#yes this is the SHORT version of this post

[therobotmonster]

Saw some of your posts about AI recently, but don't really know very much about you. I have two questions:

1. Are you an actual artist, or do you just do genAI?

2. If you are an actual artist, why do you use/support AI?

We're going to get into this in a minute, but yes, by what you'd likely use as a definition of 'actual artist', I am. I have a BFA in graphic design, a minor in art history, I've been working as a freelance artist either on the side or as my main hustle since 2001, and I've been making art since I was five. Multimedia, 3d modelling and sculpting, photography (in a darkroom type and digital), acrylic painting, illustration, writing, puppetsmithing, I'm a jack of many, many trades.

Because it's a potent force multiplier that lets me do things that I could not previous (as well as helping compensate for my increasingly arthritic joints) and because it's entirely keeping with the copyleft principles I've had since the 1990s. It's just plain interesting and fun. And I had my fill of moral panics in the 1980s.

This is gonna be a long one, enjoy a song while you read.

I've gone over all this many times before, (for full reading, here's the #AI Discourse tag on my AI blog) but the short version is that I agree with the Electronic Frontier Foundation's position on AI art.

To demonstrate, we've got some of my non-AI photobash work, and some of my AI-work of the same type. Both were made using many, many public domain images broken down to B&W lines, scaled, reinked, normalized and colored.

On the left, is a comic made with specific panels from comics that have had their copyrights expire (back when that could happen), on the right, a comic made with about 35 individual dall-E 3 gens. The techniques are the same, the only difference is the source of the pubic domain images.

No one debates whether what I've done on the left is art, yet somehow the one on the right is a problem for some people. Yet I have vastly more control over the latter than the former.

And it's hard to get more transformative than 'broke down into math and blended with literally millions of other math formulas in order to make a completely new image" Replace 'math' with 'memory' and you have how all human creativity works.

Moving to covers, one of my parody deepdream-adjusted comics, and a reinked-recolored AI one on the right. The one on the left no one had a single problem with, but Bruce Wayne and Jessica Fletcher are screencaps, the Specter is a sales photo of a statue with a copy of 1989 Ted Dansen's face, and I'm using direct DC trade dress. Crickets.

On the right, no actual images by humans are used (outside the barcode, comics code authority emblem, and the 30 cent mark.) Same techniques, same situation. Very different reaction.

I also was a young artist in the 90s when Disney and the RIAA bribed and lied their way into extending copyright to its current ridiculous 120 year term, and I recognize what's happening with the anti-AI movement.

The exact same fear-mongering was used to get small artists to rally their congressmen against their own self-interest, and that's what the Copyright alliance is doing now.

Copyright does not help the small artist. It's also a relatively new invention, one that would be baffling to humans through most of history. You can't own art. Not even the people who make it. You can own a canvass or a carved rock or a book, but you don't own the art itself because you can't own feelings or ideas.

Copyright is a limited patent on specific expressions intended (supposedly) to encourage production, a limitation on the business use of art. The arguments levied against AI would kill fanfic, fanart, pastiche, collage, and more.

This isn't a bug, it's a feature, because...

The anti-AI side isn't actually anti-AI, they're pro-regulatory-capture-of-AI-by-Megacorporations. The copyright anti-AI argument conveniently leaves it open for Disney, Warner Bros, Nintendo, Sony, the RIAA, all to make their own AI systems to lower their production costs, because they own more than enough material to make powerful datasets.

They get it, you don't, worst of all possible worlds.

Now, at the start I mentioned that we'd get into the "actual artist" situation. All those people making bog standard waifu-pics with AI? They're also making art. Kids using a spirograph make art. Duchamp's fountain is art. And people who make art are artists.

But more than that "if you're an actual artist why do you use AI?" is an interesting question, because if more people actually used the tech and saw how it works, you'd see a lot less people against it. Most of the anti-AI talking points are just factually incorrect or greatly misrepresent the situation, but nobody is gonna learn that if even using it is treated as a transgress worthy of 'fair game' treatment.

Funny how that works out.

To close out, enjoy one of my music videos, made from dozens of clips made using reference images made with dozens of heavily modified gens that I totally could have made the hard way, except for the lack of 5 million dollars and access to Geena Davis and Ron Ely circa 1982:

[eldritch-spouse]

I have a very detailed scenario about how kalymir met his queen, imma try and give you the sweet n short version

Basically she gets talked into visiting every ring of hell at least once by some friends, hates every single ring, and on her visit to wrath she gets lost and somehow ends up in the crucible, coincidentally on a day that kalymir is beating the brakes off of any of his opponents

It becomes a regular thing for her, she'll map out all the dates kalymir is going to be fighting and will visit just to watch him, becomes his biggest fan, makes a stan account called 'Queen Kalymir' er 'Wraths left tiddy' or something, makes thirst edits of him, all that

N one day he punches someone's jaw clean off, skull explodes, viscera everywhere, its disgusting, but she catches the jaw, like a baseball fan catches a fly ball, and has to fight a bunch of other demons to keep it, breaks her wrist in the process but ends up getting outta there with her life and her new prize intact.

She hangs it on her wall and posts pictures of her celebrating getting actual physical remains from one of kalymirs fights, unaware that her hornyposting and uncharacteristic (for a human anyway) violence have caught his attention, gets hunted down, dragged down ta wrath, n as much as she is a fan of kalymir she didnt sign up to permanently live in hells most violent realm, tries and fails at negotiation, and jus starts trying to become strong enough to overpower kalymir, thus sparking what he considers even more romance

And yes, that is the short n sweet version

Idk how much of this is accurate but i daydream about it alot and thought u should know 🏃‍♀️💨

Oh, nearly forgot, this is the song I most relate to this scenario, it even has a soundtrack. Im obsessed

Boo, fake fan, a real fan would immediately take the opportunity to molest Kalymir 😪 /j

No but really, that's a super cute concept, I really like the idea of pure fangirl adrenaline overpowering fully grown wrath demons. You go on TokTik or whatever and your "hear me out" is Kalymir- The comments judge you harshly but you give no fucks. You heavily make out with pictures of Kalymir.

You write fanfiction about meeting him in battle and doing so well that his dick explodes- But then you meet him in real life and your hopes are dashed. He's crazy, and not the kinky kind. You're not about to let crazy put its dick in you.

Never meet your murderous heroes, kids.

[doodlingwren]

@t4tadrienette tags BECAUSE I NEED TO DROP THE WHOLE ITALIAN DUB LORE

I’ve already explained some things in an older post of mine, but it was quite short so I might as well add some more stuff.

AND YES. There’s a lot to unpack… 😂

I suspect the anime dub was based on the French version, although in an article I’ve read the dub director (Enrico Carabelli) said they translated from English [ various sources : x | x | x | x ].

Forget for a moment the fact that a bunch of teens sounds like a group of 30 year olds who have two mortgages on their back. They apparently have a Masters of Art in Liberal Studies with a focus on Italian Literature because they keep quoting poets like Dante or Giacomo Leopardi or Ugo Foscolo!

Okay, jokes aside, the writer that translated and did the dialogue writing adaptation (Stefano Cerioni) went for a more “original” approach that, if everything, made even more memorable and iconic the Classical Series. Hadn’t been for the dignified and courtly way the characters express themselves, I doubt it would have become so iconic. Still today, it's "cavalieri" and not "saints" for Italian fans.

To be fair, I need to add that most of these changes had been made because… they didn’t have a choice. When I said they had the script in English, I mean they had just SOME lines the characters were saying without any other context (on top of the missing lines, only a few episodes had the intro that explained what was going on). And most importantly, they had one day to translate and dub the episode because the next one it would have gone on-air. This also explains why in some occasions a line from an episode contradicts what was said in a previous one. Couldn’t they use the manga? Well, the first edition made by Granata Press was published after the anime was aired (July 1992 versus March 1990), there was no way to know where the plot was going!

In short to make up for the missed context they had to add something and that’s the reason for the literature quotes (erm. making stuff up). Were those additions faithful to the original? Not really, no. But the STYLE they had is UNSURPASSABLE: the acting alone gave such an emphasis that in the end it didn’t matter if what they were saying was correct or not. And this was thanks to the incredibly talented voice actors: despite the fact that the characters change voice actors quite a number of times during the series (ex. Aries Mu had throughout the whole animated series six different voice actors) or the same actor portraying different characters, what was missing was successfully supplemented by their skills.

Besides... since they are Knights and not Saints, all the talking like medieval knights actually makes sense here.

This is because of censorship, a violent cartoon could not be related to the Christian religion. It’s the same reason why the title “Pope” was changed to “High Priest” (Gran Sacerdote), because a villain could not be associated with the word “Pope”.

As in many anime or animated products from Japan from the 80s-90s, Italy generally changed the names to some more “Italian sounding ones”.

Often it was made to allow people to recognize the characters more easily (there was the common misconception of “all cartoons are made for kids”, while some are actually for a more mature audience) and for merchandise reasons. As far as I’m aware, back in the days the animated series were imported thanks to some Toys Factory who wanted to sell dolls, action figures, games and other merchandise in Italy (for Saint Seiya, it was Giochi Preziosi). It was in fact easier for parents to remember names like Phoenix or Andromeda rather than Ikki or Shun!

There are a few ways to do it!

Saints are simply named after their constellations or their stars in Italian:

Shun is Andromeda, Shiryu is Sirio, Seiya is Pegasus etc.

Saints have their names changed in their constellation but in English: Aphrodite is Fish, Shura is Capricorn etc.

YES, some characters got more lucky than others. Shiryu gets to have his own name while Seiya has just the name of his Constellation. This becomes a bit weird if you consider that they are called like this even before obtaining their Cloth!

Exceptions also exist.

Aldebaran got the Italian name for his constellation (Toro). And very funny, Saga is known simply as Gemini, while Kanon keeps his name without any problem. I don’t know why.

Another way was to change them for assonance:

Aiolia becomes Ioria

Mu is now Mur

The last way is to simply change the name completely:

Aiolos is Micene (don’t ask)

Hyoga is Crystal (DON’T ASK)

Shaina is Tisifone

Marin becomes Castalia

Lizard Misty is checks notes… Eris…?

Most of them can only confuse people, especially if you started by reading the manga, which usually keeps the original names (except for some cases).

To be honest, I do like some of these name changes, such as Shaina: Tisiphone is one of the Erinyes, better known as the Furies, Goddesses of Vengeance in Ancient Greek mythology (considering her first appearances… yeah… it suits her very well). Oh, in Greek Mythology, this goddess fell in love with a mortal but was rejected, so her hair turned into a poisonous snake that bit and killed her.

I really liked the Italian Dub, although I am too young to be part of that generation that grew up watching the series on television! But, if you want my personal take, the Italian anime translation should be considered its own thing. I know that even in the original Japanese version the anime and the manga are quite different, but the Italian experience can only be seen for itself.

Saint Seiya, from a pure fandom/meta pov is just fascinating.

Most people have very little consideration for the source material. The lore is mainly builded on 8 specific spin offs -none canon. The show has so much inconsistency that you have to play pick and choose about practically anything. Ages and power systems are basically stickers on a notebook, misplaced and scraped off every new trimester. There are somehow fights on what is canon or not. One of the characters sole existence ledd to the introduction of the term “yaoi” to the world. The girls in the manga are all 16 and terribly written. It’s considered as one of the most iconic shōnen ever. The older fandom is split on either the ones that accuse the new adaptations of “turning the show woke” or the ones that is like “in retrospect they were all kind of gay”. There is so much South American content about that saga it might rivaling the Japanese one. The French part may or may not be a cult for an obscure parody that is the backbone of the entire French anime parody game. The name “knights of the zodiac” definitely comes from European fans trying to guess the og name. It also, funnily enough, makes more sense on the long term than Saint Seiya. Every 10-20 years the USA will make a weird remake that always flops. It was considered a kid show in the 80s, and is still in the collective unconscious of some countries. The author’s favorite part of the fandom is The Gays.

Everything about this serie is a mess from point A to point ω. I love it.

[misslisamiray]

Gonna write a longer post about this when I have more time, but I just need to put this out there: I love my Rick and Morty Tumblr mutuals/people I interact with regularly so much. ❤️

I am not joking or exaggerating when I say I didn't know it was possible to be this active in a fandom and also this happy. I've only really been active in the fandom for the past 6 months, and it's been SUCH an overwhelmingly positive experience.

I've been meaning to make a post like this for a while, but two recent things really drove home how much I appreciate you folks: First, I had A Week That Felt Like a Year of Sailor Moon Twitter making me miss being 12 & not knowing anyone else who watches the show. Then, yesterday I opened Tumblr to be greeted by a post that brought up one of the reasons why, after 20+ years, Cowboy Bebop is still my number 1 "I love this show and it means so much to me, but this fandom frequently makes me want to hit my head on walls" series.

Obviously I know there's no shortage of issues in this fandom, too. I mean, there's typically an assortment of them on display in the comments of any post on the official RaM accounts. 😅 And I'm not saying I haven't met some really nice, cool people in my fandoms I've been in forever - I definitely have!!!!!

But this feeling of... Community? Home? This is new territory for me. And it took me longer than it should have to get here, but I'm so glad I did.

I have already rambled longer than I intended to, so now I'm going to attempt to wrap this up by tagging some of the folks who inspired this post.

@rickteacakes @thesoftboiledegg @hazelnut-u-out @dimensionduo @ajaynetic @fandomwe1rd0 @joycew-blog

[moongothic]

Rereading Dressrosa for the first time in quite a few years, after having become a Crocodad Truther specifically, was a really interesting experience, mainly due to the relationship between Kyros and Rebecca and Luffy's very strong feelings about those two in particular

Starting with the latter point; watching Luffy get really passionate about making sure Rebecca reunited with her father, instead of the two never seeing each other again as Kyros had planned, was just really facinating to me.

Now there ARE layers to this; Luffy saw first hand how much Rebecca and Kyros love each. Even if he didn't know or understand all the details, he knew these two were family forced to live apart due to Doflamingo's rule and that, even though Rebecca didn't know Mr Soldier was her father all those years, he still looked after her and did all he could to protect her. Luffy understands how much they matter to each other. Luffy also gets that Kyros was trying to make a sacrifice out of self-loathing; Kyros saw himself as a bloodstained monster who did not deserve to be by his daughter's side, thus his insistence on them going their separate ways. But not only is that "sacrifice out of loathing" not a thing One Piece rewards within the narrative*, but Luffy emotionally understands what Kyros was trying to do was stupid as hell. *(See; Robin trying to save the crew in the CP9 Saga, Sanji trying to offer his head to Kuma to spare everyone else (because he saw himself as the "least worthy", compared to Zoro who believed he was the only one who could actually tank Kuma and survive), Sanji again during Whole Cake Island, etc)

Adding to that, in what I feel also harkens back to Alabasta (vaguely important since Dressrosa in many ways is a reflection of Alabasta); Vivi made her decision to stay in her home because that's what she wanted deep in her heart, because she loved her country. Just the same way, dethroning Doflamingo, getting revenge for her mother and reuniting with her extended family were all fine achievements. But all Rebecca wanted deep in her heart was to stay with Mr Soldier (regardless if he was her father or not). That's what mattered the most to her.

How could Luffy even think about leaving without making sure Rebecca was able decide on her own if she wanted to stay with her father, instead of him making that decision for her, not because it was truly "for the best", but out of Kyros' own guilt and self-loathing.

All of that to say; Luffy becoming so emotionally involved in Rebecca and Kyros' father-daughter relationship is perfectly normal and on-brand for him, it's not strange at all.

...At the same time. I could not help but to wonder if those two's relationship could somehow reflect Luffy's relationship with his estranged parent(s), and more importantly, kind of debunk the fandom idea of Luffy as someone who 100% does not care if people are related or not and has ZERO interest in Dragon etc

Like I have discussed this before but I've been meta posting for so long on here I'll repeat myself just a lil; I feel like it's less "Luffy doesn't care Dragon is his father" and more "Luffy doesn't know HOW to feel about Dragon". We don't know what Garp told Luffy about his parent(s), presumably and based on the conversation post-Enies Lobby it just seems like Garp never mentioned ANYTHING to Luffy? Like he didn't even tell Luffy a white lie about why his parents weren't there for him? We simply do not know. But what we do know is these three things: 1. Luffy hates being alone, even more than "being hurt". Being alone is his worst fear 2. Although Garp was responsible for raising Luffy, he wasn't always there, meaning other townspeople and Shanks' crew alike were equally "responsible" for looking after Luffy. 3. Meaning Luffy was essentially an orphan. Fans will joke about Luffy's surprise at him having a father being because he's stupid, an asexy and doesn't know where babies come from, and while I may not be fully able to debunk that conceptually. Like. It's just as possible that because Luffy was raised like an orphan, he might have assumed that either his parents were dead or had abandoned him because they didn't want him. And I'm going to argue that if that's what Luffy always assumed was what happened, yeah, it'd contribute to his fear of being alone. It'd explain why he'd be surprised to find out he actually does have a father out there somewhere. And yeah, Luffy might not know how to feel about Dragon if that's the case. Should he hate Dragon because he wasn't ever there for him (from Luffy's POV)? Why wasn't Dragon there for him? Did he really not want Luffy, or did he have some reason for leaving Luffy? What is he like anyways, is he nice or cool or a dickbag?? Should Luffy even care about any of that stuff??? All of that to say; I don't think Luffy is completely disinterested in Dragon, I think he doesn't know how to feel or think about Dragon, and it's not relevant to Luffy right now anyways because Dragon's like, out there somewhere while Luffy is on his journey. Where as, if Luffy were to meet Dragon, get to know what he's like, why he wasn't there for Luffy and most importantly, how he feels about his only son (does he care about Luffy and his wellbeing? Is he a Kyros or a Kaidou?)- yeah, I think then Luffy COULD learn to be interested in Dragon and care about him Not out of obligation (because of their blood) but out of Luffy's own will, out of Luffy's acknowledgement of Dragon's love for him

And yeah, then we get to add the ever-delightful layer of Crocodad Trutherism to this mess.

You know how my personal theory goes; that Crocodile's been trying to find a way to overthrow and nuke the WG (potentially with an Ancient Weapon) to make sure his long lost child would be able to live freely and do whatever the hell he wanted without having to fear the WG would ever target him because he has Evil Revolutionary Leader Blood coursing through his veins. That's what makes the most sense to me as Crocodile's ultimate motivation. To protect his child, no matter the cost, even if he had to become the devil himself.

And hey, what was the story between Kyros and Rebecca again? Kyros trying to overthrow a corrupt government (a fallen Tenryuubito to boot) to protect his child so she could live freely without having a target on her back?

I don't need to explain how One Piece does have repeating themes and motifs, surely. (Also there's something to be said about fathers in One Piece who would go to hell and back for their daughters, Kuma being another example, but that's a whole different essay. But Oda's Girl-Dad Agenda is showing)

But yeah, what's even more interesting here is how Kyros believed he didn't deserve to have a reunion with Rebecca. He commited a murder decades ago, and although everyone else seems to have forgiven him for that crime, Kyros himself still thinks of himself as a horrible murderer with bloodstained hands. Not helped by how Kyros thought him teaching Rebecca self-defence skills was a failure on his part as a father (instead of him doing all he could in the horrible situation they were stuck in; teaching Rebecca how to defend herself was absolutely justified, and Kyros shouldn't have blamed himself for anything there).

Kyros didn't think he deserved to be with his daughter because he wasn't a good father, because was a monster. And Kyros could not believe anything other than that until Rebecca essentially forgave him, by explicitly telling him she wanted them to stay side-by-side. That she wanted him, and no one fucking else, as her father.

And I once again repeat myself just a little as I ask; how would Luffy feel if he found out Crocodile was his father? How would Luffy feel if he found out the reason Crocodile was going to destroy Vivi's country was because he was trying to protect his son from the WG? And that son was Luffy himself? How would Luffy feel that the asshole who stabbed him through the gut, mummified him and poisoned him was his very own family? Who also saved Luffy's life the second he learned of their blood connection? How would Luffy feel in that situation, if he found out Crocodile cares about Luffy, and wants him to be okay? And how does Crocodile feel? After stabbing Luffy through the gut, mummifying him and poisoning the brat, does Crocodile feel like he has any right to call himself Luffy's parent, let alone father? He knows Luffy rightfully hates him for all the horrible things he has done, how could Luffy ever accept him?

The past is in the past and it can't be changed. But you always have the choise, the free will, to change yourself and become a better person. You can choose to do better things, to help others and be kinder. You can have a second chance.

Robin was given a second chance. Hacchi was given one too. Kyros was given that chance to become better. So why not Crocodile?

[corviiids]

light: when i was talking to ryuzaki he--oh by the way ryuzaki ive been saying "he" but what do you prefer L: interesting. do you think this could be relevant to the kira case, yagami-kun? light: no, just curious. light: (is this a trap? would kira care about something like masculinity? no... kira is a paragon of justice. he would never misgender someone.) L: maybe yagami-kun thinks that a name and a face are not enough. does he think kira may also need a gender? light: interesting theory. is that why you don't have pronouns in your bio, ryuzaki? light: (ive got him. the other officers will never respect him if they find out L is a transphobe! wait, they're cops. damn it. has this all been for nothing?) L: ive actually taken the liberty of making fake pronoun pins for everyone in the squad, to ensure your security. here, yagami-kun. or should i say... yagami-chan. light: neopronouns?! (do i give off nya/nyam/nyaself vibes? or is this another clever ruse? he still hasn't even told me his own pronouns...) ryuk: hey, light. don't forget about the deal. the shinigami eyes would let you see anyone's pronouns at a glance. light: (forget it! im not giving up half my life just to they/them ryuzaki!) L: id just like to flag for the audience that im aware this is a stupid bit but don't worry it's over now

[kapsloc7]

turning a little meow meow into a little meow meow? hell yes.

anyways i remember really liking monster falls when i first got into the gravity falls fandom, and now that i am revisiting it i wanted to draw a little ford design ^^

[novella-november]

This isn't going to be another "you hate fanfiction!!" because very obviously you do not, but it is prompted by the discussion of branching out into original work, since it's something I often struggle with when trying to make that jump. Do you or any of your followers have any good resources on beginner worldbuilding? I really struggle with it.

Thank you!

If you check out my post where I made a "Prep Calendar" for Outline October (Which is a November-prep alternative/ supplement to Ominous October, the spooky short story event), I actually made a rather rough calendar outline of how to go about world building in advance for November;

The basic first steps for me are usually just three things:

Who are your characters

What kind of world do they live in (aka setting)

Whats your main plot/conflict?

To start worldbuilding at its lowest level, start with number one and work your way up; figure out what kind of character you'd like to write, where they live, and go from there!

Here is the prep calendar I threw together in MS paint, I definitely reccomend downloading it on desktop to actually zoom in to see what all it says lol.

And as a bonus, I will even make a fun, silly little exercise for anyone who'd like to get some practice in!

If you want to join in, grab a pen and pencil, or open up your favorite note-taking app :D

Here we go....!

Let's start out by saying that my basic concept for a character is *spins mental wheel of random ideas*....... a talking deer! 1) So now that I have decided that I want a talking deer character, now I have to decide: A) do *all*deer talk? B) Do *all* animals? C) Or is it just this one singular deer who is special? 2) If it *is* just this one singular deer who can talk, are they: D) otherwise a perfectly normal deer who just happens to be able to talk? E) Can they talk because they used to be human? F) Can they talk because they used to be an Alien or encountered Alien Tech (scifi) ? G) Can they talk because they used to be a Magical Creature or ran into a Magical Spell (fantasy) ? 3) Now you get to decide, mostly if you chose A or B from #1 but also useful for C : H) Is your story a more personal nature documentary, with realistic interactions between predators and prey? I) Is your story going to be a unique world where deer have built a society with technology and know how to defend themselves from predators? J) Is your story a unique world where all animals can talk and are equally sentient, therefore predators are revered as gods or keepers of the dead, who bring all back to the circle of life and prevent the spread of illness and disease, with older animals proudly going "to the wolves" to give their life to their brethren who consecrate the bones of the dead and keep resources plentiful? K) Or are predators the monsters in the dark, the teeth that bite, the slavering jaws that kill to live and *cannot live any other way*, so has learned not to regret? L) Or even, predators who feed from the already-dead when they can, and eat their fill of berries, nuts and fruits when they cannot, because they do not wish to take the lives of others for their own sake?

*clears throat* ahem. Drama done (can you see why I love worldbuilding) ,

go ahead and pick a letter from each of the above options, and jot them down on your paper or note-taking app.

You now have: A basic character, their backstory, and a basic setting!

From three-ish questions from a basic idea, you can spawn multiple possibilities, each of which can branch off into their own unique iterations!

Here's a few more, if you'd like to continue the exercise as further practice:

What is your deer's name?

What do they look like / what kind of deer are they? (deer of various species are found over almost the entire world, so there is tons of variety! :D )

What kind of world do they live in?

How do they interact with humans?

*are* there humans in your story?

What kind of zany or terrifying adventures would your talking deer and a human go on?

What kind of adventures would your talking deer go on with other deer or other animals?

How does your deer get along with other species?

Do they have friends from other species?

Do they have rivals from other species?

Do they have *sworn enemies* from other species?

Do they have a *love interest* from another species?

etc!

I am hoping this game/exercise is helpful, my brain being both autistic and ADHD means I am, at the drop of a hat, ready to start spouting more and more ideas sparked from a single concept at any given moment!

And yes, if you did this exercise, please feel free to use your deer character in a story, draw art of your deer character, etc!

If this exercise was helpful to you or fun, please feel free to tag any deer creations with "NovellaDeer" , I'd love to see them!

You can easily adapt this exercise to any story concept you need to worldbuild; pick what basic idea you have for a main character, and start asking yourself questions about them and their circumstances, and let yourself come up with multiple, contradicting answers for each question; the more the merrier!

After you've decided which starting answers you like the most, you can work your way down the list, asking follow-up questions, and before you know it you will have your very own original character :D

And do not feel like you need to keep your character exactly the way they start out as; characters evolve over time, and you may find yourself changing their "base" character to suit your story or to suit your tastes as you get more experienced with writing and world building!

[morrigan-sims]

Fashion Fit for an Empress

I saw the 5th dress in my game while trying to dress another sim and immediately dropped everything to put it on her. And then things spiraled a little bit, and she ended up with 12 new outfits.

[tulipe-rose]

Kazuha, sweetie, I'm not your biggest fan, but I'm going to be incredibly honest with you right now, and that's because I don't really understand what you're expecting from Heiji atp.

You're his self proclaimed, so called, 'older sister'. The first thing you do when you meet a friend of his, or a supposed girlfriend to be more accurate, is introduce yourself as his older sister. Whenever anyone claims that there's any romance between you guys, you refute it and call him your stupid little brother.

GIRL.

EVEN I STARTED TO GET MIXED SIGNALS AT ONE POINT. If not for the blushing we clearly see as the audience I would've been soldified in my belief that it's unrequited love for Heiji. Dramatic irony at it's finest.

Either way– WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM HIM?? You keep brother-zoning him to the point where only the Hattori Heji himself could be so stubborn to ignore this weird girl reverse psychology that would keep any other guy at a two meter distance.

Don't think you're any better, though, Heiji. If any third party who had never watched dcmk before had to give their opinion after looking at the overall confession bull crap you've been stalling these past three decades they'd think you're trying to impress Shinichi, not Kazuha. Won't blame them, I myself am pretty confused.

Who is this confession for???? KAZUHA.

THEN WHO TF IS SHINICHI TO THIS RELATIONSHIP AND WHY IS ONE UPPING HIM DETRIMENTAL TO Y'ALL?? WHY DOES HIS OPINION MATTER?? WHAT EVEN IS THE POINT OF THIS CONFESSION ANYMORE?? You're not even trying to think like ‘Oh, I'm doing this because Kazuha only deserves the best’ NO. IT'S ALL BIG BEN THIS KUDO THAT. I feel kinda bad for Kazuha.

Don't even get me started on how awkward it is to keep being so possessive over her when y'all aren't even an item (I'M LOOKING AT YOU TOO SHINICHI. GLARING REAL HARD HERE.). If she's seeing some other guy (which would never happen because of course she has fallen head over heals for you. Ugh- this is triggering my gag reflex.) then leave her be, because you either act like a chicken after being all bark and no bite or idk, grow a spine and fricking confess??? You can't go around calling her yours and then noping out of a confession. God my blood pressure keeps spiking because of these blockheaded teenagers I need to go take a few deep breaths.

I would like to know what they actually even talk about or bond over. From what I understood, Kazuha really likes the sound of his katana when he practices, which is high-key weird and makes me feel deaf cause how do you even hear that sort of stuff? And... What does Heiji like about her again? These guys need to explain what they like about their crushes more often. Or at least maybe ask themselves about it every once in a while, yk, just to make sure all of this stress is worth it. I will NOT be talking about Aoko and Kaito purely for the sake of my heart and blood pressure; they can only handle one dcmk couple at a time.

In conclusion, a man with an unresolved inferiority/superiority complex–because he somehow has both–so severe he cannot function without making it about his rival should not be looking for a relationship before seeing a therapist. Thank God his actual friendship with Shinichi isn't an eighth as bad as you'd think it should be; they're one of the most iconic duos ever, let's just keep their love lives outta the mix (Heiji is high-key supportive though, so there's that ig).

Edit: Came back after I realized I phrased my opinion on Heiji and Shinichi's friendship in a way that was easy to misinterpret. What I mean to say is that they're my favorite dcmk duo but I just can't stand how Heiji prioritizes one upping Shinichi rather than getting his feelings out there. I say Heiji ditches Kazuha as a love interest and forms a trio with Shinichi and Shiho. They'd be unstoppable homies that would do the unspeakable for each other.

[lawisnotmocked]

When I first became aware of the therian and fictionkin communities in the early 2010s there was a lot of online hate and cringe content targeting them and openly belonging to either of those communities in the wrong spaces really did put a target on your back, I think in a similar way to openly being a furry in the wrong places. It’s been nice to see folks online get a lot more chill about all of these subcultures existing in the 2020s but being a teen therian in the 2010s really affected how safe I feel being open about those parts of my identity. Anyway I’ve identified as a dog therian and been active in therian communities since I was 15 and I’ve been Javert fictionkin/this blog has been run by a Javert fictive alter since I first joined the fandom when I was 17.

I wouldn’t say I’ve been subtle about it lol but I don’t think it’s something I’ve ever explicitly said on this blog. It’s 2025 and probably no one will care about this at all, and that’s the whole reason I now feel okay saying these things publicly lol ✌️

[mids-dumbbrain]

Viktor and Enenra lore post

This contains spoilers for all of Enenra's Shadow, which you can read on @mediocres-writing-blog

FULL NAME: Viktor Wilson (originally Arbeid) and Enenra

AGE: Viktor (as of Enenra's Shadow) is 18 and Enenra's age is unknown (estimated to be thousands of years old)

GENDER: male (he/him pronouns for both)

VIKTOR'S PERSONALITY TRAITS: overly serious, sarcastic smartass, rarely comedic, socially anxious

ENENRA'S PERSONALITY TRAITS: monotone, sensible, acts like a massive prick to Viktor but genuinely likes him

BIOLOGY: Human, quarter-part Outworlder (father is half-outworlder)

PARENTS: Nico Ghai (paternal) and Melisa Wilson (maternal)

REFERENCE SHEET:

STORY: Born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Viktor is the (previously) bastard son of Red Robin and Melisa Wilson. Living in the Dobrinja settlement, he has a dark exterior and a heart of Gold. One day as he was walking home from school, Enenra latched onto him without his knowledge, and after commiting actual murder with his newfound host, Enenra ran away and hid under the bridge to hide under a bridge and introduced himself to Viktor. After a few days at school, Viktor has found his mother Melisa sick with an unknown disease that will kill her eventually. While walking around to go home, he met a man named Isaac, who told him of a flower that can heal his mom's condition. While Enenra was hella skeptical, Viktor had nothing better to do and went on a private plane with him to china, where the flower was located. Once they landed, a taxi driver and friend of, Gus, picked Viktor up and crazy taxi'd him to the entrance to the forest where it was located. The two took a break in a cafe, met a really sketchy guy named Nico and Viktor and Enenra picked up where they left off and started looking for the flower. Enenra and Viktor argued over if this plant even exist and as they did they find it. However they were ambushed by Lin Kuei scouts who were easely beaten. After running out of energy and entering Viktor to recharge, Bi-Han and Sektor showed up, Shattered his arm and took him to the Lin Kuei Temple for an interrogation. After failing to interrogate him, Viktor was busted out by a masked mad who turned out to be Nico from the cafe. Nico brought in a Lin Kuei fighter for Enenra to eat, which allowed him to begin healing Viktor's arm. The two then began to break out, defeating squad after squad of armored Lin Kuei. Then Bi-Han and Sektor arrived, fighting the two. While Viktor and Enenra easely disposed of Sektor, leaving her on the ground with a temporarily damaged armor, Nico was having trouble with Fighting Bi-Han. Before Bi-Han can kill him through, Enenra dashed in, grabbing Sub Zero and throwing him into a wall, choking him. As he slowly unformed, Nico looked him in the eyes and began to choke him out. Before he could kill him through, Sektor showed up and put a gun to Nico's head. While in slight shock, Enenra's grip loosened and Viktor was kicked to the side by Sub Zero. Viktor used Enenra's extended hand to throw a barrel, missing sub zero and going into the temple. Nico picked up on this, kicked Sektors gun to the side and threw his dagger at the barrel which was full of gunpowder. Nico lit the dagger on fire with his magic and the barrel exploded, setting fire to the Lin Kuei temple and giving the two time to escape. As the two were looking for road, Nico dropped a truth bomb on Viktor and Enenra, revealing that he is Viktors father.The boy took this relatively well and the two called a taxi, which they jumped out of the second they realized the driver was possessed by Quan Chi's magic. The two were close to the airport where their plane was, and before they landed back in Bosnia and Herzegovina, they crashed because Enenra killed Isaac because Isaac killed the pilot and co-pilot because be was also possessed by Quan Chi. Enenra grabbed Nico and jumped out of the plane, saving them from certain death and landing safely on the ground, protecting Nico from the fall. First thing they did was went to the hospital, ran to Viktor's mother's room and crushed the flower into a liquid, giving it to her. She opened her eyes and was instantly hugged by Viktor and greeted by Nico, who she had not seen in a long time. First thing in the morning, Nico and Viktor picked up Melisa from the hospital and headed home, where the three would rest and spend some proper time together

[doctahchang]

would like to know the lore of my own oc that i have had for like ten years

edit: found an old sketch of her... i basically drew her for the first time eons ago and haven't changed her design ever since (sad that i won't be able to find those drawing again)

[sn0wbat]

of course i had to do the hair meme with him too

[mckinlily]

Um, okay this is a loaded question, and if you want to play it safe, you can answer me in DMs, but...I personally feel that there's something wrong about how VLD placed Keith in the lead. In a way, I can see him becoming Black Paladin, but Shiro...it feels more natural to me, it feels right that Shiro is Black Paladin. I'm not into VLD beyond Shiro, Keith's parents, and the Lions personally, but I know someone who loves it and makes good points about Keith as a leader, but something just isn't aligning for me. Maybe it's because Shiro and Keith are two radically different archetypes, and they got swapped when they shouldn't have, I don't know.

I came here because I saw one of your post S2 rewrites, and I appreciated it. So, again, feel free to answer me in DMs (if you have problems DM-ing me, let me know and I'll fix it for you) if you don't mind discussing this with me.

As a final note, I'm not trying to hate any particular character. They're all fine on their own, and I don't want to treat one as worse than the other. I just want to figure out this problem I'm having with Shiro and Keith.

Thank you for reading this, and take care.

You came to the right blog! Because I adore Keith and believe he certainly has qualities that could make him a good leader—and absolutely hate him as the Black Paladin.

The thing I never understood about Voltron fandom debates about who should be the Black Paladin is that they always seem based in the idea that because Shiro is a leader and the Black Paladin, that means the Black Paladin is the ONLY leader on the team.

It is worth noting that that premise was disproven in episode one. It was Allura who made the final call on whether the paladins should run or stay and fight Sendak, and Shiro explicitly bowed to her authority. From then on, Shiro and Allura both lead Team Voltron until the show decided to destroy their characters, accepting influence and trading responsibilities depending on which one of them fit the situation at hand. Typically, Allura functions more in a commander and diplomat role and Shiro is more of a field officer, but they both pick up the lead where needed.

I know you didn't bring up Allura, but I think it is vital she is included in any conversation about leadership in Voltron. She is introduced as THE princess of an entire planet, she has more knowledge and experience of the intergalactic landscape than any of the other characters, she's been set up to be a leader since birth, and she IS the leader of Team Voltron for two whole seasons. Shiro makes it VERY clear he considers her to outrank him.

So the question you have to ask any time you consider replacing Shiro as Black Paladin: why NOT Allura? If the Black Paladin is the "best leader", why are you skipping over the one character already established and thriving in a leadership role? (And then you have to ask yourself if that character being a Black woman has anything do with that.)

Now I do think there are ways narratively you could answer that question. For instance, if you keep the Lions as sentient beings, that means they can make choices—including wrong ones. For instance, for a time when I believed anything might be salvaged after season 3, my head canon for Black choosing Keith was that Keith was the one missing Shiro as intensely and desperately as Black in that moment. Therefore, the choice was not about Keith being "better" but rather them being at the same place emotionally and that allowing the bond. The major problem with the Lion swap in canon is that we're given NO reason for Keith to be Black Paladin besides "plot device said so". Especially when we have Allura right there. It's just bad writing.

(By the way, you don't have to be pro-Black Paladin Allura. There's nuance to be had, and I personally am actually more One True Black Paladin!Shiro. But you can't just dismiss her--a capable and proven leader--from the conversation. Erasing her character is not the answer.)

ANYWAY. Back to Keith. Or rather, leadership on Team Voltron. Thing is, there are many different WAYS to be a leader. We already touched on the differences between Allura and Shiro. Keith does a good job of making split second decisions in battle or calling shots if Shiro is incapacitated or somehow separated. If you're in the middle of a fight, the plan has gone to shit, and the team just got separated, Keith is great at telling people what to do and mobilizing because something needs to get done NOW.

But that's not the only way to lead. Keith, for instance, is terrible at pep talks. He misses a lot of the nuances going on between him and his teammates off the battlefield. He doesn't plan ahead, like, ever. Sure he's great at making up stuff on the fly, but sometimes you need a plan.

But it's not just Keith. For instance, when Shiro, Lance, and Pidge go on the mission to rescue Slav, it's Pidge who calls all the shots. Is that not leadership? Pidge is often the one telling people what they need to do to solve technical problems. She's a center for information, typically the one collecting it, organizing and interrupting it, and then instruction others based on her conclusions. We see her take point on a mission, give orders to her teammates, coordinate efforts, problem solve in real time and relay a new plan in order to navigate unexpected challenges. Why not argue PIDGE should be the leader?

And there's when they freed the Balmera and Hunk took the lead. That mission was more challenging, but I'd argue in that arc, Hunk's leadership mattered less in terms of orders and more in terms of determining what type of team they'd be. Hunk was ADAMANT they free the Balmerans and set a tone for the team where they didn't leave suffering people behind. Hunk set up a moral imperative for the team that they'd be lesser without.

And Lance! There's actually lots to say about Lance and his strengths and types of leadership. But it's easy to point out that Lance is the one initiating fun and team bonding outside of battle. And when you're operating a giant robot held together by emotion connection, that's pretty dang important!

Point is, they're ALL leaders. They all have the capability to take point when needed. We SEE them all take charge at different points of the show.

So what's the Black Paladin then? If Shiro's The Leader then what does that mean? And this is the cool part! Because you know what Shiro is really really good? Know who else to put in charge. He's the one who first acknowledges Allura as an authority because he sees she has knowledge and experience he and the others do not. He selects which paladins to go together on which missions based on their strengths and the situations. He steps back and lets Pidge or Lance or Hunk call the shots if they're in an area of their expertise. Shiro's job isn't to tell people what to do. It's to decide who to put in charge of what and place them in best position for success.

There's another aspect of Shiro's leadership that is supporting his teammates, offering comfort, teaching, and giving the kids something solid they can believe in so they don't have to care the full weight of the war. But like letting others take charge where they shine, Shiro's leadership is all about enabling those he leads. One of my favorite Shiro lines is "It's too dangerous—I'm coming with you." Shiro's goal is never control. He is support. He leads the paladins because he sees the best in them and helps them reach it.

Narratively, also, Shiro is just set up to be the Black Paladin. The parallels between himself and the Black Lion are too obvious. From both being controlled and abused by Zarkon to Shiro's missing arm and Black's mission bayard. It's a kid's show. The symbolism isn't all that subtle. And if that weren't enough, we literally get an entire episode A plot in Space Mall about it where Shiro literally fist fights Zarkon for the Black Lion and in the end, he wins because he makes it clear it's the Black Lion's choice and trust.

Remember when I said the problem with Keith in the Black Lion in canon is that we're never given an explanation beyond "because I said so"? We're shown repeatedly why the Black Lion chooses Shiro. Even before we meet most the Lions, the other paladins themselves choose Shiro as their leader when Lance asks him if they should go through the wormhole. We repeatedly see Shiro seek to understand the Black Lion better, and Black responding. We see the similarities between their situations and backstories. We see them bond.

And I think this is really important because when Shiro is in the Black Lion, it's not about him being "in charge." It's about his relationship with the Black Lion. Yeah, of course, the other paladins are leaders! And they should be! But none of them have Shiro's relationship with the Black Lion. In this narrative, the Black Lion isn't a prize to be won but a relationship to nurture, and Shiro has put in the work for that relationship.

Which is really important because it means the Lions aren't a hierarchy. The Black Paladin is one role, an important role in Voltron, but no more important than any of the others. "The Leader" is not the most important person in the room. Instead, Shiro is a facilitator who enables all the others to perform their roles better.

Also can I just remind everyone just how well the Red Lion fits Keith? The paladin who keeps throwing himself out airlocks get the Lion most likely to go AWOL and fly off to save him. Keith defends his friends and team by attacking first and asking questions later, and Red started destroying a planetary body to get to Keith. The kid with abandonment issues gets the Lion who doesn't hesitate a second to go after him. And even the way they're shown to bond—that it's so physical and based in action rather than words—it's so Keith. I freaking love Keith as the Red Paladin. He gets to be as chaotic and free as he was always meant to be and gets a Lion who meets him every step of the way.

But if you say, no, Keith should be the Black Paladin. Well. What about Red wasn't working? Why was that role not one Keith fit in? Because from my reading of canon, Keith was thriving in Red. He got a secure attachment to his favorite person in the world, he gets the freedom to fly while also being part of something bigger, and he's making friends. It's still in its beginning stages, but he's figuring out how to bond with Lance, Hunk, and Pidge and you get the sense these are a kind of friendships he's never experienced before. But you know what could kill that really fast? Making him The Leader, a position that inherently sets him apart from the rest.

This is actually a problem twice over for Keith because unlike Shiro, who is shown to be given his role voluntarily by everyone around him and repeatedly shows he's earned that trust and respect, Keith is basically thrown into the Plot Device Machine and gets a t-shirt that says YOU'RE THE LEADER NOW. And we never get a reason beyond that.

This is actually my biggest problem season 3 and the Lion Swap. Because as soon as they made that choice, the Lions became a hierarchy. But what other explanation do we have? Keith won Favorite Character status got "prompted" to Black Paladin. But as soon as Black Paladin is a promotion, that makes the other paladin roles inferior. Red becomes the "second in command". So Lance get prompted but can never be equal to Keith. Allura gets the "Training Wheels" Lion/Blue, and they didn't have to write that as a massive demotion, but they sure did anyway. Hunk and Pidge are no longer leaders because they aren't in the "Leader" Lions.

It makes me so mad. One of the things I loved first about Voltron was the message of equality and servant leadership. The idea that a leader (represented by Shiro) is someone who elevates and enables everyone else. A recognition for the more "feminine" types of leadership—nurturing, compassion, emotional support. Which support roles are seen as vital and just as if not more important than being the "boss."

But we only got two seasons of that before they pulled the rug out and said, "Nope. We're returning back to patriarchy." Suddenly the Lions were in a strict chain of command, one character was the boss and the rest were his subordinates. There was a top position and a bottom position, and the characters were all fighting over each other. Perhaps most damningly, the Lion lost all personality and agency and become trophies to symbolize a character's power. And I'm not saying they're an accidental representation of how women are treated in Western media but I MEAN. It's right there.

My response when anyone says "[X] character should be the Black Paladin!" is—Why? Is their connection with the Black Lion deeper than Shiro's? Do they have more in common with Black than Shiro does? What could they achieve or obtain as the Black Paladin that they couldn't where they currently are?

And, though I don't think most of us realize it, the answer to that last one is power. Because we're soaked in patriarchy and a certain portrayal of "leadership (derogatory)" that many fans automatically assumed the Black Paladin HAD to be in control of and have power over the other paladins. So of course you want your favorite character to be the Black Paladin! You don't want your self-insert to be inferior!

But that's all the patriarchy talking. The other paladins are NOT inferior. There is NOT a hierarchy of types of people. Keith doesn't have to have Shiro's role because he's already equal as Keith.

Keiths look different from Shiros, but they're all equal and valuable as they are. Same goes for Lances, Hunks, Pidges, and Alluras. The whole point is they're stronger together. Their differences make them BETTER.

So yeah. Of course, Keith has some good leadership qualities. There's plenty of situations where it only makes sense for him to take the lead. But why on earth does he need to be the Black Paladin to do that? He's already Keith!

[crystal-verse]

Day 11 - Surrogate

[brief and vague mentions of pregnancy and childbirth. featuring lyna's parents, and queerplatonic relationships between the two of them and the exarch]

It escapes them, some days, just how lucky they are to have Dulna and Vaimet by their side. Then, of course, he is reminded, by a stray word or some thing he'd forgotten that one of the two had dealt with in his stead; by a stray pat on his shoulder, or the way one of the two would so casually yet carefully press a shoulder against one of his.

He is very close with the two, the Exarch -- Raha, though the name is feeling less and less his each day -- knows. The two had been the first to meet the Exarch, really, back when they were just Raha, an unnamed Mystel of some amount of power. They are perhaps the only ones to know his face, here in Norvrandt; all those who had met him in those initial years, so confusing and chaotic with the Flood having been so soon, are either dead or no longer remember them, and the Exarch cannot help but be grateful for it. They are more and more strange, living without aging, ageless and timeless just like the crystal that crawls further and further up their arm and shoulder, and while the Exarch knows that 'tis to prevent any recognition on the part of either Warrior of Light when they are eventually summoned. . . it is also a small source of comfort, keeping their face hidden, being an anonymous face to match their simple role. (Or -- 'twas supposed to be a simple role, at least.)

Dulna and Vaimet have never betrayed that trust, either -- they are always naught but professional when in public, the commander of the guard and his second-in-command who are ever loyal and respectful of the Crystal Exarch's time and duty. But behind the closed doors of the Tower, the two shed those roles like masks, the same way that the Exarch lowers his hood and is simply Raha again, for however long it lasts. There is comfort, between the three of them. Raha does not know quite what he would call it, but they are -- close, certainly. Not lovers, no -- they are well aware of what romance feels like, what infatuation swelling in their heart feels like (for they still love Sae'pheli'ehva, all these many, many years later) -- but neither is it quite friendship. There is friendship there but it is. . . it is different, somehow. (Raha hesitates to say closer, as if this relationship -- whatever it is -- is inherently better than friendship, as if romance is inherently better, but Raha does not know how to phrase it.)

It is not romantic love, at the least. Raha is certain of that. The Exarch, themself, had been the one to officiate Dulna and Vaimet's wedding, at their own shared request, and they know that just as they do not view the two in that light, neither do either of them view Raha like that. Still -- still, there is closeness. A deep bond, enough that Raha trusts them with his face, with his name, even. (He has not spoken of his past, but. . . they do not pry. When the memories grow too heavy, enough to choke, Vaimet will sit with him, oftentimes humming something beneath his breath, and will sometimes shift Raha to sit with his head pressed against Vaimet's chest, to hear the heartbeat. When Raha cannot carry the weight of all the grief he is forced to bear, Dulna will talk of whatever comes to her mind, until Raha is tethered in the current time and can breathe a bit easier.)

(It is not romantic love. It does not have to be. Raha loves them regardless, whatever this relationship might be.)

Perhaps they should be less surprised, then, at the request that is made of him.

"We want a baby." Dulna had said, one morning, with little preamble.

Raha raised merely blinked in response. ". . .alright. Were you wanting to adopt one of the orphans from the Sin Eater attacks. . .?"

Dulna looks at him as if he is stupid. Perhaps he is. "No," she says, enunciating carefully, "we want a baby."

"I'm. . . afraid I don't grasp your meaning?" Much more of this and Raha will be truly well and baffled.

Vaimet huffs, quietly, his shaking shoulders the only sign that he is repressing further laughter. "We want a child of our own blood." He explains, leaning his weight on one leg. "And I cannot sire a child, on account of lacking the necessary parts. So we need a surrogate."

"Ah. Well, I can. . . see about who would be willing to. . .?" Raha trails off, shrinking in on themself slightly as Dulna's expression only gets stonier.

She sighs, pinches the bridge of her nose. "Raha." (He does not startle at the name, but there is a fluttering in his chest regardless.) "You beautiful, beautiful fool of a man."

"I'm. . . sorry?" Well. Now Raha is baffled.

Vaimet, then, seems unable to restrain himself any longer, finally laughing loud enough that he is breathless for several moments. "We want a baby." He repeats. "And we want you to be the surrogate."

They -- "ah." Raha says, simply. They then proceed to scream into their hands.

After Raha has finished making a fool of himself, and Vaimet has finished laughing, and Dulna has sighed the last of her exasperated-if-fond sighs, the three properly sit down and plan how they are going to go about this. (Raha is awkward enough about it to make Vaimet laugh, and Dulna snicker at them, so even if Raha is horribly embarrassed the entire time, 'tis at least worth the smiles. And -- 'tis not as if the three of them have not seen each other naked, various times, between the damage from fights and needing to patch one another up or simply wishing to forgo the heavy layers of clothing amidst summer heat, so it's really the point of the whole thing that has Raha so embarrassed to begin with.)

It's Dulna that shall bear the child, they decide -- well. Vaimet and Dulna decide. Raha is mostly happy to be included, after he has eventually gotten over the awkwardness (as much as he ever will, at least). Vaimet is captain of the guard and presumed to be the same as any ordinary man by those who do not know him well enough, and Dulna is willing enough to take some time off from the regular guard rotation, once the pregnancy gets into its later months.

(Raha is still embarassed the entire time, but -- they do feel so very honored, that Dulna and Vaimet would trust them with something like this. And happy, of course, always happy to spend time with the both of them, individually or together.)

Time passes. The general public assumes that Dulna's child is Vaimet's -- and why should they not? 'Tis not as if there is anything to say otherwise. (And 'tis not like there is any stigma or judgement against those like Vaimet -- but Vaimet is older than a fair few of the Crystarium's citizens, by now, and values his privacy just as much as the Exarch does.) For the ease of avoiding any rumors, the Exarch does hope that the child will resemble Dulna more. (Raha hopes that his own Viera blood, however much of it there is, will shine through and hide any traits that would suggest a Mystel parent. Better for all their privacy if the child looks naught but Viis.)

Dulna and Vaimet toss about possible names for the child, through the months, but Vaimet is insistent that Raha should get a say, as well. Dulna reminds them that Raha will be involved in the child's upbringing regardless -- as if Raha would forget that. In the end, 'tis Vaimet's idea for the child to take the latter half of Dulna's name, for Raha's idea to name them Lyna. Dulna, smirking victoriously, declares that she does not care for whatever the gossipmongers may think, so long as their child (their child, claiming Raha as Lyna's parent just as much as Vaimet and Dulna are, and it makes a fragile little warmth bloom in Raha's chest) grows up happy, and loved, and cared for.

"We can claim you're their grandfather." Vaimet jokes, one stormy day when all are in their dwellings -- a rare day, where the Light is not quite so blinding.

"And what would that accomplish?" Raha raised an eyebrow, curious. "I assume that Lyna will discover the truth eventually, if they are not raised knowing it." They wrinkle their nose at a sudden thought. "I certainly would not like it assumed that I am a parent to either of you."

Vaimet only shrugs. "Well, we don't want them calling you father in public." And that is the issue, isn't it. The masks, and the roles. As far as anyone knows -- as far as anyone can confirm, at any rate, which has to be good enough -- they are simply Vaimet and Dulna, happily wed couple expecting their first child, employed as heads of the Crystarium guard, and the Crystal Exarch, kind but distant from all, a mysterious mage who's face and name is unknown to all. "Besides, you have taken time to interact with the other orphans and various children -- you've enough grandfatherly airs about you, when you want."

Before Raha can respond to that, Dulna cuts in. "We will figure it out when we get there." She declares. "For now, let us just enjoy the rest, hm?"

And so the time continues to pass. (Vaimet, Dulna, and Raha work on that idea, some -- the Exarch most certainly can put a grandfatherly aura about him, when he wants. Vaimet near laughs himself sick at it, and Raha can't help but join in. The many orphans, certainly, are grateful for the attention from their so very respected Exarch, and the orphanage caretakers, and the Settlement Council, are glad for their own brief respite from work as the Exarch takes time to care for the children for some hours out of a week, every now and then.)

(Raha worries, as the months go by, about what Lyna would inherent from them. If they would inherit anything at all. Would they get the curve of his nose? The pale shade of his skin, so unlike Dulna's deep reddish brown? Would Lyna get the red of Raha's hair, or the upward slant of their eyes? Would they get Raha's own full lips, or would they take after Dulna with thinner ones? Would there be any Allagan blood made present, in Lyna? Would their eyes be the one thing to mark them as being Raha's?)

It is another stormy day, when the child is finally born. Vaimet paces circles in the small washroom they had absconded to, the three of them, muttering under his breath, while Raha's hand is held in Dulna's white-knuckled grip. It is over rather more quickly than any of the three of them had expected, but it leaves them all exhausted -- nonetheless, there is nothing more memorable than the cries of a newborn infant.

Lyna's ears are clearly Viis, as is their short stub of a tail. Their skin is paler than Dulna's, but still a rich brown, and the downy fur on their ears and head is an off-white color, a pale echo of Dulna's near-black shade of purple. They sneeze, and open their eyes, and Raha can feel the breath leave his lungs. Lyna's eyes are a purple the color of Lakeland -- this, too, they did not inherit from him. Allag has no claim on them, despite his contribution to their parentage. There shall be no other sanguine-eyed individuals in Norvrandt, or on the entire First. Raha weeps, and they do not know if it is in loss or in relief.