#such a fun character design and stuff too ... very very good concept i love it

[girlkisserr]

finally i have energy to draw. wynn oc fanart upon ye

Castor - @lunarthing159

[magentagalaxies]

going to a comedy open mic tomorrow mostly to watch my friends (it's at a cool venue that my improv troupe performs at once a month and a few improv troupe friends are doing standup there) but when these friends were asking if i'd be interested in coming they were like "btw there's usually a ton of open spots on show days if YOU want to do something... and they're not strict about it only being standup either, people have done character pieces and sketches etc like they embrace the weirdness... and they're not strict about time limits you could probably do anything between three and eight minutes... sometimes if there's not enough people signed up they'll even let you go twice..." and i'm like god damn it i thought i was gonna take a break from aubrey but this setup is like tailor made for an aubrey appearance lmao

[artsy-waffle19]

I think the reason why the fandom is so divided about what to think of the cat king is because this character fits into very different concepts depending on how you chose to vibe check him.

so if we decide to vibe check him by supernatural/fairytale standards he's a typical trickster with a goal who pulls of a bunch of smart tricks in order to achieve them. He also follows a very stict code of "an eye for an eye", most of the time throwing a characters own actions right back at them in an unpleasant way. In fairytales and folktales the whole deal with "the king saw them and immediately fell madly in love, demanding their hand in marriage" is a pretty common occurence so that fits that too. The task he gives Edwin is also very fairy tale like as it's a task that sounds impossible but the hero manages to outwit him and beat him, which earns them his respect even though he might temporarily consider going back on his deal. So if we vibe check this character he's just a morally neutral character that unfortunately functions as an inconvenience in the heros main story.

however why a lot of people have issues with him is because it's also a very valid approach to vibe check him by real life standards which does make him a predator. (Let's be real if our friends irl were in this exact situation Edwin is in, we'd get out the cricket bats ourselves while telling them to stay as far away as possible from that person and better yet get a restraining order on that guy). Instead of "trickster who tells the hero to solve a riddle and asks his subjects to keep him posted about what the hero is doing" we get "guy who won't accept a no as an answer and keeps stalking somebody who already rejected him", just like instead of "morally neutral character goes by 'an eye for an eye' does things that might be uncomfortable for the protagonists but are technically fair" we'd just see "petty guy who keeps throwing a tantrum about random stuff but won't behave any better". So it really depends on wether we go by folktale morals or real life morals, which both offer very plausible interpretations of the character. And this is intended as the show repeatedly shows us this supernatural world but then the villains are always normal people doing very bad, very real things to their victims. Devlin is just a guy who is obsessed with control. He's not a supernatural being or posessed or anything, he's just a bad person. So are Edwins and Charles' bullies, Charles' father, Brad and Hunter and David as he is a demon but it's not his being a demon but his abusive behaviour that traumatised Crystal. So the show actually makes us view it through that real life lens and vibe check all of the characters by our real life standards, according to which the Cat King is moving in a really dark gray area, while also being set in the supernatural world with entirely different standards, that we are also aware of.

So yes: The Cat King is a fun and interesting trickster character, who influences the character development of one of our main characters in a positive way and is otherwise no more than a minor inconvenience with a fun character design and yes: if he were a real person he'd need to get punched in the face, go outside and touch some grass and then get like a decade of therapy. These two things can be true at the same time. That's what makes the character so good.

[doodledrawsthings]

Opinions on the Sols from Nine Sols immediately. Please. Your au is delish.

Keep in mind these are my very off-the-top-of-my-head, surface level impressions of them after having recently beaten the game on story mode once, while streaming. I won’t be giving any deep analysis or anything lol so the tone will be pretty jokey and unserious.

MAJOR major Nine Sols spoilers under the cut. Please do not read if you haven’t finished the game.

Kuafu: second favorite character. I love him so much. He’s such a pal, everybody likes him. Hou Yi left him as the final sun standing after shooting down the other nine cuz he’s just a stand up guy. The fact that he’s the one who pled keep Abacus around and set his settings to High Sympathy and kept coming in to talk to him out of guilt over what happened to Yi kills me. Smart, silly, handsome, the last remaining Solarian in existence and he can never go home for the remainder of his life. He’s my ride or die bestie, he’s one of my several husbands who babysit my little brother while I go off on a revenge murder spree and I’m kissing him on the mouth.

Goumang: I like her design and concepts and think she’s a fun character. She was the first boss I fought and i thought she was pretty fun, though I didn’t find the fight as memorable as others. I wish she had more presence throughout the game, I heard from a friend she had some more stuff that was cut apparently? Curious about her rivalry with Yi and relationship with Eigong. And since Yi technically never killled her I’ve considered including her in the Dont Worry About It AU.

Yanlao: Grampa!! I think he and Yi’s back and forth throughout the warehouse area was pretty funny. I was so ready to kick his ass the entire time, especially after the segment where he’s shooting at you as you navigate a maze. Loved his bossfight, first fight of the first three i started with where I really felt the parry/dodge/attack rhythm for the first time. Rip gramps.

Jiequan: BASTARD!! (Half-affectionate but only half) he’s giving Fruity Disney Villain Who Flirts With You As He Stabs You In The Chest. He sucks <3 but he’s such a FUN character, what a great antagonist. His fake out fight is so intense, the prison scene is so intense, his boss fight kicked my ass and his theme goes hard. He’s a war criminal, he’s a freak, he looks like All Might MHA and he regularly irradiates himself as part of his body building routine. “Heroes are forged in agony!” 10/10 Disney villain, very stylish. Defeating him was so satisfying especially after the Kanghui fight in the prison and learning what happened with THAT horror show.

Lady Ethereal: I LOVE HER!! SO MUCH!!! UGH!!! she makes me so sad! But everything about her is SO cool! Her fate! Her backstory!! Her design! Her boss fight! Her entire platforming area!!! Just!!! Aah! I won’t say too much but it’s just so good she had my favorite fight in the game, the dance for that one is so much fun. I was streaming the game on discord for my partner and another friend and when we first went into the cortex, she was like “oh you should keep going left and see what’s over there ;)” and then I did and just!!! So cool that Red Candle started off making horror games, it’s really great. Love it. Awesome character, awesome boss, awesome theme.

Fuxi and Nuwa: Rich asshole twins!! These two suck lol but I do think they’re fun characters. The entire empyrean district is experiencing a resident evil style zombie infection and Nuwa is throwing a rager at the club for the rich cryosleepers only. It’s really eerie over there though, I love the vibe of the east side and the discovery of the mutants and destruction of the west half is spooky as hell. And then I got to the area where you get Fuxi’s sol seal and didn’t even notice he was sitting there until my partner pointed him out. I thought he was furniture lol. She’s really puppeting around her brother’s pustule-riddled zombie corpse Weekend at Bernie’s style cuz she’s that much in denial. Also absolutely horrifying that the district supposedly once held 100,000 sleeping solarians that is whittled down to 300 after the mutated virus wreaks havoc through the area. Personally, I’m mixed on their bossfight, the first half with just Fuxi was fun once I got the rhythm but the 2nd half when Nuwa comes in with her attacks gets a bit too chaotic for me. Their boss theme, however, is probably my favorite in the game. I love the opera samples, it’s so cool.

Ji: I think about them a lot. Like, wow what a guy. I think a lot about his immortality, and that if he had not left Penglai with the council he would have been stuck there, alone for eternity. I think about the fact that because they will never get Tianhuo, there would be no need for them to be in cryosleep, which probably means that in the 502 years that Yi was recovering, he was probably up and about the entire time, probably wandering around new Kunlun mostly alone. I wonder if they ever hung out with the dusk guardians, or if they just stayed in the grotto for the most part. Their boss fight felt the most like a dance to me, or like friends sparring. Do you think they thought of Lear as you attacked them with the moves he taught you in the spiritual realm? He makes me sad, but he is very stylish!

Eigong: FUCK HER! SHES SO COOL, BUT FUCK HER!!! EVIL GRANDMA! this games story is like peeling back an onion of horrors where each layer you peel back brings new, mortifying understanding of the situation at large until it ALL. COMES BACK. TO HER! AND HER FRUITLESS PURSUIT OF IMMORTALITY! Her boss fight KICKED MY ASS. I was streaming my first playthrough, so I was already prone to doing worse than I probably would without an audience (emphasis on probably) but in my first attempt I was fighting her for like 6 HOURS STRAIGHT. And for the true ending too, which meant three boss phases. I just could not get her pattern down and my hands were cramping but i really wanted to finish the game that weekend so I could finally talk about it so I ended up turning up the accessibility options to one punch man her. I did eventually go back and do her fight by myself with the story mode settings and MAN what a fun boss battle once you get the dance down (I’m still so bad at unbound counter), and it is SO satisfying to beat. Incredible character, we love fictional old women who commit atrocities in the name of science.

Yi: and finally we have the man, the myth, the legend. I could probably write a whole separate post about him and Heng and his relationships with the other characters but to keep it short- I LOVE HIM SO MUCH! BUT IM ALSO BITING HIM AND PUTTING HIM IN A BLENDER AND RUNNING HIM THROUGH THE DISHWASHER AND HANGING HIM UP TO DRY. Just UGH! It’s not common for the main character of a thing to be my favorite character but Yi is my favorite character. It’s the fact that he is his own character, and we, the player, must gradually find out things that HE already knows. And his budding and flowering relationships with the other characters, especially those who set up shop in the pavillion which leads into his character development is just AUGH. AND THE ENDINGS. YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT GHE ENDINGS. THEYRE GOOD BUT AUGH. I love him, I’m rotating him in my mind on a skewer, he’s my little manlet, my poor little “I’m not a good person” shadow the hedgehog energy meow meow cat boy. I love him so much, I’m so distraught over his terrible life choices. Incredible character.

Ok hope that was entertaining to read, bye.

[jealousmartini]

It's 21:09, or 9:09 pm on the 12 hr clock shifters. You know the drill. Let's shift.

∘₊ ✧───────────────────✧₊∘

Some stuff I have included in my kpop drs (Specifically O.M.G and MKB) that make them really special to me😫🥹❤️

000 :: Friendships and crushes

Around 2011 to 2018, companies like BIGHIT, Starship, and JYP were very lenient toward friendships with other K-pop idols opposite their gender. This is so special to me because I have THE LOUDEST MOUTH EVER when it comes to who I've got a crush on (looking directly at you wonyoung, jungkook, nayeon, jhope, chuu, taehyung, jimin, keeho, yeonjun, yoongi, sana, jin and namjoon) and who I am best friends with. (looking directly at you wonyoung, jungkook, nayeon, jhope, chuu, taehyung, jimin, keeho, yeonjun, yoongi, sana, jin and namjoon again.) Yeah i am best friends with idols i have crushes on If you couldn't tell. This basically gave me the freedom to talk my ass off about "Ooo wait whys San from ateez kindaa" or "NAH cus what do yall know about my goat min yoonfreak yo." And "No cus I've got the biggest girl crush on Jennie from blackpink right now"

All companies would only become stricter with this after 2019 due to fans complaining about dating rumours and feeling like the relationships are too close (girl I know like I've heard these complaints before) because they like the idea of their idols being single. This makes the 3rd generation of kpop even more precious due to how open idols were with who they were friends with.

Just to make this clear tho, no one in BTS has confirmed or explicitly admitted they have a crush on anyone in O.M.G (or MKB for that matter) they have only mentioned how "so and so" is really cool or subtle compliments like "blah blah is actually really pretty" but I will admit Taehyung mouth is almost as big as mine when it comes to who he likes lmao and sometimes he makes it a little obvious with the "subtle hints" he gives☠️☠️

001 :: Fun facts about O.M.G and MKB!

OMG and MKB are practically the same. One of the only things that differentiate them from each other is the way OMG and MKB was introduced to the KPOP industry.

O.M.G started off as an independent kpop group made by 6 girls for fun but then ended up being adopted by JYP in 2015 because of how much they had blown up in Korea and JYP saw a lot of potential in O.M.G, but even before then, they were widely known and loved amongst Koreans and most of the Western world. It started off as an animated girl group, all music, choreography, aesthetics, designs and art were made by me lol but the girls were basically of me and my 5 friends. They would debut the same year JYP adopted them and it would be in 2016 when O.M.G was officially recognised and accepted as a kpop group.

O.M.G would also be labelled as the experimental group because O.M.G wasn't made to be serious but for fun and because of how successful every era of O.M.G is. I mean literally not a single genre they have done has flopped they are just that good.

Now MKB is literally the same as them. 6 girls who body every and all Genres and concepts and aesthetics like it's nothing. Icons. But MKB wasn't a pre-existing group. JYP had put these 6 girls together and allowed them Creative freedom. This was an experiment made by him that would only come around ONCE and ONE TIME ONLY. He wanted to see what 6 girls could random make together and see if they would be a hit (he wanted to copy BTS lmao) thus why MKB is labelled as the female BTS because of how similar their aura and character was. No one can explain it but everyone gets it.

Both O.M.G and MKB's fanbases are called "Charmings," and their fans independently refer to the members as "Darlings"

How did the fanbases of O.M.G AND MKB even come to be? Literally 70% of Charmings are originally ARMYs. Because of this I frequently refer to my fanbase as CHARMYs

O.M.G and MKB when they aren't abbreviated? O.M.G stands for Oh My Gosh and MKB stands for MaKe-Believe.

002 :: Small appearances in other idols mvs and helping produce music

Randomly popping up as a background character in a kpop group's mv who I am close to isn't rare. Sometimes it's not very obvious, sometimes I am literally hiding in plain sight. I tend to try not to do it too much tho. I can't be THAT ACCESSIBLE..

I already make all of my music from scratch. So I thought it would be pretty cool if I git nosy and helped TWICE or ITZY with ad-libs and instrumentals. No this isn't an excuse to hangout with them more why tf would you accuse me of that.

[rmwb-fanfics]

How to remake Harry Potter:

(A step by step guide)

We’ve already had one god-awful adaptation that way too many people think is good. This is our one chance to have the book characters represented correctly, along with the plot they support.

I’ve put YEARS of thought into this. I’ve written scripts for episodes of a hypothetical tv show. I’ve drawn concept art. I’ve done shit. So I figured I’d share my thoughts.

1. Stick to the books*.

Stick to the books has a massive asterisk next to it because I mean the plot and characters. Some stuff (as you’ll see later) should be changed.

Nothing in this show should feel out of character. Harry should be closer with Ron than he is to Hermione. Snape should be a real d*ckhead. Hermione should be judgmental of those who don’t think like her, etc etc. The way these characters navigate their relationships is why the fandom is still relevant. It’s why canon-compliant fic is popular in the first place. We like their dynamics. SHOW THEM APPROPRIATELY.

Plot is a sticky thing because I’d say there’s wiggle room, but not too much. Certain characters have to die. Certain events must happen. You cant change that stuff.

2. Use the Medium.

You’re using film as a format to tell your story. Ideally you’d us animation, but I know Warner Bros has less creativity than Disney’s remake department, so I won’t even try and pitch that.

Use colour and saturation. It can help contextualize emotion. It can make us subconsciously recognize things. For instance, the scene growing more saturated when Ron walks into the room when Hermione is wearing the horcrux, or any multitude of other uses this could bring.

Bring in costume design that (actually fits the world) but also helps show how that character is feeling. What they’re thinking, their personality, their future, etc.

Make magic fun™️. The books sort of sidelined magic in 5-7. Don’t do that. Divert from the books. Magic should feel alive. Colour-code them so we as an audience can recognize spells and what they might do before we see it. Implement sound design to make each spell unique and vibrant. Make this world subtly bursting with magic like it was in the first few books. Have it weave around characters, wrap them up. Be creative with action scenes. Force transfiguration into battle scenes. Choreograph your duels. Show don’t tell us that a wizard/witch is powerful. Turn people into portraits. Lock them up as mice. USE MAGIC.

Your set design should reflect this. Everything should be bursting with personality. Don’t just use the shitty movie sets. Inject some colour, have the surroundings aid you in telling the story. Get weird with the camera. Use these tools to their fullest potential.

Actually fucking try.

3. Utilize Music.

Music is just… such a massive part of film. It’s frustrating how often even the best filmmakers overlook its use. Characters should have themes that mature and develop as the series goes on. Have action arrangements of the themes to play with heroic moments. As the series progresses, we grow attached to these themes. When they appear, the audience FEELS something. Don’t reuse great pieces to force emotion. (Dumbledore’s Farewell in The Prince’s Tale. Are you fucking kidding me?)

For example: Have a theme for Neville that starts out timid and uses very shy instrumentals, but we first hear a change when he stands up to the trio at the end of PS. Then it gains more instruments until OotP, when it grows again. Once we get to DH, it can be used in this heroic swell as he chops the head off the snake in front of Voldemort and everyone watching. The audience, consciously or not, will feel that moment even more.

Have a theme for Ron and Hermione that might not even be romantic until HBP when it gains that element. PLAY WITH MUSIC.

Themes for mystery, adventure, loss, love, friendship, LOCATION. Let them come back throughout the series to highlight various moments. See Lord of the Rings and The Hunger Games, as well as (surprisingly) the Fantastic Beasts films.

Let music affect the visuals. Magic can bend and swivel with the music. Use it to tell the story. Use it to show emotion. Use it to progress a character’s arc. USE CONSISTENT MUSIC.

4 . Be Bold.

This is the big one and it may seem like I’m contradicting myself but I’m not. Rowling’s work hasn’t aged crazily well to modern fiction standards. This is your chance to rectify that. Fill plot holes, actually think through the politics. Introduce world-building elements that enhance the story/characters. (The house system, and how Slytherin fits in. The logic behind avada kedavra???) Get creative with solutions. Contradict the original work when it comes to description of location. If it doesn’t work for the film format, don’t force it to work here.

Spend more time with characters we know are relevant, but maybe not to the plot. These are your Ginny Weasleys, your Seamus and Deans, Nevilles, etc. Really fill them in. Give them more scenes. Ginny has two phenomenal arcs that play completely off-screen, explore them. Show us her friendship with Hermione. Show us her insecurities and her faults. Give us more of her and Harry’s friendship. We know they get married, so maybe fix the whole “Rowling wrote the epilogue first, but didn’t realize she was waiting too long to introduce these characters until HBP”.

Add scenes. Add jokes. Add smiles and covert looks. You have more time, which means you have a chance to focus on friendships, and romance, and world building.

Tell multiple storylines. Give Remus and Tonks a cool spy/thriller subplot interjected with the main story in OotP. Show us more of Fleur staying in England. Give us more of Harry and Sirius bonding. All of this stuff can fit loosely into canon, and be welcome creative additions.

BE BOLD.

And finally,

5. This is your chance to not only retell the story, but to do it better.

RECOGNIZE THIS. Take advantage of this opportunity and enhance canon, don’t fight it.

Don’t add Hermione and Harry dancing because *YOU* don’t like where the romantic pairings went. Don’t add Draco sympathy because you want him to have a redemption arc. Don’t dumb Ron down because you don’t like the fact that he’s just like the teenage boys you dated in High School, and he was a bit immature.

Make changes, be bold, use music, stick to the books*, use the medium, but take this as the opportunity that it is to enhance what came before.

Thank you.

[sillydummydum]

*DROPS S/I ON THE GROUND*

*RUNS AWAY IN SHAME*

S/I Yap time!!

OK SO-- I made this little S/I art yesterday and felt like sharing!! My Persona 5 S/I is basically-- well, me (bubbly and annoying) and nothing else lolol I literally insert myself in the universe with some plot changes and it's fun!! She likes space and music! Cuz i do too! :D She's also an indie musical artist but it's like more of a hobbie than anything! (Even if it does helps with money and all! she also does haves some good amount of followers on the niche! But nothing big out of the indie bubble) She wants to work as a songwriter for a famous singer one day!

Her background is nothing crazy but I made some silly changes, like aging up my irl brother (he's currently a lil baby and I made him a lil kid :3) and making me live with my grandma! (fucking love my grandma kisses grandma!!) Also some dramatic aah stuff like dead mom and no dad for me (the basics) 😭😭 My S/I has a strong special interest in space!!! Which is something I'm getting really into lately! So I made mommy an astronomer! She was like best friends with Wakaba (scientific nerds lol) and Sojiro so S/I was very close to Futaba since childhood for that reason!

She is a phantom thieve (shockerz) and uhm I wanted to use my personal experience as a bullied child growing up (mostly because of ableism) and turn that into motivation to make justice, since no one did that for me before!! (Grr goddamn adults!) And finding my own group of weird little people made me much more open and generally happy in real life! So that's what I'm doing on this universe as well! ^^

Yes she entered in kamoshida's case cuz I wanna imagine myself in every little story event.

Yes I study at Shujin.

Yes I am basic. /j

Even tho when it's for self shipping purposes I usually make my stuff in the 3rd semester because... life is beautiful and husby has no filter so it's funnier ✨️ AND YES I AM HELPING THE ROYAL TRIO WITH MARUKI FUCK IT NOW WE ARE FOUR!! (Depression afterwards :<)

Her Persona is called Selene! Based off the greek goddess of the moon!! She has nuclear/almighty based skills simply because it's chaotic and looks cool!! FUCKING MEGIDOLAON ON THEM!!! POOOWWW BOOM KABOOM!! 💥👊ALSO FUN FACT SHE'S VERY CHAOTIC!! (just like me fr maybe because it is me duh) often being too dramatic, explosive and loud!!! totally ruining stealth when it comes to infiltrating palaces, which usually makes some funny aah scenes because she was dumb-- maybe she's not a good phantom thief...

maybe.

Talking about metaverse stuff! Her clothes are based off Magicians! Because of her lil show off nature, making everything a explosive dramatic spectacle! And uhm magicians are cool!! -v-"

This concept was made with the help of my bestie! Helping me take a more Kaito kid/Tuxedo Mask inspired design, which i really like allot! big thanks to him!! <3

Relationship dynamics:

On this section I wanted to give a small little insights on her relationships with most characters! Since I felt like it would be fun to do so! :3

☆~☆~☆

Akira Kurusu/Ren Amamiya

- Her relationship with Akira is pretty much like a siblings relationship, Luna looks up to him allot and is the "I wanna be like you when I grow up" type lol even if they are the same age. He is her inspiration to get better, so she will get at his level one day! He also makes extra suggary cappuccino to her when she goes to Leblanc 🤝 ☕️

Ryuji Sakamoto

- Her relationship with him is pretty much the chaotic duo type, shes always giving him death stares when he starts to talk about girls or some dumb Ryuji shit like that 😭 Her and Morgana are constantly slandering him for the funzys, but Ryuji also likes to pick up on her so they're eternally on a war-- and in general they are two loud dumbasses who share the same braincells and have little silly banters 🤲 also HC that Luna helps him dye his hair 🫡

Ann Takamaki

- Her relationship with Ann is the girly besties type, constantly going out shopping, Ann usually helps her to buy her clothes since Luna definitely can't pick her clothes on her own without it looking weird 😭 they also go out allot to eat! Try the newest deserts all around Tokyo! Those two would probably kill for a chocolate cake. And they are getting progressively more poor because of that... She likes to paint Ann's nails and style her hair for fun! because she personally thinks Ann looks like a pretty porcelain doll!

Yusuke Kitagawa

- Her relationship with Yusuke is another of pure admiration!! Yusuke admire Luna for her artistic side on the music and Luna's eyes sparkle at every little sketch he does, I like to think that Luna (just like me) is an artist for fun who really has allot of trouble with drawing certain things that aren't fanart lol, and they go out on little panting sessions togheter. Like I dunno go to Inokashira Park to draw the scenario and his comes out like the next monalisa and hers is like... Blue and Green all mixed up togheter. And she probably got her clothes dirty in the process. He does encourages her to continue tho! And gives her tips that she usually doesn't get-- so uhm sensei Yusuke Ig?

Makoto Nijima

- Her relationship with Makoto is... *sighs* very sibling-like too. Luna isn't the best at school, and always cry for help when it's exams week 💔 Makoto usually scolds her for being too careless at everything, school, metaverse, crossing the road-- but only because she really cares about her. Luna is like the little sister she needs to lookout for so she doesn't get herself killed by accident. Oh fun fact but Luna is also very afraid of Sae (just like me im afraid of pretty woman) so yeah she freezes when she steps in the room 😭

Futaba Sakura

- Oh boooyyy Futaba time!! My relationship with Futaba is so silly and fun and I wanna yap about it!! Ok third person mode on--

So, since they were basically raised togheter, they are pretty close to one another, and have gathered the same types of interests through the years. Since I have the Autistic Futaba HC, I like to imagine that they get each other more than anything, engaging in parallel play most of the time when she was a shut-in. And I like to imagine that Luna was pretty much the only person she talked to at first after her Palace. Also HC that they play Pokemon United togheter. Cuz I said so. They exchange allot of gifts related to their special interests too! Ugh I have so many HC's for us but basically we are best friends forever two little chaotic autistic sillys but i help Futaba with her social anxiety! yipeee :3

Haru Okumura

- Her relationship with Haru is the tea time besties, they talk all day over a good cup of tea and Haru frequently gives her tips of how not make her plants die (very important, I never can make them live...) which is a hobby Luna really is trying to... make possible... (plz don't die this time) and generally her time yapping with Haru is a very comforting one, usually when shes feeling dramatic she goes and hugs Haru and makes her little drama, and Haru is usually the only one who's like "Oh dear :(" and stands her when she's being extra or cheers her up when shes actually sad too! 😭 shes such a sweetheart! <3 don't be mean with Mona and Luna! Haru is gonna politely ask you to stop. (Looking at you ryuji)

Morgana

- Her relationship with our favorite not cat! He's... Morgana. We know him. But Luna can be considered pretty much his #1 fan???? She thinks he's HELLA COOL like the best phantom thieve ever!! (I love morgana!!!) She really respects him and Morgana is really grateful to have someone that looks up to him (Luna looks up to lots of people! ><") Luna also likes to pat him. Allot. (IM A CAT PERSON OK) which well he doesn't mind but still he's not a kitty that you can just pat like that!!! (He's purring)

Sumire Yoshizawa

- Her relationship with Sumire is... damn, Luna is LOUD. And well we know that Sumi isn't exactly as extroverted as she makes herself seem when she takes on the Kasumi role. So uhm let's say Luna is overwhelming-- very overwhelming! 😭 She's always jumpy and bubbly and is constantly trying to cheer Sumire up, turning into some type of cheerleader for her when she starts to self-depreciate in any way, being overly affectionate and in general being extra EXTRA around her since she gets very worried about Sumire's mental health-- So yeah, Luna is basically constantly cheering her on and admiring her for being able to make things she can't (Even if Sumire doesn't think they're that great :< )... ooh we have another extreme admiration case here!!! Maybe the person she admires the most! Hell yeah! Give my girly some love!~ My bestie <3

Haha that's the end nothing more to see here... hah... haha.... bye...

Ok...

*sighs*

Goro Akechi

- That's probably the most important relationship of all-- why did I put him in last? I'm embarrassed. Uh... shy? 😭 gonna be more personal about this one uhm-- well

That's my boyfriend over there, I hate him I don't really enjoy his company and I hope he gets therapy. /hj

No, really tho, our relationship is... I can't even describe it, but our dynamic is DEFINITELY the "aww they do care about each other" type-- I constantly enjoy to annoy the hell out of him, just because it's funny?? I'm the devil from the bible. Er... so... the thing is, Akechi constantly get dismissed through story for obvious reasons, he's openly agaisn't the Phantom Thieves and later they do have much MUCH more motives to not fuck with him-- but Luna? DAMN. That girl is I N V E S T E D In being friends with him. Specially on the start, his sob stories actually made her pity him and get all "aw he's miserable... 🥺" lol so she constantly insisted on being his friend, even tho he was internally screaming and trying to push her away, she was CONVICTED. SHES A FRIENDSHIP MACHINE BABY. YOU CAN'T ESCAPE HER!!

So with that forced proximity, they eventually started getting closer, and it was something very... slow? Definitely. Luna never cared about hiding herself no matter how weird people seemed to find her, maybe he would admire that... envy that? Who knows.

Suddenly he started to enjoy her company. Even if she was... oh well a little dumb, yeah, he definitely thinks she is-- He never had people who were close to him, and definitely didn't had someone THAT determined to bother him 24/7. Maaaybe he could call her something close to a friend... right? (Yes they were she stated that every 3 seconds and Luna rules 🫡) And that was before he "entered" to the Phantom Thieves, and when he did? Damn she was kinda happy! Don't talk about the blackmail part showing off to him and telling him all the cool things she could do as she ""teached"" him about the metaverse (lol like this bitch needed to) and they got even closer!! Damn! Let's go play darts togheter and silly around! Yay! :D

I also like to HC that he would eventually let some good amount of things about his real self slip, and Luna would be like totally clueless and okay about it, when most people would think it was weird or out of character. Maybe that's why he got so weirdly comfortable around her? She didn't gave a fuck-- and oh well he wasn't THAT detective princefied around her by that time. Yeah she's probably the closest he got to it... (sweeps Akira under the rug)

And uh... let's skip allot of things so I won't yap about the whole Akechi arc here. Maybe another day.

But Luna was utterly miserable after everything (yall know what), she wasn't angry... just... shocked. Maybe a bit quieter? Less energetic? She was since the revelation, but it was worse now... and the penny dropped at the worst time-- And uh yeah sad above everything I think that's pretty much expected when you lose someone you really like. Despite everything, he was a friend... someone she cared about... maybe more than she should...

Wait.

Cared about, huh? OH FUCK SHE WAS IN LOVE WITH HIM!!! (Shockerz) GASP WOW WOAH! *VINE BOOM* Who would've guessed. So uhm yeah that sucks, now it's too late...

A little more timeskip--

Oh well damn hi Goro!! What the fuck??? :D

That's where most of the romantic relationship aspects take part, damn he was there now???? It was literally her chance!! To what? Nothing really-- just spend more time to him and get more clingy (like she wasn't enough before) and even MORE bubbly than before!! She was genuinely happy! And now with the useless knowledge that she was utterly and absolutely in love with him. Oh well. And... damn she fell even more for him now! LIKE 20× MORE!! STOP HER PLEASE!!

And uh well she's not very good at hiding it so yeah her secret didn't last long, maybe i'll write how the confession went someday! :)

So basically... at first he was like "What the fuck?? Why????" But uhm maybe er... maybe he uhm... you know-- maaaybeeeee--- okay im flustered BUT MAYBE he would realize in the moment that he was in... love too? Uhm... get a little... yk... awkward there... ,÷*×&×(× er-- I don't know!! I MEAN FUCK OF COURSE HE DID I LITERALLY SELF SHIPP WITH HIM UGH IM DUMB--

OKAY WE ARE DATING NOW. That's the point. 😭😭

It's awkward, not ideal for what people expect of a couple, we definitely still have our little silly banters, he does want to kill me! and i do like to annoy him!! BUT I LIKE IT THAT WAY!! We aren't a veeeery affectionate openly lovey dovey couple but we are deeply in love! And when we do have our little lovey dovey moments it's just us being two dumb messes who don't know a thing about what we are doing! Hand holding? Just the little fingers! Kisses? Barely cheek ones! (On my part obviously im kissing the hell outta his cheeks mwah mwah mwah) I mean, we are trying! I love him and he loves me!! Allot!!! Even if we get a little weird and flustered about it!

>//<

I like awkward dating. It's fun. I love my boyfriend. :>

Oh damn I realized I yapped allot, more than I should-- I was about to write my relationship with other minor characters in the game but uhm that's too much already! Sorry for making you read that much! ^^"

But thank you for reading anyways!! I really appreciate it <3 for reading to my ULTIMATE s/I yapping!! Or... well, a yapping about me! I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to ask questions about my s/i or my self ship if you have any! Oh damn even yap back at me about your S/I's! F/O's? I would love to hear it! ^^

Bye everyone!!!~ ☆

[mirror-to-the-past]

Update of my Symphony of Sorcery journey: GAAAH OF *COURSE* THEY GAVE RIKU TCHAIKOVSKY. I AM LOSING MY MIND.

Seriously though, guys. This is just me potentially reading far too much into musical intent beyond "hey, we like these pieces and wanted to design a level based off of them" (which is totally valid, but analysis and musical associations with characters is fun!), and here's my disclaimer that these obviously aren't 1:1 comparisons, but giving Beethoven to Sora (the revolutionary kickstarter of the Romantic movement- a fiery, passionate personality, who, mainly prior to his worsening mental/physical health, had many friends. He also struggled with self esteem issues closely related to his musical ability- especially when his deafness encroached upon his craft) (I'm thinking of Sora's devastation of losing his Keyblade in KH1 and Re:Coded, as well as the implied issues I've picked up on regarding his feeling like he isn't good enough in general, and in this game, having seeds planted of doubting the validity of his feelings and experiences.), and giving Tchaikovsky to Riku (Who felt alienated from his homeland from a young age- expressed through his more Westernized musical styles, he was a Romantic-era composer and regarded as very sensitive and closed off. Struggled with being a queer man in 1800's Russia. The works.) (thinking of Riku's "personal experience" line regarding having emotional walls up in the Notre Dame world which occasionally pops back into my head.)

It's just... man. You've gotta love it, y'know?

Anyway, here's some semi-fitting quotes from my little collection:

"I need to believe in myself again, because currently my self-belief is deeply undermined, and it seems to me that my role is finished." - Tchaikovsky, Jan. 28/Feb. 9, 1893 to Modest Tchaikovsky

"Never can I forget the time I passed with you... Continue your friendship towards me, for you shall always find me the same true friend." - Beethoven to Breuning household, Oct. 1, 1797 (iirc, it was supposed to be to this person he tutored in piano and fell in love with but I can't find stuff solidifying that for sure)

"...the beauty of life is that it is made up of alternating joy and sorrow, of the struggle between good and evil, of light and shade; in short, of contrasts within the whole." - Tchaikovsky, Nov. 23/Dec. 5 1877 to close friend and confidant Nadezhda von Meck

^^ This whole letter is just a wonderful read. Discusses concept of an afterlife, quotes I hold near and dear about the importance of music within our lives, etc. ("[Music] is not just a straw in the wind, but a genuine friend, protector and comforter, and it alone makes life worth living." ;_; Gets me every time.)

[aotopmha]

Being too exhausted to play has made me think about the Dawntrail story again.

I wanted to take a break, but it occupies my brain too much, turns out and I engaged with takes on the internet again.

(Some of it is really dumb and a negativity void with zero substance, which is, in fact, unfun and exhausting, as it is designed to be, so it probably is better to not engage with, but I also do very much enjoy discussing what I love and it offers fantastic springboards for that.)

Spoilers for the Dawntrail story!

You know the complaint that it's "not as good as Shadowbringers or Endwalker"?

Well, I think a lot of people have actually echoed this, but I really like that Dawntrail is not trying to one-up them.

It's really good that it's not only pulling back the scale, but also lightening up the tone.

In particular, there was a complaint I saw that said HW, ShB and EW were these "deep and dark" stories and had issues with DT not being that kind of narrative and I think a story being Endwalker all of the time would become boring in its own right.

If all you see is positivity, eventually it means nothing, but this is also true in the opposite sense.

If all you see is misery all of the time, at one point, it doesn't mean anything anymore.

Eventhough I myself mostly enjoyed it, I can see the argument that it went too far in the other direction and handled some ideas too simplistically, but I think the general idea to do this is a really good, refreshing move.

It's similar thematically (which is actually my biggest issue), but I really like that it mostly focused on new stories with new characters.

I also like that the Scions are taking a backseat.

I saw an opinion that "you can't have your cake and eat it, too" in regards of the Scions being minor roles and you should either write them out completely or entirely focus the story on them, but personally I don't see any issue with this.

They were set up to be support and behaved as such. I don't understand the take that they were "teased" too much when the setup was that it was not their story to begin with.

Now, I do think the friendly rivalry aspect was underutilised. I feel like getting to fight Thancred and Urianger in good fun would've been great, for example.

I love the vibe of adventure we haven't really had for such a long time, and I really think the mystery of the City of Gold might be one of the best ones in the entire narrative because many of the mysteries so far at least have some aspect of retconning to them.

The gate and everything with it is entirely new and didn't need any retconning to fit within the current concepts of the story, whereas you could always tell they had to slightly tweak everything with the Ascians once in a while.

I think the fact that most of the characters that people do like from this expansion are entirely new or characters we knew fairly little about before Dawntrail says it all.

People actually do want new stuff. I think the mostly positive response towards the actual gameplay content says this, too.

So I hope they don't give up on what they've built here despite some of the really loud negative voices.

Don't start trying to do Endwalker or Shadowbringers again before building a new bigger picture.

We've talked about legacy and memory and loss a bunch of times already; evolve from this and do something *entirely* new with new characters and ALSO entirely new theming.

Don't give up on making content just a little more engaging.

That's my worry in light of these very loud complaints.

And the thing is, during the Endwalker patch cycle and even before, these are things so many people wanted.

People wanted a break from the Scions. People wanted the story to reset and relax after Endwalker because it had been within that dark tone for so long.

People wanted us to go back to being an adventurer.

People were tired of the increasingly same-y encounter design (and lack of stuff to do during patch downtime, which you can also see improved in terms of certain rewards; thing is what I've seen is people loving the new content so much they just like playing it and I feel the same way, so it isn't always even more grinds or rewards people actually want).

And that's exactly what they gave us.

Again, I don't know the overlap between audience groups here, but in terms of sentiment, that's the craziest part to me.

They kind of gave us exactly what we asked for.

And I really hope they stick to their guns and get braver from here because new is fun and even if it doesn't always succeed, you can look at what people like and don't like and go from there in a more nuanced way, rather than leaning on overcorrective decisions as they have in terms of certain aspects of the game. It just stops the game from stagnating and getting boring in all aspects.

[chaos0pikachu]

Hi chaos,

So people on other socials are saying playboyy is camp? I don't quite get that vibe so I'm asking do you? Why?

*cracks neck* okay let's do this; this got wildly long so I'm putting a chunk of it behind a cut b/c unlike some blogs I'm not gonna subject anyone to endless and endless scrolling just b/c I added pictures anyway~~

So people are probably getting this from Den himself:

I talked about camp an itty bitty bit before, specifically I quoted Susan Sontag who was an American academic, novelist and writer mostly known for her essays. You can read more about her here. Specifically I quoted her essay Notes on Camp:

(source)

I really recommend reading the entire essay, it's a bit dated, but Sontag also makes a point that camp changes with the times as well. This essay was written, after all, in 1964, before Hairspray (1988), Batman (1966), Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), or Mommie Dearest (1981) which are considered camp classics now. However there's a lot of good stuff to learn in her essay and she also names a lot of prominent either queer creators - Oscar Wilde, Jean Cocteau - or prominent figures that the queer community sorta like, claimed - Bette Davis, Greta Garbo.

Camp is a concept, it's not a hard and fast rule. Not every film or TV show that gets claimed as camp is intended to be camp - Showgirls and Mommie Dearest are sincere in their intentions, they are not trying to be camp at all, but through sheer accidental glory they stumbled right into the camp valley. Similarly with a film I recently learned about via this amazing essay, Valley of the Dolls which was also sincere in it's depiction of drugs, sex, and show business but just ended up...campy (this is part 2 which is my favorite part but part 1 is great too):

I would also recommend this video by Kennie JD on Showgirls and you get a modern idea of how a non-film critic sees the camp in Showgirls even tho it's not intended as camp (Paul Verhoeven is never going for camp in his films he's often going for satire and yet, alas lol):

Okay so this is getting away from me, the question was "Is Playboyy Camp?"

I would argue, yes but definition but it's more classic definition rather than what people probably associate with "camp" in the modern day. Which is "bad" films, or so-bad-they're-good films, or drag queens - would love to see Zouey in full drag actually - but Rocky Horror isn't a "bad" film, heck Showgirls isn't a "bad" film, neither is But I'm a Cheerleader or Jawbreakers, or many other camp classics. Some are "bad" in that they didn't achieve their intentions - again Mommie Dearest is a great, if unfortunate, example of this actually - but films that intentionally try to be camp tend to fail, like Cat and the Hat starring Jim Carrey. They're to fake, they try to hard.

As Sontag said, camp is both sincere and pure and it is also abstract and highlights aesthetic first and foremost.

Showgirls grabbed people in part b/c it's so so so very over the top; from the acting yes but also the costuming and set design. But I'm a Cheerleader had a way smaller budget, but it's very aesthetics focused:

I've seen people say that Playboyy looks "fake" or "artificial" but so does But I'm a Cheerleader. However artificial is the wrong word, imo, to use here; rather both are camp and surreal. They're going with surrealistic aesthetics to emphasize the emotions of the characters and also, cause gays like color. We love that shit. It stands out. It's fucking fun, it's campy!

I don't think Playboyy is strictly camp but it does take inspiration from camp - it pushes its priorities of the film making to be about the aesthetics rather than emphasizing reality. It's not uninterested in reality - the discussions of sex work in a amoral way (which sidenote I think is a good thing), of sexual desires, the complexities of relationships and boundaries, the acknowledgement of kink etc - but it's uninterested in presenting the world of the show solely through a "realistic" lens visually.

Fantasy is part of the narrative of Playboyy thus that is reflected in the visuals.

BIAC is part satire, which I wouldn't say Playboyy is, since it's not satirizing anything specific - unlike Lovely Writer attempted and didn't accomplish imo doing well from what I watched - it's clear to me that Den is playing a lot with genre. Now how well him and Cheewin the director are accomplishing this, well that's up to individual interpretation.

I can't force people to like Playboyy as much as me - even tho I'm right - b/c I'm not a weirdo and we all like different shit. I do think that Playboyy is using like, actual cinematography however. Like I see that word thrown around a lot and then people provide really like basic examples. Like I'm so sorry but 2Gether's cinematography is basic at best and boring at worst. Two dudes standing in a badly lit room in a mid-shot does not impressive cinematography make - which is fine because a lot of these shows are made on shoestring budgets.

I don't expect Moonlight level cinematography from gmmtv or MeMindY shows. And Playboyy doesn't have that level either it can't it's clearly also made on a small budget.

That said it IS filmed with purpose, and with a specific visual language. Not every shot is great but I do love the sincerity here, it's using color, lighting, and set design with actual thought to enhance the overall aesthetics of the show, enhance the fantasy at play, the camp.

Camp films aren't inherently "bad" films. They make you laugh, scream, and the best ones, actually do say something or spark discussion. Rocky Horror is meaningful to people, But I'm a Cheerleader means something to people, they're both unashamedly queer films that were both kinda bombs - critically and financially - and then slowly gained a cult following b/c they were way ahead of their times.

I get the feeling if camp applies to Playboyy at all it's in that sense, a series that's being pretty harshly maligned and disregarded critically at the moment, but that actually has a ton to say and may end up gaining a following down the line after it's over.

This was like, wildly long and I apologize lol

[crazy000567]

Ok I wanted to talk about this on my twitter but realized it will appeal to no one so its going here. Being autistic about critter character designs. VERY LONG

Pim/Charlie/Allan/Glep have interesting designs to me like they are some of my favorite character designs possibly in any cartoon cause they're all very well balanced - easy to draw, cute, but slightly ugly also. Well maybe not ugly but certainly not Conventional.

(Glep applies slightly less there, he's just straight up a cute lil guy, how plushies don't exist of him yet baffles me)

I like their slight offputting quirks, like, Allan's spine is visible, Pim's Teeth. They are just strange creatures and I enjoy that. Of course there's also the fact all of their frontfacings (maybe slightly excluding pim's) are just kinda goofy and bizarre looking.

Its just, the choices being made here are really good, okay. They're very appealing lined up, yknow.

The fact they are just kinda cute sometimes makes the expressions being pushed and the weird quirks funnier. If pim was an ugly lil freak all the time it would be less effective when he does that weird awkward toothy laugh. Which brings me to my next "Point" which is like, I really enjoy that they are some of the only critters that arent.... fugly as hell

There are some few exceptions with BG/side characters (just look at amy, shes a pretty gal) but like, most of the side critters that have gotten screentime are very very strange. Allan's landlord is a prime recent example. Look at that guy. Jesus christ.

This is not to say the uglier designs are Bad, quite the opposite, I love when they are hideous <3 But the whole thing is, if the main characters we see every episode were on the same level as them appearance-wise it would get very tired. This is probably like, entry level design stuff for a cartoon, and not very interesting to anyone lol, but with adult cartoons it feels like it can go way too hard on the ugly scale.

Onto the next thing thats been on my mind lately when it comes to critters - I enjoy that their appearances truly are pretty random. Its fun to make things like crittersonas cause like, you can almost do whatever the hell you want lol

I like that some of them just dont feel like wearing clothes, this was talked about by Michael on twitter at some point a few years back I think.

Their hair is a topic that kind of mystifies me lmfao like we see the wiry sparse hair a lot (gnarly, filmore, etc) but then there are characters like amy, pims dad and duncan that have more full human-esque hair. This makes me wonder if its like, randomly possible for some critters to get full heads of hair, or if wigs/hair transplants are a thing, or even if hairloss is just more common which results in the wiry hair later in life. Really NOT important or compelling to anyone but me but I seriously do think about this. Critter Hair Essay coming soon (i'm kidding ............. or am i?)

Also just like, the concept of what critter beauty standards or smth could be sort of interests me, but this is getting incomprehensibly long and stupid anyway, and I would have to be going into heavy Speculation Mode there. so BYE Goodbye

[grifff17]

Audiodrama Sunday 04/28/24

So much stuff this week! I think this is going to be my longest writeup yet!

@camlannpod what the fuck? Trying to avoid spoilers, but the ending of that episode was wild. The sound design for the last scene was so good. Also “You're good with an axe, right?” was brutal, I audibly said "oof". Only 1 more episode in the season, hopefully they get funding for a second one.

The first episode of @wanderersjournalpod came out this week. This was a promising start to a new show, I'm excited to see where it goes from here. The setting feels very mystical, I can't wait to learn more about the world.

@worldsbeyondpod was so tense. Suvi and Ame had the most awkward conversation in existence. This story has so much nuance, neither of them are clearly in the right, though I feel inclined to take Ame's side due to the "Geas + Alter Memory" double espionage scheme. Meanwhile Ursulon discovers that Orima of the Reaching Green is a short queen and gets a cool horse.

I'm now up to date with @lostterminal. Season 15 was great. I love Nia, and Daphne and Raffi were really interesting new characters. Also, the dragon was terrifying. This show doesn't usually have very much action, so the confrontation with it really stood out. The description of the automatic turret going "click, click" as it locked on to Maddie was so intimidating.

@worldgonewrongpod I loved this episode. The storytelling felt so natural and real, like someone telling me a story about a weird road trip they went on. I think I said this about the last episode too, but this was my favorite episode yet. It also sets up the backstory which was never really explained as to why Jamie and Malik are separated at all.

In @midstpodcast we finally had a nicer episode. No horrible fucked up Weep/Trust stuff happening, just Lark reunited with Zeila and Sherman. However, there's so much tension between these characters. I was surprised that Lark forgave Sherman for selling her out. Something to remember is that Lark and Sherman had been hooking up before everything went to shit, which was mentioned once and I think really changes their relationship.

New @keepitsteadypod! This is the first new episode of this show since I started doing these. This was a really cute episode. For how popular fake dating is as a trope in fandom spaces, you don't see a lot of it in audiodramas.

Fun episode of Mission Rejected this week. It was cool to see Bowden go from "vain actor" to "badass spy" when the stakes ramped up. We don't get to see him take charge very often, it was neat for him to be a competent leader. I wonder if the gang lying to Zelda(who definitely saw through it) and Chet(who probably didn't) is foreshadowing for more of a conflict with the new Secretary of Defense later in the season. Also I loved the squabbling gay couple running an illegal mining operation as the villains of the week.

@breakerwhiskey episode 200 wow. A letter from Harry! We learned that Harry has been listening to most of Whiskey's broadcasts, which recontextualizes a lot of the previous episodes. Also, the end was heartbreaking.

I started season 2 of @longcatmedia's Mockery Manor! I'm 2 episodes in and really like it so far. JJ and Bettie are employed in different parks, JJ is on the run from an organized crime ring, and Bettie became a monk? Also, it's clear that neither Hilda nor Jenkins stole the shipment, neither of them have motive. But I don't know who else would have motive either. Lots of mysteries this season.

Spout Lore had a great planning episode. I'm excited for the "saving Highspear" arc, the Highspear is so cool as a concept. A reverse Tower of Babel, that lets the whole world talk with each other. A literal monument to wizard hubris, which feels destined to fall. However I doubt it will, because, as the players mentioned, it would be really annoying from a storytelling perspective if everyone suddenly spoke different languages. This has actually made me realize I really want a story set shortly after some sort of "fall of the Tower of Babel", where communication is a struggle, but that's just because I think linguistics is cool. Anyways, the buffet talk had me rolling.

What a great week! However, it did not help my queue, which continues to grow instead of get smaller. I'll reach the end of it one day.

[kouhsuu]

EMO TREAT AU MASTERPOST

SPOILERS FOR ALTERNATE ENDING

Essentially... What if Treat was EMO?

Specifically, what if she had stayed with her pack instead of leaving?

That's pretty much what this AU is about! Me and some friends came up with it for fun and it just kept growing lol

It takes a couple of liberties to make some things work though so it can be a bit silly!! xP

How it goes

Rather than Tundra, Timber is the current pack leader and they are both much older. Treat's parents failed to seperate from their pack, Glaze, and Treat suffered the repercussions by Timber using her as an example to her parents.

Treat eventually grows up under Timber, as he teaches her his way of acquiring food for their pack, good food. She struggles, but is forced to swallow it down for the sake of the pack. She distances herself from most everyone, aside from Timber as he is her mentor, and only really bothers with others out of necessity. Lacking empathy and becoming emotionally stunted due to her childhood makes her a near 180 to regular Treat.

Here's how she looks like!!

The way I see it, she dyes her hair with charcoal from fires to represent her deep turmoil!!!! or something like that, I can't think of a reason why outside of "my heart is a deep and vast void"

How are other characters/the world affected?

Starting from the pack members...

Cotton & Candy: There's not much to say, but after getting caught trying to leave the pack they haven't had much to do with everyone. Treat only really comes over to sleep and avoids them, because she somewhat blames them for what happened to her.

Timber: Pack leader and mentor of Treat. He didn't want to have to hurt Treat, but her parents took it too far trying not only to take their daughter with her, but Powder & Fennel too. He took her under his wing so she wouldn't get influenced by her parents anymore and decided to take the opportunity to teach her to be the next generation pack leader... Though no one but his mother knows that yet.

Fennel: She still has a giant crush on Treat, and is the only one that actively goes out of her way to hang out with her! Treat thinks she's a nuisance, but slowly entertains Fennel as she grows curious as to why she keeps trying to get close to her.

Other characters such as Powder and Tundra aren't really all that developed, so feel free to think up something for them!!!

The pack members don't just end there either...

I made up some characters for the AU aswell!! woohoo!!!!

They're in a small little fic I made on Mochi meeting Treat in this AU, but I want to do more with them!! The descriptions will be short though since there's not much with them yet.

Cocoa: The oldest, and the only one in his human form. He's playful, carefree, loves poking fun whenever he can.

Mallow: The middle child. His fur is dark gray and he's the strongest out of the three. He's boisterous, a bit stubborn, and competitive.

Creme: The youngest child. Her fur is white and is sarcastic, confident, a bit self-absorbed. She's also very prissy which annoys her older brothers.

Stuff they all have in common are also sharing admiration for Treat, despite always getting caught causing trouble by her, and the three of them are very close knit.

Characters outside the pack

Moxie: Unlike in the canon, she has lost her confidence due to being forced back to be with her mother in ginseng, following the loss of the Foxy Den. She eventually ran away from her and now hopes to learn how to survive in the wilderness by stalking the wolves around, including Treat.

here's a little concept sketch of her!!

she's pretty dinged up :(

Mochi: Due to Treat never having left Glaze, she never arrived in Frosting to live in the cabin and save Mochi from Moxie. She ends up fearing predators a bit more due to this, and is usually escorted by Juju outside. However, she still wishes to slowly start being more independent again. Overall though, there isn't much changed with her! (including her design)

Trick: Treat's parents never got to form the other pack near their Master's house because they never got to leave. Due to being unable to find any wolf pack settlement nearby, their Master reluctantly brought Trick together into hiding with him. Even if it would cause problems along the way, he didn't want them out fending for themselves. Trick would slowly start the learn the truth behind their Master's identity.

Will Treat, Mochi, and Moxie still get together?

Yes!!!!!!! However, with the way it's going, Fennel will be included too!! I have it somewhat outlined how I want it to go, but you'll have to read my friend's fic on it!!!

Speaking of fics...

Here are ALL the current fics and side stories so far!!

MAIN FIC (collab between me and @blobsicle): LINK

Short Stories:

(these are by me :3)

Fennel x Treat

Treat and Mochi Meeting

HOW TO TAG THE AU

Use either '#Shifted Story' or just '#Emo Treat AU'!!!

that's all for the AU!!! I hope you guys like it so far :3>!! Feel free to add onto any of this, or add a spin!! i'd love to see any of it so feel free to tag me!!

I'll be scheduling some posts with art i've made :)

[sanctus-ingenium]

answering asks vol 2.

'Smiths' can encompass enginesmiths (mercury), armoursmiths (mars), alchemists (saturn) and some others - generally a smith is someone who works with engines or metal in any capacity, whether by constructing them, managing their fuel, making armour, etc. all of them have a completely degendered role in the church. They are supposed to be wholly devoted to their craft & church, to the point of becoming almost unpeople, sexless.

-

I like pantera :) he's the main character beast sure (alongside leun) but he's got a lot of interesting history and has been through a lot.

To start out I do some basic sketches while looking at bestiary diagrams of the animal type. Then I draw the base proportions over a photo of the animal's skeleton. Once the joints are all in place and I could imagine it moving relatively freely, I pick a motif and design the armour shapes with that in mind (i.e leun's trefoils, taurus's waves). The motifs come from a bunch of sources - if I see them in medieval art around that animal, the beast's use purpose, the culture that built them and how it might differ in art styles to the 'basic' designs from the heart of the Mezian theocracy. Fun stuff like that.

As an exercise I have taken (human) characters from other settings and made holy beast versions of them, trying to imagine what animal it would be, what weapons, what armour designs, etc. Behold, Bowman:

It's a fun exercise! I recommend :>

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Hi! Thank you for the suggestion! I actually did try to use OneNote for my thesis but I found that it ended up an extra step that got in the way. Instead I organised my reference papers manually (and wrote up all my bibliography by hand as well). I haven't heard of Notion so I might look into it :> as someone with adhd I find that the best way for me is to make it stupid easy, which is why discord works because I already use it for talking with friends and I like the mobile app.

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SO true!! You can make whatever the hell you want forever and that sounds really cool, I'm glad I was able to help in some little way >:) (although, holy beasts are not robots.. i think the best description for them is just. exotic vehicles.)

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lmao it's totally fine!! I love to talk

Sir Heaven had such a profoundly negative experience with Leun that he struggles with the concept of making anybody else do what he now considers to be his burden. He also feels that taking any new people inside Leun would endanger them.

The bishop of Salvius cathedral is the guy Heaven answers to, and his superior officer. The bishop has reported the matter to the pope and they're still working hard presenting new potential novices to Sir Heaven, but the thing is that Sir Heaven rejects them for seemingly valid reasons. He doesn't just say 'no I'm not taking apprentices', he says 'this one's reaction speed isn't good enough' or 'this one is too prideful'. But the longer he tries to keep this up, the more suspicion he heaps on his shoulders. If the time came, no, he would not be able to deny a direct order from the pope.

Ketjan was selected at random, one of a large group of other children who were not raised in the church. This is to ensure that there is no per-existing bias or knowledge of how holy beasts work. And he just happened to be the only one of the group who could master Leun's very demanding dialogue tattoo. The recruiting enginesmiths, who designed Leun's systems, were the ones to train him, but Ketjan was the one to write most of the procedures for operating Leun based on feedback from the dialogue.

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@ospreyonthemoon @kicks-tiktaalik-back-into-water

Krokodilos had an amazing high-tech ventilation system that used active air pumps to keep it circulating. But exactly like the second reply says, it broke down frequently. And because of how it worked, the interior of croc had to be air-tight so that the pumps could work efficiently. And, of course, if it broke down, and it was air tight on the inside, it instantly became a more dangerous deathtrap than your average passively ventilated beast.

There were valves that could be opened in an emergency but these were only added after the first Incident. The pumps would break down from the fabric seals degrading, lose efficacy, and then the parts furthest from the pumps would suddenly not get enough air anymore because air couldn't be moved such a distance with faulty pumps. The reason his enginesmiths want him to be re-commissioned is because the only barrier was the material used for the seals, and they believe they can innovate some new materials or try something different and have it work. They were even thinking of trying natural rubber, which would have worked perfectly, but they never got approval for it.

[aquato-family-circus]

This isnt necessarily like an underrated/random fav thing but when thinking about possible characters it reminded me of the fact that i yearn for a pn2 where the Motherlobe employees are just as strangely fleshed out as the campers in the first game. Tumblr user technovillain did that lineup of the employees with more unique designs that one time and i think about it constantly. If this is anything.

This is anything!! A very good point about something to boot. technovillain's designs for the employees are soooo good

like I would have LOVED if the employees had their own weird wacked out side banter and connections that were fleshed out like the campers. I wish I knew more about them. I wish they all had twitters.

There's a few good tidbits, like the dudes talking abt paper weights or that unhinged mf Lori but ough we can always take a second to daydream abt what couldve been... though if I took anything from the psychodessy its that I'm gonna assume the employees had to be low on the list of priorities just by necessity.

which like, rip, I know the team has the capability to write wicked funny dialogue

Since I didnt Grow Up with the first game, and also found all the camper dating talk uninteresting back in the day

(which maybe was me being a lesbian and hating hetero stuff, maybe me just having different taste at the time),

I've never really felt that connection to the campers that some folks in the fandom obviously do.

And I wish I did sometimes! bc it looks like a lot of fun!

also, I salute those who are big interns fans too bc I think they get slightly closer to that camper ideal than the employees do, esp if you gather up some of the cut dialogue and concepts

but there was still definitely like. Something missing! it's a valid critique to say the game's less relevant cast feel less fleshed out than the first game, where every camper does feel like they could have their own stories going on.

The employees and interns are good, but couldve been Great. theyre like the least interesting part of an overall very interesting game.

it's like when my partner says Ponyo is the weakest Ghibli movie as a way of saying "it's it such a compliment to Ghibli that their 'weakest' film is still Pretty Good"

[aqours]

What do you think is Curse of Strahd's biggest weakness as a module?

oh there's so many potential answers for this. the racism that they tried to fix later by trying to erase the concept of minorities? the fact the layout of the book is a disaster? that's one of them but i've already talked about that. i think Curse of Strahd's biggest issue, by a very huge margin is:

D&D 5E is inherently a really bad system to use for a horror game and especially the horror that CoS wants to be

i think Ravenloft and it's many spinoffs worked better in 2E because things were different back then. you started off as a somewhat above-average person and became stronger over time. 5E, however, is a power fantasy to it's core. even at level 1 you are an extraordinary person much more powerful than any regular commoner could ever be. and CoS doesn't handle this well. you are extremely resource deprived, you can go from levels 1-10 with that same +0 longsword you have from character creation. it's about becoming more skilled with what little you have over time.

which is fine. but CoS's resource deprivement is atypical for 5E module design. it's about depriving players of the typical power fantasy that D&D usually is for the sake of atmosphere and tone... which is fine, but the game doesn't offer much in compromise. let me use Warlocks as an example. one of (imho) the best spells Warlocks can have is Shadow of Moil. it is an amazing spell. once i am getting near that level one of my priorities in playing a Warlock is finding an undead eyeball encased in a gem worth at least 150 gp so i can cast it. it's amazing.

good luck finding that in Barovia! your DM will really have to work with you if they want to run the game RAW which is also not a bad thing no matter what anyone says so you can use that spell. this is an issue with spells in 5E that require expensive spell components... it's not available.

if i can use something else from D&D as an example, i want to tlak about Masque of the Red Death. Masque of the Red Death was an official 2E gothic horror thing made by people who wanted a more "realistic" gothic horror by making the setting basically a grimdark earth. you can ONLY play humans and are told you use specific classes. it was kinda killed in 2E before the internet made looking up these things easier. it received a fan revival on 5e you can purchase in the link (or i can give it to you), but part of it is you are expected to use it's character classes instead of the standard 5E ones. that's because they fit the setting more thematically, and thus are scaled to the dangers and expectations better. 5E Curse of Strahd tries to achieve this by throwing extremely difficult combat encounters combined with resource deprival, but doesn't give a lot to compensate back for this. the sunword and holy symbol are cool, but that does not compensate for not being able to do a lot of 5E usual power fantasy stuff?

i think there are better systems for what CoS wants to do. if you want extremely deadly combat, some PBTA d6 game probably suits you better. someone on r/curseofstrahd mentioned Hunter: The Reckoning might be good, and HONESTLY one day when i'm more familiar with playing WoD games i'd fucking LOVE to try to a full conversion for Hunter at some point. a lot of people really love making CoS western themed, to which I say if you also want to play as vampires consider checking out Bloodbeam Badlands actually! personally, i think you could even pull off CoS's story using Call of Cthulhu or Pulp Cthulhu for extra power: the SAN mechanic might make for something really great in this game too! one of my issues with Masque is that while i like it i just can't help but think Call of Cthulhu/Pulp Cthulhu is still better for what that setting wants

i'll play CoS using D&D bc it is made for that, but i think rather than trying to stay super true to the horror themes all the time, a DM should consider adjusting it's tone or item distribution to meet the group's fun. i love CoS, a LOT, and I love Ravenloft, but i think there's definitely better systems for what it wants to be, and CoS as it is (especially for when it was written somewhat early in 5E's life) has never been quite the story right for a 5E story