#and you can make super creepy inhuman characters to be in it

[bardicprincess]

Interesting thought: I don't think you can put full blame on the Players for saying Chara was evil for the Genocide route.

I feel like

Back in Undertale's infancy

Maybe people wanted there to be a "proper villain" as a sort of exception to the "everyone can be spared" message. Mostly edgelords, sure-

But like...

You don't learn much about Chara, and even taking Narachara Theory into account, a first-time player won't be able to piece together that stuff on a first playthrough. Even assuming they go in fully blind and do a Neutral run first, you don't learn that your player character isn't the fallen human you name at the start until Pacifist.

On that note, what do we learn about Chara in Pacifist? They made creepy faces, "laughed it off" when Asgore was suffering from buttercup poisoning, pushed Asriel into a plan that involved becoming super powerful, and then tried to force Asriel to kill a shit ton of humans(who, yes, were killing them, but considering the game's focus on mercy and the lesson Asriel learned from it as Flowey...). Asriel even says that Chara wasn't the best person at the end of the game.

Now, in Genocide? Flowey outright describes Chara as soulless right out the gate, and continues acting like you are Chara even after they become utterly terrified of you and you make a creepy face at them. Then at the end of Genocide, Chara describes themself as the representation of all these increasing numbers, including stuff like EXP and LV. They are the ones to suggest destroying the world, which is a pretty typical "evil" thing to do(so is killing everyone, tbf...), and then if you refuse? "Since when were you the one in control." Like... Chara just outright takes full responsibility, and then makes a very inhuman expression as they destroy the world for you.

Finally, at the end of Soulless Pacifist, no matter the choice you make, your sprite gets turned into Chara in the ending, either with a small jumpscare with terrifying implications or that photo where everyone is X'd out. It very much looks like after Pacifist, Chara "takes over" and kills everyone on the surface anyway.

The Narrachara Theory did a lot to humanize Chara, so much so that people hated the idea that Chara could be antagonistic in any way. Plus like- you're still the one pressing the Fight button! Chara only kills Sans, Asgore, Flowey, and you.

But I wonder if Toby did that intentionally - like he wanted people to make Chara a scapegoat...? Or what his thoughts on the Narrachara theory were.

Perhaps everyone deciding Chara wasn't evil was another example of Undertale's messages of kindness and forgiveness.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

A lot of replies; a bunch of them are for asks that are already pretty old… sorry for the wait.

Talking about the types of tropes I like, and also a bunch of miscellaneous twst-related stuff (including a surprising amount of older asks about overblot sex).

Anonymous asked:

What are your and Katsu’s favorite tropes in media?

Katsu replied to you sooner that I have, Anon, so if you haven’t read it, you can read Katsu’s reply here!

I’m sorry to keep you waiting for this long, especially considering that I realised that I wrote a post about it some time ago as well… But I don’t want to just waltz in like two month after you sent this ask and say “hey, read this post instead”, so I’ll add some more thoughts!

Gap moe!! But specifically the type of gap moe when a character that seems very stern and antagonistic at first ends up having a huge soft spot for the protagonist, ending up as kind of a pushover, someone who gets bullied by the narrative and a cutie overall. Examples of that would be Levi from SnK or Barok from TGAA; it’s kind of subtle with them, but it’s enough for me to woobify the shit out of them lol

Also it’s probably super obvious because of my horror comic + the kind of spooky twst content we post sometimes, but I really love the “cryptids among us” trope, especially when it’s genuinely creepy and the comedy aspect is a bit unhinged lol When someone gets bad vibes from a character and it turns out that they’re either cursed or not a human at all, or when a character tries to hide his inhuman nature… it’s a pretty broad description and this trope doesn’t work for me all the time, but I hope you understand what I’m talking about!

Hmm, when it turns out that the bad guy is genuinely bad. Like when the story makes you feel bad for feeling sorry for them or humanising them for a moment there. I feel like it doesn’t happen too often, but one example I could give is Eric Cartman lol Maybe jjk Sukuna in a way? I just like the feeling of oh no we shouldn’t relax around this guy, he really is that bad.

I also love subversion of tropes, but only when it doesn’t feel like the authors are patting themselves on the back too much for being original. I don’t know, sometimes it gets annoying lol But I really love when you watch a show, kind of subconsciously expecting a certain outcome, and then something happens that completely switches the narrative, even its tone sometimes. Hunter x Hunter gave me this feeling a lot, and the Boys as well (mostly the first season), for example.

Anonymous asked:

Love your art as per usual! This is kinda unrelated but have you played the Bayonetta games? And if so what Twst boy do you think would pull off her outfit the best?

Thank you, Anon!

We haven’t, but of course we’ve seen Bayonetta around :) she is iconic, after all.

Who would pull her outfit the best… Malleus has a perfect presence for it, but Vil would absolutely nail the posing and those high heels!

Anonymous asked:

Graceful as shit

Anonymous asked:

That seems oddly fitting... Does spark a question in me, who would you put in which dorm other than their own? Like what would you say is option no. 2?

Thank you, thank you!

Also to the second Anon, it’s a very good question; I remember that the boys had to answer it themselves in one of their birthday interviews, but I don’t remember who said what, which is for the best. I’ll think about it a little and post this part of my reply separately some other day! (you won’t have to wait for months I swear)

Anonymous asked:

I love how Jades little black hair streak gets its own roller

Thank you!! Yeah, he is just being silly lol

We joked that he's going to straighten it back when he wakes up as if he didn't spend the night curling it. Just to mess with Epel's head a bit.

Anonymous asked:

I love it, the art, characters, Azul boobs…

Especially Azul boobs… and they’re pretty covered this time, too!

I’m glad you like it, Anon <3

Anonymous asked:

Why don't try make the Heartsaball more sexy? Hmm?

Oh I know what you mean, Anon. 😇

When the time is right (=when you expect it the least)…

Anonymous asked:

You know, we've talked about the bottoms getting fucked out of their overblot, but honestly If Idia got on the scene Azul's could have been over real quick too

Might be wrong but I think his curse can burn other's blot too, he could have sucked him dry in two ways

Solider on a mission to provoke a guy into shoving his tentacles into him, it's for the greater good

Whenever I come back to this ask I start nodding, Anon. Now THIS is a good way to apply the Shrouds’ curse! Idia really can suck him dry in two ways until he calms down… in two ways.

I wonder if waking up with not only his overblot being taken care of, but also with a post-nut clarity would make the situation even more embarrassing for Azul… he’d definitely feel much more satisfied though.

Idia is such a trooper…

God, ch3 where everything is the same, but the final battle is just Azul tentacle-banging Idia while the rest of the guys present watch in silence.

Anonymous asked:

Do the boy sexier in overblot, like instead of semen, is blot-ink

But imagine semen mixing up with blot and slowly disappearing into its darkness though…

This world needs more overblot sex though, that’s just a fact.

Anonymous asked:

We have talked about fucking people out of overblotting which is great but also like revenge sex after the overblot? Some of these guys are so bitter about being thwarted

Azul is easy enough because he can go straight to the source

The others would have to do a whole song and dance to a make a bid for jealousy and try cucking them with the other guys tops

Jamil could probably fuck the tweels though or one up that and have sex with every Octavinelle student except for Azul just to be petty

Doesnt work that well because they arent all mad about being stopped but ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Woah, Azul really could go straight to the source…! And considering how bitter he is at Leona (he is still not over it!), I think he is legally entitled to have his revenge sex. That would pacify his soul AND satisfy his body AND boost his ego!! Maybe he has something planned, who knows… this man believes that revenge is a dish best served cold. And it’s definitely going to be a 4-course meal with this guy.

When I started reading about Jamil, I thought “aw, but Kalim wouldn’t really care that much would he”, and then I realised that you mean Jamil cucking Azul by sleeping with every Octavinelle student but him DAMN THAT’S COLD (hot) 😭 Azul is going to overblot again, and then he’ll have another bitch to prepare a 4-course meal for.

It really is difficult to think about this for other guys, but hey, Leona has a chip on his shoulder about his plan not working. I don’t go where to go with this thought though, but who knows…

irregardlessly-tish asked:

Since I first listened to the song Alter Ego by Doechii I thought "this is a Leona song", and he's probably my least favorite twst boy... but when I listen to the song I think that maybe if he was actually that bitch™, if he could truly reach the levels of cunt a character based on Scar should reach... maybe I'd like him more. He could serve so much cunt, he has the potential! But he's probably too lazy to even do that... such wasted potential.

I see what you mean! And yes, the lack of Scar-ness is one of the things that make me not like Leona as much as I would have otherwise, so I really feel you. He really was born to serve cunt and be a cunt…

Well, at least now we have a song to listen to while we daydream about what could have been.

adrianacopycat170 asked:

i feel like crewel has flash backs to when he was thinking about having sex with Mozus when he sees Deuce cus Deuce reminds him of himself when he was younger

idk man

You know, there are a lot of similarities between Deuce and Crewel, with both of them being troubled bad boys when they were younger + the teacher crush thing lol Maybe he does see himself in Deuce a little bit, but maybe he also thinks that he wasn’t as pathetic as he is right now back then.

He is wrong though, he was just as smitten and pathetic, he was just expressing it differently…

Anonymous asked:

Yo, freaky question time : obviously Lilia tops, but considering how experienced and slightly deranged he is, do you headcanon him using toys on himself while toping for maxed out stimulation? In my head he'd try to get as much pleasure out of intimacy as possible. Like, he has a prostate, even if no actual dick goes near it do you think he still makes use of it? And the other way around, would he use toys on the ones he tops to also wreck them not only by topping them but using every nerves available they have? Asking purely for science and serious reasons

Good question, Anon!

Because of our biases and preferences when it comes to tops, we wouldn’t really headcanon Lilia stimulating his own butt, but I get where you’re coming from. I also think Lilia is very intrigued by sex toys though! So yes, to answer your second question, he would absolutely wreck anyone he’s sleeping with if he comes across a toy that seems like something new and exciting (so any toy lol). And using all of them at once to keep every area overstimulated sounds like a very Lilia thing to do.

Also, we’re going to have a hc post about sex toys hopefully soon, so I’ll talk about this topic again…

Sorry for the wait, and thank you for your ask!

Anonymous asked:

Jade getting Trey into mushrooms (They taste very good and can be quite good in desserts). Trey getting Jade into teeth (your teeth are designed for chewing this so if you bite in this way it will do this to you lover  vs biting that way will…). Then the two of them term up suing their newfound two shared interests to absolutely destroy Idia. Forget his legs. His jaw and head are going to be in pain for days from all the weird mushrooms and how long his mouth was forced open for.

Also Rook was there while they had their fun. No he was not invited. No they do not know how he got there as he was very much not there one second and when the turned around there he was (Oya~ Oya~ When did you get here). He very much is enjoying show (Rook put your pants back on!). No they could not get him to leave. He got to watch from up close rather than through the binoculars. Trey refused to let him take part in any way or to take off (or reach inside) any of his clothing. Trey was hoping that the lack of adequate stimulation would drive Rook away. It awakened something in him instead. Vil was edged many times when Rook returned to Pomefiore.

Trey and Jade had some private time with Idia a couple weeks later without a stalker/interloper when Vil mysteriously got dosed with an asphoradic (You made me a special healthy cake to fit in my diet Trey? Very well, I suppose I shall give it a try at some point) and Rook was taking care of him.

Anon, sorry for the late reply!

You really took me on a journey, but in a good way. That’s one sexy criminal drama… this world doesn’t want Jade and Trey to unite their forces against someone, and Idia absolutely wants it the least out of everyone, but who is going to ask him? This poor guy… he really is a perfect victim lol

The thing with Trey is that when he is enabled, his actions could lead to unexpectedly bizarre circumstances, so I can actually see Jade being amused by what else he could do to Idia.

Also, poor Rook! He has the right to join – he is also in the science club, after all, he could add some of his own freak to this already wild mix! But I guess that would be too much for Idia lol Oh well, at least now Vil is also a victim of these guys’ shenanigans…. That’s what friends are for after all – to make special healthy cakes for their friends’ lovers.

Anonymous asked:

This year we got some tweels/Malleus interaction since he duos with both (Jade club card and Floyd's new bday card) plus he appears in Jade's nightmare suit vignette. I love seeing some of the characters who rarely interacted with the other before get focus, like Trey and Silver in bday vignette (idk if they talked before this).

So, i'm curious what's your take on tweels/Malleus 👀

I find it funny how Malleus call them both Leech- he stands by calling everyone by their last name, even siblings- wouldn't that be confusing-

(Also i rly hope you understood what i said, my mind is all over the place from excitment)

Dear Anon, it’s been so long, I hope you are still somewhat excited… because it is a great thing! Malleus absolutely should get paired with the tweels more often – it’s such a fun combination! Malleus should get ALL the duo options!

And yes, he really does call both of them Leech… although I feel like we’ve seen him refer to them by their names a couple of times – even the Shrouds couldn’t make Malleus ditch his habit of calling everyone by their last name, but I guess “left Leech” and “right Leech” doesn’t work as well as “Shroud” and “smaller Shroud” 😭 It’s so funny…!

Another Tweels+Malleus moment that comes to mind is that Malleus and Floyd had to operate a cotton candy stand together (…with Sebek as well!) during the Portfest, and that was pretty funny as well.

As for the ship, I think it has a lot of potential. Be it with one of the tweels or with both of them at the same time, Malleus absolutely is going to get confused by them a lot, but also amused by their mischievous minds. I think they would also remind him of Lilia a little bit, which is always a plus for Malleus.

As for the tweels, they do like shiny and interesting toys, and there is no one in this school who is more powerful than Malleus, and his entire character is so unique and new to them, they could really get into it.

Also I absolutely agree with you in terms of character interactions; I really love that twst has a lot of events that forces random characters to talk to each other, and a lot of times it makes our shipping minds go “hm? What was that? 😳”

Now you made me think about Trey and Silver…

[egg-crusher]

So

I was scrolling through my page and I saw something which made me reconsider some things about the FNDM (RWBY’s fandom)

For starters, I want to say i completely understand if you dislike the character of Adam for one or two reasons

You don’t like how he’s written

You don’t like how much overshadowed Blake in her debut

You don’t like his design (I personally hate the volume 4-6 design)

You don’t like his personality and think he’s creepy

You dislike his fans since some can be very aggressive

Etc etc etc

But please, if you genuinely believe the following statements, block me, don’t leave your comment and never try to approach me ever again, thank you

“Adam branded himself” and “Adam deserves to be one of the Schnee’s summons”

The first implies a minority branded himself with the name of a company which officially causes the death of minorities (leaving many orphans) for their negligence, are colonizers, and in the comics kidnap members of said minority to work on their mines…

So he could shit on them, their evidence? He’s not mentally stable and knows how to manipulate people

Do I have to discuss why this headcanon/theory is so dumb? I’ll do it just in case

Why would he cover the scar if he scarred himself on purpose? Remember, Adam wasn’t always a bloody murderer who wanted to radicalize the entire fang to make a personality cult but he genuinely wanted to fight back against humanity

And saying a minority branded himself so he could hate on the rich white men is… something.

And now for the later… I’ll give some small context

When a Schnee (for example Weiss) kills a foe which gave her a very big challenge (for example that Nevermore from volume 1) is added to a galley of creatures she can summon, she later on learns to summon the Arma Gigas from the White Trailer, the Boarbatusk & Nevermore from volume 1, the Queen lancer from volume 5, and a manticore from volume 6 (it only appears una film)

This have a certain degree of autonomy since they can act out of the users view, and we are never told is ONLY Grimm which are turned into summons since they only say “enemies” so any being could perfectly become a summon, okey?

Now here’s the thing

they’re Adam, who’s a ex-slave of the SDC and has Weiss name branded on his face, deserves to be turned into a summon which is literally Slaving his soul to work for a Schnee for the rest of eternity

They think enslaving a ex-slave is worthy punishment because he wanted to slave humans for enslaving him… they’re proving someone (who’s super racist against humans) right, because is fitting (their words) and I think they meant is karma/ironic

This Is not karma, is just continuing the cycle of Abuse and proving him right

He was a monster but he was one because he was abused for being a Faunus and ended up thinking all humans deserved to suffer for what he went through, making him into a Slave after death only proves his point

Slaving Adam like he wanted to do with humans for slaving him only proves him right, “humans only enslave Faunus so Faunus should do the same”

Thats’s inhumane, but since is done to him for hating humans then is somehow right?! Slavery is never right, and people who think enslaving others is a fitting punishment then they aren’t better than the ones who slaved them, because I don’t think I should be saying this since this is something obvious every smart human being should know but… SLAVERY IS BAD and NO PERSON DESERVES IT specially since Adam already was a slave

Kill him and burn his body to ass, but making his soul into a puppet is not the way to go

And before you say “oh, him being a child slave is a headcanon” please go read the CANON descriptions of the character in amity arena

“Adam Taurus used to gaze up at the sky with bright blue eyes whenever he could, between shifts in the dust mines, dreaming of the day he would leave the tunnels behind to find his place in the world. But what he found instead was himself... on the ground, staring up at the three letters that damned him now and forever.

Scarred. Despised. Cold. Adam's heart grows black, his hatred red hot. The final traces of love, the beauty he let go, never returns, and as the last petal falls, Adam is cursed to forever remain a beast. Because, in this tale as old as time, there is no happy ending.

In this story... HE is the monster.

Adam Taurus had finally found his place, and he would watch humanity... burn.”

And before you say “oh that’s just form his point of view” you should check his other description which clearly states he’s in the wrong

“With a scar on his face and anger in heart, a wayward boy looked for a home. When he found it... oh, how glorious it was. Accepted and loved, here was his happily ever after.

But Adam was cursed with a gift few others had.

Adam had... talent.

And when Wilt tasted humanity's blood...

Adam realized he was... STRONG.

Now king without kingdom, he wonders where it went wrong.

Coming up with excuses, reflecting the blame,

Coming to a conclusion, all find insane.”

The descriptions are obviously from a narrator and not the characters themselves, so I think the narrator is reliable to some degree and isn’t Adam at all…

I understand not liking a character, but people have to think about what they say since they usually end up saying very racist things like this.

Adam was a villain and a evil one, but dear god, people treat him like he’s worse than Salem and cinder combined

[jasontoddiefor]

I absolutely adore your Jiang Fengmian and Cangse Sanren just being friends posts so much because my personal theory is that they were great friends and people were weird about platonic-male female relationships and shitty about how a beautiful, renowned women married someone insignificant in their eyes. It’s so nice and refreshing and I’m tired of the whole he’s creepy and obsessed with a dead woman instead of his two best friend died and he’s trying to give their son a good life. Let the man be complex! Is he is a great parent? No, but he was arguably a better dad than attic wifer and lecher, a C level parent and someone who was kind to common folk and let their kids play with his disciples, that making him into this villain character that’s either super creepy and gross or apathetic and completely neglectful and letting Madam Yu do inhumane abuses in front of him without retort is so weird.

Sorry for the tangent, I just love you having a platonic friendship of two souls both a little bit in awe of each other’s worlds. Let him be a lowkey depressed man with his two best friends gone and dead and is now just trying his best to be a good Sect Leader and still failing at times. Let him have some complexity.

Anon you made my day with this ask.

Like, I think the "grieves the idealized version of someone he loved (romantically)" is fine, like, whatever, but it's also kinda basic?

And if they were genuine platonic friends only, it would also add to the narrative IMO? MDZS very much works on a "things left unsaid and left unacknowledged" kind of theme, and a friendship that isn't allowed to be seen as such would fit just right in. From what we see, JFM is a very mild man as well, so of course there'd be questions, misunderstandings and such messy ugly rumors.

And I think the fandom also just generally exaggerates JFM? Like while reading and watching either adaption, I mostly got a sense that this is a man who has resigned himself to living alongside his wife and mostly doesn't know how to parent any of his kids in a way that doesn't infuriate YZY so he decided that being more hands off in general is better. But not this mess of obsessive to neglectful?

Like, thos interpretations can be fun, love me a good dark fic, but that's just not what canon gives me?

But yeah!!! you're right!!! Let him be a lowkey depressed man with his two best friends gone and dead and is now just trying his best to be a good Sect Leader and still failing at times.

Also here take a snippet of friendship bc I couldn't find much on AO§:

Cangse Sanren knocks on his door until Jiang Fengmian drags himself out of bed. He doesn’t know it is her or he wouldn’t have answered the door in his sleeping robes. She doesn’t notice, of course she doesn’t, and Jiang Fengmian is relieved that nobody else is up this early.

If he didn’t know any better, he’d claim Cangse Sanren only got up early to spite Lan Qiren and his expectations of her, but she came with the habit.

“Fengmian, I need you to go shopping with me,” she declares boldly. He knows that her expectation is now, although most shops won’t open for another two hours most likely. She probably wants to go exploring the area early – and ditch the disciples accompanying him, except maybe Wei Changze. She behaves even stranger around him and Jiang Fengmian is glad to have finally found something to tease Wei Changze about.

“And why do I need to go with you?”

“I need someone to tell me when the sellers are ripping me off!”

He knows that she has gotten a much better understanding of average prices now, and doesn’t have the heart to tell her that he knows as little about the prices of average street food stalls as her. Sect heirs, generally speaking, do not go shopping in the places Cangse Sanren finds her most favorite trinkets.

Still, she grins at him and Jiang Fengmian finds himself smiling back. He kicks her out of his room to get dressed, for his sense of propriety more than hers. Cangse Sanren has a rather tolerant view on partial nudity, even to a Yunmeng native. He considers waking another disciple to tell them that it is not last night’s curse that made him disappear, but settles on writing a quick note instead.

“Where are we going?” he asks Cangse Sanren the moment they’re out of the door.

She grins again, tellingly, and takes him by the hand to drag him into a street of craftsmen he’d have never seen without her. She hardly shuts up, praising every piece of art, the food, and Jiang Fengmian whenever he points out a piece of jewelry that would be particularly unpractical for nighthunting. Most of them look like gifts one of Jin Guangshan’s terrible cousins had tried to give her.

He thinks it’s the closest he’ll get to having a sister, but he’ll keep that thought quiet, least of all it betrays something else.

[beyond-the-rabbit-hole]

What are you guys inspirations when voice acting for the HABITS? Like, what are you going for when doing each of their voices? Do yall try to mimic anything you've heard before, does it just come naturally, is it vibes-based?

Love fembit's voice in traumathon btw

OOOOO AN OUT OF GAME QUESTION I LOVE THESE

So hey there, it's Bugs, believe it or not, I've actually voiced almost all the characters XD

Starting with Loathesome (The original Habit on the main blog), I was actually aiming to mimic Evan's original performance. That's the least edited of the voices too, the snarls and purring are all me for real haha!

With Northstar, I was aiming for tired dad energy, really dropped the voice lower on his, but I definitely tried to keep canon Ha it's snark factor.

With Fairmount, I had a lot of fun with him. He's the closest to my actual voice, and acting as a total little shit, closer to early canon Habit was tons of fun!

Stephbit was the wild card, since in her iteration, she's the one who got inhabited and not Evan, I had some creative freedom with her that I didn't have as much with the others. I was aiming for older sister who would absolutely sell your soul to Satan for one corn chip.

Finally, Showbit. Oh man did I ever have fun with him. I was going for Habit, but if he got a little too god complex-y and started running some kind of fucked up gameshow. I think his voice went through the most experiments when I was making it XD

This concludes my portion of the answer, though I will say there are WAY more Habit voices on the way (Shudders). Eldritch can take it from here with Fembit!

…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

Hi! It's me, Eldritch. I'm so happy you like how I voiced Fembit! I wanted her to be over the top and cartoon-y in a way that made it obvious she's playing a character? My goal was to make her sound so overly peppy that it wraps back around to being creepy. I hope I was able to accomplish that? The effects were mostly just trial and error. I had to balance the chaotic inhuman vocal effects with actually being intelligible, which is harder than you'd think lol. Still, she was super fun to voice act for, and I hope to play her again in the future!

[anonauthorsworkshop]

I finally found your pansophical pretender fic, and I noticed your name,, YOU'RE A FELLOW SIPHONOPHORE FAN TOO?????????? BRO, they are literally so underrated and I hate how some people are fear mongering them with the whole "oh they can sting and are super creepy" but they are literally just minding their business living in a colony looking pretty?? bro do not diss my underwater rococo beauties. SIPHONOPHORE FANS STAY WINNING good job on the fic btw, the story progresses so nicely, its not so cringingly ooc, like the characters you write ARE ALLOWED to be assholes bc let's be honest, THEY ARE. The foundation is super inhumane (they're on the villains wiki ffs and they look at the anomalies as something to contain and use even if they have their own feelings) and I LOVED how you wrote 079 and 035, but I'm gonna focus on 079, I adoooreeee the fact that you allowed him to not understand but still feel joy at the way the MC treats him, we are talking about an A.I that was abandoned by his own FATHER seen as a sort of frakenstein creature when he was only a BABY, like yeah, he has the modern library of alexandria (internet) at his disposal but he still hasnt learnt emotional and social cues with you know, being locked and tested and prodded with no warmth or kindness given to him so you making his dialogue cold, taciturn and apathetic. the same way how the researchers interview everyone else and how he reflects their behaviour is so fascinating to me I LOVE HOW YOU DID THAT srsly, mwuauh mwauh mwauh. I would love to sing your praises and how you write our favourite characters but I think it would clog up your blog. keep on writing darling, I'm eating up your work, hope mc is able to talk with 035 more nicely because with how he made sure to keep us well rested??? mm delicious, and we know he likes courtesy so hopefully with him proving himself trustworthy we'll open up to him more

SIPHONOPHORES ARE SO FUCKING COOL!!! MY LITTLE COLONIAL ORGANISMS! MY PRECIOUS WEIRDLY SHAPED TUBES! THEY'RE SO SILLY!

thank you so MUCH you are so sweet ☹️☹️☹️ 079 is just a little computer guy he's silly

MC will warm up eventually they're just in the pissy pipline 😭 i don't blame them given their situation i'd be mad as hell ldeak ak ck you're so sweet tysm😭

[panlight]

Now that we have some more (accurate?) information on FD, what is your favorite and least favorite parts, if any? What tracks with how Meyer acts and what seems out of left field?

Assuming this is accurate, that fact that Nessie was more like an actual baby/child is a HUGE improvement. Her being such a super genius and so 'aware' and 'mature' is a BIG part of why she comes off as robotic and inhuman and cold to me. I just CAN'T see her as a cute baby/kid because it's all too weird. It's not clear to me from the AMA whether she was still smarter than normal but just not to the advanced level from BD or if she was an actual baby, just one with the power to "show" you want she wanted. But taking that down any number of notches would only make her 'work' better as a character to me personally.

And honestly Nessie's powers makes so much more sense if she's more like a real baby. If you have a typical baby who can't talk or express themselves then the baby being able to "show" you what they need by touch is a useful gift! But since Nessie can talk in full sentences by the time she's like two weeks old, it's kind of pointless in BD. It might have been more useful here.

I just . . . can't fathom how she thought making Nessie MORE otherworldly and weird and hyper advanced made things better in BD? My only guess is that from this summary it sounds like FD had a lot of time jumps, so SM could skip over Nessie being a baby and jump right to toddlerhood or whatever and that was more fun, but with BD she wasn't willing to make all those jumps so she just 'jumped' to Nessie having an adult awareness right away? That's just a guess though.

Also interested in the idea that Rosalie comes off better from Bella's POV.

I guess the part I dislike the most is it being made totally clear that imprinting is about finding a mate. I mean we all assumed that, most of the characters did too, but they didn't really know for sure and we could all cling to the idea of "it doesn't HAVE to end up romantic." In FD, it sounds like it was said flat-out, which, ugh yikes. Again, not 'blaming' Jacob for imprinting, blaming SM for making the bizarre choice to say "this teenage boy and this baby are destined to be together and everyone knows it, isn't that lovely?" No, it's weird and creepy?

[mermaidsirennikita]

The Rebel King by Gina L. Maxwell

3/5. Releases 7/25/2023.

For when you're vibing with... modern fair folk with a touch o' kink, boss/employee vibes, and a bit of a bad boy.

Thanks to his brother, rebellious prince Tiernan is on the verge of being pushed into the role he wants least: King of the Dark Fae. Not only will this take him away from his freedoms; it will take him from Fiona, a lower-caste fae with whom he has a complex (and very physical) relationship. But with war on the horizon, Tiernan may be forced to make a final choice.

I really like the fey/fae/fair folk in fiction, and I'm kind of mad that so much of the bygone "fey wave" was largely centered around YA books and urban fantasy novels that weren't actually romance. They're perfect for romance novels! Gimme!

This one didn't quite work for me, I'm afraid, but I appreciate the sentiment, and I think it may work for readers who prefer a lighter touch with their paranormal romance.

Quick Takes:

--You'll see this marketed as a standalone in the midst of a series. I don't know that I agree with this. After I received this ARC, I read the first book in the series. To me, it feels like it imparted some pretty important plot information? I mean, Tiernan and Fiona begin this book with an established situationship. Context is important.

--Our setting, because I feel that's important, is Las Vegas! I do love that. It feels like a place exiled fair folk would enjoy. All hedonism, all easy access. And it also feels like these creatures would be super into the kink scene--that tracks. I appreciate these adjustments to a contemporary setting.

--Here's the thing. You can write the fey/fae and keep them mystical while retaining a modern vibe. I think Kresley Cole, with some exceptions, does this well with her paranormal creatures. Rune is a dark fey, and he's fully ingratiated into contemporary America in his book... But he's still very much not human, and you can tell from the way he presents himself, the choices he makes. I feel this is especially important when you're dealing with ancient, immortal, notoriously capricious creatures like these.

Maxwell has a couple instances of characters speaking in emoji slang here, and in general--these characters just don't present themselves as truly inhuman. It took me out of the story.

--Similarly, a lot of the plot is rushed, and it felt like Fiona in particular was taking hit after hit and just not... absorbing them? It felt like it didn't truly matter, which affected my ability to emotionally connect. And that is kind of crucial for a love story. Like I said before, Tiernan and Fiona were already in a Thing (if not a defined romantic relationship) before the book began. Which I'm not against! But I need full emotional absorption if I'm not going to get the full relationship arc from beginning to end, and that didn't happen here.

--This is a pure personal taste thing, but I just didn't find Tiernan intimidating or scary. Reckless, rakish, hedonistic--yes. A feared magical creature? No. Now, for some people, that will make this book more palatable, and that's fine. I think that in many ways this could work for someone who wants a sprinkling of fairy dust, versus full "inhuman animalistic vibes".

The Sex Stuff:

The sex scenes were solid, but not especially memorable. I went into this book series sold on "kinky fairies", and I don't know if that's how I would sell it. But that could just be my warped perception.

Again--didn't work for me, but I didn't find it offensive, and it was put together well enough. If you're missing the YA fair folk boom but want something a bit more adult, I think this could potentially work--if you don't want your fairies to feel tooooo creepy.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to Netgalley and Entangled: Amara.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Only two today, but long ones!

Anonymous asked:

Out of curiosity, are there any tropes in Media/Fanfiction that you and katsu Hate/Love...? or even Neutral about it?

I think don't you guys talked about that before unless I somehow missed it?

Anon! Sorry for the late reply. I had to think about it for some time, but I also feel like there is no way to answer this question in a definitive 100% conclusive way; there will always be some exceptions when the trope that we hate somehow still works okay, or when our favourite tropes don’t do the story justice at all. So this is more of a list of first things that come to mind! Mostly because these are the tropes we discuss the most.

We really tend to not like a lot of family-related tropes, especially when characters settle down and start a family and start living a slow domestic life and stuff, and when it’s painted as an endpoint or a happy ending of sorts. This is why we don’t really like talking about characters having kids or headcanon OC kids for our ships, the idea just doesn’t have the appeal to us. Maybe it’s because we don’t want children ourselves so it doesn’t click with us/we don’t get it; maybe it’s just because of how overwhelmingly popular this trope is, and how a lot of times it tends to make characters lose their unique characteristics and boil them down to just being a mom and/or a dad. Even if it’s not fanfiction but an original piece, we don’t really resonate with stories like that. Hmm, I guess it’s mostly about the nuclear families though, because I personally would find a story about a broken household more interesting. But if it��s just a “he is a papa, he is another papa, and here is their sunshine baby” is just boring to us personally… Where are my stories about characters going through divorce and fighting over their children? lol

Same goes for anything pregnancy related. We really don’t resonate with tropes that are related to pregnancy, the only possible exception being some horror stories.

Our favourite tropes… we love a despair-filled story! A tragedy, I guess. “Yes, everything is that bad; no, there is nothing you can realistically do to fix it” type of story, maybe a good example would be Shingeki no Kyojin.

When a super powerful being is somehow linked to one person and doesn’t stop being a super powerful being and doesn’t develop empathy or humanity! I don’t know how to explain it lol We love it when someone super powerful and inhuman favours a character, either due to having plans for this character or due to its selfish obsession, but it doesn’t go the typical route of “and then the demon learned how to care and love someone”. Like, the obsession is still there, but the creature doesn’t experience it in the same way that humans do, even if it looks like it, there is still this creepy gap that could never be closed. Whenever this gap closes and the creature starts feeling love, it turns into the trope that we really don’t like lol

Somehow related to this, but not really? I’ve said it multiple times, but: character A loves character B so much that they are willing to do horrible things for them (things that character B never asked for). We also love selflessly loyal type, sadodere or yangire boys, anything that makes characters’ relationship with each other almost cartoonishly exaggerated and extreme. I hope it makes sense.

Also! A character is bored and does whatever they want in the story, dancing to the beat of their own drums. Like chaotic neutral, but without any common sense? Hisoka from HxH or the Tweels would be good examples. You never know whether they are an ally or a foe because you can never guess what exactly they’re thinking about.

I can talk about it for ages, but these are the tropes that come to mind first!

Anonymous asked:

Any fav writers/artists you two follow bc of their work or ships?

Im new to bsky and want to follow ppl with similar taste first

Sorry for the late reply, Anon!

To be completely honest with you, we don’t have a lot of people who we follow on bsky; well, we do have a lot of our favourite jp artists who made an account there when it became publically available, but a lot of them don’t post there regularly and prefer to still use twi. Still, I’ll give you the links in case they start posting again!

I wish I could give you more recommendations, so if anyone wants to add to this list, feel free to comment under this post.

Here are some of our faves:

https://bsky.app/profile/thumaru.bsky.social - not shippy, but a lot of very good character art; their Vil is top notch.

https://bsky.app/profile/rakugakityou03.bsky.social - also not shippy; absolute god of illustration, their art is gorgeous.

https://bsky.app/profile/akiseizon.bsky.social  - I physically can’t NOT post a link to Futairo-san; I am so obsessed with their art it’s pathetic at this point.

https://bsky.app/profile/moketaros.bsky.social - one of the best rkvl artists out there, even though they haven’t updated their bsky in a bit…

https://bsky.app/profile/chocomaimai.bsky.social - one of my favourite Shroud artists! They don’t post much on bsky unfortunately, but their collection of artworks on pixiv and twi is great.

https://bsky.app/profile/rikuaso.bsky.social - another one of my favourite Shroud artists! Their Shroudcest is gorgeous :”)

https://bsky.app/profile/ingtakou6910.bsky.social - pretty Jamils!! Very pretty Jamils!!

Once again, the list isn’t as big because I’m limiting it to bsky, but if you ever want a twi/pixiv list, let me know. 😔

[neversetyoufree]

I dunno if this is gonna make sense to anyone but me, but it’s like. Even when Vanitas no Carte is straight, it’s usually not Straight about it, and I think that’s one of the reasons this series works so well for me.

The main couple in the series is VaniJeanne, and while the initial content of them is really uncomfy, when the actual romance really kicks in, it’s in such an unexpected way. Vanitas is a creepy asshole to her at first, yes, but out of all the reasons he does that, none of them are made out as genuine love. Attraction, sure, but like, there’s a big gap between that and romance, and as far as I can tell, we’re supposed to think he’s an asshole for how he treats her at first.

And Jeanne is super easily wowed at first--in the palm of his hand on their date because she’s just not used to being treated kindly, but that’s clearly not love either. When Vani is acting all controlling, and Jeanne is acting all submissive and soft, there’s a lot of playing at romance, but never the real deal.

It’s not until Jeanne sees Vanitas acting genuine and kind and vulnerable, not until Vanitas sees Jeanne acting confident and strong, that their relationship gets validated as possibly real love, y’know? The more time goes on, the more agency and dominance Jeanne takes back, and Vani likes it. And regardless of my thoughts on their dynamic in early chapters, I vibe with that.

And like, I normally hate the whole trope of “every woman falls in love with the main character,” but even though there are 3 different women that are canonically into Noé, it never feels like falls into that gross “main character has a harem” category. For one thing, it’s not actually every woman (given that Chloé and Jeanne couldn’t seem less interested), and with the exception of Domi, it’s not really a thing. We get one scene of Riche blushing, and some gags about Amelia in the bonus chapter, but it’s not like every gal in the series is constantly drooling over him. Plus, when Riche and Amelia being into him is played for a joke, which is how it’s usually played, it’s as much a joke on Noé as anything else. The gag isn’t “haha, look at all these girls falling for him. Aren’t women so easy and silly?“ The gag is “haha, look at how oblivious Noé is. This princely-ass motherfucker can have a woman start blushing and babbling in his arms, and he still won’t pick up on the signals.

Then there’s all the casual genuine queerness that happens around the sidelines. Dominique gets to flirt with Nox and Jeanne to tease them. She gets to talk about how her sister scares away all the guys, so she’s “only popular with girls.” When Dante teases Vanitas about his and Noé’s relationship, even calling Noé his sugar daddy, the joke is never “what, you guys gay or something?” It’s, “hey edgelord, I can see you caring about somebody.” We get to see a guy/guy couple and a gal/gal couple ballroom dancing together, with lingering shots of hand-holding between them, and even if neither of those couples is romantic, that still feels important, y’know? Not to even mention Luna’s gender. Inhuman, “special and unique” enby characters are a tired trope, yes, but on the other hand, holy shit.

Unless something goes very wrong with the writing in the future, VnC will always feel like such an inherently queer series to me. Even if we don’t get a canon m/m or w/w couple by the end, it just feels to me like a universe that’s welcoming to queerness. And even the het couples are more than “he was a boy, she was a girl,” and they don’t stay bogged down the whole time in tired gender roles.

And all of this just makes it such a comfortable series for me. Like, I can just exist here, y’know? Even if we don’t get any better representation than what we have right now (though I hope to hell it keeps getting better), this is a universe where a bi/ace/enby person could exist, and I wouldn’t be the only one. It’s nice.

[worldbuildguild]

Hey, I love this blog! It's really helped me. I was wondering if you had any advice on making a character look scary/intimidating without making them super muscle-y? I have a character who's supposed to be rather inhuman in appearance, and he's very tall and lanky. I have trouble conveying just how "scary" he's meant to be while still keeping his body type intact. Thanks! :)

There’s a number of ways to make your character come across as intimidating without having to make them large of buff. Particularly lanky and bony characters have been a favourite among designers when it comes to depicting villains who aren’t terrifying because of their physical brawn, but their wit, intellect or supernatural abilities.  Let’s take a look at a few of these techniques. Some can be deployed early on in the design-phase. Other’s when framing the character in narrative. 

IN CHARACTER DESIGN:

Using pointy and sharp shapes in your design:

http://www.heromachine.com/2012/11/05/scary-character-challenge-results/

A very “classic” way of making your characters come across as dangerous, partakes to the general theory of shape-language in character design. Particularly the bit that concerns itself with spikes and sharp edges. 

Including numerous sharp edges or spikes ( often pointing upward or outward for maximum uncomfy effect ) tells us that the character is prickly to the touch, and discourages us from wanting to touch, hug or really engage with them. 

https://www.specfictionshop.com/products/the-dark-lord-sauron-1-4-scale-statue

Looking at lord Sauron from The Lord of the Rings, you won’t find many places on his design where you’d feel comfortable lying your head on. It’s all pointyness and acute angles. This communicates danger. Like thorns on a poisonous berry bush, or the claws of a dangerous predator. It speaks to us on a fundamentally primal level. 

Sickly or twisted colour palletes: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maleficent

Another way to incorporate intimidation into your design is through the use of certain colours. Now, it probably comes to no surprise that colours hold significance in terms of design. We have, culturally appropriated colours for certain uses, which has in turn meant that these colours will reflect certain values when proposed to us. ( Interestingly: these colours and their cultural significances changes radically from culture to culture, so make sure you’re researching the culture your appealing to when chosing palletes ).  In the west, we’ve come to associate the colour purple with mysticism, and the colour green with either hope, or disease.  Iconically, the design of maleficent merges these two colours along with a hint of pinkish red and black to awesome effect. We can deduct that she is some kind of mystic, and also possibly morally ambivalent ( at least! ). Combine this with the pointy and jagged shapes of her design and you got a classic 90s disney villain. 

Creepy is in the subtlety:

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/1noNoL

If you’re looking to make a supposedly unasuming design look creepy, then you’d have to look to the subtleties of the uncanny valley. Making designs that bear the major design traits of something non-hostile but still come across as scary or intimidating is a fine line to walk. Above ^ the team behind Scary Stories To Tell in The Dark worked with the friendly, motherly shape of a soft and curved physique. But in leaving little details slightly off, such as the unnaturally wide mouth, the fused chin and chest, as well as the small, widely distanced eyes and tiny nose - they’ve successfully created a design that while reading as familiar and approachable, also reads as instinctually alarming to us in that it is technically human looking - and yet not at all. An impostor. 

IN NARRATIVE:

Cinematographic Lighting techniques - Underlighting

https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/4-different-ways-to-light-the-face-for-studio-portraits/

A classic tool for directors is to use certain light angles to frame characters in certain ways. One of the more iconic ones is the underlighting, which has been used to make characters look imposing and towering for years and years. 

Placing the light under the character will make them look sinister. As if hovering above the light of day. Their features washed out in shadow, making us unable to fully connect to them, as their eyes are obscured. This is not a light you’d typically see often in real life and the setup will carve shadows onto the character’s face that we are not inherently familiar with, which adds another layer of strangeness to the setup.  

Cinematographic camera angles:  The low-angle

https://gpmediatheory.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/camera-angles/

Similar to lighting, placing the camera low in comparison to the character ( in this case also with a dutch tilt angle added to make the scene seem intentionally out of balance ), you’ll be making your character look taller and bigger, as they dominate the frame’s upper half. We get the feeling of being leaned in over, by the character, as if they’re in our space. Combine this with a low-light setting as well and you’d have something straight out of a horror classic. 

- Mod Wackart ( ko-fi ) 

[itsclydebitches]

Given the recent track record I uh... suggest not trusting RWBY!Ruby with your life. But yeah I'm in complete agreement, IQ!Ruby's eyes are remarkably soulless. Especially when you compare to other anime, or just the medium in general which has really figured out how to make 2d characters come to life. It's so.... I can't understand how this happened?? Not from a professional studio.

asldkfjslfaj yeah I should have specified Volume 1 Ruby. She's my girl.

Idk enough about art and anime and styles and, you know, all that to say whether it's a problem or not, but it's definitely not my personal preference. I am super intrigued by my own reaction though because my immediate thought was, "They look like the eyes of a cyborg" which, in a story with an actual robot girl, raises some fun considerations about how much looks can continue to influence us, even when we know the person (fictional character) really well. Having just watched "This is Beacon," I'm developing some #bad theories surrounding Weiss (obvious and deliberately set up by the story) as well as Pyrrha (much more ambiguous + possibly just a weird and unintentional implication) - more about that in the recap - but Ruby herself? For the first two episodes I haven't read her as anything other than our familiar, heroic nerd... and yet the eyes still make my skin crawl. Knowing Ruby is the non-posessed hero still hasn't overridden that instinctual yeesh feeling every time we get a close-up. Which makes me think about how Penny might have been written if, in a version of RWBY without her identity being made a secret - or even just post-Volume 3 when everyone now knows she's an android - she'd been designed in a way that potentially made it hard to trust her, despite having every reason to: too perfect to be human, expressions oddly flat at times, sporting eyes that look like they're made for housing a computer system, etc.

UGH now I'm thinking about a version of the Ambrosius wish where 'who Penny's always been' strips away the human veneer she was forced to hide behind, leaving the girl with metal palms and USB fingers and eyes that always show the systems working behind them.

Rather than turning Penny human when she never asked for that and sending the message that a disability/neurodivergency metaphor must be "fixed," we could have gotten a clearly inhuman looking Penny who was still, you know, Penny, despite how "creepy" she now appeared.

Instead we've just got IQ!Ruby lol

[nagisasstunningpersonality]

Retranslation and Analysis of That Fight Scene

So firstly, I just want to say the subs are not bad and convey the general meaning very well, in a way that sounds natural in English. That being said, there's always some things that get lost in literal translation, and I really want to demonstrate how much depth the Japanese in this scene actually has for Karma and Nagisa's characters.

Basically the TLDR point here is that this fight is very much not about Korosensei. This is completely platonic, I promise I resisted making any shippy points.

Karma: Hey, Nagisa kun, aren't you getting extremely carried away?

Nagisa: Eh? (definitely surprised and bewildered)

Karma: The number one strongest assassin in Class E is Nagisa kun, isn't it? (uses yo here, which suggests confidence in the statement). Are you (very directly yourself, your own thoughts) wanting to quit assassination? Let's think about the talentless others who are desperately trying their hardest to kill him. When you put it like that, it's like a woman who 'has it' telling the ugly ones that they should honestly quit being so desperate to get a boyfriend, that kind of feeling?"

So some interesting analysis here is that Karma says "zuibun", or extremely, when the original translation is "a tad". The translation feels more natural in English, however it kind of makes me feel that Karma's trying to make more of a point. Nagisa has the right to be making suggestions and stepping up, but he's gone so far this time it's crossed a line.

I think 才能がないなり (talentless, saino ga nai nari) is also very interesting. Talent is the best translation, but if you look at the kanji very literally, there's "genius" and "ability". This specific word choice more implies that the other assassins are good, but Nagisa's just another level. Japanese grammar is confusing at best, but essentially 'nari' means become. So you take this as kind of like 'students who couldn't develop genius ability'.

The repetition of 'desperate' is also pretty interesting, linking the examples together better. It emphasises the point that they're kind of at a loss with. He also doesn't directly say attractive woman, he says "motteiru onna", which essentially means the same, but is literally "a woman who has (no object given but essentially 'it'). This more directly reflects to what he's saying about Nagisa, he HAS talent, this unspecified natural quality that makes him better than everyone else without trying.

There's also a lot more rhetorical questions in the Japanese, which got combined into single sentences in the English. The "let's think" thing is very literally what he says, like he's wanting Nagisa to actually consider his thoughts for himself.

Nagisa's original argument and intention may have been about Korosensei. Karma may be genuinely opposed to saving Korosensei. But that isn't the point of Karma's argument at all, he's making this about Nagisa because he's reached a limit with the both of them.

In order to spare you, more under the cut.

Nagisa: T-the aim wasn't... Above all, for assassination, your understanding is always better than mine

Karma: Saying that directly (take with slight pinch of salt - he could have also said "fixing your statement") is irritating. In reality, isn't it that you yourself are the most powerful, and you can't comprehend the feelings of weak humans?

Nagisa: That's wrong (also using affirmative yo here)! That's not what I said! These are my true feelings! Do you hate Korosensei? We went to see a movie together with him, didn't we have a variety of great times?!"

Karma: That's why, that octopus did his best to come and make a fun classroom every time, and didn't give up like Nagisa. Without bloodlust, this classroom wouldn't have been built. Can't you understand the effort?! It's not just your body, are you still a fresh elementary school student?

One thing to note here is that Nagisa isn't actually finishing his sentences. You can absolutely tell what he means because Japanese makes sense like that, but he's still dropping words. Or when he does say a full sentence, they're very short statements. He is desperate here, trying to prove a point he can't actually voice into words correctly.

The context here is that this is before we know their full backstory. Nagisa admired Karma, and he can't quite say it right yet. He thinks they're on different stages still, and Karma is frustrated because Nagisa doesn't see the point.

Karma, after all, does have this inhuman image of Nagisa in his head from years ago. The image of Nagisa looking like some kind of snake demon as he kills Karma in his sleep. He genuinely still, here, believes that Nagisa is purposely hiding this. That's why he keeps putting words into Nagisa's mouth. He's also cutting him off at points, not listening at all to what he's truly saying.

At the same time, Karma starts talking down to him. Instead of saying 'no' (how you'd end a sentence to a friend), he starts using 'kai', which is condescending and how you'd speak to a child. There's an argument here to be made for Karma doing this as a kind of defence mechanism too, but that's very complicated. At this point he really is just trying to get to him.

They are not arguing about killing Korosensei, not at all.

Karma: Huh?

Nagisa: *does the creepy eye thing*

Karma: Eh? What are those eyes? You with the social standing of a tiny female animal, are you defying a human?

Nagisa: I was just...

Karma: If you have a complaint, how about saying it after you win a fight for once? It's aimed at me, so come on. C'mon. C'mon. C'mon!

This is actually one of the most significant changes to the original.

This is the thing, Karma was never calling Nagisa a tiny mouse of whatever, he was just comparing him to one. Because he knows very clearly that Nagisa isn't like that. He sees that look in his eyes and it prompts him, in his frustration, to finally try and bring it out of Nagisa. He's trying to prove a point.

But then Nagisa stops himself. He lets go of his bloodlust for a moment, defaulting to Nagisa as we know and love him, literally turning his head away from Karma.

But Karma's too far gone at this point, he's dragged stuff up his past feelings about Nagisa, the ones he's been hiding for a year to be tentative friends with him, and now he can't let them go. He needs to see Nagisa's darker side plainly, no matter what that means.

It's also important that he says "it's aimed at me". I think this is a little deeper than literal. I think what he's implying here is this entire thing is somehow aimed at him, like Nagisa's trying to strip everything away just for his own perspective.

Obviously at this point Nagisa snaps and chokes him.

Nagisa internal thoughts: Even I...

Nagisa: I'm not going with half my feelings!

Karma: This guy...

This is also pretty significant. I'm surprised they cut the "even I" part because that says a lot about Nagisa's current feelings. He still doubts himself. He's aware that he's a pacifist, that he's got a lesser social standing, but Karma's put him into a position where he has to stand up for himself. And this is important to him.

Karma smiles when he says "this guy", getting ready to punch him. He feels like he's succeeded, in a way. Though at first he looked genuinely surprised Nagisa actually did it. There's a certain kind of satisfaction that finally he managed to bring Nagisa's 'true' self out.

Obviously at this point they get separated.

So what does all of this actually tell us? Well, pretty clearly here, this is just Karma's issues coming to light. But also a very helpful and useful moment for Nagisa's development as a character. Whether we agree with Karma using him as a punching bag or not, it genuinely does force Nagisa to get some self agency for once.

Karma and Nagisa will never be characters who sit around and talk honestly about their feelings. But even if they're using a whole situation to mask the fact that they very much are discussing their relationship here, it is still a significant moment where pretty much all the barriers they've been putting up against each other drop. They're just still not entirely on the same page through this scene.

Nagisa thinks Karma is just looking down on him and trying to pick a fight. He's baffled and confused as to why Karma feels so strongly against him.

Karma, on the other hand, thinks Nagisa is better than them all and is frustrated when he 'purposely' acts like he isn't. Karma still feels lied to from when they were kids. And he wants to expose it all, to get Nagisa to understand the position his skill puts him in. I honestly don't think Karma ever thought Nagisa was less than him at all, he just knew it would be an easy way to get a reaction. See how he flips tactic from "you're the best here" to "you're a tiny animal" when Nagisa just went into denial the first time?

I'm not going to go into the whole of their actual full fight, but there's some interesting points that reflect back on all of this.

Korosensei saying "your own answer is right in front of you", basically demonstrating that this entire thing really is just Karma and Nagisa

The entire point of the fight was to get one hit in with a knife, but Karma decides to just continuously beat Nagisa instead. Which yeah, is pretty ineffective. Pretty much proves again that it wasn't about just taking a victory.

Karma took Nagisa's hits on purpose, maybe it can be argued that this is trying to make things last longer, to get Nagisa to actually work for it.

Nagisa demands that he listens to what he has to say. And that's right, because Karma was cutting him off originally.

Karma is a super strategist right? And he was genuinely shocked that Nagisa didn't use his bloodlust to take him down. This is Karma. Sure, he's allowed to make mistakes. But this is odd for him. He was so caught up in his own perspective of Nagisa just having that skill that unfairly made him better. But Nagisa literally throws that skill out and beats Karma on his own level, pretty much disproving him. Maybe Nagisa has this special ability, but he's also worked just as hard as everyone else. He's trained to know what assassination means.

Beating Karma like this, on a 'human' level, was pretty much it. Karma stopped fighting back when he realised that, because he was disproven, and pretty much every wall he put up against Nagisa got literally choked out of him. Karma is already known as kind of an ass and a dirty fighter, you really think he'd worry about the others not accepting it if he stabbed Nagisa fair and square? If he cared that much about killing Korosensei, he would have just done it.

Their fight was never about Korosensei.

[elithegnome]

Hey there, call me Eli! I’m everyone’s favorite local clown.

Outsiders Sideblog: @stay-gold-bitch

Classic Rock Sideblog: @kisstytea

ABOUT ME: Eli •Pronouns: Idgaf but She/They/He if you want specifics •Languages: English 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norwegian (kind of) 🇳🇴

I really enjoy Hetalia, so most of my posts on this blog are about that. Sometimes I’ll write fanfiction/headcanons and if you have any requests please send them in!

Oh and classic rock. I got into KISS at seven years old when I watched the scooby doo movie they did with the band, I’ve been sinfully in love with Paul Stanley ever since. Queen and Mötley Crüe are other favorites of mine.

However, I do have a few rules! (which will be updated often)

•Please do not say anything that could offend someone else. This means anything Misogynistic, Homophobic, Sanist, Ableist, etc. So if you don’t have something nice to say, please don’t say it at all! •I will NOT write/post that involves Incest, Pedophilia or anything along that line, that is disgusting and inhumane. •Unless you’re a trusted mutual, don’t DM me, unless it is involved with requests and/or q&a. To request, please type it in the Ask Me Anything section of my page! •If it makes me uncomfortable, it will not be posting or writing it, simple as that •Do not ask me anything creepy •Don’t comment anything gross please!!!! •Also don’t try to flirt with me unless it’s a joke, because I’m not really open to online relationships and I’ve had issues in the past with weirdos flirt with me (in person and online) •Racism is for losers, don’t be racist here •My grandmother died of suicide and I’ve suffered with depression since I was very young, so I don’t want ANY sort of suicide joke to be anywhere near my blog. If you need help with your mental health please contact your national/local line. •Adding to the previous statement, I may sometimes give updates on my own mental health progress, if you don’t like that and want me to stick to this blog’s “usual content” , then you can leave. This is my blog, not yours •I do in fact self ship and ship other people I know with characters, I can see why you’d not like that and I completely understand but don’t attack the people I’ve mentioned or myself about it. •If I don’t write your request, I’m not ignoring you, I probably just don’t know how to start writing it, and that’s okay.

•Sometimes I just don’t feel like writing •Hetalia is pretty offensive to some people, and if you don’t like it I completely understand. But just because you don’t like something is no reason to slander someone else. If you have a problem with the series or even me for whatever reason, just block and move on. •Please don’t make fun of my physical appearance, I’m really little and I’m super insecure about it. •If you don’t like any of the things I’m interested in then just please stay away from my blog and don’t slander me. I know Motley Crue has done horrible and disgusting things in the past but I still really love their music. So if that pushes your buttons then don’t blow your top off at me for it.

DO NOT REPOST ANY OF MY ORIGINAL FICS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION

Personal tags

Important: #Eli deems important Suggestive/NSFW(unlikely):#Uhellig 😳

Agnes (Aunt’s dog): #hundred pound rat

Queue: Quesoint😩

Original posts: Eli’s many thoughts

I do have trouble tagging posts sometimes tho (oops)

ALSO DNI LIST: Pedophiles (MAPS), Zoophiles, Necrophiles, R@pesexuals, Dreamsexuals, P0rn Blogs, Anti-Mogai/Anti-Xenogenders, Anti-Abortionists, Homophobes, Transphobes, Proshippers, Incest supporters, Anti-Semetics, Nazis, Holocaust Deniers, TERFS, sexists, mysoginists, racists, terrorists, toxic stans (of any fandom), ableists, Ben Shapiro supporters, if you think Elon Musk is an okay person, list may be updated

That’s basically it, thanks for checking out my blog!

Thanks!!

[unsymp-sides-content]

I wish you would write a fic where Janus was told constantly when he was younger that the light sides would never love and care for him because he's a snake by the other dark sides. So Janus grew up super self conscious about his snake traits and gets super confused when the other sides compliment them ~🥔

This took forever but I hope you enjoy it

Characters: Janus, Logan, Roman, Patton

Word Count: 1.5k

Janus couldn't remember how old he'd been when he'd first mentioned thinking that his scales were pretty around one of the others. He could remember the way they'd looked at him though, incredulous and amused. And he could remember their laughter.

"Pretty?" they had mocked. "Who in their right mind would find those disgusting things pretty?"

Janus had frowned at that, not knowing what to say and the others had gone back to their conversation. But he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it.

Later that night, he'd stood in front of his mirror, slowly running his fingers over the left side of his face. The scales felt smooth and he slowly turned his head back and forth, watching the way they changed color slightly in the light.

Before, he'd always found it mesmerizing. Now, he couldn't get the others' words out of his head.

By the next morning, he still couldn't stop thinking about it. He paused in the hall after breakfast, staring into the mirror they had there and trying to decide whether his scales were beautiful or hideous. One of the others had caught him looking and sneered at him. "Admiring yourself again? I'm surprised you can stand to look at yourself for that long."

Janus really should have stayed silent then. But he couldn't help himself. "What do you mean?

The other side rolled his eyes. "I mean, you have to know how unnatural they are. All weird and inhuman. It's kind of creepy."

"...Oh." Janus had not, in fact, known that and the words stung more than he would have expected. "You really think they're that bad?"

"We all do. That's why we avoid you so much. Makes it kinda hard to look at you or, you know, like you."

And that, that hurt so much more than Janus had ever realized something could.

All he could manage was another, mumbled "oh" before he hurried back to his room, locking the door behind him.

From that day on, Janus started avoiding mirrors.

It was already too late though. The others used every opportunity they got to remind him how awful his scales were, how unlovable they made him, and how it was hard to even look at him most days.

After a little while, he started avoiding them too. But that didn't help much either. He couldn't get their voices out of his head.

Eventually, he'd simply accepted it. He got rid of all of the mirrors in his room and avoided going out into the mindscape as much as possible. He began wearing gloves so he wouldn't have to look at the scales on his hands. And he learned to accept that none of the light sides would ever love him.

He had expected them to be a little less blunt about their hatred though.

Logan was the first one he noticed it with. Every now and then he would catch the other side looking at him, more specifically his scales, a little too closely. Logan never said anything about it though, and neither did Janus. The others had already made it clear how hideous the snake half of him was, and he didn't need to hear from anyone else.

After a little while though, he started to notice Roman and Patton doing the same thing. They were far more subtle about it than the logical side had been and they at least had the grace to look away and make an excuse when they were caught.

Janus couldn't deny that it still stung, but at least they were kind enough not to say anything to his face. It was far better than anything he'd expected and anything that he was used to. So he could handle it. Even if hurt so much more coming from people he actually cared about. He was strong enough to take it.

Until he wasn't.

He'd already been having a bad day. Thomas had desperately wanted to get out of plans with some of his family and Janus had had to construct some rather intricate lies to convince them to leave him alone. Add the amount of effort it had taken to get Thomas to move past his guilt and agree to lying in the first place, and Janus' patience was running thin.

When he was finally done, he made his way to the living room of the mind palace where the others were gathered, rewatching The Office (despite Logan's protestations). He collapsed onto the sofa with a groan and Roman raised an eyebrow at him. "That bad, huh?"

Janus groaned again in response.

The others went back to the show and after a few minutes Janus sat up, looking around at them.

Patton and Roman seemed genuinely fixed on the show, laughing and joking with each other as they watched. Logan, however, was paying far less attention. He was still watching the show, and he'd chime in with the occasional comment, but every now and then, he'd dart a glance over at Janus. They usually lasted a few seconds and Janus couldn't help but notice the way Logan's eyes slowly passed over his scales each time.

On any other day, Janus would have done his best to ignore it or perhaps made an excuse to go to his room. But today was different. Today, he was already at the end of his rope.

So the fourth time he sensed Logan looking at him, he turned to meet his gaze with a sharp glare. "If you want me to leave that fucking badly, it certainly wouldn't be easier for you to just say that." His voice came out sharper than he'd intended but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Logan frowned at him, looking more confused than genuinely hurt. "I certainly do not want you to leave and I'm not certain what gave you the impression I do."

"Oh fuck off." Janus snapped. He could feel Patton and Roman staring at him too by this point and he ignored them. "I'm not stupid, Logan! I can't see the way you all constantly stare at me! I know my scales are hideous, I know it's hard to look at me, I know you all hate me. I know I'm disgusting."

Patton opened his mouth to say something at this point, but Janus pushed on.

"So if you'd rather not have to see me, fine, just tell me to leave! I don't care. But at least have the decency to say it to my damn face!"

Janus was yelling at this point and he was ashamed to realize there were tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes. He blinked them away quickly, refusing to look at any of the others.

The television was still playing in the background, but it sounded muffled and far away. Janus stared at a spot on the carpet with startling intensity, while the other three looked at him silently.

It was Roman who finally broke the silence. "What are you talking about?" He sounded genuinely confused. "I- none of us find you hideous or want you to leave. Why would we?"

Janus almost laughed at that. "Don't lie to me."

"We're not." It was Logan who spoke this time, shifting so he was directly in front of Janus. "I'm not certain what we did to make you believe this, but none of us hate you or find you repulsive. I cannot speak for the others, but personally, I was only watching your scales out of fascination. I find them quite aesthetically pleasing to look at, but I was worried that vocalizing this might make you uncomfortable."

Janus felt at a loss for words. Logan was lying. He must have been. And yet…. Janus couldn't sense any kind of lie in what he'd said. And the way Logan was looking at him was far too genuine to be anything but honest.

Before he could even start to recover from everything Logan had just said, Roman joined in, nodding.

"Calculator watch is right. Your scales are stunning. The way they glimmer in the light. The way their color seems to change everytime you look at them. Their lovely greenish gold hue, the way they blend so seamlessly into your face…."

Roman had gotten up and slowly started moving closer as he spoke. Now, he knelt in front of Janus and looked up at him earnestly. "They're beautiful. You're beautiful."

And that was finally too much. Janus felt tears spring up in his eyes again and this time there was nothing he could do to stop them. He let out a sob and slid forward, off the sofa and into Roman and Logans' waiting arms. A moment later Patton had joined them as well. He sat on Janus's other side, one hand slowly rubbing his back as he cried.

"It's okay, kiddo, it's okay. We're all here for you, okay?"

Janus couldn't bring himself to respond, simply sobbing harder. He felt the others shift closer to him in response and he let himself relax against them.

"It's okay," Patton murmured again, his voice soft. "We love you."

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Janus actually believed that.

[pluckyredhead]

i shake it up and ask for Raven instead of Roy

First impression

I am 99% sure I first learned about Raven through titanstower.com, which in the days before Wikipedia and easily accessible digital comics was a lifesaver, I can't even tell you. She didn't make much of an impression on me because she's wasn't really the type of character I gravitate to; I sort of went "Huh, okay" and moved on to reading the profile of Baby Wildebeest or whoever.

Impression now

To be honest, she's still not my type of character? I don't dislike her at all, I just also don't really tend to seek her out. There's also sort of two Ravens: there's the original one, who was raised apart from humanity and doesn't really understand people and has repressed her own emotions so deeply that she can't understand them or recognize when she's violated someone else (ahem, Wally) and is as a result quite alien, and then there's the one who developed in the wake of the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon, who is a highly relatable and very human goth girl with magic powers and a dry sense of humor. I think they're both interesting and make for good stories - the standalone Raven graphic novels DC has put out over the past couple of years are great - but it's very weird to me that DC has sort of replaced original inhuman main continuity Raven with sarcastic goth Raven by, like, 70%? The places where the two personalities overlap don't really work because those two things don't super go together. It also awkwardly ignores a lot of the terrible things Raven has done - like, the cutesy teen Gar/Raven ship has always felt very weird to me after she possessed him in the 90s and, like, severely damaged him for a long time? I also don't love DC's tendency to take age and history and experience (and being interestingly fucked up) away from female characters (Barbara Gordon is a great example, and they've done it multiple times with Diana), and while again, sarcastic goth Raven is a lot of fun and very enjoyable, I wish original Raven was allowed to keep her history.

Favorite moment

In comics, I love the NTT issue where she's like "Dick's so nice and handsome. Am I...in love with him???" and she's being accidentally creepy and telepathically sending him wet dreams about her and Kori has to be like "Sweetheart, no. You've just never had anyone be nice to you before." I know it sounds horrifying but it's actually very sweet and charming in execution because Raven is genuinely very innocent here. (Also Kori is basically like "Listen, Dick is painfully monogamous but you and I can have a heavily subtextual naked beach vacation if you want.")

And in other media, the TT episode where she and Starfire switch powers is one of my all-time faves. I love their relationship.

Idea for a story

I don't know that I have one! I think it would be interesting to see someone try to reconcile her past with her current characterization, though.

Unpopular opinion

I don't know what the popular opinions are? I'm not super into Raven/Gar, obviously, although again, the YA graphic novels kind of changed my mind on that a little.

Favorite relationship

Definitely Kori, regardless of canon. They're such opposites which makes them a really fun pair.

Favorite headcanon

I do not have one, I am sorry.