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two-white-butterflies · 1 year ago

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★ — lights will guide you home | carlos sainz and multi

Description: Trying to find love after your ex-fiancee told you that his mistress makes him happier. How hard could it be?

part two of it was all yellow

Pairing: actress!singer!reader/multi (undecided), actress!singer!reader/carlos sainz (past).

Trope: Secret Baby Trope

Disclaimer: Everything written in this fanfic holds no truth about anyone's personality or actions. It is made purely for entertainment.

A/N: this part will mainly focus on the main character and her relationship with pablo, while setting things up with her future love interest + angst with carlos?🤔

carlossainz55: Everyday Magic! I love you baby.

liked by because.official and 712,923 others

>comments

ynnationlovebears: GIRL...

because.official: aww he looks so cute hubs 🥺 - carlossainz55: ❤️

iggyagaelabeef2: OH MY GOD SHE'S GOING TO KILL U

The situation was awkward. Pablo was wise beyond his years, he understood the situation - but his difficulty understanding it was obvious. He wasn't comfortable around Carlos, who until yesterday didn't even exist in his little world.

"Give him time." you comforted the older man.

It felt strange, comforting a man who was the reason of your sorrow. He was the reason that you didn't feel confident in your own skin, in your own face, because he thought that someone was better.

You spent these past years trying to look for the faults that he found inside of you, because if he could cheat on you, the next one could.

"Until yesterday, he didn't even know that you existed." you scoffed, attempting to avoid his guilty stare. "I don't know what I'm looking for - or what he likes. Children are a tough crowd." he chuckled nervously, mentally cursing Kirkman for leaving the both of you.

There was a silence, only interrupted by the slight sound of rain on the background. It was obvious that you had nothing in common. You had no desire with being friends with him. "I posted him on instagram, is that fine?" he broke through the thick atmosphere.

You licked your chapped lips.

"Yeah."

notdanielricciardopriv: this is so scary 😭

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>comments

notmaxv33: Slendrina - notynln: a lotta nerve from someone singing gagadegadao with my son ??

landofanbasebutreallandonorris: IM SO SCARED RIGHT NOW PLEASE DON'T KIDNAP ME - notynln: 😭

ynworldupdates: I literally don't understand why Carlos Sainz Jr. decided to cheat on the most beautiful woman in the whole universe 😭😭 like SHE LITERALLY PLAYS TARGARYENS FOR A LIVING MAN!!

liked by 829 others

>comments

birdsofafeather83: literally mother mary incarnate

holypoodlesticks: i want this woman to play a divine goddess

alex_lnc: that's why i love women, men will always CHEAT

>comments

floppiana83: "that makes her a good friend" MAX YOU ARE NOT SLICK HAHAHAHAHAHA

arianabanana: And they get married and have kids

inchident01: go to 2:01 I'm sensing a crush

"Charles told me that you were ignoring Carlos' messages." Daniel sits beside me, his face filled with concern.

"I didn't know how to react, okay." you groaned.

A few days ago Carlos posted a picture of Pablo. Your son's face was in full view, everyone began to critique his features - even the looksmaxxing community had a lot to say. It was a boy! A child!

"If you didn't want him posting P - then you should've told him in the first place." he responded, trying to play devil's advocate. It only added more to your fury. "The deed was done, someone probably already saved it - I couldn't just ask Carlos to delete the picture."

"- plus, you know how I get with confrontation." you breathed.

He was about to respond, but he sees your crestfallen face. The same curve of your lips that you miserably wore when you lost a game of UNO, or lost an acting role that you've been pining for.

"I hate him for what he did, but I miss him like a little kid. He makes me feel so stupid and useless."

" - when I'm around him, I can't help but think about my mistakes. I could've been better - maybe then, Pablo would have both of his parents." you sobbed, burying your face in his chest.

Daniel takes a deep breath.

"It shouldn't come from me ... but it's tough being a mother. Carlos can afford to make mistakes, no one will hate him for it - but it's unfair once you're the one who does." he comforted.

Between all your friends, Daniel was the only one who knew how to comfort another person. He was a blessing. A warm teddy bear.

"I-I just wanted to give Pablo the change of having privacy. His father and I never had that as kids. I know how tough it is being in the spotlight, I thought he'd understand." you sighed.

This was another lesson.

"I'll tell him next time." you nodded to yourself. A human being can make mistakes, but as a mother, it's best to not have any.

I've got to learn how to put my foot down.

yn.ln: a lot of you don't know this but me and @maxverstappen go way back.. i've seen the interview, thank you for calling me a good friend 🤣💚 ps. we first met each other when we were 5 and i'm pretty sure he forgot about me until we met again at 17 🤣

liked by danielricciardo, maxverstappen and 83,293 others

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helaenaslawyer: OH MY GOD ?? SHE LOOKED LIKE RHAENYRA WHEN SHE WAS A KID...THE HOTD CASTING DEPARTMENT NEVER MISSED

emmadarcy: OMG 🔥

maxieworldf1: never beating the sibling allegations

maxverstappen: Have you always been that short? - yn.ln: uhuh mr. tall king? lols

Carlos was taking snaps of Pablo on his new Kodak camera. The little boy seemed to enjoy being the subject of his father's photos. Daniel nudges your elbows, encouraging you to speak up. "Carlos, will you be posting that on social media?" you inquired.

He looked up with a smile - the smile that used to have you weak on your knees, now instead leaving you with neutral feelings. "If it's okay with you?" his eyebrows merged into each other.

"Uh I actually would prefer it if Pablo stays off the media for a few years, just until he's old enough to make his own decisions." the words slipped out of your mouth like a dam.

His eyebrows raised upwards, surprised.

"Oh I'm sorry that makes sense." his voice sounded defeated, but he quickly returns to playing with his son. You lean back on the sun-bed, flashing Daniel a winning smile. "That was surprisingly easy." you leaned back, watching as he takes a sip of his piña colada.

yn.ln: this is so 2014 core 🕷 📸 shot by p

liked by maxverstappen and 821,239 others

>comments

helaenaworld: this awakened something within me

holdmybeer: pedro alonso, stephanie beatriz, cm punk, carlos sainz I GET YOU...

bandanaqueef: O M G O M G O M G

formulaonewagsupdate: because and y/n l/n in one boat?

liked by 82,239 others

>comments

becausefanbase: i get it why carlos cheated HAHAHA

hotpotcentauri: Why does Y/N always look so awk? - ynlncloset: y/n l/n does not belong to you because, mainstream media and parties do... - callmeadefender: She's literally the most charming of all of the ladies in that boat 💀

babyohh: to be a fly on the wall during that yacht ride.

next part>>

thanks for the support guys. pt. 3 will focus on the yacht ride.

IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE ENDGAME ARE STILL OPEN, JUST BECAUSE THIS CHAPTER IS MAX AND DAN CENTRIC DOESN'T 100% MEAN THAT THOSE DRIVERS ARE ENDGAME.

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literaryvein-reblogs · 2 months ago

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Writing Notes: Military Science Fiction

Military science fiction - a subgenre that combines science fiction with military elements.

Also known as sci-fi, science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that contains imagined elements that don’t exist in the real world.

Science fiction spans a wide range of themes that often explore time travel, space travel, are set in the future, and deal with the consequences of technological and scientific advances.

Military sci-fi novels deal with subjects like space warfare and futuristic weaponry. These books may also explore how war and technology affect human or alien characters.

Characteristics of Military Science Fiction

Novels in this subgenre will often include one or more of these common military sci-fi tropes.

Advanced weaponry and warfare: Military sci-fi often includes detailed descriptions of futuristic weapons. World-building may include discussions of new types of spaceships and ammo for futuristic machine guns. Aside from technology, there may be unique military organizations or world-specific fighting strategies.

Epic battles: In many military sci-fi stories, the climax is a large and exciting battle. These fights can occur on land or in space and pit humans against aliens.

Philosophical discussions of war: Military science fiction can bring up philosophical and ethical issues, like war’s impact on civilians and warriors. Authors may even use sci-fi to critique real-life military operations.

Tips on Writing Military Science Fiction

Writing a great military science-fiction novel can be a long, challenging process. As with any novel, you’ll want to construct a satisfying plot, develop interesting characters, and write polished, vivid prose. That said, writing military science fiction requires many unique considerations. Here are some tips for creating a memorable military science-fiction novel:

Broach complex ideas. A good military science-fiction story depends on a great conceit. Before writing your first book, have some sense of the question your novel is asking. This question can be implicit or explicit in military sci-fi, and many novels make these questions obvious. For example, Ender’s Game asks the question: What if humanity’s survival during an alien invasion depended on highly intelligent children?

Tell a good story. While military science-fiction novels are often thought experiments, they should contain an interesting narrative story. Come up with an intriguing story that brings your questions to life. Ask yourself: What is the change that will occur over the course of your story, either in the world or in the life of the main character?

Create an interesting world. World-building is one of the most important parts of creating a compelling military sci-fi story. The intricately imagined details that make up your world should flow in some way from the idea at the heart of your story. In that way, the world you create in your military sci-fi novel also reveals something about your point of view on the real world. Even the most fantastically imagined story is still a reflection of real-world questions and problems.

Consistently obey the rules of your world. One of the qualities that set sci-fi novels apart from fantasy is that it still obeys consistent logic, no matter the strangeness of the world. For military sci-fi, this might involve rules about how advanced weapons and spaceships work. You may find yourself mapping out intergalactic government agencies and writing laws.

Focus on character development. You may get caught up building your world or focusing on your plot, but remember that well-developed characters are important, too. Your plot may hinge on a major battle, but make sure to create interesting conflicts for your characters.

Examples of Military Science Fiction

It can be helpful to read military science fiction to better understand what the genre has to offer. Consider some of these works by well-known science-fiction writers:

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (1959): Heinlin wrote this novel in response to real-life nuclear arms policy. Set in the future, it touches on moral and philosophical questions an interstellar government faces.

Childe Cycle by Gordon R. Dickson (1960): This series chronicles the fracture of humanity into space. Dorsai “supersoldiers” attempt to reunite the human civilizations.

Star Wars by George Lucas (1976): Star Wars’s novelization actually predates the iconic film’s release by a few months. Ghostwriter Alan Dean Foster wrote the book based on Lucas’s space opera screenplay.

Battlestar Galactica by Glen A. Larson (1978): This franchise follows the last of humanity as they fight a war against a robot race.

Armor by John Steakley (1984): Armor’s soldiers use exoskeletons in a war against insect-like enemies in this bestseller.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (1985): This novel follows young children with high intellect who help lead a war against an alien race.

Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold (1986): This series of novels and short stories is set in a fictional universe of star systems called the wormhole Nexus.

On Basilisk Station by David Weber (1993): This novel follows a military school graduate named Honor Harrington, whose insubordination gets her exiled to Basilisk Station, a far-off station of smugglers and thieves.

A Hymn Before Battle by John Ringo (2000): This novel is about Earth’s preparation for an alien invasion.

Old Man's War by John Scalzi (2005): The Colonial Defense Force is a military organization with two goals. The first is to defend Earth from alien invasion; the second, to find new planets to colonize. This novel follows John Perry’s journey through the ranks.

The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell (2006): This series is set one hundred years into an interstellar war between two warring factions of humans.

A Confederation of Valor by Tanya Huff (2006): These novels follow Sergeant Torin Kerr as she leads her team of space marines through missions across the galaxy.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

#military science fiction #science fiction #writing notes #writing tips #writeblr #literature #writers on tumblr #writing reference #dark academia #spilled ink #writing prompt #creative writing #writing advice #on writing #writing inspiration #writing ideas #light academia #writing resources

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dalishious · 10 months ago

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I said this in the last paragraph of this post but in case people don't actually read that whole thing, I wanted to make it extra clear...

Please don't hate on Davrin the character just because BioWare's promotional description of him is worded in a sketchy way. We do not even actually know for certain what he will be like. My gripes are with how they are choosing to promote him, at this time. The game is not out yet! It could all be misleading for all we know! But even if it isn't, please don't turn him into another Sera surface-level interpretation take, and act as if that's all his character is either. I highly doubt that will be the case.

I am personally absolutely still overall hyped for Davrin. I don't want my critique on this one specific piece of promo to cloud that.

#davrin #dragon age #datv #dragon age the veilguard

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keeksandgigz · 21 days ago

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poison in the water

chapter 1 of the shadow of the carrion

pairing: post outbreak! joel miller x reader

carrion: noun A dead body; a corpse or carcass. or Anything vile or corrupt.

summary: September 23, 2013- after a fight with your mom, you come across the strange sight of a twitching man, and that same night, all hell breaks loose. four years later, you begin your journey west with your mother and sister. after an ambush by a pack of hunters, you're saved by the least likely person to want to save you.

content: 18+ mdni always!! this is game joel, canon- compliant violence, pre- canon, hunter!joel & tommy, swearing, a lot of exposition for this chapter, a whole bucketload of angst and my usual penchant for drawn on descriptions [3.5k words]

the carrion masterlist | the carrion playlist

divider by @saradika-graphics

For as long as you could remember, you’d found death everywhere you went. In your tender ages— the garbles of fur, feathers, and blood. Birds, raccoons, possums, cats, marred creatures on the asphalt that you couldn’t seem to peel your eyes off of on the way and back to school. Their organs spilled on the hot pavement, fur swaying with the wind of the passing cars. You’d look at them, with intrigue, disgust, pity, waiting for the animal to become another unidentifiable dark shadow on the road within the span of a week, its meat and bones absorbed by the unforgiving earth.

And then, like a dark curse that seemed to haunt you, it hit your family next. It prepotently infiltrated itself in the ties you had with your grandmother— your last living, anyway, the only one you’d ever known— as her Memphis home engulfed itself in flames, and took her with it. There was no body to see, this time. No bones, or blood to fixate over. Just a gray urn looming over you on the mantle of your family home.

You’d feel her speak to you at times, absentmindedly, behind the background static of the TV, calling your name, slithering in your ears. And you’d turn, of course you did, recognizing your grandmother’s creaky voice, and when you’d told your mother, she’d laugh and brush it off. You’d always been just a kid. A kid with a vivid imagination.

That same galloping imagination had gotten you a full ride scholarship to a prestigious writing program, and it was so close you could almost reach out and it. Your first taste of freedom from your family. Your overbearing mother, the woman who was always supposed to be in your corner, seemed to be on the opposite end of it, with her biting words ready to lash at you. Engulfed by the cowardice of your father, who never seemed to be able to stand up for you against the green-eyed monster that lived inside of your mother, and just stoically stood in a corner. A stifling environment where you most often felt made of glass, ever since your sister was born, if not for the underhanded critiques, without a single kind word ever directed towards you.

Your classes were supposed to start the following week, and all your suitcases were laid neatly next to your door, like a golden ticket to freedom, and your mother couldn’t hold back from being especially venomous to you during that week. So you left, just to clear your mind for a bit. You couldn’t believe those were your last days with your family, and your mother had decided to spend them screaming at you. It was supposed to be a short walk around the neighborhood, just to cool down, just to let your mother’s We’ll all be so much happier once you’re gone bounce around the walls of your mind, warbling her words in repetition, just to let it lose its stinging meaning. A noise interrupted you– a man.

The unnatural movement of his body, his heaving, irregular breaths. His hands and neck twitched with a clicking sound, almost as if it were involuntary. Poor man. Pity almost compelled you to reach out, but then he slowly turned, and the words “are you okay?” died in your throat. The man’s eyes were void, mindlessly looking at the ground as his body bent unnaturally to throw up on the concrete. He hadn’t noticed you, it was a good enough time to head back without attracting his attention, but what gripped yours was the maroon stain on the man’s mouth. Dripping down on the floor along with his bile– blood? Only then you noticed another body, limply laying on the grass, the body of a woman, whose unnatural position allowed you to see the blood oozing from the bite marks on her neck, like the skin had been lacerated. You felt yourself grow sick, hiding behind a wall of vines as you tried to sneak away from the scene in a nearby alley, after which you ran home until your lungs burned, and your eyes were misty with tears. Your own bile on your front lawn, confused and terrified as your chest heaved with difficulty.

“Hope you’re ready to come inside and apologize” you distantly heard your mother’s stern tone from the front door, but there was something gripping you, right by the throat, that compelled you to stay on the grass. Your mother would not have believed you.

That night you went to sleep without eating, then, the same shadow of death that had followed you since you were little, engulfed your whole life.

You were woken up by the sound of alarms, and your mother shaking you awake. Her alarmed tone still haunts you, she called you honey, something she hadn’t done since you were sixteen. We’ve got to go, hurry, honey. Even after everything, that sentence echoed and warbled itself in your nightmares as you were rushed out of bed and out of your home. That��s all you remember doing that night: running.

***

You’d lost your father within the initial pandemonium of the outbreak– ten days after, to be exact. You and your family snuck into a nearby wine cellar, next to a house on the hills. Scavenging food with your father, not straying too far from your hiding place– those things hadn’t cleared out of the city just yet. Your father had managed to find a radio that stayed on at all hours of the day, covering the helpless cries of those twitching bodies outside. Had a couple close calls, as one of them managed to venture out to the hills. You’d heard his sobs as he regretfully threw up, lamented a garbled I don’t want to do this, followed by an unnatural snarl as his bile slithered down the cracks of the wooden beams of the roof. You’d trembled in fear in the opposite corner, held by your mother’s arms, as she hugged your sister, unmoving, wondering if by an insane stroke of misfortune that thing could have been able to open the heavy doors to the cellar.

Then, one day your father went off to gather, by himself, and a gunshot in the distance of the sparse forest up ahead was all you needed to hear to know what had happened.

No limbs flailing in the dark of night as he ran away from a possible horde, no heroic death. Just the hollow boom of his small revolver, and a head full of questions that haunted you for weeks and months, as you waited for the area to clear, and you’d found what was left of his skeleton in the forest where you’d used to go with him to scavenge. Picking up what was left of his skull, you clearly saw the fissure in the muddied bone, right on top of his head. You’d found his revolver right next to his bones, which he briefly taught you how to shoot in those ten days you’d been with him, carefully placing the safe and tucking it into your backpack. Your father had always been a coward, anyway.

Within the span of four years, your resources waned, food became scarce, and the wine cellar became too small a place for your mother and sister, as the former drank away her grief. With each of her heavy sobs, you lived in fear of those ‘infected,’ that was what they had called them over the radio, hearing her from a distance, and having to watch her heaving body get torn apart by a pack of them. Your sister was still young, she couldn’t possibly have been able to contribute, so the responsibility fell on your shoulders.

So you left Memphis in the Summer of 2017, the only home you’d ever known, to venture East. Your mother had heard about a rebel group, the Fireflies, looking for a cure. It’s been years since they grouped, they sure ‘s hell got a cure by now, your mother muttered as she packed her bag and swaddled your sister, who was four and could barely walk, on her aching back. You took turns carrying her, hearing pained hisses behind you by the hour. You’d try to keep to the forests, as the infected had not traveled there, yet, and as long as you stayed outside the city, things had been relatively safe.

Regardless, your father’s revolver burned against your back, forcing itself to be felt, as a testimony of the duty you had to your family, to keep them alive, despite the cowardice he’d ended his own life with— without explanation.

When the forests began to become sparser and sparser, you’d had no choice but to venture into the cities. You’d reached Cincinnati without so much as a scratch, just debilitating back pains from carrying your sister, and an insatiable hunger for rest. You’d heard that most of the QZ’s had fallen in the hands of the Fireflies, the closest being Pittsburgh, which, according to the fading map you kept in your back pocket, was going to be another day’s travel. For the first time in a while you felt optimistic about your plan working, you’d almost gotten your mother and sister so close to safety, so close to living a decently peaceful life.

If only it hadn’t been for the bullet that perforated your mother’s back and lodged itself in your sister’s stomach.

***

Joel hated the summer. How sticky his clothes felt against his skin, how every sunbeam on his aging skin felt like Sarah again. It reminded him of pools, soccer games, and a lazy beer on his porch as the sun went down– things that had been gone for a long time.

He found respite in the shade of the abandoned building he’d set up camp at with his crew. He exhaustingly got up from his dingy makeshift cot with a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in almost half a decade. There was a soft breeze treading through the skeletal desolation of what used to be downtown, providing relief from the damp fabric on his back. It was the third or fourth city in the span of five months. Five months of traveling up and down the Midwest– hunter group after hunter group, riding with the same shameful, guilt-ridden monkey on his aching back, while Tommy talked his ear off about quitting all this senseless killing.

“Just a few months more, then we’ll quit. We’ll kick these assholes to the curb and start goin’ East. We’ll go somewhere nice.” Joel said, exactly five months before.

And yet, there he was. Killing more people for a few scraps of extra clothes and food. He couldn’t. Not when he knew leaving meant certain death, and, had they made it out, even sparser meals than what he’d gotten used to.

On a lucky day, where clueless tourists would trek through the ruined remains of what once was the QZ, he was able to rack up enough provisions to keep him and Tommy afloat for a couple weeks. Yet, big groups were sparse, and the greed of his fellow hunters was as devastating as their violence. Gathered around the cadavers like starving vultures, picking apart their backpacks, tearing clothes and shoes off of the still-warm bodies, laughing maniacally at their senseless violence. He hated the sadistical nature of it all.

He’d woken up because of gunshots that morning, which always left him hopeful for some good loot to bring back to Tommy. Only it wasn’t like that this time.

Tommy was already there, wordlessly standing on the curb, staring at the scene ahead. A girl. The side of her head and arms streaked with blood as she held the body of an older woman in her arms, and upon closer inspection there was also a little girl swaddled to her chest. That made Joel’s stomach churn a bit, as he stared at the last girl standing. She was surrounded by his whole crew, laughing and taunting her. Out of his good ear he’d managed to hear the word mom muttered just once. Her eyes went wide, as she stared ahead, taking stock of what animal could have possibly done that to an innocent mother and her little girl. Monsters like him, that’s who. His crew liked to do that— leave the last person standing, look at them cry, keep them alive for a few days to truly let them metabolize that there was no way out of it. Except, many of them tried to put up a fight, brandishing whatever small guns they’d carried with them– they had no chance. But the girl, after the initial shock, just stared straight ahead, holding on to her mother’s body, frozen.

Joel wasn’t a merciful guy, not when the world ripped out his right from his hands, but the way you’d stared straight ahead like a deer in headlights painfully reminded him of how he’d felt the night Sarah died. He often wondered, in the dead of night, as much as he’d hated dwelling on it, where he would’ve ended up had she lived. The two of them and Tommy would’ve escaped to some quiet, small town– one of those that had been completely evacuated the first two weeks after the outbreak– and lived off the land. He enjoyed burying his grief in the bullets and blades he used to harm others, as much as he hated to admit it– he had to keep Tommy alive, after all.

Joel wasn’t a merciful guy, not by a long shot, but something about the way you looked so utterly paralyzed, holding your own mother, made his chest tighten the slightest bit.

“Get Miller to finish the job” one of the men barked, amused. Joel rolled his eyes as the rest of the crew diverted their gazes to him and his brother, and your gaze turned ever so slightly to their direction. He could see your eyes now– two fissures pleading for what could have been two things: to let you survive or to let you join your family. The more he looked at you, the more his throat closed in on itself, so he stepped forward.

“Not you, your pussy brother!” another man laughed, and the rest followed. He could see Tommy blanch under the thunderous laughs of his crew. He couldn’t have done it.

“He won’t do it,” Joel started, trying to buy himself some time. “He’s sweet on girls, aren’t you, Tommy?” he snickered, disgusted at himself for even uttering those words, as he pushed his brother aside, heading to your paralyzed figure.

“He’s gonna do it. Y’know why?” the man who proposed the idea croaked with a slice of a smile. Joel knew why. “Because we’ll kill you both if he doesn’t” the man snickered. He saw your body rise and fall in a quick gasp. You also knew that there was no way out of this.

Joel produced a gun from the back of his ratty jeans and placed it in Tommy’s hand. “Be ready” he muttered, hoping his brother understood the hint, and pushing him closer to you.

You could feel the terrifying anticipation crawling up your bloodied arms still holding your mother’s chilling body.

Please kill me. I’ve got nothing to lose.

The man named Tommy tentatively steps towards you. You can see it in his eyes, he doesn’t want to do it. Your eyes are veiled and misted with tears, tears that you won’t let fall. Not in front of these men.

Don’t kill me just yet– I’ve gotta go East, for my Mama.

Your bones truly feel like ice.

Why can’t I move? Stand up.

Tommy is in front of you, and his arm is pointing the gun at you.

You’ve got a gun. Shoot ‘em.

He’s so close you can see down the barrel, you can see his finger hug the trigger. The last thing you see before you close your eyes is your murderer’s eyes full of tears, then the gun goes off.

But it’s not at you.

***

There’s a deafening silence for a moment. Then another gunshot, then another, then the crowd of men surrounding you grows rowdy and restless. The man who was with Tommy lifts you up, and your legs feel like there’s a million ants crawling under the soiled flesh of your skin.

“You got a gun?” the man yells through the shots. All you do is nod, everything is too loud. “Can you shoot?” Another nod, then he turns around to deliver two head shots. You count three more men standing. “Grab your shit, we gotta run” he commands, and your legs move faster than your brain does.

“They got a truck out back!” Tommy yells, turning around to shoot at the leg of one of your attackers. You hear the bone crack, and for some reason it deafens you.

There’s a strange feeling clouding your mind. It wants you to stop, it wants you to sit down, it wants you to be taken by the men chasing you, to be shot, to join your mother and sister whose limp bodies were becoming to grow smaller the further you ran. What would they have done with them?

“Faster!” you heard one of the two men yell, but everything felt muffled, even the gunshots and screams of the crowd of the three hunters trailing behind you. “‘S close, right behind here” one of them gruffed, as your lungs burned with exertion and the abysmal portions of food you’ve had for the past few months.

“C’mon girl, up” Tommy’s brother said, grabbing your back with his arm to toss you across his body. There was a blindness to what was going on, like your brain was stuck to a few minutes before everyone else’s. That despite the yells and screams of your chasers and the gunshots, everything seemed to be happening from a distance, to everyone else, but not to you. Only when you reached a rickety brown truck you’d realized the man was carrying you– he had to have seen you struggle, and Joel knew the empty stare in your eyes all too well. He hauled you in without many ceremonies as Tommy climbed into the driver’s seat, and he hopped in right next to you with a string of go, go, go, furiously hitting the back of the passenger seat. There was a thick sheen of sweat on the man’s scarred temple as everything moved in slow motion. The rumble of the truck’s motor right under your body, the stray gunshots from the massacre’s survivors.

“Won’t be long ‘til the others reach us, hurry up, Tommy” the man urged, as the car finally went into motion, and for a second you fell back into your body.

“‘M goin’ as fast as I can, Joel” Tommy retorted, his tone just as alarmed as his brother’s. It had been a while since you’d been in a car, you observed, staring at the dilapidated buildings blurring outside the window.

Once you were out of the city, Joel scooted himself in the middle, and climbed over the console to sit in the passenger seat.

“What’s your name?” he asked, in a stern tone, which, regardless, seemed to be much gentler than how he’d yelled at you to get a move on an hour earlier, but it seemed that as hard as you tried, your mouth couldn’t produce a sound. It physically burned your throat to force it.

His eyebrows contorted in concern, for a brief moment, then, like lightning, his expression hardened. That was the man you’d seen when the hunters killed your mom and sister.

“Joel, leave her alone” Tommy interjected, and you were briefly grateful for his meddling– you didn’t want to talk to anyone. How was it that you were able to get out of what had happened alive, yet your mom and your sister’s bodies laid cold on the dirty concrete in a random city. They wouldn’t have received a proper burial, like your dad. There was no family for you to go back to. Nowhere to go but wherever that damn truck took you. Would they have burned the bodies? What would Joel and Tommy have wanted with you? You saw yourself tossed on the side of the highway, wandering aimlessly, until a pack of infected would have come and ripped you apart. That was the ending you deserved, for being alive instead of a four year old girl.

Your lip began to tremble, and your throat closed up for good, and in the midst of your silenced sobs you heard a muffled She can fuckin’ stay quiet the whole ride. See if I care. This need to save every wounded bird that comes your way is gonna get you killed, Tommy.

See if I care.

If only somebody would have cared.

thanks for reading! feedback, comments & reblogs are so appreciated <3

#joel miller fanfiction #joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #game joel #the last of us fic #the last of us #tlou #tommy miller #{my writing}#joel miller series #joel miller smut #joel miller fluff #joel miller angst #joel tlou

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kirkwallguy · 10 days ago

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Idk if you've posted about it before and I missed it, but I saw ur tag mentioning you have a critique on datv's treatment of transness and I'd genuinely be interested in hearing about it :)

hi, yes i have but it's been a while since i last talked about it! i've been meaning to write a long essay on my issues for a while but it would require actually playing the game and i don't want to do that. here's a long rant that got away from me though:

i've complained sometimes about various stereotypes or missteps in the way specific trans characters are represented, but i'd be able to ignore that if it weren't for my main issue, which is that trans characters just aren't properly woven into the world, leaving them feeling alienated in a way queer characters in previous games never were.

it's very clear that the writers haven't broken down their own perceptions of gender and the various cultures surrounding it enough to say something insightful, which is fine because most people haven't, but when people defend the game on the sole basis that its depiction of transness is revolutionary i do have to take some issue. there are books from the 60s that take a more interesting approach to deconstructing gender lol. veilguard may feel progressive in the landscape of aaa video games but i don't think that means it should pass without critique and i don't think that we should have to settle for this when it's possible to do so much better.

the easiest and most frequently discussed example of not properly incorporating transness into thedas is the use of language in the game. you've probably seen the endless arguments about whether taash calling themself nonbinary is an anachronism, and though i'm sure some of the arguments are in bad faith i think people overestimate how many people (on here specifically) are arguing from that perspective. it's been extremely frustrating to be called transphobic by cis people over this when i'm coming at it from the perspective of someone who has actually studied shit like this.

this is a problem throughout the game but it's easier to examine codex entries for this post than go through entire scenes. i've talked about hating the language in this codex entry before, but it really annoys me so let me complain about it again lol.

acknowleding that trans as a prefix means "change" is actually a good start here and if wasn't for how this codex entry continues i'd just shrug and move on, but i really hate the absolutist way it uses the very modern "affirming" and "was always" narrative and language as though it's universally agreed upon. you can argue that this is subjective and what taash was told (though which shadow dragon is talking to them like a GIC psychologist lol?), but when the entire codex entry feels like an educational pamphlet for clueless cis people it just comes across as very odd.

and then the rest of the codex entry just abandons any attempt at making the words "work" etymologically and gives extremely bare-bones descriptions of them. some of these words are younger than me, i saw them being coined on various forums and corners of the internet. is it representation if you say the word and put absolutely no effort into representing or even discussing the agender/bigender/demigender/others experience? in another post i compared this to being like if they did a lord of the rings remake and confirmed legolas as being bisexual by making him wear a bi flag pin with no extra context - of course people TODAY use that flag to signal their experience with bisexuality and there's nothing wrong with that, but to link modern language/signals with an experience that has clearly existed since before either of those things were invented comes right back around to being oddly invalidating, as though these experiences wouldn't exist without modern english speaking understanding of them.

as for the argument about whether or not it's anachronistic: i don't personally think you need to adhere to a binary of modern / historically accurate language and culture to make queerness work in a medieval-ish fantasy setting. the previous games (for all their faults) managed a pretty established status quo where they didn't aim to portray a utopia with a widespread queer culture while also not being gratuitous with their homophobia. and as much as queer x-topias can be interesting when done well, i think this is a good thing for a big budget fantasy game - unless you're EXTREMELY in the know about gender roles and queer theory etc, how can you hope to portray a queer utopia? some people write books whose sole point is to portray a world without gender roles or homophobia and they still misstep, i don't think it's the casual inclusive background thing a lot of fantasy authors believe it to be. it would have gone the same way as origins' claim that men and women are treated the same; maybe you make queer people hold hands in the street without being questioned and nobody makes negative comments about your romance option, but do you subconsciously assign gender roles to jobs? do you portray the majority of npcs adhering to western cishet gender norms? what is the ratio of monogamous f/m relationships portrayed compared to other relationships? these are all things people just straight up don't think about when designing a world and they will accidentally create a society that is welcoming of queerness in THEORY while actually replicating our own cishet patriarchal values.

i don't think veilguard is attempting to be a utopia, i don't think it's attempting to be anything but a finished game, but i see people defending it on the BASIS of it being a utopia fairly often.

taash's arc is another pretty big example of this struggle to examine gender in real life beyond the writers' experiences, namely white canadian. it's a deeply racist attempt at a multucultural narrative where one culture (which has already been demonised throughout the series, including in veilguard) is portrayed as less welcoming of queer people while the other culture, which is still a society with binary gender roles despite being a matriarchy, is portrayed as being instantly and unquestionably accepting.

there's a LOT of potential in an arc for a character like taash if they'd been written by someone with actual interest (and probably experience) writing about the queer experience of existing within two very different cultures. the qunari ARE a culture who are fairly big on binaries but they have an established acceptance of transition that would make their understanding of gender fairly fluid, meanwhile the lords of fortune seem ideal on the surface but human/(our) culture has so many hidden binaries that you don't notice in everyday life unless you're the one being alienated by them.

this could have been a chance to slightly turn the racist Othering of the qunari on its head by showing our own society from the perspective of perhaps some aqun-athlok characters taash befriends, a codex entry about an aqun-athlok character from the past that taash finds and takes inspiration from (maybe they start out aqun-athlok then reject the gender binary entirely?), or even from shathann, perhaps as a character who has explored her gender in the past or decides to explore it as a result of taash. (imagine if shathann was actually aqun-athlok herself, having adopted taash, and some of her complicated feelings about the qun involved the fact that her identity was more accepted there. just SOMETHING to balance the scales a little.)

then again, not even rivain gets to be the fully "progressive" society and taash has to go to the shadow dragons for their gender education. i think it's funny that someone seemed to be projecting an ultra-progressive modern activist group image onto the shadow dragons, i think i've said before that they remind me of all the modern au fanfiction about les amis from les mis that i used to read as a teenager, when they're supposed to be a ruthless abolitionist group. i think this choice was largely to facilitate interaction between the factions but it does feel a little odd given the other racist elements in taash's arc.

there's also the issue of the actual topic of medical transition being avoided. we have tarquin and mae, two characters who have seemingly undergone some kind of medical transition. we have top surgery scars in cc. but there's no discussion of how this transition happens - is hrt magical as krem suggests and is that the only option? is surgery affordable? do different countries and cultures have different levels of advancement in medical transition? these are things i'd want to see written about in codex entries, not lists of various identities that anyone can find by googling a list of genders.

i'm a little disquieted by the avoidance of medical transition given everything happening irl, but it's maybe the issue i understand the thought process behind the most. it feels like a very safe attempt at not veering too far into what happened with krem / the decades of weird fascination with trans bodies. my feelings on this entirely hinge on whether or not the dragon king does actually have top surgery scars lol, for my sanity i'll say he doesn't.

anyway, this all sucks because i've seen SO many fans do better for casual oc posting or fanfic. i've seen so many amazing ways trans culture and hrt and surgery could work in thedas and it's depressing that the writers couldn't even attempt to do something interesting with it. i know there was a lot of crunch that impacted the quality of the writing but i do also think some of these issues would have persisted if they'd had all the time in the world.

#ask #anonymous #long post #sorry i didnt mean for this to get SO long i meant to make 2 points max and just rambled #but yeah. my basic thoughts. one day i'll write a full essay but i dont want to replay veilguard lol #i didn't post about this for a while because i tended to get a lot of negative attention when i did but i think i have the majority of #hardcore veilguard defenders blocked now so lol. we'll see.#the criticism of taash isnt really comprehensive but that's the gist of it. if i wrote about them alone it'd take thousands of words lol

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 4 months ago

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Can u not tag malleus or other characters when u hate on them pls it makes me sad

Hello, and thank you for reaching out about this! I do apologize for your discomfort 💦

I believe that this ask comes as a result of this post, as that’s the most recent post I can think of which might match the description of “hating on Malleus”. You’ll note that there is now a Malleus Draconica critical tag, which you can block if you choose to. This way, you won’t come across it while browsing my blog.

I’ve also gone ahead and retroactively tagged other related posts (although they’re mostly posts from the past year or two). There are similar tags for other characters, such as #Vil Schoenheit critical and the like. These tags are put on posts in which I discuss why I don’t like a particular character. I hope you can use these tags and the blocking feature to best curate your own experience on this blog.

The reason why I elected to make a new tag rather than exclude my posts altogether from the main tags is because I don’t think that it’s conducive to shut away “negativity” about a character when Twst is a game that actively promotes characters of a dubious nature. It encourages us to embrace both the good and the bad aspects of its large cast of colorful characters—so I don’t think there’s anything wrong with pointing out their flaws or why someone might not like X or Y for them. This can make some people uncomfortable, certainly. However, I don’t think that’s a reason to prevent sharing of this critique with others who might gain new insight from it. I say this as someone who has gained insight myself by reading about characters I dislike, and someone who has been told that their works have entirely changed people’s minds about certain characters. It goes both ways.

Even if someone dislikes a character I happen to like, I find it helpful to read conflicting opinions to gain a fuller perspective. I want to give others that opportunity as well. I realize that not everyone may share this sentiment though, which is why there’s always the option to block what you don’t wish to see. (Prioritize your own comfort!!) I think people should be able to choose not to look at content that upsets them, but I don’t think it makes sense for this content to be hidden from others who may be interested in seeing “the other side”, if that makes sense!

I also believe that fandom—especially as of late—seems to conflate critique with hate, to the point where the slightest criticism of a character or content is labelled as “hate”. This can lead to a dangerous area where anything that isn’t immediate and glowing praise is deemed “bad”. That’s not an area I want this fandom to hit, as it would inevitably limit our ideas (although this also applies to all other fandoms).

In reality, “hate” and “critique” are NOT synonyms of each other. Hate is hostile and exists purely to shame or to tear down the content in question. It doesn’t consider the other side or care to ask questions. Critique is judgment or opinion of that content, and it is usually meant to help improve the content. It has us ask “why?” and “how?” To put it simply, hate is “you’ll never be better” and critique is “you can do better”.

In this instance, perhaps the previous anon’s statements (“[…] now I'm a hater. Like wtf. He’s so incompetent.”) are hate. (Even so, they’re entitled to feel the way that they do, even if the way the opinion was expressed was over-the-top.) I do think I was emotional in my response, but I don’t think I expressed myself in a hateful manner overall. I opened with what is arguably a defense of his behavior and then went on to point out a legitimate character flaw Malleus has and how not everyone reading those vignettes would perceive that flaw in a gracious manner. It’s not blind hatred; it’s valid critique and it comes from a place of wanting to see him improve as a person. I try to not character bash because no one (myself included) feels good seeing others hating on their favorites. Malleus has flaws, and so do all the other characters. Those flaws should be acknowledged, and it’s up to the individual to determine whether those flaws result in liking or disliking that particular character.

I’m not saying that everyone should agree with my stance on the Malleus Dorm Uniform vignettes or how I feel about Malleus in general. What I am saying is that not all negative statements made about a character should automatically be categorized as “hate”. I worry that if we stretch the definition of the word too loose, it could become a situation where any and all critique is silenced 💦 What happens when no critique is allowed? Everyone begins to think the same way or has to be fearful of expressing an opinion, and fandom becomes so much less fun for everyone involved… And, worse still, the canon content itself can feel confident resting on its laurels and not actually put forth the effort to “be better” (since there’s no negative feedback coming from the fandom).

Again, I encourage you to curate your online experience!! Do whatever makes you the most comfortable. If you don’t like seeing something, there is zero shame in blocking it or taking whatever steps necessary to disengage. Lastly, please take care to not to overgeneralize what counts as “hate”!

Thank you for your time 🙇‍♀️ I know I probably rambled for way longer than necessary cnsbjwvuwgejbe

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #notes from the writing raven #advice #blog update #feedback for the writing raven #Malleus Draconia critical #Malleus Draconia

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theaawalker · 1 month ago

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Steps to NOT Write Through the Male Gaze

follow for more tips 💋 || request writing tips 💌

1. Establish the Foundation

Understand the Male Gaze: The male gaze frames women as objects of visual pleasure, ergo valued for their beauty, sexual availability, or how they serve a male character’s development. Avoid this lens from the start. Define Her Perspective, Not Her Appearance: Ask: How does she see the world? before how the world sees her. Build her worldview, voice, and motivations before describing how she looks. Be Conscious of Descriptive Priorities: Don’t default to describing her body, clothing, or attractiveness as her most important trait. Focus on how she moves, acts, and feels instead.

2. Shape Her Role in the Story

Let Her Exist Outside of Men: She should have goals, fears, and relationships that don’t revolve around male characters. Avoid “Sexy Equals Strong” Tropes: She doesn’t need tight leather, flirtatious sarcasm, or constant sensuality to be powerful. Let her be strong in her own way. Don’t Make Her a Reward or Symbol: She shouldn’t exist to motivate, validate, or redeem a man. Her arc must stand on its own.

3. Build Her Character Authentically

Write From the Inside Out: What does she care about? What keeps her up at night? What drives her, enrages her, makes her laugh? Let Her Be Messy: She can sweat, cry, bleed, scream, get sick, or look disheveled. Don’t erase humanity for aesthetics. Avoid “Flawed, But Hot” Writing: If she’s “awkward,” “clumsy,” or “gritty,” don’t cancel that out by constantly reaffirming how stunning or sexy she is. Let the flaws stand.

4. Portray Her Strength Without Objectification

Let Her Dress for Herself, Not the Audience: If she’s in battle, don’t put her in stilettos and midriff armor. If she’s undercover, let her choose strategy over seduction. Don’t Over-Sexualize Emotional Moments: Crying isn’t sexy. Anger isn’t foreplay. Don’t linger on her body in moments meant to be about her feelings. Keep the Camera in Check (Even in Prose): Don’t describe her like a slow pan from the waist up. Prioritize what she notices, she fears, she decides.

5. Develop Relationships With Nuance

Show Female Solidarity: Give her female mentors, friends, rivals, or family. Let her world include other women who matter. Avoid One-Sided Obsession: Male characters shouldn’t constantly sexualize, save, or possess her. Attraction is fine. Ownership is not. Challenge Gender Dynamics: Let her interrupt, outsmart, or lead without being “punished” by the narrative. Don’t reduce her competence to a joke or anomaly.

6. Develop a Satisfying, Self-Defined Arc

Let Her Endings Serve Her, Not the Guy: Whether she wins, dies, leaves, or thrives, her choices should reflect her own journey and not someone else’s fantasy. Avoid Tragedy Porn: Don’t use rape, abuse, or trauma as shallow backstory. If you explore it, treat it with gravity, research, and respect. Highlight Her Full Humanity: Show her strength, weakness, rage, love, ugliness, complexity. That’s what real, well-written characters deserve.

Examples of Female Characters Written Outside the Male Gaze

1. Film/TV Examples:

Arya Stark (Game of Thrones): Grows as a killer, survivor, and girl finding her own code, she was never reduced to sex appeal.

Marceline the Vampire Queen (Adventure Time): Complex, emotional, ancient, her strength isn’t sexualized, but deeply personal.

Nadine (The Edge of Seventeen): Her awkwardness, jealousy, grief, and rage are all raw and fully human.

2. Literature Examples:

Celie (The Color Purple by Alice Walker): An abused woman who finds her voice and liberation, not by being beautiful, but by reclaiming herself.

Offred (The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood): Her narrative critiques the commodification of female bodies and internal rebellion in a male-controlled society.

Claire Warden (The Guardians of Camoria series): Gritty, spiritual, violent, and wounded, she's not sexualized but carved by her own scars, instincts, and strength.

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paper-mario-wiki · 1 year ago

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one of the things that appeals to me the most about the idea of a reaction video is the chance it allows me to break out from the opinions of not only people who are already aware of something i like, but also from people who might already have a significant amount of context for the thing they're engaging with. when watching a lets play of someone playing the new final fantasy, i will not be as entertained by their reactions because, to some extent, they already know what to expect broadly from the game. beyond that, even if it's a streamer who HASN'T played final fantasy, but is nonetheless connected to the greater sphere of gaming knowledge that would have passively instilled in them basic knowledge of things like chocobos and sephiroth and the buster sword and whatnot, there is still diminished impact in their opinions, because their opinions had at some point already been tempered by foreknowledge of some kind.

i have been enjoying the fallout show a great deal. i think that the quality of it is undeniable (pirate it, by the way), which means that the people watching the show are getting an accurate sampling of not just the setting and atmosphere of the games, but also the writing, the depth of the world design which has been built up over decades, and even to some extent the GAMEPLAY, as the story of the show matches the pace of a main story in the games in their sidetrackability (the golden rule of the wasteland "thou shall get sidetracked by bullshit every time"). that quality (and the positive reviews that come with it) leads to a much broader spectrum of reaction videos coming from it.

what i mean to say with all of this is that i find it incredibly enjoyable to watch, like, some 40 year old piano teacher (this is a random description, i havent actually seen any musician-type reactors watching fallout) who doesn't play video games form sincere and thorough theories about what vault-tec is up to, and critiquing the guiding principles of the brotherhood of steel, and commenting on the nature of discrimination against mutants, is VERY enjoyable to me. i think that observations which are not based in preconceived notions of what you already may know about the media can be so much richer to take in.

#text #random thought #fallout show

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thydungeongal · 7 months ago

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I've once heard Dungeon World described as the game that people who never played DnD think DnD is. At the time I thought it was a pretty fair description - even though I don't like DW (despite being a FILTHY NARRATIVIST) and I don't know much about DnD's mechanics. I'm curious as to what you think about that description, given that you actually like DnD and know about a lot more systems than I do

So okay, I was for a while very into Dungeon World, and I actually think that description is something of a mischaracterization of it. Dungeon World is actually remarkably loyal to D&D in many ways, and it's clear from reading it that the authors actually know what D&D is. So that critique seems to me to have been written by someone with a chip on their shoulder.

Having said that, I am also not overly fond of DW and it actually boils down to the fact that it is so similar to D&D. Like, obviously that was the point, since it basically is an exercise in "what if we translated D&D into the PbtA framework." But it does it in such a way that I feel it ends up not utilizing any of the interesting ideas of the PbtA framework.

So my main problem with it ends up being "it's D&D but with a 2d6 system and graded success and moves." It's still got ability scores, alignments, levels, spell slots, all just bolted into PbtA. I could just play D&D. It does not utilize any of the interesting pieces of Apocalypse World that I think could have elevated it: it completely ignores stronghold-building despite that being a feature in AW that could have worked perfectly in its old-school D&D pastiche. It ignores AW's playing around with scale. And most importantly, it's ultimately just an adventure game.

So yeah, I like D&D and I like PbtA, but Dungeon World is too similar to D&D for me to justify just. Not playing D&D instead. And it utilizes the PbtA framework in a manner that is so unsatisfactory to me that I would rather play one of the better PbtA games.

#thydungeongal answers

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nebbys-personal-nebula · 1 year ago

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the biggest, most copium agent 4 theory from this clown of an agent four enjoyer

apologies for the wait on this! i wanted to unlock all of the dev diaries to make sure i could squeeze out every last bit of lore...

anyways SIDE ORDER SPOILERS INCLUDING POSTGAME

so let's start with the common knowledge. most people know by this point that agent 4 has a palette. it's one of the first you get in the game, after pearl and marina's. to the surprise of nobody, it is a splattershot...

according to what marina says about the memverse, palettes are a portion of a person's soul dragged into the memverse. so agent 4's soul got dragged in here somehow. how did this happen, and why? there are a few possibilities...

marina mentions in her eighth dev diary that she needs someone to handle system security. she writes: "maybe i can ask that person cuttlefish introduced me to for help there." this is still pretty vague, but we know from smollusk's note on agent 4's palette that it is definitely agent 4. quote:

"THIS is who mawina wanted in charge of memverse security? this unfwappable, free-spirited so-and-so? i would never abide it!"

the question is: if agent 4 was intended to be security for the memverse, then where are they? this leads us to the parallel canon boss!

note that figure in the center. even though all descriptions for this boss describe it as "a lot like eight", it is clearly an inkling with its pointed ears and hair.

the hairstyle is significant, too. all art of this boss, including its icon, display it with the "haircut" style. why does this matter? because official art of agent 4 also uses this style:

on top of that, people have reported that if you have splatoon 2 save data on your switch, the boss will use whatever hairstyle your inkling uses in that game (with that inkling, of course, being agent 4). unfortunately, i forgot to take a screenshot of my save, but maybe someone could reblog this and confirm?

another thing to note about that agent 4-looking robot in the center is that they're wielding the order shot, which is the same weapon you get from agent 4's palette.

so what exactly am i getting at with all this? let's read a little more of smollusk's notes on agent 4...

"buut...no weason such stwength shouldn't be used to pwotect a world of order. an order defense force is MUCH cooler than a new squidbeak splatoon anyway!"

this phrasing is particularly interesting to me because it implies smollusk wants to, or already has utilized agent 4's strength in some way. additionally, smollusk regards fans of chaos in a very similar way. for almost all of them, he argues they must be "punished". examples:

"she must be PUNISHED!" - callie's palette

"her chaotic lies must be PUNISHED!" - shiver's palette

"for the sake of order, they all must be PUNISHED!" - frye's palette

"it annoys me, so he must be PUNISHED!" - big man's palette

"he must be PUNISHED!" - sheldon's palette

"i sentence him to PUNISHMENT!" - dj octavio's palette

almost all of these characters are on the side of "chaos". callie and dj octavio were on the chaos side of the final fest, while shiver, frye, and big man rep the splatlands, basically the land of chaos. no idea what smollusk's beef is with sheldon though that guy was neutral LOL

on the other hand, smollusk is notably softer with characters on the side of "order", like marie, murch, and marina (obviously). he still critiques them, but he doesn't sentence them to "punishment".

agent 4 was on the side of chaos in the final fest. so why didn't smollusk sentence them to "punishment"?

perhaps it's because smollusk is already making use of them...by using their soul to control the parallel canon boss!

think about it! the bosses of the tower are basically security, right? they keep you from reaching the top! since smollusk knows from marina that agent 4 was meant to be security, it could have pulled in their soul to fulfill that job. that's why agent 4's palette is there, and that's why we don't physically see them in the dlc! because they're grayscaled in the outside world!

…it is also definitely possible that the boss is just INSPIRED by agent 4, taken from marina's memories, or something like that. but i like this theory because it explains why agent 4's soul ended up in the memverse.

one other thing - i think the popular opinion is that the parallel canon boss are "robots", due to the way they move, their eyes glowing, the filter on their voice, etc...this is probably true, but have you ever wondered if the boss is actually a real inkling (a digital…real…inkling? you get the idea) if it was just a robot like the others, why would it specifically have ears and hair? not only that, but you can get the parallel mask from the priz shop:

which you wear on your face. what if this is the real agent four, wearing this parallel mask? their gray coloring could be because they're grayscaled! after all, we never actually see a representation of grayscaling in-game. the name implies that they'd actually turn gray in some way, maybe in the color of their tentacles. but this could be the most dramatic extent of it!

this is definitely a stretch, but you can consider it food for the die-hard agent 4 angsters out there. love you guys <3

feel free to reblog if you have thoughts, add-ons or even counterpoints! i find this all really interesting

#splatoon #splatoon 3 #splatoon 3 side order #agent 4 #this theory didnt emerge out of my desire to give my agent 4 oc lore what do you MEANNNNN

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thatguythatdrawsalot · 5 months ago

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Weiss - Returning Home Design Critique.

Can you guys tell how much I like drawing Weiss compared to drawing Blake by the poses alone? Yeah, me too. I’ll do better starting now. I’ve been doing Blake dirty so she’s definitely someone I will come back to with more effort in the future.

RWBY Archives

Okay let’s hop into the archives, been covered in DUST for a good week- so the designers wanted to put Weiss in a high class outfit that made her look good at home and during her fancy parties whether it’s a short skirt or a long dress. I think they nailed it! She’s the Schnee Dust Company’s heiress and conglomerate at the time she was shown with this outfit on. I adore the sapphires on her, and the fact her jewels around her neck make it look like a fancy collar to symbolize Weiss stuck in her dad’s control is a good ol Show Don’t Tell example. It’s a really good performative dress that serves the two functions of being stuck at home and needing to sing in a concert…

Fucking sucks it doesn’t serve it’s purpose on being on the road to go find Winter in Mistral! That’s because it wasn’t meant to, the description didn’t want this outfit to be a battle attire at all yet THIS was the outfit they wanted her to keep throughout her journey up to Atlas’ return. Yang can get a new outfit after leaving home but not Weiss? Are you kidding? Put ugly colored leggings and a dull red scarf all you want to jazz it up in being practical, it still looks downright ridiculous once she leaves home with this outfit still on.

It doesn’t feel like she took her journey seriously in finding Winter, this looks like a singer going on a world tour but a tragic crash happened and now she has to do everything she can to make it to her show without being late. A good spin off series idea for Remnant but not for Weiss’ character appearance.

Hair

I forgot to make this “Hair Section” clear; I talk about both the HAIR and the MODELS. When it comes to Weiss’ model, I think it’s fine, the jump to Maya didn’t drastically make her look off compared to the other girls but there’s an issue I’ve heard other people talk about when it comes to Weiss’ model. I didn’t notice it until Volume 7 but it started in Volume 4 apparently… the bust size. Now I’m a dude so I won’t talk about it that much, I just wanted to shed light on it and give my own input? Personally, I thought she was fine, still looked the same to me, but in Volume 7 and beyond it’s much more obvious.

Now for her hair this is a nitpick and something I would’ve said in a Design Critique of Weiss’ Vale Outfit but I don’t think I’ll ever get around to it unless it’s a commission- but for her hair… I don’t get the symbolism. I just don’t. In the Character Short it’s in a ponytail, perfect symmetry, but then it cuts to her ponytail on the side. Is it a symbolism of defiance? Wouldn’t Jacques correct Weiss in having her hair be perfect center than on the left? And this is me coming to my own conclusion, I don’t know if this is canon or me grasping at straws for the reason of her changing her hairstyle. I don’t get the hype but this is just a nitpick.

Primary Color - White?

I’ll give them this, they do the “Hiding Her True Self” better for Weiss than for Blake. Weiss isn’t herself, she’s hardly wearing white and that’s okay for what she’s going through. My issue is that this is a visual medium where color is important. I get that gray is a depressing color that WORKS for Weiss’ mood of being miserable and depressed… but so does pretty blue! In every poster for the new volume and promotional material they got this girl in the prettiest shades of blue that I would’ve loved to see in the show proper than dull gray! Why are they feeding me lies with the colors??? Depression Blue is more visually pleasing to see than Lifeless Gray, they’ve admitted it themselves with how they present Weiss on their art and even in the former Amity Mobile Game!

Positives?

I can’t really call it a positive when I say the outfit looks best in one location, being her house. It’s everything I love with everything I hate, it shows me what she’s like at home, not what she’s like afterwards so why insist she wears this after leaving home?

Redesign

I hate Ciel Soleil and the Ace Operatives' existence because it makes designing an outfit tricky for Weiss to make sure she doesn’t look like Ciel or have too similar of a color palette to the Ace Ops. Although, I think I did good. An outfit she can wear while on the search for Winter in Mistral. She wears this AFTER leaving Atlas the second time. Red is still restricted as that color to me symbolizes Freedom, but I wouldn’t say she’s free just yet until she’s reunited with her loved ones such as her teammates, but the thought counts so instead there’s a tiny red earring than some fancy jewelry. I also got rid of the tiara again, she’s not the heiress anymore and she doesn’t need it.

I do think it’s rather… boring? Like the skirt is just too plain, could’ve done a better pattern at the end of it than a black line across. The puffy sleeves also have been confirmed to look like poo given Ruby’s own puffy sleeves, but a boy can dream that RWBY makes puffy sleeves look good in the Maya engine. I also think the corset is plain as frick- really I think this redesign is just too plain, maybe simplicity was too much for this one.

Shout out to @storm-ismyusername they inspired me to actually play around with color variations from blue which is popular on Weiss, to Periwinkle which pushes the ice theme too, and Light Blue to go with her eyes.

Conclusion

Said it before and I’ll say it again “Hate has won over love.” This outfit would’ve been on a Top 5 Best Weiss Outfit for me if it just got stuck in solely being worn in the Schnee Manor, it had everything I love for a character trapped in home in which the outfit is just for show, not for the profession she desires instead. An outfit that tells you that she’s unhappy. Instead this girl forgot to pack a battle outfit when going to find her sister or the budget was cut in making a new design for her that was more appropriate for her journey. An unnecessary short skirt, bedazzled jewels, fly-off heels and restrictive looking sleeves made of the thinnest material with the ugliest shades of gray ever is something never to be worn when fighting monsters on Remnant. This outfit did everything I love for a defeated character before it did everything I hated in a combat outfit that the show runners insisted the outfit become when it originally wasn’t. This hurts because I DID love it at one point, but now it’s just become nonsensical.

But of course, it’s just my opinion. If you love this design or hate the design, please share your opinion. I’d love to hear it! :D

#rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #rwby redesign #rwde

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