#she was originally just another one off story concept I was obsessed with for like a month and then kinda dropped

[arolesbianism]

Realized it’s been over a year since I last drew him and couldn’t stand by that

[unpickled-olive]

Realizing that, while I like Destiny lore, what I love is Seth Dickinson's writing.

The Final Shape was a lovely story and the characters' archs were all emotional and satisfying. Maybe a nostalgic tear was shed for Cayde bonding with his reformed, resurrected killer.

But the things that have kept me coming back for 9 years were missing. I thought there'd be concrete answers about the Traveler, or some more thorough insights into the Witness, or even good lore on the Dread. I was hoping for another great lore book to join the ranks of Books of Sorrow, Unveiling, Mysterious Logbook, Marasenna, Last Days of Kraken Mare, etc. Some philosophy and horror, a genesis or exegesis or thorough backstory on a yet unexamined character/species.

Sadly, I didn't find those. The Dread's origin is that the Witness made them. Do they think and feel? TBD. The Traveler's conclusion was something like "you just have to have faith <3." Fine for the characters, but not for the readers/players of a 10-year-old mystery.

There's some nice things. The Micah-10 Traveler interpretations are cool, as is her origin story. And the foreshadowing still has me excited for the Dreadnaught, a yet unseen Disciple, etc. But I think key parts of what made Destiny lore so alluring for me are diminished.

Maybe it's the layoffs at Bungie. Maybe it's new writers going in a different direction. Either way, the aspects of sci-fi/space fantasy—ancient mysteries, metaphysical warfare, _____—have taken the back seat to personal drama that frankly isn't that interesting or fleshed out.

Maya could be an interesting antagonist, but she needed more backstory than "this simulation was evil or something" and more nuance than "the Vanguard are coercive, so I will coerce all of humanity." Why not explore what her presence means for the Vex, or the other simulations helping Praedyth escape the Vault?

The Witness trying to sway various characters was fine, but that has been covered so many times, especially in Beyond Light.

All that said, back to Seth: their absence in TFS made me realize how huge their presence in the lore was for my love of Destiny. I finally went and read their original works. What an incredible writer.

First, I read Exordia, the first/only entry into a dark mindfuck of a space opera. Its horrific in abstract ways: mysterious alien monoliths that poison reality around them. It's horrific in grounded ways, too: the alien invasion plays off of parallels with the Anfal campaign and the US involvement in Iraq. It's campy at times (with a villain who shouts "I love genocide!") but also profound. There's souls and date, but also math. There's also my favorite trope: mysterious, ancient architects.

After that, I read Baru Cormorant—all three books in a month. It's tragic and inspiring and genius. Originally I couldn't get through the first chapter because of the "fantasy" label. I've already read Earthsea and wasn't in the mood for wizards on boats. But I had the wrong impression. Understandable, because there is just no succinct way to label it.

Is it even fantasy? Honestly, I still don't know.

What it is is its own world. One that the inhabitants haven't fully mapped. One whose past is a must and whose future is uncertain. It's about hegemony. It's about purpose, obsession, and revenge. It's about revolution and community.

The colonizer culture is a kaleidoscope of different influences. Seafaring. Peri-industrial. Eugenic. It strikes me as something like 17th century Britain with a 20th century grasp of science. They don't have guns, but they do have both Greek fire and lobotomies. The story plays with different cultural views on indigenous rights, race, sexuality, and gender in ways that commentary real life while serving as interesting world building.

This story also weaves an insane amount of intellectual concepts into it. But rather than bog it down, they lift it up. The fate of the republic hinges on a myriad of different questions: is evolution Lamarckian or Darwinian? Can mathematical proofs usurp cultural hegemony? How do economics influence history? Most importantly, can you destroy the enemy from within before it destroys you?

It is not just cerebral, but tragic and heartbreaking. I saw the end of the first book coming, and yet I was devastated by the last chapter. Crushed like no ending has ever really crushed me. I didn't want it to happen.

There will likely be some time before the final book comes out, which is understandable. So much research goes into these. So many plot threads need to be woven together. So many mysteries not yet confronted.

This is all to say: if you like what I like about Destiny–thorough examinations of ancient mysteries, sci-fi takes on souls and magic, fantasy takes on science and technology, obsessive characters and vividly fucked up monsters, cancer and math as motifs, metaphors manifesting, and genius characters written by genius authors–give Seth Dickinson a chance.

[yanderes-galore]

Hey! requesting some HCs for Ranni (Elden Ring). Thank you!

I watched her cutscenes, I watched her lore, and I'm still not entirely sure what's going on but that's normal for this kind of game. Pardon me if there's something wrong in this concept... I am trying. ALSO, the term "Elden Lord" is used, but it's gender neutral just like in the game.

Sorry if it isn't intense... I will appreciate feedback from the Elden Ring fans.

Yandere! Ranni the Witch Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Possessive behavior, Violence, Isolation, Stalking, Dubious relationship.

I imagine Ranni's darling is the one who helps her achieve her Age of Stars.

You are her Tarnished who came to her at her call.

She needs someone to help her achieve her fate and destiny.

For most of her obsession, you may actually be a willing participant.

Right up until the end when you begin to realize something may be off.

Like most of Elden Ring's yanderes I feel, Ranni isn't all that intense.

She'd mostly watch her obsession through their journey to aid her.

She watches you closely, even if you may not know it.

She sees how you interact with her cohorts and how you fight in battle.

You are a promising Tarnished in her eyes... She can tell through the way you speak and fight.

Sooner or later, she'll deem you the perfect Elden Lord for her new age.

To Ranni, meeting her obsession was yet another destiny she was meant to meet.

To her, you two were always meant to be.

Her chosen Elden Lord.

Her obsession would span throughout her side quest to get the Age of Stars ending.

Since in that ending... Ranni and The Tarnished (you) marry as God and Elden Lord.

That would be the general story idea... Ranni obsessing over her most devoted helper.

At the beginning, she tries not to show much of her favoritism.

Although, by the time you defeat Radahn and unfreeze the stars, she shows her fondness more.

In terms of her overall behavior, I imagine she's mostly the observing type, watching you from a distance and praising your efforts when you meet her.

Ranni prefers to meet you as her larger life-sized doll form.

However, when you pick up her smaller form, she doesn't mind the idea of being held by you while you share a conversation.

Her obsession is unintentional.

She originally doesn't think you'll survive her requests.

Yet when you prove yourself by meeting her again... she thinks you'll prove to be useful to her for her plans.

Then from there... the moon witch begins to grow fond of you.

She's a subtle manipulation yandere, instructing her beloved to follow her every word like a divine command.

She watches over them through her dolls, often wondering when their next meeting will be.

Her obsession starts as curiosity.

As if she's wondering if you'll really be someone she can trust.

However, once you retrieve the lost treasure of Nokron...

She knows you're hers.

Before you even find the Dark Moon ring, Ranni has claimed you as her Tarnished.

You are not loyal to any other covenant, just hers.

Which must mean she has your heart, body, and soul as hers.

In a way, like other yandere covenant/religion leaders or deities, your loyalty makes her feel she has a claim over you.

To differ from canon a bit, maybe Ranni instructs you to find the Dark Moon ring.

She doesn't tell you for what, a subtle trick.

She just gives you small lies, deceiving you by saying it was a gift from her mother that she wants back.

Then she instructs you through her smaller doll to find her location.

Unlike in the game, where she's surprised you are choosing to be her Elden Lord...

She would deceive you into being hers once you slip the ring on one of her fingers.

This is a yandere story, after all, a dark romance.

Her deceiving her Tarnished, her obsession, into being hers in her new age would be something she'd do.

You aren't quite sure what you've done until Ranni appears, claiming you to be her Elden Lord.

There's a ghost of a smile on her face while she watches your shocked expression.

As if challenging you to rebel against her now that such a ritual has been done.

She doesn't think you'll refuse if you've gone this far to listen to her.

As her new consort, you are given the task of removing her old cohorts and defeating her Shadow, Blaidd.

Then after that, she oversees you defeating Queen Marika... Radagon... her traitorous parent of a dreaded Golden Order.

By the end of it, Ranni appears to greet you and the shattered corpse of Marika.

You can't help but feel a chill run down your spine.

Ranni merely greets you with a smile yet again, thanking you for helping her achieve her Age of Stars.

Unfortunately... You cannot part from her now.

Every God requires their Elden Lord.

Their consort.

It doesn't matter if you try to back out now or agree.

Your fate and destiny are sealed.

She may have tricked you, yes...

But she assures you she does it out of love, she only feels love for her beloved consort.

She takes your hand... and you just feel cold.

She grins teasingly, leaning closer as she congratulates you...

A cold kiss cooling your warm lips.

You two are meant to be together now... forever in her new age...

You'll be hers forever...

Just the two of you, overseeing the people in the Age of Stars... Together forever... Just as destiny told her.

You can't fight your destiny... no matter how hard you try... she'll always just tug you back with a kiss... She's as cold as the Dark Moon itself.

[princess-ibri]

Tangled Unbraided

For ages I've wanted to find a way to use the old fractured fairytale idea of "Rapunzel Unbraided" Disney was going to do in the early 2000s, and decided to just go ahead and show what I've got. So here's some sketches of how the main characters would appear in this hypothetical Tangled spin off movie:

The original synopsis for Unbraided ran as thus:

“An evil witch named Lucretia despised fairy tale happy endings and plotted to change all that. Meanwhile in modern day San Francisco, Claire and Vince are two vastly opposite teenagers who cannot stand one another. Claire is a short haired, fashion obsessed teen who was concerned with her looks. Vince is a stocky and crude pizza delivery boy on hard times. The two of them get on each other's nerves which gets the attention of Lucretia in the fairy tale realm. Lucretia takes Rapunzel and her prince Beau and transforms them into a squirrel and dog, respectively, while Claire and Vince find themselves filling their roles. Claire and Vince eventually team up with Rapunzel and Beau to defeat Lucretia and return to their respective places in time. “

---

And I'd want to follow the basic plot of that, though with changes with what we have from the actual Tangled movie. But basically two teens from 2007 San Francisco (why not make it a 'period' piece with all this Y2K nostalgia going on that makes no sense to me, a Y2K kid x) get reverse Enchanted and find themselves in the Everrealm. Searching for a way home, mentored by a talking squirrel and dog that claim to be famous fairytale characters also trying to regain their human forms.

The reason the witch tries to recreate the Rapunzel story with two people who are unlikely to give it a happy ending is that she's trying to make a spell to warp reality and bring about another golden flower (so that we can have the one that eventually shows up in Sofia the First) and so gain immortality for herself.

My ideas for the growth journeys each character goes on in this hypothetical movie is of course that Claire and Vince both learn to be more comfortable with themselves/find their real potential, as well as learn that its ok to trust others emotionally, both in a platonic sense with Eugene and Rapunzel mentoring them, and romantically with eachother as they get closer.

Rapunzel and Eugene would have this be an opportunity for them both to work through the concerns they both have about being parents. Sure they both have better parental relationships now, but both grew up with either abusive or absent parents (and then hyper protective ones in Rapunzel's case with Frederick) and though they both want kids they're afraid they might still mess it up. So, getting to help these two teens find themselves and their way home gives them a sense of the type of parents they'll be, and that they'll be ok in the end.

(They also all eventually find out Claire is their many times descendent and thats why she looks like Rapunzel so much, and why the spell called her into Rapunzel's place)

For the Witch I decided to change her name from Lucretia as I already had a character with that name for the Bluebeard story. I still wanted her to have some actual connection to the og Rapunzel fairytale, and a way to know about the Sundrop flower, and while I know we already had Cass as Gothel's kid, per my DisneyVerse she did have more then one over those many many years 😅😬

We already had a benevolent version of another Gothel daughter with my rewrite of Ginny, so I decided this time we'd get to focus on a malevolent one, so our villain for this story is Azalea.

(I based her looks on one of the tree nymphs from Gothel's backstory in OUAT, old Gothel/witch concept art and her name was inspired by Alice from OUAT being Gothel's daughter, just with a sharper sounding plant name x)

Also here's some original concept art of the Rapunzel Unbraided story treatment!

(Some of these might technically be from the Rapunzel treatment but I feel they fit the story anyway)

Also some video! A rough animatic overview of the whole story

And a more polished small clip of Claire and Squirrel Rapunzel

But yeah that's my rough little idea of how I'd incorporate the Rapunzel Unbraided concept/characters into the Disneyverse :)

[sammylbir]

Behind the OC: Nui Yoshikane

Nui Yoshikane.

Probably my most popular OC, all of you loved Nui. To my surprise too, considering that her character isn't that remarkable. But I am happy you liked her anyway. And because of this, since Nui is officially over a year old, I decided to make this post. To explain the character's creation process and the many changes that they went through.

I hope you'll enjoy it. ^^

Origin

Now, why did I create her? Well, you see a year ago I was planning a new fanfic. One where Tsumugi would wake up after the death and find herself in a non-despair universe with her classmates and herself attending Hope's Peak Academy. With none of them remembering anything from their time of the game.

Given that the story was supposed to be as mind-screwing and ambiguous than the actual V3 game, I knew I needed to add something to distort the truth even further.

And what better way to confuse Tsumugi, is by meeting herself? Or someone that looks oddly familiar to her, in a way.

And that's, how I decided to create the OC who would be in the future known as Nui Yoshikane.

Creation Process

When I created Nui, I was inspired by a certain character from a series that I just got into, around last year. Said series inspired me to write the above aforementioned fic to begin with.

I am talking about the series "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared." And the character I am referring to, is her.

Lesley. (Spoilers below)

The moment I saw her, I was obsessed with the character for a variety of reasons. One, her demeanor was so oddly comforting and I especially loved that accent of hers (Not sure if it's a British one, considering the actress of the character is welsh. Oh well.)

Either way, when I created Nui, I wanted to go for a similar character concept. Someone who takes Tsumugi's faux kindness up to the max, which would make her even creepier. The stitches on Nui's face are also a reference to Lesley in that regard.

Another inspiration for Nui's character, was the Beldam from Coraline.

In general, the sewing motif and her status as a seamstress, were inspired by the Beldam in that regard. Her pale skin and darker clothing colors were also inspired by the Beldam, especially her true form as seen above.

Another thing that was inspired by the Beldam regarding Nui's character, where the needle hands. I gave Nui some very thin and long fingers and sharp nails, to give her more of a terrifying look. And to tie in with the sewing motif.

The last character who inspired Nui Yoshikane, is a somewhat surprising choice. But that inspiration was none other than "The Most".

I am talking about Wally Darling.

When I first learned of Welcome Home, Wally Darling stuck to me. His friendly nature and yet his off-putting behavior on the Welcome Home Website instantly made me fall in love with him, as a character.

Due to this, Nui's slow and monotone speech pattern, her curious and almost child-like demeanor. And the general affable demeanor. Of course, since Welcome Home is still ongoing, Wally may develop differently and I am excited to see, how his character will develop.

But I digress. Those were the three main inspirations for Nui's character. Let's go over the design process.

Design

When I designed Nui, my major inspiration was her beta design. In particular this one right here, created by Nona Nightingale.

Her more subdued and darker colors really fit well and I decided to base Nui's design off that beta design. Of course, I couldn't copy it 1 to 1 for obvious reasons, so I went on and tried to work on some different designs for Nui.

And believe me, she went through a lot of changes.

This was one of the first sketches for Nui's character. As you can see, she had a lot more stitches and had a much more disturbing overall appearance. I scrapped the design in the end, because it was just too terrifying and because I wanted Nui to look a bit friendly, if not a tad uncanny. So, I made another sketch.

This beta designs, does look a bit more similar to the final product. But again, I was not satisfied with the hair because I wanted to give her a bit more of a sophisticated look. So, I moved on to her first "official" design.

Here's another earlier design of Nui. You can see that unlike the final product, she lacks her green bow tie and her skin is much shorter. Not only that, but the stitches are less noticeable and her overall appearance is a lot less creepy than in the final product. So, I revised yet again.

This design for Nui looks very similar to the final product. As you can see, the stitches are a lot more pronounced and the crossed eyes are vertical and not horizontal, unlike the final version. I was initially happy with Nui's designs, but eventually I gave her a different design yet again.

In this comic that I drew based on the fic where she first appeared in "Welcome To your Paradise", I changed Nui's design a bit more, to reflect her final appearance. However the crosses are still vertical and her blazer is much more lighter, than in the final version.

Now then. This next one was a commission I bought from the lovely @waveglox back in May, I believe. They drew Nui extremely well with a good price and I recommend you, to check their account out. Because they are an incredible artist and a huge inspiration of mine.

Incredible, isn't it? I jsut love this comission so much and although her hair is a lot longer than in the final version, I am still very happy about it and think her design is absolutely awesome.

But of course, I changed it yet again.

This design looks extremely familiar and simmilar to the final product and the only thing that's different is the overall anatomy and the fact that she looks a lot thinner. But I wasn't satisfied with that design either, so....

This, is her present design

As you can see here, I made the blazer much much darker and I also made the stitches in her eyes horizontal, while giving her a bit of a paler color. And I decided to make the stitches on her neck reflect her current mood. Because, why not?

I am personally happy with the design, since it reflects everything I envisioned about her character. Creepy, yet polite and friendly. However the other versions of Nui's designs, were based on some earlier character concepts of hers. Which leads me to:

Personality and Mannerisms

Originally, Nui was conceived as a pure villainous character. One that would be similar to Junko Enoshima in some aspects, like a faux-affably evil persona and a general manipulative nature. However, as time went on, I decided to flesh her out more. Because I wanted her to be much more complex. Which is why, I added the following.

As I mentioned previously, Nui was inspired by The Beldam from Coraline. In order to differentiate her more from her, I made Nui extremely protective and caring towards children. She would never hurt them and actively hurts those, who harm and endanger children in any malicious way.

Another thing I added, was to make her a bit more dorky. For that, I decided to give her a pianist hobby. But unlike Kaede, Nui's piano skills range from atrocious to just abysmal. Not only that, but I also gave her an affinity for tea. Because Nui's overall appearance was supposed to give off the vibes of a British Lady, sophisticated and polite. To contrast with Junko's hammy and vulgar personality.

Also, when I fleshed her out a bit more, I also gave her a habit of her humming and singing. Something she is a bit better at than playing the piano, but not by much.

The last quirk I added, was that she likes to sew all kinds of stuff. Originally, her specialty was only supposed to be in crafting clothing for dolls, but then I made her more of a general sewing specialist, ranging from fixing clothing and making sweaters among other things.

Other Inspirations

Nui's character is partially based on the concept, of Liminal Spaces. By that I mean, is that she is supposed to give of a familiar and harmless, yet overall strange feeling.

Like...something is off. But you cannot put your finger on it. For this, I even made a Spotify playlist for her, which you can view here.

Lastly, I wanna stress that Nui is not 100% human. What is she really?

You'd love to know that....wouldn't you?

Closing Thoughts

Overall, to say that Nui developed this much over the entire year surprised me. But it does show, how characters can go through a variety of changes, before settling in on their final form. Whether Nui will go through other changes is unknown as of now, but I hope you will stick around.

Lastly, here is some of Nui's voice. Enjoy ^^

Listen.

Thank you for reading and have a good day!

[toxicanonymity]

Hope you don't mind me spamming you a bit. I appreciate your reviews and commentary! Other movies that came to mind which I enjoyed were Ready Or Not, The Invitation, Don't Breathe, Black Christmas, Last Night inSoho (technically this is a horror movie). And because it's popular, what are your thoughts on A Quiet Place?

I don't mind one bit. These are fun questions, especially this one. Buckle up lmaoooo.

Ready or Not - I liked it, and it inspired the wedding dress in one of my darker stories.

The Invitation - Hell yes, love a dark dinner party movie. Won't spoil why.

Don't Breathe - Loved. So depraved. If you haven't seen it I won't spoil, but holy shit lol. Kink alert.

Black Christmas - Yes! Prefer the original by a mile, but enjoyed the Blumhouse take too.

Last Night in Soho - Need to see this, it's on my list.

A Quiet Place -Just my passionate opinion: I fear there is no movie I despise more. My disdain is well-known among irl friends. I'm about to go off.

Krasinski referring to his film as "elevated horror" put him on my bad side from the start. Really low to put down others to promote himself. Dismissing an entire diverse genre, disrespecting everyone who paved the way.

Krasinski gets (takes) far too much credit for things that have been done and done better, including the climax which mirrors The Descent Part 2, shot-for-shot. Don't Breathe is another example of the have-to-be-quiet premise.

Huge hit among non-horror fans who didn't know better and raved about its originality. Meanwhile gushing, "I'm not even into horror." Soo maybe they hadn't seen much? Especially lesser known movies. The horror tent is big enough for all, but he brought new fans into it while infusing them with his condescending attitude.

Far too many gratuitous close-ups of himself going 🤫. This man's ego, stg.

Some of us detected a strong whiff of right-wing energy. Pro-life in a risk everyone's lives for a fetus way. Pro-gun in a rural, white, get off my land way (btw I'm obsessed with John Wick. it's not the use of guns in this, it's the energy).

He bragged about how his wife was so unaffected by her most intense scene (childbirth) that after it she said, "Who's ready for lunch?" Why is that so good, John? Is your view as a director that actors should snap in and out of character and not be affected by their roles? If she needed to cry or rest, would he think less of her? Personally I admire people who feel. Also, harder to imagine paying a man the same compliment.

I have one nice thing to say, which is that it's nice to see deaf/hard-of-hearing representation, and it was the least they could do good to cast an actress from the community as his daughter.👍

If they committed to total silence instead of using a dramatic score, that would've been cool.

You can do your own take on an old concept and make it good. But to meanwhile put down everything else to distinguish/promote himself?? That ain't it.

Anyway, I still hate-watched the sequel (not nearly as bad) and may do the same with the prequel 🤪.

[vinhteer]

So in the end, I actually want to bring back this reinterpretation series because I get a lot of dopamine from researching and glueing shit together to make something semi comprehensible. (also deeply sorry for the botched Evan drawing, I wasn't looking when I was lasso-ing some of the other drawings LMAO)

When it comes to my designs for YHS, I'm not sure if I already wrote this, but for each of them, I like having a real person + other fictional characters (if needed) in mind whenever I'm designing them.

For Funneh, it was Itsfunneh (as in the youtuber) and Riley from Inside Out. For Gold, it was Goldenglare and another classmate from last year. With Alec, originally it was the Christian Slater who played JD from Heathers (1988), but then when I finished drawing him in the concept art, he reminded me more of a classmate of that same year + a childhood friend that I used to fight for the player 1 wii remote controller. They both had that snarky, blunt personality. One had the boldness and the other one was more mischevious, which I feel like Alec both has. For Kyran, I wasn't thinking of someone CONCRETE, I was thinking more about yk, the vague geek archetype that was rlly prevalent back in the 90s - 2000s (Kyran gives off Big Bang Theory vibes which is a not compliment by the way). I also knew that Kyran would probably give off that "I try to look presentable and cool like in those fantasy medias I consume, I try to look like my escapism, except I only end up reinforcing the things that I don't like about myself" so he just looks like he's in a poorly made cosplay and shifts uncomfortably as he tries to navigate the weird feeling of not liking himself... Even though he clearly has something really cool with him going on, except he's too scared to embrace it because it doesn't fit into typical, acceptable standards... Anyway, so I ended up with that, and as I squinted my eyes looking at him, he reminded me of someone of last year that I lowkey despised. LISTEN, he perfectly fitted into those weird incel criterias as well. For Evan, BASICALLY this friend of a friend acted exactly like him and it was scary as fuck. So it was him and random members from boy bands of the 2010s. Except I wanted him to also look pretty young, just not fitting ENOUGH yet to look like a 20 year old like these boy groups. I wanted him to look like he was LEANING onto that style. I wanted baby fat (to show that he's still a little young and also design wise it just made more sense si For Celeste, she is someone that is completely off from the norm compared to Funneh's friend group-- which makes sense given that she looks like she barely speaks to anyone and is off to her own world. I was very inspired by Fern Mayo's character (who is played by Judy Greer btw) from Jawbreaker (1999) (also I very much enjoy that the only 2 movies I've mentioned yet are both about high school and killing people. OKAY that was poor wording, trust me I am not obsessed with high school NOR killing people, it's just that they both fit into the slightly cynical and "I don't know what this story is about" type beat that YHS has.) She also reminded me of one of my classmates, reminded me of my teacher... And they all share the same quality of being eccentric. For Yumi, I decided to sorta break that rule of only trying to find real people within my character designs because she stands more like a mysterious, 'alluring' shadow. She almost doesn't feel real. It almost feels like not giving her any concrete humans to work with is like stripping her humanity, BECAUSE she is devoid of humanity. I wanted to only get references of DRAWINGS depicting people based on their vibe or their social utilities. I got inspired by Perfect Blue (1997), bijinga paintings (which are depictions of beautiful women that were especially common back in the 17th-19th century, which references Yumi's ethnic roots as well. Also their culture back then, depicting these women in such a way was because that's what they wanted to strive for. They're more like beauty concepts than tangible people, which is perfect for Yumi). The reason why I've been struggling to draw her since then is because I had a specific way of seeing her; compared to the others, she should look perfect, so perfect that they don't look human. I wanted her to look like a painting (hashtag The Picture of Dorian Gray) , sharp on the edges but also smooth at times, can bend from disgustingly menacing to ethereal.

[anghraine]

dontstandmedown replied to this post:

re:tags could you share the playwright you're talking about? :0

No problem! For others, the tags in question are this:

#thinking about this partly because the softer & gentler versions of fanfic discourse keep crossing my dash #and partly because i've written like 30 pages about a playwright i adore who was just not very good at 'original fiction' as we'd define it #both his major works are ... glorified rpf in our context but splendid tragedies in his #and the idea of categorizing /anything/ in that era by originality of conception rather than comedy/tragedy/etc would be buckwild

I am always delighted to share the good news of John Webster! If you're not familiar with him, he was an early seventeenth-century English playwright known for being a slow, painstaking, but reliable writer. He did various collaborations with other playwrights (and acknowledges a bunch of his peers in an author's note to The White Devil, including Jonson and Shakespeare) and wrote some middling plays in various genres that could be more or less termed "original fiction," but he's remembered for two brilliant, bloody tragedies.

The basic premises/plots of both of these were essentially ripped from the headlines of the previous century, and Webster makes zero attempt to conceal that fact.

I couldn't shut up about my guy so more under a cut!

The White Devil is based on the actual murder of Vittoria Accoramboni in the late sixteenth century and the characters in the play are generally given the same or similar names as the real life people in the story as known at the time, so there's no attempt to conceal the play's origins (the anti-heroine/villain???[debatable] is named Vittoria Corombona in the play, for instance).

The original production of The White Devil largely failed, which Webster blamed mainly on bad weather and an audience who just didn't get his ~vision and what he was trying to do. It would not be unsurprising for a contemporary audience to struggle with it given that it's a complicated play in which, among other things, Vittoria is put on trial and rhetorically shreds the underlying misogyny of the entire legal process.

The Duchess of Malfi, generally considered a still greater achievement, is based directly on the murder of Giovanna d'Aragona, Duchess of Amalfi by her brothers (it was presumed, likely correctly). Lope de Vega also wrote a play about this tragedy not long before Webster did, though the plays are very different and it's unlikely that Webster would have had the time or linguistic knowledge necessary to read Lope's version. Probably part of the reason for the differences between Lope's and Webster's takes is that Lope had to be careful about the reception by the Catholic Church given that one of the murderers was a cardinal, while obviously an English Protestant like Webster could say whatever he wanted about eeeeevil cardinals.

Webster takes a lot of artistic license, a normal approach at the time to adapting previously-established narratives, but the source material is very recognizable. One of the commendatory verses at the beginning of the play (blurbs in poetic form from other playwrights) is like "I'm sure the real duchess was cool but she couldn't be as cool as Webster's heroine, wow <3". (One of the other commendations is by another fave of mine, John Ford.)

Bosola, the historically mysterious minion of the Duchess's murderous brothers (=Bozolo in the historical narrative) gets an elaborate quasi-redemption arc in the play. And the play is extremely critical of various characters' obsession with and attempts to control the Duchess's sexual behavior (a fixation that is often extremely normalized in early modern British drama, but which comes off really badly here).

Ultimately this obsessiveness leads to her brothers, the Cardinal (=the historical Cardinal Luigi d'Aragona) and Ferdinand (=Carlo d'Aragona) orchestrating her torment and murder in which she emerges with her sanity and integrity intact and dies with dignity. Meanwhile, the Cardinal is exposed as a remorseless villain (he proceeds to murder his mistress with a Bible) and Ferdinand's already-shaky sanity snaps under the realization of what he's done.

Webster's Duchess is often considered the first real female tragic hero in British drama—the tragic is especially significant because tragedy was typically considered a higher art form than comedy and the truly great female characters from that era of drama are often restricted to comedies or secondary roles in tragedy (a marked trend in Shakespeare, for instance). The Duchess in the play is virtuous, strong-willed, witty, and fairly unabashedly sexual in the context of the time, a concept that several hundred years of critics have struggled with. (My favorite OTT complaint is from Martin Sampson, an early 20th century critic who lamented the conspicuous absence of a "strong active man, following righteous things" in Webster's work, to which I say l m a o.)

Anyway, among scholars of early modern British drama, Webster is often considered second only to Shakespeare as a tragedian, on the basis of those two plays. And the modern obsession w/ originality and novelty makes this kind of fascinating, given that his "original" work (in our sense—again, the original vs fanfic dichotomy was not a thing in that cultural context) is sort of meh but his work with pre-existing sources turns them into these staggering dramatic achievements.

[lizzle-the-edu-nerd]

Another BibliophiLe milestone - 1,000+ hits!

I can't believe so many people have visited and re-visited my little story about Monoma and Kaminari finding each other and themselves.

What should I tell y'all about...

How about something that changed from the original plan?

Parents!

Monoma has parents who are split up in this story.

I think it's pretty clear as the story progresses that Monoma's Dad does not treat him well. He tries to mold Monoma into what he wants him to be. This controlling behavior is 100% a driving factor in his parents break up.

I had planned on him actually being devoid of parents entirely, though.

Originally I had considered having Kuroiro be the new "family" Monoma made at UA. He'd have lived alone, no immediate family close, in an apartment bought with inheritance from his parent's passing.

Their death was going to be something Monoma was unable to prevent, having "no quirk" to speak of in the moment. Haunting. Sad. A reason for him to always try his best to master what he could do he felt confident taking anything he needed to help others.

Then Hibiki, his sister, came to my mind and it spiraled from there! She was just so precious and the idea of Monoma having supportive women in his life who he wanted to see happy made his obsession with romance so much more fitting.

Kaminari was going to not have any siblings OR parents.

I was going to make him an orphan who was adopted by the cafe owner in his hometown.

I was going to have a reveal that Monoma realizes Kaminari is always at the cafe because he lives above it. He was going to actually meet him by not seeing him sitting, but talking to him as he took his order.

I thought that a Kaminari who grew up in a book cafe would be an avid reader. He'd run off on his own and be a delinquent, but always with a novel in his back pocket. Skater nerd.

That ended up changing once I thought a hectic house full of Kaminaris would be more fun narratively for Monoma to handle. I had a chat with some friends online and the logistics of Kaminari being SO strong because he's the odd one out as a single kid amongst a group of triplets made a lot of sense regarding his quirk efficacy.

Plus, the multi brother interrogation scene about Monoma and Kaminari's "relationship" is one of my favorites!

Pretty cool how stuff can change as you plan out your fic!

I still like the idea of orphan Kaminari and lone wolf Monoma as a concept of shared experiences in loneliness.

Maybe one day I'll write that!

Hope you enjoyed this trip into the "maybes" of BibliophiLe.

Does it make you want to give it another re-read before the next chapter? No judgement! I just read over chapter 10 again because I enjoyed writing it so much!

The next chapter is in the works and will be out soon. Until then, go watch an episode of Pride and Prejudice ya big ol sap!

[juniperhillpatient]

ok I’m like… back to this. I do love that the coffin of andy & leyley is so brutally bluntly HORROR as in not pg 13 blumhouse ghost horror movies that shy away from anything too taboo but horror that’s meant to offend & upset. I like the way it sees shit you’re not “supposed” to talk about & goes as hard as it can like - I don’t think at this point it’s a secret to literally anyone who follows me or has ever discussed fiction with me ever that the controversial or daring are obvious draws for me in any genre but particularly my favorite genre of horror.

like an anon suggested this to me, I saw the words “cannibalism” “incest” & “botched satanic ritual” as soon as I googled & was ready to check it out BUT I think it’s worth noting that it’s not the dark concepts themselves that got this game its well earned hype or that ensure that it lives rent free in my head & the heads of other fans.

I think the writers have created really compelling & complex multilayered characters & a fascinating storyline with a lot of questions left unanswered about the nature of these demons & of human souls & the world these characters inhabit & I’m being so sincere here I also think it’s a really thought provoking critique or at least exploration of the american nuclear family.

I already said this but I would’ve stopped caring pretty fast if andrew & ashley were not more than their archetypes which SURE are fun we love a quirky evil girlboss & her simp boyfriend brother but the fun archetypes are not enough on their own to keep me hooked. luckily, these are some of the least 1 dimensional characters I’ve ever seen. this got carried away talking about how good I think the game is & giving an obligatory disclaimer that yeah, I totally got into it initially for shallow & edgy reasons lol but I actually wanted to talk about the themes because I genuinely think it’s an incredibly well crafted story. anyway -

I think it’s really interesting that ashley is the one that is originally shown believing / hoping their mom hasn’t truly abandoned them. andrew discourages her from having hope in their mom or considering trying to find her until it’s about finding sacrifices for the demon & getting money. yet this initial dynamic is totally forgotten once they’re home. ashley just wants to kill these motherfuckers while andrew is busy playing mind games & - one might argue- playing house / pretending be a happy family. it’s andrew who is offered the olive branch. who we see considering sparing his parents or at least feeling conflicted about killing them. in the flashbacks we see that “andy” was forced to take care of “leyley” & she uses it against him “mom says you have to play with me.”

ashley is so depressingly achingly desperate for any hint of affection & it’s so obvious the reason she’s latched into andrew is that he’s the only one who’s ever chosen her. that’s why she’s so obsessed with calling andrew “andy” despite the conflict it constantly creates. andy helped her hide a body. a possibly hot take but I don’t think leyley was going “yay murder” in her child brain - I don’t think she cared that the girl died don’t get me wrong - but I do believe it was an accident. this is a happy memory though because it’s the only time in ashley’s entire life that someone has chosen her with that level of commitment. yet for andrew it’s horrific & traumatic & he wants to get away from it - or so he tells himself. maybe his parents were decent to him or at least not actively hateful how they were to ashley but it’s abundantly clear based on the fact the story’s premise relies on them leaving him to fucking starve to death that they do not give a fuck about him.

when mrs. graves tells andrew that there’s still hope for him & that she always cared about him the compliments she chooses are telling - they thought he was easy, quiet, a good kid - they thought they could have another (& hand her off to him to take care of). and ofc it’s worth noting mrs. graves only says all this to save her own skin & would never freely talk about caring about andrew.

so andy is living this cold not abusive but certainly empty & devoid of nurturing life & along comes leyley. she’s annoying & needy but she loves him with such reckless abandon. adult ashley’s words say it all. “If only you could love me with half the heart I love you with.” but he DOES he just doesn’t know how to show it the way she does. so he chooses her again & again & tries to make her happy with violence & bending to her will & showing her he’d do anything for her with everything he can except the one thing she wants which is simple affection.

as things get more & more dire ashley gets more abusive, controlling & manipulative embodying the worst aspects of her mother - a cold heartless bitch who never cared about anyone but herself - & andrew gets more & more apathetic just like his worthless father who’s barely even a person in his wife’s shadow.

it’s a really tragic story & I love this idea of characters on the run but they’re really running from themselves & that’s something you can never escape. how telling is it that the one thing ashley doesn’t want is to be buried in the same grave as her parents? but this story is about a grave it’s always been about a coffin in one way or another, they thought they escaped when they got out of the apartment but they’re still in it because they’ll always still be in it, you can’t escape from who you are at your core & there’s a reason ashley having tarred soul is such a glaring theme & episode 2 (in some versions) ends with andrew gaining a mark on his hand from the demon. they’re marked & there’s no escape. I’m sorry it’s just REALLY good horror. ok I’m done for now

[screen-universe-official-thingie]

Plague Doctor Cindy!

Hi, I drew this concept art sheet thing shortly after drawing the Butcher!Aurora art and I took a break after that. Sorry I didn't post this one immediately.

Edit: Some close ups and extra commentary have been added

Rambling below (TW: medical subject matter like diseases and surgery, death, delusions, and cannibalism)

Meta wise, she started out as a mad scientist for the sake of being a mad scientist by listening to Novocaine by Cree-P and GHOST, and Black Box Warrior-OKULTRA by Will Wood. I just imagined Cinderella going too hard or harsh on Lady Tremaine, her patient/ser-worker/co-star, with her research, experiments, and surgeries out of frustration, stress, and madness. Hell, I would not be surprised if she tried lobotomy at some point during her side jig/job as a doctor.

But ever since I listened to Butcher Vanity by Vane and Flavour Foley, Cinderella later grew to be more than just a plain old mad doctor as I revisited her Screen Universe para concept and explore what her deal is. From why exactly did she fall into this path, to her relationships with the characters related or relevant to her story. She became another tragic character. This time, someone who developed an obsession with finding a cure for the prions after it "ate up" her once villain co-worker friend with in-character or canon compliant delusions.

Some close ups

The other state was meant to say production as well, but I'm too lazy to fix the typo now

Cindy with the Bok-su pose is slightly cursed ngl, but it keeps living in my head rent free. The fact that they're both doctors doesn't make it any better ToT

Eldritch Cinderelly (the note says healthy because their true forms's color and brightness changes if they get certain health conditions. In this one, she should have been a bit dimmer and grayer due to the Discontinuation Rot)

Herbs and spices stuffed in the beak like a true plague doctor. Though, Cindy does this for different reasons. Instead of the original reasoning where the herbs will ward off the plague, she does this to replace the smell of burning and rotting flesh with as much fragrance as possible. It also puts her at ease

Stolen Ideas Inspo :>

How it'd look like under her apron/dress thing

Goggles stuff for eye protection

Eyes. Eye eyeballed (eh? eh?) her eye color because I can not find a good proper close up of her face and eyes in the official material and the coloring in the og movie looks a bit inconsistent at times.

Screen shots from the ID server itself again of course

OKULTRA cranking up the mad doctor inspiration (ft. Novocaine starting the whole thing prior to listing to OKULTRA)

I think this one is still pre-butcher vanity arc

meme

Typical Disney para behaviour

more Cinderella angst lore because yes

A shit ton of other paras have not so healthy relationships with their characters at this point. They include, but not limited to some Pokemon characters, and SpongeBob.

Health anxiety go brrrr

This is from when Butcher Vanity arc or obsession hit around. It expanded her lore and everything. It was a game changer for this specific para tbh. I think this is about four months after posting the past Cindy rambles shown in the previous screenshots

Ok, this one is from an ID adjacent server, but I feel like this is still a bit relevant to the whole thing

(Also from the ID adjacent server) Ok, this one is kinda complicated since I mentioned another para who had something to do with a different Disney centered subplot that somehow affected the plot and lore of the entire paracosm. Basically, Snow White helped one of her ser-workers to found a cult and... everything went downhill and batshit insane from there. Ruined or fucked over the entire government and all... you may either dig through my casual account for the answer or ask through the Screen Universe blog about it.

Bonus: A joke relevant to the whole Cinderella x Sleeping Beauty ft. prion plague debacle arc/subplot (I found this god damn image from Pinterest and I captioned it as "Cinderella and Aurora")

TLDR: 1950 Disney princess becomes a mad plague doctor, grows into another tragic para, becomes vegan as a trauma response, loses her villain patient to the plague's delusions, goes off into a deep end after burning said patient, despises cannibals, and turns into their world's equivalent to a veteran in a "has seen the origins of modern day problems and the horrors of war" way but the war is the plague from the distant past.

[elizacarlsonwrites]

Thoughts on the upcoming title Wicked? Not sure if you've heard about it

(Pretending for the bit that I haven’t already been talking your ear off nonstop about this movie for Months)

Somehow this turned into the whole story of my obsession with Wicked, so here goes:

I have loved Wicked (musical) since I was maybe somewhere in the range of seven to ten years old or something (who knows for sure, I’m notoriously bad with the concept of time at this point). My mother had the CD from when she had seen the (I think) original Broadway cast, so the music was always Around as I was growing up. I remember also being quite fascinated by the cover art. At some point I was also quite fascinated by the Wizard of Oz stories and film, so that played into it as well, but eventually I’d effectively stolen the CD for myself (it’s still in my room at home somewhere, but I’ve just bought a second copy at a secondhand book store so I can give the original one back to my mother however many years later… whoops) and would listen to it All The Time.

The only memory I have of the first time I saw Wicked (it was a touring production) is a vague image of G(a)linda entering in the bubble, but I loved it. When I was twelve my family did a Broadway family trip and my grandfather surprised my mother and I with front-row seats to Wicked (we called him when we got there and found out and I couldn’t stop crying). I Vividly remember the smoke billowing out over us from the stage in Defying Gravity and As Long As You’re Mine and positively sobbing my way through For Good. It’s quite possible I’ve never been the same.

(I used to collect the big special programs with the fancy photos for Broadway shows, so the one I got at Wicked has been thoroughly studied and obsessed over in the years since then.)

Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to have seen the show twice more (once with you over the summer and once with my family). (As a side note, it was Really fun to watch you react to seeing it for the very first time having only heard the soundtrack before - very happy you enjoyed it too, which I’ve already told you and will say again despite that.) I will also take this opportunity to say that Mary Kate Morrissey’s Elphaba has my heart forever. I was so enthralled by her performance. But. That’s another topic.

I’ve always related quite strongly to Elphaba in my own life for various reasons, and have found a great deal of comfort in the show over the years. So. This musical will always be very dear to me.

All this to say that I love Wicked very much. In all seriousness, I was extremely nervous about Wicked (movie/movies) initially for numerous reasons but especially because I’ve been burned by adaptations before and Wicked is Very Important to me personally as well as being tied for my favorite Broadway musical of all time. I’ve since decided to look forwards to the movie as its own separate thing from the show, and that I really am quite curious and excited to see how it will translate to the screen. It is a true favorite of mine, and it at least seems like a great deal of care has gone into the movie(s), so yeah. Interested to be seeing the story and the songs in a whole new form! I am now having a lot of fun, personally. This is basically the cinematic event of the year for me. I will be at the theater at the earliest possible opportunity, bursting with excitement and probably wearing a witch hat.

So there’s an incredibly long ramble of my thoughts! What are your thoughts on the upcoming title Wicked? :)

[wutheringmights]

After feeling like an absolute clown when I saw The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie in theaters, I figured it was time I sat down and read the original novel for myself. Unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed the book. It's definitely my favorite Hunger Games novel.

I should leave a disclaimer real quick. So I read the original trilogy a few years before the movies were released. I liked them well enough, but I always struggled to love them. Unfortunately, my biggest problem is Katniss. She's a great character. I do not like being stuck in her POV. I wish this was an ensemble story so that every side of the conflict is explored. In that way, the movies almost work better for me. I say almost, as I have such a bone to pick with Catching Fire throwing Katniss back into the arena, but that's another rant for another time.

My point is that I have never been passionate about the series, and I have not read the books in many, many years.

Yet, I still feel fairly confident calling this the best book in the series. I like exploring stories from the wrong perspective. Seeing the games from the eyes of the Capitol is genuinely interesting. I love the chapters where the students debate the philosophy of the games. I love watching Coriolanus justify his own decisions. I am obsessed with how this man thinks.

I cannot give enough praise for how Collins write Coriolanus's point of view. Here, the limited perspective works flawlessly. Seeing the world filtered through his eyes is interesting-- though I wonder why she chose to write this novel in limited third person? Did she want the veneer of objectivity that comes with third person POV, or is the first person POV trend in YA over?

I am not saying this book is perfect. It's goofy in one too many places, and there are a few plot points that just feel very immature to me (mainly, Coriolanus having to save Sejanus from the arena-- only a YA novel would make that justifiable).

My biggest problem is the loss of tension after the second act. As important as it is for the story to take Lucy Gray and Coriolanus out of the Capitol and the games, that third act really drags. There needed to be one more plotline carried over from the first two acts to help keep the suspension building. Collins really could have shaved 100 pages off this book, or made that third act into a second novel entirely.

With that in mind, I think I still like the movie better, if only for all the ways it condenses the story and fixes some of the pacing.

What really upsets me is how many people on Good Reads hate this book. I saw one review decrying the concept of this novel as ill-conceived-- something about trying to humanize the Hunger Games' Palpatine. That takes me back to how hung-up I am at the concept of a Hunger Games fandom. These books are so committed to their message and themes that it's always weird to see people talk about ships and stuff. I guess I just don't see the appeal.

When I was in high school, English teachers were just allowing the first book to be read and analyzed for class. According to a teacher friend of mine, the book is now an official part of the curriculum. I think that's a little unwarranted too. But if kids studied The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in school... yeah, I would be okay with that one.

[heartbeatbookclub]

I absolutely adore all of your analysis so far, they are so indepth and it feels like you’re able to explain stuff that I’m only able to vaguely think in an abstract sense when it comes to ddlc and dhdhdj so so good

I do wanna say that for you mc analysis, there’s one thing missing. I’m someone who got into ddlc cause of plus so I have hyperfixated on all the lore. While the employees imply that Monika made MC, I don’t think that’s actually true based on what we know about Monika. If she could make a whole character then why couldn’t she make herself a route? Heck in one of her act 3 convos, she can barely change the music before saying “well I just break everything anyway”.

So I believe based on other emails, that it was Ive Laster who made MC since they were the one who wanted to make ddlc a game. In the first meeting notes, we are told that Ive tends to ramble a lot. But in the next one when MC is mentioned in a meeting, they are silent. Another thing is that in one of the ddlc plus trailers, ive is the name of the MC.

It could be said that Ive based it on the stuff in the control group, but the control group was made AFTER the main vm (That’s not how a science experiment should work but ya know, I don’t think they are smart). So really the control group is based on main game first. Honestly so much of the issue of the plus lore is how it’s so convoluted to get, but reading it all on the wiki helped me alot.

Plus seemed to add a new sense of horror to the og, the horror of knowledge that one plagued Monika is now plaguing the player as we have all this information but can do nothing to help them. I think the idea of MC being made by someone else adds this new layer to him along with this new layer of horror. But that’s more just my own thoughts on it that I thought you may find interesting along with all the lore from above.

Anyway, I hope you have a good day! Your post are great and I’ll make sure to keep up with coil more!

aw, thanks anon! i often find it difficult to find the exact way to explain what i'm thinking when i do analysis like i have on this blog, so i'm glad i can at least help to put it into words for other people who have even more trouble with it than i do.

as for the rest of your statement...i think you make a compelling point. full disclaimer; a lot of my knowledge on what's presented in + outside of the full text of the side stories is secondhand, and when talking about the original game, i think it's important to keep in mind that my reference for most of this is my playthrough with my friends back in like...2017-18ish a little after the game came out...? aheh, i won't lie, though i am rather obsessive in the course of scouring information i remember via the wiki/elsewhere to verify i'm not just making it up, putting off my replay of the og game has not been helpful for me.

i think it's very much up in the air as to how much influence that Monika actually has over the game, which is something i talked about in my analysis of Natsuki in the Side Stories. in my opinion, what + demonstrates more than anything is that in whatever she DID do in the main game, she mostly worked with material that was already there to make things easier on her. one of the things i based that claim on was the reference of the Protagonist in the Side Stories, but it's not a necessary claim, and in fact, i think you do make a good point in how it's unlikely that she'd be able to do this (at the very least, by herself) based on what's been shown of her ability in the game.

i think, in regards to your comment on the reference to MC in the Side Stories, it's important to consider the wider conceit of DDLC--i have a deeper analysis i'm tinkering around with on terms of it as an exploration of fiction vs the concept within the "universe", but that's another story--namely, all of the girls aren't (or at least, are heavily implied not to be) just static fictional characters following a pre-written script, they're genuine artificial intelligence!

this is part of what i meant when i said that the Side Stories demonstrate the raw character of each of the girls independently of any 4th wall shenanigans--within the world of Doki Doki Literature Club, they're essentially just people living in the confines of a computer, and therefore have essential, largely immutable character traits which exist within some fundamental essence of what makes them who they are. i think there are a shitload of really, really terrifying things this opens the door to if you really think about its nature (independently of DDLC, i've personally had longform discussions with a friend about the morality and potential horrors which would exist within a similar universe concept, and it's somewhat ubiquitous in a lot of sci-fi universes), but like i said, that's a different discussion entirely!

what i'm trying to suggest here is that it's likely that Sayori's relationship to the Protagonist is something inherent to her character, so it doesn't necessarily have to be something gleaned entirely from the Side Stories.

of course, this is all post hoc reasoning with what we're given! occam's razor suggests that it's actually just likely that (given that DDLC was written and released a long while prior to the Side Stories) they didn't necessarily plan every part of this from the outset, so some things just naturally seem to fit together a little weirdly, with little details added here and there just for flavor! i think that given the nature of the entire thing (and how Dan Salvato has talked about DDLC and the statements he's given with about in universe details in the past), it's unlikely that every single element of this was planned out from the word go.

this might be a bit of a controversial opinion, but there's a lot about how + handles the lore of ddlc that i didn't really like, just because it adds a whole new layer of lore and context, which soured a lot of my impressions, because the original game really flourished in its simplicity. that said, with all that's been given in the Side Stories and the deeper layers to the actual horror which are now visible in the original game, i think it pretty well makes up for it!

awa, i didn't plan for this to become an entire essay in itself...but i do appreciate this kind of thing! i really like digging deep into what's explicitly provided in canon to get a deeper understanding of the characters and universe as it's actually been shown, so any encouragement and correspondence related to either my analysis or my opinions in general are welcome! honestly, i'm also welcome to read others' analysis like this, because i like to see when people read deep into it like i do! typically it ends up reshaping how i see the entire thing, and it sorta just makes my heart happy to get people thinking about this stuff!

i think, as a last thought, if MC is actually conscious in any way similar to the other girls (which I think is a definite possibility, given his ability to respond in contexts impacted by Monika's manipulation, even if barebones), it actually makes him a very interesting character in his simplicity. i know that Dan Salvato doesn't see him as one, but i think it'd make for an interesting study in a fanfic or something.

i hope you also have a good day anon (even though it's 2 am here as i'm writing this...) and you BETTER KEEP UP W/IT I PUT MY HEART N SOUUL INTO THAT BABY (/lh /hj i'm just glad other people are liking it, even if it's just silent kudos :))

[skylermadness]

Beachside Pizza (Cipactli TF/MC)

(Original Date of Upload: July 26, 2023)

Original Description:

If nobody else is going to make TF content on the new Housamo guy then I will. When I first saw Cipactli, before they were fully revealed as a transient from El Dorado, I pretty much had already fallen in love with them solely because they were an anthropomorphic reptilian wearing a suit. Then it was revealed who they are, what their profession is, and just about everything else. I'm surprised it took this long for Housamo to introduce a character who doubles as a silver screen actor and a stage actor, but also pretty much plays roles that would make monsterfuckers in-universe (and out) love them in so many ways. In general, Cipactli ended up becoming a big favorite of mine when the event started! Plus I like some of the silly quirks they put to their character. The pizza obsession mentioned in their character profile is one of them... This was a story I wrote in a few days while fueled with the urge to create some kind of TF on this guy. It's another in-universe TF similar to "Subcontracted", although with a different concept and different character (even if said character is still the 3rd version of the Protagonist character). Nonetheless I think it turned out rather well, if not a bit hastily written. Also I will continuously headcanon Cipactli as nonbinary. I'm dying on that hill.

   The sounds of soft steps echoed across the walls of a spiraling staircase. On it are three people, two male and one female.

   "When you said one of your most talented actors lived in the basement, I didn't expect the entryway of said basement to be a… sewer grate," one of the men, Dex, said aloud.

   "Well, the home they've made in the cavern that is our basement is quite astonishing work!" the other man, Oscar, said in response as he continued to walk down the stoney steps.

   Dex just hummed in response, skeptical. He had been quite familiar with being on the end of many 'odd jobs' as he liked to call them. Always being called around Tokyo by one guild or another for reasons that are well beyond his general knowledge. Today he was in the hands of the Yurakucho Guild, titled the Entertainers. A group of performers from various sides of the industry. Although something about them has always made Dex feel a bit off.

   It doesn't help that the reasoning for him being here hasn't been revealed in full. He wasn't the most familiar in either performance or stage production, although he's pretty sure he could easily get the hang of it like he does most things. But it's hard to really start taking it into consideration when the guild's master, Oscar, seemed insistent in keeping everything a secret. All he knows is he's required to meet one of the main actors of this play: a Transient that goes by the name Imix.

   Dex rushed forward a bit, trying to sandwich himself between Oscar and the woman beside them. A lady of many masks named Christine. He nervously tried to whisper to her a simple question, "So what exactly am I here for…?"

   "All will be revealed in time," the woman says with a smile. Always a cryptic lady, she seems to be. It made Dex feel more unnerved.

   "And that time is nigh as we are almost there!" Oscar proclaimed. 

   The trio had found themselves slowing down their descent as the stairs gave way to a single corridor. That corridor led to a massive door, an intense humidity emanating outwards from it.

   Dex hesitated a bit, the man lagging behind due to the rather absurd sight. Oscar and Christine continued forward however, forcing Dex to swiftly catch back up to them.

   "I would be one for theatrics, but we do have to make your meeting happen as soon as possible," Oscar started. His steps began to slow, distance to the door properly closing and prompting him to stretch a hand out to grasp the knob. "Get the two of you familiar with each other as soon as possible and all. I'd prefer not to make it too hasty, but the productions we've had planned for the next month have quite the rigid schedule."

   "You two will have all the time in the world to learn about each other anyway," Christine said, following up her superior's statements. "The stage has a tendency to bring people together."

   With that a soft click emanated from the door followed by a loud creak. A bright light had rapidly escaped from it, filling the room and temporarily blinding Dex as he finally managed to catch back up to the duo in full. 

   "W-what the-" 

   The man's hand was suddenly taken by Oscar, and the guild master led him into the supposed basement of the Entertainer's theater.

   It took a few seconds for Dex's eyes to readjust to the new, sudden,  bright light, but once it did he was… astonished to say the least.

   He was vaguely familiar with something called the Tokyo Cavity Theory. It was a theory that posited a useless expanse existing beneath the city. He didn't really care enough about it to either believe or deny it, but here he found himself well believing it's existence. The Entertainer's basement was the Tokyo Cavity itself, and the expanse that was the Cavity was a heavily foliated paradise to say the least. An evident mix of jungle and beach, sharing the same hot humidity that both environments would possess. It was already making Dex feel a little sweaty. All the while the place was somehow heavily illuminated to the point it was just like the outside, likely due some kind of artificial sunlight set up by the guild.

   "As you can see this is very much more than a basement," Oscar said with a smirk. He let go of Dex's hand, stepping back a bit to supposedly let him view the place on his own.

   Christine is the next to speak. "Imix is quite talented in much more than acting…" 

   "Wait, they grew all of this…?" Dex inquired as he stepped forward a bit, looking around at all the dense jungle foliage. It honestly felt oddly familiar in ways he couldn't describe.

   "You could say that…" Oscar responded with a knowing smile. 

"Now, both Christine and I have some important work to attend to," both the guild master and his guildmate turned to head out the door. "I do believe you should be able to find Imix, especially since they have a tendency to just lounge around the space at their leisure when off-duty."

   "I-I guess??" Dex turned around to watch the two leave. "Any specific spot I should look for…?"

   "You'll know it when you see it," was the only answer given. 

   With that the duo of entertainers left the cavern almost as soon as they entered. The door creaked again as it shut behind them, Dex being left in the silent jungle that was the famed Tokyo Cavity. He wasn't alone here, luckily. Or so he was left to believe, anyway. He began to walk on the one trail that cleaved the jungle, blissfully unaware that the door that served as the entrance had been locked once it was shut…

                                        ----------------------------------------------------------

   Sweat slowly dribbled down Dex's forehead, and the young man angrily muttered something as he felt small grains of sand in his shoes again.

   "Where the hell is this guy…" he said to himself. It felt like he's been roaming around here for an hour, even if the truth is he's only been down here for twenty or so minutes. 

   Currently he had found himself back at the beach that the path from the entrance led to. He had gone off into the jungle about twice during the twenty minutes, but it was relatively fruitless and evidently impossible to do proper searches within for a single person like him. Mainly because he really did not want to get lost in the middle of the jungle that was within a cave system that was supposedly the size of Tokyo itself. Then again he wasn't fully convinced that this was not some kind of permanent world collision like the ones in Tokyo Bay.

   For some reason his first thought for it was a collision with El Dorado.

   Disregarding that thought, he continues to stroll across the beach. Was he searching, was he waiting, he wasn't really quite sure anymore. The only perks of this place was the tropical feel and the surprising lack of bugs. A real paradise, he internally reiterated to himself.

   "You'd think a famed acting guild would know how to properly time their meetings," he casually complained, feeling some more grains of sand somehow make their way into his footwear. He does end up idly looking forward for a bit, eyes drifting onto a large reclining lounge chair not unlike those you'd find on beaches.

   He'd passed it once or twice before during his searches. It was the only spot in any of the areas he was in that had any sort of non-natural objects. Just a simple chair, a small table beside it, and a closed umbrella on the opposing side to the table. He had also taken note of the table possessing a supposedly unopened pizza box. A peculiar thing that stood out to him, but not one he really wanted to dwell on at the time of searching.

   …although his eyes were lingering a bit too long on the box. His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sound of his stomach growling.

   "Urgh, damn it," he swore he ate before coming here. Then again, pizza was always rather alluring.

   Dex gave in rather easily. He's been roaming around here for a while, and one slice wouldn't hurt. It's the least that could be done for forcing him to wait so long. Or just forcing him to even search for his client at all.

   "As soon as possible my ass…" he angrily muttered as he took a seat on the chair. His legs dangled off the side, feet still digging into the sand as he faced the table. He slowly opened the pizza box, preparing himself to see either bugs or just absolutely nothing. All he would be greeted with however was the smell of cheese, tomato sauce, and meat, all wafting out the container the moment it was cracked open.

   Taking that as a good sign, Dex shifted to quickly opening the box instead. Within it sat a standard sliced up pizza. Meat lovers if he had to presume judging by the copious amount of meat chunks and pepperoni that topped the cheese. The smell was practically entrancing though. It filled his brain with some intense urge to just… consume.

   Another growl escaped his stomach. With that he just grabbed a singular slice, took a moment to watch the melted cheese stick and hang from the slice, then… bite.

   "Mmph… still… warm…"

   His words slowed as he chewed. It was originally at a quicker pace, but it seemed to only slow down as he started to feel weird. Was he getting tired? And his brain was beginning to feel a little fuzzy… but it. It didn't matter, the pizza was good. So good that it kept him distracted from the changes beginning to occur within his hands…

   It was a bit subtle at first. Nails appearing to become slightly sharper and a tealish coloration formulating at the very tips of his fingers. Subtlety didn't last long though as the changes rapidly evolved. The sharpness of his nails grew more prominent, steadily poking out from behind the tips of his fingers before seemingly shifting in position. The location of them was in the process of moving, going from the edges of his fingers to the very ends of them. All the while the translucent keratin was altering at the cellular level, hardening into a set of boney claws.

   Concurrent to the changes in his nails was another set of changes in his fingers and hands. The tealish coloration that entered the tips was moving downwards, slowly but surely making its way to covering the entirety of his fingers. The discoloration was a direct result of his skin changing, the composition of it being shifted into a smooth feel that was a byproduct of their physiology going from human skin to an almost scale-like composition. However a level of softness did remain in the texture, likely due to the aforementioned smoothness. 

   All while the scales covered his fingers a change in size was settling into them as well. Each one grew thicker and plumper at the same time, easily shifting into massive sausages of appendages. Two fingers on each hand also seemed to be sticking together, both ring and middle fingers squeezing together until they merged into one chunky finger. At the same time the rest of his hands would grow in size as well, a wave of teal washing over them as they stretched out wider and broader. A beefiness would also be added to the appendages, thickening them up as well as the muscles and bone within them bulked up in size. All of this would noticeably cause the pizza slice he was holding to look dramatically smaller within it than it had a minute prior, although it seems Dex hasn't noticed it.

   Eventually the scales would travel beyond his wrists and start layering onto his forearms. Although much like his hands, his arms ended up undergoing the same set of changes. The size of his lower arms were the first to grow, their diameter increasing due to the muscles within them getting enlarged drastically. While they did possess a certain thickness before, the transformation only layered onto that by practically doubling his arms in size.

   The effects of this would be better showcased once everything moved past his elbows and onto his upper arms. His biceps practically ballooned outwards, as did his triceps, once the changes in skin washed over them. Muscle mass bulking and increasing more, causing the rolled up sleeves of his shirt to strain against them. Creases formed within the fabric as the indents that divided his muscles pushed up against the sleeves in their pursuit of growth. And his shirt's attempts to contain his beefing arms would end up rapidly becoming useless, rips piercing the air due to tears forming at the seams. All of which was because his delts had swelled out well beyond the size that his sleeves would have originally been able to confine them. And judging by the sounds of more rips playing out, the rest of his newfound musculature had quickly reached that size as well.

   Although the sounds of his clothing starting to tear was very evident, Dex strangely didn't seem to mind. He was too focused on eating the slice of pizza to really seem to care. Alongside the haze in his mind that just dulled his ability to really focus on anything besides the food for the time being. If anything all he felt was a bit tired, a feeling that prompted him to reposition himself to fully be on the chair and casually lounge upon it. All the while he took another bite of the pizza slice in his hand.

   He chews, oddly content despite the situation. The young man was either unaware or uncaring at the feeling of scales starting to etch their way onto his chest and back. The teal coloration had also shifted to a dark shade of navy as they layered onto his upper torso. The width of his body steadily expanded, shoulders starting to grow broader as his form was pushed out to get larger. The size of his body increasing also became evident in the changes on his torso, his pectorals seeming to push out more with each idle inhale he did. More thick muscles are being added into the region at a steady pace, giving the meaty slabs an even harder firmness than they had before. This would only be temporary however as a dense layer of fat accumulated upon the region, a softness being forced upon them. The growth in size also seemed to be getting so prevalent that one of the buttons of his shirt snapped off, showing off the thick shelf of fatty pectorals he now possessed.

   While everything had surrounded his very core, beneath all the muscles and fat was a rather peculiar change. It was evident he was becoming a different creature biologically, and it seemed deep down his body was beginning to adjust to that very change in species. A deep chill entered his body, his heart momentarily slowing before going back to its usual pacing. The sweat-inducing heat of the massive cavern was changing to something more manageable as deep within his skin his internal body temperature was shifting. He was becoming cold blooded.

   While that occured, the navy blue scales eventually reached his abdomen and a V-shaped segmenting pattern was prominently forming in the scales that layered the region. In sharp contrast to the changes that happened in his upper chest, the transformation in this area seemed to instantly begin to fat. It started with a small bloating as his belly was beginning to round out a bit, his abdominal muscles steadily getting consumed at a slow pace. The consumption would only progress further, the toned appearance getting replaced with a much smoother one as his swelling belly pushed out further. The remaining buttons of his shirt soon started to strain while the split tried to hold itself against his round gut, but it was now rapidly becoming pointless as the mass pushed forward even more. After just a few seconds those buttons would break off as well, the halves of his shirt sliding off his belly as it got even more thick and round. So large and filled with fat it became, practically differing massively from his previous size. So much so that it seemed to be causing the seat of the chair he was sitting on to dip a bit, descending even more as weight was continuing to add onto his form.

   If the addition to his weight wasn't enough, there also was an addition to his height that was starting to get put in place. A slight tugging feeling was surging up and down his spinal cord, which caused Dex to idly wiggle a bit in his chair in order to somewhat massage it out. All this would do was allow a significant addition in inches to be applied to the changing man's height. Furthermore, a few lumps started to rise out from the fabric of his shirt on his back as beneath it more changes were occuring behind him. While the scales were obviously cascading downwards towards his rear, a more peculiar change was occurring as boney spikes were poking out from across his skin. They were small at first, but it only took a few seconds for them to get larger enough and pointy enough that some of the spikes across his upper back tore through his shirt. A row of spikes was also forming down the midline of his back, inching closer and closer to his tailbone.

   By this point in time Dex had basically reached the crust of the pizza slice he was consuming, although he was evidently planning to eat that as well. Though it became harder to focus on eating as he felt pressure wrack across his own spinal column, especially an extremely prominent one at the base of it.

   "Uurgh, damn-" he casually growled as he wiggled a bit more. A small part of him had noticed that his voice was seeming to change. It was noticeably deeper and a bit more guttural. None of that really mattered to him though, he just wanted to slip back into pizza-eating comfort.

   It wasn't long before he almost instinctively decided to change his seating position, repositioning himself onto his belly and switching to lying with his top half on the lower end of the chair while his bottom half was resting on the chair's backrest. The least conventional way to sit on a chair, but it was oddly comfortable for him. Especially considering his much more massive size. Plus it allowed him to more easily stare at the lake that the beach bordered.

   "Mmm, better…" he said with a smile before going to consume the pizza crust. The sound of his voice again resonated in his ears for a bit, Dex momentarily dwelling on just how rough it was sounding. It seemed like it was bordering on the ends of animalistic yet still at enough of a tone that it possessed a human-like quality still. But another bite into the pizza crust and those concerns were gone. If anything, the new voice he was getting was feeling more normalized within his mind. 

   He shifted his weight a bit to the side, stretching out a hand and pawing for the table in order to get another slice. While he was doing so, the row of spikes that was traveling down his midline ended up finally reaching his rear. His face scrunched into one of annoyance as he felt the pressure in the base of his spine increase tenfold, but he tried to ignore it. He just wanted to put all his focus in grabbing this pizza slice and- 

   "Ah, there!"

   Pizza finally in hand, he brought the new slice towards his face and didn't even think twice before shoving it into his mouth. The taste and smell only intensified the haze in his brain, and Dex completely lost the ability to care about his tailbone. Or the bump stradily forming from that region. A massive one, slowly but surely increasing in size to the point that it was growing visible in the seat of his pants. Every passing second causes that swelling in his rear to just increase more and more. What could easily pass as an eternity only lasts a short span of time however as just after a few more seconds a slight rip formed in the dark gray fabric of his pants, and then after that…

   Shrrrp!!

   "Grrrah!!~"

   Exploding from behind him was a tail, the new appendage rapidly slithering out from the massive hole it burst in Dex's pants. The tail had a noticeably segmented appearance, its growth appearing as if each segment was being added one by one. All of it was adorned in the beautiful teal scales, and the top portion of the tail had bony spines poking out of it. And much like the rest of his transforming body, his tail was absolutely large in size. The base that was most connected to his body was massive in diameter, and each segment seemed to slowly get slightly smaller until it tapered out into a pointed tip. And it wouldn't even reach the tip until it lengthened to about three feet long, a rather long size to the point that it would have to casually droop off the side of the chair and lay in the sand.

   This wouldn't be the only change in the lower half of his body either as the flush of teal would flow down to his legs. The musculature in his legs would be prompted to expand dramatically, much like how it did back in his arms. His thighs were the first to enlarge, muscles bulking in size at a rapid pace. Quadriceps and hamstrings grew in tandem getting thicker and thicker with each passing moment. It was easily filling out the legs of his pants at a rapid rate, only to expand to a size evidently larger than his pants would be able to contain. Everything in the fabric smoothing out more before the sides began to split open and showing the new set of scales that now adorned his legs. 

   A few seconds after his upper legs began to change, his lower legs started to follow behind them. His pants were inching downwards little by little as the bones in his legs seemed to extend slightly. Although if he were in a standing position it would be noticeable that he was more top heavy, leaving his legs still a little short in comparison to his torso. Alongside that the crus of his legs was slightly shorter than his thighs. Although they still possessed the enormous swelling that was their calf muscles bulging outwards, getting larger and stronger.

   In almost an instant the transformation would also jump down past his ankles and onto his feet. The changes in this region were rather drastic, size steadily growing larger and causing his feet to push up against the leather of his shoes. It didn't take long before the confines of his shoes were being stretched to their limits, bulges forming into the toecap while the sides and heels were dug into by his feet. The leather of his footwear eventually started ripping off from the soles, meanwhile toes were beginning to pop out from the front. This was aided by the sharpening of his toenails, them also repositioning to the front of his toes like his fingernails did. The nails gained a bony structure, lengthening out into sharp claws that continued to rip out his shoes. His toes were also in the process of thickening, and two toes on each foot merged together as well. 

   With another bite into his pizza, Dex idly hums to himself as he stares out towards the massive body of water. It was a song he couldn't quite recall the name of in full, but he felt like he knew what it was. "Heh, darned earworm…"

   A low rumble then exited his throat, a sound that was akin to a crocodilian growl. His tail idly swayed behind him, and in general it seemed the biological changes to him were settling in full. He stopped sweating minutes ago thanks to his new lower body temperature balancing out the tropical climate of the cave system.

   "Mmph, still feel weird though…" he used his free hand to scratch at his neck. The scales were already halfway up it and were moving further upwards towards his face. At the same time, a golden lemniscate symbol appeared on the right side of his neck. All the while the deepness in his voice would settle into the low, gruff and guttural tone that it had started forming minutes prior. Still humming, he takes yet another bite into his pizza. He casually chewed away, unaware of the teal scales that had now finally begun speckling his jawline and moving forward onto the rest of his face.

   While the scales made their way across his head the very structure of his skull was being altered beneath them. The most prominent change came at the front of it, steadily beginning to push forward due to these structural changes. The entire section of his face that was under the eyes grew out, extending forwards more as if to create some kind of muzzle. The bridge of his nose widened while the entirety of his nose itself was squished into the newly forming muzzle, leaving only two holes at the tip of it. Evidently as it was also gaining more shape and definition, the muzzle was also appearing more boxy in appearance with his lower jawline looking more angular while his upper jaw was more rectangular in shape. Within his mouth his teeth were also in the process of sharpening as well.

   In addition to those changes were alterations in his facial features. Poking out the sides of his upper lip were two sharp protrusions that still maintained a connection to the rest of his scaly skin. A triad of sharp ridges arose from the ends of his muzzle closest to his face, and right behind the third ridge blossomed a duo of webbings of hard bright blue cartilage that grew to border the sides of his muzzle in entirety. Shortly after his face finished pushing forward, a set of bony spikes had also started to grow out from across his jawline. These spikes continued to grow to form a rugged crag of bone that seemed to make a makeshift beard of some kind.

   The changes on the upper half of his face were a bit more lightweight, although his skull structure had shifted on that area as well to become wider and more proportionate to look well with his muzzle. His hairline was in the process of receding as the scales continued to move further up his scalp, and his ears were steadily shrinking away into nothing but holes. The ear holes had also changed positioning during the structural changes, tucked behind two massive bumps that had formed on the sides of his head. The skin was slowly pulling away from the apexes of these bumps as well, even more bone pushing out towards the sides as large horns that were absolutely thick in diameter were growing out of the bumps.

   The weird presence of bone only grew stronger with the man's eyebrows fading away, brow ridges pushing forward while oddly stylized bony bits replaced his brows. Meanwhile, as his hairline only continued to pull back, large bony spikes were jutting out the top of his head. These spikes were varying in length, but all of them seemed to curl forward slightly while clustering together to form a fauxhawk-type styling. This would continue until the disappearance of his hair reached the back of his head, in which as it sloughed away it would instead get replaced by a bright blue crest that would grow from the back of his head, down to his neck, and ending at his upper back.

   His body had been completely changed now, although Dex persisted in his seeming unawareness as he continued to bite away at the rest of the pizza slice in his hand. Was this the second or third one? He couldn't quite recall. If anything it just feels like he's been sitting here for ages waiting for…

   "Mm, what was I waiting for again…?"

   His mind was still rather foggy. He couldn't exactly remember what he was meant to be doing, why he was here, who he was- Although everything here was extremely familiar.

   His thoughts and concerns were instantly fractured as the sound of some kind of intercom practically blasted from wherever it was in the cavern's overhang. "Cipactli- er, Imix, could you please head up to Oscar's office for your designated pre-rehearsal meeting?" a feminine voice asked rather demandingly over the intercom's speaker system.

   The reptile's eyes widened. "R-right!" 

   He- er, they had a meeting? How could they forget that! Come to think of it, how could they forget a lot of things? That intercom announcement seemed to completely dispel the fog inside the crocodile-like creature's mind, a new identity being revealed that they were unaware was even different from anything prior. 

   Cipactli wiggled their way out of their resting position within the chair, taking a rather long time to actually adjust themselves properly and stand up. They raised a hand up to their head, a headache still prevalent in their skull as they were continuously unaware of their new self being rooted into their mind. They proceeded to shuffle their way off the beach and towards the path that led to the door out the massive cavern that Cipactli called home. That they definitely seemed to recall rather quickly, alongside their placement as one of the Entertainer's newer actors within the guild. 

   The recollection and changes in mentality seemed to cause one last change in their physicality. Eyes slitting while their irises and sclera gained a white and yellow coloration into them. Meanwhile a set of symbols steadily emblazoned themselves across the giant reptile's elbows, knees, shoulders, and torso, all of which representing a single thing: a sharp toothed maw opening itself slightly. Many of these weird markings wouldn't stay visible for long though. One final transformation seemed to prime itself, their extremely undersized and rather tattered clothing now starting to grow in size as if it were changing to fit their now much larger body.

   As their clothing grew, various alterations were in the process of setting in all at once across it. On their shirt, a standard blue coloration quickly overtook the original white color while the material gained a more silken tone to it. The shirt's collar flattened and lengthened a bit while a portion of their shirt's split folded back and connected with the collar to properly formulate a lapel. A few pockets formed on both sides of the split, and within the split itself it gained golden buttons that were in a flower shape. It seemed as if flowers were a relatively important aspect in this newly formed suit jacket as various floral designs were etched into the suit's collar and lapel.

   Beneath the shifted jacket came a new article of clothing. Manifesting across their torso was a yellowish material. It had easily encapsulated their body and stretched over their arms before the new sleeves cuffed around their elbows. The middle of the fabric parted itself into a split down the midline, multiple fastened buttons running alongside it as it formed. A collar also bloomed around their neck, proving that this new article of clothing was some kind of button-up to accompany the new suit jacket. Designs of greenish-colored circles with dots inside them formed around the new shirt's collar, and also seemed to form across the shirt in its entirety. Alongside this, an extremely dark blue tie manifested itself as well, slithering its way around their neck loosely before knotting itself and tucking itself into their suit jacket.

   Meanwhile their pants were following a similar change to their former shirt. The deep grays of them get consumed by the same blue colors while the material shifted to silk. All the while they had grown to fit their new size, and stitched themselves back together to fix the rips and tears that the transformation had caused them. The changes with their pants were evidently less complex though, as the only addition to them were a trio of metallic eyelets that formed on both thigh sections of the pant legs. 

   Meanwhile their footwear were in the process of fixing themselves as well. Ripped up toecaps and heels being repaired as good as new while the entirety of each shoe grew to a size that better encapsulated the much larger and less human feet of the crocodile-like beast. If that wasn't enough, the brown coloration of the material rapidly darkened to a sleek black while a leathery roughness was forced into the material itself. The golden buckle that kept the shoes fastened expanded and properly connected to the leather, shifting into more of a strap that fulfilled the same need. 

   The last thing that occurred was the appearance of a few stray accessories on their arms. On their right arm formed a golden watch with an emerald-like facet on the face of it. Meanwhile manifesting on both arms, strapped right above the elbows, were a set of sleeve garters. The garters seemed to have a complex design and shape to them, and were primarily composed of a mix of gold and turquoise.

   By the time their clothing had finished altering, Cipactli had made their way down the jungle path and was now at the door that served as the exit to their large abode. Placing a hand on the door's handle, they jiggled the knob a bit only to find it was locked. "Grrh, damned thing must've stuck again."

   They continued to jiggle the handle, adding a bit more force with each passing second before they ultimately ripped the handle off by complete accident. Luckily this was somehow followed by the sound of the door's lock disengaging. The door creaked open after that, with Cipactli walking through the doorway and casually disregarding the knob on the walkway's concrete floor. "Don't think I'll be needing that anyway. Barely anyone comes down here…"

   With that, Cipactli resumed their trek to the staircase that led to the manhole to the surface. A set of low notes reverberated from their throat as they resumed humming the exact same song that was stuck in their head from earlier. It was something from the next play that the Entertainers were slated to rehearse. The Phantom of the Opera...

[partnersincrimesuau]

Some Assorted PIC Concept Art and Drafts!!!☆ﾟ･:*:･｡★

DRAFT 1 - Chapter 2 Page 41: The page initially began with the camera INSIDE the office, and cut to Spinel and Condor walking in from outside. I scrapped this idea for a few reasons: 1, because there wouldn't have been a walking sequence, so it would be hard to know where they were, 2, because the rest of the page would have had too much crammed onto it, and 3, because the final version shows Spinel seeing the room BEFORE we do; if we got to see the office before her, it would ruin some of the protagonist/reader relationship. After all, we're following HER story. (Final version in lower corner!)

DRAFT 2 - Chapter 2 Page 42: Obsessed with this one. When I do an "Alpha" sketch of a page, I always do it with the least amount of effort so I have just a loose idea of what it looks like before I draw the full A4 version. Because of this, some of my sketches come out looking... like that. Spinel with no nose, no mouth, no tattoos, just giant shocked eyes. It was so goofy, I left it exactly as it was in my notebook. (On another note, there are two differences between the sketch and the final version: 1, I originally drew the door on the wrong side of the wall, which is why it's not in the final version, and 2, in the top right corner, you can see Spinel stretching her legs out and being really chill. I scrapped this because in this scene, she's actually really tense. So no way in heck she'd be all casual about this, haha.)

Fun fact!!! When I do the final versions for pages on A4, I don't sketch. My friends think I'm insane when I jump straight to line art, but that's how I'm used to drawing. The pictures above are all examples of me not using a sketch, and just doing straight line work based off my Alpha (notebook) sketches.

Here's a terrifying half-finished picture of Chapter 2 Page 22 where Steven has no eyebrows, mouth or pupils. Another fun fact!!! Whenever I draw, no matter what, I draw faces last. It's a rule. I have more non-PIC examples as proof if you want to see them XDD

Sometimes I make Alpha sketches OF my Alpha sketches. Case in point, this one I made for Chapter 2 Page 29 (which was later stretched over three pages, lol). As you can see, when I don't want to put effort into a sketch, I do this. Didn't wanna draw Gingersnap and Snickerdoodle? Easy. They're crewmates from Among Us now. (The sketch at the top of this photo has nothing to do with PIC by the way, this was just drawn in my regular notebook)

So yeah... that's about it for now. I'll post more process photos in the future, definitely. Hope you guys enjoy these for now!!! I know I said I'd upload these on Sunday, but MY FRICKING POWER WENT OUT AT LIKE 10PM AND I HAD AN ASSIGNMENT DUE SO I HAD TO WAKE UP AN HOUR EARLY THE NEXT MORNING TO FINISH IT ASUUGHKJHSKJH

(Here's some more concept art of Condor and the Amethysts!!!)