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

[vivlily]

can you please explain who these horses are????

You made a mistake in asking me, but I will try anyway. This will go over some general things and mainly focus on white and cyan, not so much the other horses.

They are characters from a Twitter webseries/game(?) hosted by @/snakesandrews. Where viewers essentially vote on whatever horse they think might win. These horses bounce around randomly off of objects like a screensaver of sorts, and a horse wins once it touches a png of a carrot.

These horses are typically referred to by their color until they win and are thus given a name, for instance, orange, eventually becoming jovial merryment.

How much or how little these horses win as well as what goes on during a race end up leading to a lot of fan made content. And for the most part, any characterization of these horses is largely up to fan interpretation.

For these two horses, white and cyan specifically? White and cyan and brown would go on to not win one match for quite some time, leading to them being put into a race all on their own. Which brown would eventually go on to win and attain the name Door Knob. Leaving white and cyan in their own little race. With a special little map, file this special little map for later.

It is important to note that these races do not usually last much longer than around 2 or 2 and a half minutes. Cyan and White would go on to race for a whole 7 minutes and 9 seconds. This led to a lot of fans depicting them as sort've not wanting to win, usually because of enjoying one another's company or something similar. I'm a yuri minded individual, so you can probably guess how I decided to interpret it.

As you probably realized, since they had a defined time for the race, a winner also exists. This is where White had won, earning the name Superstitional Realism. This led to a lot of fans depicting Cyan as either feeling betrayed or upset by white winning. Some also show Cyan being happy for white.

It here that white, now superstitional realism(I will refer to her as Sup from now on), would join the next days' race and proceed to not win. And in the next day's race, white would be mysteriously missing. It is in this race that Sup is missing that something unusual happens once the race is over.

Cyan has lost every single race, every single one. This race where Sup is missing is followed by a video in which Cyan was racing all alone in an empy room with only herself, eventually obtaining her first win. But did such a win even count? There was no one for Cyan to even race against after all. It was assumed Cyan would get a name for her victory, but the fanfare screen would simply continue listing her name as Cyan.

People expected that Cyan would finally join the next race proper, only for the next race to be a race between what looked to be 7 distorted horses (6 a form of cyan, and 1 white). Despite there being 6 cyans, they still lost to the distorted white horse, whose fanfare screen read "a Mysterious figure." Leading many to think this might be cyan reliving her worst moments, and more specifically, the moment where she get left behind by white.

The latest race as of this post was with the regular set of horses interspliced with the 6 distorted cyans having a race of their own. It's unknown if this "nightmare" world is real or in cyans head. But one of the 6 distorted cyans does win and is rewarded with the name of Garbage Bin. We then cut back to the "normal" world where Sup remains missing and jovial merryment wins the race(go figure).

Now, do you remember that special little map where cyan and white initially raced in? The "normal" world race was taking place on the very same map, just with more color and rounder edges. This leads to me and probably a few others believing that that last race was the other horses looking for cyan.

My assumption for why Sup has been missing for the last few races is because white had already gone back to look for cyan ahead of everyone else.

As for how the story might end? Well, you can find out both today and Friday as the series seems to be having it's last to races.

Will jovial win once more? It's possible. It's annoyingly possible. And will cyan and sup have a happy ending? I SURE HOPE SO. SAVE YOUR GIRL.

Whadya mean I'm getting emotional over screensaver pngs?!?

Apologies if this was long winded, I'm not used to typing this much and suck at using words. BUT you made the mistake of asking me, dear Anon. Always remember there is always yuri for those with eyes to see. Now go consume some fan content, there's a lot of really good writers and artists out there, show them some love.

[twinroomies]

"have him home by 9 i guess" in response to the selfship ask is peak btw. just want you to know that

Hahaha, well, that's what I had in the chamber when I got asked this question, so, I appreciate it. To get real with ya'll personally SEPERATELY from the main Twin Runes account, mainly because over here this IS my little area so I CAN say a bit more without it representing both Akane and I... WARNING: THINGS GET SERIOUS DOWN HERE

You know, it's interesting from my perspective to be in this position, right? Not to diss or put down "goatkisser" anon here as I'm gonna lovingly refer to them as, but you gotta understand, ya'll: when you're a writer you put a lot of YOURSELF, or your experiences into your characters, right? We've all had fictional crushes (if you have romantic or other types of feelings, if not: please disregard and also valid), we've ALL thought about Mega Man X from Mega Man X. This is a universal experience. Stop looking at me like that, but the point is: I MADE this Mega Man X. So it's just a little surprising. Good writing has vulnerability to it, and you expect people to laugh, to make light of, to critique parts of you that you put out there when you do that. You don't expect people to go "ah yes the homunculus of every America's Funniest Home Videos moment in your life made flesh. I would date that." That's the one that gets you, at least it got me. I don't wanna be John Funkiller, murderer of joy and whimsy, but like imagine you drew a comic yourself, and you had your character tell a story from YOUR LIFE of something funny that happened to or because of you, and then someone looked you dead in the eyes and said "I want to make out with them". That's… I mean, there are probably other parts to it beyond that story, maybe they just REALLY like his horns they ARE cool but you know that part of you is STILL THERE. There's also an element of: Okay, if I say yes, am I about to see someone go way too far with this? Chat, I'm a voice actor, I've had people upload my voice to websites so they could chat with characters I've played. Ever had a poorly written fanfiction robot attempt to flirt with you while having an existential crisis because you needed to hear enough of the voice back to confirm it was your own voice? I don't recommend it, I'd leave a bad yelp review.

Anyways, I'm GLAD people like Asriel, but to keep it a BUCK FIFTY WITH YA'LL, that's… I mean, look. How are you supposed to respond to that? 😅 Will I STOP YOU? No, but all of that is how I FEEL, the REAL PERSON, the NOT THE GOAT. Just remember though, that some of those stories you'll hear about the goat, start with me, or Akane, or people we know.

[muttoncon]

i need to hear all of your thoughts on whitaker’s background, you have a very insightful pov

thank you so much!!! he reminds me of some of my guy friends so he’s v precious to me. whitaker... how i love him so much my little scrungle

whitaker is so interesting to me because i feel like compared to other characters (mostly the med students), we don't actually know that much about him! he def shares things about himself, but he doesn't give up much to his coworkers, the people he should be trying to get close to. instead he's more open to his patients! he's similar to robby in that way and i think it's why they connect (in a weird emotionally stunted way) so well.

what's very important to me is how whitaker is very aware of the labor of others and how he sort of deflects off of his own achievements or involvement. "my parents have a farm" not "i lived on a farm" or "my family has a farm", "they sacrificed a lot to get me here" not "i worked hard" unless something goes wrong, then it's his responsibility. when robby asks him about the EKG he ordered, whitaker doesn't lie and say he thought of it on his own, he says a nurse told him to. he was the only one doing compressions on mr. milton even when offered help, "especially when it's your fault" (in reference to milton's death), he like never accepts help or support and when it's just given to him he looks incredibly uncomfortable.

this is not the face of someone who is super jazzed to be comforted.

santos mentions her extra room to be passive in her extending of help, expecting whitaker to take the chance at a room, but he just simply doesn't seem to have the expectation that people are there to help him.

like he is not thinking about asking her for anything! oh my god he looks so tired here.

all this to say that i think he’s either the youngest or the second youngest with close age gaps between him and his siblings. his parents probably had a lot to deal with and in turn he became a very “calm” child to try and help his parents deal with the stress of having multiple kids. i see him as being the kid that throws up in the corner and tries to hide it because he just doesn’t wanna worry his mom.

with his parents owning a farm (i assume a livestock one since he talks about mucking out a stall), we saw how calm he is around animal death/killing animals. however he does it in a way that’s a quick death, he’s nice about it. he’s probably had to deal with the death of livestock a lot. if his parents are raising animals to eat, then he’d probably get an age where he’s trusted with putting down livestock. this is a really emotional and difficult thing to do, even if it’s your job. he’s not very outwardly emotional but i think as a kid he was and this is part of why he was picked on by his brothers.

he feels deeply and while he wants praise he’s incredibly uncomfortable with people taking too much notice of him (with the exception of the rat. but that was a silly moment). so i feel like he stayed in the periphery most of his life and still prefers that. he probably didn’t start wanting to go to college til high school and i figure he probably had to work a fuck ton in school to try and help his parents pay for his education.

i really doubt he’s told his family that he’s “between houses.” i think he would call his parents maybe once or twice a month but not because he doesn’t love them or doesn’t miss them but because he just hates lying to them. i also think his parents would try and convince him to come home. just from my own observations of rural families (and more religious ones if that’s the route we’re going for) they typically find a lot more security in having their family close, a lot more so than suburban families.

i love whitaker. i could probably go on and on but this is like the majority of my thoughts!!

[beforeastorm]

I'll fully admit to being a pedantic asshole, but can someone please point me towards when Tim actually uses the word realism? I've searched every interview I could find and I can't find the reference.

Tim talks extensively about the stakes feeling real, or the characters or world feeling real, but (again, I'll own my pedantry), that means something different than "it's about realism" or "it's realistic" or whatever permutation people are claiming he said.

If he said it, let's see it; I could've missed it (you can win the great satisfaction of proving an insufferable know it all wrong in front of the entire internet).

If, he in fact did not talk about realism... People are still welcome to offer criticism, but can we do that without putting words in Tim's mouth or creating some kind of straw man?

The only time I can find "realism" is in Peter's statement, but the context of that is thanking the on set firefighters and technical advisors for their assistance over the years.

All Tim's references to things feeling real that I could find, as well as the relevant portion of Peter's statement are below the cut.

Deadline

"Once I had made that choice, suddenly the world of the show seems so much more real to me"

Hollywood Reporter 

“So it was time for there to be some real tragic fallout from a story.”

TV Insider

“Look, I know this is the right decision, because as soon as it started to happen in my head, the whole world of the show felt more real to me. These people felt more real to me.”

"but this time I think we all just felt like we were losing a real person, someone that we loved"

TV Line

"On the other hand, if the stakes are never real, if there’s really no chance that any of this peril in which these characters find themselves amounts to anything, I think the show could die."

"The stakes are real is kind of what I want to say. When I landed on this idea, the world suddenly felt more real to me. The characters felt more real to me. They felt like real people."

Variety

"how suddenly the whole world felt more alive. It felt more real because this thing had happened.”

"I had to convince them it was real"

The Wrap

"[The show] needed a major character death for the audience to feel that there were real stakes in any of these cases"

"I needed a major character death if I wanted, going forward, for the audience to feel any kind of suspense or that there were real stakes involved in any of the cases … If you feel like everyone’s going to be fine, I think that the show just dies of inertia at that point"

"It’s because now life means everything to him, and it is a real sacrifice and actual atonement for what his origin story was. It makes sense in every way."

"but as soon as I committed to this, it felt like the world of the show just felt much more real to me"

"But on this show that takes place in a heightened version of the real world — where I could always land the plane or right the ship, or get them out of the tsunami — on this particular show, I think to everybody, the crew and the cast, this death just hit differently."

Peter's statement

"Humbled by working in step with our technical advisor, Chief Mike Bowman, and real firefighters, I wish to thank you all for helping me bring a sense of dignity and realism to the character in our larger-than-life emergency landscape. Your kind and complimentary words have meant the world to me."

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

When you think about Raven and when you look at and remember other people’s Yuusonas, when does it feel too much or is there a line for Yuusonas? Because sometimes I look at my own Yuusonas and feel that I am doing to much for him. Like what he can do, what he likes, his lore. I shame myself that I am doing too much but it feels right.

I was surprised when I learned that (Ms./Miss/Mrs.?) Raven was similar to my own Yuusona, Maeve. The biggest that I did was made him related to Crowley,being able to use magic and fight, and I already feel like I crossed some line. It fits on how I see his story play out and I don’t want to overhaul him.

I just vented a bit, I’m sorry about that. What I’m trying to ask is that what do you do if you start to feel that your character becomes too much? Because for me, I want to brain dump and put out every little detail about Maeve to people and get feedback from other people. Outside of the one person I can actually talk to about Twisted Wonderland.

It sounds to me like you’re tackling two different things here? 😅 Both are related to OCs, but one seems to be focused on activity/frequency of content and the other one seems to be focused on originality or how one's OCs compares to others.

Before I address both points, I'd like to clarify that while many people OCs in the Twst fandom are Yuusonas, it's not the case for every OC. "Yuusona" refers to a character made as a stand-in for Yuu, oftentimes acting as a self-insert or a "better version" of the creator. However, characters that aren't stand-ins for Yuu by definition are not Yuusonas. Residents and NRC students hailing from Twisted Wonderland, for example, are OCs, but NOT Yuusonas (since Yuus are generally magicless and/or transmigrated from another world). In other words, Yuusonas are OCs, but OCs are not Yuusonas. By these measures, my own Twst character (Miss Raven) is an OC but NOT a Yuusona.

To your first point: it depends on the individual. Every person has their own threshold for when they’ve shared their creative works “enough”. For example, there are entire blogs dedicated to just posting about a Twst OC, whereas I scarcely post about my OC unless I am asked about her. I know people who only indulge in their ship, while I prefer to build extensive lore for my character beyond the initial ship. Some people are just shier than others and keep their stuff private, some people are more outgoing and want to be publicly active. That’s a metric you need to gauge and set for yourself, because 2) no one else knows you like you know yourself and 2) again, everyone’s comfort level with this varies.

I noticed that you mentioned not just one’s own creations, but also “[looking] at and “[remembering] other people’s Yuusonas”. This phrasing makes it sound as though you may be in the habit of comparing your work to others’ work, and I’m always going to be of the mindset that this is a mistake. Comparison in certain instances is fine (maybe you like someone’s art style or writing technique)—but becoming fixated on what others are doing is the start of a slippery slope. You may then set arbitrary standards to meet or try to use other people’s posting schedules as a yardstick to “judge” your own performance. This can feed into a viscously unhealthy cycle. “I’m not doing the same amount as X”, “I’m doing more than X”, “X has more engagement than I do”, “I have more engagement than X”, etc. It’s setting yourself up to be in a constant competition, and there’s no winning with a game that doesn’t end.

You should do whatever you think is most fitting for yourself. If it “feels right” to you, then go for it. Find ways to push past the shame and the little voice that tells you “that’s cringe”. Whatever others are doing is the pace they’ve set for their own comfort, and you shouldn’t let what other people are doing dictate your own actions. Remember that making and playing with OCs is, first and foremost, self-indulgent—so put yourself first and have fun with it!!

To your second point: there is no such thing as an original idea. I certainly am not the first to have an OC that is Crowley’s relative or the first to give their OC magic. However, even if I was somehow the pioneer of these things, that does not grant me the exclusive rights or the trademark for them 😭

Two separate people could come up with similar traits for their OCs by pure coincidence; you’ll find tons of overlap in any fandom, especially in Twst if you find two characters twisted from the same Disney inspiration. So long as there wasn’t blatant art theft, plagiarism, tracing, malicious intent, etc. there’s no issue if your OC is similar to another person’s OC 🤷‍♀️

No line was crossed. You don’t need to overhaul anything. And again, you shouldn’t worry about what other people are doing; it has no bearing on what you’re doing. Think of the fandom like a massive sandbox. Everyone has their own little slice in it and has their own toys to play with. There’s no need for anyone to step into someone else’s slice of the sandbox or to worry about the toys someone else has or what they’re doing with those toys. You have your own toys that you made and are happy playing with, so just stick to your slice of the sandbox! As long as you’re having fun and not hurting anyone or imposing yourself on them, it’s fine.

Last thing I have to say is 💦 while I 100% understand being eager to share and chat about your creations, it’s… unfortunately not a guarantee? Validation is nice, but not necessary, and no one is for certain going to engage with the posts they come across. We have to learn to be accept that and carry on. Maybe it would be good to start small or just focus on sharing with a group of friends to build confidence first? It’s much easier to interact with familiar faces than the entirety of the internet. This is what I tend to do when I want to get feedback on big ideas or projects I have.

I hope that you find this advice helpful ^^ Good luck with your creations!

[bleedingichorhearts]

Can I ask for Tarnished x reader please? I'm obsessed with my Tarnished and can't stop thinking about what if they know about us - the player that sitting behind the screen and see us as their god, the person who guide them. And then one day, we wake up and boom! We isekai into Elden Ring, next to us is Tarnished who is clearly worry but also super excited because their god finally here! And they won't let us go anywhere too far anytime soon.

Yandere! Tarnished and maybe some smut? 👉👈 Thank you!!

“Oh boy do I also love this au. I think it referred as Self-Aware au or Reverse Isekai. I couldn't find a way to put smut in here, but I can do another when the Requests are up.” - Ichor

Summary - “You have been playing Elden Ring for a while now, but you have never expected to be waking up in that horror of a world. At least you had your... character: the Tarnished by your side, right?”

TW // Yandere, Flash Fiction.

|°𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕃𝕚𝕤𝕥°|

You have never expected to see your character- er Tarnished in real life. To see their armor glinting above you as they seem quite wary of you first, and you couldn't decide if you wanted to scream and run. I mean, you are in a world full of horrors. You know you are; you had pinched yourself to make sure that everything around you was real, and that you control yourself.

"T-Tarnished?" You hesitantly call out to the being that looks down at you: quiet, stoic. Something you has expected of the Tarnished, but not overly so. This being was sending shiverers through your body, your own creation was freaking you out. You take a guess this is how realistically it would be going against you- er the Tarnished. All cold, merciless, menacing, silent.

They move forward, crouching a bit with their hands extended. It made you flinch slightly at the swiftness of their movements, but their gentleness on grasping at you and pulling you against them was a surprise to you. Their body warm despite the armor that protects them, and you would think they would be cold because they die only to reborn again like an undead.

"Oh, uh... thank you?" You breathe, unsure if they even understand you. Your hands on their chest as you look up to them. Trying to get a read on them. Would they be killing you? Letting you live? Only to let you suffer like this world has?

That is if you couldn't die like the Tarnished, and that's not a thought you were too keen on fingering out. At all.

The Tarnsihed simply nods at you, acknowledging your words. Their gauntlets sliding down to your wrists and hold you close. To feel your warmth. To feel the divinity they believe that is within you. That’s why you were watching them, right? You’re their divine being.

You on the other hand are more… confused; out of your place with being in the Tarnished hold. You do not really know your- the Tarnsined, but it seems the Tarnsined knows you, and it’s a bit weird. It feels like- or something close to stalking that you don’t even know of, but perhaps the universe was kind enough to put some sort of memory into the Tarnished. So that you wouldn’t be… useless in this world. That you’re protected.

That’s what you think away ways. What you want to think to save yourself an headache of this possibility of being in a game that you play with a Tarnished character you have created.

The Tarnished carefully holds you, their chin on your head, and you feel… coddled in a weird way too. Nothing good, but nothing bad at the same time. Though, you’re not one to complain if this being seems touch starved. They were at least keeping you close and not killing you off as they were a killer of gods and demi-gods in the game…

“T-Tarnished?” You dare to speak up again, quietly; softly. You head moving to look up at them. Unintentionally brushing up against their neck to do so. Your hands moving to lightly press up against their armor as if they were a fragile being that hasn’t been through horrors, and they like that. That you seem to care. They like that you “nuzzled” them.

Their gauntlets on your wrist move when you move. Staying on your wrist lightly, never wanting to let you go. If you were to pull away? They were sure they would just pull you right back into them. Yet, you are a divine, right? They should be more careful of how they should treat you, nothing like an object to finally have and play with. They should listen to your orders if they want to be next to you, forever.

“Can you um-“ You pause, trying to gather your thoughts on the best course of action because obviously. No one gets realistically Isekai’ed into their own damn game. It was just something to read, not… act upon! “Can we… not be put in the open, Tarnished?”

They give you a simple nod, the metal of their armor clinking together before they move quickly. Wrapping their arms around you before hauling you up into their arms bridal style. A little, surprised yelp leaving you as your hands grasp at them quickly for stability, and you swear you can feel the silent amusement coming from the being as they walk through… West Limgrave you recognize.

You sigh to yourself, simply watching and smelling how real this world was to you. Wondering if they would put you at a Grace Site, and if you were able to see it. Besides that, were you able to get to your world? Would the Tarnished help you? Or even let you?

Well, even if they wouldn’t. You’re still glad they haven’t killed you… yet.

[moonilit]

Im reading more about Jason and just wanted to read from his origins and all that, which yes i know this is pre crisis and it all going to be retconned in a minute but its way too funny to me what I found

both these two different issues where published December 1983

New Teen Titans #37

And Batman #366

And apparently Bruce DID respect Dicks wishes and did not allow Jason to just take Robin

Then next issue Batman #367 January 1, 1984

Idk why jason just continued to dye his hair black ig its too late to go back now, so basically Bruce give him a chance but not as Robin, as a new partner with a new custom and name.

and he wanted to be called ISHMAEL 😭 idk if he referring to the character from the Moby-Dick novel but in any case. Non of the names stick, like they go do their thing and close up a case and everything and Bruce STILL can’t digest any of them. Which gonna be real, Jason was quite chill about this because he just start brainstorming new ones like ‘what? Ishmael didn’t cut it? A mouthful when in danger ok’ like :( I really liked Ishmael tho, bruce you brood.

problem solved when DC hold a gun to dicks head and tell him to just let Jay have the name:

So I just wanna say, that if you ever wrote or thought that Jason todd look back at his younger more naïve self and get embarrassed that he wore the leotards. Just know that its actually worse, because Jason Todd stood there saying “WWWOW” With sparkling eyes and WILLINGLY, with all his mental capacities chose the leotards over his own personalized custom. Like where is the sibling bullying for that fanfiction???

Dick: feast your eyes on my Spiffy custom Jason:

THEN DICK JUST FUCK OFF 😭😭😭 its so unserious 😭😭😭

[lemon-dokuro]

YuugenMagan... An enigmatic figure...

What a cool and unique enemy, especially for the series! The ladies are great too, don't get me wrong, but the appearance is so striking. It hits especially hard when you reach stage 10 for the first time. Such a beautiful construct.

Naturally, the Touhou fandom has taken an interest in the humanlike figure in the center. It really is quite exciting. You can come up with a whole new lady! The silhouette is just detailed enough to give some direction, but still very vague, which provides a lot of freedom. Usually, fanart depicts a blonde girl with a ponytail wearing a yellow japanese-style outfit. The details of the clothing vary from artist to artist, but the sleeves are often drawn as detached. And, you know... There's no problem here, really, it's a reasonable read, and there's nothing wrong with accepting common fan interpretations either, but I don't really like it. It's a cute character design, but it just doesn't feel Yuugen-like to me, or Makai-like. Which is why I'd like to share my own version. See...

After some thinking, me and my friends came to the conclusion that the arms must be crossed. Those yellow pointy things at the shoulders don't make much sense otherwise. Also, thumbs up, yes. lol Basically, what I don't like about the common interpretation is that the japanese-style outfit isn't fitting for the "western fairytale" look of Makai as it is seen in th5, so I have come up with something more western-looking. So it's something like this: loose hair that covers one eye, a shirt with a standing collar, a long skirt with wide pleats, an underskirt (or perhaps a lace trim), pointy-nosed boots and a wide-sleeved jacket. I also like imagining something like a little hair accessory on the uncovered side, but the lines are quite vague. This is my latest version, as a rough reference for myself:

I am quite satisfied with this look now, I want to try making it eventually. Some old versions are under the cut, they aren't actually that different - I've more or less thought of it this way since first discovering that there's a figure down there.

2020, 2021, 2022. Aquired in 2025: haircut, melanin, belt. Lost in 2025: eyesight. (the five extra eyes can see just fine, though)

[musubiki]

.🖤🔄🤍.

[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.

[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

[lamentfulwarbler]

In my head exists several AUs where nothing bad ever happens to him,,, (or it gets worse before it gets better—)

No Makeup version beneath the cut

[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.”