#you see it isnt about what is 'best' for the characters interests and positive character development its about what is funniest

[moeblob]

Shockingly I named some OCs recently and fleshed out the deity lore a bit for my "guess i'll marry the demon lord?" plot.

Solei has existed since near the start but Mehra and Valdas are new to the concept and all three? Petty. They're technically the Trio of Peace cause that's kinda their goal and duty to their world but really, Trio of Pettiness is suitable as well.

[hexhomos]

isnt it wild how jayce is the most heavily misunderstood arcane character..everytime i see takes about him being upper-class and rich or mean and condescending or not caring about viktor in s1 or whatever other garbage ppl say about him i lose a year of my life

It's crazy to me that I've been saying jayce is working class for years and this got confirmed in the draft 1 board for arcane christian linke posted on twitter sometime ago lol

house Talis is a MINOR HOUSE of toolmakers whose most prominent contribution is the 'collapsible pocket wrench'. They're literally blacksmiths. This is a service and labor position. Jayce can't even afford to use gold in his inventions in act1 because he relies on the Kiramman money for everything. This is not the life of a rich guy in Piltover this is middle class at best lol his drive to finish up hextech and succeed academically is him trying to build a better life for himself!

Blacksmithing is historically a very intensive work position. The work wears you down & eventually disables you very early in life (jayce's injury in act3 seems to be a metaphorical speedrun of that, in some ways) we're never told how jayce's dad died but it is very fair to imagine it was a work related. he's fucking aware of this, its true In Real Life and it brings such an interesting context to his interactions with Viktor and how they want to create things that help common laborers and make the work better if it wasn't for the council. (in s1 act2 their progress day showcase to heimerdinger BEGINS with jayce complaining that they've been stuck fulfilling the council's demands these past 10 years and now, finally, *finally* it's their time to decide what to do with hextech. and they're not even allowed that.)

Also, the perfected hexgems in s1 are kept in Kiramman-crest boxes. I noticed this just the other day. JAYCE AND VIKTOR DON'T OWN SHITTTTTTTTTTT they're getting exploited big time while all that 'investor' money is charged back with deep dividends

just like real life academics they probably spent most of their life writing up grant proposals like dogs and begging for funding that will wring them dry later on. Where the hell is all my jayce and viktor class solidarity 'getting drunk off their mugs and complaining about their dipshit bosses' content?

[related post]

MARCH 2025 UPDATE: just got my Arcane artbook and it directly confirms the Talis family legacy is not big industry, because those weren't even part of the world. It is only post-timeskip that we start to see ramped up production + Jayce's focus is giving magic to the common people.

[badgertracksart]

Portfolio advice, from a lead who hires Concept Artists

(This was originally a twitter thread I wrote before the site self imolated, hense it's strange structure.) I wrote this after a weekend of portfolio reviews - 1. Like a maths exam, please please show your working. I want to see thumbs options, mid options and of course a final design.

2. Arrange your portfolio, I don't want to bounce about between subject matter and pipeline. Your portfolio's narrative should be as strong as your work... 3. Please make worlds that excite the viewer, make them want to go in and explore them, explain to them the interesting parts of the town, or the way the character's hat unfolds. How will this draw the viewer in? 4. As I've said before the majority of your project work is explanatory not mood, make sure your portfolio contains explanatory work. Explained here -

5. A lot of beautiful post apocolyptic paintings, , but 80% of realistic games and film, we just give the environment artists photo ref, they are capable artists in their own right. Different work in stylised where you do need to create rules for how things can be translated. 6. Production art contains call out sheets, material references and flat graphics. This doesn't have to be your final image, but it should support it.

7. Design characters on a swatch(es) of the environment they will be viewed in. Not on white. I make swatch backgrounds from screenshots, it avoids assumptions that damage readability. 8. Reverse of this, put people in your environments, show me the scale.

9. It's not a deal breaker for a review, but if you intend to get a job, please show me your work on a screen larger than a smartphone (print outs probably the cheapest option with the best battery life). 10. Please have your contact details clearly visible, and by that I mean email address, I will not pass your social media contact on, I cannot input your form into my tracking system. EMAIL ADDRESS emblazoned and bake it in, sometimes recruiters do funky stuff to pdfs

11. Your portfolio will never feel done, not to you anyway. You will have learnt from your latest pieces and want to apply it to older work. But we know art is a journey. Send your portfolio anyway. I've been in the industry 10+ years and my portfolio is still not 'finished'. 12. If you are applying to an environment centric Concept Art position then please vary your times of day! Golden hour is cool but show me some happy sunny days, looming overcast days, what about at night? Vary your weather too! Sunny snowy day? Rainy Spring day? Stormy night?

13. If you are applying for a character centric Concept Art role then please ensure your portfolio shows a variety of body types and ethnicities. 14. Designing characters for games? Please show back views and feet (!) Many potfolios contain only front views. This is a problem because:

You haven't shown you are considering the design from all angles.

In many games rear view is the main view.

Stop cropping feet.

15. If you are entry / graduating and looking at Portfolios to compare content and standard of yr own work too, look at hired grad/junior artists as opposed to seniors Seniors and leads often have old or personal work in their portfolio which isnt representative of the day job. 16a. Show clearly the intended use case for your Concept Art. Mention the game type in the description. Are these player character designs for a 3rd person adventure game? Then more back views please. Bonus points for diagetic ways of showing health / equipment / role etc.

16b. Are these designs for an FPS? Then really the player view of the gun needs to sell the player style/ choices, in an FPS your weapons are almost your character. Are these world designs? What's the view distance? For an RTS your shapes need to read from above & a distance. 16c. The lack of clarification means I am judging the design in isolation, which both harms the design (you might be considering the backview of a char as the main adventure character.) Or an NPC, their waist up expressions may be important for conveying exposition and mechanics.

16d. Concept art is not separate from gameplay, great concept art serves the game team before it is a good illustration.

17. Play games. A variety of games. Think about them. IMO to be a good concept artist you need to understand the common language & references used by your peers. Also understand the principles and common language your audience are used to. FPS design rules are v.diff from RTS.

18. There are many skills that are needed in concept art, please show them. For example: Graphic design - logos, liveries, typographic use etc. VFX concepts - Abilities, Ambience, motion concepts. Architectural knowledge - How buildings are built! & more but I'm out of space :O

[zeropro]

So I’ve seen you draw and tag a couple of different ships, just wondering which are your favorite???

Love your art btw :D

Thank you!

I don’t have a specific ship i'm particularly loyal to, so I guess I’ll rate them and also provide my own headcanons:

(disclaimer i dont know ship names so imma just try my best)

Trine-shipping: yes, put the three of them together, I don’t care. familial, sexual, romantic, platonic, its all good. I go crazy seeing them stand next to each other in the cartoon what do you want from me.

thunderwarp: I see this one a lot and I quite like it. these two being mates with starscream doing his own thing kinda makes sense considering starscream has a bunch of other ships. also makes it fun when something happens to one of them and starscream is left in the awkward position of having to deal with that.

thunderstar: been thinking about this one more lately. they’re like foils to each other. thundercracker’s a good boy to starscream’s bad boy, and he does such a concern about all the morally dubious stuff starscream gets up to. but at the same time, he admires starscream’s ambition and rizz and starscream the kinda bot that would pull you so high if you followed him. I think out of anyone, starscream is the closest to actually trusting thundercracker. 

starwarp: i had this thought one time of what if skywarp is like the horniest asexual and starscream is the most traumatized aromantic, and how would that even work XD nothing solid in the works just an idea that I had. ive seen these two less often outside of trine shipping but it can be pretty hot. I like when they are being protective of each other. I always see skywarp as more emotionally open than his trinemates and starscream can use some of that open and honest emotional love and care. someone to forcfully make him accept being loved. someone who will actually push back when he’s being stupid. and with skywarp being loyal to megatron, so much angst potential for both of them.

starbee: im a sucker for the whole ghost bee starscream dynamic. I already made a post about these two, and after all this time I still really enjoy this ship. I think characters that don’t actually like each other at first but grow into a mutual respect is so tasty. I think some people don’t like the ship because they headcanon bee as too young? well, starscream is actually younger in my fic lmao, but also they’re like 6 million years old and are born with full adult processing capabilities, I don’t think age matters here :P its less about intimacy for me anyway. I like them together because of how much it takes to get there. 

starwavewave: okay this one is 100% fueled by tfone but guyssss guysss theyre married and megatron is their son and im just aaaagh dont seperate them! such a kookie dynamic, the cool headed soundwave, the emotionally volatile shockwave, the arrogant yet cowardly starscream, all being fail dads to their little scamp leader. hahaha. high command polycule 

megastar: gasp, rated above skystar. yes, I just find this dynamic more interesting. I like an abusive ship sometimes for the angst but I also enjoy seeing megatron when he isnt abusive? kinda catharsis maybe. I read a fic once where the war is over and starscream invites megatron to one of optimus’ high profile parties and is appalled at megatron showing up in robot equivalent of underdressed, meanwhile megatron the working class miner is like “I washed, what else was I supposed to do” XD and I just love that haha. theres just so many ways to take it. I wont be doing any megastar in my au, I just tag anything that has megatron and starscream interacting with megastar cuz thats the dynamic to me

skystar/jetstar: iddkkkkk i know this is the most popular ship but it’s just!! idk! its not as interesting to me haha. I love this as a past ship, they were roommates in college, starscream opened himself to someone, chose to become close and then was hurt by it. just another wound on starscream’s spark before he ever even meets megatron. I don’t think theyd get back together after the ice. idk how well I can write this so I’ll just explain how it happens in my au here: skyfire died and starscream created this version of skyfire in his mind that was perfect, he memorialised him because he was dead! you just cant live up to how someone remembers you. I think that was part of the reason why starscream reacts so badly when skyfire “betrayed” him. unlike thundercracker, skyfire knows how to set healthy boundaries. not to mention he’d been on ice for four million years, lost his entire life, everyone he knows, and his entire civilisation, planet, and culture to a war he had no part in. bot’s gonna be upset. pissed off even. skyfire shouldnt have to be some soft sparked punching bag for starscream, he’s kind and a pacifist but he’s also going to get upset and have feelings. I think starscream’s betrayal would hit pretty hard, he’d gonna be upset about how much starscream’s changed, how much damage starscream helped cause during the war, and also starscream shooting him in the back for wanting to protect the native wildlife! when they properly talk to each other again it’s going to be heated on both sides, and I think after some hard work from both sides they could end up in a place where they are willing to be friends again, but I don’t think they’d conjunx. skystar isnt end game to me, but it is canon and an important part of the story

starop: I think ive read one fic where I really liked this ship. it’s just such a random pairing. my initial reaction is just noooo optimus prime?? but that guy’s everyone’s dad! Ive been told a big part of it is they’re both megatron’s ex’s and that’s pretty funny. not for me sadly haha (opxmegatronoldmanyaoiotpfrfr)

starjack…wheelstar? whatever the starscream and wheeljack one is. I’m not into this one. I see where people are coming from with it, but wheeljack isnt an interesting character to me. they can be science bros tho

starscream and windblade: ive seen this like once or twice. not for me. windblade is like, starscream’s daughter or something idk XD 

soundstar: uuuh i dont see it. sorry! i legit have no thoughts on soundstar. theyre coworkers XD. ive seen fics where the seekers are really young and soundwave moms them, and that’s really cute. okay, I like soundwave as a caretaker if the seekers are young, but yeah I don’t think I understand this one. 

shockstar: nooooooo. tho ironically theres more canon content there to fuel this one than soundstar (is this emotion?) but still no XD I don’t even hate shockwave! let him be sunstorm’s dad, that’s cute. but no, shockewave too creepy. no ship. they are also coworkers

what other ship is there even? oh yeah

starprowl: this is apparently a really popular ship?! I guess in a way prowl is sort of like the autobot’s starscream, undermining his leader, arrogant, willing to do the dubious play. they’re both ruthless. I like this one better than starjacked, but its still an odd pairing to me.

oh! knockout and starscream, i can kinda see it? like, as a rebound after breakdown? I like knock out and breakdown, so I’d only see these two as like friends or if something happened to breakdown. they’re a LOT of fun when they interact tho heh heh, perfectly clashing personalities

on the topic of tfp, I guess starscream and arcee is a ship? I can see this similar to my enjoyment of starbee, they’d have to work reeaally hard for this one to work but they have had potentially positive interactions in the show (before starscream screws it up) so its possible in a better world where starscream doesnt suck they could become friends. him killing cliffjumper is gonna be a huge hurdle tho! 

dont talk to me about airachnid

do people ship starscream and ratchet? I don’t ship it, but I do really like interactions between them. starscream is so terrible but he also gets hurt a lot. ratchet is grumpy and prejudice but he’s the best doctor and he’ll fix him up! I like when something terrible happens to starscream and ratchet cant help but feel bad for the guy. that’s the good stuff.

lastly i have been asked a few times on trinebee. im assuming this is bumblebee and the trine. i hadnt thought about it but it makes sense! if youre a starbee shipper, but you also support trine propaganda, then it only makes sense to bring bee into the trine. also bee and thundercracker are friends! the only ones who havent really had any interaction is bee and warp, and honestly idk if I see those two getting along but bumblebee is everybody’s friend so XD I’m sure it’ll work out!

and i think those are all the thoughts i have on the ships! 

no hate on anyone who ships any of these!!! you all do what you do, these are just my opinions, and honestly I’m just not a huge shipper to begin with haha. I am…unsure if there will be any shipping content in my au, I write my scenarios very much “canon but to the left” and so it comes out very sex-less because romance and intimacy is just not the type of content I’m in the business of writing. but, idk, i think about it sometimes. sometimes I think about the end of chapter one of thundercracker’s origin, the night starscream took thundercracker out on a not-date. i think, who knows, in some version of the story maybe they shared a kiss? maybe they went back to the apartment and things went further? maybe. but of course, in every version of the story, starscream is gone the next morning. 

happy valentrine’s day!

[orchidbreezefc]

i wanna talk about haymitch abernathy.

well, first i wanna talk about the treatment of chemical addiction in the hunger games trilogy. because it's good. a lot of characters, including katniss, struggle with it. it gets explored in considerable depth, and not once is any character looked down on for it (well, aside from some eye-rolling with haymitch and perhaps pity for the 'morphlings' in book 2).

no one is infantilized, dehumanized, or considered weak for their dependency, even when they're incoherent from inebriation or withrawal. addicts are treated with dignity,  and there is only ever respect, understanding, and sympathy for their struggle and for the trauma that led them to this position. the story has no interest in scrutinizing how they got there or whether their behavior is sufficiently justified, only in meeting them where they are.

everyone has suffered at the hands of the capitol, and some people have resorted to substances to cope--even and especially smart, competent people. it's unfortunate and painful for them (and the focus is always on the addict's suffering, not anyone else's) but it's always understood as doing what they had to do. survival is a crucial theme in these books, and this is just another form of it.

this understanding extends to the point that katniss and peeta independently hoard liquor in case haymitch runs out. he's fucking annoying and rude and at that point they have no reason to believe they stand to gain anything from helping him, but they do it anyway because abandoning him would be cruel. it's not ever a question of enabling an alcoholic, it's a question of not letting a man fucking die of withdrawal.

see, rough around the edges is an insufficient description for haymitch; he's rough all the way to the middle. he is a messy, sloppy drunk. he is rude, obnoxious, and venomously cynical. he is also the smartest character in a series full of extremely smart characters.

in the first book all that is said about haymitch's victory is speculation from katniss and peeta. they note that he isnt a standout physical talent and doesnt have any specialized abilities, and deduce that he must have won by outsmarting the others. this is innocuous enough and supported by the shrewdness of haymitch's sponsor gifts and his coaching outside the games.

the recontextualization comes in book 2 when we learn haymitch was the victor of the 50th hunger games, the last quarter quell--which had twice as many tributes as usual. haymitch didn't outsmart 23 other people, up to a third of them having trained for this exact purpose until age 17. haymitch outsmarted 47.

haymitch abernathy? is a big fucking deal. that man waltzed in from The underdog district, unmentored and presumably earning approximately zero sponsor gifts with his winning personality, and won the hardest hunger games there has ever been. haymitch is the most impressive bitch in panem. between this and our increasing insight into how the victors are treated, the alcoholism gets recontextualized too.

imagine how frothingly fucking pissed the capitol is that haymitch is impossible to leverage for any PR purpose whatsoever. like, this is The victor, but what are they gonna do? show off the victor of the hardest hunger games of all time and he's fucking haymitch?

he shows up to every public appearance fall-down drunk and pukes on someone's shoes. every time he's on screen he embarrasses everyone. he makes the hunger games look like a joke and undermines the whole premise. he's supposed to be the capitol's biggest asset and he's pissed all over it. he's useless to them. the best thing they can do is leave him alone.

that's when you think, wait. that's kind of a rebellion in itself, huh? he defies the capitol's efforts to use him as 'a piece in their game' better than anyone else outside district 13, maybe them too, when he should be their favored pawn. he's about as free of their influence as anyone can be. that seems... smart. haymitch-typical smart.

haymitch's alcoholism is real and no doubt a legitimate result of his trauma, but it's also a weapon. he probably plays it up. gets extra trashed for every public appearance, the earlier in the day the better. asks himself what he could do that would horrify effie trinket the most and then does that.

at the same time, haymitch seems to get it together more as the series goes on. from the sound of it he was content to drink himself to death and blow off every tribute in his district before katniss and peeta came along and he recognized in them the potential for revolutionaries and, more importantly, the potential for victors. for the first time he had a real chance to achieve a goal, and the real necessity to be sharp for it.

my guess is that haymitch started making actual efforts to manage his alcoholism from then on. getting sober is pretty much impossible to do on your own, and indeed he has a relapse for every time he improves. but haymitch would have known he'd need any scrap of competence he could snatch. and i think, away from our heroine's perspective, he did. you can play drunk for a camera; you can't play sober for a planning session.

the one thing that really helps with addiction is a support network, and that's the one thing haymitch can never have. it is made blisteringly clear that your loved ones are so much ammunition for the capitol to use against you, and they desperately need some for haymitch. he says his loved ones are all dead, but one wonders if there were more that he made damn sure were no longer loved ones before that happened. maybe haymitch saved some lives by driving people as far away as he could, and doomed himself to succumb to the alcoholism in the process.

on a sillier note, i imagine during katniss and peeta's games haymitch would have needed someone to manage his intake and keep him sober enough to strategize the sponsorships without sending him into withdrawal. and i like to think it was effie trinket.

she'd disapprove at first but dosages and scheduling would be her JAM. plus haymitch would always cave in to her sanctimonious lectures before she caved in to his demands for more. it would be really motivating, actually--"i can endure this. anything's better than hearing one more fucking word from effie goddamn trinket about my health." truly the dream team.

tl;dr i fucking love haymitch abernathy. he's one of the characters of all time. thank you, suzanne collins, for this smart, competent, callous, mean, complex alcoholic who is vital to the revolution. thank you for writing addicts and addiction with the depth, seriousness, complexity, and respect they deserve as human beings.

[fallenclan]

Related to FallenClan designs! All your designs are super amazing, what’s your simplifying process/how do you decide design for cat pelts? Cause I always struggle with simplifying/deciding how they look especially bengals and cats with white patches… thanks if you respond!

I’m ADHD and struggle with consistency and simplifying lol, though more complex designs are pretty, I lean more towards what you do w/ you’re cats as they are simple but still super pretty + it makes it easier to consistently draw them all for stuff like this! (These comic like moon updates :])

(Also hope none of this came off as offensive, it’s all meant positively! I really really admire you and your designs :])

ty for the compliments!!! very sweet ask and I shall do my best to give a good response o7

generally my method with designing characters/drawing is to just wing it. fuck it we ball basically. but i DO take a lot of inspiration from other people's warriors art, taking the time to analyze what i like about their styles and what different sorts of patterns i can use

(i also regularly consult the Clangen Sprite Guide for better looks at white patches/tortie patterns and such, highly recommend)

the first thing i decide when i'm designing a new cat is what fur texture i want them to have. i have four that I pick from (pictured below, in order), wavy, spiky, curly, and square.

i decide the fur pattern based on the cat's personality (a more stoic cat might have square fur, while someone more bubbly might have curly, or someone more excitable have spiky, so on and so on), and also based on their parents/how many cats i've designed with that fur pattern recently.

after that is snout shape, which is probably my favorite part. i love to draw cats with a very pronounced snout, not unlike an oriental shorthair, but i generally slide around between that and a more typical, stubby snout, occasionally veering off into the very square snout of a maine coon. this is also a great spot to determine how sharp you want their jaw to be, which is something that can really help set a design apart! (a couple of snout examples below)

then i usually move onto colors. i like to pick an undertone for the cat first, so i know what sort of pallate to work with. as you can see in the pictures below, ravenstar has a purple/blue undertone, and toadbelly has orange/red undertones

this helps me make all the colors look nicer together, so i don't end up doing something like making a very warm colored cat with blue-toned white patches (which would make the white patches look super cold/too bright), which can be a really cool stylistic choice, but isnt what i tend to go for

once i've drawn out the cats fur shape and picked my colors, i'll move onto the base coat. over my time of having the fallenclan blog i've discovered that having a very simple pattern underneath the normal pattern can add a lot of visual interest to a cat, and make them look less plain.

here's a good example! one of the first cats i designed, oaktuft. their pattern was super basic--one base color, plus the inside of the ears, and then the color of their patterns.

and here's another cat that i designed a little more recently--Shiverspots! you can see that even just the small change of adding a bit of a lighter color to her underbelly made a world off difference. plus my style got a lot more defined lol

i have a couple of different base patterns that i use. here's a few more examples. i've even started to experiment with more than two colors!

once i've got the base done i move onto patterns. this part can definitely be tricky; trying to make a dozen brown tabbies with short fur be distinct can be . a challenge. i like to follow the steps of what i've already designed--a cat with spiky fur might have very sharp, angular stripes, and a cat with curly fur might have much rounder ones.

i think a good rule of thumb for if your pattern feels a little too basic is just to throw some more colors in there. another shade of orange, a more pale tint to some of them, whatever. and don't be afraid to erase it and start again! sometimes a design just won't work, and thats fine :)

the final thing i do is to add little design quirks. a particularly sharp jawline, downturned eyes, a crooked smile or a gap tooth, whatever! little things can really give your cats character.

i really hope that this helped!!!

[midorihiyori]

u said ur not a proshipper and stuff but isnt soushin a proship tho.... abuser x victim>???? and shin saw midori like the older brother he didnt have../??? /gen

Originally I wasn't going to respond to this, I thought it was funny so I giggled at it with my friends and I thought that would be it. But I realized this is a wonderful opportunity to write a really long post disproving these theories that this fandom insists are canon. I’ll start by debunking some common arguments. I put a lot of effort into this and am actually using proper grammar IM SERIOUS GUYS!!! This is really long by the way

“Shin saw Midori like an older brother”

I’ll get this argument out of the way first because it’s weak, it’s a common trope in media where relationships are described as familial to show the closeness of the relationship. Even so, Shin probably said that because he looks up to Midori and respects him. If you just want to see them as having a brotherly relationship, that’s fine, but this argument doesn’t stand for calling Soushin proship.

“Midori groomed Shin”

I honestly have no idea where this theory even came from. Some people say that Midori preyed on Shin and that he was much older, while it’s more likely they are both in the same age range. Shin is canonically 21-22 years old while Midori’s age isn’t stated, but since they were in highschool together it can be assumed he wasn’t all that much older than him. Not saying you can’t headcanon that they aren’t, but you shouldn’t push your headcanons as canon to insist Soushin is proship. Midori changed to Shin’s school so that he could get his signature but he also became his friend in order to make the Shin AI. He could have easily just been a highschooler himself. Midori is an Asu-Naro agent and from what we know about them they have used underaged people for labor (eg. Kai, Sei, Hinako). If the common theory that the silhouette in Kai’s mini episode being Midori’s mom is true, it’s probable that he grew up similarly to Kai and Sei, being made to do Asu-Naro’s bidding as children. It’s not like you need the credentials of an adult to give out contracts. You could also make the argument that Midori must be older because he worked as a nurse and school counselor while trying to get participant signatures, but one could argue Asu-Naro has the connections to get him in such a position without schooling or even have higher levels of schooling to get the education in a shorter timespan. But I’m getting off topic. Many people who say Midori groomed Shin say that he groomed him into believing he had to leave himself behind and that is why he took on Midori’s persona in the death game when it’s clearly not the case in canon. It was Midori who wanted Shin to be the best version of himself.

“And you… should become the person you want to be, so you can meet them proudly.”

This dialogue is part of Shin’s lost memory, where they are talking about Shin’s wish to meet his lost sibling. It’s one of the only shown scenes of Shin and Midori pre-canon, and he’s clearly being supportive and wanting Shin to be happy with himself.

Here ‘???’ is the shadow version of himself, he is having an inner conflict of interest. Commonly referred to as Shadsou, is the actual reason Shin took on Midori’s persona. What Shadsou is exactly is ambiguous but generally it’s the personification of Shin’s devil's advocate. People often assume that Shadsou is another consequence of Midori’s impact on Shin, as if he isn’t his own character who can make his own decisions. This fandom often waters down his character and infantilizes him like this.

“Midori is Shin’s abuser”

Again, another headcanon people insist is canon. The reality is that Midori and Shin’s relationship is ambiguous and it hasn’t been explored much in canon. Soushin can be explored in many different ways because of how vague their relationship is. Saying that Midori abused Shin is an unsubstantiated claim so it’s just a headcanon, not saying you can’t have that but again, you can’t be claiming it’s fact.

This is the one cg we have of Midori and Shin pregame btw:

This is the cg where Midori is encouraging Shin to be someone he’s proud of. Not very abusive guys.

“But it’s implied to be abusive”

This is usually the evidence they use for the implication:

“He’s… a scary friend of mine…” 

Midori’s mannerisms are scary. It isn’t just Shin who thinks that he is, he’s one of the main antagonists of the game. Shin finding Midori to be scary doesn’t mean he abused him.

“Though I learned a lot of things at his house…”

It’s insane to me that people use this as evidence but, this is clearly about Midori teaching him how to code. People claim that it has deeper meaning but really it comes down to how you want to interpret it.

There are multiple points where Midori is shown to feel affection in strange ways. It’s possible he didn’t understand ordinary forms of affection, similarly to Kai who was deprived of affection growing up as an agent. Midori’s odd mannerisms towards Shin could just be how he shows his love. awww. isnt that so sad

Many people call Midori Shin’s abuser and claim Soushin is proship without proper canonical proof. A lot of people who kin Shin project onto their relationship and insist that it’s abusive because their bias rooted from their own trauma and experiences clouds their perception of Shin. This happens along with people infantilizing Shin and excusing all of his actions by blaming the supposed ‘grooming’ or ‘abuse’ he experienced from Midori. This is just a common problem with mischaracterization of Shin and Midori by the fandom. It’s gotten to the point where people like this dear anon believe these things to be true!

Then there's the people who ARE proshippers and insist that Soushin is abusive or pedophilic because they want it to be and are looking at them with that lens of thinking. These people greatly help spread the idea that Soushin is a proship, making it much harder to discern canon from fanon when much of the Soushin content is by these people, specifically outspoken adult western fans that praise proship and advocate out for Soushin being problematic, that's what the general fandom now sees it as even though it’s just not canonically happening.

At the time of posting this, Shin’s minisode has yet to come out. I’m sure that once it does it will give a much clearer view of their relationship, maybe I’ll have more to say then! For now, that is all I’ve got for you tumblr.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Okay this isnt costume but I do have thoughts about it. Full disclosure Im just a woman in stem so idk anything about tv production/set design etc and if its normal to set up lighting like this but like. I do think its really interesting that all the light in the scene is between buck and eddie. Specficially when buck is talking to tommy all of the light is coming from where eddie is sitting and it literally looks like tommy is casting a shadow over him. And also to some extent all the light on eddie is coming from where buck is sitting

Hey Nonnie

Being a woman in Stem is a fabulous thing and you have far more knowledge of tv production and set design than you think - you've proven it in your ask.

The lighting and camera departments can set up the lighting and how it appears on camera however they'd like - the lights are mostly moveable (apart from the ones that appear on camera - such as the ceiling lights in the corridor behind tommy!) so can be positioned to push the light in the desired direction! The crews choices are all part of telling the story and aiding the narrative.

The things you've written above that you picked up on are exactly what you should be seeing - what they want you to be picking up on - even if it is only subconsciously (trust me you notice when a scene is lit badly and wrongly for what the other elements are trying to say!).

This scene (or section of scene as we don't yet know how much more of it there is or isn't!) is all about the triangles, and it has very much been lit to ensure that triangle is obvious!

This is also shown in the way the light hits each character

Bucks light is coming from the left of the camera - lighitng bucks right side

Tommy's is coming from both above and from behind Buck, but also from behind him, but becasue of the way the blinds are positioned it generally drives that from behind light downwards - except through the doorway - which is directly behind Tommy and helps create that looming shadow you mentioned.

While Eddies is coming from behind and to his left side (and a little bit behind him as well)

All of the light is coming from behind Eddie and between Eddie and Buck - they are not in shadow, but Tommy is - which can be seen best from this angle here;

Where we can see a clear line across Bucks pillow casting his injured arm and Tommy into shadow - which is coming from behind Eddie.

Whats interesting is the way that this lighting set up casts all of their faces into shadow in varying ways as you can see in the pictures above - we have Eddie who's face is mostly in shadow apart from the section from his left eyebrow round to his ear. Buck who is more or less half and half vertically, while Tommy is lit straight on but also slightly from above - meaning the lower half of his face is slightly in shadow, but generally speaking his entire face is lit. This is a play on the episode title - Tommy is not wearing a mask, while both Buck and Eddie are - to various extents - Bucks mask is hiding who he is from Tommy while Eddies is hiding most of himself from both of them, but Buck can see some of the real him (the lit part!).

The other thing the lighting does in this scene - is make the area around Tommy appear darker and duller - the image below shows this pretty well - with all the light coming into the room from behind Eddie and from the corridor behind tommy - the area behind Tommy should be brighter that it appears - but instead it is very cool toned and dull and gives the feeling of creeping darkness that makes the space look like its closing in. The opposite is the case with Eddie - its much brighter and warmly lit and feels like the light is expanding.

This is what good lighting and the right filter on the camera can do!

The other thing that we can see from the lighting and from the camera angles is the fact that Buck and Eddie are at the same level while Tommy is looking down on both of them

If we compare these lighting and sightline aspects with the other scene/scene we have stills for involving Buck, Tommy and Eddie we can see a similar thing - Tommy is looking down at Buck in the living room but we don't have that triangle formed as there is only the two of them in the scene.

The light is hitting him in a similar way to the hospital - more or less front on. This time is is creating a little more shadow over the side of his face. It will be interesting to see how much of Bucks face is in shadow when we see things from other angles.

The scene at the dining table is the most similar to the hospital scene - we have the identical sight lines (making an approximation due to not actually being able to see Tommy in the still!) only this time it is Eddie who is looking down while Buck and tommy are at an even sightline.

The light is coming in from behind Eddie once more as well creating a similar effect to the hospital scene. I'm making the assumption that the camera will be located in the kitchen so that we are given the scene straight on - putting tommy in between Buck and Eddie visually - this angle will allow us to see if the same shadows are being cast across their faces or if they are different. When we see the scene we should also be able to get a better idea of warmth v cool with the lighting.

I hope this is helpful - I'm by no means an expert on the lighting side of things, just the stuff I picked up from the sets I've been on in my past life! You're already getting so much of it though, so just keep watching and paying attention and you'll find you spot more and more and begin to connect how the choices made serve the scene!

This was fun to answer! 💜💜💜

[spacedlexi]

Sorry if I'm bombarding you with questions but I have a few more if you don't mind.

In most fandoms when they age up character couples, they give them kids. I find it interesting you didn't in your 10+ years AU. So my main question is do you think your Clem and Vi would even entertain the idea of kids? I'm sure there's a lot of kids they could adopt considering the world they live in. We all know Aj is Clem's baby but I'm interested is what you think.

With all the expositions out of the way, here's the follow up questions:

Do you think Vi would be a good mom? Would she or Clem be the one to potentially want to expand their family? Do you think Vi has fears with being a parent because of her upbringing? Is she considered a parental figure to Aj in your Au? If they were to have a kid, do you see Aj as the jealous type, the best big brother or a mix of both?

Again, thank you for your time 💖

a lot of the time i feel like people will give characters children without even considering if they are the kind of character who even WANTS children. in clems case she already has a child that she adopted who is her whole world. and vi has tenn who she looks out for/takes care of. they both technically already have children before they even meet. two single guardians looking for a partner and providing support for each other in these trying times

so no. i dont think they would look to adopt more children. they already have 2 (in my +10 timeline all 3 tenn vi and louis are still alive) and they love them with their whole hearts. but theyre also community leaders, and they look out for everyone in their community, and im sure over the years that community will continue to grow. but "adopting" more children? no i dont think they would. they have their hands full already. i think they are perfectly satisfied with their little family and wouldnt go looking to expand it

i dont think vi would be a good mom. i KNOW she would be!! the game already proved that. the mom that stepped up. i really love the way she interacts with aj and supports clems parenting of him

her look to clem here after both reassuring clem and being supportive to aj like "its ok see i can handle this dont worry" like yeah i know u can girlie 😌 and clem knows it too by her content little smile back, not even having to finish her sentence. OUGH 😭 they make me sick. and i didnt even include all of the examples here of her being good with him/the other kids like theres so much 😭

i think violets neglectful home life is why shes good with taking care of the younger members of the community. she says shes bad with interacting with people, but she is ALWAYS good with the kids. shes a leader and a protector, and shes gonna do better for others than her parents did for her. than Any of the adults in her life did for her (besides ms martin the real one. i think ms martin was a very positive influence on her tbh)

i think during clems initial recovery while shes still bed bound, violet would take it upon herself to watch out for aj while clem cant. during this time they would bond, aj would possibly confide in her his fears around clems recovery (that vi would also share but would remain supportive of him). i see her taking him under her wing the same way she did for tenn. continuing to lighten the load on clems shoulders. i like to think she was the one who helped him make his own spear, noticing the regular ones were too big for him while fishing together. plus making it would help distract him from his fears around clems recovery. (and in my post canon au tenn isnt dead so that tension isnt there between them, but if it was vi would be very mature about it and it wouldnt change anything about her wanting to help take care of him, she just needs to be sad for a little while 😔 but she does it in a way aj cant see)

i dont think aj would ever see vi as a parental figure in the way he sees clem. more like "moms cool gf" territory. he looks up to her and respects her, and knows he can rely on her, but aj doesnt really have any concept of "mom" or "dad". all hes ever had is "clem". shes everything to him. so while i think vi would do her best to be a good guardian for him (both for his and clems sakes), theyll never have the level of relationship that he has with clem, and thats fine. but he definitely reacts to them like a kid whose parents wont stop being gross and in love all the time 🙄

[heal-the-ashes]

Hey, Ashe! How're you doing? Haven't heard from you in a while. Hope everything is fine <3

Hi, anon. I wouldn't of checked this but accidentally clicked tumblr and saw the notif. To everyone, I will be using this ask as an update. Hope you don't mind anon.

But thanks for asking. I'm doing more things for college. I had to cut off a toxic friendship that I've had for like 7 years. And now I'm trying to focus on myself. It's a lot harder than I wish it to be, but it's okay. I will also note that the "cut off" time really was a whole situation that spanned across 2-3 months. I cannot sometimes believe that cutting toxicity off took that long to fully sort out, and it stil isnt even fully sorted out yet. But they will be eventually.

Anyway, I got into a new game while I was gone. I want to start posting about it but this is a Layton centered blog… People won't mind if I branch out right?

Speaking about Layton. The series. I hate to say it but I'm a really emotionally sensitive person. It doesn't help that the friend I disconnected with sort of was connected to my experiences regarding the PL series.

It's a special interest and I talked about it a lot with the friend. It's the series that saved my life in more ways than one. It's a series that has and will continue to change my life.

This also means I get overwhelmed easily regarding it. I feel things that I didn't know were possible. I feel things that I have locked away and left behind for years now. It is very crazy and I am thankful. But it's very stimulating at the same time.

Being apart of an online community centered around it has made me realize many things about myself. Most of that is how much I relate to (insert character names here). I have struggles with self perception and delusions regarding fictional medias and characters. This series is no exception, and is actually a series that is the only one that has the most DAs and/or relations (if I am able to use the first term. I am not clinically diagnosed with anything regarding this yet. But I intend on getting professional help, appointments just take a long time to get. Really sorry if I misused it.)

So seeing things—Even happy things, even the most wonderful headcanons and art about characters being happy—have the ability to, and often do, bring me to intense emotions. Crying is the most common one. These characters often represent comforting relations that I never felt like I had, or that I struggle having in my real life. Among other things. Scary things. "Memories" that were not from my life. Not to say that all memories of that manner are bad, but some are terrifying. It also doesn't help that I already have a probable dissociative disorder and we could be a system. My identity is fractured in more ways than one and I feel like the medias and things I love are out to kill me sometimes. But I still love it. I wouldn't be in this amazing (comparatively) place without any of it, canon and fanon.

I am only being honest because I feel like you all deserve to know. People here are so nice and friendly and I owe so many people for bringing my life to a better and more positive place, even if I don't usually talk about what I'm dealing with.

Oftentimes, I'm terrified of sharing my personal ideas. They're related to the things above. They're related to the system. They're related to dreams that I had to calm down from or tell myself isn't real. I doubt anyone would attack or hurt me because of them.

But there's always fear. And one of the main things about how I'm trying to be the best version of myself is trying to either get rid of fear or keep going in spite of it. There are other, more complicated things, but. It's okay.

Another thing is that—Even if I did the "daily drawing" thing. I didn't even get to day 5 or something. I kept forgetting if I posted something. I keep forgetting if I do things. It sort of really stresses me out.

So sorry for the terribly long response. And for the long update.

I don't even know if I want to post or not. I do, I really do. I'll get there.

But anyway. Thanks again for the ask. And sorry again for the incredibly long update. I hope everyone's been okay and things have been going well. Thank you, everyone, for the support so far and all the comments on the other update post. I really mean that and I hope a genuine tone gets through.

/gen /srs update.

The game I got into is called Nier: Automata by the way, if anyone knows it. Might start posting about it… I too have rather incredibly strong feelings about it too. Anyway. I'll send this now.

[stitchwraith-stingers]

if i had a nickle for every fop / pokemon related post i made id have 3, which isnt alot but its werid it happened thrice

anyways nerd instincts on, come with me i will show you what full pokemon teams i feel like the characters would have, making like 3 of them in the process lmaooo

ill try not to give many characters repeating mon's cuz it probably makes me look repetitive but whatever its ok only human kids sorryyyy, feel free to ask abt other characters ill try to think of something

timmy turner's family would be one of those people that own 6 magikarp that only know splash down random routes, well hes not good at all with battling and arceus knows with how many battles he keeps loosing at school theyll never evolve, yes hes tired of all the comparisons with his bidoof

he grows up to be a fairy elite four member in johto!!! he has 2 sylveons on his team

chloe carmicheal's ace would be her yamper! the team above is her casual / contests, the one below is for serious battles, her family does so much at the same time - breed pokemon, check their friendship, hunt shinies, are professors, are gym leaders, they want her to become a champion while never missing for contests and having to battle highly expirienced trainers isnt easy for her oof, she probably has aton of mons in her PC and does eventually become the champion of johto

chester mcbadbat, i dont think i need to elaborate

AJ's ace would be reuinclus, though he just owns a mew, and probably multible, because of him being involved in some way in project mewtwo, chespin is here just for casual companionship, probably owns more ghost types as time goes on and chestnaught is the official mascot of the galax insitute, which many people there are confused about

trixie tang would only ever show her ninetales at school to appease her "feminine and elegant" persona people see her as, she sides all her "badass" mon's but cares for them deeply inspite of it all, also with the added bonus of ninetales cursing you if you get too close or smth along the lines

tootie would only own these two, no one knows how she got them

remy buxaplenty is not interested in battling, but he does keep his persian with him wherever he goes, furfrou incase he needs to look richer, his furret looks oddly purple....

kevin crocker's ace would be murkrow! he kept his uncles espeon, cutiefly is from his grandma

for the ANW characters, im gonna go by a fun rule someone had left in the comments that i reallyyyy liked :3 - every student has atleast one fairy type

hazel wells' ace would be elmoga, as its been her best friend since she was young, her zorua is a close second though! she owns alot of ghost types since her father is a ghost type specialist in the elite four in unova (moms a bug type specialist), constantly worrying that she wont be as good as the others in battling even though her school isnt big on battling and more bonding with ur mon

jasmine tran's ace would be jigglypuff! however its not uncommon to see her walking around with her popplio outside its pokeball, the jigglypuff was a gift actually, alot of people say its like theyre made for eachother, for reasons probably not actually positive, joltik is there after fearless and uses it to prank others, tinyyyy...... her leafeon had only recently evolved

winn harper's ace would be alolan raichu! surfing is just water skateboarding, so raichu helps with some cool tricks on the playground, theyre also rlly close with their furfrou, who they constantly also dye their fur to match their hair, and also cuz i think theyre a dog person in general, one of the few kids in their school to have fully evolved pokemon since their parents are gym leaders, loves competitive battling!

jenkins' ace would be his deerling, autumn form specifically, he also owns a douduo! from his home region of ye olden kanto, just a normal type specialist, no big deal

the doe twins would own two umbreons, ones regular the other ones shiny, theyve also been gifted tatsugiri and dondozo from their father from his fisherman days back in paldea, though they never use those two outside of battles, double battlers and weridos

whispers fred's main would be an absol! quiet but gets the job done, he also probably thinks that in addition to predicting natural disasters that his absol can sense mythical mons (which doesnt work that way, dont tell him), whismur helps him on the job, along with being a shiny he came across one day!, his slowpoke, ralts and eevee are there for emotional support, doesnt like to battle, probably thinks shiny pokemon are supernatural and brags about his whismur

dev dimmadome i like to imagine doesnt really own a pokemon of his own, they usually just breed and sell them off so he doesnt get to bond with them enough nor has he though about it, but during the battle of the big wand he gets them from foop, he and hazel have this grand battle (emolga probably does some thunder armor bullshit), the buneary refuses to evolve and admitibly doesnt like him, may or may not join hazels team instead and may or may not symbolise their relationship idk idk

[girlnadian]

i do want to hear about tabi, like, in general, but i do not have the power or skill or pvpciv knowledge to protect you from Every Yaoi Liker On The Site so use your best judgment. but i do want to know more about tabi and to hear your takes on her which are obviously correct.

ok since two other peopel also asked ill post one of my incomprehensible rants. under a cut. this post is an evil swirling black void of evilness so dont click it if its evilness will harm you

so tabi is the secondary protagonist turned antagonist of evbos parkour civilization series . For those two dont know. and his love interest. there are two main fanon characterizations of tabi i see one of which is the irredeemable demon bitch from hell (though some people frame this "positively" with fandom typical slay girlboss talk)

tabi is canonically without question the person evbo cares about most in the entire world . this is indisputable and obvious. even after she betrays him you never get the sense that anyone else even comes close. he is talking about her and thinking about her CONSTANTLY, with no disdain or grudge at all. he loves her !! and tabi loves him too even if its harder to see because shes much more closed off and not the pov character

tabi could have killed him. she should have killed him. he showed up in front of her annoying and lost like a yapping dog and she rebuffs his affection constantly but she Loves Him you literally cannot argue that she doesnt love him. tabi is a soldier. shes on a mission. she kills without hesitation and without care except for when its evbo. evbo gives her a clear shot and says "prove that i mean nothing to you" and she CANT!! all she had to do was kill him with the eternal sword and he wouldnt respawn but she Couldnt. when clown implies to her that evbo might be dead and asks her how she woudl feel about it she completely dodges the question. idr exactly what she says, something like "i would say you did what had to be done" but very very notably and particularly doesnt answer the question of how she would feel. because she doesnt let people see how she feels. shes closed off because she has to be but her feelings are Very Much There. i think because people disliked the girlfriend jokes so much - which, like, fair - a lot of them decided that tabi must dislike evbo for making them but thats just. not true. and even if she did return evbos feelings that isnt something she would allow herself to indulge in. she cant jeprodize her job. evbo is in love with her pretty much immediately and while i definitely Dont think tabi felt the same at first, even if tabis feelings did change her outward behavior towards him wouldnt change proportionately. she made the mistake of being a slightly unsympathetic and stoic female character so now a bunch of people hate her for hurting their sunshine boy or whatever. whatever

but the second mischaracterizarion i see a lot. and this is where im gonna get controversial abt it. is people that DO acknowledge tabi cares about evbo but have to. fuckin. make her his Mean But Cool Girlboss Lesbian Older Sister 💪😎. to reconcile with that fact. so they do not have to exert Too much brainpower thinking about a female character or god forbid a m/f relationship

it just kind of drives me crazy i know we are coming off of the sausage fest that was parkour civ and everyone is yaoibrained I GET IT nothing wrong with yaoi brain and the girlfriend jokes are cringey i get it I Get It. but. and this is my most controversial take in the world are you ready for it . pvpciv tavbo is just what people wish parkciv seavbo was. do you like seavbo but u wish they had spent more time on screen together ? bonded more? That exists. Its tavbo. their dynamics hit a lot of the same beats. but evbo more openly cares about tabi and is ACTUALLY INTO HER and theyre friends and trust each other. + pvpciv tabi and parkciv seawatt are very similarly driven characters. theyre warriors who are fighting for their home. tabi in the same way has to weigh up completing her lifes long goal vs her caring for evbo. and she betrays him but then spares his life . she likes him but she also isnt going to throw away something shes worked for since she was born. yyou people wanted enemies to friends to enemies to lovers and you got it but tabi is a woman and having to think about women is the enemy of all fandom spaces so no one GAF. in fact they wil go out of their way to Invent New Reasons why shipping them would be Weird🤨 like . everyone who says pvpciv evbo is actually a child. BE FUCKING FOR REAL !!!

and then of course seawatt shows up for one pvpciv ep and everyones like omg guys seavbo real again 🥺🥺🥺🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 bc they had like a single conversation . i like seavbo dont get me wrong im not trying to argue that seawatt didnt care about evbo to some degree. Happy for you seavbo warriors i love that you got that W. its just that. like. gestures like an insane person. You see the double standard right. am i crazy. chat am i crazy be real.

[seriousbrat]

im asking this because you made a james one but can you make a jily meta if you have time🙈🙈

Anon I'm sorry for the delay in replying, I was thinking it through!! But it's nice to have something positive to talk about haha.

The loves of my life tbh. I really really like jily even though I think my snapeishness means I'm not as involved in mainstream jily fandom. I mean enemies to lovers always has its appeal and to me james and lily are a realistic, imperfect- but all the more compelling for it- appealing dynamic.

Obviously we don't get to see a lot of their actual relationship in canon, but I think that's why it's so fun to fill in the blanks. Personally I think it's pretty normal that they were drawn to each other and ended up in a relationship from what we know- they're both pretty big personalities, intelligent and charming and brave, they have similar goals and beliefs about the world, there was attraction early on (obviously in james's case, more or less confirmed by jkr in lily's- and b4 anyone starts in on lily for being attracted to him that's not something one can control, and she probs wasn't aware anyway).

Lily basically hated his guts, with good reason, so to go from that to dating there had to be a pretty big shift in both james and in their relationship (and likely lily too, or that's my belief). Honestly what I think is that in their final years at Hogwarts, the encroaching war brought on this new seriousness, and as lines were more clearly drawn in the sand it became obvious that lily and the marauders were on the same side of it. Things like sports, popularity, rivalries cease to matter in the face of a life-or-death conflict, you're forced to grow up and deal with it, and while for Severus this brought out the worst in him, for James it brought out the best.

People talk about James changing but I think a post SWM-lily was also changing. She set a very clear boundary with Sev and I think that was an important character development moment for her. Again, the war was on the horizon, their priorities were becoming clear, and I see Lily as becoming more sure of herself and her beliefs, less tolerant of bullshit from those around her. James was becoming more circumspect, more open-minded, more responsible, so when lily and the marauders were thrown together in natural alliance the two of them were just at a point where they were compatible.

I don't think their relationship was perfect and idyllic and all that, that would be less interesting anyway. It was probably hard sometimes. One thing I love when fics explore is the class differences between James and Lily; not only is he pureblood while she's muggleborn, but he comes from wealth where she comes from a humble little working-class family in the mids. There was probably a lot of stuff James didn't understand about her life; I feel like he probably tried his best anyway. Lily probably felt intimidated or defensive about her own background at times.

I don't doubt that they argued; in fact they got off on it probably enjoyed arguing with each other, given their personalities. Both of them were intelligent, opinionated, had an arguing kink, fiery people. Like I don't think it was this exaggerated screaming match sort of thing but I'm sure they loved a healthy spirited debate which maybe got a little out of hand sometimes.

I have touched on this previously but I see James as deep down pretty insecure (who isnt in this world apart from sirius black) and I think initially he was probably pretty insecure about Lily too. I do see him regretting his previous behaviour and thinking he isn't good enough for her and that he's incredibly lucky to be with her. which is true and he should suffer. but I have an upcoming scene (lily's first time at the potters') where james is like "i feel like i'm not good enough for you" and lily's like "shut up i'm the one who's not good enough for you" and they're like "great. i guess we're not good enough for each other. sorted i guess." My point being James actively tried to be a better man, Lily saw that and admired it. because she's good and wonderful like that.

Idk I guess I see it kind of as a realistic, flawed, but ultimately loving relationship. I'm sure there was a lot of stuff they had to work on over the few years they got :( but I'm also sure they had a lot of fun together because to me they just seem really compatible in so many ways as humans.

My belief is that they got married quickly because of the war (I also believe this about frank and alice, even though i see them as older) but it's likely they would have ended up married anyway, or at least in a long term, healthy, happy relationship.

Also the pottermore entry about Vernon and Petunia is my absolute fave for many reasons (love the vertunia of it all ofc) but also the little snippet about jily is golden. The double date between vertunia and jily is perhaps one of my favourite scenes I've ever written haha it's just such a good moment, basically the only canon info we do get about while they were dating.

[clartidk123]

Roast this WIP, i will definetely not have a mental breakdown due to self steem issues. (But really, please at least try to remain positive, im in a really bad place right now.)

Gregory looked down at his brand new stolen Freddy sneakers. Sure, they were stolen, but at least they were fashionable. And they served to distract him from the iminent akwardness he was going to suffer.

It had been three week since him and Tony had last seen eachother. He tried to talk with Ellis, but he was probably not going to talk to him anymore. After all, nobody was going to talk to a murderer. It wasnt his fault, right? He was being controled. But why did he go into this mess?

Focus Gregory. He looked at the sneakers, then at the school’s doors, then at the small classroom he used to go with his. Friends.

He took a deep breath, and continued walking to it.

Then he saw him. Tony was talking with Ellis and some other people. Gregory knew he probably made a report on how he was almost killed by Freddy Fazbear himself, sure, nobody would believe it, but the thought of someone knowing the terrible things he did as Doctor Rabbit was. UnBEARable. God why was he joking now?

He tried to walk past them unoticed, but Ellis saw him.

“If it isnt Doctor Rabbit himself. I am really dissappointed in you man.”

Gregory watched in terror as Tony turned around to see him. “Hello.”

Tony didnt say anything, and just turned around again. To be fair, if Gregory was Tony, he also wouldnt trust him.

Ellis approached. “Look Rabs, Tony wont talk to you ever. You tried to kill him!”

“I know! But i wasnt me!”

Ellis gave a chuckle. “Yeah. Tony told me how you talked and knew everything about us while you were that way.”

“Please, believe me Boots! I wasnt myself. I wasnt Greg! I wasnt real!”

“Tony said you were. And i believe in my best friend, not in a murderer.”  

Gregory was going to becom a willingly murderer if Ellis and Tony continued that way. “He said first im a murderer, how do you know it isnt a lie?”

“Stop trying to playing smart Rabs.”

“Stop. Calling. Me. That.”

“Oh what? You are going to try to kill me again, Mister Redemption Arc?”

Ghregory’s eyes widened, and looked at Tony after he said that. “You really dont believe me right? You really believe i really tried to kill you?”

“Am i not right?”

“Yeah, you are right but...”

“So you admit it.”  

“Stop interrupting me! You dont let anyone talk to you! Everyone needs to be just like the way its perfect to you!”

Ellis looked at Tony, and vice versa, like he was saying that was true. It was time to strike.

“But, look. You are perfect for me. So let me try to be perfect to you.”

The other two continued looking at eachother.

“Look Tony, i think Rab is talking something true and...”

“No.”

Before Gregory could say anything else, the bell rang. He watched powerless as Tony and Ellis walked away from him. He just stood there. He looked at his stolen sneakers again. Freddy was his favorite character, and he was right when he thinked that maybe it would bring him some comfort.

He looked back at the now empty corridor. Crap. He was probably late now. He raced to his classroom, and tried to ignore the person staring at him.

He tried to pay attention to the most boring class in the world, but really, every class that wasnt art and technology related wasnt a big interest to him. So he kept doodling on his notebook.

“Gregory!”

Gregory snapped back momentarily to reality after the teacher called him out. “Yes Mister?”

“Stop doodling your little fantasies and start paying attention.”

Gregory gave a weak nod. He kept thinking about it, and the murders. Now not even Tony and Ellis liked him.

He looked around to see Ellis spinning his pencil, and Tony being completely absorved by the task. Gregory just stared at them until Ellis looked shocked as he looked at him back. Gregory awkwardly waved at him, which made Ellis look at the window. Gosh they really hated him right?

Gregory looked back at the black board, and let a small sigh out. He was probably going to the Pizzaplex after school, after all, he needed to distract himself, and he really didnt have anywhere else to go.

Ellis was probably going to be there, and Gregory couldnt manage to talk to him right now. He just wanted to live a good life, but he was as just bad as that rabbit man from the games.

But alas, he had to do something.

[filurig]

💔 and 💄 for arvo, since his face technically isnt his

💔 (broken heart) - Who has your character hurt most? Physically or emotionally? How did it feel? Do they regret it?

OHHH tbh for this one it requires all of the categories . and more

physically: well every vätte he's killing at jägarlyan KJFDSKJFSD and also arvo (human) and juhani. although i think the most brutal deaths were actually the humans, since arvo couldnt have shot them then (so his means of kill are..... Primal and driven by a meltdown). emotionally during pt 1 he does hurt a lot of people someone quite significantly indirectly. one of them is selma ofc. he doesn't really think about what he's doing at this point because of repressing any doubts/feelings of wrongness so at the moment he doesn't feel guilt about it - especially because he legitimately viewed bäckahästar as animals (not even only in his fucked up brain way but literally, bcs he didn't actually know that they were sapient). and of course he sees what he does as survival and an exacting of justice later on during pt 2. and post story he does deal with a lot of guilt/shame over what he's done to warrant selma's ire, but i think at first that guilt is actually misplaced and kind of selfish, and more concerned with how bad he feels that he hurt folke through that (who was also really hurt- you could probably on a similar level to selma, but part of that is maybe that folke is a bit more fragile tbh, it depends on how you look at 'hurt'). through pt 2. i think he experiences things which causes him to shift that perspective a bit, but he has very ill thought patterns which are hard to unlearn for him. i think he has very complicated feelings about regrets at this point, because he probably never really stops believing that the world is fundementally cruel, its moreso his perspective of him trying to survive by living in accordance to that might change

💄 (lipstick) - What does your oc think of their face? Do they have a positive or negative opinion? Do they wear makeup? Do they have a skincare routine? What traits do they like most about their face?

OHHH THIS IS INTERESTING FOR HIMMM.

i think he, at first, deeply loathes it actually. he hates it because he can see that it didn't end up looking like human arvo much at all, since the illusion doesn't work for him - he sees his feathers, skin, claws etc. its a constant reminder of what he is, and somehow even more humiliating because its a shoddy (in his view) imitation of the position that he is trying to survive as (as a human that is). he feels alienated from it and it just reminds him of the fact that he is never really safe unless he does his utmost best to secure a good place among humans, to the point where they wouldn't suspect him of being anything else

later on in his life i think his opinion mellows a bit about it and begins to identify with it more than his basilisk form, but they are both him to him. his humanoid forms "not quite human not quite basilisk" appearence is something that he finds identification with a lot too because he struggles with feeling alienated/not really belonging in either with humans or in sartrill during pt 2 and post story and i dont think that ever really goes away.

this became more general than just face but thats because well i dont think that arvo thinks of his face as much other than just a face JKFDJKSFD. human attractiveness doesn't really register to him as he isn't human so he doesn't have much of an opinion on that front. funnily enough i think that he probably believes he looks "more mature" than other humans because he is visibly feathered (to himself) - basilisks tend to think that the sparse filaments on humans look kind of "cute"/neotonous because basilisk chicks are featherless when hatched and are sparsely feathered in early life. i think that he finds his lips really weird though, he gets used to having them (and teeth) but part of why he isn't very expressive is just that he thinks moving his lips too much is weird.

[castlebyersafterdark]

isnt it just so ghastly and boring that will haters' are 99% homophobic? can't they find an interesting villain origin story, jfc nobody cares about the fact that you can't handle seeing an emotional boi who is gayly in love! i am snoring over here at the lack of originality in your bigotry.

give me people disliking him for an actual valid reason i can analyse and discuss, PLEASE i am going insane with boredom over here, actually losing annual rings off my life every time i see someone uncomfortable with him crying. grow up and learn the beauty of expressing emotions? god these uptight homophobic tootie tootles are so fucking lame

RIIIIIGHT. So much of it is just heartlessness. Bigotry and homophobia, yes, that is a big one... but these people ultimately just fail in general, and it's not the show failing them. Genuinely think a lot are just cold, selfish people. Will is the most sympathetic character on the show. Designed to immediately care he's missing, designed for it to be shocking and scary that this sweet boy is then possessed by a monster, then sympathized that his terrible childhood makes him eager to prolong it while his other friends are in a rush to grow up. And then we watch him struggle through the pain of seemingly unrequited love. Oh, Will Byers 💔 To dislike or even hate him simply makes someone cruel.

Though, I have seen takes where he's hated for some supposed "mistreatment" of El and hatred over him being incredibly jealous and selfish?? Or a misogynist because of his jealousy or because he was at one point a gay nerdy 12 year old who didn't think girls played video games. But I mean, he was 12 and was bullied for being a nerd and honestly didn't consider that girls could and did - what was his experience with that??!! Fault every young boy in the Party's position in the 80s for thinking that, Dustin and Lucas only jumped at the knowledge once learned because out of the party, they actually like girls and hey Will came around to Max, imagine that! It's immaturity, not something hateful.

And hating Will for selfishness and jealousy and whatever "supposed" slights to El - first, get over yourselves, it's baseless and two - he's been nothing but accommodating to her? Put up barely a fight other than snark and sad pining when her and Mike sequestered themselves from the group that summer, latched out when he was being treated badly by his friends. He welcomed her into his family out of kindness which in return caused his entire life to be uprooted halfway across the country - something that wouldn't have happened if El wasn't involved. So what that he's a little jealous of her and Mike when Mike visited - El was an ass to him that day, it literally happened. And criticizing him for "not doing more to help her at school" - what was he supposed to do?? He's 15 and also a target? Boy has been through trauma, he's doing his best. What's his role here?

Again, it's cruelty and a lack of sympathy for all the things in Will's life. Will isn't perfect and surely has character flaws but this stuff... this isn't it. I feel hating him for any of these things is pretty sad.