#seeing other interpretations of the design is always so nice :D

[kazinsblog]

Thank You for Participating

With that! Yuma month has officially come to an end! *⸜(* ॑꒳ ॑* )⸝*

Thank you for all your hard work \(❁´∀`❁)ﾉ𖤐´-

I had to wait an extra day to post this due to timezone reasons XD and this post is also the reason why I didn’t say much in my Day 31 post as well, I tried to keep it a surprise.

Thank you to everyone who participated and for the kind words as well ;w;. I'm truly grateful, I didn’t think a lot of people would want to participate since monthly challenges are quite daunting. I love seeing all of your works and various interpretations of the prompts as well. It made me look forward to seeing them the next day!

I hope Yuma month was fun and everyone also had the chance to try something new! 

If you still want to draw or write prompts or give it a try some other time, you can tag me and I’ll still reblog it! I’d love to see more entries! :3 

This is also the first time I’ve held this kind of prompt challenge event as well. If there’s anything you’d think that could improved or be changed please let me know~! You can leave a comment, ask, or DM me here on this blog or on my main blog. I’m always open to suggestions :D If I were to make another Yuma event next year I’d probably change it to a Yuma Week. A monthly challenge may have been a bit too much XD (I apologize if I stressed anyone out ;w;)

Long post on the Thank you art itself and other stuff I wanna talk about

I designed this Yuma Month Thank You art based on all the prompts and elements everyone showed in their pieces. Sadly I couldn’t include all of the prompts due to the image being overly cluttered but I did squeeze in most of them.

The NDA and Makoto plushies stand out a bit because I noticed they were featured a lot in some prompts throughout Yuma Month so they get their own little spotlight as well :3c

And I thought Yuma doing a little bow is a nice way to end Yuma Month~ the design was also based on my Makoto Month prompt too XD I thought it would be a nice contrast to my last entry for Makoto month and the thought of Yuma bowing and thanking everyone is a nice way to end the event in my opinion :3c

Once again I’m super grateful to everyone who participated ;w; it really makes my day when I see you post a Yuma Month prompt. I also apologize (again) if I caused any stress or pressure to you during Yuma Month orz…

[dom1re]

Hi! 💙 I partly know the answer to this question regarding Sunan’s hair colour, but other than that, are there any other characters (from books, films, etc) that were references for Sunan or influenced his traits, lore and/or design?

I don't think I referenced anything for Sunan specifically. The goal was to write someone who's nice and easygoing but sort of has a wall up coz he's scared of opening himself up.

In that regard, actually, Sunan reminds me of Allen Walker from D Gray Man. They're both in their teens but forced to grow up very fast; they are the keys to the war that's going on in their respective worlds, and carry this unreasonable burden to resolve conflicts and save lives. They also share a deep fear of being rejected by their loved ones due to their past. I remember being really fascinated by Allen as a teen myself so I might have drawn inspiration from him unconsciously.

(I didn't realize this but D Gray Man also takes place in 19th century... And Allen is presumably British)

But what I can say for sure is that the fic is loosely inspired by Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. The book's about a 16 year old boy, Holden Caulfield, who's basically stuck between childhood and adulthood. He feels rejected by the society and neglected by adults around him; he refuses to grow up and become one of them. This is the interpretation i take with not just Sunan but Sebastian and Ominis as well. Those of u who read the fic might recall the rye field and the cliff scene. That's meant to be a nod to this book (though it's pretty vague). I'm planning to use this imagery throughout the fic. We'll see how many times I can squeeze it in

Oh I also wanna mention The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. This book is about a double agent who's half Vietnamese, half French. Some of its key themes are, surprise surprise, dealing with one's conflicting cultural/political identities; the idea of belonging to both and neither.

Now Sunan's also mixed (Chinese Thai / British), and spent time as both a Squib and a Wizard. He has to lie and pretend a lot for his goal (protecting the Repository), which he doesn't particularly feel loyal towards. I guess being a 1.5 gen immigrant I've always been drawn to these themes, so I'm trying to explore them in my writing. And that's how Sunan became a deeply troubled teen

(In fact Natty is a perfect character for this; she's an immigrant who had to move to a different society and adapt to new ways. It'd be fun to write a one shot about her... if I ever get time 🤪)

Alright I gotta stop myself 😂😂 sorry this is so long, you can tell how much I loved this ask 🫶 thank you for ur interest diana!! such good questions keep em coming coming

[bubblyernie]

CONGRATS FOR THE WINNERS OF MY DTIYS!!

Thank you to everyone who participated!

I can't tell you how much I was going back and forth trying to choose winners ;w; this whole thing was for a celebration and showcase of people's characters, and I've heard good feedback for this prompt so I really do encourage you to play with it if it interests you!! The due date was just for prizes and such, I will always be blown away by the creative takes everyone took!

!!! Please please pleaaase, if you are a top 3 or raffle winner, DM me within the day (24hrs) to claim your prize! Again, that's a full body shaded (1st), a half body shaded (2nd) and a flat colour bust (3rd) drawing for the 3, and a full body sketch for the raffle!! Great work everyone! :D !!!!

Just some extra stuff I couldn't write into the slide bc its too small:

Congrats crea.cyn (insta)!! The I was SO floored by how pretty this design was! I thought the concept of having two shape shifters disguised as each other was SUPER FUN! The sunglasses as the grown and the little hair ornaments were also so pretty and well incorporated, and just the balance of the whole piece is beautiful!!

Congrats to @domaci-kapybara ! The level of rendering and the colours on this completely shook me, its incredible to look at and so put together!! The mood of this is so well set, the colourful crown interpretation is great and I also love the textures, just absolutely fabulous work here!

And congrats @teaweltzer! I remember seeing this for the first time and just gasping out loud because of how lovely it looks! The soft colours, the mysterious expression and the almost divine-witchy kinda look is beautiful!! The star crown is also such a nice take, you slayed it!!!

and honorable mentions, in no particular order: @adragoncat @galacticsabc @snailmeel @midnightziege and anon (you know who you are uwu) Thank you thank you!! I really just ADORE your creative takes on the prompt and the level of detail+render on your pieces, it was a tough choice for sure!!

I hope everyone had fun! Thank you again!!!

[feeshies]

10 Characters, 10 Fandoms

Tagged by @pinayelf thank you :D

Magnus Hammersmith (Metalocalypse)

Real fucked up of the creators of this show to take my celebrity crush + bisexual awakening as the visual reference for a character who's always partially shirtless and wielding a knife. Also there's a 5000 year old prophecy that says his destiny is to be a forgotten loser.

2. Captain Nemo/Prince Dakkar (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea)

The gif is from the Disney movie, but my heart belongs to the original novel characterization. Genius inventor who turned his back from society, but not from marginalized people. Good at everything except for not falling down self-destructive spirals. Takes money from sunken colonialist warships and uses it to fund revolutions. Serves as a haunting metaphor as the ocean itself. Please when will we have a faithful adaptation?

3. Thoth (The Kane Chronicles interpretation)

I am specifically going with The Kane Chronicles' interpretation of this Egyptian god. Especially compared to a lot of other interpretations of him in modern media, I like how the book doesn't portray him as this stuffy "everyone is an idiot except me" kind of guy. It's really refreshing seeing an interpretation of a god of knowledge who is clearly scary-powerful and a genius, but is also the ADHD weirdo who keeps getting distracted and can't finish his projects. I also like how he doesn't brush off the protagonists because they're mortals or teenagers or whatever. The book does a great job showing how his brain works and how he thinks, which makes him a lot more effective as a god of knowledge imo. Also they made him relocate in Memphis, Tennessee? After so many British adaptations of him, it's refreshing to see a god of knowledge with a southern accent (if you listen to the audiobook).

It's so good, it almost makes up for the book's interpretation of Anubis.

4. Vivienne (Dragon Age)

I thought for a while about which Dragon Age character I should add. While there are characters I made more stuff about during my peak years in the fandom, Vivienne is the main character I keep going back to. I love her elegance, the way she's written, her voice acting, her look??? Fashion/character design in the franchise peaked with her. Also as far as a Circle character goes, I find her utterly fascinating as someone having to survive in an oppressive system and developing different/conflicting perspectives about it. I think she was a much-needed perspective and I adore her. Also now I was just reminded of the trend of people having their white mage ocs or the other white mage characters "educate" her about oppression and now I'm mad about Dragon Age bs again lol. Vivienne is the best choice for divine don't @ me.

5. Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks)

*Holds him up like a a cat* he's nice :)

I've rewatched this show (the main series - haven't gotten around to watching the new show) and every time I find more reasons to love him. He could have so easily been this brooding cynical noir type, but instead he's this ray of sunshine who sees the beauty and joy in everything around him. I'm glad he's okay :)

6. Shaolin Fantastic (The Get Down)

Putting aside my heartbreak over this show's cancellation for a second to talk about how good the cast is. I thought about choosing Zeke, but I couldn't not choose Shaolin. I love how he's introduced as this mysterious genius who was willing to fight a man in an alley for a record, but then the main crew gets to know him and he's a huge dork? He takes care of pigeons, he samples the Star Wars theme in his DJ sets, he's nice :) Also the cool big brother vibe he has with the younger characters is really cute. It would suck if this show got cancelled so the story will always end with him being forced to go back to his abuser :) that would suck.

7. Nozomu Itoshiki (Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei)

I think he's funny and pretty and I hope he gets therapy.

8. Bella Goth (The Sims)

Weird to add a Sims character maybe, but not doing so would be a disservice to the chokehold this woman had on me as a younger player. 10 year old me broke my copy of TS2 because I fucked up the game files by trying to get Bella back.

9. Benny (Fallout: New Vegas)

I knew I had to pick a FNV character. I considered Silus, since he's interesting for a Legion character. But in the end I went with Benny. He has the best aesthetic, and his evolution from "the guy who shot you and instigated your protagonist's whole plot" to "pathetic little guy who agrees to help you take down the system because everyone sucks--and also he's into feet" is some masterful character growth.

10. Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold (Once Upon a Time)

This show is a mess, but the scene where he beats that man with his cane was kinda hot. Also you can't make a man 1. the most powerful force in the universe, 2. somehow still pathetic, 3. have that hairstyle, 4. trying to be a good father and partner but always failing because of his own selfishness, and 5. Scottish, and not expect me to enjoy him. Robert Carlyle put his entire rumpelstussy into that performance.

[leffee]

thoughts on each of the characters’ families? sunil’s parents, russell’s dad, gail, cheep-cheep and grinka, penny’s relatives… idk if pepper or vinnie had any mentioned or shown.

Oh, oh, I do, in fact, have many thoughts on most of them at least.

Sunil's parents - they're great and I love them! Genuinely would like for them to have more scenes because they're awesome. It's quite unclear whether they knew the rest of Sunil's friends before they came to lps, but they do know Vinnie, which is always a plus in my book. I headcanon that they invite him to dinners pretty often and he really, really likes them, in fact, to them he is considered family, they treat him like their son. Sometimes he visits them even when Sunil's not there, just to chill, he even helps with chores often. He pretty much treats them as if they were his parents too. Their only bigger fault is that they made Sunil believe they wanted him to be a doctor, when in actuality it was just a thing they mentioned once or twice but Sunil being Sunil thought they were 100% serious and kept stressing about it. Only later it came out that while they thought he could be a doctor and would make a good one, it's not that they will pressure him to become one, it was just an option they thought he could consider, but nothing more.

Russell's dad - as I said somewhere before, I'm a big fan of Jerry and he has his own little spot in my mind :D. I admit, he was pretty annoying in his episode at points, but he also had really funny moments and the ending was pretty heart-warming. My love for him does stem mostly from how I headcanon him to be though, and that is: being really open at others and whenever Russell's friends come over he always has some cool stories that he is more than willing to share. Sometimes he embarasses Russell and makes him roll his eyes but he does love his dad, and all of his friends love him too. As a bonus, I think he keeps up with some of the modern or trendy things, not in the exact same way Russell or his freinds do, he just knows they exist and in what context.

Gail - I love her, askjdsjka I love all of them, but what can I say, she's super likeable, even if she had like what? 2 minutes of screen time? Probably not even that. But what she had I really liked, would have loved to see her again in the show ;-;. I headcanon her as the "cool older sister", she's kinda like Zoe just more mature in her choices and personality and I think she's also really supportive, towards Zoe and her friends too. Justice for Gail, damnit.

Cheep-Cheep - okay, so first of all, he honestly didn't have that much screen time either (still more than Gail though 😭), I mean, he was shown on the screen a lot, but a big chunk of it was when he was going to that unversity and there was no dialogue. Anyway, I don't actually have any stronger feelings for him, he's just kinda neutral for me. However, the way I see him is basically 1:1 how he is presented in those Wattpad fanfictions I keep referring to, because he's a lot in there. So if you want my interpretation of him - there you go.

Grinka - his name so similar to Minka, I realized it only upon seeing it written down, daaaamn. That's pretty cool actually. Besides that not much to say I suppose, he was the first monkey on the moon so that's pretty cool. I do however like his design, not even sure why, but he looooks good, slay.

Penny's relatives - liStEn I have soft spots for a lot of minor characters simply because they are from lps, and they are those kind of characters. Plus, their episode was great and had a nice message, I don't care how repetitive the "Your friends can also be your family" message is, it's super sweet and heart-warming and I'm a sucker for it. I am SO happy that the episode didn't go for the "Hmm my family doesn't really feel like family so I will just cut them off once again but my friends are my family so I'm happy!" direction, no, it went for "My real family is different than I expected and I don't always understand them but they are still my family as well as my friends and I'm grateful." As for the characters alone they would be rather neutral to me, if not for those two scenes:

Like look, they are so nice and cute. But especially this scene:

This just sold them to me, look how comfortable they are with everyone, I'm especially talking about Zoe just casually sitting on one of their heads. That's just so cute, and that episode was great. Plus, I like that although they were shown causing Penny distress it's not like they were villains of any sort who were doing it on purpose, they were actually really nice pandas, just different than she expected.

As for Pepper and Vinnie? Pepper I'm pretty sure never had any relatives mentioned. Vinnie... well, he's technically the same, except that not necessarily? There were those two situations that I remember by heart: once when he was trying to return to lps with Pete and when they were attacked by those dogs he called out "Mommy!" and then in the museum episode when he and Sunil were running around scared and Sunil pointed at that mummy guy and said "Mummy!" Vinnie was like "Yes, I want my mommy too." And like... maybe it's just complete coincidence, in fact, it most likely is, after all, that is something that characters sometimes say when scared, it doesn't have to mean anything, and mummy does indeed sound similar to mommy. But listen to this, because I have a whole theory on this.

So those are things that I remember from my biology classes back in high school so some things I might get wrong, but the point should be correct. Listen, animals in general use either of the two parenting strategies, I rememeber them being named after letters but I don't remember what those letters were. But what's important here is that reptilies as well as many other animals (but not mammals!) are more about quantity than quality when it comes to offspring. So, mammals for example (including humans) are more about having less offspring (like one or two) but they will take care of them for years - quality. Other animals, like lizards, do the opposite - make as many babies as possible but don't take care of them, just hoping that they will survive - quantity. Except since the eggs and then (if the eggs manage to hatch aka don't get eaten, destroyed etc) babies are from the very beggining left on their own most of them will die. Out of this huge number of potential babies most of them will not make it. And those that make it have to take care of themselves, there are no parents to do that.

Let's say that all those real-life rules apply to lps universe as well. So, in this scenario lizards and other animals that use the strategy I described don't know their parents - just like in real life, but the difference is that in lps unvierse animals are self-aware and have higher brain functions. They basically think in the same way that humans do, plus have emotions etc. Going from this, Vinnie knows he doesn't know his parents and has emotions about it. If we combine that knowlegde with him calling out to his mom in moments of fear what image does it paint? He knows he doesn't know his parents, but is aware that normally they are supposed to be there and be your support (and he is surrounded by mammals that do in normal scenarios have parents so that feeling might be amplified by that clear difference), that in turn makes him wish he had parents and so he instinctively calls out to them in moments of distress.

Do I really think that's what happened? Well, no, of course not. I highly doubt anyone working on lps ever had that idea and then they decided to use it just to throw in those two lines of dialogue that realistically very much might a coincidence and/or not supposed to mean anything. But technically there is nothing that denies that, and it lines up a bit too well with how lizards behave in real life if you know all that. So, just potentially, Vinnie canonically might have no parents (and a bunch of (dead) siblings).

But hey, that's just a theory, an lps theory.

[abeinginsand]

Hello!! :D maybee Autumn Oak, Linda Stampler, Sparrow, and maybe Scam Actually? :]

Hi Lex!! :) Excellent choices, excited to think on them all especially Sparrow hehe Autumn:

I remember being very sad when Henry and the twins met Autumn in Oakvale. She was very cold and angry...was heartbreaking. I think it kinda sucks when she's mostly referred as solely Henry's mom or Beary's wife because she is more than those labels certainly. She was an adventurer...so many unsaid stories in her past. I wish we were given more scenes/info on her! Happy she doesn't have to deal with Beary anymore and got to go to Earth with people who do care and appreciate her. For a song, I think the Six Musical song called "I don't need your love" fits her :D Oh and in my hcs, I think she's pretty close with Lark! Teaching him knitting and maybe weapon training etc. Fun thought sometimes Lark, when his hair was longer, would keep one of her needles in his hair like an accessory. When its cut short though, keeps it tucked into a part of his boots probably. Linda:

Similarly to Autumn, I want more lore on Linda in canon! As you mentioned--she doesn't even have a set name probably due to her only really being mentioned that one episode. I like the choice of Linda though! The whole car scene where she and Ron rehearse the story because they have to be careful with their words around Willy...really understood that (daddy issues). Wish she got more support in life to ease her stress atleast somewhat. Don't have any other thoughts at the moment but I like how you've fleshed out her character! Nice to see her getting a happier story with Autumn as well Sparrow:

Sparrow my beloved <3 also nonbinary in my heart though not canon haha. I really like my design for him but I think all interpretations look pretty cool too. Especially when wolf and plant themes are involved :] Easy to project onto and so silly/competitive (when he allows himself to be). Supporting Sparrow's wrongs haha, giving hugs, but also putting them through the ringer...very inspired by their character and story. Scam Actually:

Always be scamming tehehe! I think Scam's a very interesting and funny character. Love the ringtone, shapeshift ability and his whimsically mischievous nature. Thought Well actually was also fun in his own way too. Pull from the deck and immediately dealt an identity crisis....awful x'D. Honestly, I imagine that's part of why Scam and Jodie bonded--what with Jodie having the whole revealed demon past after all.

[stilettomafiosas]

i just wanted to send in something saying thanks for inspiring me to be more silly (positive) when drawing the stories i think abt often...currently making designs for a book very inspired by your takes on classic lit ;w; so uh yeah! have a nice day

:D !!! omg this is so nice to hear!! I'm so happy to help give you inspiration to tackle your own designs, it's SO fun to design characters to begin with but there's an extra aspect of fun in seeing all the different ways people can visually interpret the same character! I know your designs will be awesome, I'd love to see em if you'd ever like to share!! :,3c

and THANK YOU ALSO... I love being silly with character designs!! I don't really feel any need to appeal to any specific audience in particular, so I always draw whatever/whenever I want and drawing for myself has helped me grow a lot! which makes it even better when other people enjoy my stuff too! I also just really love a contrast between style/tone and I'm obsessed with conveying heavy/dark/horror stories through silly toony characters and candy colors haha, I know its definitely a YMMV thing but i love it!!

[bonesandthebees]

BEE IM SO EXCITED LETS GO OKAY GLASS FIRST WOOO THIS IS ALSO GREAT BECAUSE IM GETTING MY HAIR DONE RN AND NEEDED SOMETHING TO DO

ahhh thats the palace hes there in there in that yep

he might as well be dead i mean the pythia that he once knew is dead

flashback wooooo

your descriptions are alwasy SOOOOO

GOOD LIKE IDK THEY JUST AHHHHH

omg theyre at nikis right probably

“my pythia” why dont you go crawl up you own a— anyways. this is a pg zone (i just dont curse)

i want to slap him around a bit, just a tiny bit just like hang him from the ceiling and wack him like he’s a piñata at a five year olds birthday

THEY ARE AT NIKIS

TATTOO

HES DOING IT ISIRJSF ANDOQLFNWIF

tommy is so baby brother

NOTNIN THE PHYSICAL SENSE *spins around very quickly like a tornado*

WHO HE IS OH MY GOD BEE

why is schlatt

i think schlatt would look nice with a black eue it would bring out how much kf a d— anyqays

TAKE THAT SCHLATT

i need more people to draw this tattoo because every singly one is so ahhhhh like i have no clue how this is supposed to look bjt every design peiple make makes sense and i need more im so curious to see how people see

i love the way wilbur thinks i want to take his brain and poke around in it like its so intriguing

also like idk as a person feeling your pulse is always so… intimate? i do it a lot, like just feeling my pulse reminding myself that im human, we all have a pulse. idk its comforting in a way just feeling the way the blood pumps through your body regardless of the world, that youre alive no matter what as long as that blood keeps pumping. like even when everything feels out of place, youre still human.

sorry anyways

anywho thats why hes fiddling with the cuff then hes nervous aboht them seeing

UGH HES SO ANNOYING I WANT TO CHUCK HIM ONTO LIKE I-5 OR SOMETHING

im gonna send a prayer your way schlatt.

GO WILBUR GO

god hes so idk his brain man and the way you write and god i love this fic so much

WHY DOESNT IT FEEL LIKE MINE AHEOHEIFJWO SO WOROWKK OK DA P WAS HEQID

im cool and chill

the vessel.

yep.

cool.

thats cool.

HES WILBUR

i just like god this fic man

ah yes tommys tattoo

just saying on… july 28th i said it was from wilburs murder attempt!! im so smart sometimes

HE DOENST WANT TO BE EMPTY AGAIN WHAT RHE FUEFUVJ

anyways im so normal aboht this fic

oh me too wil lets fist bump over our shared fear of failure and disappointment

me when he realizes that they werent empty he jsut didnt know they were allowed to not be empty

THEYRW FMAKILTLY OU YK EGOD THEY MEHM

BROTHERISHD OH MY GODHD I LOVE RJEM

BOOM AH

GUNSHOTS AH

HIS UBER DRIVER IS HERE YAY!!!!

TOMMY!!!!!!

HIS HROTHERUWIDHS IM NEVER GOING TO HE OKAY WHEN THEY SAY THAT

i loveddddd the way you formatted it it was super neat and idk im just a sucker for interesting formats of swifching between past and present and like idk yeah it was cool

AND NOW OFF TO READ THE ROYALTY AU!!!

- 🪿

hi goose this is a few days old now but finally getting around to answering this!

aaa thank you I'm so glad you like my descriptions :D it was definitely a bit tough getting back into the glass writing groove with the style I use for the descriptions and stuff so I'm glad it turned out ok

"my pythia" made my skin crawl to write

YEAHHH TATTOO TIME. every single time I see fanart of the tattoo I freak out (/pos) so much because all the interpretations are SO cool. I love seeing what people come up with because I myself have no artistic ability, I can only describe what's in my head through words, so when people are able to actually put that into art form it just makes me so happy

yes exactly that's why I wanted it on his pulse!! I wanted it to sit right over the reminder that he's human! that he has blood pumping through his veins! everyone has that blood and that heartbeat and I wanted the tattoo to sit right above that both because of the connection to his heartbeat, but also because it's the place other people can feel your pulse. it's the connection point almost between your pulse and others, if that makes sense.

(random fun fact, I can't feel my own pulse on my wrist. doctors and nurses can't get a pulse from my wrist either. like there have been many times I've gone to the doctor and the nurse has tried to take my pulse and they frown and readjust their hand and then they try the other wrist and no matter what it doesn't work and I'm just sitting there. the only place you can get a pulse off of me besides straight up feeling my heartbeat is on my carotid artery on my throat)

aa thank you I had a lot of fun describing wilbur's thought processes in this chapter, especially with the alternating format

you were RIGHT about the vine tattoo you got it and it was so funny I had to just not say shit but i was like yup, several people have already figured it out :)

HIS UBER DRIVER IS HEREEEEE

aaa I'm so glad you enjoyed!! I had so much fun with the format of this chapter. I plotted it out a bit before my trip, and I specifically wanted to finish ch 25 before my trip because I knew ch 26 was going to be the one I'd most want to write after I got back. I needed a REALLY good exciting chapter to come back to and the alternating format was going to be the way I sucked myself back into the story after being out of that headspace for 3 weeks straight, and it worked. it was just so cinematic in my head y'know? I can perfectly picture the flipping between past and present with like different color grading and lighting and music and all that

[jack-of-spectre]

hmmmm how about ehhhh Snowfur!

Ohhh

Sexuality headcanon: Ahem.. Biromantic Demisexual

Gender/pronouns headcanon: uses She/Her and They/Them

Rate them out of ten: 8/10 >:D

Favorite thing about them: Her being her🥺 she was a very sweet and energetic sister. Also her design is very nice

Least favorite thing about them: Not sure tbh??? Oh! Oh! The way sometimes the fandom interpret her for sure

Why i first started liking/disliking them: I remember being super neutral about her I haven't readed Bluestar's Prophecy and when I'll relay on the fandom people will go with their own interpretation. I decided to give a look myself.. AND I LIKE HER SHE'S NOT A SOFTIE HELPLESS PRINCESS. SIS RAN TOWARDS SHADOWCLAN CATS TO CHASE THEM AWAY

Do i relate/project onto/kin them?: No, but she sure deserves better

Favorite quote/moment: First scene with her and Bluestar as kits, they were so adorable and funny to read

My fav ship: Hahaha I always looked up to SnowRose tbh (no hate), I like to think Rose has a crush on them. Tho SnowThistle isn't bad either, they looked cute

My fav platonic friendship: Her and Bluestar for sure, I also love to think her and Mosskit would create toys 🥺

A ship i hate: Is there any other ship?

Do i prefer canon or fanon?: *Shakes table* CANON

Random headcanon: She looked like a ferret, she was shorter than Bluestar and was funny looking with that long body and cute face. Whitestorm is a ferret as well, just bigger

What color do i picture them as: White and gray

Cat breed headcanon: She's a ferret cat hahahhahhahdskbzzkak. Jokes apart i see her as being a pale lynx-point. Just like their bloo sister

Unpopular opinion: I don't think I have one but I belive tufted ears Snowfur is a big-brained thing

Things i associate with them: Snowdrops, Winter Nights and Motherly Love

Song i associate with them: Touch by Sleeping At Last (Underrated artist *cries and throw fits*)

favorite MAP/PMV/AMV with them: Oleander By Northflowo 😌😌 angst is my best option

[scary-senpai]

Can you explain garou x saitama? I really don’t see it but I’d like to know your opinion.

Haha, oh my goodness, this was such a lovely ask to get <3 I’m honestly excited to respond (and maybe a little nervous, haha). So, thank you again, beloved nonny, for asking with an open mind. :D

As I mentioned, I’m a bit nervous because the answer is likely weirder than you expect, and that’s because it’s kind of a personal answer? And I (IRL) also tend to be a lot weirder than most people expect. But when it comes to writing, that’s generally the sweet spot, so here goes nothing.

So, I tagged it as Platonic! Garou & Saitama** meaning it’s not romantic or sexual, at least, not in the traditional sense. I could talk for days about what I find appealing--I answered a similar ask on my main blog a few years ago, and my answer is still the same.

** actually I used “x” rather than “&” and in retrospect, I’m not sure if that’s correct. I’ll have to look into it more. But anyway, Garou and Saitama are foils: they have overcome similar obstacles, they grapple with similar despairs—including overwhelmingly strong emotions and/or the perceived absence of them, which is just as conspicuous and painful. I can’t help but feel if their journeys towards physical strength stem from the same place, which is that they are running from questions they don’t want to answer, and parts of themselves they’d rather avoid.

On a lighter note, though, they’re both a little goofy—I like to imagine they communicate almost exclusively in Dad jokes, and I have one scene drafted where they manage to derail a Hero Association meeting this way. You’ll find a lot of stuff under the brotp and sometimes OT3 tag, but more on that later.

In any case, I think that Garou & Saitama’s goofiness stems from the same place: time spent dwelling in dark places. I had a different reaction to That One Panel Where Saitama Threatens to Destroy the World, I thought, “hey, that’s relatable—most people who care deeply about others oscillate between pain and despair and anger, sometimes this results in dramatic outbursts, especially verbal ones; perhaps this will become a talking point later.” Based on later events/context, I no longer think that’s what the authors intended but I don’t think that interpretation is necessarily wrong—the first step to dealing with emotions is to name them. Anyway, I digress.

I myself am actually a gray ace, so when I imagine Garou and Saitama together, I just give them my ideal relationship which is all of the closeness and all of the shenanigans, but none of the sex. Because at the end of the day, I personally just want someone to gently kiss my hand and affectionately whisper “you’re the literal worst” while giving me the deepest and most genuine smile or drive up outside my window, honking and shouting “wake up, loser! We’re gonna spend all day driving around New Jersey doing nice things for people—but first we’re gonna get ice cream.”

(Anyway, if you follow my main blog or read my more personal posts, it is clear that I Have a Type. Like, really really-- I Have a Type.)

Getting back to OPM, though, when I write fics in particular (but also incorrect quotes or headcanons), I write a lot about Garou and Saitama. I think first of all because it’s fun—they’re very strong but they’re also playful. Saitama is a self-professed “hero for fun,” Garou starts out more like a “villain for fun,” and through various interactions—with each other, as well as their respective anchors—they develop an overarching, shared goal that seems initially dissonant…. but in actuality, their visions are very much the same.

Ultimately, they want a safe and peaceful world for everyone, especially the people they care about. Most importantly, they’re trying to both navigate and improve a world that they themselves always seem to peripheral to & outside of; a world that doesn’t appear to be designed for people like them—even before they gained their incredible abilities.

When it comes to their interpersonal dynamics, though, I think that Saitama has this incredible and interesting ability to provoke reactions in other people without intimidating them. That's the role of the "Wise Fool" character, and I believe that's the archetype Saitama falls into. That levity helps others feel safer as they question their own goals and motives. Villains usually serve a similar role in a story--in a good story, they aren't just a plot device; villains challenge us to re-evaluate our assumptions, expectations, and sometimes our values.

...So, Garou does the same thing: he incites others to flip their perspective. But unlike Saitama, he’s deliberately more provocative and more deliberately irreverent. Saitama certainly can be this way, too, but with Saitama it's usually by accident--but then again, it's hard to tell with him. Despite being perceptive and canny, Saitama is often evasive about the things he knows—at the same time, he doesn’t hesitate to get on a soapbox when he feels like he needs to: Saitama wants to save people from themselves as much as he wants to save them from external threats.

…and because Saitama so often ends up in silly situations, it makes him approachable. As we saw with Reigen and Mob in the MP finale, sometimes we serve others best by showing up as our own divinely imperfect, authentically messy self—which Saitama does. Constantly. (And Garou too! I think the most charming thing about his character, when I first encountered him, was the way Garou laughs off various defeats with beautifully insouciant amusement, so delighted to be growing and learning--which is exactly what Saitama wants for himself, and by extension, the sort of person he might gravitate towards).

In the Before Times, when the MA Manga Finale was but a twinkle in the mangaka’s eye, I imagined Saitama and Garou meeting post (WC fight): Garou is working as a delivery guy (of course), and while on break, he hears somebody screaming inside the grocery store he had been stocking. Lo and behold, and it’s Saitama. Saitama is covered in highly corrosive monster goo, watching in horror as all of his coupons disintegrate—along with his clothing. (Spoiler alert: Saitama is not at all concerned with his clothing).

...understandably, the poor, terrified clerk doesn’t want to take Saitama’s money (which is rapidly eating away the counter) and Garou covers his tab. Garou mutters something like, "for obvious reasons, it pains me to see you like this." Saitama interprets this as longing / jealously and pats the kid on the back with an acid-covered hand, assuring Garou the he will also eventually save the world in his own way--maybe even as a hero. (Garou, meanwhile, is thinking "forget about saving the world... I don't wanna live on this planet anymore"). While maintaining full eye contact, Saitama swipes the entire take-a-penny-leave-a-penny jar and vanishes. It's not a meet cute or anything, it's just it's a weird little moment of catharsis and the beginning of their friendship. It is endgame Gearou, though.

When Genos shows up the next morning to pay Garou back, Garou jokingly asks for 150% interest which Genos pays without blinking. ("Sensei's credit rating leaves much to be desired.")

Anyway, I just feel like there are so many opportunities for Saitama to accidentally get Garou to open up about his feelings. I have a rough draft of the “Dr. Saitama” scene where Garou is pouting silently in several inches of mud, pointedly ignoring Saitama until Saitama comes back with that jar of weird-looking eggs in the upper left corner of the shack scene panel. “I didn’t know you could pickle eggs,” Saitama comments. “I thought you could only pickle pickles.”

At which point, Garou snaps, absolutely indignant that this two-bit asshat cannot grasp the concept of a cucumber. My sense is that Saitama did this on purpose--intentionally prodding Garou a bit, trying to help him express his very real, very painful emotions in a way that feels safer, less frightening. I literally never know what Saitama is doing in my fics though. Probably because Saitama doesn't reliably know that, either.

In the same way that Saitama riles Garou up just enough to make him learn something, Garou riles Saitama up just enough to make him emotional--for example, by discerning Saitama's inexplicable fear of elves and adjusting his Christmas decorations appropriately. It's another Gearou fic, but Saitama is--as I always imagine him--just there, living in the same house, being part of their chosen family. I headcanon that they are always arguing about this (“You said you missed having feelings!” “Not these ones!”). It’s just constant, low-level benign trolling in a way that accidentally makes them both into other people.

So, I don’t really have many romantic headcanons or scenarios with the two of them, although I have entertained the idea. And, admittedly, I do have that “BroTP and sometimes ot3” tag. I’ve kind of entertained the idea of some scenario where the three of them are in a polycule? But it has literally always come from a place I never expected, like I fall asleep after editing a Gearou story and then whatever scene I’m workshopping somehow seeps into my dreams… at which point, the characters nitpick everything I’ve got wrong, including the relationship. “They’re not dating. We are. Don’t you see it?” (Ummm… no I don’t? At least not in that particular instance. Because these are not sexy dreams, mind you, just Exceedingly Vanilla, G-Rated anxiety dreams.)

If I hypothetically wrote a romantic and/or NSFW SaiGarou fic, I imagine it might have something to do with the fact that pain is the only emotion Garou allows himself to feel… and Saitama has already seen him at his worst, and, at the same time, hasn’t been phased by it. So I can imagine a situation where Garou knows he has to revisit that part of himself in order to heal and overcome it—that feeling of being broken and vulnerable but also safe and free, and given that he’s probably a bit touch starved you can see how things might progress from there.

Anyway. If something like this shows up on ao3 a year from now, you will know that it definitely was not me.

So, wow, there’s my answer—something like 1.3k words later :-/ if you’re still here, thanks so much for coming to my Ted Talk. I actually did have a little bit of material prepared in hopes that someone would someday ask me a variation of this question, so I’m grateful to you. This was a really nice thing to wake up to, and well-timed because I woke up at 5a and couldn’t get back to sleep. Also, gosh I'm tired. I hope this all makes sense when I wake up, and please forgive any silly spelling mistakes.

Stay safe and well, Friend!

[artbyifer]

#EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE (evilest laugh imaginable)#ok but seriously this is stunning im stuck here staring at it and woof woof#really!!!! wow i cant imagine something so cool.#xeno stuff is so cool!! i should look for it more often its very fun. this is an insane good and fun interpretation you have here#like really i love love love love seeing these guys like this and thinking about them#i cant explain its just very fun to see this type of character design it makes me yearn for stories.#i generally very love carapacians so its not rare of me. more excuses to think of carapacians? tumblr user davepepsisprite???#also the rendering and colours!! wow!! such a good piece!#also ive drawn DD and CD playing cards before so it was SO GOOD TO SEE THAT HERE HEHE its for meeeee#really im wewewewe#very interesting to read your notes on the drawing in the description! very cool!!#im happy you were happy i requested this LOL im always here for stuff liek this#well anyways yeah hahah idk for talking too much here im just hehehehhihihihihhi#thanks!! have a nice holidays too 🥺✨#homestuck#reblog tag#but seriously wow you did a whole illustration this is amazing im very happy (davepepisprite)

Heck yeah, talk all you like I'm loving hearing it :D And since you are also enjoying me talk, here's some commentary!

Xeno stuff is the best, but I rarely see it for intermission! When I do for the carapacians it's usually just some ball jointing, maybe some face seams. Which, don't get me wrong, I Adore, but it just Wouldn't Do for my versions. I crave a bit higher xeno% than that. So I've been working on these weird ball-jointed megachessatron people for like a decade or so now, but this illustration it was the first time I brought them into 3D.

As I said, I had just recently gotten a decent idea of how to do the arms and hands, but I think the hands at least will need a redo in the future since while I was posing them I noticed that it would be difficult to both hold and manipulate the cards one-handed since they only have 3 digits and no fleshy padding for friction. Might bifurcate each into 2 hooves instead of one? Not sure yet; the other option would be to simply take the form given and work out different methods of holding the cards that are not just by hoof-tip. We would be using the palm and the side of the fingers and such after all.

It was a lovely coincidence while posing them that with CD's foreleg seated over DD's upper arm, the top of his skirt slotted just so onto DD's shoulder and CD's arm is at a perfect height to wrap around DD's neck joint. It makes this a very natural hold. Droog scratching/rubbing Deuce's head was more a function of having something to do with his arm, but I like how it came out. A bit goofy but not as awkward as it would be as a human gesture, and obviously affectionate.

Without the line present on the other carapacians' sprites, I'm not sure where I would place the mouth on Clubs Deuce; perhaps he simply has a much smoother mandible seam? Or maybe it's under the chin, though that would be difficult to eat with I would think, without the same amount of lower jaw. Luckily I don't have to do anything about it if I only have Diamonds Droog talking in the picture.

Homestuck Secret Santa for @davepepsisprite for HSSS 2023

They asked for "CD/DD (carapacians..)" and "please no humanstuck/humanizations," hopefully this fits the bill :D

This is the first time that I have tried differentiating carapacian bodytypes with this bauplan, and I think it came out well! CD is in general shrunk, but also has a shorter skirt, thicker segments, a bigger head, and 2 fewer torso sections (the diamonds and their associated crowns).

And I FINALLY have something approaching done wrt the arms; though I think I'll end up fiddling with the hands a bit more since being able to manipulate the cards they're holding with only 3 digits seems difficult.

Overall, I am happy with this piece and I am glad that @davepepisprite prompted it. Happy holidays! :D

[scribblestatic]

I hope I’m sending the right image, alsdjflksdfj. ANYway, this is my interpretation of Izuku’s new design! I hope you like it!

Hmmm. Indeed…yes… Yes.

This is indeed a prime boy.

[syubub]

How BTS flirt

Saucy disclaimer: this is for entertainment purposes only and not to be taken as fact! This is my interpretation of the cards!!

Lol this is gonna be a fun one so buckle up and hold on to your socks

Seokjin

Lol oki

I think there's two types of jinnie flirting. Casual fun flirting and flirting because he's actually intrested

When he is actually intrested in someone and is trying to flirt its kinda slow moving and not very obvious

Its little things like, "your hair looks really nice today"

Things that are complements but he means it in a flirty way

He'd probably get a bit frustrated bc his flirting tactics are too subtle

I think he would also flirt by showing things he's intrested or possibly things that he's gathered

Kinda like a peacock

He wants the person he's flirting with to know that he's cool and show them what he has to offer but doesn't want to be... showy

He wants to maintain some kind of poise

But I think its because he's a little too shy to be up front and honest

But oh man when he's having fun and flirting for the fuck of it his whole goal is get everyone in a 10 mile radius flustered

He enjoys seeing people blush (I think its because he doesn't always take true compliments well and wants other people to feel good about themselves)

Jin

My boi

His tactics might be a little... strange.. at times

It's endearing though

And smooth

I wouldn't be surprised if he has a list of mid 2000's pick up lines on hand as a plan b

Yoongi

Legit before pulling any cards I heard "like a penguin"

I can't

Now to the fucking cards

WHY IS HE SO ROMANTIC??

What a soft man

He's a romantic flirt that doesn't use many words because he doesn't have to

You best believe he has coffee orders memorized, take out orders memorized, favorite drink always on hand

You needed something from the store?

He bought it.

Very much service and gifts because he wants to provide and kinda show his worth

"Here's this rock I saw. I know you like them so I figured I'd polish it for you too"

Lol he's wrapped around that pinky so tight

He's also very considerate and aware that unwanted flirting can be creepy and uncomfy so he's very very conscious of how he goes about things

I think flirting like this is almost... healing to him?

I think he really enjoys having someone to take care of (he definitely wants the same in return)

Yoon doesn't flirt. He'd rather be courting some one

Don't get me wrong though

He can definitely flirt and shit like that but its his secret weapon

He's also very confident when he flirts

He prefers flirting to come with no expectations

If anyone gets courted by min yoongi I want to see your stack of "rocks" (idk it could be bracelet charms or snow globes or postcards but I wouldn't be surprised if its actual rocks either)

Hoseok

Oki if you don't want to read some not pg then come back when I say it's safe lol

Hobi you horny mother fucker

Flirting is 100% foreplay

I CAN'T

Kissing is definitely in his flirting book

He flirts and establishes his dominance early on (hobi is a dom fight me)

Very confident in his flirting

LUSTY FUCKER

I get vibes that hobi would 100% fuck on the first date

(Kinky mf)

Omg hobi what a fucking tease too Jesus

Blah blah blah his flirting is foreplay bc he's horny and really wants to fuck.

Istg hobi just wait for a designated 18+ reading

Oki it's safe now

On the off chance that hobi isnt using his ridiculous flirting skills as foreplay

He is still very confident

And slow paced

He's trying to win the war not the battle

He is very push-pull when he flirts

It's with good intentions though

He's just really good with people and sweet talking

Very touchy

Flirting can also be a way for him to sus people out and decide if they are cool or nah

Flirting with hobi can lead to:

A. New best friend

B. Increadibly one night stand

C. The love of your fucking lifeb

D. A failed vibe check

Lowkey hobi would be kinda like wolf... very... driven?

Namjoon

A lot of compliments and just general good vibes

Lots of personal questions

"I bet you're really good at that. You should let me see sometime."

Definitely uses his smile

A lot

Very much the type to keep eye contact and be very attentive to the answers that are given to his questions

Its a wee bit methodical

But not in a weird way

He just wants to know where to go

Lots of emotional intelligence

Probs buys flowers or something cute

Very much reassuring and probably would be most flirty over drinks of some kind (like coffee or fancy wine)

Doesn't always flirt for the sake of romance but its pretty obvious when he is

He's just perfect

He gives complements often just in general and I think he absolutely knows how to use his charms

Very smooth

So so so so so witty

Definitely can get some nice giggles going

The way he flirts is honestly entrancing

We all know he is a fantastic talker

Probably uses a lot of beautiful language

Jimin

Very flirty

Flirty flirty

Also a little flexing involved!!

He'd be dressed to the 9's and very obvious

I definitely see him making everything about the other person

Very much peak libra behavior

He'd definitely feel flirty when he's feeling himself?

Flirting is almost like a first defense

Its easier to control the situation when he's flirting and its something that he loves to do

There's a lot of intelligence here with chim chim

He gets bored easily so flirting with him would be something engaging and intellectual as much as it is fun and laid back

Fancy fucking dinners

Flirty boi would like to have his match

Flirting is a competitive (fun) sport

He'd be a bit more toned down and less flashy if its someone he's actually trying to romance

Very fun and very exciting

Taehyung

Sexc

Think mysterious and cool as fuck

That's his flirting style

Very much must pass his vibe check

Be careful its a test

The way he flirts is by not saying anything about himself

He'd drop bits here and there but he has to make sure that you're worthy tbh

If someone makes it past the vibe check this is when the real flirting begins

He'd be very attentive and almost dedicated?

Like he sees flirting as a stepping stone

This is an investment and flirting would be tailored to the person he's flirting with

He's very intuitive and knows what people need

Very very very delacate

Also he might seem a bit intense when he flirts but its not necessarily a bad thing

Homie be regal at first but once he's comfy and is sure that they're compatible then he'd be way more inviting and open and giggly

Oh god he'd be the giggliest flirt on the whole planet

Also very considerate of boundries

Jungkook

Lol

He'd only really be comfy flirting if there isn't anyone else around

Very blushy

Kinda soft ngl?

It's cute soft and shy but he also has very strong boundaries

Flirting is something that he's not great at?

But he is very very very good at learning so the more he flirts the better he gets

This is an oddly personal journey?

He has to get over some stuff to get rid of some possible anxiety

He's also a little unconventional?

He has his own way of flirting and it'd be very adorable

Things like

"You're hair would be really cool if it was blue. I like it now too. So you should do whatever you like with your hair. Because its yours. And its nice. Yeah"

Its so CUTE

He'd overthink a lot too

What do I say? How do I act?

He'd also maybe throw in a cheeky back touch or two every so often

Shoulder touching too

Its very much like best friend flirting but koo means it as actual flirting

Honestly, if someone notices that koo is flirting with them it'd be best to just take the wheel and take the stress away

[blanska]

Did Sergey lie to Lera?

SPOILERS for the Plague Doctor comics up until issue #8

Disclaimer: I read most of the comics with the help of Google Translate, so it is highly likely that I don’t have the fully picture. I wrote this after reading #8 of the Plague Doctor.

In Plague Doctor #8 Sergey tells Lera in the car that the Bird has been destoryed, erased.

When I read that, I put down my phone and started pacing in my room, because this statement comepletely contradicted my interpretation of the story so far. It contradicted what I have seen.

My opinion: I think it wouldn’t be a great story if they truly killed off the bird forever. But here’s the thing. This is my taste in stories, which has no bearing on what happens in the comics. So instead, let’s talk about what my more objective side saw.

The Knife Scene

The most convincing part for me that the Bird is right there in the comics is the scene when Oleg takes out the knife. Next we see a close-up of Sergey’s eyes and the knife reflected in them. Immediately I thought of the Bird. The way this is presented makes this moment seem very important and ominous. The knife falls to the ground, and in the next moment Sergey pushes the blade to Lera’s side. He says, “Dead. Always watch your back.”

What makes this even more convincing and important is Oleg’s reaction. All of a sudden he acts almost like a prison guard, puts Sergey in his place, “Close the knife and hand it over to me. And step back!” I find it hard to interpret this in any other way than Oleg talking to the sociopath who just crossed a line. Sergey hands over the knife with a frown. Immediately after this things go back to normal.

If the Bird has been dead for years, why do we get this scene? Why would they show us specifically this scene in this way?

Two different people behind the wheel

In every scene when Sergey is present, for like 90% of the scene I saw one of two personalities. The one who seems to be less active (or just not as eccentric as the other one) I saw perhaps in #1 at the cafe, possibly in #2 when he gives Lera and Oleg their first job (he is dressed in white), in #3 when Lera tries on the suit, in #6 after the casino when he’s been up all night and they meet at the apartment and in #8 in the car with Lera.

Let’s call him “Sublte Sergey” bc I no better ideas.

The way he’s sitting, standing, the way he’s holding himself is different from the other personality. He doesn’t take up too much space, but he also doesn’t seem to lack confidence.

The way he phrases things is more matter of fact and he doesn’t talk down to others all the time.

Doesn’t joke about murdering the person he’s talking to and doesn’t do other things that seem very sociopathic.

The other personality is way more obvious. I saw him in #2 when they first gather in the apartment, then later during the first training session. In #3 during training when he attacks Lera and starts coplaining that Oleg didn’t do a good enough job. In #4 when they meet in the apartment before the casino. And the thing is, he acts just like during the Game when the Bird was in control and the other personality was essentially held hostage.

Let’s call him “Entitled Sergey” (bc I don’t wanna call him Bird for the sake of the discussion).

The way he’s holding himself. He looks like he’s always on a stage, he takes up a lot of space, he seems overly confident.

He frequently phrases things in a very condescending way, he seems to think he’s the smartest person in the room and he’s always surrounded by idiots. He very often complains about what the others are doing.

He jokes about hurting or murdering Lera on two occasions, he’s the one who picks up the knife, possibly the one who wants to suggest ideas that Oleg immediately shuts down (perhaps bc it would cross a certain line).

If the Bird is truly dead, then who am I seeing here? Why would there be a personality that acts just like the Bird during the Game? Did the Bird play the role of this personality back then? Is this the person who might know himself to be The Sergey and is that why the Bird would have played this role? If yes, who the hell is Subtle Sergey?

The Second One

In the car Sergey talks about the “second” personality, because idk he forgot to count himself, but sure let’s call him the Second One. “He doesn’t remember anything, shakes with horror, cannot fight.” It seems like this is the person who almost crashed the car twice driving to Lera’s home. The person who’s influence is slowly fading away during the conversation in the car. Nice to finally meet you, buddy.

I do not think that the Second One equals Subtle Sergey. Because as the scene goes on he starts to sound more and more like Subtle Sergey and not like Entitled Sergey. He says he is afraid of the Second One. The Second One wouldn’t say this, at least I do not think he would phrase it in this way. So these seem to be three distinct personalities.

Who is We?

In the car when Sergey is ranting about his, well.. their internal struggles, at some point he starts a sentence with “we” then pauses and corrects himself to “I”. I really like this, because of course he would say “we” occasionally as he seems to be co-conscious and living together with at least one other personality nowadays. At first I thought he corrected himself to try make his sentences more consistent and easier to understand, since most people refer to themselves as “I”.

But after it occured to me that he might have lied about the Bird being dead I thought pehaps that was not the case. He is talking about the Second One, “If I lose self control.” and then “The epitome of his greatest fear is absolute helplessness!“ He talks about the Second One in the third person and he clearly doesn’t want this person to be in control right now. 

Immediately after this as he starts to explain what happened with the Bird during the game, he says “We...” then corrects himself to “I've never made excuses with an evil alter ego.” What if when he said “we” he was thinking “the Bird and I”? But since he later claims that the Bird is gone, he corrects himself.

Sure, he could have done this for many other reasons, such as realizing that the other part(s) of the “we” have made those excuses before. But it still makes me wonder if he indeed lied.

So what if he did lie?

If he did lie, then I think Subtle Sergey and the Bird has been living and working together on this project and we’ve seen a lot of both of them. There were some moments of instantaneous switches just like back in the Game, but now the Bird is not trying to take over, he’s on board with the plans. He’s part of a system, even.

Especially with the intense reaction of the Second One, stepping to the foreground and having panic attacks, being unsure of himself, I can see why they would claim that the Bird is dead. Even if they’re not that unsure of themselves, it makes sense to say that. Because the Bird did all those horrible things when he was fully in control and running amok. Now they’re doing things differently. Saying “oh yes, he’s right here, but I promise he’s not gonne empty a round of bullets into you like the last time” isn’t very reassuring or believable. I would definitely consider lying in this situation.

What if he didn’t lie?

Then we have the Subtle and the Entitled Sergey, one of whom seems to behave like the Bird during the Game. Which is weird writing. It’s confusing. In the Plague Doctor, we don’t get to see what is going on inside Sergey’s mind. We don’t see alters talking to each other, or be represented by different character designs. We can only guess. And putting an alter in the story who acts like the Bird, without an explanation or anything to make clear that this is not the Bird, is extremely confusing to me.

If he didn’t lie, I have no idea why we had the Knife scene. What was the point? During the Game there was a Sergey trying to resist and fight the Bird unsuccessfully. I associate this sociopathic side of him with the Bird.

If the Bird is truly gone, then a part of Sergey has been thrown out the window. They didn’t get the chance to learn to live together, to get better, to figure out their life. It is not a good lesson. You don’t ignore or kill parts of you, especially the parts of you that make it incredibly hard to live your life and thrive. You deal with it. You come up with solutions to make it work for you or at least make it stop being an obstacle. If Sergey gets to be the Anti-hero and gets to live a better life, a healthier life, it shouldn’t be because we threw out the part of him who was causing trouble.

So I hope he lied. I desperately hope that he lied. But please, Bubble at least let us find out what the truth is in the end! I am getting tired of guessing who this person is in the scene with Oleg and Lera :D Whatever the case is, I am intrigued, I want to know more, I want to know what is really going on. And as of now I am absolutely confused.

[poryphoria]

[LEANS ON AN EXPENSIVE PILE OF MEDIA ANALYSIS] SYMBOLISM MISSILE INBOUND

two themes i REALLY love using for both of these guys is light & darkness, and for crackpot specifically, water & drowning. i played w the light deliberately a LOT in this one fic i wrote- crackpot being caught in phobos's shadow for the whole fic as a symbol of hys inferiority, up until phobos starts seeing hymn as an equal, where hy starts being the one to cast a shadow (and eventually they're both bathed in light together! :3)

i think the power dynamic between them was always a bit of a spot of bother in their relationship, and i think the light displays that nicely. w this specific piece phobos is casting a shadow over the whole of nexus city because the entire city is his creation, his legacy- it was designed in his image, and even in death his ego haunts every square inch of the place. and crackpot, left behind in the wake of his death, can't seem to escape phobos's influence for the life of hymn and move on- as long as hy chooses to stay in the city, hy'll remain pinned under that shadow, that echo of what hy lost. not only that, but the echo of someone greater than hymn- someone who was more powerful and well known. hy doesn't like to admit it, but i think there is a bit of jealousy in crackpo for how much more influence phobos had over people :] hy emulates his leadership partially out of admiration, but partially out of a straight up desperation to be the better version!

all the same, phobos's eye casting a light has to do with the other half of his death- crackpot being suddenly put in the limelight without him. losing the only person to stick up for hymn, make an effort to listen to and elevate hymn, be a rock to cling to. there's a sudden pressure trained on hymn to be independent, to be a leader and fill in the gap phobos left behind. hy's finally got the stage to hymnself and all the theater lights are on hymn, and god do they burn HOT.

as for the water and the drowning, i also did a bunch with this in another fic- its to do with the fanatics' obsession with buoyancy and staying afloat- for crackpot, drowning means failing. and just being generally, impossibly overwhelmed with so many things- memories, emotion, pressure, guilt, it's like an awful torrent and its crushing the air out of hys lungs and all hy can do is sink into it, sink deeper into the stubborn refusal to move on, deeper into delusion and madness(💥).

(drowning is also a reoccurring nightmare of hys because of the facemelter incident in my headcanons- that one really awesome time where hys face skin Straight Up Melted Off due to dissonance poisoning, being the reason why hy's never seen without a helmet or a mask! hys work helmet was kinda pooling with hys own blood & that definitely Felt like drowning to hymn)

the way the cityscape gets progressively less cohesive & detailed as it goes down into its reflection in the water DOES have to with dissonance :D with crackpots severely dissonance-addled perception of the world around hymn, more and more of the world seems to devolve and make less and less sense around hymn :]c till its almost comparable to the distorted funhouse reflection of yourself you might see looking into water! (it also, sort of has to do w hys super 'rose colored glasses' view of phobos's leadership & behavior- hy kind of deliberately tends to ignore the Awful horrendous things phobos very muchly did for the sake of loving him :])

I HOOOOPPPEE all of that was cohesive & coherent enough. i fucking love talking about the THEMES and the SYMBOLISMS of my own art so badly but i never get to i thank you so badly for indulging me [gripping ur shoulders like that one jpeg rn]

I REALLY LIKE YOUR INTERPRETATION/ANALYSIS OF THINGS YOU LEFT IN THE NOTES TOO!!!! I THINK IT IS SO SO BEAUTIFUL. THAT PPL CAN TAKE AWAY THEIR OWN MEANINGS FROM ART N I ESPECIALLY LOVE HEARING WHAT OTHER PPL TAKE AWAY FROM MINE :DDDDD

shadow of your legacy/limelight of your absence, or something like that

Phobos dude you've got to stop haunting the narrative man. You're giving this bird new and innovative forms of mental illness not yet conceived by man

[seelestia]

aww shucks :33 thank you dear author !! Maybe I am a writer after all, just maybe not a writer in my own standards hehehe

It's really interesting to see what you said as both a reader and a writer, it seems to me as a reader you value more characterization and how other writers would write to characters in their own perspectives based on the lore + the personalities of the character in game (I myself really like it when the writer has a firm grasp on the characterization of the character, and it's even better if they add something unconventional to them but still feels familiar and something the character would 100% do canonically)

BTW, I saw the tags and since you've asked so nicely ~

My favorite characters pretty much consist of the shorty squad; Venti, Scaramouche, and Aether

Venti is actually the reason why I got into the fandom as his character design really intrigued me (When i first saw him online I fr thought he was a girl and was like- Xiao's twin because of their color palettes being so similar awkward considering i later on start to ship xiaoven) and once I actually started doing research on his lore, I became even more interested ! He is now my favorite character lore wise :DD

Scaramouche, I'm not gonna lie the only reason I love Scara is because his design is really immaculate in my eyes (sadge that he's getting redesigned D'':) And just like Venti—I looked into his lore and became interested ! (then I heard his in game voices, for japanese and english, and boi I was whipped)

Aether is one of my favs because I find him really interesting, I really like reading other peoples headcanons for him, whether it be him using sign language to communicate because in game he doesn't talk as much, or when it's him being the more emotional twin of the two, I just love it all :D Lore wise, the fact that Aether may or may not be a deity, as well as Lumine, is really interesting— honestly tho, the entire lore surrounding the twins is really interesting, their reasonings for helping the abyss when they're the abyss twin, the way they say that the other twin should see the whole Teyvat before they can reunite once again- there's so much mystery and ANGST I love it :''D

I have a lot of other fav characters that I have just cuz I really resonate with them but these three shorties are the ones I usually gravitate to :P

Wow that was a long ramble, but since we're already here- how bout you my dear author? Any favorite characters based on lore, appearance, or personality? - Sincerely, angsty anon 👹✨

hehe, i'm proud of you, anon! i hope there will come a day where you'd deem yourself fit to be considered a writer in your standards,

mhm, each writer views characters through their own lens and that is something i find quite beautiful in a way <3 i'm not a picky reader because i've always loved all writers' interpretations even if they differ from mine — but i am picky as a writer because my works are how i share my interpretations and i really want to communicate them as best as i can ;( but i try not to push myself too hard, dw!

( spoilers about ei's second story quest and the backstory for kaeya and childe !! )

"add something unconventional to them but still feels familiar and something the character would 100% do canonically" THIS !! the exact ideology i strive for as a genshin writer 🙏 i love to write while considering how a chara's backgrounds/environments and habits could've possibly affected their reactions to certain things. it may seem like overly extensive efforts, but it's always been worth it to me! ;D (which is why i am selective when it comes to writing for unreleased characters, unless i've gathered enough info and observed them for a while like scaramouche and dainsleif.)

i love the way venti and scara attracted you with their designs first, then you searched up their lore and suddenly, it's too late to turn back fjwkkdksek and aether !! i really wish hoyoverse would give us more lore about the twins and canon traits that differentiate them instead of leaving them to seem like genderswapped versions of each other :( tho i remember during the 'we will be reunited' quest when they said each other's names regardless of the name we input as the player !!

AGREED. the fog surrounding khaenri'ah and the cataclysm is so full of mystery??? and the twin that ruled the abyss order was there to witness it while the other was asleep — but what exactly did they witness? once when going home was their only desire, what kind of horror could've happened that made them change their mind? THE LORE AND THE ANGST.

dw about rambling! i love them and i happen to be a chronic rambler myself too, hehe 🤝 oooo, my favorite characters lore-wise are kaeya, ei and childe! >:)

it's no secret that kaeya has always been a gold mine of mysteries. not just his origins stemming from the destroyed civilization of khaenri'ah and the way he was supposed to be a spy, but the fact that hoyoverse gave him a strained brotherhood with diluc added even more to his already jam-packed lore. and despite the laid-back way he carries himself, i noticed how he struggles with loneliness and reading his letters to diluc from the hidden strife event made me adore his character even more. i don't talk about my interest in kaeya often, but he is definitely my #1 favorite character lore-wise! sometimes, i wonder if he was a limited character and not a starter one, would people have viewed him differently?

ei's second story quest left a long-lasting impression on me even till this day and the loss she experienced after what happened to makoto and her friends :( i still think her first story quest should've been the second instead because it does shed some light on ei's personality (e.g. her unfamiliarity with social interactions since makoto has always been the one to handle that + the way she's behind on trends and even creations like a kamera because she's locked herself in the euthymia for so long), but it would've had a bigger impact and more depth as the epilogue instead of the introductory quest, imo!

on the other hand, childe is interesting to me because of the way he differs from his fellow harbingers, how he places such a strong belief in the tsaritsa, and how he is an oddball yet unapologetically himself. and as much as a morally grey of a character he is, ajax's love for his family makes him more realistic and that he retains a part of his old self even after falling into the abyss. one of the reasons i'm looking forward to snezhnaya is actually to see more of this stupid dumbo. (/lh)