#this is what i get for not looking at references for my own characters

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

wish lantern rewrite

I can’t be the only one that wishes we had actually traveled to a new location… that we had learned about a new culture and holiday… that Riddle had actually had more character development in Wish Lantern instead of being cooped up in the library, being forced to play pretend princess in order to get out, and give like maybe 5 lines of dialogue max about his growth 😭 What we ended up getting was fun too, but I keep thinking about the missed opportunities and how great this story event could have been.

This SHOULD have been for Riddle what Fairy Gala: What If was for Ortho or what White Rabbit Fest was for Deuce. It SHOULD have been a chance to expand on Riddle’s development after some time has passed since his book in the main story, not crammed into a single scene and then done with. Ortho and Deuce had their development stretched out over several parts in those respective events 💦 Riddle didn’t for this one.

If Twst won’t give it to me then I will have to cook my own food 😤

Here’s how I would write Wish Lantern if I was in the Twst writing room:

Since Riddle is the SSR, I feel the story and its set-up should center him. I’m thinking maybe he’s invited to (or told by his mother to attend) some kind of conference or event in the Kingdom of Heroes or the Sunshine Lands for aspiring medical mages. Let’s say it is being held in the same place where the story of the Princess in the Tower originated because the Sundrop flower mentioned in the tale has miraculous healing properties (and the city/kingdom has since become known for its medical advances).

Riddle is uneasy about going there by himself (the implication being that this event is set after book 1 and, more specifically after book 6, when Riddle expresses to Azul he has been considering pursuing law instead of magic medicine/the career his mother chose for him). Maybe he mentions this unease around Deuce, that he feels obligated to go because “Mother knows best… She has always known what is beat for me, hasn’t she?” It could even be in the library. Say that Riddle is brushing up for the conference and happens to run into him, who is looking for a book to help with completing an assignment. After listening to Riddle’s woes, Deuce, being one of the people who knows about his dorm leader’s complicated feelings toward his mother and finding his own independence, offers to come along as emotional support.

As for how Jack gets involved, he’s Deuce’s club member. Maybe he overhears Riddle talking about sports medicine or panels presented by medical mages who work with athletes, or Deuce mentions it in a club meeting. Jack becomes interested because he’s the type of person that’s always looking for ways to enhance his training and to learn more about this subject.

Kalim can either join because he's conveniently in the library + wants to learn more about poisons and antidotes (on his own self-development journey to be more self-sufficient instead of relying on Jamil all the time) or because the Asims are sponsors of the event and he gets a free invite through his Rich Privilege.

Use the usual "Grim overhears and whines until he and Yuu get invited to go along" excuse or maybe have Yuu and Grim come because they, too, want to be emotional support for Riddle. (They could have heard from Deuce?) With that, we have all of the main characters for this event assembled.

Even though this is a rewrite, I'm going to try and follow the conventions of OTHER "hometown" events. That means most of this rewritten event will be exploring the new area, learning about its customs and traditions, souvenir shopping, and sampling food. This would be a great chance to, of course, throw in Tangled references. Because I proposed that this event be focused on a conference for aspiring medical mages, we can also learn more lore about what medical technology and practices exist in Twisted Wonderland and how magic has played a part in advancing medicine.

So it turns out, there's a festival going on in the area at the same time as the conference. That's because there's a holiday in this kingdom that celebrates the Princess in the Tower finding her way home by following a trail of lanterns. Since the conference doesn't start until the next day, we can go out and enjoy the festivities! (Riddle can be hesitant at first, but the others convince him to loosen up.)

The new outfits + hair can be explained away as part of local traditions. Everyone is provided with a potion that lengthens their hair so they can emulate the Princess in the Tower. Or maybe there can be a potion-making station, and length still correlates with the skill at which you were able to brew it. (In this version, the hair lengthening potion isn't made with super rare ingredients; it is something easily accessible for even non-mages to brew and can be made cheaply.) YES, THAT MEANS WE GET LONG HAIR GRIM.

Local specialties could include dishes mentioned or depicted in Tangled, like hazelnut soup (Rapunzel's favorite).

HERE ARE SOME CUTE INTERACTION IDEAS BASED ON RAPUNZEL'S OWN EXPERIENCES IN CORONA: the gang doing chalk drawings and clowning on each other's artistic abilities (or lack thereof), trying out cupcakes (the reasoning being that they're "single servings" so it's okay for Riddle to indulge), exploring bookshops, painting on the walls, and everyone joining in a big group dance! (For the dance, maybe there’s a competition to see who can drag in the most bystanders into the dance and Riddle gradually finds his footing in that + is crowned the winner?) There could even be a tavern that pays homage to The Snuggly Duckling.

While we're out having fun, there should be a consistent pattern of Riddle having to be convinced that it's okay to be participating in these activities. He feels that he should be focusing on studying for the conference, but the others are there to reassure him it's okay to take breathers.

"You won't perform at your best if you're always at 100%. In terms of a workout, you'd be asking to pull a muscle if you push yourself to exercise without end." (Jack)

"Mmm? But how often are we going to be in [name of city]? We're here now, so we might as well experience everything that's here!! The food, the music, the games, the people... You can't find that anywhere but here." (Kalim)

"I get the importance of preparation, but I'm kind of curious about the celebration that's going on. If Rosehearts-senpai wants to study, then he should do that. I'd feel bad exploring the city without him, though... He might miss out." (Deuce)

"Shouldn't you at least grab some grub first? I'm pretty hungry too! Let's check out the food stalls!" (Grim, maybe Yuu can also get a dialogue option)

At some point, the group decides to browse and buy souvenirs. They discuss who they are shopping for and come upon the subject of family. Kalim and Jack want to buy stuff for their siblings and Deuce thinks his mom might appreciate a locally made handkerchief with the kingdom's sun emblem on it. (As a trucker, Dylla often drives for long hours so she might find use in a handkerchief to wipe her forehead.) Yuu and Grim can also bring up potentially getting something for the Ramshackle Ghosts, who are like their found family.

Riddle becomes visibly uncomfortable when the topic of family is brought up. Everyone else sounds so happy talking about theirs, but he has no idea what a happy family is supposed to be like. Deuce (and maybe Yuu + Grim too) realizes why Riddle is uncomfortable and quickly apologize. Kalim and Jack, who aren't familiar with Riddle's background or his attempts to speak with his mother over winter break, are a little confused but the others feel it's not their place to explain why and Riddle doesn't know them well enough to elaborate on personal matters. (Here, Jack and Kalim serve as an in-universe reason to keep his family history vague so as to not spoil people who haven't gotten that far in the main story yet, but the awkwardness is palpable enough to imply something is wrong to serve the narrative of the event story.)

Now, "hometown" events tend to introduce a new character, typically a family member, to us. However, the new characters are not those who appear as the "trauma source" for the respective OB boy. (For example, Falena was not the character introduced to us in Tamashina Mina/Cloudcalling on the Savanna and we met Kifaji instead.) Following this trend, we will not be encountering Mrs. Rosehearts but rather MR. Rosehearts.

I realize that we don't have a ton of lore about Riddle's dad yet so everything I write about his personality is completely headcanon (primarily based on the personality of the King of Hearts). The only things that are canon in this depiction is that 1) Mr. Rosehearts is a medical mage like his wife is and 2) Mr. Rosehearts does not have a happy marriage with his wife.

Anyway, we run into Mr. Rosehearts out in the city. Turns out that he is one of the presenters at the conference and he was supposed to meet and receive Riddle. He's a quiet and slightly anxious man but overall is kind to his son (though we should get the impression that Mr. Rosehearts isn't good with confrontation and folds easily).

Maybe have a part where Mr. Rosehearts is surprised that Riddle has friends because uh... the last time he recalls his son having friends, it was because his wife ranted at them for 5 hours and banned them from their home. But hey, he's chill about it and promises Riddle this can stay between them and he won't tell his mom. Could insert a line or two that implies that the winter break talk didn't go over well. (This is just my headcanon, but you could also stick in a line that insinuates that the Rosehearts parents don't just outright divorce because Riddle's mom can't deal with the potential social fallout + realizing that she is "wrong" in her marriage.)

Every "hometown" event thus far has presented us with some kind of minor external conflict to be resolved. In this case, Riddle's conflict is more internal. He's wrestling with what he wants to do with his future and trying to cope with the reality that his mother isn't the loving, "always correct" woman he thought she was. This, of course, mirrors Rapunzel's struggle with Mother Gothel, who tries to keep her in the tower and doing as she commands.

We finally make our way to our quarters for the night (Riddle has his own room; everyone else has to share one), perhaps in tall tower to mimic Rapunzel's home with Gothel. Riddle knows he should retire early because the conference is first thing tomorrow, but he admits to everyone that after spending time in the city, he has become curious about the tradition of releasing thousands of wish lanterns into the night sky. It happens pretty late in the day though, so he brushes it off and says they should sleep.

... But the others get really hype about Riddle "finally getting into the spirit of the holiday" and decide they should see the lanterns!! The only problem is, Riddle is locked in his hotel room for the night. There could be a local superstition, tradition, or security reason for this. Like maybe due to the story of the Princess in the Tower (and Gothel locking her up), people who are indoors at a certain time of night can't leave until the next day?? Or maybe Mrs. Rosehearts had prepared Riddle's room for him in advance and instructed staff to ensure he doesn't leave because she has been paranoid about him "breaking the rules" again after the tart incident. I don't know, pick your reason.

YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS??? It's time for Jack, Deuce, Kalim, Grim, and Yuu to be Riddle's Flynn Rider + animal companions to break Riddle out. Our group represents the freedom and childhood wonders Riddle missed out on, the antithesis to Mrs. Rosehearts'/Mother Gothel's control. I can see Riddle using his long hair to hoist himself down, Jack using his UM to help everyone race to the water in time to catch the lanterns, Deuce being the muscle if they run into any thugs, Kalim using his social skills to quickly befriend the locals and ask for directions to the best vantage point or using his $$$ to rent the group a rowboat, etc.

We can keep the rhythmic/twistune from the original version of this event where Kalim, Deuce, and Jack were able to safely descend using Riddle’s hair but Riddle hesitates before he’s able to get himself to follow. The reason is the same; he worries about breaking the rules and how his mother would disapprove of him leaving the home. Riddle wonders if the Princess in the Tower felt the same, but ultimately his friends convince him it’s fine (by baiting him with the rules). He will be trapped in this tower forever if he doesn’t summon his strength and take the leap. If not now, then when? When will my life begin? “There are people waiting for me outside, so… it must be okay for me to leave. Right… Mother?”

Riddle keeps nagging everyone about how many rules and social norms they're breaking, but eventually he loosens up and even laughs a little at some of the dumb things they do. We can maybe have him thinking, This is just like… and then flashback to his childhood days with Trey and Chenya.

They're out on the waters just in time to see the lanterns being released. Alternatively, the even runners could be having trouble lighting up all the lanterns or something so Riddle has the opportunity to help with that (this way, we’d still get the other rhythmic/twistune featured in the original event). That particular rhythmic/twistune ends on Riddle with five lanterns floating overhead, which I think could be important symbolism (five lanterns -> five mentions of Heartslabyul).

It's beautiful. Everyone oohs and aahs at the sight--most of all, Riddle. He can say something like... "This city is known for its many contributions to magic medicine. I know that, and yet... I don't believe any magic or medicine could replicate what I am feeling in this very moment." There is some part of Riddle that acknowledges the healing and therapeutic properties of just... being allowed to have freedom, of allowing himself to live in the present and not stress about the rules or gearing up for a future someone else has decided for him all the time. He just doesn't know how to fully verbalize it + has not fully come to terms with it yet, so this is how he expresses it. At last, he sees the light.

While the new location they travel to + the conference provide us with the backdrop of medicine and health for this rewrite, I think there’s also something to be implied about the injuries we don’t see, the pain inflicted that isn’t physical. Both Riddle and Rapunzel were trapped in towers but were also emotionally controlled and prevented from leaving/made scared or the world and disobeying their mothers. When Riddle sees the lanterns, it’s sort of a “wake up” sign to his soul, a reminder of how healing it can be to just… live by one’s own terms, to not be ruled over by fear of disappointing someone else or failing to meet expectations. Rapunzel and Riddle bear scars on their heart from having been raised in the households that they were, and it is seeing the lanterns in-person that helps to “heal” what hurts them.

Riddle recalls the story of the Princess in the Tower and how she made a wish to see the lanterns, so now people make wishes upon these lanterns before releasing them into the sky. He lets go of his own lantern and wishes that, someday, he can be like the Princess in the Tower and this lantern floating up to the sky… and follow his own Road to Freedom.

Everyone sneaks back into their rooms and rest for the day. Uhhh, and there can be a scene of slicing off their hair for tomorrow or maybe the potion wears off at midnight.

It doesn't matter what happens at the conference because what was important was the experiences Riddle had with his friends leading up to it. At most, maybe we see Mr. Rosehearts again while heading to the venue and they have a brief exchange where Riddle lets it slip he's a little tired. "That's so unlike you," Mr. Rosehearts remarks. "Well," Riddle replies with a small smile, "I am a growing young man, after all. I am changing every day."

I want to be clear that this does NOT mean Riddle has had a full character arc to come to terms with how he was raised. He would NOT feel 100% okay with rebelling against his mother by the end of this (hypothetical) event. The point of my version of Wish Lantern isn't to empower Riddle to fistfight Mrs. Rosehearts or to tell her off. The point is that it's supposed to be a small step in helping Riddle through the very complicated process of recognizing he was traumatized and/or abused, accepting that reality, and learning about how he can grow from it and his abuser (who is someone he thought he loved and could trust). This can take YEARS to process in the real world, and it would probably be similar to Riddle. Again, this is meant to be a SINGLE STEP he takes, NOT THE ENTIRE JOURNEY.

So in my rewrite, the event would be split up like this:

Episode 1: invitation to the event; gathering all the relevant characters, hopping through the mirror

Episode 2: arrival in the new location and having fun in the area

Episode 3: souvenir shopping, meeting Riddle's dad

Episode 4: retiring to room, changing mind and deciding to break out instead

Episode 5: seeing the lights, ending

As you can see, the structure is very similar to a traditional "hometown" event. I didn't want to stray too far from Twst's usual writing conventions, as it could mess with the cohesion with the rest of its story events. I did, however, try to change things up a little (like having an internal conflict instead of an external one) and tied in this (hypothetical) story with Riddle's overarching character development, as those are elements that I personally prefer in a story. I realize that the biggest change here is tying my rewrite much more strongly to the main story than similar events have 💦 BUT LET ME HAVE THIS, I think I cooked 😭

... What Wish Lantern could have been OTL Don’t get me wrong, though!! The version we did get wasn’t all bad. There was lore about the NRC library, lots of involvement from the staff, and fun character interactions with the whole student cast. I just feel like those could have all been used for a different event and not the Tangled one which could have been so much more interesting for Riddle and his character.

[ranchclan]

📜 ❔📝⛔️

📜 How does your clan’s warrior code differ from other clans?

Ranchclan in particular has a pretty lax warrior code! Especially compared to Valleyclan who can be rather traditional, Ranchclan is much more welcoming of outsiders (doesn’t allow daylight warriors though, you can be an ex-kittypet but your focus has to be on your clan, not your folk), Obviously clerics are allowed to have kits, as are the leader and deputy even if there’s talk about it. I reference a lot of @/bonefalls work and their expanded warrior code, including stuff like Queens Rights.

❔Do you have any suggestions for people looking to start their own clangen blogs?

Include everything in your notes, don’t include everything in your notes. Which doesn’t make much sense, but what I’m saying is like, look at Everything. The relationship tab, cats thoughts, patrol beginnings and events, and you don’t have to write All of it, because a lot of it is probably useless, but when you’re able to string a couple of events relating to a small group, it really works out in your favor for connecting dots and plot lines.

Play 24 moons ahead, and DRAW 24 moons ahead. This may just be a me thing, but having the buffer pages of regular updates on queue, and giving me time to work on 25-48 and 49-72. It also helps with plot writing because you don’t get attached and have big introductions for loners who join the clan only to die from redcough the next moon. This way you can track important plot lines between multiple moons and be able to set the scene for how and when events happen, it’s also great for me making bonusranch content for inbetween because I get interactions from people who inspire them the week of posting ya know.

Speaking of, don’t be afraid to move around small events in the timeline or diverge from clangen as much as you’d like, it’s just the base, and for the most part it doesn’t matter if someone comes out of the closet on moon 23 or 24 if it fits with your pacing better.

Keep your clan small. It’s going to grow rapidly, as clangen is wont to do. Ranchclan in particular has smaller litters for whatever reason, but don’t be afraid to cull kits (sorry), loners, or other clan-joiners to reduce your population and keep only the characters who have plot lines and investments. Otherwise! Save them for mass extinction fodder.

Typefaces, typefaces, typefaces. So many clangen blogs suffer from the fact that some of y’all have ass handwriting or pick really swirly cursive fonts, or write too small! (not to call out anyone specific, many blogs do this and I get the reasons for it!) but making a clean, concise, and legible typeface is going to up your engagement, and makes your panels look cleaner. There are nice handwritten fonts out there, or making your own like ranchclans custom typeface from Calligraphr. Same thing with actually labeling characters in your panels, it’s really useful especially when you’re just starting and introducing characters, and/or when your clan gets large asf and needs reminders. Something I really want to do for Ranchclan sometime is go through and make image ids for the whole thing, captions in the description, and I want to go through with a colorblind filter to make sure that my type doesnt blend in with the background

📝 What do your notes look like?

These are some of my older notes, and like I said previously , a lot of these events get moved around to different moons where less happens. I’ve also started taking more in-depth notes since I started, and events I don’t use but still like, I save for bonusranch content. I sometimes have notes like if someone is injured and it later leaves a scar, I go back and mention where the injury in placed in my notes for future reference.

⛔️How long are you planning on making your comic? For as long as you feel like it, or is there a set end? Also @nimbusclan for asking this question too!!

So I was actually just talking with my partner about it, and I think the goal for Ranchclan is 1000 moons!! I’m not holding myself super strongly to that if I end up losing passion about it, but so far I’m having the time of my life working on Ranchclan and will keep doing it till I’m bored, no set end, just the cats daily lives. I’ll be working on other projects in the meantime, like Dungeonclan (sorry I started Houndclan and did get bored, dogs are less interesting to draw despite their variety), and expanding ranchclans world with Valleyclan and Wanderingclan. Maybe someday I’ll post about my human specific ocs (*cough* dnd characters *cough*)

Thank you so so so much for all the questions!! I really appreciate it my dude 🧡🧡🧡

[crimson-and-clover-1717]

Stede doesn’t abandon community…

The pirate cultures of Zheng, Low, and Blackbeard (plus Izzy’s brief stint) all work via closed systems. Closed systems control by a specific set of top-down rules with little acceptance for spontaneity or individuality. Systems external to the unit are viewed with suspicion and resisted (Izzy’s resistance to Stede’s way; Zheng’s ‘join us or die’). It’s not surprising. They all likely grew up in closed family systems and replicate that in their adulthood through the culture of the ships they run. It also just… makes sense. It’s how countries are run, empires. People at the top create the rules, everyone else obeys or else.

Which is what makes Stede’s way so unique.

He does something amazing. Something entirely different it seems without reference or blueprint other than having a Big Think About It.

Because Stede absolutely grew up in a closed-family system. There was no room to be anyone other than his father’s replicant. And when that clearly wasn’t going to be the case, he is abused for not conforming, letting the side down. He also lives in a society which is a closed system - white patriarchal hegemony - and finds himself bullied as a child, and then trapped as an adult, within its tight behaviour rules.

And then he asks ‘What if it weren’t like that?’

When Ed first lands on the Revenge, and sees this ‘bunch of wild characters on the high seas’, he is struck by their lack of conformity. Sure, everyone appears to be wearing rope (hyperbole), but it’s not a directive, it’s idiosyncrasy.

However such behaviour coupled with spontaneity cannot be comprehended or tolerated by Izzy - the poster boy for closed-family systems - and he perceives it as an existential threat. Ed though catches the bug immediately with his joy at Stede’s curios and ‘Wanna do something weird?’ Yet some days even Ed can’t keep up. There are few rules. Just decide on a whim we’re going on a treasure hunt. Everyone’s just wandering around doing their own thing that day…

This is what open family looks like. Members are interdependent, but each able to maintain their own identities, and explore who they are. Stede never gets involved in the minutiae of interpersonal relationships on the ship. And the crew have a voice, but there is also accountability. Stede chastises in-fighting amongst the crew, and redirects or models a better way. It’s sometimes flawed, but it’s never punitive and there’s a culture of forgiveness.

Just look what Stede gave to the crew of the Revenge, even in his absence…

At the end of season 2, Stede doesn’t abandon the crew. In an open family you can leave and still be part of a wider community. Despite physical separation, Ed and Stede are still part of that community because they choose to be, and because they live by the same philosophies. This is what an open family looks like. The crew leave via their own agency, but take Stede’s ethos with them. And it’s not a dogmatic ethos. It’s a living, fluid thing. Stede has given his crew the tools to build their own community their own way.

Here’s the thing about closed families - you can never leave. Or be different. Or assert your own needs. It’s viewed as betrayal. I wonder if that’s what’s upsetting some people into thinking the crew of the Revenge have been abandoned, because they think community is about physical distance. You can be abandoned by people in very close-proximity - Ed learned that the hard way via Izzy.

Stede hasn’t abandoned anyone. In the very first episode he talks about helping the crew grow as people. They have grown to the point where they don’t need him in the same way as before. He basically says Here, take my ship as yours, and go live what I taught you. That’s not abandonment, that’s empowerment.

[youryurigoddess]

Thy Kingdom Airways

Attention all passengers, please fasten your seatbelts. We are preparing for take-off. This time our analytic journey will revolve around planes as a recurring motif in Good Omens 2 and possibly Good Omens 3. Since a part of this post will add some new crumbs of information about the ongoing production to the discourse, please make sure to spoiler tag your replies accordingly.

We’re starting literally at the beginning, AND YES, I’m painfully aware that this is my third time breaking apart this particular scene from the new title sequence (Peter Anderson, I’m in your walls). We’re witnesses to the Second Coming brought to us via Thy Kingdom Airways.

And this big silver plane is actually a part of some good old — literally 20-year-old — spoilers from the never published Good Omens sequel:

Director Douglas Mackinnon personally chose the poster for A Matter of Life and Death / Stairway to Heaven (1946) to appear here as well. The movie itself is referenced multiple times in both seasons of the show, but what interests us here is the fact that its MC is a British pilot who dies in a plane crash.

He gets another chance at life due to an angel’s error and eventually must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with a radio operator who shared his last moments on Earth over the airwaves.

Douglas is also responsible for the movie playing in the background of The Resurrectionist pub scene in S02E06 — The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), a biopic of Charles Lindbergh, the pilot who made the first nonstop solo flight from New York to Paris.

To finish the transatlantic flight, Lindbergh has to stay awake for 33 hours (33 happens to be biblically significant, i.a. as the age of the crucified Jesus). He succeeds by talking to a fly that had buzzed into the cockpit and reminiscing to it about his life (via flashbacks).

Once an accident, twice a coincidence, three times a pattern, right? So there’s a plane. And a character traveling through time and space to navigate some dangerous circumstances. Looking for help or… clues? The danger is either their own feelings or something more ominous here.

Flash-forward to 2025. It might be completely off, but considering the overall panic I think it’s worth mentioning that I found some crumbs of information suggesting a Good Omens film shoot with a certain amount of angels at an airport right now.

I was casually screening the extras’ profiles for Good Omens 3 the other day, as one does to learn that e.g., one of them is a professional contortionist (really!) and after a while, it came to my attention that a few of the profiles repeated mentions of “angels”, “2nd unit angels”, and “airport” across a few days in late February. Interestingly, some of them also listed sword fighting skills and law enforcement background underneath.

The implications seem obvious to anyone familiar with the plot of the unpublished Good Omens sequel and what I just shared above: please take a minute of your time to consider Aziraphale in a new suit, new hairstyle, a headset, and surrounded by at least one unit of angelic bodyguards in dark glasses.

Now, the filming dates in question consist of days and months only, so technically could also refer to their Good Omens 2 work since some (not all) of the extras were also employed by the show at the time. And Heaven’s corridors scenes could be shot at an airport instead of a studio, right? But the thing is, the background angels seen on screen in S2… don’t seem to match the profiles I found.

A perfunctory social media screening revealed one mention of Boeing 737 interior scenes filmed this month in the area, at Dunsfold Aerodrome. Is this connected? No idea, but if at least some of my speculations are correct, a follow-up exterior shoot at an airport would make sense.

Another interesting crumb that may or may not be related in some way is this photograph from the set shared by Guy Spangler, a professional dressing props specialist and armourer on Good Omens 3. Not quite the big silver plane of Thy Kingdom Airways we’re waiting for, but still!

[pilkypills]

tell me EVERYTHING you know about oin pretty please*

*so i can use it in a fic because i don't know how to characterize him like at ALL 😭

I’m by FAR not an expert on canon info about the Company, and if you want firsthand (maybe technically secondhand) facts about Oin's character and how the writers and John Callen constructed his personality your best bet would be to look for scans of the relevant pages from the Hobbit Chronicles books. (btw if anyone reading this is aware of a post containing these pages lmk! It'd be super appreciated!)

I can tell you what I've personally extrapolated from what I've seen, though it's entirely possible that some of it is incorrect, or just common opinion, or just my own opinion!

For starters, according to the WETA page on Gloin's statue (I can no longer find the official page on Oin's statue, it seems to just be in the ether) he and his older brother remember Erebor very clearly and consider restoring it to its former glory a very important mission, and very important to the line of Durin. It also says Gloin is a retainer. No idea if that title extends to Oin but I wouldn't be surprised. Makes his decision to stay in Laketown with Kili all the more impactful. He's a healer above all else.

He is canonically a midwife in addition to being a healer, and delivered Gimli. The idea of him dropping baby Gimli on his head came from somewhere and this fanart came out of it, which John Callen has seen and put his stamp of approval on (I cannot find a link to the social media post where he says this, but I've seen it!)

He is also well-read and very smart, which is no surprise. To clarify the bit about the word ointment, it's a word he came up with himself to refer to a mixture of his own invention. Clearly, he's a master of his craft! Very cool. (I really like the idea of him as a mentor for Fili, which is a fairly common headcanon these days)

I think it's very reasonable to assume he's a proficient user of Iglishmek given that he is hard of hearing, but this is just personal headcanon.

We don't know for sure how he feels about elves, but since he reacts to Tauriel's healing of Kili with awe, saying that "it is a privilege to see it in action", he either feels more neutrally about them than the other older dwarves, or perhaps feels that medical knowlege is a wonder no matter the source (perhaps a bit of both? I feel like no matter how he felt before, seeing Kili's life saved by an elf would make him soften up a bit)

In terms of personality, the little we know and see firsthand seems to point to him being quite gruff and straightforward, perhaps a bit cantankerous. We see him join in on the festivities at Bag End, even letting ale get poured into his ear horn and blowing bubbles with it, so he's not completely serious. I don't know if this is canon or popular fanon, but I've seen it commonly said that Oin pretends to not hear/wont use his ear horn when someone is saying something he'd rather ignore, so he has a sense of humor, too. I'm of the opinion that he's a very dry and sarcastic guy myself.

Oin is the one who "read the portents" that say its time for dwarves to return to Erebor (from the way he talks about the birds returning to the mountain this could also refer to him studying their flight patterns). I've read some fics that expand on this idea, including using geodes for fortune telling, which is a really cool idea! I feel like as far as religious thought goes among dwarves, he's probably on the more spiritual side. It would make sense, especially given that healers in fantasy works tend to pull double duty as clerics.

This is pretty much all I can tell you, I hope it helps!

[oh-no-its-bird]

your uchiha houhua au is living in my brain rent free....im sleep deprived today bc i was reading/thinking about it late last night lol, its so good!!

after the massacre he would essentially be sasuke's guardian, right? maybe not officially but still, he'd be in charge of sasuke as the only older family around? idk if he'd be a GOOD guardian but i can see his paranoid ass just always handing sasuke more weapons and money, just in case

i need to know more about sasuke finding out about houhua and itachi's thing for each other!! and does sasuke still end up going to orochimaru in this au?

YEAHHH IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE IT !!! Uchiha Houhua remains one of The Favorites(tm) I really need to finish writing chapter 1, I'm like. So so close. So close.

I also need to update my tumblr vault fic with all the more recent Houhua au posts, since theres been a good amount of new content, but I'm putting it off till I'm done writing chapter 1 for the actual fic

No but I'm honored it could take up space in ur brain !!

YES! After the massacre, Houhua basically becomes Sasuke's officially unofficial guardian. There's no real paperwork for it done, but like, they really only have eachother

Sasuke flocks to him as the only other Uchiha, and Houhua takes him in both out of pity + not wanting him to be alone, and also partially because he knows Sasuke is a main character and his survival heavily depends on sticking close to main characters in the hopes that it'll help bump his character importance points

Houhua and Sasuke are stupidly rich now just because all of the Uchiha belongings and funds are theirs now.

There's a bit of trickiness bc technically, most of it should go specifically to Sasuke (as he's now default clan heir, though that isn't exactly worth much now) but Houhua is older than him

Houhua will probably end up splitting things between them, and Sasuke will trust him enough to do it (+ be too young to really realize that's something as important as it really is)

I think in canon, and lot of Uchiha shit got stolen or went ""missing"" in their death, mostly bc Sasuke... wouldn't know what to watch out for / prevent people from trying to take. But with Houhua here, it's going to be way hard for anyone to do any sort of grave robbing

Houhua is absoloutley gonna be taking inventory and his past life's experience means he knows to be on guard for people looting the compound when he's not looking !! There might even be some fun drama w that in the future ,,,

Houhua is stuffing weapons and money into Sasuke's pockets, very much fussing over him every chance he gets.

(Because Sasuke is his meal ticket!! He insists to himself, going out of his way to demolish anyone who looks at Sasuke even a little bit funny)

I honestly think Houhua would make for a good guardian for Sasuke overall, tho he'd for sure have his faults. The key word here is 'guardian', not anything like a father— Sasuke is gonna end up seeing Houhua as his (new, better, real) big brother over shitty Itachi over there

Houhua, as Shang Qinghua, lived to be very old (for a human, not for a cultivator) and had a hand in raising and training many disciples.

I like to reference Pride Is Not The Word I'm Looking For (aka the single best Shang Qinghua fic of all time) for my characterization for him, so he's like. Genuinley a good teacher and uncle, when he tries to be. He is just also burdened with crippling self doubt and likes to insist that every nice thing he does is canceled out by his own selfish reasoning behind doing those nice things

In Naruto world especially, filled with shitty murderous parents and a government that churns out murder babies, I think Houhua will be winning awards in his own parenting skills

Then there's also the fact that Houhua did know and interact with Sasuke before the massacre, just not too often. He was Itachi's weird cry baby friend, he'd hang out with him sometime

They just were never really close, and never really got to interact 1 on 1 for long— till, ofc, the massacre happens, and now Sasuke is latching on to Houhua and hyperventalating if anyone so much as looks like they're going to try and separate them

Houhua's existence as a whole allows Sasuke to be a lot more vulnerable, both because he is not "the last Uchiha" and also because Houhua will no doubt try to piggy back off of his revenge quest or even try to steal it entirely (to try and become a more important character, he insists to himself)

So Sasuke is just. Nowhere near as alone as before. And Houhua's own relationship with Itachi helps Sasuke believe Houhua might get it... more than other people, at least.

Ofc, there's also conflict in Sasuke maybe not thinking Houhua gets it "enough", or like Sasuke himself does, because Sasuke was, ofc, Itachi's little brother.

^ I think that would inevitably come in to play later, when Sasuke realizes Itachi and Houhua might have feelings for eachother. Sasuke would be so fucking hurt and feel so fucking betrayed, believing that maybe Houhua never "got it" to begin with

Things get even more complicated depending on when Sasuke learns this tho, because eventually Houhua is going to share his suspicions about the massacre being not as simple as it looked. So Sasuke's own feelings on Itachi are gonna go on a roller coaster of their own, trying to figure out if he himself can or should forgive his brother or no

Its all just a mess tbh, I love to see it

I HONESTLY DUNNO IF SASUKE WILL GO WITH OROCHIMARU OR NOT !! On one hand, mmmayybe ,,,, if he does, Houhua will go with him, full stop.

But there's also a chance that Houhua might try to take his place too! And he and Orochimaru are inevitably going to interact eventually, bc I have plans ,,,

(I mentioned it in another post, but if Houhua ever shares about the system and his past life with literally anyone, I would choose Orochimaru to find out. I think I could get the most milage out of him, and Orochimaru would absoloutley try to hack into the system for immortality and power or some shit)

I think whatever route I go with w Orochimaru will just depend on what I'm feeling when I get to that point in writing the fic. We will have to see where the story naturally leads me, you know? All of the options are so good, so it's hard to choose

ANYWAYS THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASK !!! I love Houhua au so much, I think its so much fun. Ur ask actually reminded me I really have to keep writing chapter 1, so this has kind of spurred me on to go do that

Hopefully I finish and post it soon!

[gothic-aesthetic-gal]

Old Scars (Part 17)

Ledger!joker x reader

Fem!reader is kidnapped by the joker and his henchmen while just trying to get a moment's reprieve from her boring, soul-destroying job ✨️

Tw: I mean, we all saw TDK, right? I'd say this is on the same level/rating. Kidnapping, violence, mentions of minor characters (not J) being misogynist/threatening SA, reference to past traumatic injury. Spicier scenes to begin with here but actually mainly a very non-violent chapter. Beyond this i'm not sure, i'll update these when I write more.

Chapter 17 -

We had been locked into this latest dance for some time now, though time didn't seem to exist as long as we were entangled. I pushed him down onto his back and clambered on top of him, eagerly holding him there. He looked up at me with that strange flicker of admiration again, as I drank in the sense of power I felt at handling him like that, the way he had done to me several times already.

Softly, I ran my thumb over his bottom lip and along the length of one of his scars, feeling how his breath caught in his throat with each deliberate movement my hips made. His blacked out eyes fluttered closed as I tightened my grip on him, drawing him closer and closer into me. He had made good on his threats, finding just the right ways to play me with all the precision of a concert violinist, his hands giving life to all kinds of crescendos.

I threaded my fingers into his curls behind his ear and clenched my hand into a fist, pulling his head back harder against the pillow and teasing a ragged moan out of his parted lips. Unable to resist, I bent down to meet him there, planting a building kiss on his painted mouth. My tongue brushed against his own and sent fresh shivers rushing through me. He kissed me back hungrily, as though he was a man dying of thirst and I was cool water. Like the breaking of the swell against the shorleline, like great rolling waves in a winter storm, we both hit our final apex.

It wasn't until were were both completely spent, collapsing back onto the bed in total defeat, with the first weak rays of morning sunlight poking through the ill-fitting curtains, that I realised how much time must have passed. As I felt his chest rise and fall, each movement becoming gradually shallower, I sighed contentedly. We were both drifting back down to baseline and very slowly the outside world was trickling back into focus. For the entire night, I forgot it existed altogether. The world could have been ending, and I wouldn't have known - or cared.

Unlike the previous re-escalation that had followed brief periods of down-time, I knew that this time we were both finally too tired to go further. Our bodies were covered in the streaked remnants of his face paint, and the various other marks we had left on each other.

Now the intensity of the moment had finally dissipated, I felt a lick of shame at how freely and totally I had given myself over to him, and how eager I was to return all of his affections - whether tender, or violent. I felt like I had regressed into an animal state; possesed by the primeval. It thrilled and terrified me as I lay beside him in silent rapture, turning my head away.

The ugly wallpaper seemed to move: the faded floral design twisting and winding. The heads of giant, faded peonies lolling and dropping, petals shaken from their stalks floating to the floor. I knew well-enough that it was just another aftershock of the drug and they were getting fewer and less intense, but it was still unsettling.

"It's happening again..." I murmured.

I felt him roughly tug at my shoulder, rolling me onto my back, and he leant over me as I stared up at him. I felt his hands slide over my own and pin me down, but I could tell his demeanour was playful. I watched the colours on his face, they seemed like an impressionist painting - the outlines faded and blurred.

"What do you see?"

I was silent for a moment as I pondered his question, his face swimming gradually into sharper focus.

"I see you."

"You saw me before. What if you're still dreaming?" He said, his eyes widening in frantic excitement.

"I'm not."

"How do you know?"

"I'm not dreaming."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," I snapped, my temper flaring.

He leaned closer over me, still holding me down.

"But how do you know?"

"Because, I'm not afraid right now."

"Hm, maybe you should be," he said in a way that sent a fresh mixture of fear and excitement through me.

"That place was hell."

"And this place isn't?" He mused.

I tugged one arm free and was struggling to try and pry his grip from my other.

"Yes. And? Let me go already!" I snapped, losing all patience.

He watched my struggle with an air of detachment, before slowly releasing me and humming some kind of made up tune to himself. He had clearly extracted the information he wanted from me in the moment. Things were still swimming a little as I stared at him in silent irritation. He leant back against the headboard, lazily throwing one arm up behind his head.

"So if it's not hell, is it heaven?" He teased.

"Try purgatory," I muttered, not wanting to give any further inflation to his ego.

"Well, if you're still not convinced, I'll just have to convince you," he said, grabbing me again and planting kisses along my collar bone and up my neck.

As good as it felt, I was more than exhausted and had no clue how he had any stamina left in the tank himself.

"Hah, very funny," I muttered, slapping my hand over his face and pushing him away from me like I was reprimanding an over-excitable dog for jumping up at me.

I rolled out of his reach and got up, stretching out and gathering my clothes so that I could get dressed.

"I'm hungry," I announced as my stomach growled in confirmation.

I threw his clothes back at him in a bundle as well, much to his chagrin. Despite playing up his protests, he did also get dressed and wandered back to ground zero - wiping the remnants of his paint away in the bathroom mirror. I also removed the lingering traces of him from my skin as he watched me silently.

"There's a diner a couple of blocks from here. If you give me a half hour, we can go there."

I was a little surprised by this, but it was by no means unwelcome, so I tried not to show it and agreed. I left him to his own devices and wandered the other two rooms in the property. There was what must have been another bedroom once, the walls splashed with fading blue paint. It had several of the crates I had seen in the warehouses he used, and opening one confirmed my suspicions that they were full of weapons. I froze for a moment, considering the weight of the discovery.

Not wanting to think about who might end up staring down the barrel of any of them, I hurriedly replaced the lid and moved on down the hall. This area had a kitchen which might have looked in vogue during the eighties, but clearly had not been updated in any way since. There were a handful of pots and pans in the sink and water dripping periodically onto them was the only sound that filled the empty space.

Suddenly, J reappeared and I found myself missing his purple coat when I saw it had been usurped by a dull beige one. I threw on my own black coat and a scarf, helping him to wind his own around him. As we walked out and down the steps onto the icy lot, he lit up a cigarette and exhaled clouds of smoke into the frosty air. Everything around us seemed to have a faded blue-grey tone in the bleakness of winter.

We made the walk in silence. I didn't know what to say: we had crossed a boundary. He opened the door for me and I slipped by him into the warmth of the diner. It was a pretty jumbled space inside, with a riot of chaotic kitsch décor, but it felt comforting, espescially in contrast to the greyscale world outside. The black and white checkered flooring, the neon casting green and red light, and the random assortment of vintage desert Americana which was wildly out of place in an East Coast city. All of it was oddly comforting. There were only three other people inside, one being the waitress. Maybe there was a cook in the back, but beyond that... I was relieved it wasn't crowded out.

We decided to sit at the opposite end to the one occupied booth, away from civilisation and possible prying eyes. I sank down onto the red leather upholstry and propped my elbows against the silver table between us as he settled into the seat opposite. It was jarring to see him in such a mundane setting, his face absent of the paint and his clothes so unremarkable. The light above him cast him in an eerie green light, and the one above me made my skin look red. The lighting reminded me of dive bars, biker clubs, and old technicolour horror movies.

"I thought you were supposed to take the girl out for food before you got through all the bases." I said, deciding humour was the best way to break the ice.

He laughed.

"Tell me, is that before or after you kidnap the girl when she's pretending to be able to afford the clothes that rich people wear?"

I laughed at the absurdity of the truth in what he was saying.

"You don't think I should have gone window shopping?"

"That's such a fence-sitting mentality. If you want something, you should just take it - by force if necessary," he said, leaning across the table with a chaotic glint in his eyes.

He shrank back into his seat with the arrival of the waitress and we placed our orders and she disappeared again.

"Not everyone has that luxury. That's a very male perspective," I rebuked him.

He seemed to consider this for a moment.

"True enough, but there are different ways of getting people to cooperate."

"And is that what you do to me?" I muttered

He frowned.

"No. I like to see what you do, the choices you make. Why would I take that away? Although, under certain specific conditions, you seemed more than happy to... cooperate," he cracked a smile.

"Oh, I see. Well, if I recall correctly, you were pretty comfortable inverting that dynamic. Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," I pushed back.

"I like the unpredictable. Routine is so boring."

"I can't disagree with you there."

I watched him as he fidgeted ceaselessly. To the casual observer it might have looked like anxiety, or even that he was on something, but I knew it came from the unbearable restlessness within him.

The waitress returned and set down the food front of us. Once her back was turned J poured a truly insane amount of sugar onto his pancakes.

"Is this a date?" I asked suddenly, after only one bite of mine.

He seemed a little agitated by my disarming question.

"No".

"Are you sure, because you showered, brushed your teeth and is that - cologne?"

"And that makes this a date?" He said as he set to deconstructing the stack of pancakes in front of him.

"No, what makes it a date is that you're trying to eat differently, and playing house with me here..."

He looked a little irritated at my observations, then confused before shaking all of that off. His face took on a meaner expression, colder and more calculating than before.

"Aren't you the one who started all of this. What happened to-,' he cleared his throat as he hunched forward and began to mockingly imitate my voice, "lie to me, spin me a little fairytale. Tell me everything's wonderful and it'll stay that way."

His words, though deliberately cruel, didn't cut as deep as he'd intended; I had tougher skin than that.

"Sheesh, if you're going to start being mean again, I'm gonna need a drink," I said, waving to the waitress as she poured coffee for the other occupied table at the far end.

"It's not even ten in the morning..." J muttered in disbelief.

"And what? You suddenly care about rules," I laughed.

I flagged down the waitress.

"Hi, excuse me, can I get a margarita please?"

She looked a little taken aback but tried her best to hide it.

"Um, sure miss, I'll see what we can do,"

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," I added, putting down a tip pre-emptively.

J raised his eyebrow as she retreated.

"A margarita?!" He said, clearly amused.

"What are you, my grandmother? Stop clutching at your pearls already," I teased, kicking him under the table.

I'd accidentally done it more forcefully than I had meant to and he looked at me stony-faced for a moment. I froze. Then he broke into a smile and raucous laughter. It was definitely preferable to see his mood shift again and I couldn't help but laugh too.

She returned with a glass which looked like it was for an ice cream sundae, complete with lime slices, a sparkly decoration that looked like a little tinsel firework and a little paper umbrella for good measure.

"I hope it's okay, I had to look up how to make it," she said anxiously.

"Ah look how cute that is! Thank you!" I beamed.

The waitress gave me a genuine smile, pleased with her improvisation and cautiously waited for me to taste it. I sipped it and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up. I slid her a hundred dollar bill and her eyes went wide like two saucers. I beckoned her closer.

"Put that in your pocket and don't tell your boss. It's only for you, and we'll pay for the food like normal at the end." I whispered.

She shakily stashed it and smiled as she left us to finish eating.

J was watching me wordlessly the entire time. I deliberately ignored his gaze and finshed off my bacon pancakes between sips of margarita.

"You have a soft spot for people in the service industry, particularly young women."

"Well that makes me sound very creepy."

"But it's true."

"Well, yeah. Since they're the people who often get the most shit from everyone else. What else am I supposed to do with blood money anyway?"

"Ah. So it makes you feel better about that being stolen mob cash? I see," he said leaning back in seat.

"Well, what else am I gonna do? Spend it on some stupid consumerist bullshit that I don't need? And it's not like a couple of thousand would get me my own apartmemt, is it? So may as well give it away to people who deserve it."

"But you have next to nothing yourself, you said as much. You're not tempted deposit it all in your account?"

"No. I've nearly died twice now. Money isn't gonna come with me when I finally kick the bucket, is it? Sure, I could put it in my account and give a few more month's rent to my crooked landlord, but then what? Besides, if I use my bank account, the cops I crossed could easily find out i'm alive."

"It's true about your account, of course," he conceeded.

"Look, I'm not saying it changes anything drastically, but I try to help people and I don't see that as a weakness. I don't expect you to understand that."

"Hm," was all he responded as he continued to dissect his pancakes.

His constant analytical interrogation made me feel like I was also on his plate. Sure, he was trying to get to know me, but the way he approached it like some sort of study, some kind of post-mortem investigation, unsettled me.

I gazed out of the window at the nearly empty lot. The fog was once again rolling in from the docks filling the city with shadows and obscurity. It reminded me again of what I'd seen while dosed with the toxin.

"Can you dance?" I asked abruptly.

He frowned.

"Well, that depends, are we talking saturday night fever or ballroom?"

"Can you Waltz?"

I watched his facial expressions as he seemed to privately rake over his mystery past.

"It's been a long time, and I wouldn't say well. What about you?"

"No."

"You were trying on ball gowns and you don't know how to dance..." he said in mild amusement.

I sighed.

"You didn't learn for school dances or anything like that?"

"No, I didn't have much time for - it doesn't matter."

"Ah, troubled kid were we?" He said, waving his fork in my direction.

"The past is the past, let's not pull on those threads," I said, finishing my drink.

He looked a little disappointed, but didn't say anything in protest. I couldn't hide the sadness which was filling me up suddenly. He watched me closely as I neatly placed my knife and fork on my empty plate and pushed it away from me. I set down enough to cover the bill from one of the stacks of stray bills J had in his hideout. It was a relief that he truly did not care about money or if I took some of it. In all honesty, it felt good to have it on me, if only for times like these where I didn't have to worry about paying for food and could leave a generous tip. It was a power I wasn't accustomed to having.

He stood up and put back on his coat and scarf. As I was doing the same, he suddenly grabbed me by the hand and tugged me into the aisle. I felt like my arm was going to pop out of place almost.

"Ouch, what gives?" I gasped.

"I have an idea. You'll see," he answered slyly.

He grinned and continued to drag me to the door. The waitress smiled and I hurriedly waved goodbye as we passed her, before I was whisked outside into the cold.

We crossed one of the abandoned parking lots, peppered with the bare limbs of various plants breaking through the cracks in the concrete. They rustled in the breeze and the fog was so thick that I couldn't see more than a few metres in any direction. The gulls screamed as they circled ahead, like the restless spirits of unseen sailors - ships had sunk to the bottom of the harbour in a long bygone era. There was a beauty in the strangeness of the desolate space and the city had disappeared into it.

"Now, let me see. I think I know the sequence of steps," J muttered, abruptly stopping and pulling me in close.

"What?"

"Put your hand here, and here. No, here," He instructed, posing my limbs like a marionette on unseen strings.

"What are you doing?" I demanded anxiously.

"Don't you want to dance?" He asked, sounding frustrated.

"Well yes, but-"

He cut me off by interjecting.

"Good! This is the first position."

I shakily followed his direction, feeling immediately self-conscious.

"Then step this way. Just mirror my feet."

I felt so clumsy and uncoordinated but tried to follow each slow move.

"See how it makes a box?" He encouraged.

"I think so?"

"Just keep following. I put this foot forward, you put that one back. It's push and pull."

I did start to settle into the rhythm of it with the repetition, and he seemed to add a turn so that we began to rotate around with the steps. It made me think of a Spirograph, like the one I had as a kid. I imagined our path drawing out a pattern in vibrant colour on the ground.

"See? One, two, three, one, two, three. Rinse and repeat," he grinned.

I couldn't help but smile back a little, even whilst I felt so inelegant. How I wished that I magically knew all of this, like in the dream, but at least that meant I was currently awake.

"Of course, all this repetition is so boring," he announced suddenly, rapidly putting me into a spin and a dip.

I was afraid for a moment that I was about to fall onto my back and drag him with me, but he caught me. Before, I could say or do anything further, he drew me into a passionate kiss. My concerns melted away in the fire, the moment his lips met my own.

When he broke away and pulled me back upright, I had to catch my breath. Ever since i'd come round from the toxin, I felt exhausted. Going at it like bunny rabbits all night had not helped, and my body ached all over.

"Let's go back. You need to rest," He said firmly, noticing my shift in demeanour.

Link to the masterlist for other chapters:

Tag list:

If I forgot anyone or you want to be removed from the tag list - please let me know! 💕

@dis0rderly-cl0wn-nerd

@dance-like-a-clown

@furisodespirit

@heath-ledger-jokers-wife

@sunfyrejoker

@lightsabergirl

@clowning--around

@ruby-da-archangel

@harleenqvinn

@helchronicles

@ostricx

@knoepfl

@jumpingjellyfishhaha

@nicklet94

@torossosebs

@all-bi-myselfs-blog

Dividers by @strangergraphics ✨️

[musubiki]

.🖤🔄🤍.

[spiralmode]

wait im rewatching saw 2004 and as a germaphobe one of the cruelest things i had to watch adam endure was dig around in that toilet ("find anything?" "no solids!" 🤢) anyway so he had just taken out the play me tape out of a ziploc bag and that stuck with me because I was like okay that's something he could use idk for what but for something, and so then that toilet scene happens and im like yelling at my screen adam!!! no!!!!!!!!! use the ziploc bag as a glove ahhhhhhh !! but he just went right in there with only one small moment of hesitation

[nartml]

Saw a comment describe killugon as 'born to be brothers, forced to be best friends'.

And I just have to say that, out of all the things that have never happened, that has never happened the most.

[iniziare]

I'm finally moved in! I need to unpack some more (and rearrange this kitchen's cabinets, because my god who lived here before me— a tall Dutch person?) But I need some rest before I get to that, for my arms and legs are killing me after last night's repeated walks here. Peace, god, I've missed you with every fiber of myself. But as I (still) wake up from my nap, I wanted to touch on a quick little Kafka thing that I'm not sure how many people have noticed, but hopefully will add to their perception of her, and most importantly, how I actually approach her character.

I think it's easy to say that Kafka's character appears to be 'inconsistent' if you look at her through only the singular lens of the 'spider', and I think that's doing a massive disservice to both her and Hoyoverse respectively. Let me try to explain this for a moment: Kafka is not solely represented by the arachnid, she is also represented by the butterfly. Yes, you read it right. Listen, it's so easy to see the plethora of motifs that pretty much force you to acknowledge the former, in anything from her attire, to the webs, to her very calculating and cunning nature. But they hide, to me, an obvious thing right in plain sight: the butterfly brooch, it stands out like a sore thumb. And like many on X, I used to associate it with the Trailblazer, and their 'transformation' and how that may play into the 'loss' that Kafka is insinuated to have suffered. Ergo, it would carry a fair amount of emotional weight. But ever since I saw it pinned on Blade on official promotional art, this started feeling a bit too ill-fitting for me. HYV doesn't do things willy nilly, and Kafka is very specific and sentimental with certain things, so it didn't feel right that it would be given to Blade even temporarily (it's not specific to him, it is simply that it's too important to give to anyone, ever), so instead— I wanted to see what else this could mean. Now, without overthinking anything, a butterfly stands in almost direct opposition to the spider, in that it is often perceived as restless, or impatient, with the way that it flutters from flower to flower, never keeping its attention on the same thing for too long (does this sound like Kafka's boredom yet, anyone?) — unlike the spider, which is often considered a symbol of patience. And in that journey, I found the second butterfly motif: butterflies that appear behind her as she uses her skill, the skill that, mind you, constructs a web in front of her. And they're not just butterflies, they're black butterflies, which evokes an even richer symbolism and imagery that goes beyond even the 'foundational' concept of what the butterfly on its own means for her character.

Any way, all of this rambling to say that a long meta on this topic for her is still long overdue as this is something that I've been sitting on for months now, but haven't been able to properly put into words because, well, life. But I'm looking forward to being able to get to all of it now. But hello, does this add to your perception, and explain a bit why I write Kafka with such a curiosity? That, boredom, restlessness, and an intrinsic draw to 'beauty', she may not only be potentially 'other' in terms of possibly not being entirely human, but she is, and has always been 'other' in her nuance. Seeing Kafka as merely represented by the spider sells her, in my opinion, very short— because it takes all of the nuance away from her very intricate character. This duality is vital to understanding how she works and ticks, because otherwise I think it's too simple to fall into 'this doesn't suit her character', while actually— yes, it absolutely does.

[maliciousalice]

Hear me out (or don't... it's fine I'm just venting and mean) yeah um I don't believe Chakotay was saved in Prod*gy s2.

[ghoul--doodle]

What inspires/references do you use for your original designs? I'm always impressed with how unique each one looks!!

AUGHSSJD that’s really sweet of you to say thank you! But I unfortunately don’t really have any sort of process for my designs they sorta just

Appear???

Like genuinely I just

A guy pops into my brain and I have to draw them

I’m basically just coping directly what I can see in my mind’s eye- and I have no idea how my brain spawns these ideas they Just Happen

I get such a vivid picture sometimes that I don’t know what’s caused it or what’s inspired it I JUST have to draw the new cool dude who rotates in my brain

[maxiwaxipads]

Romarriche - “Your company is one of a kind… I would never lie to you. I would never say a half-truth or be quiet.” “What is it in your mind, Merold?” “Hearing your voice, complaint or not—it is music to me either way.” Merold - “If there is one constant in this world… Let it be you.” “You’re the cruelest and the kindest thing that happened to me.” “…If only you continued to look at me like that.” Romarriche - “…Merold?” Merold - “But~ It’s only a minor case of bad-mood-itis.” “So Romarriche, spoil me with a spar, will you?” Romarriche - “Merold.” Romarriche - “Look at me.” Merold - “…” Romarriche - “Is something… Wrong?” Merold - “Instead of a spar…” “I might want to lie down on your lap after all.”

[catgirlkirigiri]

Updated design + fresh new ref for my boy :) He's been in dire need of a redesign lol

Upscaled + labelled version of the palette below the cut cause wow that's a lot of shades of grey and black

Are some of those shades a bit close? Yes. But in my defense it is SO hard making distinct shades that are all still distinctly black and not just dark grey

[hotsugarbyglassanimals]

even though i feel like i can confidently tell when a piece of art is generative A/I, i really don't feel inclined or really even justified calling someone out for it due to the precedent it sets - especially when artists who DO make their own pieces get caught in the crossfire for being inexperienced or making the choice to be more free-form when it comes to character design / consistency...