she walked forward and pulled the mirror open. Grabbing the white-labeled bottle with her name printed on it.

Habin sits atop the bathroom sink balancing himself. One of his hands gripping tightly to the side to not slip. This has to be done quickly before she gets back from the store. YN holds his legs or attempts to, while Habin finally manages to grab the bottle. “Is it this one?” He sticks his hand out for YN to see. The young girl squints her eyes, “Are they blue and little?” Hanbin looks through the orange tint of the bottle before nodding. “I think so.”

“Do they smell like fruits?”

“I can’t open the bottle YN. I don’t know if they smell like fruit.”

YN nods and Habin notes how hollowed out her face has become. Once round and plump, full of life, now looks as frail as his. “I think those are the ones.” Habin closes the medicine cabinet and cautiously jumps off, the medicine bottle still tight in his hands. “Why does she give them to you?” YN can note the confusion in her brother’s face, she was confused before too. “She says I need them to go to sleep. They help me sleep.” Habin stays quiet before in the blink of an eye he throws the pill bottle against the wall, breaking the seal causing all the pills to spill all over the floor.

“Bin why did you do that?! I need -”

“No! You don’t need anything YN. You aren’t sick, she's just lying to you!” Habin screamed in frustration. He could see the tears starting to well up in YN’s eyes and he felt regret pool in his stomach. “Please YN. You aren’t sick. We aren’t sick. Okay?”

YN took a deep breath, the way her brother had shown her would help stop the tears, the inside of her cheek was bitten harshly until her throat cleared up. “Okay.”

YN looks at the white bottle in her hand considering taking the medicine despite what Kang said. It would just be one more. Just to calm her down. To make sure that what happened tonight wasn't a side effect of going off so quickly. Her hand twisted the bottle cap, but instead of grabbing one and placing it in her mouth, she headed towards the toilet flushing them all away. Though she might not agree with his treatment plans Dr.Kang was a professional and surely knew more than she did. Plus, YN couldn't afford to be transferred again; her social worker might drop her altogether. It’s just until the blood work is completed.

“Unfortunately Miss YN, we won’t be able to conduct any tests until your insurance approves it.”

YN paces around her apartment, phone in hand. “I understand but my doctor ordered it. It’s necessary in order for him to treat me.”

“It appears that the necessary paperwork hasn’t been sent over to the insurance company. At least not enough to justify the exams. You can go through with them, but it will have to be out of pocket.”

YN sighs, running her hand through her hair as the nurse lists off the prices for each exam. A knock disrupts her causing YN to glance at the door questioningly, no one in her building would ever knock on her door. Looking through the peephole, she sees the manager and doesn't know if that makes her relieved or tenser. "I'm sorry can you just give me a minute?" YN speaks to the phone and mutes it, just to be safe. Upon opening the door, a brown bag is shoved in her face.

“Sorry to interrupt dear, some boy left this for you downstairs.”

Just as quickly as he came, the manager leaves. YN quickly shuts the door and locks it, before hanging up the call. The bag looks simple enough though YN hadn’t ordered anything in the past couple of days. Cautiously she opens it and the horror that spreads through her body is instantaneous. In the bag are her groceries from last night, but with minor changes: The red energy drink is now blue, the fruit salad is replaced with regular salad, and instead of bulgogi it is kimchi now. Though it isn’t the food that upsets YN, but rather the pink sticky note placed on top.

To replace everything you lost ;)

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. Staying locked inside her apartment for the following days seemed like a smart choice. There was someone out there who knew where she lived. What she looked like. YN was used to being preyed upon, but this was a different game. Not one she was accustomed to. There were enough faded white lines and healed over bones to evidence that she was a survivor. That time and time again YN had faced against monsters and gotten out alive. The thing that terrified her about this monster - was how different he was. She kept waiting for the tall blonde man to show up one night: looming over her whilst she slept, crouching in a dark corner of the room. Lurking behind the shower curtain.

YN wasn’t able to sleep, didn’t bathe, and had thrice rearranged the room so there was no furniture to hide behind. Her paranoia was through the roof and it didn’t help that it had been the first time YN was off her medication for an extended amount of time. Which was bound to be causing more problems than she was aware of, or would like to acknowledge. The cycle continued until on her fourth day, sick of the grime, YN picked up the phone and dialed Dr.Kang’s office. Hoping to resolve the issue and be back on medication as soon as possible.

“Unfortunately, Dr. Kang isn’t in the office today. However, I can schedule a house call”

She hung up, not even bothering to respond to the secretary on the other line. If YN would have allowed herself a moment to feel anything except for fear - sympathy would've been felt for the probably nice young woman she had just hung up on. Maybe I can just sleep until my next appointment. Sleep it all away. So YN crawled into her bed, the covers lie somewhere on the floor. Exhaustion taking over as she drifted off to sleep.

It should've been easier to tell her childhood room apart from all the ones she had before. It had the most personality; if stickers on the wall, old pencil marks, and deteriorating plaster counted. Most of them hadn't even been done by her, but rather Habin in time before her. It created a sense of normalcy in YN's life that didn't exist elsewhere. Of course, her safe haven didn't last long, the hole in the wall right near the bed frame was proof enough. YN couldn't remember the last time she had dreamt, the medication helped with the nightmares, now she stood curled in a ball in the center of the room. The way she would always get once she heard the heavy footsteps approach the hallway.

YN had long learned to tell the different patter of the weathered old sneakers. Heavy stomps that scraped against the wood meant she was going to be screamed at. Rhythmic ones that were heavier on the heel, than the toes meant they might get dinner. While footsteps that dragged meant YN would be getting ignored. It was the ones she didn't hear. When the hallway was so quiet that all YN could hear was the sound of her breathing and the fear rushing through her tiny body - those were the steps she feared. Those were typically followed by the gentle, yet suspenseful pushing of her bedroom door. It didn't have a knob. There was no escape.

YN expected to peer up and see the tall large figure that always tormented her. The thick thighs, rounded hips, a bulbous stomach that spoke of all the meals she'd had - all the ones her children hadn't - and her face. It was much like YN's though much more feminine, older, and eyes devoid of life. It had always stood out to YN when she was a child, though she was certain that if she were to look in a mirror now YN would be the spitting image of her mother. Instead of her birth giver stood a man.

His face was angular, rounded cheeks, and sharp eyes highlighted by thick brows. His lips appeared full as if they were meant for bright large smiles, but it was obvious from the man’s expression he rarely did. There was something strangely familiar about him. An amalgamation of someone she knew and her own imagination, filling in the blank spaces. He looked like her, yet not at all. Tears welled in her eyes, “Bin?” Then he morphed. Now slightly taller, more weight to his frame. A rounded face with hooded eyes, the corner of his lips were tilted upwards in a way that was full of mirth. Dr. Kang faded as quickly as he came.

Now all she saw was a silhouette. Despite being mostly obscured, she could at least tell it was a man. He was lean yet muscular. His body was sharply defined in a way that seemed deliberate. Facial features were obscured, but YN was certain he was glaring at her in a way that caused goosebumps to rise all over her body. Plump pink lips parted moving slowly, tauntingly, but no sound exited them. Only by the smirk formed afterward could she tell their salacious nature. He stepped forward drawing closer to her, but the way he moved was inhumane. It wasn't a walk. But a predator's crawl towards her. Now he was finally in the light, entirely visible but all YN could focus on was the blonde mop of hair atop his head. When he pounced, she screamed.

YN awoke covered in sweat, her hair matted against her forehead and neck. She could still taste the saltiness of her tears and when she finally managed to breathe a sob tore out. Get out! Get out! Get out! If she remained locked inside her apartment for one more second, YN was going to reach her breaking point. Quickly she hopped in the shower before throwing on the first thing she saw and grabbing her wallet. YN didn’t know where she was headed, but her body acted on its own. Locking the apartment door before racing towards the stairs, dashing down all seven floors with little care if she tripped. Perhaps a silent part of her wished she did, it would put her out of her misery.

The lobby of her apartment building, if it could even be called that, was always empty. Never a soul in sight to guard the door, even though YN was sure part of her rent went towards security. Not to mention the intercom system, which allowed people to be buzzed in, hadn't worked for several weeks. It was something she was always acutely aware of but pushed towards the back of her mind. Wouldn't do her any favors to obsess over something she had no control over. Now walking through the desolate lobby out into the night - it was all she could think about. He was all she could think about.

YN took a deep breath and opened the glass doors sneakily peeking towards the sides and being thankful when she noted nothing great. Now where to? She wouldn't go very far nor somewhere unknown. It was reckless to be out so late and would be a death wish to try and enter city life. Gang violence was on the rise and YN didn't fancy herself prepared to face off against someone. So, YN went to the one place that felt familiar no matter what. The convenience store was a fifteen-minute walk, but she took the bus. The original plan was to sit towards the back, where she could see everything, but it wasn't empty. An elderly woman, far too frail-looking to be out this late, sat in the center. Whilst three boys huddled over sat in the back, they must have felt her eyes on them. As one of them - the one in the black beanie - stopped his conversation and turned slightly. Before they could make eye contact YN looked away and sat down.

“Which one do you want?” Habin asked as they stared at the ice cream truck. He had counted the cents twice making sure they had enough. “Hm,” YN eye’s glanced all over the various images glued onto the truck. She already knew what she wanted but had long learned that taking your time was important - not too much though. “Mint choco.” Habin grimaced, disgust evident on his face. “Come on YN. We have to share it. Why can’t we get something I like for a change?” He whined, it was only ice cream but it was the only food Habin was likely to have all day. “Okay, let’s get chocolate then.” YN didn’t really care, she wasn’t planning on eating. Habin had sacrificed enough meals to feed her, an ice cream was the least she could do.

As she steps into the cold building, a small bell chimed to signal her entrance, alerting a young employee near the cashier. 

“Welcome!” The boy smiles, wide and welcoming, handing her a basket,

YN didn’t respond. She walks towards the back, looking for some of her usual snacks, and before long, her basket was filled to the brim with all sorts of colorful foods, and she headed towards the till to pay, grimacing under the weight pulling at her arm. As she pulls out her purse, a soft chime catches her attention, making her glance at the door quickly, before trailing her eyes back. A familiar head of blonde flashes in her mind immediately, and despite herself, she found herself clenching her purse tightly, feeling her palms become clammy with sweat. What were the odds..?

“Is that all?” the cheery voice of the employee breaks her out of her trance as she nods back firmly, unable to push aside the nervous feeling from seeing the person walk in. Quickly weighing the options as she sees him bag all her groceries, she forces the question out before she can stop herself.

“Could you...walk me to the bus station?” Her voice was awkward and tight from keeping quiet most of the day, and she internally winced at the confused expression the other gave her.

“Are you..” he pauses, eyeing her carefully, “is someone trying to hurt you?” 

YN doesn’t know what to say. Could she tell him what she saw? Fortunately, she didn’t have to reply. The boy - Kai, as it said on his tag - seemed to assume her pause was a yes. Excusing himself, he disappears behind the counter, and within a moment, hushed voices coming from there. Something was unnerving about standing there alone with the blonde, chilling her to the bone, knowing she was faced away and he could pounce at any moment. As soon as the terrifying thoughts crept in, Kai stepped back out. He takes her bag and silently leads her out the glass doors, warm, still air hitting her face the minute she left the building. They walk side by side silently, and YN could only count her steps as she got closer and closer to the station.

Her steps quicken when she sees the familiar structure, tall gray pillars, and a few large buses waiting. Kai keeps up with her as well, not bothered by the bag that seemed to drag her down, looking around carefully. 

“Thank you.”

He smiles, what she initially assumed to be his practiced ‘customer service’ smile seemed a little more genuine now. Or maybe he was just very good at it - she wasn’t sure. She takes back the plastic bag, letting herself get used to the additional weight before turning to board the bus. 

“Have a safe trip home!” The boy calls out, making her look back.

YN was expecting to see him with his blinding smile, but something eerier catches her eye. The young employee was standing a few steps away from her, and behind him, dangerously close, was the blonde man from before. Her mouth goes dry as she notices his dark gaze fixated on her hand that held the railing inside, something else in them as he cocked an eyebrow. He almost looked as if he was questioning her, asking what she would do now that he was close, much closer, and positioned to attack the boy. Realizing he must have followed her all the way, she felt her heart rate pick up as she found herself rapidly staring between Kai and the perpetrator, the choices dawning on her. She had to choose to leave Kai behind, or possibly die with him. 

She felt her heart drop at the calm expression on the boy's face, not noticing the danger he was in, she knew he was young, but watching him now, she only just realized how young. He was so young, so innocent, with a whole life ahead of him - but because of some unfortunate circumstance, an unforeseeable future, he would have to throw everything away. 

But if she stayed for him, so would she. She would have to give up everything she had struggled for, while in any circumstance, the blonde would kill Kai, regardless of whether she chose to stay or not. However, she could spare her own life. She couldn’t convince Kai to get on with her without alarming the man, but she could save her own life. After everything she had gone through, trouble was the last thing YN needed. Even if it meant someone else had to suffer alone, she had to stay safe. She found herself holding back hot tears as she quickly ducked into a lonely seat, refusing to look back, still clenching the cheap plastic in one hand and forcing herself not to look back as the tears freely slid down her cheeks. 

‘Helping people only gets you into trouble. You do whatever it takes to survive.’

           “They tell me you’ve missed the appointment I had set up.”

           YN is noticeably tense as she sits in the blue velvet mid-century, her nails digging into the denim fabric of her jeans. “The insurance wasn’t notified,” her tone was clipped. Lower with a slight tremble to it as if it were about to break, but never really did. “I also needed a referral.” Dr. Kang frowned, glancing back down at the file before looking at YN questioningly. “That’s strange. I told my secretary to handle all the paperwork. I even told Joy to hand you the referral.” Seeing the confused expression on his patient’s face, he shrugged. “My apologies, Joy must have forgotten.” The smile he shoots her is sincere, or at least looks so, YN has no reason to doubt him any further on this matter.

Her posture slackens somewhat but given everything that has happened these past few days she finds it difficult to truly relax. YN feels that she is tethering at the edge of a breakdown, but that if she were to fall it would only make her circumstances worsen. There is something that has been bothering her though, how pacified everything has been as of late. The blonde man knew where she lived, he'd likely overheard her name as well, yet nothing had happened. Even Kang, with his cold calculating eyes, had not commented on her odd behavior the last session or how worse she had seemed to get after only being off her medication for a week. Why can’t I figure them out?

           “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to assign you any new medication until I have the results from the bloodwork. However, I do want to know how you’ve been feeling lately.” Kang crossed his legs, leaning forward in his seat. “Have you been experiencing any side effects or withdrawals? Anything I should know about?”

There was a glint in his eyes as he spoke, one that warned YN that he may know more than he lets on. As if the man sitting in front of her was single-handedly responsible for everything that had occurred to her recently. "Normal things…" I am being stalked by a homicidal maniac. “Migraines, low blood pressure…” I keep having vivid flashbacks that only serve to increase my paranoia. “Sometimes I dissociate a bit.” Most importantly, doctor, I had a nightmare where you were about to kill me. “And trouble sleeping.” YN looked towards the ceiling, feigning as if she were in deep thought. “I think that’s it.”

Kang Daniel looked affronted as if she had not given a sufficient enough answer. Hadn't given him the answers he wanted. "I see." His eyes darted towards her hands, which had been tightly intertwined on her lap - immediately she relaxes them. When their eyes meet once more she levels with him. YN knows there is no point in engaging with Kang, that is exactly what he wants. To pry. Dig deep. Learn of all her secrets and who knows what else. He won’t win. I’m safe here. YN had suffered too great a loss yesterday, she was determined to win this game.

           “I had time to go over your file YN. There’s a lot to discuss, but I would prefer to dive right in if you don’t mind.”

           “I-”

           “Very well,” She’d upset him. YN wasn’t even truly aware of what she’d specifically done, but it seemed to matter very little. “It states here you’ve been diagnosed with a personality disorder - at quite a young age too.

           “I was ten.” YN’s voice is muted. Her mind blank.

           “Do you agree with this diagnosis?” YN shrugs, her eyes move down to the file. She knows what he’s going to say next. Or she can at least predict it: it typically doesn’t vary. No matter how many times she goes through the same process the words and intentions are the same. It isn’t sincere sentiments, but rather rehearsed lies spewed to make her feel better - as if she ever could. No, YN is broken. No fixing her up.

           “I don’t. I think you were misdiagnosed.” YN’s eyes widen as they shoot back up to meet Kang’s. “The main reasoning behind this is because of your apparent lack of empathy, but that isn’t true either is it, YN?” Her mouth felt dry, she struggled to swallow the saliva building up. There was a build-up of breath in her lungs which was starting to become painful and she felt her throat tighten. “It’s a survival tactic. An effective one at that - if I may be honest.” So many thoughts were rushing to the forefront of YN’s head. So many memories. Stop. She wanted to scream. Please stop! She felt like she was going to throw up. Kang bent over, his face so close to YN's that she could see how dilated his pupil was: only leaving a sliver of his iris shines through.

Why is he doing this?!

“You feel something YN. It’s okay to feel things. You aren’t with your mother anymore anymore. You aren’t with your brother anymore. You’re safe and I know the next time something happens you’ll do the right thing.”

YN’s eyes were red, brimming with unshed tears as Kang’s words bounced around her head. “Dr. Kang -” She chokes, a sob threatening to escape, but the man doesn’t allow her to finish. “Our time is up. Pick up your referral at Joy’s desk. I will see you on our next appointment.” The smile given is full of sadistic glee.

YN didn’t know how long she had spent wandering around the city. Last she knew she had passed the bus stop and convenience store from last night. If she were smart YN would’ve gone back to her apartment. She didn’t want to though, not trusting herself to be alone. It had been mid-afternoon when she had left Kang’s office. Now it was pitch black with only a few people walking down the streets and cars passing by. Her phone was tucked away in her bag, YN couldn’t muster up enough energy to reach for it to know her location. The tears she shed had long ago dried, though their evidence remained clear to see on her face due to the streak marks and reddened nose.

Several voices were speaking to her, memories, all pulling her in different directions. One by one, YN blocked them out until only three remained. Her brother’s: “You’re not sick.” Dr. Kang’s: “You’ll do the right thing.” Lastly, the faintest one of all - hers: "What do I do?" She had muttered it without realizing it. A cry for help that traveled through the wind, searching for an answer or a sign. She would be granted one.

The scream was so loud, it tore straight through the foggy haze that had settled in her mind and YN found herself frozen in place. Glancing upwards, she noted that a few feet away to the left was an alleyway. That was it, wasn’t it? Yet her feet wouldn’t move. Her brother’s voice echoed so loudly that it barely allowed her to breathe much less move. Until, a stronger, much more powerful one broke through - “It’s okay to feel things...I know you’ll do the right thing.” Her feet were moving before YN had even a second to dwell on her decision. The alleyway was, deceptively long, but YN could see several silhouettes just from the entrance. Quickly she dug her hand into her bag and pulled out her phone, dialing emergency services but hovering over the call button. YN didn't even know where exactly she was - nor did she know what was going on either. It wouldn't do well to just rush in, thankfully about ten feet inlay a giant dumpster which YN crouched behind.  

Another scream echoed off the brick walls, a cacophony of laughter followed it. There’s more than one. YN had hoped it was a robbery or something simple, now she realized just how in over her head she may be. You can still walk away YN. Just walk away. Cautiously YN moved to sneak a glance. There was a singular lamp attached to one of the buildings that illuminated most of the alley. The faint light didn't allow her to make out specific features, but it was enough for her to bear witness to the disturbing scene. Seven men were standing all loosely crowded around a young couple: a man and woman whose bodies were severely bruised and beaten. The man's skull was cracked open with blood profusely leaking from the side of his head. Several teeth were scattered on the ground and his hand was tightened around his abdomen which seemed to have been cut as well. The woman beside him had most of her clothing ripped and large bruises on her side, an indicator of broken ribs. Her eyes moved deliriously as she muttered to herself.

YN’s attention lay entirely on the victims until she witnessed a crowbar fly through the air and land on the man’s leg, with a sickening ‘crack’ that had YN feeling nauseous. The man was too out of it to do anything but let out a small howl of pain. Her previous assumption had been right, there were seven men: all standing there with blood-stained clothes and mocking the man. There was something familiar about them, but YN couldn’t pinpoint what. All of them cheered as the man’s now dead body slumped to the side. Her phone had been long forgotten, YN observed everything now with a morbid fascination. Taking advantage of the perpetrator’s lack of attention the woman stood up slowly and bolted, her heels clicking loudly on the pavement and alerting them their prey had gotten away.

None of them moved - they simply observed her and YN watched in shock. Why aren’t they chasing her? Would they actually… By now the woman was only a few feet away from the entrance, she passed by YN and must've caught sight of YN's hunched over the figure for the woman's head snapped towards her. Causing both women to miss the figure dashing in their direction until it was too late. The woman was harshly tackled to the ground, her head bouncing off the pavement in sickening motion. There is a glint of something in his hand before a dagger plunges into the young girl's body multiple times. In a desperate move, she extends her hand reaching out towards YN begging for help but YN remains frozen. Eyes wide and teary as she cowers as close as she can to the wall, shaking her head she begs the woman not to speak. Begs her not to draw the perps attention. Please don’t!

“Please help me.”

The perpetrators head snaps towards YN and she finally sees him. He's tall, lean figure, plump lips, cat eyes, and ruffled blonde hair. The blood splattered across his face revealed the dark truth behind his angelic features. His dark hooded eyes trail across YN's body, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. The blonde man looks like a predator savoring its next meal. Before he can pounce YN takes off running, unfortunately, he captures her with ease. Caging her body against his own, pillowy lips part and it dawns on YN she has never heard him speak before.

“Caught you.”

Just like that their game has come to an end, surely YN’s life will too. The two of them are so enraptured in each other, they don’t notice the figure slowly standing up and grabbing the abandoned knife on the floor. Not until the blonde man’s body sags slightly and YN notices the woman standing behind them. Don’t. She wants to say, furious that the woman wouldn’t have run away - escaped when she had the chance. For YN couldn’t bear another dead body on her subconscious. The blonde man turned around with pure rage steaming off his body, upset that his prey would dare to fight back. His arms gripped her head and with the slightest flick of his wrist, he broke the girl’s neck. When he turned back around to face his prize, he was shocked to find her expressionless staring at the corpse right in front of her.

YN came to a disturbing conclusion: She wouldn’t have died if she hadn’t helped me. As she once again made eye contact with the monster before her, all YN could see was her reflection in his eyes. Hanbin was right.

The man stepped forward and YN stepped back, crashing into the wall. His hands gripped at her sides, nails digging into her flesh harshly. He was formulating a plan, thinking about how best to kill her - YN could see it. It seems the universe had decided to take pity on her, or further condemn her, for just as his eyes were beginning to light up, the rest of the group made their presence known. “Jimin let’s go. The fun’s over.” Jimin? There was something familiar about that name.

“Funs not over yet, boys.” As if she weighed nothing, Jimin grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. YN struggled against him, aware that if she couldn’t handle one man, there was no way she could survive seven. “I finally found my pet.” What? When Jimin finally put her down, his arms encased her again showing her off to his friends as if she was some shiny new toy, they could look at but not touch. As YN glanced at them she found she recognized some of them, they’re from the bus. At that moment she realized that death had been following YN for a long time and even if she hadn't stepped into the alleyway tonight, their paths would have crossed eventually.  

“Ah, so you’re the girl Jimin’s been obsessed with.” The tall tan one with curly dark hair spoke, his low baritone voice was mocking in nature.

“She’s not that pretty.” muttered another one, with rounded eyes and a tall nose.

“Now, come on kookie. Don’t be mean, she’s a lot prettier than what we’re used to.” The third man’s tone was higher pitched, lips stretched into a heart-shaped smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“What do you think we should do, Namjoon?” spoke the light-haired one dawned in all black. His eyes darting over to the tallest member, his platinum hair shining brightly in the dark alleyway.

When Namjoon spoke it was deliberate and calculated, his eyes boring into YN’s, his words dripping with implication. “We should take this one to go.”

Distantly YN could hear the wailing of sirens rushing towards them before Kookie stepped forward and delivered a right hook to her face, making her lose consciousness.

[sideblogformindtrash]

A PLANT GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE FOOD SOURCES/PLANT BASED MEDICINE/POISONOUS HERBS

FOR WHEN YOU ARE A 15th CENTURY PEASANT AND GOING TO THE DOCTOR WILL KILL YOU BECAUSE NO ONE HAS WASHED THEIR HANDS IN A MONTH.

This post ended up huge. 

DISCLAIMER CAUSE I DON’T WANT ANYONE TO GET SICK BECAUSE THEY ATE BAD LEAF:

Natural medicine is a fascinating topic and it carries a rich history of survival, culture and human history.

It is also a valuable source of insight for traditional medicine – it is often by searching the traditional, plant or nature based solutions and researching the active compounds on them that regular medicine can be crafted. These sciences are allies, they aren’t enemies, and the end goal is, always, to save lives.

HOWEVER it is NOT a replacement for traditional medicine. Traditional medicine works on isolating and amplifying components that are proven to be the source of the healing properties of plants and other things, both increasing the chances of obtaining a result and reducing the collateral effects, as well as monitoring people on a close and safe environment were any side-effects particular to that individual, caused by other pre-existent conditions, can be taken in consideration and dealt with by professionals. Dosage is also a very important factor that has to be considered. Doctors are equipped to deal with that. Everything can be a poison in excess.

By this, I mean to say if you go around using this info to justify selling mlm essential oils or being antivaxx I’ll personally haunt you once I’m dead. Natural medicine can be an interesting addition to conventional treatments if used responsibly, but it is not a replacement and is not to be used if you have no clue what you are doing. Please don’t go outside to eat random leaves and don’t trust random moms on facebook, their ‘research’ is far less than what I did for a tumblr post :’)

I can’t stress this enough: this is intended as a writing resource and not to be used in real life or as a guide. Don’t eat/use plants you don’t know. Please don’t. I’m also not a medical professional, I’m a plant nerd :)

And – a lot of this comes from oral traditions passed on by family. So shoutout to my grandma. Most of it is stuff you should be able to verify with a quick google search and I expent the day doing just that as well as gathering more info; I can link more trustworthy sources than Wikipedia if someone is interested, but they are mostly not in English.

ALSO, as a note: Popular plant names are NOT RELIABLE and vary greatly among regions, besides, they often are used to refer to a great number of species of the same genus; when in doubt always check the scientific name of the plant as that is standardized globally and taxonomists work hard to keep it concise.

Go to the doctor if you are sick please please please please please please please please please please please please please please :)

And just one more little note: I live in South America, that’s the flora I’m most familiar with. I know very little about European and Oceanic flora; but I reckon a lot of these might be similar to Asia and North America since a bunch of these plants are invasive species originated from Asia that have adapted well and spread around the continent.

Ok, first part is medicine second part is poison.

Some general info:

TO MAKE A BALM: You’d need some sort of animal fat or vaselin + a triturated mix of the correct plant parts and bee wax. Fat needs to be melted first, then you’d add the plant mix and lastly the bee wax; it needs to be constantly mixed until it gets the balm consistency and then filtered.

HOW TO MAKE A POULTICE: It’s basically just the mashed ingredients + something to make it slightly moisty; it largely depends on what it is exactly but it could be water, milk, coconut oil or animal fat. The paste is to be spread over a warm wet cloth and wrapped around the wound.

ON TEAS: A lot of the time you will need the fresh plant leaves and not the dried versions they sell on little sacks; Or they might both work, but likely to different things. Different parts of the plant might have different effects.

ACTIVATED CHARCOAL: It’s the go-to emergency poison retardant. It has the characteristic of being an adsorptive; this means other particles tend to cling to its surface and later be expelled with it. It can cause vomiting and nausea. Regular charcoal has been used historically for the same reasons. Eating the charcoal may interfere with other medications the person might be on.

 A Few Non-Conventional Edible Plants and Medicinal Herbs:

-Pereskia aculetea: Popular names are lemonvine; blade-apple cactus; leaf cactus; rose cactus; fruits, flowers and leaves are edible and has high-nutritional value. Depending on how it’s prepared, the leaves taste somewhat like fish. The flowers are sweet, and can be used in baking cakes and pies. They have sharp thorns on the fruits and branches. It is a good emergency food-source as it causes a fulfilling sensation and can be consumed raw.

Tea made with the leaves is good for the intestinal flora. It is anti-inflamation and helps ulcers heal. Can be used externally if the leaves are triturated and mashed into a paste. The fruit is anti-oxidant;

Stanchys byzantina + some others of the genus: Known as Lamb’s ear. It’s cute and fluffy. It also tastes like fish if fried on butter. Making tea with the leaves can help with cough and throat irritation. Helps with stomachache and indigestion.

-Mentha sp. – MINT! Everyone loves mint. It smells nice and is fresh. It helps with colds and is effective against parasites such as giardia and amebas. The tea has to be made with fresh leaves for it to be effective, not dried ones.

-Arnica sp. – NOT EDIBLE AND CAN BE TOXIC IF INGESTED. Small amounts can be used as a spicy however is not recommended. However, it’s a very good topical painkiller; can be used as a balm, a poultice or on lack of other options, making a strong tea and infusing a clean piece of cloth on it then applying to the sore muscles can work.

-Calendula sp. – It’s edible but not exactly tasty, a little spice I’d say. A balm can be made from it that is very good on cuts and bruises.

-Begonia cucullata – Known as wax begonia. It’s all edible, but calcium rich so should be avoided by someone with kidney problems.

-Portulaca oleracea – The Poultice is good against acne and insect stings; helps with inflammation and tea can be used against intestinal parasites. Slightly cooked leafs can help with burns (1º degree burns, don’t apply on anything worse). The seeds are specially good against parasites. Leaves, flowers and seeds are edible.

-Conyza canadensis / bonariensis – The Horseweed. Leaves are edible. They taste spicy-ish.  Can help treat hemorrhoids and diarrhea.

-Echinodorus grandiflorus: This one is common of wetlands and water proximity. The crushed rhizomes can be put over the skin to alleviate rashes and hernias. Tea made with the fresh leaves is a diuretic and laxative; is also good against throat inflammations. Cold tea can help with skin conditions as well. Leaves are very bitter, the rhizome is somewhat sweet.

-Hedychium coronarium: White-ginger-lily or garland flower; It is common on wetlands or near water sources. The rhizomes and flowers are edible (leaves aren’t), flowers usually consumed as sort of a jam and the rhizomes as flowers. Helps with throat inflammations and pain. Oil made from this plant can be slightly sedative.

-Cymbopogum winterianus: Citronella; or Lemon Grass. NOT EDIBLE. It’s super sticky to the touch, makes your hands sticky too and very easy to get cuts from it because the leaf blades are somewhat sharp. A poultice of the leaves can be used on cuts, but the better use for it is as a natural repellent. Mosquitoes and other insects hate this plant. Just by having it planted somewhere near is very unlikely they’ll approach; candles can be made from it and incenses too.

- Pampinella anisum – Commonly known as aniseed and actually easy to find as dried leaves or the seeds. The dry leaves tea help with cold and throat swelling. Poultices and the essencial oil can be good as a relaxant; Tea made from fresh leaves is good for insomnia, nausea and stomachache. Tea made with the seeds can be used against intestinal parasites; breathing the vapor helps clean a constipated nose.

-Plantago major – Probably the most common one on this list and one of the best.  Called great plantain or broadleaf plantain. Leaves are diuretics; help against inflammations and help soothe stomachaches and diarrhea. Everything but the roots are edible. Tea helps with cold.

-Ilex paraguaiensis – Yerba-mate or just matte. Has a very good nutritional value. People drink the dried leaves tea like water in Brazil and it’s very good for cooking sweets. It is slightly stimulant(high caffeine teor) and highly antioxidant. The fruits and leaves are nutrient rich; can be good on fighting anemia; has some effect against caries inducing bacteria and is effective against certain types of fungi; it only grows in forested areas because it is very sensitive to sunlight.

-Xanthosoma sagittifolium – Arrowleaf Elephant’s Ear. Rhyzomes, leaves and haste are edible BUT ONLY IF COOKED. Tastes similar to spinach. When they are raw, they have oxalic acid and are somewhat toxic. Is somewhat good against fever. A fried leaf can be used as a wrap over burns.

-Hibiscus sabidariffa  - Slightly sour tasted tea made from the leaves; have a diuretic effect. Can be used as a natural pigment on other foods.

-Pistia stratiores – Water lettuce. It looks like a lettuce and it floats. Can be consumed as a juice, infusion or used as a poultice on hernias. HOWEVER I’d recommend never using any found on nature. Floating plants are being studied as having absorbent qualities and helping filter toxins and heavy metals from water, so much so they can make part of sewage treatment.

 Dangerous/Poisonous Plants:

General treatment idea: A very generic idea of how poisoning is treated would be the administration of activated charcoal and a gastrointestinal wash depending on how long ago has been the ingestion. Mucosa can be treated/washed with products like egg whites, milk and olive oil in small quantities. Eyes are washed with water and saline. Most poison’s don’t have antidotes, so everything else would be treating the specific symptons. Catheterization may be needed on cases where the urinal tract is paralyzed because it’s important to keep the person hydrated. Laxatives may also be used in cases where it is safe. Everything largely varies with the specifics of each compound. On many of them inducing vomit might be worse.

PLANTS:

Brugmansia spps.: Known as Angel Trumphet; Angel’s Tears or Snowy Angel’s Trumpet. This plant likes high-humidity, so in a dry climate, it might indicate proximity to water sources. The in-nature form of this plant is highly toxic; every part of it being leaves, flowers trunk or roots. Seeds and leaves are specially dangerous. Can induce a trance-like and delusional estate as well as induce visual and auditory hallucinations; can cause paralysis of smooth muscles, confusion, dry mouth, pupil dilation and paralysis of the eyes. Can lead to death; severity varying depending on part of the plant ingested as well as the age of the plant and hydration state. They start from 15 to 30 minutes after ingestion.

Euphorbia milii.: Known as Christ’s Thorn; Crown of Thorns or Christ Crown. Honestly this one’s strength is the aesthetic. It has thicc thorns, pretty red flowers and I’m pleading you all to put it on a Whumpee’s head. It’s a moderate poison compared to the others; Inside the whole plant there is a white latex substance that is toxic. It causes skin and mucosa irritation. It can cause severe stomach-ache. Can lead to blindness if non-treated eye contact occur. If ingested, can cause severe stomach-ache and ulcers. The latex is very sticky to the touch. 

Dieffenbachia spp: Similar to the one above without the fun thorns.

Zantedeschia aethiopica: The Calla Lily. In contact with mucosa’s it causes swelling and irritations; feelings of burn, nausea, vomit and diarrhea; difficulty swallowing and can cause death by asphyxiation due to internal swelling of the digestive system that in turns compresses the pharynx.  ALSO: This is not exactly widespread knowledge I think, but this plant is hallucinogen and like 2-3 years ago the tea has been used as kind of a drug around here. However, this plant does not work as other popular recreational hallucinogens; it causes damage to the central nervous system and even if used just once, the user might never recover from it. What I heard from people who did try it, is that the hallucinations tend to be really bad and on the negative side.

Cicuta maculata – If you want to be dramatic and die like Socrates I guess. Its poison was used for execution in ancient Greece.

Calladium spp. – It’s ALSO called Elephant’s ear. See what I mean by common names not being reliable? Irritation, pain and swelling of tissues. All parts of the plant are poisonous. If ingested can lead to death due to swelling of throat/tongue.

‘Curare’ – this is actually not just one plant, but a mixture of several made into poison for darts and arrows. The Strynchnos and Chondodendron genus are the most important. It was used for hunting, but considered bad practice on war. Causes paralysis of the external body and some of the main internal systems killing the prey by asphyxiation. The person responsible for producing the poison was very likely to die due to being exposed to toxic fumes, because it was needed to cook the tree-barks during two to three days. Someone hit by the poison can survive if artificial respiratory methods are available until the poison-effect passes.

Potatoes – I’m not even going to elaborate on this one but raw and green potatoes = bad; however cultivated potatoes are way less toxic than the wild variations and the most poisonous plant parts are the leaves;

Aesculus hippocastanum – A horse chestnut seed, bark, flower and nut can cause poisoning when consumed raw. Causes muscle twitching, weakness, loss of coordination; vomiting; kidney problems and stupor. It slows the formation of blood cloths and might worsen the condition of hemorrhagic wounds.

Agave sp. – The flowers are edible and the saps can be used for an alcoholic beverage. But the saps cause pain and burning in contact with the skin; it will also start to develop blisters soon after the exposure. The healed skin tends to remain sensitive and have reoccurring itchy for years after the contact. Ingesting the saps might be fatal.

Anemonoides nermorosa – Wood anemone. All parts of the plant contain protoanemonim, it can cause irritation and burning sensation to skin; ulceras on the mouth; vomiting blood and nausea.

OK that should be it for today, but it isn’t even the surface. If anyone wants to expand or correct something on this, I encourage you to do so. Just don’t eat the leaf. Please don’t.

Not all but some of the sources (again, not english): here; here; here; here; here; here; one that IS in english and a shoutout for wikipedia cause why the hell not and one to my grandma who is a lovely lady who hates just about everything in the world.

[dustyard]

I have a question about dog deamons if u fancy Sharing your opinion. Dogs are seen as obidiant and in the books are always pared with servants of some description or another. How do you feel about this because I think that there’s a wide variety within dogs like stray dogs are very indipendent and collies are really smart for exsample?

Sure thing.

So, while the way we test for intelligence in animals frequently overlaps with obedience tasks, we also test things like self-awareness, memory, empathy, and a number of other things. Dogs are incredibly smart, and (while not all dogs are as, um... obviously intelligent) they serve a lot of different purposes, many of which you might not even realize.

The stereotypically smartest dogs are usually dogs that, unsurprisingly, are working breeds. I personally have a working line GSD as my service dog, and let me tell you, he is a beast who sometimes appears to be psychic, he's so damn smart. Australian shepherds, border collies, dobermans, German Shepherds, poodles, huskies, malinois, these are all working dogs that are, unsurprisingly, very, very smart. However, lots of independent hunting breeds and companion breeds are equally as intelligent, they just express them differently.

What people often describe as obedience can be better broken down into two characteristics: working drive, and people-pleasing.

For working drive, these types of dogs need a job to do. They need to be stimulated or they get bored, restless, anxious, even aggressive. For people with these types of dogs as their dæmon, they need a purpose, whatever that happens to be. These types of souls are generally going to be drawn to high-pace working and living environments where they can expend their seemingly boundless energy.

For people-pleasing, these types of dogs are not only very social creatures, but they really care about making other people (or just one person) happy. They actually get upset and unmoored when they are unable to make the people they care about's lives easier or more enjoyable. You can read this as someone who needs external direction in their life, but more accurately they aren't hapoy if other people aren't happy, which can lead to a wide variety of jobs, lifestyles, and personalities.

When you put these two traits together, a lot of people end up with obedience, which isn't... exactly accurate. Let me give you examples with specific breeds.

German Shepherds: I speak from experience, these dogs have high working drives and a big interest in people-pleasing. They get called velcro dogs for a reason. People with German Shepherd dæmons need a purpose or a job to fulfill, it's non-negotiable (though the level of stimulation needed can vary) and they greatly prefer that job overlapping with external approval. These types of souls do well in structured, high-pace working environments that have clear boundaries, goals, and rewards. However, they also display these tendencies by being attentive to the person/people they care about and showing them how much they love them by doing things for them.

Huskies (malamutes or siberian, but sled dogs in general): high working drive, low people-pleasing. These dogs need a job to do, and they are not doing it for you. Yes, they can be very friendly and affectionate, I know, but these dogs tend to be more aloof and interested in doing their job until it's done or they're collapsed in an exhausted heap. What you want from them matters... minimally. These dogs are also super smart, but that doesn't mean they'll use their intelligence and effort to make your life easier.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels: low working drive, high people-pleasing. Unsurprisingly, as these are companion dogs, cavaliers mostly want to make you happy; they don't need a job the way shepherds or huskies do. These people love making others around them have better, happier lives, but they don't need the constant stimulation and energy drain of working dog. The actual breed tends to score pretty low on obedience, but that's not because they're stupid, they're just not very driven. You can read this as ambition, but you can also read this as how intense their need for stimulation is, which isn't much.

Greyhounds: low working drive, low people-pleasing. Not to be confused with not having a prey drive, by the way, these dogs go nuts for a rabbit. If you've ever had one, though, you might notice that they are L-A-Z-Y. They also aren't the most attentive, affectionate dogs. They want to do what they want to do, when they want to do it. They are also not stupid, just independent hunters who don't need as much external approval.

There are also more low-key dogs that are people-pleasers who have like having a job (labradors, golden retrievers, etc.) They don't have quite the same vibe though, as they trend towards people-pleasing above a need for a job, because they don't need a job, they just enjoy it.

So while dogs do frequently care about others and want to work to show them, that is by no means a universal trait. It also varies in intensity depending on what that dog was bred for. There are hundreds of dog breeds out there, and the way they're categorized will tell you a lot about what they're good at.

The servant thing in the book is a pretty big stereotype, in my opinion. Dog souls aren't bound for life to be butlers and maids, that's not how that works. They don't need to be told what to do; even the dogs that score highest on obedience tests will find things to do if you let them get bored enough, they're just capable of performing tasks on command, it's not an innate drive to do what they're told. High drive, people-pleasing dogs might like being told what to do if it makes people happy or if it helps them fulfill their job but they don't just wait around to serve. That's a fundamental misunderstanding of why dogs act the way they do. Do I think that public service jobs would probably attract dog souls? (Firefighting, the military, nursing, social work, etc.) Absolutely. But again, these jobs provide a distinct purpose and people-oriented work environment where you see direct results for your efforts.

You mentioned stray dogs, and I want to mention that I tend not to suggest mutts/stray dogs as dæmon forms simply because "dog" has such a wide variety of characteristics. Also, you're taking a domesticated animal and placing it in a situation where all of its potential drive has to focus on staying alive. Plenty of these dogs would act differently if they'd been treated like the domestic animals they are. Most of their traits are learned behaviors that are being expressed, rather than temperment. I'm not saying nobody can or has used this form, I just don't personally suggest it, especially to newer dæmians.

[crusherthedoctor]

As someone who plays games and enjoys stories that aren't terrible, I always love it when the setting of a tale is allowed to truly manifest. That is to say, when there's just as much attention put into it as there is for the characters, to the point where the setting might as well be its own character. It doesn't always have to be completely in-your-face mind you, but generally speaking, if you can feel the amount of personality given to the location, there's a nine out of ten chance that I'm going to appreciate it. Bonus points if it's really pretty.

Naturally, this extends to the world of Sonic. Though the level of backstory varies when not taking Japanese manuals into account, the many islands/planets/theme parks in space/parallel dimensions Sonic has visited over the years nonetheless tend to hold a lot of charm with the way their zones and stages are presented. And when it comes to Sonic in particular - when they're at their best - his style of environments have the perfect aesthetic for my personal tastes: full of whimiscal, cartoony character, yet beautiful and sincere at the same time (or ominous and sincere, in the case of Eggman's moodier fortresses and the like).

So it goes without saying that this has been one major focus of mine while writing for Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars, my own little fanfic adventure for the blue hedgehog. From the moment I started putting my story into words, I wanted to make an effort to give the land of Viridonia the same love and focus that was given to the likes of Angel Island and the Little Planet in the official installments. Granted, it helps that the nature of my story already relies on a considerable amount of presence for my setting, but that alone would be insufficient. We have to go deeper. We have to go... advanced.

Long story short, I spend far too much time imagining locations in my head for my oh-so-epic fanfic where a 90's caricature confronts his breakfast mascot arch-nemesis for the nth time. Seriously, do not underestimate me on this. I think about the colour schemes. I think about the architecture. I think about not only what type of music would fit each location, but also the specific mood to go along with it. “No guys, it would have THIS kind of icy music, not THAT kind of icy music.”

Hell, I even make crappy MSPaint flags that represent each of the zones, Unleashed-style, which are “proudly” displayed in the appropriate chapters. I'm on a drug, and that drug is making Sonic settings come to life despite existing purely in written form. Please help me.

So I figured I might as well expand a bit on some details that may interest those of you who read my fic, that couldn't be acknowledged too much in the fic itself without severely ruining the pacing of the story in the process. Note that you will NOT miss anything important in the fic proper if you skip on these posts. It's just a fun bit of behind-the-scene elaboration on the thought and inspiration involved, if you're into that sort of thing. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oh, and by the way? I hope you like Spyro the Dragon comparisons, because there's gonna be a lot of them as this series goes on, and I won’t be sorry for any of it. :] Yes, it's hardly surprising that my equal love for Spyro's environments (specifically Classic/Reignited Spyro, as I was never a Legend or Skylanders fan) plays a recurring influence in the way I visualize my Sonic zones, mainly with the way colour contrast is often used. That's not to say that the Sonicy aspects are lost or forgotten, though. After all, their universes are already pretty similar in terms of general aesthetic, so it's not too much of a stretch anyway IMO.

Anyhow, this intro has gone on long enough, so let's begin with the central hub of Viridonia, shall we? (I was originally gonna lump in Trudy’s castle and Gleaming Meadows in the one part, but each of them ended up being even longer than I expected, so uh, guess they’ll have to be separate.)

Creating the Hub: Lime Shores

Right off the bat, my goal with Lime Shores was very simple: to make it different from Station Square. No disrespect to Station Square, I love it as much as the next SA1 fan (especially its music!), but considering that a recurring motif of Beyond the Stars is to mirror certain aspects of SA1's story WITHOUT completely copying the whole routine, it was doubly important for the central town of Viridonia to have its own identity to help further that point. And since Lutrudis - and the rest of the folk on the island - are all inexplicably English to varying degrees and varying stereotypes, I knew what had to be done.

I’d make it look like Solihull, of course.

What? You thought it'd be based on London? HA. That comes later, in more Eggmanian territory. No, for Lime Shores, I wanted something a bit more gentle, something more quiet, something that looks rustic yet refined in equal measures... and something that contrasts greatly with the unique oddity that's been placed upon it.

Because let's not forget, as an everlasting side-effect of the Ethereal Zone's lingering power, much of the stony architecture has been given a nice gleam that causes it to change colour depending on the time of the day. Whereas in the daytime it looks suitably turquoise, the tones change to purple and pink by nighttime.

This might also explain why some occasional buildings look a bit... SEGA World-y...

It was important to make the town down-to-earth (for Sonic standards), because that way the Ethereal effects would be more striking. If it was a big proud metropolis like Station Square or Empire City, it wouldn't have the same impact. You'd still probably notice it, sure, but the contrast between the quaint vibe of the town with the increasing wonder if it was touched by aliens or some shit would be lost. (But don’t worry, a big proud metropolis is indeed featured in this story. You’ll get your Speed Highway fix in due time, though as expected, that too has an identity of its own...)

And of course, no area with Shore in the title is complete without, well, a shore. And sure enough, the waters near the shore are a slightly deeper sea green than average, even without the help of its nearby shiny rocks...

But what sort of music, pray tell, would accompany this unique town that kicks off Sonic's latest adventure? Well it may have a gentle disposition in spite of the Ethereal alterations, but it's still a Sonic adventure we're talking about, and Sonic is obviously going to be excited as hell to explore this new land with or without Eggman shenanigans in the mix. So to reflect his particular brand of upbeat passion, I think something along these lines will do nicely. (NOTE: I’ve decided to include two tracks for each location - some of them not even being Sonic-related - for the sake of more comparison and for driving the intended tone home all the more.)

But then, that's for the daytime. When it's night, however, we'll need something a little more relaxing and calm, yet still capturing a similarly mysterious atmosphere...

Also, there's a (completely optional) training simulator set up by Tails in Lime Shores. Should you ever try it out to brush up your skills in beating all those Eggman robots, the simulation would appear very reminiscent of the Colosseum from Sonic Battle, if it decided to trade in its green for blue. This is apparently the only noteworthy visual change in this piece of Miles Prower technology since 2004. Go figure.

And finally, yes, the town comes with such charmingly English luxuries like a post office, a tavern, a museum, a spa, and... a Chao Garden.

Yes, they would all have different music tracks of their own.

No, I'm not going to list what I have in mind for each one. That would make this post longer - and sadder - than it already is.

[katyatalks]

Otomedia April 2019 - Character Designer Kameda, Eyecatch Team Kenja, Series Co-ordinator Seko & Director Tachikawa - Interview Translation

Here’s Character Designer Kameda, Eye-catch Team Kenja, Series Co-ordinator Seko & Director Tachikawa’s interviews from April 2019’s Otomedia! Semi-summary style as there’s a lot to get through - naturally, this is a long one, but there’s plenty of cool stuff in here that makes for a good read. Includes stuff like why certain scenes were cut from the anime (boxcutter Minori, the cat, etc.), Joseph’s original character design, where Reigen got some of his ‘wise sayings’ from, the reason behind the kaleidoscope imagery in the S2 intro and outro, and plenty more!

KAMEDA YOSHIMICHI Character Designer

Asked how the production environment was for season 2, he says that it was “strangely pretty hectic - lots of stuff going on (laughs)”. States that with season 2 they understood the direction that MP100 would take more than they did with season 1. Something he and Director Tachikawa struggled with in season 1 was what kind of anime style would be best for the manga.

For season 2 the majority of the staff working on it had seen season 1, so production was steady.

He says that before season 2 he’d been working on “Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island”, but work for season 2 began before he was finished with that film.

Just before working on season 1 of MP100 he’d worked on One Punch Man, “and it’s thanks to that that I was able to snap into work on Mob Psycho 100, but this time around it was a bit of a hard fight.” While drawing the designs for the new characters who’d appear in season 2 he eventually found himself readjusting to the proportions of MP100 (vs. Doraemon’s style)

Mentions how Tachikawa has been working on the MP100 OVA previously so getting back into work on Mob Psycho didn’t seem to be that strange for him, but for Kameda personally it took a bit of getting used to.

He’s asked if there’s anything regarding Mob’s character design that is essential to maintain a certain ‘Mob’-ness about him, to which Kameda replies; “The length of his fringe/bangs, ie. whether or not you can see his eyebrows.” Discusses how there’s only a certain amount of space between where his hair ends and his eyelids start to give an expression, and the depth of his expression varies greatly depending on if he has eyebrows or not.

“Mob is a character who isn’t really expressive, but regardless, it is important to be able to show his expressions. That’s something I told everyone to pay attention to.”

“In season 1 we avoided drawing Mob with eyebrows as much as possible, but in season 2 we see them again and again, and then we have the super handsome sparkly-eyed Mob that we see in S2E5! Since that episode, even in his normal state, it became fine to give him eyebrows (laughs).”

“This season, he’s had a lot of angry scenes. The start of episode 9 has him quite notably angry. For that, you’ve got to give him eyebrows.”

Q: “Would you say season 2 lifted the ban on eyebrows?” A: “Season 2 lifted the ban on eyebrows!” States he himself didn’t draw eyebrows much at all during season 1. “Right now, I’m doing work on the final episode, and I’m giving those eyebrows a certain plumpness (laughs).”

He is asked if there were any other changes made to the characters. “This is a very minute change, but for certain characters like Mob and Reigen I made a change to their silhouettes - beforehand, their hair had a rounder shape, but now their hair has become a little more playful.”

“I suppose rather than a choice I made on purpose, their hair ended up this way because it’s easier to draw. It’s probably the result of the great amount of advertisement art I drew after season 1 finished broadcasting.”

Asked what he thinks season 2’s “power-up” point is or where it’s changed compared to season 1, he says that they had a lot of young animators participate this season and the quality of their digital work was amazing.

Mentions how with digital animation the look of things like smoke and sparks, and spatial representation, improves.

“For example, in S2E3, when Reigen is looking through the window, the camera passes by him and while approaching the girl, the camera turns to the wall and enters it… the animator made the environment for that scene in 3D with a virtual camera.”

Q: ”A good amount of new characters show up this season - which of them is your favourite?” A: ”Shinra Banshoumaru! I made him chubbier than he is in the manga. His belly that sticks out, his short legs, his harem pants… I drew those, but Tachikawa-san told me I was going too far. But I persisted; ‘Tachikawa-san, we live in a time where there’s no chubby characters in anime! If there’s any anime that can challenge that it’s Mob Psycho 100!’ I was like a bulldozer with the things I said, and as a result I got him how I wanted him!... I say that, but Tachikawa-san also topped-up the amount of belly-sways Shinra has (laughs).”

He's asked about characters post S2E9, to which he mentions Joseph's clothes being different in the manga. "He wears a greyish suit in the manga, but I feel like Joseph has more of a white image. Plus, a grey suit would overlap with Reigen. At first I had Joseph wear a black leather jacket, but a few days later I reviewed that and went, 'nah, that's not right.' I had it changed to white."

He is asked about any scenes up until S2E9 that he particularly fussed over, or any that left an impression on him. “Episode 7. It’s a great Reigen story, and I had the privilege of being the animation director for it. I paid great attention to Reigen’s expressions. It’s an episode with a lot of good cuts, so I wanted to make sure they were all the best quality they could be.”

Q: “Of those cuts, which would you say is the best?” A: “It really leaves an impression on you in the manga - when Reigen says, ‘You’ve really grown up, haven’t you’, a message for beyond the camera. [...] Then, in the final part of the episode, when he talks to Mob on the bridge. Episode 7 truly has some great expressions; my favourite faces.”

He’s asked if there’s anything coming up that he’d like us to pay attention to & any highlights - mentions the battle between Shibata and Gouda. Says the anime brings action and originality that only anime can achieve.

His final message to readers is that if you haven’t read the manga yet, don’t go running to read it, wait for the anime first, so you can experience the tension of not knowing what happens next. “The quality of season 2 is insane, right up until the end.”

---

KENJA Eyecatches Kenja are described as a video production group, who have made promotional advertisements for MP100 (both for the manga and S1 of the anime), and were in charge of the eyecatches for season 2. The eyecatches were mainly made by koya, Takarai & 0gt. koya, their representative, has worked as ONE’s assistant, and Takarai participated as an animator this season.

Asked how they ended up doing the eyecatches for season 2, koya says that Satou Miyo (who was in charge of the season 1 ending) was a classmate of his when he was a graduate student. “We got back in touch and the message I got was, ‘I’m doing work on the ending of Mob Psycho 100, do you want to work on something too, koya-kun?’ (laughs).”

Takarai had his way in via already being an animator for the show, and koya discusses being ONE’s assistant. “ONE-san and I get along very well, so I’d tag along to anime events. I got talking to Director Tachikawa and now here we are.”

They were originally told that it’d be fine to have the same eyecatch for before and after the commercial pause, but they were worried that watching the same thing twice would be a bit unbearable, so they made two for each episode instead.

koya: “Ended up being tougher than I thought (laughs).”

Takarai: “Well, simply put, we doubled our work load (laughs).”

The eyecatch for episode 3 is brought up. Takarai; “Eyecatches have this image of being stand-alone things, but for this episode, it snuggles up to the plot. It was a choice that made me anxious, but looking at everyone’s reactions to it, I was relieved.”

Their final message to the readers comes from koya, who states that going on Twitter and seeing everyone react to mob psycho 100 stuff as it happens in real time is very encouraging. “Even just, ‘I wonder what the eyecatches will be today?’, makes me happy.”

---

SEKO HIROSHI Series Co-ordinator

Asked where he thinks season 2 has powered up compared to season 1, he says that season 1 had to introduce all the characters - season 2 starts off with the characters introduced, so the action kicks off full-throttle.

He’s asked what his thought process was in choosing what parts of the manga to leave out of the anime. “My process is, I first write with absolutely everything from the manga in the script, then choose what to cut from there. The flow of the story as a whole is important - I keep that in the forefront of my mind, and choose to keep things that are vital to the story. Other than that, I try to keep scenes that show off the personalities of the characters. There’s been moments where I’ve had to cut scenes, even though I really like them, just because they wouldn’t fit into the length of the episode…! Other than episode length, there’s also parts of Mob Psycho 100 that we wouldn’t have been able to include due to broadcasting code.”

He’s asked which character he thinks grew the most, to which he says Mob. “What stuck with me was episode 3. ‘Mob’s been thinking about this kind of stuff’... I was like, ‘oh’. 

He’s asked if there’s any other character he feels has had a big change since season 1. “Naturally, Reigen. [...] I feel like Reigen has had a layer peeled back, after episodes 6 and 7. He’s an adult, and he does act that way sometimes, but there’s parts of him that haven’t matured… but I feel with the completion of that arc, he’s taken a step closer to becoming a fully-fledged adult.”

He’s asked if there’s been any part of the season up until episode 9 that’s particularly left an impression on him, to which he says episode 8. “The marathon. [...] That was a part that made me think, wow, this manga is amazing. You have a regular school marathon, and then come home to find your house on fire - not something you’d be quick to find anywhere else, huh. (Laughs)”

He discusses how originally season 2 was 12 episodes, and the house fire would’ve come at the end of Part A of the original episode 8, and Claw Arc would commence with the B part. It was with Warner Brother’s intervention that season 2 became 13 episodes, as an individual from Warner Bros. wanted to have the fire come at the end of episode 8.

He’s asked which of the new characters in season 2 has particularly been on his mind. “His entry is a little later on, but I love Serizawa from the Ultimate Five. How should I put it… it’s not surprising that he’s the way he is. He was a hikikomori, and he doesn’t know anything about society, so he believes in and follows his ‘boss’. I think this sort of situation can happen to anyone. He was brainwashed, so to say. But, what becomes of him? His story is one that I really love, so he’s definitely the character on my mind.”

He’s asked what it is about Mob Psycho 100 that makes it Mob-Psycho-100-ish, to which he says that the characters don’t feel like they’re just characters - they’re all a bit hopeless but that’s what makes them loveable. 

“The Telepathy Club guys, for example… if they were real they probably wouldn’t be able to become proper members of society, but we still think of them fondly. Perhaps we’re too harsh to people who we deem hopeless in this world of ours.”

“No matter who you are, ONE-san will be warm to you. I think the goodness in Mob Psycho 100 comes from ONE-san’s personality.”

---

TACHIKAWA YUZURU Director

Says that the average age of people working on season 2 dropped slightly compared to season 1. “We had people who love the manga, people who had only seen season 1, and those who love both. So there was a harmonious atmosphere.”

States that there was a lot of creative freedom given to the staff. “We can play around. That’s a merit of a show of this calibre - you can do as you please.”

States that Season 2 powered up compared to season 1 when it comes to emotions. Says that even in fight scenes, the personalities of the characters and their relationships shine through, which is something he wanted to maintain when shifting the MP100 manga into anime form.

“There’s quite an oscillation when it comes to emotions in the first half of the season. Episode 1 is warm and fluffy; episode 2 has a mix of laughs and horror; episode 3 impacts you… as do 4 and 5 (laughs). Then, episodes 6 and 7 moved plenty of our staff to tears. They’re full of heart.”

States that within all this oscillation, “from the start to the end, something we paid attention to was making sure the theme of ‘Mob’s ongoing growth’ was present. That ‘he is able to change himself’.”

“He’s able to change because he has everyone, and everyone around him is able to change, too.”

Discussion of season 2’s ED. “The emotional intensity of season 2 shifts a lot, and when the show makes you feel down it makes you feel /down/. So, I asked for an ending that’s warm and fluffy - something that calms you when you watch it. The illustrations are incredibly cute, but actually, the ending is not just cute - there’s stuff depicted that holds a deeper meaning.”

He’s asked about the kaleidoscope imagery present in the intro. “Originally the S2 outro didn’t have any kaleidoscope imagery, but I wanted to add it in, so now there’s that link between the intro and the outro. Mob continuously changes as a result of the people he meets… that’s a theme of the outro, but it’s also a theme of Mob Psycho 100 in general. There’s several parts within a kaleidoscope, but put the parts together and they create something new and charming. Mob gains friends, and as a result of all these different friends, he’s able to grow… that’s the meaning behind the kaleidoscope, and why it’s present in both the intro and outro.”

Interviewer brings up that Tachikawa previously said that season 1 was written with Reigen & Mob’s shishou-deshi relationship at its core, and asks what is at the core of season 2. “Reigen is also a protagonist-type character in Mob Psycho 100, but this time around we focused on Mob… season 2 has ‘The people surrounding Mob and his relationships with them’ at its core. Episodes 6 and 7 are pretty firmly about Reigen in that ‘people surrounding Mob’ role. Then there’s Mogami, and Serizawa later on. But, even deeper at its core season 2 focuses on how Mob grows as a result of the people he meets.”

Interviewer brings up that Tachikawa previously said he wanted to animate Reigen’s press conference, and asks how it was having that wish become reality. “We have it in season 1, that scene where Mob meets Reigen for the first time. When we put that in season 1, we thought if we’d ever get to animate the press conference, we’d use that scene again but have Reigen’s monologue from the manga this time around. I’m glad we were able to do that.”

Reigen’s past not being in the manga is brought up. “With the anime, I wanted to show a bit of how Reigen ended up where he is now. We don’t see the company Reigen used to work for in the manga. Occasionally, Reigen will come out with some ‘wise sayings’, such as ‘the secret behind business success lies in your smile’, so we thought it would be good to have those words come from where he used to work. We struggled deciding whether Reigen’s past should be as a water filter salesman, or as an insurance salesman. Ultimately, we asked ONE-sensei, who decided for us: ‘I like the idea of him selling water.’”

Discussion of Tsubomi coming to S&S as not being in the manga. Tachikawa wanted a scene in which Reigen, Ritsu, Teru do something for Mob - “something that sets things back to normal, after Whitey Arc.” ONE gave the idea, then published it as an omake manga.

He is asked what he’d like us to pay attention to with the final episodes. “Each character has their own motivation, but at the end of the day those motivations all add up to  ‘defeat claw’.” Mentions a bunch of new characters making their entrance.

His final message to readers is that a lot of work went into the final episodes and attention was paid to detail, so please enjoy.

---

Original twitter thread has a few more pictures in it, link to that is here.

Otomedia April 2019;

ONE’s special interview here.

Sakurai Takahiro [Reigen VA] & Itou Setsuo [Mob VA] joint interview here.

Kokuryuu Sachi [Shou VA] interview here.

Itou Setsuo [Mob VA] & Irino Miyu [Ritsu VA] interview here.

Character Designer Kameda, Eye-catch Team Kenja, Series Co-ordinator Seko & Director Tachikawa's interview here.

[avoidcrowdraws]

Some cull/Cullo people diagrams

Species information and permissions under the cut

The worldbuilding/culture information is just for my RPverse with my friends, it isn’t rigid and you can put them in any kind of universe you like!

Permissions: - can I make one? - Yes! Please credit me for the species once, or if you use my base - I don't like [x] about them, can I change it? - Change anything you want, there's no limits - can I make a half cull/half [whatever]? - Go for it! - can I put cull in a modern/sci fi/magical girl anime/etc. universe? - Yep! - can I make one for my friend? - Yep! - can I sell adopts for money? - Nope please don't, I'd prefer people didn't make money off of them

Cull/Cullo People, name comes from a corruption of 'collier' Pronounciation is 'kawl' or 'kawl' to rhyme with 'hall' The species is cull, the identity is Cullo - you would say 'they're a cull', 'I'm Cullo', or 'I'm a Cullo person' (compare, 'I'm Spanish') but not 'I'm a Cullo' (compare, 'I'm a French')

Body: - dense, water-resistant fur, comes in all ranges of of colours, patterns, and lengths - no external sex characteristics, no sexual dimorphism (breasts, beards, wide hips, etc.) - body types vary greatly, all are acceptable - prone to overheating in warmer areas

Head: - large furry hood, made of loose skin and fat - hood sits at collar and can be pulled up or down, vary in size, shape, looseness - some Cullo people can't pull theirs up over their heads and wear clothing instead - short snouts with small nostrils, can vary in shape - eyes have nictitating membranes - snake-like tongues - multiple rows of small, hook-shaped teeth - usually have a mane of hair atop the head at start of hood, textures and styles may vary - simple ear holes

Hands/Feet: - hands are humanoid, thick skin and covered in fur - not very strong grip - feet are reptilian, webbed, with prehensile dewclaw - feet are furred everywhere but the base, which are covered in thick scales for traction - prehensile dewclaw on inside of foot - stance switches between digitigrade and plantigrade at convenience

Tail: - snake-like, strong and muscular - varies in length, width, and shape - prehensile - genitalia is present near end of tail rather than near the pelvis (see Gender/Reproduction) - part of the reproductive and digestive system is in the tail, so they cannot lose it and survive

Diet: - primarily carnivorous, swallow most items raw and without chewing, will cut into chunks if too big to swallow whole - young are able to eat solid food from birth - anything ocean dwelling is most common, (fantasy equivalents of) fish, cephalopods, turtles, etc. - oppourtunistic and will also eat (fantasy equivalents of) birds, elk, wolves, snow leopards, etc. - raise an animal called lokorn (see diagram) - not much grows in their environment but if encountering traders will purchase and can eat unusual food - don't need to drink much, mostly get liquid from their food, however they CAN drink seawater

Technology: - human-level intelligence and social structures - live in fairly advanced societies with organisation, morals/laws, wages, writing/art, government, etc. - use complex tools and often live in remnant human structures that have been rebuilt, or in ice caves - do not use fire, lightning comes from ocean life bioluminescence - some choose to wear clothes, but there is no stigma for doing so or not - clothing style and complexity varies depending on the individual and area

Gender/Reproduction: - gender is unrelated to reproduction, decided on an individual basis - most reproductive units consist of three or more adults - genitalia/anus is near the end of the tail, a single opening cloaca, no penis/vagina/etc. - there are four sexes, one who can impregnate (provider), one who carries young (carrier), one who can do both (carrier/provider), and one who can do neither (nurturer) - young are born in placenta-like sacs about the size of a chicken egg, are nourished by them outside the womb - young are usually born in groups of three to five - a prominent hood is seen as attractive, but if so large it is floppy it is unappealing

Social: - grooming of fur is considered intimate - cuddling and being in large social groups is common, loners are rare - keeping one's hood down when outside is seen as foolish, like risky behaviour to look cool - affectionate language involves doubling name sounds, i.e. Maluri becomes Malulu, Mariri, Luluri, etc. - parents are addressed by their young by the first sound in their name plus A at the end, OR at the beginning if the first sound already ends with A, i.e. Dulie would be Dua, Maluri would be Ama

[biscuitreviews]

Biscuit Reviews The Last of Us Part 2 (SPOILERS)

When it comes to sequels, it can be either better or worse than the original. With Naughty Dog games, at least in my experience, their sequels have always been better than the original. Jak 2 and Uncharted 2 proved that. I can’t speak for Crash 2, because I never played it, but from what I’ve seen from the internet and many reviewers, even that was better than the original. With The Last of Us Part 2, that was what I was going into, a sequel that was sure to be better considering Naughty Dog’s pedigree with this. 

In some ways, they actually do succeed in The Last of Us Part 2 being better than the original. However, there’s also some areas where it failed.

Now, I can’t talk about The Last of Us Part 2 without mentioning a big spoiler, because this spoiler is the motivating cause for the story. I’m actually going to discuss that last. Normally in my reviews, I discuss the story first and then go into gameplay. But to allow you, the reader, to view my opinions while being able to avoid the spoilers, I’ll be talking about the story last this go around. I’ll also mark within the review when I’m going to start talking about the story to give you a chance to stop and scroll to the bottom of the review, or to simply come back to this review later.

In terms of gameplay, it is leagues better than the first entry. Enemies are varied, encounters have multiple ways to go about completing them, and there are plenty of tools at your disposal. The enemy variation was my favorite as you have the infected and their different subclasses: Runners which are run-of-the-mill infected, Clickers which are now nerfed to where guns are effective. Shamblers, one of the new variants, sprays a noxious gas and are heavy hitters. Stalkers, another new class are stealth based infected that make no noise and tend to hide and only fight if they’re spotted.

Human enemies are also varied depending on faction. The WLF are your standard human faction. They communicate with their teammates and are easy to keep track with listening mode. The Seraphites, the other faction, when it comes to using listening mode it’s practically useless. They’re quiet, communicate with whistles and are more likely to use weapons that don’t make a lot of noise. Either way both factions are very communicative to one another and will often coordinate with their team members to track you down during encounters.

You’ll have to use your weapons, your tools, and the environment to get past these encounters. Weapons are used for the obvious, defeating enemies. Tools allow you to cause distractions or set traps, which will help you cull enemy numbers. The environment is what you’ll use for the stealth approach and even run away from enemies if they prove to be too much to handle.

There is a computer controlled companion like in the first game, but they don’t really do much. When Ellie didn’t do much in the first game, it made sense because Joel’s mission was to get Ellie to a Firefly hospital; you didn’t expect Ellie to do anything. You expected her to stay hidden and out of the way. When Ellie would kill someone, it was a nice surprise, but at the same time you hoped she didn’t do that again because you didn’t know if the game would start going after Ellie. In Last of Us Part 2, there is no excuse for the computer controlled companion to not really do much. Sure they’ll kill someone on occasion, but it’s usually when there’s only one enemy left which makes having a companion questionable. You would hope that maybe they would do some distraction techniques, but all they do is remain hidden and not do much, similar to Ellie in the first game and it just makes no sense in the sequel for your companion to do that.

Encounters could also, but not often, have a mix of factions. For example, using distractions to lead the infected into human enemies feels extremely satisfying and rewarding. This will lead to the humans and infected fighting each other with you either slipping away, or using the chaos to your advantage to continue killing enemies.

Exploring the environment is strongly encouraged as there are items that can improve your character’s abilities, weapons, and items to craft tools that are needed. Exploration is also how’ll you find your weapons as not a lot of them are actually on the beaten path. You’ll find a couple along the way, sure, but there are also quite a few where you do have to go down the other fork or not the correct way forward to find these other weapons. This encourages you to fully explore the area before moving on because you might find a weapon that will greatly help in the next encounter. You can craft ammo for certain weapons, which is great when finding ammo for other weapons is proving to be lacking. I played the game on the Moderate difficulty and there were times where I was hurting on ammo and had to resort to more distraction tactics.

Speaking of difficulty, I love how customizable it is. You have presets: Very Light, Light, Moderate, Hard, and Survivor. The option to choose a difficulty preset is there, or you can go further and customize certain aspects. You can customize how hard enemies are to kill, how much ammo and supplies you can find, how hard or easy it is for enemies to see you in tall grass. How easy or hard it is for enemies to fall for distraction techniques. I have to say this is a really great way to go more in depth with difficulty and I hope this is something we start to see more and more of. I know Persona 4 for PC also had something similar and I hope to check that out at a later time.

Another thing I have to mention is the level of accessibility that is available. You can make HUD menu icons bigger, adjust the size of the subtitles, change colors for easier reading, and there are color blind settings for people that have color blind conditions. For those that might be hard of hearing there are options to have the game show more visual cues. I’m hoping this also starts to set a standard for accessibility options within video games to allow people to customize the experience for them.

Visually this game looks stunning. The first Last of Us came out at the end of the PS3’s lifecycle and it looked amazing and well detailed. With the Last of Us 2 also coming out at the end of the PS4’s lifecycle, it also does not disappoint and has some really stunning views and landscape shots where you can just sit back and take it all in.

When you complete the game, New Game+ is unlocked that allows you carry over all items and upgrades. You also have the ability to select chapters you wish to replay and even individual encounters if you just want to get straight into the action.

Now what about the story itself. As I mentioned previously, I can’t talk about the story without giving a big spoiler. If you’ve been reading this review and don’t want said spoiler, this is your chance to stop reading and either scroll to the very end or come back when you’ve either hit the big spoiler or just don’t care. I will say this, you won’t be far off on the spoiler as it happens 2 hours into the game. 

Yeah, it happened that quickly.

The Last of Us 2 goes for a dual narrative way of telling its story. You follow Ellie and a new character named Abby. However, instead of having two different stories affect one another, you are actually viewing what each character is going through before the inevitable crossover.

You start the game as Ellie seeking revenge on Abby for killing Joel. Why did Abby kill Joel, well who cares, just go after her, how dare she kill Joel. This is where a majority of the hate of The Last of Us Part 2 comes in, because a character you know nothing about, suddenly comes in and kills a character that we spent quite a bit of time with in the previous game. It also doesn’t help that for a decent part of Ellie’s story, that’s the premise you’re given, that Abby is just a random person in a faction that was never before seen until now. You do learn later that there actually is a connection from the first game with Abby and why she killed Joel, but by the time you learn that, you as a player viewing this story, don’t care because you spent quite a bit of the game hating this character and just wanting her dead.

As for Abby’s story, she wants to help her friend Owen escape Seattle after he killed his teammate and saved a member of the Seraphites, the WLF’s enemy. She in turn helps out two kids escaping from the Seraphites and the WLF then considers Abby an enemy for going AWOL and a traitor for helping out Owen and two Seraphites.

Now as for the story itself, it’s highly predictable in the worst ways using tired post-apocalyptic tropes. No joke, my wife actually predicted everything beat by beat within the first two hours of how the story was going to play out after Joel did. She was correct in every aspect. However, despite being predictable it’s not terrible either like the internet would have you believe. What really hurts The Last of Us Part 2’s story is the order in which it decided to tell it. I feel it should have told Abby’s story first, that way we could have gotten to know her as a character, rather than just default hate her the entire time. As for the references of killing Joel, instead of saying Joel outright, make it ambiguous, give it a little mystery, wonder who was it that she killed that has her friends a little bit concerned for her state of mind and actions during that time while slowly revealing the identity of who she killed.

I get that the theme for this story is hate, but I felt it would have really drove that theme harder if Abby’s story was first, that way you can understand her hate. I still think as a player, you would have ended up hating Abby regardless, but I feel that it wouldn’t have been as volatile if Naughty Dog went this route. Also, the fact that there are quite a few things in the story you have to tear apart and place in the proper order of events is a bit draining. Multiple narratives and flashback sequences can work, but in the way these were presented, it took effort to piece the overall narrative together.

Then by telling Ellie’s story second, you can further drive the point that hate breeds hate and to end the cycle, it has to be you that ends it for if you continue it, the cycle will never end.

I also hated that it left Ellie and Dina’s relationship “up to interpretation” at the end of the game. No, we have a nice gay relationship in this game, give Ellie a happy ending at the very least of all this.

The Last of Us Part 2, I’ll admit is a bit of a tough game for me to score. As a game, it succeeds in so much and then some. But as a story, it has quite a few stumbles. However, putting the Abby prejudice aside, it’s an ok story, definitely not as jaw dropping or emotional as the first, but it’s still serviceable despite its issues.

I never give games a .5 in my score because I feel it can be too wishy washy. I feel giving it a 3 is too low considering how the gameplay is so good and how you can approach encounters and even customize your experience. However, giving it a 4 could be considered too high as Naughty Dog is known for good gameplay and great stories and The Last of Us Part 2’s story was just “ok”.

However, after some back and forth, I think I’m going to give The Last of Us Part 2 the higher number because I want to recognize the amount of accessibility options it provides. Not a lot of games consider this or even have this option and I want to commend this one for considering that. I think if the story was the train wreck that the internet would have you believe, maybe I would give it the lower number, but in reality, it’s really not THAT bad, but it definitely does hold it back from being great. This is definitely a game I might be going back and forth with for a while, but for now at this moment, I think a 4 is fair, it’s still a great game, but it definitely has a sore spot that keeps it from reaching a 5 out of 5.

If you were to say “No Biscuit, this definitely deserves a 3” or “No it’s lower than that.” I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that. But looking at how much fun I had with the game aspect and seeing just how customizable the experience is, that’s why I’m leaning higher. You as a gamer have every right to hold on to that prejudice towards Abby. There are those that can’t get past that and I fully understand, I was that way for the majority of my playthrough. As a reviewer though, I felt that I had take a step back and view the story as is without prejudice and I see an “ok” story. Definitely not the Naughty Dog standard one might expect, but not as terrible as the internet makes it out to be.

The Last of Us Part 2 receives a 4 out of 5.

[timeclonemike]

The War of the Words, Part 5: Counterstrike

Previous installments of this essay have repeated the point that the tactics used by nazis, terfs, and other varieties of bigot are those adopted by a force with a numerical and strategic disadvantage when facing a larger and stronger opponent, among other things. This may have given the impression that these types will eventually just die out. While I believe that this is true in the long term, it is demonstrably true that they can still do considerable damage in the short term, so this is unfortunately not the kind of problem that will solve itself. Action must be taken to undermine them at every possible juncture. This is especially true given that the current, semi-covert “secret agent” / muddy-the-waters approach was adopted because previous open displays of aggression were not getting the results they wanted. It is entirely possible that a shift in strategy will occur again and allow them to make more headway than they presently are.

Any given strategy employed by the nazis and terfs and racists has one or more potential counter-strategies, but simply waiting to recognize a specific type of propaganda or psychological manipulation or social engineering method puts everyone else on the defensive - by the time the problem is recognized and understood, it has already been effective for some time and may allow for a certain amount of momentum. Also, rapidly shifting strategies can lead to the defensive side lagging behind or being overwhelmed, which is one of the potential advantages of the “increase the signal to noise ratio when it comes to dog whistles” approach mentioned previously.

Therefore, as the old saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. The best chances of combating these ideologies involves going after them directly, rather than trying to play damage control after the fact (although that is also important.) And to do this most effectively requires a certain level of understanding of the psychology (and pathology) of the kinds of minds that are most amenable to fascism and radical exclusionism and racism.

The most important point worth considering is what I have taken to calling the Fascism Paradox. Fascism derives its name from the Fasces, a symbol that was adopted during the days of the Roman Empire and then appropriated by authoritarian political movements in the early twentieth century. It consists of a bundle of rods tied together, incorporating a handle and axe head, and the symbolism is pretty straightforward; a single stick might break, but a bundle of them together is much more robust. The obvious idea behind it is that many people united in a single cause and goal can accomplish what an individual cannot, which is why it was adopted by so many governmental offices and magistrates before the early twentieth century.

The titular paradox is that the Fasces symbolizes strength despite being an admission of weakness. The whole point of tying the rods together is because an individual rod is inadequate to the task at hand. Likewise, most authoritarian displays of power revolve around numbers; large military parades, massive rally crowds, mobs of angry young men wearing polo shirts and carrying lawn torches. The power of symbolism, and the attraction they hold, is a door that swings both ways; those who are attracted to the idea of fascism are those who are individually weak, and can only achieve strength and power by proxy, as part of a larger group.

Given that knowledge, the obvious counter is to strip away the protections of the group itself. After the Unite the Right rally, quite a large number of participants were identified by photographic evidence where they did nothing to conceal their identities, and the social consequences were considerable. These individual people were not part of a larger, dangerous force; they were people with names and addresses and once people could pair them with the faces in the photographs, it was basically open season. This technically wasn’t even doxxing; nobody can realistically make a claim to privacy when they are in a  public space, much less when they are deliberately drawing attention to themselves. (The lessons learned from this are implicit in the “secret police” tactics used by unidentified federal agents in Portland as of this writing.)

If this sounds like a roundabout way of saying “Divide And Conquer”, it’s because there’s another element to the paradox. A bundle of sticks may be stronger than any individual stick, but the strength of said bundle is still limited by the strength of the individual sticks. For an object lesson in why this is important, compare breaking a single uncooked spaghetti noodle with an entire package of uncooked spaghetti. The whole package technically puts up more resistance, but the difference is marginal in comparison to the forces involved. So it is with fascism and the people who are enticed by it; because their attraction to the group and the cause is motivated (subconsciously or not) by an attempt to mitigate personal weaknesses, the group itself inherits all off these weaknesses. This is especially true when it comes to the subject of morale and courage under fire; each individual in the group is relying on the group as a whole, and they take their cues from each other, so as soon as one person falters everyone around them starts to hold back. The result is a chain reaction of hesitation and lost momentum. (This can be seen in real time when watching videos of right wing protests fighting with counter-protest groups, and can also be seen in recordings of police and riot cops against protestors when a charge doesn’t immediately turn into a rout.)

This paradox also comes into play with another peculiar psychological characteristic: Being disgusted or enraged by compassion. Compassion directed towards weakness can serve as a reminder of said weakness, or an admission, or symbolize a loss or negation of strength; the human mind is very complex and this can get rationalized and justified many different ways, but it all comes back to a central idea; that they can’t or don’t have what they want more than anything. This is another reason why these groups turn on each other at the drop of a hat, because displaying compassion for, or receiving compassion from another, is an insult in a culture where strength is prized: “I’m helping you because you’re weak and you need my help / pity / support.”

(In a world, and especially a year, where the hits keep coming and they don’t stop coming like some sort of Fae contract involving a Smash Mouth song, this attitude is even less healthy than it normally is.)

The sense of personal weakness at the heart of the paradox can take multiple forms, not just physical strength. Financial stability, social leverage, political authority, health and wellness, even good looks can all qualify. What matters is it’s something that a person wants and does not have. This by itself is the origin of most conspiracy theories; some other nation or ethnic group or political party is hoarding or stealing all the food or medicine or political power, and if they weren’t, things would be different. The conspiracy theory angle is so complicated it requires its own essay to explore in full, so for the purposes of brevity and clarity we will leave that unaddressed for now; all we need to focus on is the idea that these people want something that they can’t have. The “can’t have” part especially plays into the idea of radicalization and recruitment. Somebody who wants to be physically strong can work out and get swole, and can measure their progress over time in terms of sets and reps. As a matter of fact, they have to in order to determine what exercises are working for them. How much they can lift and for how long and with what body parts will vary greatly depending on factors like genetics, environment, childhood and adult nutrition, but what matters is that it can be quantified and measured and progress can be seen.

But fascists, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, fascism-susceptible people, are in a different situation. As much as they glorify, praise, and fetishize strength and power, what really drives them is their weakness. No matter how ripped they may be and how much they can bench, it’s never enough; they will always be afraid and insecure and there is always the possibility, if not the certainty, of somebody stronger. It’s the difference between wanting to be strong and wanting to not be weak. This also applies to knowledge, to social acumen, to power and influence. So long as they are unable or unwilling to confront the root cause of what drives them - to admit their weakness in whatever form they find intolerable - they can’t come to terms with it psychologically, never mind take action to correct it practically.

This leads directly to the next strategy for dealing with fascists; mockery and ridicule. The insecurity and weakness that drives fascism is bone deep and borders on the universal, and this is why so many alt-right insults are disparaging terms referring to a perceived lack of strength or fortitude or power. Trying to use those specific terms against them is about as effective as children on a playground going “I’m rubber, you’re glue” but individual insults and derogatory remarks are not what’s important; the underlying insecurity is. Simply not treating them with the deference and respect they desire is itself a potent starting point, and from there any number of comedic possibilities present themselves. Autocratic and authoritarian regimes are notorious about cracking down on dissent for this reason even more than an attempt to keep the citizenry from being agitated; just look at Vladimir Putin’s heavy handed retaliation against Russia’s internet access when somebody photoshopped heavy makeup onto his face. Wannabe dictators with no power can’t remove the object of their ridicule and it eats them alive from the inside out.

The final aspect of this counter attack strategy has to do with enemy morale and opposition. As stated in previous parts of the essay, a number of fascists and crypto-fascists abandoned the cause and ideology when they decided it was less stressful to stop being one. In other words, leave the door open for somebody to switch sides. Consider an analogy where Fascism is an island; some people will burn all their bridges in pursuit of the ideology, but others might not; if other people burn those bridges, the result is the same and they end up trapped on Fascism Island anyway, so they have nothing to lose by doubling down. A number of people on and off Tumblr have discussed this topic and the problems with what is called “essentialist” thinking long before this essay was written; there is a nearly decade old TED Talk by a DJ called Jay Smooth who suggested we start thinking of bias and prejudice the same way we think about hygiene like brushing our teeth, that prejudice is something people do as opposed to an inescapable part of their character.

It’s worth keeping in mind that this may be interpreted as weakness by the fascist or fascists in question and this may prompt them to redouble their attacks or attempt to “play” the person giving them an out in order to get information or undermine their confidence or even try to recruit them into the fascist cause; it’s also worth keeping in mind that it is impractical and unrealistic to expect everyone to adopt this approach. Some people have lost too much personally, and some people are too close to the ideological or physical front lines to even consider letting their guard down. Not everyone can be Reverend Wade Watts.

[vasiliquemort]

~Commissions are open!~

It would be absolutely delightful if you distribute this post or even want to support my projects and order something special for yourself;зз In addition, I recently changed prices so this information may be useful even to those who already saw previous price list;***

Below I have described in detail almost all the necessary information, but please do not hesitate to write and ask me for any reason in a private message or ask - it will be my pleasure to tell or show you more, and I am always glad to have pleasant acquaintances***

What can I do for you:

Design and illustration of your original character (based on references or text description)

Your portrait, a portrait of your loved one, a celebrity or a person you like (including historical figures)

A portrait of any artistic character - from any fandom, and although my work is closer to gothic fantasy, it is a great pleasure for me to work with new themes and develop myself. The fandoms I'm most familiar with are listed in tags;з

I like to design clothes on my own, interpret the appearance and style of characters, but I am always very attentive to the interests and desires of other people**

I do portraits in three formats - bust, waist-length and full-length, and with three different stages of completion - line art, flat color and full shadow work. They can be completely different in style, and you should pay close attention to the difference in the execution of these formats - the busts are always more detailed in the character's features, the atmosphere is more consistent in waist-length paintings, and full-length drawings are well suited to demonstrate clothing design or depict a scene.

On average, I complete the work within three to four days, but in case of various circumstances I leave myself up to a week, the lion's share of the time (usually the first day) is occupied by sketch and line art, as well as the background - depending on the complexity and its cost , and the duration of the work can vary greatly, but on average I do them in a day or two.

I can make completely different backgrounds for you - for bust or chest-high portraits, graphics or bokeh with some elements of the environment are more suitable, for full-length portraits, you can perform both art nouveau design and full surroundings with a landscape or interior design.

What can I do and approximate prices:

- Bust of one character up to the chest.

Sketch: $ 30

Flat color: $ 35

Shadows & Color Treatment: $ 40

- Portrait of one or more characters up to the waist.

Sketch: $ 45

Flat color: $ 50

Shadows & Color Treatment: $ 55

For background + 5 $ minimum.

For each new character + 10 $

- Character (or several) in full growth.

Sketch: $ 60

Flat color: $ 65

Shadows & Color Treatment: $ 70

For background + 10 $ minimum.

For each new character + 15 $

I also accept tips - most often they are included in the cost of the background, which is done at the end, after the main character design.

Whoa !! You’ve read almost everything! Thank you very much! Here, under the cut, I describe the whole process of work and how we pay. This is very useful information about most of the questions that you may have, if you want to purchase my work, I advise you to take a look too;)

How do we work on an order?

Please feel free to contact me via Tumblr or mail for any questions you may have! ~ If you have an interest in my work, and you want me to create something special for you - share this with me in a message, we can discuss all the details and cost of your painting**

After I discuss the content of the painting with the client and receive additional materials from him (a photo of the person I am drawing, or references that are close to what is expected of me), I start creating the first sketch.

In accordance with the request, I make a sketch of the future painting, which will contain all its important elements and an approximate color scheme (if any) that I will use. At this stage, you can freely make your amendments, and when the content suits you, I will ask you for an advance payment of half the cost of the work without price of background (through Paysend).

After that, work on the portrait will begin. Its duration varies on several factors - to a greater extent on the volume and complexity of the work itself, as well as on my own workload with other orders. I will contact you at various stages of the work readiness to show its progress and make the necessary corrections.

After completing the portrait, I will send you its version in low quality- you familiarize yourself with it, and after you pay the rest of the amount, you will receive the final result of our work! ~

[umbralreaver]

UNIFIED CUTLERY THEORY

Originally posted on my Twitter and copy/pasted: https://twitter.com/UmbralReaver/status/1233335355572543488

This is a combination of Spoon Theory,  Fork Theory and Knife Theory, metaphors used to help disabled people  explain fatigue and stressors to themselves and abled people.

Abled friends please share! This cost me many spoons and I'm well into knives.

Credits to original authors:

Spoon Theory - Christine Miserandino Fork Theory - Jenrose Knife Hypothesis - Terry Masson

SPOON THEORY

The first part of Unified Cutlery Theory is the essential element of  energy: The spoon. The spoon is an arbitrary unit of capacity for action  throughout the day.

A spoon doesn't have to be only physical energy. Mental energy, or executive function can all be represented by spoons.

You wake with a certain number of spoons. How many you have depend on  you as an individual, your conditions and environment. It's not always  the same, and may vary with time.

And throughout the day, you  spend those spoons on tasks. Brushing your teeth might be one spoon.  Making a meal could be three. A day's work might be six or more. Costs  vary between individuals, and for some a trivial task may be quite  costly or vice versa.

To a person with limited spoons, this can  mean making hard choices between daily activities. And can result in  reaching the end of the day without the spoons to eat or wash - only  sleep. Worse, being severely low on spoons can, for some, even make  sleep difficult.

Spoons are only recovered by rest. As mentioned,  being low on spoons can sometimes make even this hard, and leave us  waking with fewer spoons than expected.

It's common to try to 'save up' spoons for a big expenditure, but we have our limits. It's never as much as an abled person.

A common phrase is 'I don't have the spoons for this.'

This means a person feels that engaging in an activity would be too  costly to their energy today, or even cost them tomorrow's energy as  well, or that they're already too low.

Be considerate when we say this.

For some, spoons can come in different sizes. You may have some large  spoons, and several small ones. In this case, it means your allotment of  energy can't so easily be consolidated for different tasks.

You  can keep spending small spoons on little things but while you don't have  enough large ones, even if the total volume of small spoons would add  up to it, you simply cannot do it. Note: The variable spoon sizes is sometimes called the 'Spell Slot' theory of fatigue.

For many people, these disabilities are invisible. While spoons are  high, we might appear perfectly abled in energy and behaviour, even  though the very next task might be the last one we can do in the day  before collapsing.

Believe invisible disabilities.

FORK THEORY

Forks are stressors. You can only cope with so many stuck in you before  you hit your limit and their very presence can limit your ability to  spend and recover spoons.

Anything that makes you feel worse can  be a fork, even as little as feeling hungry. Financial or relationship  stress can be even bigger forks. When you hit your limit, you're done. You cannot handle any more.

This is especially relevant for neurodivergent people. Myself, for  example, sufficient forks can force me to cry uncontrollably for an hour  and/or become nonverbal. Our forks may be so much different from those  of neurotypicals, so much that they're invisible.

How an  individual is able to handle quantity and size of forks varies greatly.  You may be tolerant of any number of tiny forks stuck in you, but a  single pitchfork can destroy you in one go.

Or you might be able  to tolerate a huge fork but it leaves very little room for smaller ones.  The 'straw that breaks the camel's back' can apply here. Albeit in this  case, a fork that does so.

Having too many forks can mean you  can't access your spoons, even if you're full up. And dealing with  removing forks themselves is often a costly task.

Sometimes the  only thing you can do is abandon your current situation and try to  remove the fork you can get rid of the fastest.

Sometimes, those forks are people. :I

KNIFE THEORY

Sometimes you are out of spoons, or are too full of forks to access  them. But you decide to keep going. The only thing left in the drawer  are knives.

A knife represents overspending of energy that draws  from the future. To push yourself, sometimes dangerously, beyond your  limits.

A knife can be spent in place of a spoon, again varying  in size and amount depending on the individual and the tasks at hand. It  can be that this works and you get it done, but you know that tomorrow  it will cost you.

Knives can hurt. Each spent might take away one  spoon from tomorrow. They might take more. And that means without so  many spoons... you can only spend further knives.

This can result  in a spiral of ever increasing fatigue until you have nothing to spend  but knives, reach your limit of those, and crash.

I have had days where I slept over 20 hours due to extreme overspending. Sometimes the aftereffects last the rest of the week.

Not all disabled people can even reach for the knives, so be  considerate when someone can't push themselves even if you think they  should. Consider also how much harm it can do to perform this exertion.

HOW CAN I HELP?

Recognise that we are disabled, even if we don't look it. Respect us, and inform others about invisible disability.

Respect that we can't do as much as you, and that we might not want to  do something due to its cost. Even if it would cost you nothing.

If you want to help (and do not impose if we refuse), you can do things  to reduce our daily cost in spoons. Help clean, make meals, with the  understanding that we are not lazy. We are limited. We often feel  tremendous guilt at not being able to help with daily chores.

If  we have forks that you can help remove (and we tell you), perhaps put in  some effort to make sure they don't get stuck in again. This might  include changing daily activities to be more accommodating and removing  stressful triggers.

And if we are well into our knives, let us  rest. We might rest for days. Don't make us get up and face the day full  of fatigue. Perhaps help with tasks we'd normally have no problem with.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. This took all of my spoons and I've spent too  many knives, so I would really appreciate it if you did. I want this to  have been worth it.

Credits:

Christine Miserandino ( https://twitter.com/bydls ) Jenrose ( https://twitter.com/jenrose ) Terry Masson ( https://twitter.com/Tilaurin )

And thanks to everyone that helped spread awareness.

THE JAGGED SPOON ADDENDUM

The jagged spoon looks like a spoon in all ways. It sits amongst your other spoons and makes you feel capable. You can use it to do something useful.  But it's a trap. This spoon has rough, sharp edges. You try to use it and you get the task done, but it hurts you.

Effectively, you've just spent a knife instead, energy taken from tomorrow. How does a jagged spoon end up in your cutlery drawer?  In my case, it was Lorazepam. It dispelled my anxiety and paranoia and made me feel I could do ANYTHING. And so I did so much that day.

And now, a day later, I am utterly destroyed by that expenditure, that at the time felt like nothing at all due to the freedom from anxiety the medicine gave me.  The medicine had concealed my fatigue, not removed it. I had spent jagged spoons.

There could be any number of reasons why one might find jagged spoons at your disposal, be it drugs, mood, or simply whim of biology.  We with jagged spoons must take greater care not to overspend, even when feeling great.  It sucks. :(

Thank you for reading my addition to Unified Cutlery Theory. I hope it helps people understand why they might feel they have limitless energy one day then none the next.

[dyscrasia-eucrasia]

Fashion design for OCs: Creating a cohesive world

This is my third post about how to design fashion for your OCs! Be sure to check out part 1, about where to start learning about fashion, and part 2, a case study in the Monster High franchise’s fashion design. 

In this part, we’ll be talking about creating a cohesive world of fashion, and finally taking a look at some of my own character design. 

Intro: What is a cohesive fashion world?

When you think about the fashion of the world we all currently live in, you may think about the many clothing styles and how they differ greatly depending on culture. However, if you were to line up a variety of clothing styles - say, a hanbok next to a kimono next to a sundress - you would still be able to tell that they were all made by humans, for humans. Likewise comparing American clothing from the 1930s to the 1950s to the 1980s to the 2000s. To paraphrase Bruce Timm on the Batman Beyond commentary tracks when talking about designing clothing from the future: 50 years ago we wore shirts and jeans, 50 years from now we’ll be wearing shirts and jeans. There’s a lot of variety on world fashion, but the vast majority of humans have a head, two arms, and two legs, so we’re somewhat restricted in what we can do with our fashion. (We won’t get into avant garde fashion right now.) 

What I personally look for in a fictional fashion world is clothing that looks like it has been made and worn by people who inhabit the same setting. You can still have a lot of variation within that setting, based on culture, religion, environment, etc, but generally you want to find similarities throughout that can be repeated. I’ve broken these similarities down into 3 rough categories - Core Inspiration, Cut/Style, and Cultural Significance. Most of my examples will be dealing with the gijinka designs I’ve made for Flight Rising. 

1. Core Inspiration

The above designs are a sampling of the gijinkas I’ve made from my ‘Cursed Constructs’ breeding pair. Even without getting into their lore, when I line them up like this, you can probably tell that they inhabit the same world. This is because I selected a specific inspiration for these designs and I’ve stuck to it. 

That inspiration, of course, is the American Southwest. Now, one way you could approach such an inspiration is to just do cowboy gear - cowboy hats, shirts, jeans, chaps, cowboy boots - all the way down. However, that would just be designing for one occupation, not one world. I want these designs to feel Southwestern, so in addition to cowboy gear, I also considered what general elements felt ‘Southwestern’ - which is where the fringed leather, large earrings, and patterned blankets came in. I tried to consider not just what cowboys would wear, but other subcultures would wear as well, such as bikers (far left) and performers (second to right) might wear. 

I also limited myself to a palette of browns and blue-greens. In the real world, people wear all sorts of different colors. But in a constructed fashion world, pulling from the same color story helps to enforce uniformity without making every outfit literally the same. The inspiration plus the color story helps these characters feel like they all came from the same town. 

2. Cut/Style

One way to approach a cohesive fashion world is to consider how a particular cut or style of clothing would arise within that world. For instance, back in the 2000s, low-rise boot-cut jeans were all the rage, at least in America, to the point it was difficult to find jeans in a different style. That said, those jeans themselves often varied a lot in color, wash, and additional accutroments. Choosing a particular clothing cut or way of styling a piece of clothing can help to signal that characters come from the same place. 

The above characters are three characters from my Flight Rising lore who all come from the same general region, but were born in different villages. When I was designing these characters, I wanted them to have a similar style that would designate where they came from, while each having his own highly unique look. I landed on dropped crotch ‘harem’ style pants with wide openings on the sides that gathered at the bottom, worn without a shirt. 

Admittedly, I chose this because I’m gay and wanted to draw the male form in something that I found sexy - which, imo, is a perfectly legitimate approach to fashion design, as long as you’re honest about it. However, I did feel that this particular form of sexy was appropraite for the world I was building, which is based in the desert, hence a form of clothing that is lightweight, airy, and (for better or worse) has some loose ‘desert’ vibes due to links to bellydancing. 

Again, though, I did not make a uniform - each character has his own twist on the style which reflects his personality. Cinna (left) wears another pair of pants beneath the harem pants because he is more shy about his sexuality; Grax (middle) wears his pants long because they give him a slightly older look, and he has more decorations because he is in a position of power; Omkir (right) utilizes wrappings similar to his wrist wrappings, which make him look ready to fight. 

3. Cultural Significance 

Another way to make characters look like they belong to the same world is to figure out an element of their design that would carry significance across their entire culture. These can be based on a religious belief, a cultural practice, a superstition, etc. They also allow you a lot of variation as you play with how individuals would incorporate that element into their day-to-day wardrobe. 

Take, for instance, my Beastmen race. Each of my Beastmen designs utilizes a patterned scarf of some kind. This was an earlier design choice I made, in which I decided that part of this race’s culture involves individuals being given a patterned scarf during a coming of age ceremony. With that in mind, though, almost every design wears their scarf in a different way, from around the neck to a belt sash to a cape or a shawl. Certain elements are repeated - such as baubles and coins on the edge of the scarf, or the patterns themselves - but this design choice gave me a huge amount of freedom when it came to silhouette and color while still giving me a specific thing to keep in mind. 

Additionally, the fun thing about culturally significant clothing articles, is that you can then play with the implications of a design that lacks said article of clothing. 

Conclusion: Where to start

Creating a cohesive fashion world can feel daunting, for sure, especially if you’re in the ‘panster’ family of creative types, as opposed to a ‘plotter’. So, how do you begin making those decisions? 

My advice is to start with just one character. Figure out one character’s wardrobe, and then build out from there. As you work, think of ways to tie your new designs to your first design. When you do this, question why you gave Character 1 clothing article X, what that character’s role in the world is, and how the rest of the world interacts with them. It’s okay if you don’t know what you’re going to do at the start, but check your work as you go. 

For example, for the characters above, I designed Kairo (far left) first, and then used aspects of his design as a template for the cut and style of the other characters, particularly the boxy top/sleek bottom silhouette, as well as the reliance on black as a strong color with a pop of a highly saturated second color for contrast. 

Thanks for reading this massively long post! If you’ve got any other aspects of character fashion design you’d like to see covered, please let me know!