#prettiness is the goal convention is the goal appeal is the goal

[sexshopshenanigans]

In a vacuum? Yeah, I agree that makeup can be a value-neutral art form! But in practice, please forgive me for not entirely believing all the “makeup is empowering! makeup is just for me! this is war paint!” arguments from people who aren’t comfortable going out in their bare face, aren’t comfortable taking and posting photos of themselves in a bare face, and are unwilling or unable to create art that isn’t conventionally pretty.

it’s been said so many times but it IS genuinely depressing to talk about how cosmetics are predatory and meant to make women more consumable and are pushed. but there always has to be someone saying “well i LIKE wearing makeup and look good in it so actually it’s empowering and if you critique this multi-billion dollar industry and its insidious nature you’re anti-feminist/hate women :/” like. We are not getting out of this alive, i fear

[alicenpai]

🌟 ART SUMMARY 2024 🥂

this was a year where i didnt draw a lot, despite that, i tried to make every drawing count. thank you all for the support in 2024, here's to 2025 ! 🫶

⭐ [read more starts here]

i continued my goals from last year with regards to perfectionism. the tldr is that i strongly feel my perfectionism kept me away from completing as many drawings as i could, and i had to make an effort to just finish drawings no matter how lukewarm I felt about them. 2024 was a strange year, it came and went in the blink of an eye, even more than previous years! life has been stressful, so i've been trying to focus more on myself and taking time off drawing. ironic, although i think i succeeded in that above goal, i expected to get more drawings out of it, but ended up taking more time off drawing anyways. towards the end of the year, i started feeling more burnt out, and drawing became a slow and arduous process. i think part of the reason was because 2024 was my first year doing 5 events - 2 full weekend conventions (anime north and otakuthon), and 3 single day events (bamtori fall aapi market, toronto game expo, bamtori jinglebam market), when in the past 2 years i'd just opt to do 1-2 local cons. it was also my first time doing single day events, which were super chill! although you have to both set up and tear down on the same day, i felt more casual at those events, had more time to chat and look around. back to my point - despite being fun, doing so many events took its toll on me - especially during the colder months of the year, where i wasn't so used to going to events haha! usually i take fall as the time to rejuvenate and recover from summer events, but i couldn't really do that this year. i kept questioning myself, "does this drawing have appeal? will people buy this?" "is my art hireable?" and it's just not a healthy mindset to have. next year i'll try to draw more of what i enjoy and what's on my mind, instead of worrying too much if it's sellable! *feeling like the HAHA YES sickos meme* - 2025 art goals outlined below: - oc zine (aiming for a character guide with some test comics) - character interactions & poses! e.g. dancing, hugs - generally stuff that's more difficult to draw. my art is more illustrative, but sometimes i wished it was more engaging emotionally? like i want people to smile and cry with my characters... - illustrations that challenge me. when i say illusts that challenge me it's pretty abstract - do research and gather inspiration for every illust.. compositions that are difficult/complex and take a while to draft.. strong theme.. it's more for me to understand AHAHAHA. as the years go by you can see my art becoming more unified in theme and self indulgent... i want to keep going, i want to make art that is uniquely mine. less priority: - get used to sketching! truly miss how i used to fill up sketchbooks every year - sticker sheets (this is on the less priority list bc i will probably fulfill this goal regardless) - oc merch (happy with the stickers i made in the last 2 yrs, let's keep going!) - silly things! e.g. 4koma, silly doodles. comedy is an art, it IS a skill you can study and chip away at (e.g. comedians and comedy writers). make sure i take notes on really stand-out jokes i find funny & why

other various things to try and draw more of: - group pictures - animals - layouts and props. i find layouts and anything with hard surfaces difficult to draw, which is why i draw a lot of flowers and fabric LMAO. one thing i gotta do is start by either drawing characters holding props more (easy baby steps!) and/ or start drawing props around them and make my way towards harder things (e.g. practice drawing a character sitting, i'll start by drawing a simple chair, then a table, then objects on that table). this is also one of my weaknesses - draw the ground they're standing on if possible, e.g. characters standing on a grid - vehicles, if i can. i mostly draw stuff from fantasy series where cars don't exist LOL but i'll try...

[curator-on-ao3]

The fake commercial in my brain …

So you want to be a Star Trek actor?

Great goal! The shows and films are part of a renowned franchise and, hey, a shot at convention money for the rest of your life sounds pretty good, right?

So let’s discuss some key skills you’ll need for your foray into the final frontier:

“Look at that:” We’ll teach you how to express horror, shame, sadness, glee, and so much more when interacting with blank viewscreens, aliens to be added later via cgi, or … nothing at all.

“Talk techie to me:” Don’t know an uncoupled plasma relay from a phase-conjugate graviton beam? No problem. We’ll teach you all the technobabble — and a few tricks to keep your motivational phase inducers from mucking up your dramaturgical Heisenberg compensators.

“Mouthing the answers:” Yeah, there’s decent odds that, sooner or later, your character will kiss an alien. So what do you do when a stage kiss is limited by the practical realities of flimsy forehead ridges, easily breakable cheek prosthetics, or even false teeth so pointy that a vampire would take a step back? We’ll teach you how to “face” a smooch that should look good for the cameras … even if won’t appeal to you for another few hundred years.

“Hold me:” Phasers, padds, hyposprays, and futuristic tools of every blinky design. It’s props time! We’ll teach you to how to hold ‘em, how to fold ‘em, how to walk away, and … aw, you know the rest.

“Getting handsy:” Want pockets? Too bad. The future is seamless, so we’ll help you figure out what to do with your hands when you’re in uniform. Pro tip: nothing at all.

“Pushing my buttons:” Time to sit down so we can power you through seasoned Trek performers’ two main schools of thought on console buttons. Will you work out how to fly the ship or fire phasers so it’s the same every time? Or will you be more of a tap-tap-guess-this-does-that Starfleet officer? No right or wrong, but we’ll help you find your button motivation at warp speed!

Are hailing frequencies still open? Great! Because we can teach you all that and more for the low, low price of $1,701 or €746.56. Space may be vast, but spaces are limited so sign up now!

[amadeusgame]

Devlog: MAGWest Retrospective + Demo Update Soon

Read on itch | Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~ Episode 1 ~ Waltz

It's been a week since MAGWest, and this is meant to be an update both for people who attended and found this game (hi!) and people who have been following this game and are awaiting updates.

For those from MAGWest: the version of the game you saw at the booth isn't publicly available yet, but will be this month. More details below.

Devlog Contents

MAGWest Recap - how it went, feedback received, what that means for the game's upcoming release.

New Public Demo - coming this month. Will take the MAGWest build and add a couple more scenes so it (more or less) covers what the currently live demo does in terms of story.

Full Game - coming SOON. By end of year is the goal I'm really pushing for.

Full devlog below the cut.

All game links here: linktr.ee/amadeusgame

MAGWest Recap

Truthfully, MAGWest was exactly what I needed to get this first episode finished. It gave me a deadline to make a new public-ready build, it gave me a deadline to make a new trailer (which accidentally turned into an anime-ass opening, and I think that was the best possible decision I could have made for it), and it let me meet a lot of people who have the same priorities that I do face-to-face.

I started working on this game when I was studying music composition in grad school, wanting to write music for games (...before deciding to just make the whole thing myself). It feels only natural that I found so many like-minded people at a convention specifically celebrating video game music.

(forgive my terrible phone camera quality)

I have a very small audience, primarily because I've been stubborn about sticking to a particular vision and making something near-unmarketably niche. My goal is to make something a small handful of people will deeply connect with. But prioritizing such a small, specific audience has made it difficult to look at pure metrics, as the numbers are (obviously) not very large.

This convention gave me the opportunity to see those "numbers" in person, talk to the people behind them, and realize that every single Steam wishlist or Itch follow is someone who has in some way engaged with my game and found it appealing. I had fascinating conversations with a lot of people, and I really connected with folks who were excited about what I'm making. It was incredibly motivating.

One thing that really felt... amazing, honestly, in a way I was genuinely unprepared for... was the overwhelmingly positive reception. People really loved Amadeus! They had such nice things to say about the art, music, story, and atmosphere. I received a proportionately tiny amount of critical feedback; almost everyone had nothing to say except that they loved it. I obviously did receive some critique (more below; I know exactly what to prioritize when tweaking the mechanics for the public build) - but I was anticipating a much more mixed reaction. The reaction wasn't mixed at all! A clear majority of people who stopped by seemed to really like it.

One person finished the demo, and without any prompting, said it reminded them of a different VN called Umineko. I will probably be riding that high for the rest of my life.

The current online build I released back in February is something I'm very proud of, but it is pretty rough around the edges. This new build is SO much more polished. I was able to put it in front of an audience of strangers and let it speak for itself, and people loved it. The foundation for a complete game is ready.

To everybody who stopped by my booth at the convention: thank you so much!

As for the notes on what to fix, the following points will be addressed in the new build:

It's very unclear that after exhausting all 3 options, selecting one again will progress the story. This is the #1 thing to fix as it came up a lot from many different people.

There's one interactible where Amadeus often gets stuck trying to walk to it.

Instead of reducing opacity on the non-active speaker in the Witch negotiation scene, it would be less visually confusing to add a grey overlay.

Need to adjust keyboard controls for backlog tome so that they don't overshoot parts of text when scrolling back through a long backlog.

Will add an option for an "instant" text appearance speed.

New Public Demo

The new demo will effectively be the build I presented at MAGWest but with the above adjustments and a few more scenes. And it's coming this month, October 2024!

It will be comparable to the current online demo in length and content, but there have been so many narrative and mechanical changes that it should feel almost like a new game. Unlike the old demo, which was written when I was still undecided on certain plot points, this new demo will reflect that I now know exactly where I'm going with them. >:)

That said, the full game should be coming not too far after the demo update, so whether you feel it's a must-play or not is entirely up to you. Its most important role is to accurately represent what the full episode will be like so nobody feels like they have to pay money for a game they aren't sure they will enjoy.

(I may elect to use Steam's new feature where people can review demos, though, so if I do that... well. Feel free to leave a review!)

Brief overview of everything new coming in the updated demo:

Rich text & more fonts

Witch redesign

UI indicates what you are interacting with before you click

Background is highlighted along with cursor change when hovering over interactibles

Speaker name is no longer part of the spoken text itself and is displayed in its own box above

Text appearance can be paused mid-scroll for dramatic effect

Menus and settings now navigable with keyboard controls. Also fixed an issue where some text scroll settings weren't working properly across scenes

Backlog redesign

"Cycle through all interactibles" mechanic

Glossary mechanic (to encourage big brain theorizing)

Save + load from 3 save slots

Anime-ass opening cutscene

Narrative adjustments to reflect more thorough planning

...Fun little secret new mechanic :)

Full Game Release

Coming Soon (TM)!

I still can't be more specific than that because I don't want to keep announcing release dates and then pushing back. November is looking... painfully over-optimistic; but "by the end of the year" I think may be doable. I will have a much better idea of how long it will take to finish the complete game after I've released the new demo, because I'll have a better idea of how long it actually takes to implement all of my new mechanics in multiple scenes.

I can't give a release date, but I can give a status update:

Music - all tracks are written but a few need more TLC/development.

Sound - I could release with only the sound design assets I currently have, but boy, I'd love to add some more. As time allows.

Art - still need to draw a few more backgrounds and portraits.

Narrative - fully written, but most scenes post-demo need more revisions.

Mechanics - almost COMPLETELY DONE! The small number of tweaks listed from the MAGWest build need to be implemented, but otherwise it is feeling great. I can draw a hard line in the sand here and say "we are good, build it and ship it."

Build - this is what is going to take the most time, and is why I can't give an estimate until I have built the new demo and seen how long it takes. The new mechanics exist, as do most of the audiovisual assets, but I need to build the remaining scenes.

I learned from MAGWest that I am very bad at estimating how long playtime of my own game is, and it varies dramatically based on read speed and how much you enjoy clicking on things; but I would roughly estimate that the demo will be between 30-40 minutes of playtime, and the full game will be somewhere in the ballpark of 2 hours. This will be Episode 1 of 5, and I make no promises that the episodes won't explode in scope from one to the next. One thing at a time: I'd love to get this first episode to you all very soon. Thanks to MAGWest for being an important goalpost and momentum boost on the way there!

Look forward to a big update this month, and I'll continue to work hard on getting this game finished. Happy werewolf season!

[cigarettesandinevitablebetrayal]

⛔️ ✅ 🔥

Hello, anon!

⛔️ - Whats something you try to avoid in your work?

Hmmmmm....I don't know that I actively go out of my way to avoid things in my work. Everything has its place in certain narratives. The right tools for the right jobs, as it were. There are a handful of tropes I don't use, just because I've rarely seen them done well or they just don't appeal to me - one of which being the classic misunderstanding. You know the one. Person A overhears Person B halfway through a conversation and misinterprets what was said only to bring it up later to cause drama.

As far as mechanics of writing....I try not to think of morality when I write, but especially when developing characters. There are no good or bad people. There are no heroes, no villains (outside the concept of, you know, careers, as far as FHR lol). There are people trying to achieve their goals through what means work within their personal constraints. It helps me gauge motive and perspective.

✅ - List one or two favorite lines you’ve written and explain why they’re your favorite.

From Stand Tall to the Beast:

He reaches for the villain's breastplate, his nails brittle against the reinforced metal. "Sidestep killed Heartbreak. They died putting him down." "Then you should have made sure I stayed in the ground." Heartbreak lets go of him and Ricardo doesn't have time to correct himself before his face slams into Heartbreak's raised knee.

I love this exchange in particular because it wasn't dialogue that I had planned as I played through the original scene. I had a couple of planned responses to the reveal that the new villain was choosing the Heartbreak name, but what I hadn't prepared for was for Rashad to have a response. But, also, they're having two different conversations - Ricardo about the original HB and Rashad about themself. I just also really miss the suicide scar-specific flavor text in the game.

From A Fire That's Burned Me Before:

But then Raine’s hands slide between the two of them, palms flat on Adam’s chest, and he uses the softest pressure to put space between them once more. Adam nearly chokes on the bitten back protest. He doesn’t want it to end. Not yet. He leans his head against Raine's shoulder, cursing his lack of control and the drive of the needy creature that nips at his heels. 

I don't usually indulge in the conventions of the traditional romance genre, but fuck was it fun to write the pining of a repressed ancient vampire. I love portraying Adam du Mortain as someone with far less control than what he's shown to have in the novel proper. This little passage does so well to show off how Adam makes himself both predator and prey.

🔥 - What’s something that’s currently going really well?

I'm currently working on Think Not With My Heart, which is a series of vignettes, and usually I have a hard time plotting out the exact path I want to take from start to end. But not this time. I'm having a pretty easy time moving parts around to where they need to be. It's nice.

Find More Writing Questions Here

[authoralexharvey]

INTERVIEW WITH A WRITEBLR — @thetruearchmagos

Who You Are:

Arch || He/him

I'm a Singaporean student, writing in his spare time as a coping mechanism against the World. Worldbuilder at heart, with Writing, then Art, coming along to help me express all that

What You Write:

What genres do you write in? What age ranges do you write for?

Action, fantasy, poetry, and sci-fi. Middle grade.

What genre would you write in for the rest of your life, if you could? What about that genre appeals to you?

Techno-Thriller. I can read fantasy well enough, and Sci Fi has that aesthetic appeal to me, but the themes, subjects, and tropes have been fascinating to me for a good while. Really, the right answer would be "anything set in My World"

What genre/s will you not write unless you HAVE to? What about that genre turns you off?

Romance? I like sappy love, but creating an entire work with the immediate expectation of love, and with that love as its sole goal, turns me off. Might be a misunderstanding of the genre, but that's about it for me

Who is your target audience? Do you think anyone outside of that would get anything out of your works?

I have no idea! Techno Thriller is a thing from a good whole ago, like Tom Clancy stuff, so I doubt there's much of a following to begin with. I'd say people my age, more or less, but that's pretty wishful thinking

What kind of themes do you tend to focus on? What kinds of tropes? What about them appeals to you?

Well, call it the conventions of the Genre, but military themes with a heightened focus on the technical aspects will come up a fair bit, as will some possible but hopefully not clichés of Military fiction. Personal bravery, the all encompassing totality of War that sweeps away the personal sacrifice under its scale, brutality and violence of conflict, and the toll it takes on ethose it touches. Again, blame Tom Clancy, specifically Red Storm Rising, Red October, and Cardinal of the Kremlin. I just really like reading the uber detailed, panoramic descriptions of the action as much as the fighting, and I'd love to say I can make something of that calibre

What themes or tropes can you not stand? What about them turn you off?

Chosen Ones. Holy cow, I hate it. I can't really put it into words easily, but in my writing I try to make it clear that everyone is both equally important, and equally not so. I feel like the trope is an unhealthy one at best, and actively puts down people's worth due to their simple and immutable characteristics at worst, whole offering a simple and sweet answer to a complex and cruel reality. Also, it's just so thoroughly stupid

What are you currently working on? How long have you been working on it?

A lot of things at once, really. I consider my Project at heart to be the Setting, "The 12 Worlds", which has been my baby for two years or so by now. I write the stories for that World, not create the World just for the stories

Why do you write? What keeps you writing?

To express, to test, to vent. I like getting A1s for English, after all! But seriously, these days I do it for the sense of getting something done, and the joy of seeing other people's opinions on it. That last one, though…

How long have you been writing? What do you think first drew you to it?

As far as "my" writing goes, a little over a year, or more? Hard to say, I guess I always took pride in my writing skills in school, and reading so much as a kid I was allured by the notion of creating the written word.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Is that how you got your inspiration for your current project? If not, where did the inspiration come from?

Reading, and looking at my Genre, real world events from now and the past. Certainly, yes! Specifically, a lot of things in the "recent" time frame of what I call the "Great Wars" are inspired by the various tropes of a Cold War Gone Hot scenario, and the older stuff gets inspired by real world histories

What work of yours are you most proud of? Why?

The 12 Worlds, always! Though if you mean a specific written piece, hard to pick a favourite child. A current big one, the Chapter length Bristling Skies, might take the cake. It's I soured by my favourite chapter of RSR, Dance of the Vampires, and it's where I've really let loose with my techno thriller edge

Have you published anything? Do you want to?

Nope, but I do want to!

What part of the publishing process most appeals to you? What part least appeals to you?

Dknt know much about it, so can't say. I guess editing, sibce of I write something I usually do et ediy it before release, and I hate to lose my Work

What part of the writing process most appeals to you? What part is least appealing?

Worldbuilding! Editing stuff

Do you have a writing process? Do you have an ideal setup? Do you write in pure chaos? Talk about your process a bit.

Nit really? I like quiet, I guess, but i write eher u can

Your Thoughts on Writeblr:

How long have you been a writeblr? What inspired you to join the community?

Hard to define when I entered, I think. I guess I just thought the games seemed fun, then I discovered tagging people in my writing, and now we're here

Shout out some of your favorite writeblrs. How did you find them and what made you want to follow them?

@lividdreamz! My first friend on this hellsite, and someone I shall forever be indebted to for lending a listening ear to my stuff! @athenswrites, @muddshadow, @moonscribbler, @dogmomwrites, and @marinesocks also get a shout out from me!

What is your favorite part about writeblr?

Getting writing feedback and responses, I think.

What do you think writeblr could improve on? How do you think we can go about doing so?

I'm not usually one for this sort of thing. I guess getting a greater variety of tag and Ask games might be interesting?

How do you contribute to the writeblr community? Do you think you could be doing more?

I just post my stuff, and do some games occasionally. I guess I could be, but I doubt I have the nergy for much more

What kinds of posts do you most like to interact with?

Other people's writing, though that's dependent on whether I find it my thing

What kind of posts do you most like to make?

Text writing, occasionally Art and straight up Worldbuilding stuff

Finally, anywhere else online we may be able to find you?

Discord and World Anvil! Plus, I'm considering starting a Blog related to one of my projects

[stallings-am]

Conventionsss

When it comes to Japanese culture, “True Otaku: The Documentary,” holds a good encompassing synopsis of what tends to be endorsed within westernized conventions. Specifically, we can recognize how influential American society has been on the makeup of subgenres within the otaku community. The documentary takes a deep dive into the creative minds and process behind interpretations of anime with respect to their fandoms: cosplays, clubs, and fan services. Conventions act as a sanction for which these aspects can be expressed within a safe environment, while also serving as a way for fandom culture to cultivate into a larger-than-life atmosphere. Nicole, the host, analyzes these depictions of identity in retrospect to the Japanese-oriented group of otakus as a way to obtain an understanding of this diverse group. 

To further investigate this central idea, Nicole provides an essential question that is discussed in the contents of our own class, “What is an otaku?” The responses following this question tend to deviate greatly between a multitude of people. However, one core definition given included an individual who partakes in Japanese pop-culture to find a sense of community with those that share similar interests to them. In terms of our lecture definitions, this desire to connect with others utilizing the fandom world falls in line with the societal concept of “animalization.” This results from the lack of a grand narrative, a nationalistic idea that centers on finding a purpose for existence through working towards a utopian society, which creates a common goal for a set of people that derive from the same past. Thus, without this grand narrative people now seek a feeling of wholeness through a pack mentality of animalization. To feel as though they are making a difference and are contributing to their future they turn to hobbies like conventions where they can come together as one. It is interesting to recognize how Americans, in order to complete that animalization, turn towards Japanese culture and regard it as a way to feel fulfilled in their lives.  

Additionally, the otaku community finds soundness through the personalization of the work they are consuming. This is notable through customizing anime and manga to center around their intepretations, which is seen especially in the concept of cosplays. Artists and fans alike devote time to creating costumes of characters to engage with the work to feel as both the producer and user of what they are indulging in. Thus, allows them to demonstrate the appeal of being an otaku.  

Consequently, the intense soft powers of Japan are established and effectively aids their economic systems by advancing their reaches of anime and manga towards western outlooks. These soft powers also extend to the marketing of the Lolita style, which is mentioned in the documentary. In my opinion, the Lolita genre of Japanese pop-culture isn’t totally affiliated with anime or manga, yet there tends to be a blurred line where fans tend to regard this style as a characteristic of certain anime. Moreover, Lolita is consistently depicted throughout the convention just because of its usage in Japan as a whole, and not necessarily due to its participation in created works.  

When it comes to my own interactions with otakus, I would classify the majority of otakus as pretty mild, which is also important to mention as otakus tend to disassociate themselves from actually ever enacting the sexual scenarios normally associated with them. I will say I am against people who fetishize gay relationships as to fantasize what it would be like in that position. It is quite harmful for the LGBTQ+ community and falsifies the correlation of gender, sex, and sexualization in gay relationships. Besides that, I have contributed to the otaku community by cosplaying as Misa Amane from Death Note and a female version of Monokuma from Danganronpa. Some of my friends have cosplayed Misato Katsuragi from NGE and Yumeko Jabami from Kakegurui, which is fun to witness their creative process and the pictures they take from their productions. I think that participating in Japanese pop-culture is a nice experience and I hope to go to a convention in the future, especially after their overview through the documentary.  

Me as Twilight Sparkle from "My Little Pony"

[val-of-the-north]

Top 5 hottest Bloodborne characters and why! (P.S. you must exclude Patches though, or else the top will be rigged and pointless)

FUCK YOU WHY DO YOU MAKE ME CHOOSE!!! (AND OF-FUCKING-CURSE YOU'D EXCLUDE MY BLORBO FUCK OFF)

Alright altright... let me think...

I don't have a particular order for any of these in mind, so bear with me here... the idea of hot in my head isn't really well-defined for these guys. I'll stick to the humans for this (and ones we actually meet and know what they look/ed like ahah), otherwise how is anyone gonna compare to like, Wet Nurse, Kos and Ebrietas? Simply impossible lmao. Also, it's half characters I personally really like and characters that just... ARE hot lol.

Call me simple but Annalise has some ALLURE to her. She looks absolutely beautiful in the portraits we do have of her, but her mask-bound visage inspires mystery and intrigue, as well as her just having that dignified nature to her. Despite everything she ever had having been toppled and destroyed, she keeps her chin up and still commands respect. She is very strong and confident in her blasphemy and you can't help but love to see it.

Call me simple YET AGAIN but Gascoigne is just undeniably hot lol. Like, I am not even his biggest fan but even I think it's an objective fact. He has everything you could ever want. Gigantic dad body, sharp teeth, a sexy voice... and he is probably sweet enough when off work to maintain a pretty stable loving family and a life-long buddy. Technically!!! He is the ONLY human character (that isn't a prostitute I guess) that is confirmed as not being a virgin lmao. Even the setting wanted you to know this man fucks. Like, there's no denying he is THE hot character of the setting when the topic comes up. People don't call him daddy for nothing...

Valtr. I don't even have to elaborate honestly. His looks are appealing, his insanity and violence are appealing, his voice acting is appealing. He is just REALLY freaking appealing with how strong he is and how passionate he is about the things he believes. And, while this may be a thing that only makes him more appealing to me, he also has the potential to be silly, which is hilarious since he is the character who'se goal is "everyone must die". I mean, it's THAT goal itself that makes him silly in the first place ahah. But yeah, solid design, concept, backstory and execution. It does not surprise me multiple people simp for him. Honestly, I am surprised it's not MORE.

Now with the more conventional out of the way, I'll go with Djura. He is a frisky old man, and one who tries to atone for his mistakes and crimes. He is well-meaning and surprisingly honest for someone in Yharnam lol, which makes him stand out in a sea of asshole opportunists and deranged lunatics. You know how people usually gravitate towards batshit crazy weirdo characters in a sea of relatively sane and good characters? I think Djura has the same effect but reversed lol. HE is the novelty in this world. Also, his design is pretty freaking attractive. It's simple, but the charm is there. His voice actor did a very good job as well ahah. I love his line delivery...

... I'll come out and say that I can see the appeal of Logarius VERY well. He is a tall evil man of dubious origin just chilling (literally) on the roof of Cainhurst for all time. He was most likely somewhat Pthumerian which adds to his attractiveness, as it would make him not QUITE a human (but still human enough to make it on this list lol). I also listened to the sounds he makes and I liked what I heard... he has a pretty cool evil laugh. I just like how he was either fully deluded and really believed his quest, or he was just enticing a group of fanatics while knowing full well their quest had ulterior motives. Both work and both are appealing for different reasons. One has to wonder what he looked like before he turned into a Halloween decoration...... welp, I said it. I am cringe but I am free...

Honorable mention to thicc Willem, the sexiest man in Yharnam and the one who ruined it. I like to think he wasn't JUST smart back in the day lol

[pynkhues]

Wondering if you had any thoughts on hillsong church ? Just watched a documentary on them and didn’t realize that they started in New Zealand and Australia and how much they actually shaped churches that I grew up in and American non denominational Christianity in general. You always have such thoughtful responses and as I’m trying to work through some religious trauma I just wondered if you’d have any words of wisdom 🖤

Oh, gosh, that’s a pretty massive question, anon, haha. But yes, Hillsong did originate in Australia, and it had a pretty big foothold on the Gold Coast, which was somewhere I spent a significant amount of time during my childhood, so I brushed up against it a bit. My mum’s family was Catholic (my mum actually went to a Sisters of Mercy Convent-run boarding school in the 70s) and my dad’s family is mostly non-religious, although they’d probably say they were Anglican (my mum’s father actually temporarily disowned my mother over the fact that my dad was on-paper Anglican), so neither of them had particularly warm feelings towards Hillsong at large.

Hillsong to me feels Australian in the way Mormonism feels American – both are steeped in, I think, parts of national identity that create a sort of targeted approach to faith by personalising it. They utilise familiar language and landscapes to make religion more palatable to the demographics they’re trying to appeal to (or target), and Hillsong, at least in my opinion, has long courted the Byron Bay aesthetic which embraces a sort of new age, alternative medicine, hippy vibe, which appeals to celebrities and younger people – something they deliberately capitalise on. They aren’t a regular church, they’re a cool church, y’know? Or at least, that’s what they’re trying to sell, but the reality is they’ve always functioned with the same sort of anti-choice, anti-woman, creationist rhetoric, and predatory cult-like approach as most Pentecostal / Evangelical denominations, right down to the child sexual abuse.

What’s worse is that Hillsong positions itself as a brand first, meaning it in many ways follows in the footsteps of Scientology by cultivating celebrity clientele and pop culture relevance to insinuate itself in mainstream media and broaden its reach with the goal of not only increasing its congregation, but it’s political influence. It did both successfully through our last Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, which has certainly only further soured me on it all. Its an insidious behaviour for any church, but in many ways it’s not dissimilar to what the Church of England was doing 500 years ago. Churches as institutions have always liked power, and in the 21st Century, celebrity unfortunately leads to both social and political power.

I could talk more about that, but I guess all of this is to say that at the end of the day, I don’t really agree with the concept of organised religion generally. I personally would say that I’m irreligious, but lean into the agnostic as opposed to the frankly atheist, and while I feel communal sharing of faith and spirituality is sometimes appropriate (i.e. for funerary rites or for the purpose of some [not all] charity), on the whole, I believe spirituality is personal, and it needs to be personal. So much of faith and spirituality is about determining our worth and navigating the reeds of what it means to have a soul, which is in itself a journey of extreme vulnerability, and to place that journey in the hands of a human-run structure opens door after door for abuse and exploitation.

Which happens with tragic frequency, as we all know, and I’m sorry you’re navigating some religious trauma at the moment, anon. Religion is a complicated thing, and the process of understanding our relationship with it can leave us feeling especially exposed, both with and without the long arm of the faith-based institutions and the people within them. I wish you only good things in moving forwards <3

[projecthipster]

The Big Lebowski

“The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners.”

(I think it’s funny when you see conservatives trying to use Sam Elliott’s character up there as a mouthpiece, when he only exists to praise a man they really wouldn’t be likely to.)

It's a good soundtrack, I'll give it that without question.

I don’t remember much of this movie, but I remember the vibes. I’m noticing another pattern as I go through fiction assigned by the crowdsourced and arbitrary Project Hipster selection process. In this case it's that “Hipster Fiction” doesn’t tend to have so much in the way of typical, linear plots. I’m not seeing many classic hero’s journeys here. I guess that makes sense. What defines a hipster movie? It’s one that displays auteurship and filmmaking skill, but maybe not in a way that will be appealing to everyone. The world loves a hero’s journey - just look at Star Wars. The hipster movie will be one less appealing to the mainstream because it focuses less on plot, and more on character development, symbolism, comedy, philosophy, or visuals.

I’m not sure which of those The Big Lebowski is supposed to be. It is a wry sort of comedy, yeah. I’ve also seen it described as one of the few examples of a “Zen movie,” which is an interesting take. A story which espouses forgoing the pursuit of desire. Like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, this is a story focusing on a hero who defies the conventions of agency, especially male agency. It’s passiveness and acceptance here, not raging against the tide, which saves the day. It may not save the world as in the supernatural dreamscape of Wind-Up Bird, but Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski’s refusal to take up the classical male hero’s active mantle is what saves his own ability to have an okay day despite the chaos of the world he’s thrown into. “The Dude abides” could be a sort of koan, like the Vedic summation of “renounce and enjoy.” Don’t act. Just abide. When you must act, act to sustain the abiding state. So many stories focus on dissatisfaction with mundane life. It’s interesting to see one where a simple and happy mundane life – bowling, keeping afloat, and having a good rug – isn’t just acceptable, it’s the goal.

I’ve also seen The Big Lebowski described as a movie where everyone thinks they’re the main character. It’s like Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions in that way, a counterpoint to great man history, an exercise in sonder, the realization that everyone is their own central hero. Lebowski is less branching than Breakfast, though. It remains focused on the titular character, despite the best narrative intentions of everyone else, to whom The Dude is just a side character bum drifting through.

There’s a lot of narrative weight to the drifting, though. For all that the main plot (which despite all I said, still exists) digs like a noir novel into the slums and mansions of a vaguely timeless Los Angeles, a good portion of the screen time is spent on hanging out and bowling. The bowling alley is the movie’s home, its steady setting of return. All the adventures are just interludes between bowling, which is life.

Anyway. For all that the plot isn’t important, it does kick off pretty quick. A western-pastiche introduction turns the rugged male individualist ideal on its head when it moves beyond gravelly voices and open plains to focus instead on an unshaven Jeff Bridges in a ratty bathrobe drinking coffee cream from the carton inside an early 90s suburban LA bodega. This is our protagonist - and Sam Elliot’s western narrator, a voice from a different, more heroic sort of American male movie, doesn’t know what to make of him. There is not a hero, but there is a man. And that’s all he can see. We learn quickly that this man is, from the hustle culture perspective, little more than that. When some gangsters break into his house looking for a millionaire with his name, they’re not impressed. Neither is The Dude especially plussed. This is where we see the zen master creep in. Most people would have a pretty strong reaction to being waterboarded in their own toilet. The Dude just wants to be left in peace. He does, however, like his rug. This isn’t a materialist desire. The rug isn’t valuable. But the rug really ties the room together - it’s a symbol of aesthetic wholeness, of simple harmony. And a guy pissed on it. So our stoner zen master, while never quite reaching the level of “pissed,” is understandably miffed, and tracks down the Big Lebowski, the Rich Lebowski, who was the real target. It’s Dick Cheney. I don’t know if that was the Coen brothers’ intent – although they set the movie at the time of Operation Desert Storm which Cheney was commanding, so it seem likely – but from a post-Bush-administration perspective, the Jeff Lebowski who represents the polar opposite of our Lebowski, a high-strung paraplegic millionaire, railing at every chance against bums and building himself up as the Great Man – the symbol, if you like, of American Great Man military-industrial capitalist Darwinism – is unmistakably Cheney.

This meeting between the ultimate slacker and the ultimate square, the Coen brothers clearly on the side of the former, spirals beyond the bowling into a hostage plot that somehow ties in porn producers and eccentric artists. This is, like in Pulp Fiction, a 90s Los Angeles full of strange, vaguely anachronistic characters. It wouldn’t be unbelievable for one movie's set of criminals, drifters, and rich rotten-hearters to intersect in passing with the other's. And even with the enjoyably surreal dream sequences cutting in, it’s easy to read the plot itself as a set of dreams interrupting real life, which is to say, bowling. Again like Pulp Fiction, back in the day, by which I mean 2011 or so, these sequences were quote factories for early-middle social media memes. That’s just, like, your opinion, man. Am I the only one here who gives a shit about the rules? You’re not wrong, you’re just an asshole. You know them all. I guess that speaks to the memetic power of solid dialogue screenwriting, or maybe it just speaks to millennial Redditors’ desire to speak online exclusively in 90s movie quotes, a desire that thankfully fizzled out a bit after it peaked with Ready Player One and the mild cringe factor of a life memetic was made boldly apparent. Let’s say it speaks to good screenwriting.

Speaking of not wrong, just an asshole, let’s talk about Walter, just because I hate him so much. It’s always a bit annoying when one of the best written characters in a story is the most insufferable. People who don’t like Holden Caulfield must feel the way I feel about John Goodman’s Walter, a gun-toting All-American (derogatory) lump of agression who can’t shut up about Vietnam and constantly punches down at Steve Buscemi’s scrungly wet rat of character Donny, who just wants to be included. He’s the perfect foil to the Dude’s zen flow state, because he’s the representation of the other side, beating against the current to try to make something of himself. But unlike the classical hero struggling against all odds for betterment and victory, Walter achieves nothing by this but to make things worse for everyone around him, and what character arc he has - what character arc the whole movie has - involves him becoming incrementally more like his buddy the Dude. It's a good thing that making things worse for everyone in the movie makes the movie more fun to watch. That doesn’t redeem him though.

As a final note, apparently this movie has one of the highest counts ever of the word “fuck” appearing in its dialogue. It’s #32, after the likes of Goodfellas, Straight Outta Compton, Uncut Gems, and The Wolf of Wall Street. The top spot, above even a documentary about the word itself, goes to a Canadian-produced universally panned Trailer Park Boys spinoff. I’ll consider that a point of national pride I guess. 🇨🇦 Fuck. 🇨🇦

I give this Hipster Movie a spare out of strike.

Project Hipster is a futile and disorganized attempt to dive into the world of things that the internet has at some point claimed "are hipster," mostly through ListChallenges search results.

This review comes from the thirteenth list, The Definitive Guide to Hipster Movies.

Up next: a book I once surprised a French schoolteacher with by taking it out of my bag during a conversation about it over lunch at a barbeque joint and punk venue.

Stay deck.

[jacksonjb]

Making My CD - Creating an Image

During the process of creating my digipak, I had a number of resources I gained influence and inspiration from. Ultimately, these proved to be drawn from a range of musical influences, not just trip-hop, and helped me develop some ideas for how the image I want to present my artist as should look like.

Inspiration

(Left to right)

Row 1: Seraphim - How to Disappear Completely, Modal Soul - Nujabes, Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

Row 2: Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth, The Bela Session - Bauhaus, Silent Hill 2 Original Soundtrack - Akira Yamaoka

Row 3: The Fragile - Nine Inch Nails, Let Love In - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Mezzanine - Massive Attack

Here is a selection of some albums that provided the basis for the creation of my digipak. It is worth noting that only one is a trip-hop album! The rest are an assorted mix of electronica, post-punk, fusion jazz and even a video game soundtrack. A lot of these albums provided me some inspiration in an aesthetic sense; I liked how the artists, if present on the cover, were presented to a consumer.

Taking Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Let Love In as an example, the saccharine red background combined with Nick Cave's pallid and haunting appearance create an intoxicatingly intense presentation of both the man himself, and his music. I feel it reflects the image and idea of the band well, and serves as a unique and interesting piece of visual art to compliment the rest of the music and band.

Another common denominator that might be picked up on as well is the repeated appearance of album covers with geometric straight lines, a feature that serves as an almost internal schism between the album itself, and the band, title, image or rest of the album as a whole. Some of the albums that do this are Bauhaus' The Bela Sessions and Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile. I really liked the graphic appearance of this, and wanted to employ some variation of geometric design within my album cover.

Another feature I really liked too was the employment of black and white visuals. It's present here among the one trip-hop album featured, as well as ambient album Seraphim. Its a pretty standard convention of more edgier albums, and one that serves to fit the tone of the music as a little moodier. Its something I'd potentially like to use, but would experiment with it a little bit first to see if it does fit with my digipak and artist image.

First Draft

In the process of creating my CD, a few key ideas were on my mind. I wanted to have a classy, moody and unique cover; I also wanted it to be, though maybe initially 'artsy' seeming, intriguing to a passerby. My main goal was to make it look interesting, appealing but still fitting with the mood and tone of my music and image I was creating of my artist, Jardeeling.

As can be seen in the below image, some of the elements I discussed above made their way into the first draft of my album cover. I took all the photos used for the cover art myself, and used Photoshop in order to work with implementing text and making various adjustments to the photos.

The geometric framing was one of the things I liked the most about some of the albums I used for inspiration, and so the front cover of my album (bottom right) made use of this, imbedding the title between the confines of a window pane. The photo itself carries with it ideas of domesticity but also, I like to think, a sense of very vague foreboding. The unidentified hands drying themselves with a towel is meant to carry a level of subjectivism - what is being dried or washed? blood? water? something else? its up for the viewer to decide! I wanted to create an idea of the underbelly of domestic life, complete with a visual metaphor of dirty laundry.

The back cover, as are physical releases wont, have a track list. I gathered a bunch of my favourite songs from various artists and used them to place a homage to them in my own CD. The photo I used was a single frame from some test footage I had worked on earlier, and shows a very obscured, blurred face of my lead actor, something that I wanted to use in order to add to the moody image I was going for.

The inside cover (top right) was again another photo taken by me of an empty bar in London. In a different font to the ones previously employed, I inserted a quote from The Great Gatsby that I particularly liked, wanting to draw out ideas of retrospection and rumination within the viewer and my audience.

The CD itself was very simple. I didn't have too many ideas for what I could do with it, but I plan to expand upon it in the final version of the whole album presentation. I had a very simple winding-circle numbered track list, and artist title at the top of my CD.

Final draft coming to a blog post near you very soon...

[college-girl199328]

The first days of Parliament in 2024 sounded a lot like the last days of Parliament in 2023. The basic disputes and arguments are by now familiar, even to those who haven't been paying much attention to the back-and-forth over the Liberal government's carbon tax and the Conservative leader's agenda. Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre are also dueling over very different theories of change.

Trudeau used the theme of "change" to begin his remarks at a Liberal gathering just before Christmas last year. Canadians, he said, are living through a "period where we're all experiencing a lot of change."

It's fair to ask whether there was ever a time in human history that was relatively free of change. But that doesn't undermine Trudeau's observation or the unsettled feeling that may now be lurking in the guts of many Canadians.

Political leaders, he concluded, need to decide whether they want to "tackle" the problems facing Canada or "exploit" those problems. The implication behind Trudeau's framing is pretty clear.

Poilievre also talks about change — he did again on Sunday. But he talks about a different kind of change.

He said he spoke recently in an airport with a woman who asked him, "Where's my Canada? What happened to this place to be, Poilievre said, was that this woman could comfortably afford housing and food in a safe neighborhood. His refrain on Sunday was that such things are no longer possible "after eight years of Trudeau."

That wasn't the first time Poilievre has used that particular line—it goes back at least as far as his speech to the Conservative convention last September. It underpins a sweeping thesis that claims Trudeau is not only to blame for some of the bigger problems Canada is facing but that his time in office has marked a departure from the way things used to be.

Poilievre said ordinary Canadians "feel like strangers in their own country, with how horribly things have changed, including crime (the crime rate has increased over the last several years after reaching a historic low) and the opioid epidemic (which continues to defy government efforts). The Conservative leader argues that the Liberal government has made both problems worse.

Much of what's wrong with the way things are can be traced, Poilievre suggests, to higher levels of federal spending under Trudeau. For Poilievre, that spending marked a particularly dramatic break with the past and with a historic consensus.

It's worth noting that the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney (name-checked by Poilievre in his convention speech) never actually balanced the federal budget. Stephen Harper's Conservative government also failed to balance the budget in most of its nine years in office, and whether the budget was actually in the black when it left office is debatable. The initial spike in inflation was linked to global factors. An analysis published last year suggested that while federal spending could be linked to higher inflation and interest rates, much of that spending was done during the pandemic. (Meanwhile, the impact of the carbon tax on food prices might be small.)

It's indisputable that Trudeau's Liberals broke with the rhetorical and political consensus that treated budgetary balance as the federal government's pre-eminent goal — and the merits and effectiveness of Liberal fiscal policy are up for debate, including among people who consider themselves Liberals.

But if the way things were in 2015 is to be a point of reference, it's equally fair to note how much higher greenhouse gas emissions were projected to be back then, how many more Indigenous communities lacked access to clean drinking water, how many more children were living in poverty and how much higher child care fees were much Poilievre has complained about "wokeism," it's tempting to wonder whether his appeals to the way things used to be are also meant to speak to those who are uncomfortable with broader aspects of some recent social issues and debates.

And given how fiercely the Conservatives have opposed the Liberal government's "sustainable jobs" legislation--previously known as "just transition" legislation--they also might be running against the very idea (or threat) of change changing--the planet's climate certainly is. Trudeau can argue that significant parts of his government's agenda have been about meeting the need for change and preparing Canadians for the future.

But it's on his ability to "tackle" the problems of today that he is being challenged — and earlier action on housing would have put him in a better place now, even if provincial and municipal governments deserve significant amounts of blame for the current situation.

Opposite Trudeau, Poilievre is laying the rhetorical groundwork to do things very differently--even if he frames it in terms of simply changing things back to the way they were. The more he can convince people that the country is in terrible shape and that everything currently wrong with it can be blamed on Trudeau, the easier it becomes for him to justify doing something close to the opposite.

[selenafreshfriendkidoaf]

April 12 Zodiac

April 12 Planetary Impact Your sign is governed by the planet Mars, however as you were brought into the world in the third Decan, or part, of the Aries sign, you likewise get an aiding of Jupiter's planetary impact. Mars is the planet of self-assuredness, and consequently is liable for your more incredible and activity arranged characteristics. In a similar light, it is Jupiter, the planet of development, that connects to your confidence, quest for information and appreciation for investigation. Your extraordinary blend of planetary impacts makes you the most educated and gutsy of all the Aries Decans. You will constantly have a hunger for learning and information, which might lead you into the profundities of philosophical reasoning. These characteristics make you a characteristic visionary, however fortunately your material interests help to keep you grounded. While confidence is perhaps of your most prominent resource, it can become impeding on the off chance that you neglect to recognize the practical destructions of thoughts. In adoration, find an accomplice that offers in your appreciation forever and assists you with checking your unreasonable assumptions.

April 12 Zodiac Being an Aries brought into the world on April twelfth, your character is characterized by positive thinking, liberality and a solid appreciation for the sake of entertainment. In all issues of life, you can see the positive. This quality permits you to see the brilliant side of things, even in circumstances that have all the earmarks of being dreary or terrible. While your loved ones frequently wonder about your positive perspective, it is your liberality they genuinely appreciate. On occasion, you can be truly magnanimous and do pretty much anything for somebody you care about. These characteristics have fabricated you numerous solid connections, which is awesome, on the grounds that you appreciate organization on your many experiences.

Fire April 12 Component Fire is your sign's matched component and of all the zodiac signs, you have the main crucial association with the component. Your exceptional relationship with fire gives you the flash to be a pioneer and self-starter. All the more in this way, fire's impact appears in your consuming energy and assurance. At the point when you are close to an objective, your internal fire ignites with considerably more mettle until your objectives are accomplished. Restlessness and lack of caution challenge all fire zodiac signs, however in the event that you keep away from these propensities, fire's impact will put you on a way to progress.

April 12 Vocation Your social gifts and speedy psyche offer you the chance for progress in various fields, so your most prominent test might be choosing one. You could adhere to a conventional profession, like instruction, business or educating, however your requirement for new encounters might lead you to take energizing risks with your vocation. While you may not arrive at the public acclaim of David Letterman, who was additionally brought into the world on April twelfth, your natural appeal and perky give you numerous adherents in media or reporting. With your audacious character, you might be attracted to the universe of amusement or TV, much the same as Ed O'Neill, one more of your superstar birthday twins.

April 12 Sabian Image The Sabian Image for your birthday is the entryway to the nursery of every single satisfied want. This image is a positive portrayal of grandiose good faith. In your own life, recollect that through collaboration and fellowship, satisfying all goals is conceivable. Essentially, this image recommends that you might be moving toward a period of overflow.

Love And Feelings Close to home universe of individuals who were brought into the world on the twelfth of April is constantly loaded up with redundancy and examples that should be learned. Their bonds will be either serious or totally insignificant to their heart. They have a muddled nature that requests association yet opposes it for oblivious reasons that are implanted somewhere down in their heart. When they settle the need or the overabundance of feeling they felt and got as a weak youngster, they will get an opportunity to bloom, following their actual requirements.

Marriage ought to be drawn closer with care and dedication on account of Aries delegates brought into the world on this date. They could wind up in a bond that helps them to remember what they were a piece of when they were close to nothing, however on the off chance that this isn't in a state of harmony with their own center and wants it could end sooner than it started. It is unimaginable for them to track down evident bliss with somebody in the event that they don't know precisely exact thing their feelings are.

April twelfth Birthday Present The best gift for an individual brought into the world on the twelfth of April should serious areas of strength for have esteem regardless of whether their appearance appears to be oddly far off from profound interfacing. Their glow is extraordinary when you approach their heart, and it is ideal to pick a gift for their home and something they can love on a rack, to be helped to remember fellowships they treasure and freedom. The picture of bird in flight will set off their need to take care of their conditions, or an odd doll running, hopping, rapidly moving from the stagnation of life.

Positive Qualities For April twelfth Conceived Empathetic and blazing about individuals they love, they are defensive, mindful, and profoundly fulfilled when wrong goes to right. They are the legends for the majority that bloom with sufficient esteem and love.

Negative Qualities For April twelfth Conceived Quelled by the lopsidedness they got in their home, adolescence being their injury and something to return to. The previous ties them, hereditary qualities makes it difficult to continue on, and mindfulness relies upon others as opposed to being tracked down in the focal point of their being.

[madametamma]

Here's an idea! What if Mercy was a 'Briene of Tarth' type (Except with more of a willingness to go along with evil schemes)

She grew up in a rich wealthy community and around the cut throat business types. The knows all about that world, but just because she knows and understands it, doesn't mean she entirely fits in. She was perceived as an 'Ugly duckling' maybe because she wasn't pretty in a conventional debutante way. Maybe she did something embarrassing when she was younger and it garnered her a reputation that still follows her around, or maybe she just has a speech impediment, but for whatever reason she's the kind of lady who gets invited to all the fancy socialite events, but is not ever asked to dance by anyone when she gets there.

That's where Lex comes in. SHE teaches Lex all about who the best people at a banquet are to make connections with for his goals and how to appeal to their greedy nature to get what they want, and HE lifts her up along with him as he rises up to be the big man in Metropolis. As he grows in power, wealth and popularity, he makes it clear to anyone watching that she's an important partner.

Instead of saving her from the streets to be his body guard/assistant, a role that can be better filled by Slade at this point, he saves her from being a joke, and that's where her loyalty for him comes from.

The versions of Mercy I'm familiar with relished the power her position being so close to Lex gave her and she'd use it to bully others. I can imagine this version of Mercy is a little like that. Kind of like the typical "Nice guy" (Girl) Starting off as a pathetic wallflower, but then happy to rub her new success in the faces of those who once hurt her, whether it be because they were just not interested in her or because they actually were making fun of her.

Mercy, Lex and Slade can be an evil Trio with Lex as the scientific genius, Slade the bodyguard, and Mercy who gathers connections and resources for them.

You know who I want to see in MAWS

Big rant coming

( sorry if I suck at explaining)

mercy graves

If you don't already know she is Lex Luthor's bodyguard/ assistant who he took off the street ( this was stated in the animated show) she was always there for him even though he treated her like dirt but then later on she does help superman and batman send him to jail as she should period sis 👏💅✨️👑

I want to see her in My Adventures with Superman but I don't want her to have the same relationship with Lex that she had in the animated series I want to her more as a big sister type who helps him out with being a figure in the public eyes cause we can all agree that he seems introverted and while yes he handled that speech well ( the superman hate Convention) and is quite convincing but your telling me that this man is going to like a Professional party or a banquet and be good at it? I mean dude is nothing like Ivo cause Ivo may have been a prick but he was a people person and knew how to talk to them so I feel like Lex has to learn to kind of be the same way but in his unique way if you get what I'm saying

And who better to help than mercy cause let's be honest slade isn't helping much either let's be so fr and

I want her to have a lot more personality maybe she is sweet and caring when she is not on company hours but when she needs to get down to business she becomes a completely different person she a badass and she knows it I need her to become the person/ assistant that puts lex in place and brings him down to earth when he needs it

( yes I know Lex has a sister but I don't know much about her yet besides she likes Supergirl but if you want to tell me about he I'd be happy to listen)

[artbyblastweave]

BLASTWEAVE what does steven universe have in common with watchmen?

Both Steven Universe and Watchmen are groundbreaking entries in their respective genres that demonstrate a deep understanding of the appeal of the genre they’re working in, and engage with their ideas on a previously unheard-of level for the medium. That breaks ground and clears the way for what other works in the genre can get away with. 

Steven Universe showed that, well, first of all that you can make a cartoon that’s fundamentally ideologically queer beyond a few side characters, but also that you can have an emotionally intelligent and mature children's cartoon where the character nuance and depth and development are all taken very seriously. Watchmen showed that you could write serious and interesting narratives about superheroes if you were willing to roll with the crazy. (Neither of them was the first to do the things I’m ascribing to them, but I do think that they’re what made it stick for their respective fields.)

In doing so, though, both works create/created a catch 22 for all future works in their genre. Part of what made both of them so good is that they were willing to critically unpack and air out the ugly implications of their format that usually get chalked up to suspension of disbelief, and now that that’s out in the open it becomes very difficult not to think about how any other given work is or isn’t addressing those issues- even if they aren’t equipped to address those issues in the scope of the story they’re trying to tell. Watchmen asked questions about who sanctions superheroes, what qualifies you to do that work, where the line is between heroism and fascism or if there even is one, whether the agency to act means you have a right or a duty to act, whether anyone who seriously bought into the superhero thing could possibly be doing it for good reasons, and, if they somehow were, how long you can care with the intensity necessary to be an effective hero without suffering burnout (not long.) I literally can’t think of a single superhero thing worth reading that isn’t in some way in conversation with Watchmen - you now kind of have to answer those questions, explicitly or implicitly, even if your books thesis is “Alan Moore sucks eggs and being a superhero is very sustainable and fantastic.” If you just leave the question of whether your superheroes are justified completely unaddressed, there’s an uncomfortable discordance there, because we’ve seen the extreme end of that sliding scale in the form of the Comedian and if the narrative doesn’t engage with what makes the protagonist not Edward Blake, it can feel worrisome. If they try and then botch it it can feel alarming.

Steven Universe has a similar thing going on, at least for me. It’s the only unironic, non-parodic children’s series that’s really, seriously unpacked how fucked up and traumatic it would be to grow up as the archetypical All-loving Spirited Saturday Morning Cartoon Protagonist, how warped and dysfunctional a household that enabled that lifestyle could be at its worst, and what the future looks like when your whole childhood was centered on a now-ended conflict. ( a lot of cartoons flirt with that last one but don’t commit.) I’ve seen jokes and intended-as-cracky fan theories about this for years, surrounding lots of other cartoons (Ben 10, Pokemon, Powerpuff Girls) but almost never with the assumption that the creators are on the same page as them. I’ve seen stories that are post-modern reimaginings using the same general archetypes or whatever (Venture Brothers) but that’s not this! SU told an entertaining story earnestly, and then engaged with the emotional fallout of the story it told, with an unheard-of breadth and depth. A whole season of unpacking! No other show has ever been allowed to sink that much effort into closure. That’s usually what Fanfic is for.

I think it’s great, and that shows like Infinity Train and The Owl House are able to go as hard as they do largely because of Steven Universe’s precedent- but no matter how good a cartoon is, I can’t watch them without having this voice in the back of my head going “Oh, these children are going to grow up to be broken wrecks, bar an extensive and harsh healing process that kinda hurts to watch, huh.”

The issue is that not every cartoon can be Steven Universe, where the project was to thoughtfully and sensitively unpack this stuff. It’s a fair bet that we’ll probably never see a show with that exact project again (not least because of the loss of novelty value.) You’ve got your own stories you wanna tell that’ll run their own course, mostly aimed at children, there objectively isn’t narrative or financial room for most stories to unpack these assumptions if that wasn’t the goal going in. For example, Gravity Falls had pretty tight storytelling and a narrative that absolutely had room for a post-script "where-do-we-go-from-here” plot- it sped-run the “oh no, childhood’s ending” thing- and it’s pretty telling that the aftermath, healing process, interpersonal relationships and so forth are one of the things that that fandom heavily fixates on. The narrative had such a clean ending that it made people go looking for the mess. That’s not bad! It’s how most storytelling works! But now I look at any cartoon with kid heroes that’s meant to be taken even marginally seriously and go, Oh. Win the battle, lose the war. Then I feel sad. The contrast, of course, is that most superhero works actually can be, and in fact benefit from trying to be like Watchmen, because all the questions Watchmen raises about the ethics of power are also just.... like.... the most interesting storytelling hooks if you want to write a cape thing with real themes. They’re the kind of stories we’d have gotten years prior naturally if not for the CCA boondoggle. Admittedly it kinda creates a different problem where most “good” cape media is inescapably self-referential and draws on picking apart the conventions of a 60-70-year old canon that hasn’t been in wide circulation in years. But! I also think there’s a stronger obligation there to keep superhero fans in check- if your superhero thing isn’t making the reader question the ethics of violence and individual heroism in the face of systemic injustice, you wind up with people who unironically think Frank Castle is a role model to be emulated. We all know that guy. Children’s media doesn’t really produce that guy the same way, although it can draw them in from other corners. Superhero media often needs to be self-critical in a way children’s cartoons don’t always have to be.

[ddarker-dreams]

Yan Childe, Diluc, Kaeya, Zhongli, Beidou & Ningguang / Courting Darling.

Warnings: Stalking, implied blackmail, kidnapping, and gaslighting. Note: this is a bit of an amalgamation from different asks i’ve gotten, put into one thing bc i thirst for these six characters so hard .

Childe:

“What’s life without a little adventure? You can stand to miss work for a day or two, it’ll still be there waiting for you when we get back. People have even gone so far as to say I’m an absolute joy to be around. You want to know who said that? Sorry, that source is staying a secret.” 

Childe is an erratic whirlwind of highs and lows. You never know what to expect from him, and he likes it that way, always keeping you on your toes. He doesn’t bother with having his friendliness appear genuine. If you want to doubt his goodwill, then so be it, he won’t stop you. It just makes it all the more interesting to keep you around should you be wary of his presence. 

He doesn’t care for the traditional conventions surrounding romance. It isn’t his thing, and he’s used to being considered the odd one out of every crowd, so why stop now? Childe doesn’t tone down any aspects of his bloodthirsty personality in your presence. It’s difficult to tell how serious he’s being since most of it takes the form of jokes or other lighthearted jests. In his mind, the fact he’s even spending so much time with you should make it obvious he’s interested. Whether that’s good or not. 

You’re going to be dragged all over the place. Childe’s stamina is seemingly an infinite well, as he takes you from activity to activity. By the end of the day, you’ll be exhausted. Unfortunately, he doesn’t take no for an answer, weaseling his way into your schedule despite your protests. Childe is particularly fond of getting into situations where a fight is inevitable, purposefully taking you to areas with monsters to show off his combat prowess. 

“Did you get a look at that, [First]? Aha, I haven’t had this much fun in ages! You already want to head back? Hm, I don’t know, the night is still young. Stop dragging your feet or I might just have to carry you. Not that I’m complaining, should that be the outcome. It’s up to you. Oh! Now that’s the spirit! I’ll try not to be hurt by how fast you’re moving now.” 

Diluc: 

“Ah, [First], I take it you’re doing well. I couldn’t help but notice you eyeing this book at the market earlier. I’ve had a copy of it for ages, but with how busy things are, rarely do I have time to read. I’d be appreciative should you accept this and give it a better home.” 

Diluc is self-assured in many areas of his life, romance is not one of them. He knows how to carry himself in the company of businessmen, staying polite and vigilant, but this rigid method doesn’t work in his favor when it comes to wooing you. To soften the blow on his side, Diluc tells himself that it was never about a relationship anyway. That his main priority was and will always be to ensure your safety. He tells himself this, but... isn’t sure if he really believes it. 

He’s a perfect example of pining from afar. Subconsciously, he’ll drift towards areas you tend to linger around, hoping to spot you amidst the bustling crowds. Each time he tells himself that this’ll finally be the time he approaches you. The opportunity is set before him, waiting to be taken advantage of, but he rarely follows through with his desire. 

It frustrates Diluc to no end how easily others flock to you. He’ll stand there, still as a statue, eyes boring into whatever pest currently holds your attention. This would be the push to finally send him your way. It’s a surprise to you both when Mondstadt’s wine tycoon materializes by your side, politely asking to speak in private. Truth be told, he just can’t stand the thought of another person holding your attention that isn’t him. 

“I apologize for my abruptness back there. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about for some time, and well... would you consider having dinner with me tonight? I’d appreciate your company.” 

Kaeya:

“It’s a funny thing, really. How we keep bumping into one another like this. Ah... that suspicious expression, it wounds me deep, sweetheart. When did you start looking at me like that, I wonder?” 

There’s no doubting Kaeya’s interest in you, from the first time he sauntered over to you and started a conversation. The problem you have is deciding how genuine his advances are. While Kaeya might not be the textbook definition of a heart-wrenching playboy, you’re familiar enough with the many rumors surrounding him to be wary. It doesn’t help that he’ll point this out to you when guessing the source of your apprehension. 

His methods are, oddly enough, effective. Kaeya balances the various aspects of seduction with ease. He reveals just enough about himself to draw out your attention, before focusing the conversation back onto you. You’ll never get to stop and realize how little you know about the man sitting in front of you, he makes certain of that.

Kaeya might hide certain aspects of himself, but his dubious morality is never concealed. He has you entirely wrapped around his finger, words validating his actions falling from his lips with the utmost ease; he’s a force to be reckoned with. You’ll start a conversation heated about something you’ve learned, only for it to end wondering why you were ever upset in the first place.

“Now, now, there’s no need to get all riled up over something like this. Don’t you trust me by now? When have I ever given you reason to doubt me? You need to take a look at the bigger picture. Hey, take a seat. I’ll sit here all night explaining to you if it’s necessary.�� 

→[More underneath the cut].

Zhongli: 

“There must be something that I can assist you with. It may not look it, but I’m familiar with many fields of work, even obscure ones. Please allow me to lend a hand.” 

Zhongli, despite having been around for many centuries, is somewhat clueless in romantic pursuits. He’s aware of his fondness for you, but doesn’t know what to do with it. This leads him to becoming your shadow for some time. He focuses on what he knows best: observation and processing new information. Your every little movement will be analyzed and tuck into the back of his mind for later usage. 

Zhongli’s soft over the idea of you coming to rely on him for everything. He prides himself on his wealth of knowledge and work ethic, believing it a strong appeal, one that he puts on full display when you’re around. It’s not rare for you to overhear neighbors and friends speak highly about Zhongli. They’ll mention in passing how they were having difficulty with something, only for Zhongli to come around and help without asking for anything in return. 

This is exactly what he’s been hoping and waiting for. Zhongli has patience and sets himself up to be a desirable partner in your eyes, the efforts from his labor coming into fruition. Before you even speak to him for the first time, you’re likely to think highly of him, having heard all the ways he’s helped people close to you. Now that the stage is properly set, he’s ready to make his interest in you more evident. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you, [First]. Oh? You can say the same for me? Well, I hope I can live up to your expectations. I had just been on my way to Yanshang Teahouse, would you care to join me? My treat, of course.” 

Beidou: 

“You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced a voyage with my crew and I. I’ll set up a nice cabin just for you, how does that sound? Hm? Special treatment? Don’t worry your pretty little head about that, lass.”  

Beidou’s attention is overwhelming and oftentimes dangerous. Traditional social conventions are nothing but a waste of time for her, meaning that common courtesy is disregarded in favor of always speaking her mind. Which might not be so bad if she wasn’t so amorous. Even the most oblivious person couldn’t miss Beidou’s overt favor towards you.

This reverent display of affection is only exacerbated when she’s drunk, face flushed and an arm swung tightly around your shoulder. She doesn’t care who sees, who’s judging, or what gossip will be born from her actions. Beidou makes a point of showing everyone in the vicinity that even if you aren’t officially partners yet, a claim has been staked on you. 

Whether it be coercion or some other unsightly method, Beidou is intent on bringing you on her ship at least once. Or that’s how she initially phrased it to you. Imagine your surprise, that when you finally caved so she’d drop the subject, her crew was untying the ropes keeping the boat at port. 

“The fun’s just getting started, you haven’t seen anything yet. Don’t get all teary-eyed yet, sweetheart, I know you’ll come around. This’ll be a story sung by sailors for generations to come.”

Ningguang:

“If I’m being honest, not many are given the opportunity to speak to me outside of business-related ventures. I never thought I’d find it this... pleasant. I hope you’ll continue to entertain me as you do now.” 

Ningguang starts off her wooing in a subtle, almost coquettish manner. She is confident in her charm and brilliance. Not many have been gifted in the art of conversation to the same extent Ningguang has, her silver tongue paired with quick intellect making it difficult for you to escape. She’ll corner you verbally without you even noticing it. 

Ningguang finds amusement in how you stumble over your words, pure of heart and not chained down by special interests. Your forthright but considerate demeanor intoxicates her. She’s used to people cowering in her presence or trying too hard to pursue their goals. You might even earn a rare compliment or two, disguised as politeness, that doesn’t register for hours. 

She is a lady of fine taste. The sky’s the limit when it comes to her wealth, which is unrivaled throughout Tevyat, and you’ll be quick to notice this. Ningguang is most partial to sending you traditional Liyue adornments, believing the rich culture behind each piece suits your beauty. She’s also fond of the fact that when you wear her gifts, everyone in the vicinity will know it’s from her, due to its extraordinarily high cost. 

“Do you like my latest gift, little dove? It was made custom with you in mind, an unrivaled display of craftmanship, if I may add. Wear this and carry me with you... always.”