#aspects of depth

[authormarialberg]

Visuospatial Reasoning

It’s our last full week of NaPoWriMo (National /Global Poetry Writing Month) and the A-Z Challenge. I hope you’re enjoying the A to Z of Depth. from “Visual-Spatial Ability Test” at ScienceDirect Did you ever take a test with images like the ones above? If so, you were asked to look at the image on the left and imagine it as a 3-D object, then turn it in your mind and choose what it would look…

[proxycrit]

Linktober day 10: the fire temple

Ghosts cry too, you know.

(The desecration of a loved one vs the undying determination to help preserve the future… a tale as old as time memorial. The sage of fire had sealed himself in his temple, preserving his soul in preparation for the day Rauru’s seals were to break with Mineru’s technology. But the Malice does what it does best— corrupt and twist, until nothing was left except a dying wish.)

Unfortunately, nobody knows ancient Goronese. So that story’s sort of going right over their heads and nailing rauru’s weepy ghost in the skull.

This au is called Familiar Familiar, and is totk without the time travel! I’m basically building my own lore at this point.

Patreon!

[charcoaldustonmyfingers]

Ancient hero’s mask, pt. 2

(1-2)

Sure sucks that there’s no Song of Healing in TOTK huh? Maybe he’ll find the Ocarina of Time somewhere in the Depths before Purah manages to convince him to let her poke around at his internal organs with a scalpel. Eh, Link can trust her, she’s a doctor!

Purah seems like she’d be such a fun character to expand upon. Their chaotic friendship potential is unparalleled. Both respected pillars of their community but they also are huge nerds with polar opposite hyperfixations.

Maybe I’ll do a little comic with an original storyline about breaking the Hero’s Aspect Mask’s curse. Could be fun!

These games should have been called The Legend of Zelda: Breadth of the Wildlife Photography Opportunities. The Link I play would kill Ganon thrice more for added album space to fill with pictographs of his horse in scenic locations.

[bayetea]

truly one of the biggest letdowns in piper's writing in hoo specifically is how it doesn't dig deeper into charmspeak and what a disturbing thing it is to have the power to control someone's mind. like I swear this is interesting stuff and more people would get into piper as a character if this were explored a bit more in the text. you definitely see piper disturbed by her own power and hesitant to use it (and note that like many other characters, i.e. leo and hazel, her powers have always been a source of trouble in her life - like how she got in trouble for stealing a car even though all she did was ask for it), but in my opinion the books spend way too much time in piper's perspectives on other stuff when charmspeak is such an unusual and fascinating and terrifying power that offers so many interesting avenues of character exploration

and I really wish the books would have talked more about the canonical fact that charmspeak is more effective against people who are (or could be) physically/sexually attracted to the user. this is a power that children of aphrodite have - a power that is implicitly tied to sexuality as a defense or offense. like this inherently necessitates that piper weaponizes her sexuality against monsters and deities and giants and any other antagonist that want to harm her. which is crazy. especially because she's a teenager and especially because piper is initially characterized as an underconfident girl who goes out of her way to downplay her appearance (do you guys remember how much harassment piper goes through in the books and what little gravity is afforded to those moments... like she has dangerous characters aggressively flirting with or expressing attraction to her A Lot, and she has to play into that attraction to save herself or her friends no matter how uncomfortable it makes her)

I think there's such a dark undertone to all of this that's worth investigating. we know that piper doesn't like herself, doesn't like her powers, and doesn't like demigod life. hoo has her on a journey to become more confident in herself as a person and as a daughter of aphrodite but it's always going to be fucked up that part of her role in the prophecy seven is becoming confident enough in herself that she gets better at weaponizing her ability to violate the free will of others - and her ability to use her sexuality as an armament of war

[kamabokobun]

I updated the designs of my depths race :) (+lore headcanon info stuff yayy)

[butterfly-ribbon]

the most miserable thing to me about people doing the "mizuki is mizuki" bit is that the reason she says "i'm just me" when she's questioned is because she's exhausted of feeling like she has to always explain herself or prove things to others only to be faced with transmisogyny. it's insidious that people will ignore the context surrounding this to argue that mizuki's gender doesn't matter and insinuate that people who think it does are "reducing her to her gender" because this is just degendering from people who don't want to engage with textual transfemininity.

"inferiority" is a common refrain for mizuki, but not in the context of how ena struggles with inferiority - instead, it's an inferiority informed by how people see her as lesser or it being an inherent impossibility for her to ever be truly who she is (which is being a girl) when what she wants is to be treated as a normal girl without any asterisks attached and this is the reason she lets niigo assume that she's a cis girl for so long due to the internet allowing her the "plausible deniability" of cisness. mizuki is a character who reflects a very real experience where transfemininity influences every part of her life, because it informs how she lives, how she acts, her goals, and her choices each day.

this kind of complaint can be even worse when it's coming from people who acknowledge her transness, because it's always made by tme people who refuse to engage with how much being transfem can shape one's life and saying that discussing her transfemininity in depth is flattening her nuances even though it's a huge part of what makes her a very layered character in the first place is insinuating that this is a shallow aspect of her character which is really not that much different from saying she would have richer interiority if she weren't a girl (ie, a femboy).

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts Union χ - Dwarf Woodlands

[vodid]

i'm convinced there's an ai generated blitzbee fic on ao3 and it is upsetting me lots.

[starteas]

I got a comment on the pilot that said they were happy to see that Felicity wasn’t just a one note mean girl, but showed that she had her own struggles and anxieties as well, which was nice to read.

I wouldn’t say I’m making anything groundbreaking when it comes to Lumi— it’s the furthest thing from that, actually— but I’m really happy that I managed to at least show off everyone’s characters in a way that showed they were much more than what they were presented as (as tropey as they might seem).

[theraprism]

An aspect of the Theraprism plot element that I think is really important is that, as readers, I fully believe that we are meant to be uncomfortable with it.

It's fitting for Bill to end up in an environment where he is trapped and unable to exert power over others, and the fact that he describes the Theraprism specifically as "overmedicated" is a full-circle moment IMO. As a child, his bodily autonomy was disrespected through the medical abuse he was subject to, and when he became an adult, he abused others through violation of their own bodily autonomy (see: the entire section of the lost Journal 3 pages concerning the possession battle). Bill isn't unpersoned by the narrative -- the book makes clear that he has feelings, no matter how much he denies them -- but the Theraprism unpersons him. In a literal sense, it *will* unperson him by transforming him into a being that lacks higher consciousness. The Theraprism brands itself as an institution that operates on the principle of restorative justice but is in fact fundamentally punitive.

From the angle that Bill needs to face the consequences of his actions, it's perfect. He might not recognize the suffering of others -- he might not even acknowledge his own suffering -- but he will be forced to feel his own suffering either way.

But from the angle that Gravity Falls is a show about healing from the past and moving toward a future with those who love you, Bill's situation is an utter nightmare for someone like him. You can't argue that he isn't a tragic villain at this point because it is so clear by now that he is trapped by the past, both in terms of the flashbacks he is stated to experience and in the way that the Theraprism is a punishment for his past actions. And the Theraprism, when it comes down to it, is not meant to accomodate someone like Bill.

The Theraprism's goal is not to rehabilitate Bill, but to keep him there alone forever. His recommended treatment is "infinite karmic rehabilitation". That's not atonement, it's a plain and simple sentence to life in prison.

I think that tension is very intentional.

[authormarialberg]

The Zenith

It’s our last day of NaPoWriMo (National /Global Poetry Writing Month) and the A-Z Challenge. We made it. Congratulations!! from Wikipedia Here we are at the zenith of our depth study. This is the culminating moment, the climactic and decisive point. Like depth, zenith both abstract and concrete meanings. The zenith is the point of the celestial sphere vertically overhead of the observer. The…

[martinblackwoodhaterfan]

If you seriously unironically think Martin is a monsterfucker then you must've listened to the podcast with your ears plugged or something. His disdain for the inhumane couldn't have been expressed any clearer than it already is

[nataliekalen]

"I locked you in a room like an animal, Mark. As an unserved man, I'll carry that knowledge the rest of my life." vs. "I'm tightening the leash."

[toastytrusty]

hickey is a really good example of a character who's internal conflict is represented externally by his relationships with other characters. his feelings towards the british empire/the bureaucratic command of the mission is split between his respect for crozier and his reverence tuunbaq. and it gets so religious and existential it's so good.

to hickey, crozier represents the british empire, and tuunbaq represents the new world. we learn throughout the show that he came from a lower class background, has a lot of resentment towards the upper class and government of britain, and feels they oppressed him. there's commentary there on how insecure/downtrodden people often become tools of imperialism in an attempt to find some small amount of power or respect, by positioning themselves above someone else. punching down and all that. his first lines in the show are about how command puts dogs above men, showing how belittled he feels by it all, and how much resentment he holds towards them for it. yet, the moment crozier shows him the slightest recognition, hickey begins attempting to appeal to him entirely, chasing the idea of social mobility through the system he has spent his life detesting, because now, it seems tangible to him. he goes out to kidnap lady silence, thinking crozier will appreciate him for it ("i just saved your life" line. laughs), abusing the people of the new world for his own potential personal gain. he gets whipped for it, and loses the reverence for crozier, and therefore the british empire at large. and while he continues to abuse the native people, it is now through the conduit of abusing his fellow englishmen. there's a Lot to the irving farr murder scene that both is and is not relevant to this specific conversation, but the way his violence is turned inward there i think is really important here; even though, and perhaps especially because, the result of native people dying is the same. at his hanging he properly denounces crozier, and calls him out for what hickey perceives as essentially abandoning his men. something something the british empire has abandoned its people; abandoned the lower class to a miserable fate as hickey feels has happened to him, and abandoned this mission of people to die in the arctic on a doomed expedition with no rescue until it's far too late.

now the tuunbaq representing the new world is not at all unique to hickey's character arc—it's something present and relevant within the core of the whole show—but the specific way he perceives tuunbaq as a direct foil to crozier is unique to him. when hickey toasted with crozier, he thought crozier Saw him, and understood him and his experiences in an empathetic way. he thought they had connected. he was, obviously, wrong, but that's not the only thing he was wrong about! when he kidnaps silna, he says that the tuunbaq Saw him, looked Him Specifically in the eye. he thought he had connected with it. obviously he did not. there is Something to the way the tuunbaq is always summoned by hickey's actions; it shows up to attack them whenever harm comes to the native people, and usually that is hickey's fault. however when it shows up at his execution, it saves his life, which is really interesting. honestly not entirely sure what the thematic significance of that is past furthering hickey's delusions that the tuunbaq is in his corner but i digress. by the time of his mutiny he has all but fully forsaken crozier and the british empire. yet the nagging desire to appeal to authority and get that recognition remains. he wants crozier to see that he alone is capable of saving these men, and brings up their toast to try and get crozier to understand. when crozier tells him the toast was a joke, and there was no connection whatsoever, he gives up on saving them entirely. he chains them to a boat and, again, summons the tuunbaq, but with dramatic british songs instead of preemptive violence. there is violence of a different kind, though, and now it is Only turned inwards. there are. a Lot. of ways to read the final stand off with tuunbaq, but i've always read it as a sacrifice. hickey did not want to kill the tuunbaq, obviously. he hardly wanted to leave the arctic at that point. he was turning over the remaining of their men, and crozier especially, this embodiment of the british empire, to the tuunbaq as a sacrifice. when he cut his tongue out, i didn't see that as an attempt at domination. i saw it as an attempt at supplication. the last thing he used his tongue for was denouncing britain; its monarchy and its church and its empire. instead, he names tuunbaq as the most holy thing he's ever seen. the god they've lived their lives believing in means nothing when faced with the raw dregs of godhood present before them in the tuunbaq; the empire they've lived their lives believing in means nothing when faced with this beautiful and merciless land they are now condemned to. he is renouncing his britishness. he gives the tuunbaq the human embodiment of the empire to kill and eat because he no longer wants anything to do with it. his reverence is for tuunbaq and tuunbaq alone. but tuunbaq does not accept his offer, and kills him anyway. because he Is british, he Is a tool of imperialism, he Has done so much harm to this land and it's people, and no end-of-life realization is going to change that. i find it especially fitting that it is hickey's body that kills it. everyone else's rotting british flesh had sickened it, but hickey killed it, because despite his best attempts to distance himself, he Is the rotting evil of the empire, and is just as much a poison to this land as the rest of them

[anartweirdosworld]

The Ancient Hero’s Heritage

Personally, the Ancient Hero’s design has always bothered me, it felt odd, out of place. So, I wanted to see if I could find a way to make him more likeable in my eyes. I started thinking of what he could be. At first I thought a Hylian/Zonai hybrid, but that wouldn’t explain where the tail came from, or his digitigrade legs.

Finally, two weeks ago it hit me, a Mogma/Zonai hybrid. The statues we find first in The Depths look a lot like the Mogma of Skyward Sword, so I theorized that The Mogma lived in the Depths for thousands upon thousands of years, adapting to a darker home, or maybe it was their home all along. Eventually, the Zonai would meet this race and work with them to mine zonaite, forming a close bond.

When The Imprisoning War happened, a small group of non royal Zonai were still in The Depths, and managed to survive for 10’000 years, their numbers slowly dwindling until there was only one left. This survivor would fall in love with a Mogma, and create a wonderful being, who would become, Calamity’s hero.

I hope y’all enjoy this small passion project of mine! I was very excited to make this and seeing it finally done makes me very happy. Have fun with my little dirt goblin

Small edit: I realize now that in my excitement to finish and share this with y’all I didn’t give all the details in the drawings so here they are!

In the first drawing the Ancient Hero, who I’ll call Aspect, is excitedly chatting with his parents! The Zonai is his mother, her name has yet to be decided, and the Mogma is his father, whom I have dubbed Biggs after Biggs Jasper! I thought it would be cool if this community of Mogma’s had names after special stones and jewels. His father helps run the mines across The Depths and his mother specializes in cutting gemstones. Aspect has always been a courageous and ambitious boy, always feeling he needs to prove himself.

After hearing of stories of a surface world from his mother for years, Aspect one day decides that he will see if such a place still exists. In the second drawing, he does just that, breaking the ground for the first time and seeing a creature that he’d only heard tales of, Hylians. And this Hylian, just happened to be the Princess Herself.

[celtrist]

I really want to see a more fucked up version of Charlie in canon. Like, okay, I am a die-hard for sweet bubbly girls in media. But I always see how some people make Charlie actually, oh I dunno... demonic? And it's so refreshing for her type of character. I could honestly see her having low empathy (and we kinda see this with how she handled Angel's situation or even Vaggie's nervousness about taking control on an activity). An exploration of that trait (if it was intended) would be interesting to see for a protagonist, especially when her main goal is about helping others. I would love to see her actually have a level of difficulty in understanding others' feelings from the other residents, sinners, and even her father.

But give her a fucked up side. Not a "she gets more power when she's angey uwu", but a "oh, she's a little fucked in the head". It would give so much to her character that she just doesn't have.

@/murmurmurena (don't wanna bother them so slash there we go) has some fun ideas with Charlie. I highly encourage people to check their stuff out! So many fun dark ideas with her character while also still keeping to her canon personality pretty well! Personally, I think Charlie being a bit more naive to her own messed up traits would work best but her also being aware of these traits can make for some interesting character for her.

THIS FIC, "A Game Between You and I". RIGHT HERE WITH THE FIRST CHAPTER. A bit of spoil for the fic here: but I love how they handled Charlie’s absolute ignorance as to why the idea of Russian roulette is horrifying to Angel Dust. It doesn't feel like her being intentionally malicious or aware that she's the odd man out here. This is also a pretty old fic going by only the pilot, but the point still stands that it was such a fun take for her character!

Charlie is one of my favorite characters in the show in part of the POTENTIAL she could have as being the most bubbly sweetheart character while also being the most messed up character in the show. I can't say I have strong confidence with the show's writing and fully expect them to stick with Charlie being the "nice girl but oh no, don't get her angry or she gets scarwy". Which isn't bad for a character mind you, there's just so much more potential to Charlie outside of that trope, especially when you get into the theories of her either being a doll, Roo's biological daughter, or what have you. And for the MAIN CHARACTER of the show, it would be not only interesting but also bring the spotlight back to her.

There's really no question that the side characters steal the show, particularly all the male characters. If I'm honest, Charlie does not feel like she gets a lot of love from the show itself when she's supposed to be the main character. She feels far more flat compared to the rest of the characters (again, the male cast in this "female-lead" show has more depth than most of the female cast currently. I wouldn't be pointing this tidbit concerning the genders of characters if it weren't for the fact Viv defended Helluva's lack of development with their female cast by saying "Hazbin is a female-lead show and Helluva is a male-lead" and Hazbin ended up with it not feeling female lead (to me) and the male cast just completely stealing the show. I don't normally care about gender stuff, especially since I do personally lean interest towards male characters. But using one show as a defense for poor development of the female characters, and then that show not really holding up with no very interesting well-developed feeling female characters irritates me. It's just very clear that these shows don't seem to care much about the female cast :/)

If you like how Charlie is written that's totally fine. PERSONALLY, I just think they're missing so much opportunity with her character by just making her the standard female character type. I honestly don't have a lot of faith they'll actually do something with Charlie's character though. She's a pretty static character in S1 being the same from start to end. Not changing or learning anything to create any development. What does the end of season Charlie do that start of season Charlie wouldn't do? Fight back? Because we see with the pilot (which is the “first episode”) that Charlie does fight people if pushed like with Katie Killjoy and even Valentino. Static characters can work in media depending on the show or their role. But Charlie is the MC of a show about “bettering one's self”. So to have her as a static with not a lot of strong dilemmas for herself (like we see with Angel Husk Al and even Vox) seems silly. Plus, considering Hazbin is telling a whole story and it's not a fun episodic thing, characters are expected to grow on some level. Or else, what was the point of their hero's journey?