#which is probably not obvious based on how i draw them lol

[eebie]

I like gore but only in a very specific way. i cant stand guro and stuff that’s excessive about it because a lot of the time when i see it it feels meaningless or like it’s just for shock&horror, or it’s blatantly a sexual thing Which is fine, but doesn’t appeal to me. I’m not sadistic/masochistic in my enjoyment, i don’t really like it when it’s violent. I like seeing how things work, i like the thought of taking something apart and seeing what makes it tick, especially bodies. ive been fascinated with them ever since i could remember, been drawn to anatomy books and the pictures and explanations. when i was 10 i had one that i’d read over and over and never get tired of and i’d always eye them at libraries but never really take them out because i didn’t want people to ask questions lol. it’s cool that underneath everything we have this one thing that is fundamentally the same, even in the most reclusive and private of people. I think that’s the biggest appeal in what i draw, the aspect of cutting someone open and peeling back the layers of them, both in a metaphorical way and in a literal one. it feels impersonal and intimate at the same time, painful and cathartic and kind. It’s so cool

[icewindandboringhorror]

Other Misc. Rambling Thoughts on the topic:

(~ !!!!!!!!! if you're just reblogging this post for the Poll section, please reblog the original post without this addition* lol. ~)

(*not that there's anything super personal or weird about the addition, just that it's meant to be kind of casual Side Commentary, not really part of the Main Point Of The Poll, so it would feel kind of weird for it to be emphasized by being included in reblogs unless the reblogs were explicitly about the side commentary, etc..... if that makes sense.. ANYWAY!)

It's neat to read the written descriptions that people are mentioning in the tags, since it's almost like I can see or conceptualize the idea as well, but it's just.. I'm not SEEING it.

Like for example: I can imagine a vase, it's a muted mint green and slightly translucent, elaborate golden birds sprawled down the side in streaks of thin rough watery paint, the base material shimmers gently in the light, there's a small chip where it's cracked on the handle, etc, etc. .. But as I'm thinking about this I see literally nothing.

It seems like perhaps some people can visualize an object first, and THEN describe what they see. But I sort of work backwards. I am building the object in my mind, I can never see it, but it's a collection of concepts. Rather than visualizing all details as a whole at once, I am adding each detail one by one, building onto the IDEA of the thing.

The vase doesn't have a crack on the handle because I just automatically visualized a vase with a crack. It was more that I cognitively understand the concept of a vase, what they tend to be made out of, how they tend to look and feel, the properties they have. So based purely on that knowledge, I can imagine "a chip is something that a vase could have, it would look this way and behave this way" - more like... I'm constructing a bullet point Fact List about the object rather than seeing it.

So if you tell me to imagine an object, I can, in a way, imagine that object in great detail, but it's just.. I'm not SEEING those details, more just knowing it's qualities in a purely conceptual way. Sometimes in the tags when people are like "yeah I can see the skin of the apple, texture, little dots on the surface" it's like… I can imagine that too, I can know it's there, but just with no visual attached.

I guess rather than SEEING something and going ''ah. I know what this looks like because I have seen it''. I more just skip that visual step entirely and go ''I know what this looks like, I just randomly have a list of information about the concept in my mind.'' etc. Maybe similar to how sometimes in dreams, even though a house may look completely different and be in an entirely fake 'dreamlike' environment, you just somehow KNOW intuitively that it's meant to be your childhood home or something. Even when it looks nothing like it in reality. There's a built-in base knowledge of the properties or information of some things within a dreaming mind, etc.

--

This also makes me wonder about like.. how storytelling and myth is so important to cultures all across time. Or how this could tie also into concepts of religion.. etc. etc. If so many people really can kind of conjure these vivid images in their mind, then maybe that's part of why certain things are so meaningful to them? Like a "religious experience" being something you can actually really SEE/feel/lingering with you in your head, rather than just abstract words on a page, detached purely theoretical ideas, etc... hmmm

.

Plus also just for average emotional stuff too, even outside of broader cultural conceptual attachments..

Like, I don't think there's a direct 1 to 1 link (obviously not all people with mental illnesses that significantly reduce their emotional or expressive capacity also MUST have aphantasia or vice versa), but it's interesting as someone who DOES also have a much more lessened emotional range/pretty flat affect/etc. etc. to think like.. Maybe I WOULD be more emotional, in a way, if I could have these vivid experiences..?

Perhaps memories would hold deeper significance if they could really stay with me vividly. Or storytelling would evoke more of a deep emotional reaction to me if I could really picture and feel the things that are going on. If things were more TANGIBLE in my brain, rather than always merely conceptual highly abstracted ideas.

Kind of like, it's probably easier to get over the death of a pet or something, if after not seeing them for an hour you already don't remember what they looked like (beyond just a vague fact list of traits), and you have no vivid memories or mental reminders of them (beyond just factual information stores). COGNTIVIELY you can appreciate the idea of their absence, of course, you still miss them, but there's just no remaining visceral sensory ties. A very "out of sight, out of mind" sort of thing in terms of attachments, memories, emotions, etc. Maybe certain things are easier to "get over", when you're not having constant mental sensory reminders that occasionally rekindle your feelings about the event or etc.??

(like for example, maybe someone could remain angry about an argument longer if they could vividly replay it in their head over and over again. VS just like.. 'Yes I can factually recall the fact I had an argument, and I do have knowledge stored about what precisely was said, but any sort of sensory data such as sights/smells/feelings, etc. from the actual moment of the event are long gone and can never be conjured again in my mind." etc.)

Which again, I think lessened emotional permanence and image permanence in the mind are NOT inherently linked, can all be caused by different things for different people. And, since I can't visualize anything in my head, maybe I'm misunderstanding how it happens and the effect it may have on stuff like remembering things you miss or replaying arguments, etc. etc. But it's still a little interesting to think about, if they could influence each other to some degree.... :0c --

Lastly, It's also weird because I'm actually pretty good at estimating distance and spaces? I can quickly assemble furniture without an instruction manual, pretty easily have a concept of how much space a chair may take up in a room, how two mechanical parts might fit together - BUT, I am literally not actually visualizing anything. I cannot see 3D objects in my mind at ALL. It's like.. just based on the pure List Of Facts About Things Which I Have Observed.. I can intuitively go "oh this works like this/this is this size" just because.. I know it's that size. I don't have to see anything to know..?

But then on the other hand, I'm terrible at directions without a map (I guess because a 3d outdoor environment has WAY more complexity than like.. "Will this square fit into another square?"etc. lol ).

BUT, I also draw/sculpt/etc. entirely without references, and seem to do mostly okay at that..? Like.. I can't even remember the last time I actually used a reference or looked at anything whilst drawing. It's all muscle memory, and me just adjusting as I go until something "looks right" on paper, I never have a set image in my head (or external reference) before hand.. Hrmm....

AND.. I used to say that I had a photographic memory when I was younger, which I know NOW is not true (I always thought it was just an expression, not that people could literally see things in a photographic way). But what I was describing is, I do often associate information with imagery, just... without imagery....

Like "Oh, I know that I took my medicine earlier today because I have a distinct memory, a snapshot of a moment in time, of me rattling the pill bottle in my hands as I looked up at a stop sign while in the back seat of a car". When I say this, I can't ACTUALLY see/feel/hear a pill bottle, or vividly picture a stop sign, but it's more just a factual recall, of. Even though I don't see these things, I know they happened, the information of them happening (me hearing a sound and also looking at a stop sign at the same time) has been stored in my brain as a memory, a collection of linked facts. --

As for other senses, I cannot taste or feel anything in my head AT ALL.. wild that some people mention that. I mean, again, I can have a purely factual recall as if reading a textbook, knowing the information of 'X item typically has X texture, therefore I can imagine what it may be like to feel it' or 'X usually has this taste' etc. - but I can never actually experience those senses in any capacity in my mind alone. I would say audio is my strongest mental sense (maybe a 2.5 or 3 (if it were translated onto the above scale where 1 is most vivid and 5 is nothing)), then visual (4.5 at most, usually 5), and then taste and smell and such are just complete 5, absolutely nothing, I didn't even know people could experience taste or feeling just in their mind alone.. lol...

I know this is just a silly bad quality random screencap of a screencap that I found on facebook lol, BUT it's a succinct enough image to easily describe the concept in a quick/accessible way hopefully :

-

(and of course, feel free to elaborate in tags, etc.! (especially elaborating about other senses as well.. can you "hear" in your mind just as well as you can "see"? taste? etc.) It's an interesting topic to me, as someone who's like a 4.5 at MOST lol. I'm curious what option will be the most common :0c )

[paradoxbeta]

there is never going to be a normal way to put this but can we see your iterator designs naked

like. just. how'd you design them under their clothes

yeah of course! heres a moon i whipped up

and now for some talking, because ive thought a bit about clotheless iterator designs:

moon's design was inspired off of the atlas models from boston dynamics (and probably all subsequent iterators i draw will be at least somewhat inspired off the same). theyre pretty handy sources of inspiration considering they look awesome, and since their movement is astonishingly fluid, theyre great models for what sort of joint and limb designs create articulate results. i think its obvious which one had the heaviest hand in inspiring looks to the moon

moon is an older model so in terms of squishiness (for lack of a better term) there is none except for the face. actually, little related detail, the base of her thumb is not flexible, its essentially a small solid block. if youve ever owned a poseable mannequin hand with an inflexible thumb base you probably know that it can cause issues with fine motion in specific circumstances: its just a hiccup of being an older make. the more recent you go then usually the less bare-bones the designs are, they get filled-out midriffs and more "pinchable" areas. take this guy for example:

this is old art and there's things here i would do differently now, but note the squishier underarm: that sort of thing (generally) becomes more common the more recent your models are.

another thing that changes over old to new models is the amount of variation in how the body is constructed, at the beginning i imagine there were only a few select tried-and-true "right" ways to do things, but as time goes on and more avenues of construction become available, designing an iterator's puppet becomes more and more of an art form that is influenced more and more by the judgement and creative tastes of the puppet designer(s). paneling becomes more a matter of aesthetic instead of functionality, and you start to see vanity features appear more frequently (like nipple adjacent markings as seen above, lol).

id say that while older models are closer to the atlas models in appearance, the newest iterators would probably bear more resemblance to the cyborg bodies found in the alita: battle angel film

anyway all of that is to say naked iterators are cool

[allmoshnobrain]

After a bad date leaves you with a twisted ankle, your quiet but protective roommate steps in to help.

✦ on this fic: simon 'ghost' riley x fem!reader, fluff, mentions of alcohol and a twisted ankle

✦ a/n: alright so this may or may be not based on my weekend lol i do love the roommate dynamics so if you guys have any suggestions or ideas for this au feel free to send me an ask! hope you enjoy the read 🖤

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Tell me how much it hurts,” he says, lightly pressing his fingers against your swollen skin.

You suck in a sharp breath, glancing down at him as he kneels in front of the couch, his fingers brushing over your ankle. He’s not being rough, you’re just in pretty bad shape right now.

“It hurts,” you say, keeping it simple, and he scoffs softly at the obvious answer. “I think it’s kinda swollen.”

“You think?” your roommate lets go of your foot, standing up and raising an eyebrow at you. “Remind me again how this happened, sweetheart.”

You blush. It’s Sunday morning, sunny, with a soft breeze coming in through the living room window. A perfect day for a walk, to get some fresh air — except you’re stuck on the couch with a twisted ankle, thanks to last night’s drinking that got a bit out of hand.

“I was out drinking with a date,” you mumble, feeling your cheeks heat up. “But I didn’t really eat much yesterday, so I guess I… overdid it. He was walking me home, and I tripped and twisted my ankle.”

“And what did he do?” Simon asks, sitting down next to you on the couch. You let out a soft noise as he gently grabs your legs, putting them on his lap. One hand rests on your knee, his thumb lazily drawing small circles on your skin.

“He wanted to call an ambulance, but I thought that was a bit much. So I just had him help me up, and we walked back. We weren’t far anyway.”

“You had to walk with a twisted ankle,” he said in that flat tone that made it obvious he was annoyed — not with you, but probably with your date. “Why didn’t he just carry you?”

“I don’t think he could… I’m too heavy,” you say, rolling your eyes.

“I can carry you just fine,” he grumbles. “What are you doing going out with guys who can’t even carry you?”

You don’t respond, just lean your head back against the couch and close your eyes. You can feel Simon’s hand still on your knee — his skin is rough but warm. He’d come home from whatever he’d been up to on Saturday night, only to find you passed out on the couch with a very obviously swollen and painful ankle.

Simon was a quiet, reserved roommate, and he wasn’t really around much, but that didn’t mean you two hadn’t built your own kind of intimacy over the last two years of living together. So, when he saw you were hurt, he took it upon himself to check things out. You’d told him it was just a twisted ankle and a moral hangover. Nothing too serious. But clearly, he didn’t think it was as "nothing" as you made it sound.

“I’m sure he’s never gonna want to see me again,” you mumble, eyes still closed. Simon’s thumb stops moving on your skin, a clear sign he heard you.

“Who?” he asks. You open your eyes to find him staring right at you, eyes serious and focused.

“My date.”

“Good,” Simon mutters. “He couldn’t even take care of you after you got hurt. Should’ve carried you upstairs, helped you clean up.”

“I can take care of myself just fine,” you say, a little defensive, which makes him chuckle.

“Yeah? Then why are you still stuck on this couch instead of upstairs getting a shower and some proper rest?” He smirks, and you just roll your eyes without answering.

“Where would you even be without me?” he sighs, standing up. You let out a small, surprised noise as he lifts you effortlessly into his arms, holding you close. You feel his chest rumble with a chuckle, the sudden move and how close he is making your heart race. “You’re lucky you’ve got me, princess.”

“Shut up,” you laugh, but you can’t help closing your eyes and letting out a small, relieved sigh.

Because yeah, you know you are.

[river-mort]

Hi I love your mohg/rhadan art very much it’s my favorite thing. I also love your Morgott art a LOT. I love your more serious style and it brings such joy to my heart to see your art of the twins and little things about their relationship dynamic, that’s one thing that kills me about the game is we never get to see mohg & Morgott interact.

If you have any silly/angsty headcanons for rhadan/mohg I’d love to hear them. Or ones for the twins too for that matter.

i wish i drew more serious art it's just too much silly ideas occupied my head. I hate being the clown all the time it's my curse - being funny.

And thank you to ask question about some stuff I hc or draw. Last time I received such question was....years ago I feel

I'm also glad to intoxicate people into radmohg its such a funny and sweet ship. It's so sweet that I can't even come with any angst for it. They both might have their own sad stories they deal with (sometimes together) but something rough between them? They two has their own worldview and plans but they never confront each other. If someone disagree they just..... Don't talk about it? So You're a blood cultists? Okay just leave my army alone ok? They make some agreements and keep living. In fact I think it's impossible to make Radahn feel strong emotions - hate, anger anything. He is a big man of accepting and compromise when it's about relationship (not only romantic). He might be emotional on the battlefield and it's the only place when he can be rough but when it's a calm life he is as calm as capibara. He is a simple positive man. He is such a Kronk coded character to me lol, even if you throw a table at you it will just break and he will be like you okay? You seem sad :( . On mohg side, even being quite a self centered man, he somehow respect Radahn's personal space and decisions. He doesn't force him to follow his lead or do as be say - unless it's something small like carrying him in the top of the tower. But with Radahn everything is new to mohg - before he would never care about anyone in any way. He doesn't care for others opinions, decisions and desires. With Radahn he is unbelievably tolerant and sweet. From other side it actually looks like pretending and Morgott was absolutely sure that Mohg is up to something. Even Mohg himself thought he was up to something - he just didn't know what exactly he would possibly need from this man. During first period mohg acted so fun while pretending he doesn't care for Radahn and just want to use him for SOMETHING while actually he was simply interested in him. That's all. He was like no I don't care that he doesn't answer my letter for second day already and u walk around this room nervously because I think about other matters and definitely not because of that one specific. I don't care for him. At all. And morgott is like okay but I didn't ask?

With mohg and morgott on the other hand there's pretty much angst. And I'm not even talking about their different worldview and religions - that's quite obvious. Saying about headcanons I like to think that mohg has soft spot for his brother - too soft I would say. Being ruthless and cunning, he could've already get the leyndell throne even without killing his brother (which he always say he CAN do but no. He can't), but instead he actively helps Morgott rule, in mimic veil au he even becomes his advisor but basically he's a nanny - he forces him to wake up, to go on meetings, to do his duties which morgott due his strong, I mean strong, depression doesn't want to do at all. He didn't ask mohg to help and sometimes he doesn't even like mohg being around but mohg still do it - which probably makes some of his followers question his decisions and his promises. But mohg can'thelp himself. When he knows morgott will have some meetings HE is nervous because he knows how hard it for his brother.

Talking about angst I also like the idea based on my personal experience - some people can't be your therapists. They shouldn't at all but if they will they can't help you on a professional level which is what happened between these two - mohg has NO idea how to help his brother who is drowning in self hate. He is here in the time of need but he can't offer anything special. And in morgott case some simple support words and presence is barely enough to survive through some of his states of mind. I think sometimes mohg is exhausted. Based on my experience when some person you talk to is ALWAYS depressed and self hating unstoppable you just.... Give up at some point. And I think sometimes mohg is quite close to this. Of course he won't but it feels like you hitting a wall with your head constantly. Pointless

But talking about positive hc I think instead of open conflict they just tend to make fun on each other. You know, all these cocky comments ir sarcasm with all this "at least I don't serve some his ass tree that doesn't even answer" And they start fighting. Just two stupid boys. I don't have siblings but I think lots of memes about siblings relationship would suit them

Also Morgott and Radahn will find a way to communicate. I think Radahn is actually respect morgott for his skills at fighting and for morgott Radahn is just.... An okay guy. He doesn't try to take the throne or destroy city. I think they would even become sports companions because I think that morgott likes doing sports. It's his only hobby

[murdercide626]

Thoughts on the Sonic 3 trailer:

First of all, HOLY S***!! This trailer was frikkin amazing!! :D

Shadow looks so badass, and just from the three lines we hear from him in the trailer I can tell Keanu is gonna be great in the movie!

I'm also glad to see that they won't be shying away from the darker elements of Shadow's origin.This movie is definitely gonna make me cry I know it...

Also, Eggman finally has his chubby gut! lol

Speaking of, it seems that Eggman and Stone aren't the ones to awaken Shadow as they seem unaware of the situation until Sonic goes to them asking for help. I can see why they changed it because if Eggman was teaming up with Shadow, like in SA2, it would probably feel a bit too similar to the plot of the second movie, with Eggman's partnership with Knuckles. So it's interesting that it seems that Shadow could be working alone in this version of the story. Actually, that brings up another aspect...

WTF!! GERALD IS STILL ALIVE???

This is definitely an interesting turn, and it brings up so many questions! The most obvious question is HOW?? Well, some people think that Gerald might have been changed to being Eggman's father rather than grandfather to justify him still being around. But maybe he is still Eggman's grandfather but he was in suspended animation for all these years, like Shadow. Or maybe he's a ghost or hallucination? Or maybe it's time travel, who knows! XD Eggman called him "pappap" which could mean either father or grandfather, depending on who you ask.

So, if that really is Gerald "in the saggy flesh" could that mean that he's actively manipulating Shadow into destroying the world, or is he going to be somehow instrumental in stopping him? I'm really interested to see what direction they go with this!

Also, it looks like the Ark has been changed up and is significantly smaller. I wonder if this shot is showing it going up to space?

And in this shot that appears to show Tails flying from the Ark, you can see some sort of attachments on the front that resemble Eggman's, or rather Gerald's, mustache.

I love this Japanese Chuck E. Cheese-like place called the "Chao Garden". lol

Also, hello Shadow 2005 game reference!

Eggman actually getting to hug Gerald is something I never expected to see, but damn is it wholesome! ^^

Omg, this drawing Sonic made!! My heart!

And I really dig Eggman's new mobile base that resembles a giant crab! lol

Nice Akira reference!

Anyway, I'm starting to ramble, so I'll just end this by saying that I am so effing excited for this movie! Just a few more months! I can't frikkin wait to see it! :D

And this time I'm gonna try to avoid any more trailers or spoilers, but we'll see how that goes... lol

[dyradoodles]

Hiiiiii! 💕 I was just wondering….. what are your preferences for Zack & Seph? Do you ship ‘em, is it up to circumstance, does the age matter to you/do you consider their age and their gap? Why not even throw in how you fell in love with Zack & Seph to begin with? Do you have sources?? MLA format for Zack’s fandom page???

*plops down on floor*

Details plz! ❤️

Ah yes hello person that I definitely do not know, who definitely didn't see me say I could write an essay about this very subject on discord LMFAO

I'll put the actual essay under a cut for people who don't want to scroll through my Many Feelings about these two lol As a TLDR to your questions:

Yes I ship them, but also Yes it's up to circumstance! Yes I consider their canon ages/the age gap (which most visibly manifests in me only drawing them platonically if I'm drawing Zack as a Second/with the puppy hair, or writing a fic taking place during CC)! I was actually into Aeriseph first and stumbled into ZackSeph fics, and realized it was a similar dynamic, but with someone who spent time with Seph canonically before he went bananas! All of this was before CC came out and I've been loving these characters for 20+ years!

To borrow a phrase (from crylin iirc), honestly, I like just seeing them standing next to each other, romantic or no LMAO <3

NOW, FOR THE ESSAY.

So to expand on what I said earlier, I think it's obvious from my blog and ZS server that I ship these two LMAO That said, the way I ship them is based heavily on the era of fandom before CC was a thing. I got into FF7 around 2002 (possibly earlier, I just don't have the dates on drawings that old), five years before CC came out. At the time, we knew next to nothing about Zack beyond the very short clips of him in OG. So, fandom did what fandom does best, and tried to fill in the blanks!

Some of the efforts to figure out who Zack was went all the way down to his name, because it's Zakkusu in Japanese. So you'll see him as Zax, too - There were heated debates on whether to use Zack or Zax. And no last name! Fandom had to come up with surnames themselves. We also didn't have much of a reference beyond his polygon model, which seemed to have darker skin and, (as many fics described it) violet eyes. It was also assumed that, since he was a First who worked closely with Sephiroth, he was probably around Sephiroth's age. You likely already see where I'm going with this, laying all that out lol The Zack I draw and write is very much based on that time period, and if I'm honest, that's the character I really ship with Seph. I still joke in my fics sometimes that Zack's last name might be Donovan or Darklighter, etc., which are old fandom surnames!

Now, obviously CC came out and threw all this on its head, because we finally got a whole GAME about this (important!) minor character. I have many beefs with CC's writing and Square's insistence that so many of their characters need to be child prodigies (they can't ALL be prodigies, Square!!!). With Zack going from an assumed early 20s to suddenly being 16, and all the craziness of CC's plot, the way I approached the ship changed as well.

This is where I would firmly say my stance is: I don't think Seph had any interest in Zack romantically, in CC. Because that's a kid lmao If I'm engaging with the Compilation as a whole, I definitely lean way more into the mentor/mentee relationship for the two of them. As a personal rule, I only draw them platonically if Zack's got the puppy hair, because that was the most obvious visual cue I could think of that could draw that line between Zack's teen years vs. adult. If Seph managed to not go insane, then yeah, later in life I could still see them getting together! But clearly that's already AU territory lmfao

Ultimately, what I like best about Zack & Seph is how they treat each other (while Seph is still sane lol). That goes for platonically and romantically. Zack is so genuine and kind, and treats Seph the way he always wanted to be treated - like he's human. He can joke around with Seph in a way most people simply can't. Meanwhile, Seph treats Zack's feelings with respect, even during the times he's laughing at Zack for being ridiculous. He's also honest with Zack. He answers truthfully when Zack asks what's wrong, and it's clear that it's because he knows Zack is not a threat; Zack will take Seph's feelings seriously, too. I can enjoy the drama of the trauma and heartbreak that comes with Sephiroth's descent into villainy, but my favorite stuff definitely involves a lot of Nibelheim fix-it fics lol

Despite all the changes CC made to Zack and his relationship to Sephiroth (RIP Second in Command Zax Donovan/Darklighter/Knightblade, my beloved), their actual dynamic with regard to how they treat each other stayed, miraculously, intact. That's the real reason they're still my favorite characters, and how my enjoyment of FF7 has remained as strong as it is after literal decades. Square can retcon as many things as they want in the Compilation, but they'll never stop me from making art and fic of the characters I grew up with. Unless I get a C&D for some reason LMFAO Until then, I'll keep enjoying my AUs (and if anything, I have even more reason to enjoy them now that AUs themselves are canon - you bet your ass I'll be in the AUs where ONLY OG happened and I can ignore everything else LOL)

Thank you for the questions!! It was fun to get all my thoughts written down in one huge chunk, as opposed to my typical disjointed ramblings to my friends. Hopefully it was an interesting read!

Sources:

Fanlore. “Zack Fair.” The Organization for Transformative Works, 2 Jan. 2023, fanlore.org/wiki/Zack_Fair.

Doodles, Dyra. "Way Too Much Fandom Lurking." Dyra's Childhood to Adulthood, Copious Amounts of Fanfiction, 3 Apr. 2024

[silverspleen]

Still gently bewildered by Hadir's motivations, like, obviously not when it comes to main plot beats, I totally understand his motivations with the lengths he'll go to to ensure his goals are met, but why specifically did he encourage Alex to be in the position he's in with Farah. He is so chummy with him!

I mean besides the fact that Alex + Gaz are the two MW19 PCs so like, they are legally obligated to be actively involved in the narrative to draw in the player and keep them informed via the avatar of two very pretty military boys, and the players needs to be in a position where Hadir "Alex we're brothers now" Karim betrays you to be like "GASP but we're bros."

But Hadir, sir, that man's job is not just "killing russians" it's also destabilizing small countries for the united states government it is only by the grace of him being a MASSIVE SIMP for your sister and her iron fucking will that he's stuck around for as long as he has. Hadir wasn't even there for Alex being like "lol I'm defecting" when Laswell tried to pull him out. He was gone! The betrayal had happened! Dude you were there for the "I don't decide where I go they just send me" rooftop conversation, Alex is a third party with very ulterior motives why are you playing so niceys with him!

This man's entire job is to be here on behalf of the us government hunting down chemical weapons and you, the man who has stolen the chemical weapons with plans to actively use them against your very bullheaded sister's wishes are like, making cute lil' guns for him and your sister like :) "Alex pls tell my sister when I betray her to not freak out and try to murder me, Alex do u promise? promise to explain?" like, dude this man's entire job in your country was to hunt you down???

"Alex why did you bring her here?" (Wolf's Den) Man, first of all you clearly know Farah is going to do what she wants and it should be obvious by this point that Alex will 100% support her. Second of all this is literally his mission.

Third of all you have known this man for exactly

(checks wiki)

THREE DAYS

anyway

I'm assuming it all has to logically come back to Farah and the fact that he's her older brother. Obviously culturally I'm not sure how the older+younger sibling dynamic goes when you spend your childhood in russian prison camp and your baby sister is your CO but like, he clearly still loves her so much despite their ideological differences. And it really seems like ideological differences are not a huge deal for him. There's the fact that later he is very much convinced (correctly) that Price will help him destroy the gas factory completely based on their shared history and relationship with Farah, so like, emotions are really driving his actions. He knew Farah would hate him and he wouldn't be able to be there for her and idk he's projecting something onto Alex a little methinks. Alex is helpful for like... three days and Hadir's brain gets to thinking. Probably reading into it too much but that's what I'm gonna stick to as some kind of character analysis.

It's all means to an end but idk it feels weirdly naive of him to be so lackadaisical with alliances??? which is both charming and deeply tragic in it's own right. Like, it worked out, it was a good idea to get Alex so involved considering I'm vaguely aware that by MW3 he is still Farah's second, but like, idk dude were there not any nice ULF guys you could have gotten to replace you when you defected to the faction Farah fucking hates???? No??? This fuckin'... All American CIA guy you've known for three days is your brother now and who you're going to entrust your sister to? ok then

[sunthyme]

Happy Black History Month!! It's time. For probably my favourite set of designs! However, please please please read about Hestia in specific, I want to make sure I handled her correctly and if not, please let me know and I'll remove her! Tyty so much for liking these, I'm so happy to continue.

Now for...

🪼Octavinelle🪼

First up is

💰Azul Ashengrotto💰

(he/him) Transmasc - Gay Asexual

I really love how he came out omg.

- Firstly, he's Hispanic. Duh. His name is literally Azul, I don't make the rules. I'm thinking Hondurian or Guatemalan and I'd love to hear what you think too.

- Made him plus-sized because GOD we need more body diversity and I think that he would have eventually come to terms that weight is simply a number and that number alone doesn't mean you're healthy or unhealthy, y'know? He exercises and whatnot and is very good at taking care of his body.

- Autistic, his special interest is THE GRIND(tm). His capitalistic ass could rant about business building forever.

- I gave him fins as ears cause I gave all the mer fins for funsies. More for aesthetic than anything else and I figure it's a general trait of most mer (I'll talk about the exceptions later lol)

- I loved how pretty his eyelashes were so I added some teardrops to the ends for some flavour. He still wears glasses, again too lazy lol.

Onto the twins!

🍄Jade Leech🍄

(he/him) - Bi-curious Asexual

- I brought back the og concept earrings and piercings cause I thought they looked neat. I also gave them both earrings for simplicity's sake and because I headcanon that Azul gave them each a pair for their birthday.

- Longer hair because Imma be so fr, if the twins share similar expressions, I can't tell them apart lmaooo 😭😭😭. Also, felt it suited his personality more.

- Had a punk phase and while he outgrew it, he kept the piercings anyways.

- He and Floyd have matching tattoos on their biceps, Floyd's being a shrimp with sunglasses and Jade's being his favourite type of mushroom (hen/chicken of the woods).

- Also, autistic. Who's surprised at this point? Not me. This little guy and his mushrooms. 'Little guy' being like 6'5' lol.

🐋Floyd Leech🐋

(he/she/it) Unlabelled Gender - Pansexual

- He's not actually a fan of piercings but got them because Jade wanted to match.

- She has larger teeth that actually interfere with its speech and got bullied for that when he was younger, meaning all three of the Octotrio were friends kinda by default as the 'weird' kids.

- I think he has bipolar disorder and is ADHD, both are rather obvious from his character in-game.

Onto my ocs,

🎲Hestia Benoit🎲

Third Year - (she/her) Transfem - Sapphic

Okay, first is the topic of the og character. So she draws reference to the Boogeyman from Nightmare Before Christmas which was a very controversial character because Tim Burton sucks. Hate him. I wanted to hopefully reclaim the character, though it isn't necessarily my place and if anyone has a problem with that, absolutely let me know and I will remove her. The original character took heavy inspiration from black culture, specifically New Orleans and I wanted to properly represent that with Hestia. I hope I did her justice and please please please let me know if she is offence in any way. 🩷🩷🩷

- She's the older sister of the triplets and a really good one, caring a ton about them. Her favourite thing to do is spoil her younger siblings.

- She also has crazy good luck and wins any bets she makes. If you play any game of luck with her, she'll win. She's a part of the Boardgame Club and infuriates Azul whenever they play something luck-based.

💍Konane Alohi💍

(they/he/she) Genderfluid - Panromantic Demisexual

- Konane is twisted from Tamatoa from Moana! They're indigenous Hawaiian and I will be researching more into the culture as I render them out more fully.

- I gave them the bioluminiscens that Tamatoa has though I think it would only be visible in low lighting, such as in the Octavinelle dorm.

- LOVES shiny thing, obvi. Vil keeps trying to convince her to join Pomefiore but he's like, "I get paid here and can afford more stuff so pass."

- Gets along great with Cater, they constantly do collabs on their social media.

Onto...

⚓️Josephina Killian⚓️

First Year - (she/they) Demi-girl - Bi-asexual

- Twisted from, you guessed it, Captain Hook!

- I kept as much as I could from the og design and that includes the eyebags, this girlie doesn't sleep. She's only conscious from the 30mg of caffeine she drinks in the morning.

- She and Samantha met at orientation and have been inseparable since, with Sammy always following her around.

And speaking of Samantha,

🦭Samantha Chief🦭

First Year - (she/her) Transfem - Pan-asexual

- Twisted from Smee! I gave her albinism so her hair is also white naturally.

- Because of her albinism, she avoids outdoor activities for the most part. She is part of the Swimming Club (which idk if that even exists but it does now lmao).

- SHE'S A SELKIE OMG. Sorry, same up with that on the spot lol but now she is. Very shy around people because it's her first time on land so the other mer of the dorm kinda look out for her.

That's all for now, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see y'all in part four!! 🩷🩷🩷

[batsplat]

thoughts on the latest casey interview? it’s so funny because I keep seeing people posting different excerpts of it on here depending on which guy they like lol

well, first off, this is how I found out there IS a new casey interview. I did have a quick dig around whether I could un-paywall the original but. no luck. so I'm basing this on the write up in mowmag - which passes the test in that, unlike certain websites, it actually addresses multiple things casey said on different topics. so hopefully isn't just the most clickbait-y material and is a relatively exhaustive summary of the stuff he said. no cherry picking on THIS blog

anyway, my main takeaway is that it's probably for the best that the casey/valentino relationship doesn't get TOO warm, because if you ever put these two on a podcast together the resulting material could level continents. I still stand by my belief that these two could have co-hosted an all time great conspiracy theorist youtube show in another life. what a pair of guys

my other takeaway is that, despite working for them as a test rider AND a rider coach, casey still very obviously has NOT forgiven ducati. the grudges he's airing by proxy in this interview!! spectacular. with all athletes but ESPECIALLY casey, it's always healthy practise to just keep in mind the actual context of their careers when reading their mouthing off about the current sport. because sometimes they will be fighting yesterday's battles... this is a man who still has enough bones to pick with motogp to disassemble the whole skeleton

I'll follow the order of the interview provided by the mowmag piece:

“I know the company,” says Stoner, referring to Ducati and answering a direct question about the possibility that in Borgo Panigale they might decide to ‘sabotage’ Martin’s eventual victory, “and I know what they are willing to do to win. I’m surprised I haven’t seen it before, or maybe it happened and Jorge was good at overcoming it ” In short, Stoner goes so far as to say that Ducati might have already put a spoke in Martin’s wheels, but that the young Spaniard was still able to be stronger than any obstacles created. With Ianieri pointing out to the Australian, however, how much Dall’Igna insisted that it will be real sport and there will be no games. “That’s what Gigi thinks. But then there’s Ducati and they don’t want to see the number one go. But everyone is watching them very carefully, if they make a mistake like that we’ll see it. If they create a problem it will backfire on them. I hope that everything goes smoothly and that we can see the real world champion.”

do you know what an absolute nightmare it would be if martin has a mechanical dnf in the catalunya ii sunday race. something which can of course HAPPEN, pecco's had more mechanical gremlins than jorge this year. but obviously that wouldn't stop anyone from losing their minds

this is just so extremely casey. I laughed when I read it. of course he's been thinking about how ducati will probably sabotage martin since jorge's exit to aprilia was announced. of course he thinks ducati would pull off something shady to keep the number one plate in house. I love the idea that ducati HAS been sabotaging jorge but they've just been like, extremely shit at it. look at him saying that he KNOWS ducati and thinks they SUCK... an opinion he is completely justified in holding - ducati did not do right by him in 2009, and those wounds also still show in some of his other responses in this interview. but, y'know. if ducati was going to sabotage jorge, quite frankly they would already have done so. it's just a little late for this, isn't it. what are they even going to DO, stick a pin in jorge's tyres?

readers familiar with casey's oeuvre should be drawing a fairly obvious parallel at this stage - given that this is not the first time casey has dabbled in a light dash of conspiracism where title deciders are concerned. here are the two versions of his book concerning what happened at valencia 2006:

will never get over how casey was fighting the good fight for valentino's tenth in 2013 icl. early adopter

back then, casey was blaming the 'commercial interests' of Big America for sabotaging the most popular rider in the history of the sport - until Big Dorna sniped him and forced him to remove the 'commercial interests' line in the paperback version. (to be clear: this is a joke, there's no indication anyone from dorna had a chat with him, it's just funny that his stance ever so slightly softened between versions but then he did also add the wonderful 'welcome to my world' line.) it's perfectly reasonable to believe that valentino had a dud tyre in 2006 valencia and broadly tracks with what he himself says about the race, somewhat less reasonable to believe They were actually out to get him. valentino was very unlucky throughout 2006, yes, but... people are unlucky sometimes

anyway, I don't actually want to relitigate 2006 here, but I DO love his paranoid streak and how like... y'know, there's always the danger he's mellowed in his time away from the sport, he's certainly less tightly strung these days... but yup, he's still got that in him. still that guy

from a longer post about the similarities between valentino/casey, reckon this is one of the things I've written about the pair of them that holds up the best:

it is completely unsurprising that jorge martin's plight has struck a chord with casey, who himself always had a chip on his shoulder and was more than happy to use said chip to motivate himself. both jorge and pecco have a fair bit of casey in their competitive dna, which does show in how casey talks about both of them - martin perhaps with a bit more of lorenzo's brashness mixed in versus pecco having more of valentino's cunning... plus his contrarianism (which casey is no stranger to either). if we're already drawing alien parallels. just always that slight sense that they feel SOMEONE is out to get them, that they're never being given a fair hearing... again. chip on the shoulder

then there's this bit -

Calling it a very powerful attack is almost an understatement, with Stoner not being light on Ducati even when he comments on the decision to entrust the official bike to Marc Marquez for next season. “They could have made sure that he would settle for an official bike in a private team” – he thundered.

- which we're going to circle back to. I do love how casey's switched from going to an italian newspaper to launch an extended attack on valentino rossi to going to an italian newspaper to launch an extended attack on ducati. critical levels of support

So how will it end in Barcelona? Casey Stoner doesn't give his prediction, but limits himself to an icy comment: "I think Jorge deserves the title, and that he is in the position to win it. Pecco will do everything to be champion and Ducati would like to keep the number one. Everything could go smoothly, or there could be great chaos "

given how dud tyres have been a big theme in both 2023 and 2024's title battle, 'slightly odd jorge crash helped along by slightly odd michelin tyre' just feels like. such a plausible scenario. that could easily make everyone lose their minds. honestly, even if jorge crashes on his own and just says his bike felt weird afterwards, whether it's true or not. it'd be chaos, yeah. and casey will be THERE no matter what

If from the point of view of the show everything is more exciting, from the point of view of the rider who has raced, won and suffered in the difficult world of MotoGP, in this 2024 we are also witnessing a great injustice. "For me the World Championship should be as always: on Sunday - adds Stoner, stating himself openly against the Sprint and against the new MotoGP format - If you make a mistake you have lost an opportunity, now you have two. And then it doesn't allow you to really work on the set-up, because the only concern is getting into Q2. The system doesn't work for me, you can see it from the abysmal gaps. It might be there every now and then, like in Formula 1, but every weekend is not necessary. We have seen what Pecco has done in the last three seasons, the growth is constant. Ducati's results are always better, but in comparison with the others he is the one who wins the most. You can't belittle him, they are real victories, not Sprints. What he has done this year is impressive".

this bit I do agree with casey on, not because of what it's doing to this specific title fight and more just my general distaste for sprints. at some point this last year it's become received wisdom that pecco's sunday success is partly reliant on being able to do some trial and error in saturday sprints, so I found it interesting that oxley took a different stance in his sepang column:

I'm not sure I ENTIRELY agree on this (obviously I'm just basing this on vibes not actual expertise). even though obviously all riders do get this sprint data boost, I feel like it's fairly plausible pecco + his team make better use of it - just because there's better data, doesn't mean everyone is taking equal good advantage of it. then again, is there really any evidence that pecco is getting more out of it, beyond doing better in a format he's better at? as casey points out, it does mean you have way less time to faff about with set-ups, which pecco does like to do. there's also intangibles that might make the sprint experience advantageous to pecco on a sunday - for instance, I feel like his banger starts this year (remember when those were a thing) have tended to come on a sunday when he's already kinda figured out where to place himself in the pack. so maybe he does get something substantial out of having an extra race

that being said, I'm increasingly of the opinion that thinking pecco is ACTUALLY helped by the sprints - that the championship picture would be no different without them - is... kind of overthinking things. he's not good at the format. any marginal gains on a sunday he's getting from the sprint data just instinctively feel like they're probably not equal or more to what he's losing out in raw number of points through the sprints. it does feel like pecco's gotten better at sprints specifically in the second half of this year, so it's interesting to see if that carries through to next season... and look, none of this is to say jorge won't be a deserving champion - at the end of the day, you have to win the format you're playing. but yeah, I do reckon pecco would likely be champion without them

I've been curious for a while about casey's thoughts on the sprint format - I thought he'd be against it because of his luddite vibes as much as anything else, though I do also reckon the format wouldn't have been bad for him specifically as a rider. (if nothing else, it would've helped him in 2008, given he was fighting for the title against a rider you feel like would be TERRIBLE terrible terrible at this format. less time for set-up experimentation, softer grippier tyres and shorter races weighted towards qualifying/starting well? yeah say goodbye to that eighth.) anyhow, his reasoning checks out - part tradition, part the feeling that it's too forgiving of mistakes, part fucking up the structure of the weekend, part giving too little weight to 'real' wins... all very casey. casey was the type of rider who was always more about focusing on wins than championships - that you shouldn't settle for results just because your 'rivals' were behind you, for instance, that fighting for race wins comes first and the title will follow. here's a paragraph from a sachsenring 2012 write-up (where casey crashed on the penultimate lap while fighting dani):

obviously in the context of that particular title fight, it didn't end up mattering anyway because of the injuries casey would go onto sustain. but... well, casey's errors in the first half of 2012 would have put him in a tough position anyway - as dani proved, even once honda got on top of his chattering issues, reeling off victory after victory would not be enough to take the championship when jorge could just keep riding home to safe p2's. (and when dani in a disadvantageous points position pushed too hard in the penultimate round and crashed, it was game over, stop if this reminds you of anything.) the point is that pecco this year has played the race-win-or-bust role in a way that is probably instinctively quite appealing to casey - doesn't sit easily to watch the guy on ten wins lose the title. there'll probably always be elements of the slander pecco receives that resonate with casey... pecco's words getting misinterpreted by press and fans, pecco being called boring, pecco being called too crash-prone, unstable, bad at handling pressure... the two of them are plenty similar as characters, which is reflected in the type of criticism that tends to head their way. and pecco's stubborn resilience, a determination to motivate himself as a spite response to the doubt from others - well, that again is probably going to remind casey of himself

moving on.

Impressive, but not enough to win, with Jorge Martin now 24 points ahead, just one weekend away from the big dream, before the painful farewell. Casey Stoner is not easy on the market and Ducati's choices either. "If Ducati loses the world champion it will be a hard blow," he explained. " But I think it will be even harder for Martin, who has spent these years being loyal to Ducati I don't think it's right how it went. Unfortunately, it's the way Ducati works and that's why they've lost so many riders now. Marquez? In many ways I understand the decision, but it doesn't mean it's correct. When you have riders who give their all and stand out among the 22 on the track and someone arrives to take their place, I don't think it's right. I think Marc could have had a factory bike in another team. It wasn't fair for Bastianini and even more so for Martin."

yup, casey all over. of all the aliens, casey had the least hype surrounding him in the lower classes. he's... well technically I suppose valentino started in a satellite team and won his first title with one, but it was very much a ''''''satellite team'''''' - casey was the only alien to start his motogp career in a satellite satellite. a proper one. he KNOWS what it's like to not be the first choice for ducati!! if melandri had gotten out of his gresini contract to ride for factory ducati in 2007 (lol), casey could've been in real trouble even finding a seat. and he's a big believer in loyalty! casey was beyond disillusioned by the shit ducati pulled in 2009 - when they planted stories in the press that casey's diet and exercise routine was responsible for his mystery illness, big names openly criticising him during his absence... as well as of course how they aggressively courted jorge and offered him a way bigger salary than they paid casey, after telling casey they didn't have more money to pay him

it's that last bit that feels uncomfortable, right - like casey, martin threw in his lot with ducati, off the back of quite a contentious split with ktm to even get the pramac seat. like casey, martin has now repeatedly been looked over - and like casey, his ultimate split with ducati is the result of ducati favouring the golden boy. (while lorenzo obviously didn't join ducati at that time, this was ultimately still one of the big reasons why casey walked away after 2010.) unrewarded loyalty... hey, I suppose him and valentino actually agree on this, yeah. ducati has spent so much time cultivating its young talent before showing themselves ready to ditch them all for the big name. and it IS how ducati works, they really AREN'T particularly loyal. all these years later and they're still just the same, as far as casey's concerned

Ducati, therefore, as the central theme of the entire interview, but also as the favorite target of a Stoner who on the one hand seems to make very clear analyses, but on the other also appears to be someone with a decidedly poisoned tooth, given that even when asked about his future in the Team Lenovo garage he lets many doubts shine through on the management that Borgo Panigale will be able to have of two champions like Bagnaia and Marquez. “It depends on how Ducati behaves - he concluded - I think that Pecco, mentally, is strong enough to face the situation, it will be a question of seeing who Ducati wants to protect the most. For sure, the two will try to create chaos in the team to make things go in one direction or the other. We will see how Ducati manages the situation and who they choose. They will have to be as balanced as possible or it will be a problem”.

(incidentally, I love the italian 'poisoned tooth' term for having a grudge, it's so evocative. lots of poisoned teeth in motogp)

casey's confidence that there's going to be pecco/marc drama... he's so real for this. I've been wavering in my own confidence a little bit, wondering whether pecco/marc might not end up massively disappointing me, but casey's coming through for me here. unsurprisingly casey's going to implicitly relate more to pecco in that particular dynamic... in general, it's nice how complimentary casey is of pecco, even while summoning locusts upon ducati. just on a personal note, I never particularly enjoy when retired athletes play into narratives about how much worse the current competitors are... it's mean-spirited, generates dumb discourse and also feels rather undignified. so, y'know. always pro-glazing the current lot

in terms of what casey says specifically... obviously there's the ten wins thing, which casey unlike much of the fanbase does understand isn't something a mid rider can pull off, and then there's the line about pecco being mentally strong enough to go up against marc. I've talked before about the similarities between pecco and casey before, which obviously is also relevant here... casey faced accusations of being unstable and unreliable and too sensitive throughout his career, starting well before his path crossed with valentino's. too crash prone, a choker, too easy to rattle. and then they come up against a rival with a reputation for mind games, who many seem to expect will be able to 'break' them. whatever pecco's on-track success will be next year, there's no real indication that casey's wrong here - for all that the pair of them are high strung and ever so slightly neurotic, both casey and pecco have repeatedly exhibited real resilience and self-belief. idk, again, it's fun how both the current title contenders do have quite a few casey-coded characteristics. love casey-coded characteristics

The reference is clearly to Honda, with the Australian explaining the Japanese's major crisis in this way. "It's hard to get an idea from the outside," he said, "but I think it was convenient to have the three European manufacturers at the top, with the Japanese slipping to the bottom. I don't think that in Japan they suddenly don't know how to build a winning bike anymore. The Europeans are very creative and make everything happen faster, but they're not as refined as the Japanese. And with such fluid rules, everything is easier for the former. With Albesiano, Honda will try to add creativity and speed up operations. It will be interesting."

pretty sure I've said this before, but one of casey's funniest traits is gesturing vaguely in the direction of a substantive accusation without quite spelling it out. does he think dorna is sabotaging japanese manufacturers? is the system rigged against them?? for WHOMST is it convenient, wHO are you accusing of what? I'm not even saying he's WRONG about all of these things, sometimes conspiracies are real, I wouldn't know either! I just think it's great how this is his go-to reaction. always looking for that shadowy influence secretly protecting the anointed and sabotaging the unfavoured. the bit about more fluid rules favouring the europeans is interesting and I'd like to hear more about that theory, but obviously that wouldn't necessarily mean this was the intended consequence of said rules. does feel like casey's implying that though! come on casey, tell me more

anyway. this has been my take on casey's newest contribution to the discourse. I can be accused of many things, but not of lacking casey stoner opinions. that's my little guy

[w1f1n1ghtm4r3]

ippiki au lore dump

if the name of the au does not make it very obvious, this au was inspired very heavily by the trained cards for kick it up a notch (i just chose to reference the comm, hitsuji ga ippiki, as the au name because it sounds cooler than calling it like. kickup au. so its ippiki au instead. when i first started working on this i just called it animal fighters au but thats long LOL)

its one of my favorite sets, im a big fan of dystopian and post-apocalyptic themes which the set hits perfectly and there was room to have fun with animal designs (i mean, seriously, they gave kohane sheep horns and named akitos costume "hound kid") and so i started thinking from the moment i laid eyes on the set when it leaked and i ended up with an au based around the idea of animal/human hybrids.

first of all for actual au stuff, character profiles! these were made a lot earlier on into working the au so ive made minor adjustments to their designs since then, but nothing drastic. mainly just little things ive changed when drawing them in more detail, like additional scars and such.

while making kohane a sheep and akito a dog (hes... not a specific kind of dog. hes a mix of a whole bunch of different larger domestic dog breeds combined with some wild canines. ) were obvious from the set, deciding on the animals for an and touya required a bit more thought. i ended up settling on a fox for an partially as a nod to her ny3 card and also because for a long time now ive thought theyre fitting for her anyway, and touya as a black leopard because... he's kitty. but i wanted to make him a big kitty not a domestic kitty. i do also like bunny touyas but for how i was feeling with this au i wanted him to be a cat.

theres the fun little detail that kohane is the only animal that isnt a predator in vbs.

but i should probably explain why theyre animal hybrids in this au.

im going to put the rest of the lore dump and more art below, this gets long.

basically, in the face of a coming apocalypse, there was an effort to attempt to hybridize humans with animals to see if they could create a form of human (or something seen as "human enough") that would be more resilient if the apocalypse threatened the survival of normal humanity. it was never completely successful and the hybrids were less stable/generally shorter lived (if physically stronger) but it ended up being unnecessary and enough of humanity survived to rebuild. but the experiments to create hybrids continued.

in the present day of the au, hybrids are created for... less pleasant tasks. the kinds of things people dont want to take on, and theyre physically stronger than the average human so theyre put to those jobs instead. or theyre created as showpieces/pets for the wealthy (most people outside of those circles find it strange to keep hybrids like that though. hybrids arent always seen as being truly human (although theyre fully capable of everything human and then some) but theyre still seen as human enough for it to be weird).

many of them though, are created as sacrifices for entertainment in battle arenas where theyll have to fight each other to the death. its a seemingly inevitable fate to die there once theyre sent, but escape has happened before. an is living proof of that, as both of her parents are escaped arena fighters who helped establish a small town of hybrids out in the wasteland beyond the city at the core of hybrid creation and sacrifice.

how an ended up as an arena fighter despite being born well outside the city... thats a long story.

touya is a showpiece fighter, created to fight but kept secure and safe outside of his registered fights. he might be healthier physically, much less worn down by fighting, but hes been very socially isolated and doesnt fit in with other hybrids very well.

an and touya fight in the same arena, and touyas fight days are the only times he interacts with other hybrids. hes given free reign around the hybrid compound (where most other hybrids are restricted under collars and chains) and he ends up meeting an there. although tense, they become sort of friends and he frees her and they escape together.

kohane and akito are just normal arena fighters, created solely for that purpose, although kohane was meant as an early sacrifice due to her skittish nature, but she survives. theyre in the same arena as each other, although its a harsher one than the one antouya are in, theyre unable to properly interact with anyone else at all and are just lucky enough to be neighbors to end up bonding.

i just grouped them based on which side of their face they have the barcodes on in the original cards lol in this au the arenas generally brand their fighters with a code for identifying them. touyas is actually not permanent like the others, but temporarily applied whenever he has a fight coming up (like a temporary tattoo lol)

kohane managing to survive despite the intention being that she dies is actually the driving force that starts the fic for this au (which fun fact, despite me never mentioning the title, does have a title! the fic will be called "fight, flight, freedom", unless i think of something that fits even better, but i already like the title as is so i probably wont change it)

its rough but i promise everyone gets a happy ending eventually :)

now for sitting through all that rambling heres some art

heres my very initial attempts at designs for them! no drastic changes even since this initial pass at designs tbh i was pretty content with them pretty quickly

some various doodles of them interacting, some during/around the time of the fic and others post-fic

what if they were... more animal? like furries instead of just the ears/tails? obviously noncanon but it was a fun little thing to draw

wip aged up designs! heavily inspired by the power of unity set because it also fits into the post apocalyptic type theme and i thought would work for them when theyre a little older. assume theyre about 20-21 here, while in the main canon of the au theyre about 16-17.

a silly little sketch i did last week of aged up akikoha in their burn my soul outfits... kohane cant really wear hats, horns are inconvenient for that. everyone elses ears would probably make hats difficult too, but you could probably make holes for their ears. you cant really make holes for the tops of her horns.

some little finished pieces i did for this au. can you tell akito is my favorite to draw for this?

now heres some other random au facts

an and haruka are childhood friends, haruka also being the child of ferals. haruka is a domestic cat hybrid (either a gray or black cat, i havent decided which yet). she is not in their hometown anymore either. where is she now...? ill leave you to wonder about that.

kohane and minori grew up in the same group of created hybrids together, theyre friends but were sent to different places so they dont know whats happened to each other since. minori is a goat btw (inspired by her halloween card)

a lot of ans scars are from injuries that snowballed after an incident in a fight that severely broke her tail and led to part of it being amputated. her balance was thrown off for a while after that so she was a little clumsier in fights than normal

akitos scars on the other hand are caused by the fact that hes a reckless fighter. a good fighter, but not much care for the damage he takes in the process. that and improper padding on his collars and muzzle, leaving those spots unable to fully heal from being rubbed against metal for months and when they finally do heal they scarred.

im still sorting things out for sure but tentatively for vbs npcs i have decided on fox ken and yuka (obviously, same as an), tiger taiga (i mean... how could i not go for the pun. and i think it suits him), maned wolf nagi (update march 2024 ive drawn nagi now so this is what has been made canon), raccoon kotaro, caracal arata, and dog souma (sorry to any tatsuya fans, i have not figured out how to include him in the au at all)

vbs all very clingy with each other once they get comfortable together. platonic polysquad ❤️

other characters outside of vbs exist in this au but theyre just not relevant enough to the story for me to include here 👍

the fic outline is like 2.4k words. the first chapter is a couple scenes away from being finished and its about 5k words. it will not be the longest chapter of the fic. this is going to be a long au.

maybe ill do another lore dump another day if i can think of more stuff. well see.

if you made it this far, thank you for reading, heres an edit i made the moment we got high quality versions of the cards and is probably partially responsible for the existence of this au

[halfusek]

so lemme just put it out there: using AI for generating art, nevermind if for a joke or seriously, in this point of time, plain sucks

i’m refering here to that bendy highschool crush anime thing whatever i refuse to interact with stuff about this so i’m not exactly familiar but what matters is that it was AI generated AND even more so it was not mentioned anywhere that it was until people started pointing it out

there’s a few problems with that

first one is obvious - just the use of AI - as yall probably know its been a highly controversial topic these past few months, because of course it’s built on thief - first stealing artists’ work and then stealing their jobs; a joke or not it STILL uses that based in thief technology... though there do exist some AIs that asks artists for constent, for example the one that deviantArt created recently (and people misunderstood and spread a lot of false information about but oh well that’s a whole other thing) BUT generally these services for AI generation of images steal from artists - and not only! - they just take anything they can find fitting on the internet, even stock images and there was a case about a stock image site suing one of these AI services because *yeah* it’s just thief

another layer to all that adds the context of the game they made itself... like... BATIM/BATDR’s story is at its core about exploitation of artists and - apparently wether they like it or not - evils of capitalism (i still cant comprehend how Mike Mood can be anti union after making a game like this but like lol). it’s about art, about struggle with it and it’s just soooo out of touch to do something like this for a company making such game like hello?? if you wanna take from how artists are abused in big corporations then maybe have some decency and don’t use tools that abuse artists??? like that’s just so in bad taste man i have no words

then comes the fact that they waited with mentioning that AI is used is in the video. it STILL isn’t in the description of the video (the time im making this post is 13th april 2023 so the vids been up for 12 days), which i think AIs these days even require to be given credit?? but either way a lot of people didn’t even realize AI was used and i don’t blame them, not everyone pays attention to details or has an eye for them, this is why such information should be included... if it supposedly was meant to be “part of the joke” all along

which i find hard to believe? sure it came out on april first but.. how exactly is it a part of the joke? the AI generation was simply used for making the art for this fictional joke game. it could have as well been drawn by a real artist and no part of the joke would have been lost because it’s not part of the joke at all? like it’s not mentioned anywhere and it’s not obvious (Meatly even said they heavily photoshoped the images because they looked bad) so i’m asking how exactly AI being used is part of the joke here because it just seems like it was used as a mean of creation here and there was an attempt to hide that it was done at all

and if they really didn’t wanna spend time and effort on drawing it themselves (i get it, they might be busy with other things) then just A. don’t?? make anything?? or B. use an AI that doesn’t steal from artists and credit it so people know? and if it’s reeeeaaally a part of the joke then actually make it part of the joke? even a singular line of commentary laughing off at AI would make this actually work but there’s just nothing

i’m glad that Meatly said they aren’t planning on using it for anything serious but using it for a joke is still using it like sorry but that’s just how it is

and the whole ordeal of not saying what AI it is just rubs me the wrong way because high chance is they aren’t doing that because this AI is one of those that steal from artists so... eh... like i realize this is an assumption but i think it’s fair to be a bit skeptical about them after everything they’ve done :’)

[herbofthyme]

tips on drawing hands? u do it so good!

omg ty!

It definitely took me a while to become more confident with them, and it was pretty sudden when i realized “wait. this isn’t so unpleasant anymore”

I think the most important thing for me was learning not to focus too much on the specific shapes of the fingers, and think more about the vague shape of the hand as a whole. If you zoom in on my more recent stuff you’ll probably notice that often rather than actually drawing fingers, I sort of draw a suggestion of where the fingers are. If the hands do look more detailed and precise, I’ve just drawn on top of the suggestion where it Feels Right. It’s all about vibes! (And half the time the clean lines feel wayyy worse than the loose sketch i had before lol)

I threw together a little thing here:

Basically, I rely pretty heavily on this funky little 3d trapezoid shape, because it helps me keep the 3d shape of the hand in mind. Then the fingers just kind of… happen. Usually with a fair bit of trial and error. This shape is super helpful to get the vibe of the hand across, but it’s important to remember that it’s a guide, not a rule. I often used to make my hands Way too stiff, because I was keeping the lines on the trapezoid very straight. Bend it! Warp it! Let your trapezoids be weird because hands can be pretty weird.

I’ve seen a lot of tips that say you should separate the pinky and/or index finger from the others, and I often do that. It helps keep the shape just a bit more dynamic, while still letting it be more natural.

An important thing to keep in mind is remembering that the fingers are 3d objects, even if what you’re drawing is still just a suggestion of a finger. I defffinitely used to struggle with this. I’ve placed some red arrows to show what I mean: the base finger should be connecting to the whole face of the trapezoid thing. They have a round base, they aren’t flat. (I know this sounds obvious but it’s SO easy to accidentally flatten them).

Depending on the angle I also will use circles to vaguely represent the joints in the finger, which helps a lot with foreshortening . I tried to show this in the bottom right.

Trial and error is also sooo essential for me. I’m going for the vibe of a hand, not a detailed hand. Lots of erasing and redoing until it feels like a hand. Most of my art is very sketchy in general, so this might not work well for people with more detailed styles or precise line art, but it helps me to keep in mind.

Anyway, don’t be afraid to look at your own hands for reference! Think about how your fingers intersect with the main part of your hand. I hate studying photos (it’s so much effort lol) but it can be VERY helpful. The more comfortable you get, the less you need to look at reference, but I still lift my hand up and contort it into silly shapes all the time! Hopefully I explained this coherently :)

[0809sysblings]

weapons the prisoners would play in Splatoon

I primarily play ranked/anarchy, so most of what I say will be from that perspective 👍. also it's kinda obvious from my picks that I have a defensive and supportive playstyle, so I have a bit of a bias towards those kinds of weapons lol.

read more cause this is kinda long and so people not into Splatoon can easily scroll past <3

Haruka

Haruka would play a support weapon that would allow him to be as passive as possible while still contributing to the team. he'd probably spend most of the match keeping mid inked and special farming.

so I think the N-ZAP '89 would be a weapon he'd like to play. he'd really like autobombs because it'd help him feel safer knowing he can chuck one to where he wants to go and it'll reveal any sharkers so he doesn't get jumpscared.

Yuno

I think Yuno would play a more niche weapon. she'd want a weapon that's a bit more engaging than just holding down ZR, so she'd probably find playing the basic shooters pretty boring. she'd be a very strategic player, probably the type of player to like to bait opponents and take advantage of the weaknesses of their weapons. she'd be especially good at predicting what both her teammates and opponents will do.

all of this would make her a great backliner. so, I think she'd maybe like playing the Tri-stringer. it's a pretty fun and mentally engaging weapon to play if you know how to use it. she'd love taking advantage of the AoE properties of the charged shots and using them to make opponents go where she wants.

Fuuta

already talked about him, although it was mostly in a shitpost-y manner lol. but I do think he'd play the Range Blaster. he'd think the design is sick as fuck. I Know his ass would've loved the Grim Range Blaster from Splat 1 and 2.

he probably has a bit of a superiority complex surrounding the fact that he doesn't only play the current meta picks. but he absolutely trashes on the widely-considered weaker weapons, too.

Muu

I think Muu would be both an aggressive and passive player. she'll challenge you, but the second she's at a disadvantage she's running away. she probably likes flanking.

so I think she'd like the Octobrush Nouveau. not the vanilla Octobrush because I think she'd be too intimidated by Zipcaster to want to play it lol. this weapon would give her a lot of mobility, making it easier to run away strategically retreat. she probably uses squid beakons pretty selfishly, not really going out of her way to put them down in good spots for her teammates. (also I would make a Nouveau Haha French joke, but unfortunately the Japanese name for it does not include any reference to the word nouveau 😔...)

Shidou

let's pretend Shidou is not an adult with a Highly demanding job that would definitely not allow him to spend significant time playing video games. Shidou would definitely play support. he's very focused on the objective. he finds it more rewarding to help protect and backup his teammates rather than to challenge opponents on his own. he's the teammate that covers your jumps for you and always responds to callouts.

so I think he'd be naturally drawn to the Tenta Brella. the vanilla variant is bit more support-oriented than the Sorella variant which has a more aggressive special, so I think he'd probably lean towards the vanilla. he'd maybe switch it up though depending on what he thinks would help push objective best based on the map and mode.

Mahiru

Mahiru would be the type of player to just want to have fun. she probably only plays turf war and would want to do fun things and match outfits and weapons with people she gets to play with. Splatfests are her favorite thing, and she makes sure to ignore any salty plaza posts.

and so for the life of me I cannot come up with any actual weapon assignment other than I think she'd like playing around with an inkbrush because then she could draw cutesy things like hearts or smiley faces with it. she'll just play whatever will make her and anyone she plays with happiest.

Kazui

Kazui is gay so obviously he plays Splatoon. /j I don't have much to say on what his playstyle would be or what kind of player he'd be tbh... what I do know though is that he would play with stick controls because he's "an old man who doesn't understand motion controls".

maybe it's just the fact that he's very strong and has a solid physique, but I think he'd like splatlings, specifically the Nautilus 47 or the Hydra Splatling. while the Hydra Splatling fits the Strong Man vibes better, I think he'd also find the Nautilus 47's charge-holding gimmick neat and would like playing it because of that. something something it references him hiding his true self and sleight of hand tricks, idk.

Amane

Amane would definitely not be allowed to play Splatoon, or the vast majority (if not all) of video games for that matter, but... let's just pretend she plays video games.

thank you to @/laniemae for bringing up the umbrella Amane has in The Purge March MV and suggesting a brella for her, because that is what I'll be going with! I think she'd play the Splat Brella. specifically the vanilla variant as opposed to its Sorella counterpart. mostly just due to the fact that I feel like her playstyle would be safer and more defensive, which wouldn't match well with the Sorella Brella's more aggressive kit and especially its much riskier special.

Mikoto

I'm gonna give each of the 3 alters their own weapon(s). because I want to <3

Mikoto perhaps it's just the reference to 3 in its name, but I think Mikoto would play the Tri-Slosher Nouveau. he probably doesn't have that great of aim, so he'd like weapons with a wide hitbox where aiming isn't important. I think he'd love fizzy bombs, so he'd pick the Nouveau over the vanilla. and more importantly he'd be awful at Inkjet because of the aforementioned bad aim lol.

Orekoto Orekoto would definitely have the most aggressive playstyle of the three. I think the obvious choice for him would be the Splatana Wiper. although I think he'd prefer the aesthetic of the Splatana Stamper more, the Wiper is better for a faster and more aggressive playstyle. also he would LOVE Ultra Stamp.

Midokoto Midokoto is probably a player that prefers longer range weapons and would gravitate towards backline positions. so I think he'd play the Custom Jet Squelcher. I can also see him playing weapons like the (Forge/)Splattershot Pro, H-3 Nozzlenose(/D), and Squeezer.

Kotoko

Kotoko has such big charger energy. you cannot tell me she wouldn't play chargers. she's a very observant player who stays composed under pressure. she has a lot of game knowledge and can easily predict most players' movements. she probably takes the game a little too seriously.

I think the E-liter 4K would be her weapon of choice. her E-liter vibes are simply too strong. that being said, I think she'd also like playing squiffer once it gets a more aggressive kit. she's that terrifying charger on the enemy team that makes you want to scream every time they splat you and who you end up targeting the entire match just to try to splat them as revenge. she has made dozens of players rage quit and shows no signs of stopping.

🦑 thank you for coming to my Squidx Talk 🐙

^ if that doesn't format correctly on mobile im so sorry

[num1heatranny]

SRRY ABT HOW LENGTHY THIS IS 😿

ive been reading fanfics about snowkit and believe ive come up with a way for him to have become a warrior if he had survived the hawk attack (this is only likely though if speckletail got the hawk to drop him, since any other potential way for him to survive (hawk drops him whilst higher off the ground) wouldve either a; caused injuries that were beyond repair so he wouldnt be able to be mentored or b; kill him)

if speckletail had managed to make the hawk lose grasp of snowkit, he'd only need to recover from the injuries and potential physical therapy

because of his disability, it would be a struggle to train him as you would a normal apprentice, so they would obviously need to come up with a way to communicate to each other

which is where my personal idea comes into play

we know that starclan cats can visit dreams of the living, firepaw for example. from what ive seen, i dont think they have any specific criteria a living cat must have in order for a starclan resident to visit them (besides medicine cats, but those are using propheicies so its different)

but suppose there were, i believe snowkit surviving such an event would make him qualify for it, seeing as they most likely didnt expect him to live, maybe even intended on him dying (like the erins when they killed him off so his mother would have no choice but to retire)

i also dont recall if cats who were born with disabilities were able to see/hear/etc in their dreams (jayfeathers the exception, for obvious reasons) so lets say they can, or if they cant, starclan can at the least make them able to for special occassions

why this is relevant is because cloudkit NEEDS to learn what his clanmates are saying, which sure, they can use tail motions, but thatll never fully work

now imagine a cat, one who had gone deaf or hard of hearing dur to an accident, but managed to learn how to read lips and use tail signals at the same time

this cat is sent/or chooses to visit snowkit in his dreams, where he can hear, and teaches him how to speak, read lips, and how to use tail signals

this, alongside brackenfur training him in the world of the living, would allow for him to properly communicate with his clanmates AND be able to properly excell in his training, inevitably becoming a warrior, likely later than the typical apprentice due to needing to learn how to speak AND lipread, plus how to control how loud he is, and effectively import those skills into the real world where he is deaf

he'd still probably struggle a little, but not too much to the point its impairing. he might scare off prey sometimes from underrestimately yhe ptedsure he puts into his footsteps, but his heightened senses, primarily scent and sight, would be able to make up for this

this is my first time posting lol

if possible to draw or write a fanfic based off this scenario, pls do! id love to see it, i really love snowkits tragic character, and have read all the interesting fanfics tagged with his name, so im at a deadend on what to do

[toonqueen]

Figuring Out Who to Play in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 lolol

Okie I bought Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 but need to decide what character to make for it. My main OC Avoca looks like she is Super Saiyan  4 but is just a normal level while like that. SHE WAS JUST BORN THAT WAY. I saw Xenoverse doesn’t have the ability to make your char look SSJ4 in base so I was thinking of playing one of her adult kids in the game instead. *Cough* The Dad is a version of Future Trunks of course. *Cough*

BUT THEN I also found out in Xenoverse,  Trunks used the Dragon Balls to wish for a powerful warrior and thats why your character shows up.   For some reason I found this more funny than just the Kaioshin of Time asking you to work for her because- just imagine being wished somewhere by an alt-timeline version of your Dad like WHAT lol. Anyways, I thought it would be a fun thing to use to explore each kid’s personality. How they would react to an alt-version of their Dad wishing for a powerful warrior and then them showing up. Maybe it will help me decide which kid I should play in Xenoverse 2 lol. 

Hell, I'll put up a poll to help me decide too lol.

INFO ON EACH OF THEM UNDER THE CUT.

Boxer

He is supposed to have a sweet Samwise face I just can't draw sweet people WEH.

With light purple hair and blue eyes he’s obviously related to Trunks. His hair cut is even pretty close to Trunks. (It's more like Gohan’s bowl cut on Namek.) However Boxer wouldn’t say ANYTHING. He’d pretend like “NOPE THIS ISN’T ODD AT ALL.” I would also headcanon that Trunks finds this obvious too but also does not say anything. So it's gonna be awkward. Boxer will not get up in Trunks business though and treat him as any other acquaintance. He would very dutifully follow orders and help any way he can. 

I keep thinking about what Trunks would think in this situation lol. Long story short, Avoca is technically related to Goku. So Trunks could see Boxer and not think ‘this is my future son from an alt timeline’ he can also think ‘this is me from an alt timeline where Goku was my father instead of Vegeta????’ Boxer does have softer face features l sooo… anyways lots of internal screaming from poor Trunks.

Boxer is technically personality wise supposed to be a perfect blend of his Mom’s and Trunks’ personalities but I can totally see Chronoa witnessing Boxer and Trunks sharing the same brain cell a lot lol. 

Jock

And he’s gonna be the complete opposite of Boxer. While he is 6’4, dark purple hair, and yellow eyes- He could pass off NOT being related to Trunks. However, he would just tell Trunks right away he’s a son from an alt timeline. He would call Trunks ‘Pops’ and be his wingman. While at the same time having Trunks’ back, he would also pick on him like the same way he would tease his siblings.  

Jock has a huge dislike for gods and angels but will behave for Chronoa since a version of his father is there. Anyways, he’s here for a fun time and won’t stir up trouble. But also won’t tell anyone he has a time machine on him. Lol. Maybe he’ll tell Trunks if there is an emergency. 

I headcanon that Trunks in general, though proud of his Saiyan heritage, at the same time would keep the ‘being royal family’ on the down low. Jock on the other hand, very loud about it. Also one of his jackets has a combo of the Capsule Corp and Saiyan royal symbol painted on the back because why not. 

Olive Twins/Seelie

I DIDN'T DRAW THEM BOTH CUZ THEY ARE TWINS they are gonna look the same anyways it was hard to draw the same thing TWICE.

Olivia and Oliver have the ability to stay fused as long as they like so I would play them as their fusion named Seelie probably. With black hair and teal eyes they aren’t obviously related to Trunks. They would not say anything but would also be little gremlins about it. They would be very protective of Trunks. Also they would very much block anyone who isn’t like their mother from hitting on Trunks. LOL. They can easily be bribed to stop doing that though with any treats or trinkets they have never seen before.  

As I write this I realize Jock would totally help this alt Xeno Trunks get a date with anyone not like his Mom because he doesn’t want another HIM around. While the twins are very loyal to their Mom, only someone Mom like can see their Dad. Did I mention the twins are like goblins? I just picture them making those clicking noises like house cats do when watching birds when anyone they don’t like gets near Trunks. LAWD.

Their Fusion doesn’t look much different from each other since they're twins. Makes them taller lol.  But the fusion does take on more SSJ4 features like their mother has. YES I KNOW THE GAME CAN’T DO SSJ4 features but I’d figure something out weh. 

Brawler

He wouldn’t obviously look related to Trunks - blue eyes but black hair. He has his face though but maybe it’s not noticeable under his long black hair and bangs lol. Though when he goes to Super Saiyan it's more noticeable. Brawler would not say anything about being technically related to Trunks. He wouldn’t want to influence anything in whatever different timeline this Trunks is from. I’d say out of all the siblings he is the most calm. He’d also not be much different in behavior than Boxer would have. Maybe less stressed than Boxer would be. Lol. He would be a pacifist if he could but you know how LIFE IS. 

Brawler is more of a reverse Zamasu where he really likes people in general. A very Doctor Who vibe but uh, much more introverted than Doctor Who. LOL. He is very much wanting to help people but uses a different name when he helps someone because he doesn’t want to be perceived. He has that extroverted introvert energy going for him. I already have a list of different names he would use while on different planets/timelines/universes when helping people: Ajax, Orion, Eschalot, Ascher, Dechard, Sync, Kyrios - and I’m sure I can come up with more. If I use him in Xenoverse 2 I’ll probably do Orion or Ajax. WE’LL SEE. I do love how clever I was doing Brawler though. IT HAS AN UNDERWEAR WORD IN IT SEE. But still fits with his brothers Jock and Boxer so FRIKIN CLEVER.

Anyways thats all I got. lol. It took me too long to write this AHHH. I'm also working on profiles at refsheet.net