#I just LOVE characters who hide their true feelings with snarkiness

[agrebel18]

Reblog if Darius Deamonne. 

[acourtofthought]

Regarding Lucien’s scars. I think it’s basically a headcanon in the fandom that Lucien still has the scars on his back from being whipped, but if those are present in canon too, that could be interesting. Howeverrrr… the facial scar must be kind of a big deal for Lucien. Amarantha attacked him 50ish years ago and then within a few days she organized that masquerade ball “in Lucien’s honor” - the masked theme was a scheme to help him basically hide what she did to his face. Then the masks were plastered to the faces of everyone in Spring Court because Tamlin didn’t accept to sleep with Amarantha. So here’s Lucien, hiding his scars for 50 years no matter how uncomfortable the whole mask situation may have been… but now his facial scar that he cannot hide anywhere (unlike Azriel’s hands) is just in full view for anyone who looks at him. I think there is no question about it. He must be self conscious about it, especially since he thinks Elain is the most beautiful female he has ever seen and she doesn’t reciprocate anything yet. People have been writing about it here on tumblr recently but I really hope SJM explores Lucien’s character from this perspective too. I assume he must feel very inadequate compared to Elain. She has so much (family, friends, connected to the IC, safety and security, beauty, etc.), whereas Lucien refers to himself as a whole lot of nothing. He doesn’t have a home or even a court, he’s basically all alone in the fae world, his closest allies are two humans who so far don’t have much power or influence in Prythian. I assume he is probably also unhappy with his looks after such a traumatic experience. I hope SJM explores this, I think that would be a really cool addition to Elucien’s healing journey. Even though Lucien is quite snarky and cocky outwardly, his inner monologue seems very self conscious. Ahhh SJM give us the angstttttt

I AGREE!!!!!! I think while there are sincere aspects of Lucien's personality that are (hahaha, I just accidentally typed snocky which was my brain getting confused on whether I wanted to type snarky or cocky first) snarky and cocky, I also feel it's a default mechanism too. Lucien is known to take care in his appearance and he is aware of appearances. Even in book once he was a bit of a fashionista, commenting on how Feyre's tunic wasn't as pretty as a dress and being amazed at how positively fae she looked when she did finally put one on. There's also this: Lucien said, "True. But indulge me: you're a human woman, and yet you'd rather eat hot coals than sit here longer than necessary. Ignoring this" - he waved a hand at the metal eye and brutal scar on his face-" surely we're not so miserable to look at. Lucien must be constantly aware of others looking at him and I'm guessing he's never sure if it's about the eye or if his scars are unappealing to them. For someone who does care about appearances, whose job it is to talk to High Lords and make friends to be a successful emissary, there is definitely an inner discomfort he's trying to brush off through his nonchalance and jokes about his appearance. I think you're right. Elain is beautiful to the point that people talk. Eris somehow heard across courts that Lucien's mate is a real beauty. She had heiresses jealous of her at barely thirteen. Her mother commented that if her beauty held, she'd be able to secure them a decent match on the marriage market (Elain was 11). So Lucien comes along and not only is he given this super special, sacred bond with her but she turns out to be the most beautiful female he'd ever seen all while knowing that she's in love with someone else. And there he is, with no home, no family name, a scar running down his face and one eye. I would take Lucien in a second and we know that many in the ACOTAR world reference his good looks but you can see how he would struggle with his appearance. You can see how Elain literally took his breath away and she did not seem effected by him (I imagine we'll find out that wasn't the truth in her POV but it's how he perceived it at the time). He thinks she doesn't want him or need him and I definitely think we're going to find that he's been feeling very insecure about her perception of his physical appearance.

[writing-in-verse]

So I Finally Read A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

I've been debating what to say about this book since I finished it late last week. Not because I didn't enjoy it - on the contrary, I loved it possibly more than the first - but rather because I have so much I could say.

A friend of mine recently mentioned, in a poorly-phrased statement out of context, that he didn't really know me. In context he's referring to how little I talk about myself, the self behind the ADHD masque and trauma and deflection.

It's hard to write a character that who's entirely public persona is a facade without making them seem either two dimensional or just two separate characters in one body. Sarah J. Maas is a great example of how to do this terribly with her main character of Throne of Glass, Celaena.

Anyone who knows me knows I have contempt for these books in a way I rarely do for any other. There's so much wrong with them but that's not the point, the point is Celaena is a terrible character who feels like a separate person depending on what the author needs her to be. She's either a snarky, sexy assassin who has no real moral compass or a fashion-loving, sexy princess who finds being an assassin horrifying. The two sides of her talk and act entirely differently with very little crossover to the point where they have different names by the latter half of the series.

Violet, and by extension Freya Marske, shows how someone who has a lot of ptsd tends to deal with their trauma. Of course, everyone is different and hiding behind a sharp wit and rebellious distraction isn't the healthy solution but it is relatable to me. Violet's background on the New York underground stage scene (a part of performance history I'm not well educated on so it was fun to see in historical fiction) gave her the knowledge needed to play a part, whatever part the audience expects of her without ever revealing who she truly is.

I'd be loathe to suggest Violet's public persona is fake as that's simply not true: my own outward way of being is still me even if I keep much of my life away from scrutiny. Violet is sharp and quick witted and rebellious but she uses her stage skills to leave people with a simplified impression, without any of her fears or anxieties mixed in. It's not inauthentic but rather safe and controlled. It's why everyone but Maud Blyth accepts what they're given.

What's more insightful is Violet's inability to see the way she is limiting herself out fear for survival. It isn't until Maud gives her the perspective to see the cage she has constructed for herself that she starts to realise the walls keep you in as much as they keep others out. Of course, Violet can see it on some level but that lack of true introspection is as much a trauma response as everything else. The walls are built around the most vulnerable parts as much to protect as to ignore the damage that's already been done.

I've never seen a character manage to portray the complex realities of living with trauma quite like Violet does, not in the immediate aftermath but in the long periods living with part of yourself you think need to be hidden lest they be taken advantage of or are seen as flaws which makes you less worthy of love rather than a tapestry of someone who deserves more love than was ever afforded.

Violet is fascinating from a character design perspective but she's also incredibly well written, she feels like a person who contains multitudes, who is not 'fixed' by the end of the book but she is willing to let Maud in little by little. Step by step.

Okay this was a long one, turns out I had a lot to say (and honestly still do (I haven't even gushed about Maud!!!)) but I hope you enjoyed reading it.

[slingshot78]

It's been FAR too long since I've posted about Crosshairs/on this account at all, and somehow I still have tons of people interacting with the content....so thank you very much!!!!

Today I wanted to kinda approach a subject I inch away from because everyone has their own perspective and views on crosshairs as a character. Simply because a lot of his personality you have to makeup with the lack of attention placed on him in Bayverse.

I think though that I have a pretty good feeling of his character so I figured I'd share some things with people after analyzing him in the movies (a million times)

Section 1 (Teamwork)

One of Crosshairs biggest "made up" traits is that he hates teamwork, which is kind of just this generalized idea bout him which just isn't true at all!! Infact, he's one of the only Cybertronians in the movie to actively partake in on screen teamwork! (with drift actually, three times!)

I won't get heavily into the teamwork between the two, because I could infact go on forever but the tag team with onslaught, when fighting Megatron in The last night, and once more in Age of Extinction! Which is hard to tell because you don't see it, but they switch dinobots/ride the same dinobot multiple times if you count the number of dinobots without a autobot on em!

Crosshairs overall ability to work with other people is EXTREMELY overlooked because of his opening scenes in AOE, which I totally understand!

Another pet peeve of mine is when people call him the starscream of the autobots, don't get me wrong! Love starscream, but Crosshairs is just....the complete opposite. Starscream places actual effort into harming Megatron and/or taking his place. Crosshairs talks big yes, but never raises a hand to prime and is one of the only bots who just shuts up and doesn't go against OP's orders OR makes a snarky comment. When it comes to Optimus prime, it seems he has a lot of respect that he doesn't know how to deal with. This point just gets proven more in the end of AOE when Optimus "tames" grimlock.

Mini section 2 (Accent)

This one is pretty well known information, but I have seen people confuse his accent for Australian or something similar to it. It is infact British and NOT Australian.

Section 3 (Redditors)

I might get....a little passionate in this section, just simply because this makes me very upset. The whole argument that Crosshairs was written by a child (which surprisingly was said a lot) and that his Design is slighty weird.

Firstly, Crosshairs entire character is NOT classic generic hero. Infact, most people see him as the farthest thing, some people don't see him as hero at all!!! Crosshairs has a undeniable ability to hate what he does, but is amazing at it regardless.

While he may not want to do it, (which might be tied into his past, that I won't get into becauase I've already gotten into it before in a previous post) he always always does and he's never actually left anyone behind or betrayed anyone. Crosshairs character is extremely in depth, not because he's "edgy" or because he's just this mean stereotypical character. It's because he simply is just that kind of guy.

When you think of Crosshairs personality, try to picture a fun guy, topped off with this irritable personality, a gruff exterior but sort of soft on the inside obviously. He never admits how much good he wants to do in the world, becauase why would he do that? Crosshairs is definitely a believer in the "actions mean more than words"

To Top it All Off?

"why doesn't he have a sniper rifle"

Firstly, if he had a sniper rifle: that'd be amazing. And a great element to include. Imagine him being all mysterious, hiding with a sniper rifle!

But unfortunately he has the point blank guns because, screentime, it looks better, and of course the Bayverse syndrome where your weapon has to match your personality!

[alicelufenia]

Finally wanna give my thoughts on This Is How You Lose the Time War. Non-spoiler impressions: this is the first novel—novella, really—I've read that felt like poetry throughout. Really opened my eyes to what's possible with prose.

From chapter 1 I was immediately sucked in to the character of Red. I love this sort of scarily powerful yet introspective character. Who seems like she would be cold and calculating (and she can be) but can also be very funny when she has a more bubbly personality to bounce off.

Speaking of which, there's Blue. I love her too, for much the same reasons as Red. When I first touched this book I was already making comparisons to other works—not out of derision or to imply anything derivative, just reminding me of themes and characterizations—and one that immediately came to mind was Nier Automata. And I couldn't help but seeing Blue's 9S to Red's 2B. Blue is deceptive and snarky yet willing to take great risks, showing immediate chemistry with Red, who is at once analytical and patient while also capable of incredible direct violence.

I have to say as soon as these two started their exchange I was joking about how this is the most romantic novel I've read (and that's true eventually) but I love how initially their correspondence begins as mutual curiosity. Two bored super beings deciding to see how far they can push the other, and it's only after several volleys back and forth that they stop directly interfering with each other and their words become less taunting and spiky, more understanding and kind. The way they both ease into signing their letters as "Yours, Red/Blue" like it was the most natural thing.

And then Blue lets slip and signs "Love, Blue" and after that they both know it's for real, and a new joy and terror takes over them both, emotions up until now you didn't think either was capable of, AND YET, reading back over after I was finished, you can already see the hints of it; Red keeps up a shell to hide the discomfort she feels with her work, and Blue is terminally lonely. In hindsight it's clear from the beginning that both women have been thirsting for a kind of relationship like this, yet are unable to have it with anyone on "her side", save the one operative on the Enemy's side who thinks like her, who she is willing to risk reaching out to to even learn if she thinks like her.

So yeah, there's some very strong wlw themes here too—as if making the vast majority of characters women wasn't being obvious enough—how being a lesbian can feel so isolating when society forbids your love, lest you be punished, even by other women, for your transgression that starts with just a feeling. An itch. A longing. When they started visiting each other's pasts and leaving memories of meeting from since they were children, I felt that. Love has a way of winding its way into your everything, even if you didn't grow up together it still feels like it, when that love runs deep between you.

Love, like letters, are a kind of time travel.

I knew they were doomed from the start. Either Red, Blue, or both would be destroyed before the end, as far as time-bending goddesses can be unmade. And what's a time travel story without trying to change what happens.

I had my suspicions about the Seeker, but was genuinely surprised when I found out who she was. Though if I had guessed earlier, correctly that it was Red or almost correctly that it was Blue, I think the impact of the ending would have still resonated with me. Seeing the range of actions Red takes to go back through their story, taking in the physical remains of everything they both touched, and through it, becoming Blue more and more until the distinction barely mattered anymore; that was beautiful.

Culminating in the end, Red captured by her former comrades, and Blue, her future rewritten, making good on their joint escape, to carve out a place for them together in spite of both sides.

What a great ending. It doesn't matter here whether they go on to escape, go out with a bang, or disappear quietly without a fight, Blue's final words, her declaration "This is how we win", which started off both of their correspondences as boasts about how they'll win the time war for their respective sides; upon re-reading you realize they always meant what they mean at the end; this is how they win, together.

This was a story of how you lose society's war, but win at love.

Thank you to Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone for this amazing book.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

Ok ok, Rambling Anon again, glad I cleared that up first. Now for the rambling!

So I mean we always knew it but man Capcom making it REALLY obvious Ada has morals and isn't this irredeemable mustache-twirling villain some of the fandom paint her as. Like seriously they're practically quoting Umbrella Chronicles at this point. it's the same exact situation as with the G-virus: Ada is sent after a bioweapon, Ada then questions the destructive capabilities of the weapon, Ada betrays her employer. Rinse and repeat.

And to get back to my other point in my previous ask, re: getting in Ada's head. I love the little remarks you can read if you interact with stuff in OG Separate Ways, but if they keep playing up Ada's tendency to think aloud, we're going to get so much more on what she's thinking every step of the way and I am so here for it! I hope they keep some of her snark from the OG, it was funny reading her decor critiques and lightened the situation a bit.

And now Ada's infected!? That'll be interesting. I imagine it gets taken care of fairly quickly because she doesn't show any signs of that in base RE4R. We don't see her a lot, but even in the video calls her face looks perfectly non-infected.

OKAY HI AGAIN

oh yes yes okay i did read some of this last night but fell asleep lol

YES i feel like they're being so much clearer that ada does have morals but she's willing to cut a bitch if she feels like she's doing the better thing. there's no morality in re universe. it's true that killing one person might save 100 people or whatever. she chooses the lesser evil BECAUSE SHE CAN AND I FIND THAT SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING THAT JUST A PLAIN MORALLY GOOD CHARACTER

SHE HAS CHOICES AND DECISIONS SHE CAN MAKE

YES!!!! IM so excited to hear her inner thoughts and to get more characterization for her. re4 separate ways and re6 had the most for understanding her character and you can always tell whenever you talk to someone who's never played it and purposely misunderstands her character. i think that she'll be snarky! and sassy! but a bit cold and reserved at times. i think she'll try to be light hearted sometimes but feel like she wants to do what she can to ultimately save herself. someone mentioned that ada is always there to save leon- who's there to save ada other than herself?

i think the addition of ada's infection wasn't SUPER like. we kinda knew that it was a possibility. but to see it in the trailer and real makes it like WOAH okay she's actually infected. it's going to be an interesting change and it's going to affect the timeline a lot because we're free to speculate when she's infected and when she's cured. i think that ashley and leon both don't show signs of infection until a lot further in the game, so we also gotta think about that.

and ada wearing a fully covered outfit also hides her infection. we also have to consider that it's possible she's infected with a different strain. but YES SO MUCH TO EXPLORE AND DISCUSS AND IT'S COMING SO SOON OMG

[x-rds]

[Lio] Man.

Looking back.. it’s easy to miss people. Friends. Exes. Situations. Easy to miss the feeling of being around them. Easy to miss the fun you had.

But things are so different now. It turns out you can love and be loved without feeling like you have to appease someone’s good moods and fear their bad ones, and even when things are hard you don’t have to feel like you’re walking on a tightrope. And it turns out you can have friends who think you’re cool and you think they’re cool and they don’t have to hide any shred of genuine emotion behind a half-joking insult, they’ll just. Tell you. If they appreciate something.

In the last year we were dating our ex we started paying attention to if they ever paid us compliments that weren’t attached to a snarky side comment. Or really if they ever actually said anything kind about us at all. They never did. They hid compliments inside insults and belittling. As if we were ultimately some sort of bit, some joke that we weren’t in on. “Do you like my drawing?” was met with “Lol, of course you’d draw (thing that appears often in my art). Lol, of course you drew a big dragon, you’re so predictable. Lol, oh I see, you’re just gay for that character aren’t you? Lol, okay, drawing a needlessly detailed background again.” Shit like that. Shit that, even in the times it was true, or it was something I should feel proud of (what the fuck? Of course I like dragons and certain characters and drawing backgrounds!!) it got mocked.

There have been a few times I’ve joined the occasional voice call with that group after taking time away and I always am so surprised at how volatile they all are to each other. And how my ex acts like their leader, belittling them all, making them feel like they have to belittle themselves and others to express anything. So I’ve stopped joining their calls entirely.

The people I love now.. they tell me. They tell me when they feel something about me. When I do things that endear them to me. They celebrate succssses and they offer comfort in times of stress. And they respect us. It feels so different. I feel so genuine and cared for.

Some of my old memories are good. A lot are not. And now I get to make new ones that are a thousand times better than those ones.

[erigold13261]

Sorry for spamming with the asks for the extended mermaid club but would the mermaids be different as the result of Arachnkids input? Like: Yua using neopronouns like Gwen who uses note/notes, Aoi being less snarky to reflect Gayatri…

Yes and no! (and don't worry about spamming me with asks lol, I'm actually having a lot more fun with this AU than I thought I would!)

I would say that Sayu and Aoi would stay relatively the same personality-wise. Maybe Aoi goes through an arc that makes them kinder, but since Aoi and Sayu were one of the first mermaids made, I can see their base personalities already being pretty fleshed out through Remi's art and possibly comics and animations.

Yua was probably a work in progress that got changed before finally being officially inducted into the mermaid project because of Gwen becoming her voice actor (and possibly this would mean that Yua would also use note/notes pronouns if Gwen would end up feeling comfortable with that happening).

Renho and Haru's personalities can definitely be changed since they came out later in the project. They would better fit Peni and Margo's voice acting style (like Renho being a bit less shy and reserved), but wouldn't be too far off as Remi probably had a whole idea of how things would go and I can see the team listening to him on how he wants the mermaids as they were technically his original project (sometimes the team doesn't want to say anything because they think it might upset Remi but Remi honestly doesn't mind and is always willing to work with them. Just teenagers anxieties sometimes getting the better of all of them).

This does go into the idea that the mermaids need to represent their voice actors, which isn't always true! Not every voice actor is represented in the character, which is how you get voice actors like Tara Strong or Jennifer Hale who have really large voice acting pools with characters of all different designs and personalities.

However, the voice actor can influence the character creation, like how Neon J's voice actor ended up helping inspire the personality a bit more during development. I think that is what I heard, where Muhammad Zulhilmi said he added some singing to his audition tape or something and the company loved it and so made Neon J a but more outgoing and stuff.

So yes, the mermaid project is definitely not going to be exactly the same as the mermaid club, but it won't be ENTIRELY different. Designs might change a little bit, but overall the roles of the characters is probably going to stay relatively the same.

Now, the thing that sucks about this, is that I SOMEHOW still haven't fully thought of the mermaid club's personalities. Not to great extent at least. So trying to think how their voice actors and the teams more diverse workers would change the mermaids is hard for me to do lol.

Like I see Sayu as a leader type, very extroverted and always wanting to help others. Basic main character kind of stuff. Probably a bit like Steven from Steven Universe where he is always putting other people first and preaching about peace and love. Wanting to talk about problems instead of fighting but able to fight if necessary.

Aoi is more of a mean girl stereotype who becomes friends with the main character. Or is already friends with the main character and nice to them but can be mean to anyone who isn't a friend. A bit snappy and snarky. Quick witted but also probably hides a small temper (which you are right this doesn't fit Gayatri's personality, but for some reason I can see her having a voice that would fit this personality).

Yua and Haru are pretty similar for me for some reason. I see them as goofs and silly, but in different ways. Yua is more like a class clown who wants attention and is willing to make herself look silly, while Haru is a bit more mean spirited and willing to make someone else the butt of the joke thinking it's all well and good but is willing to apologize if things go too far. Haru and Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony seems like a good fit in personality type for what I am going for (don't have a character idea for Aoi or Haru).

Then there's Renho who I always saw as very much a shy introvert. Probably brought into the friend group last but brings a lot of care to the group. Tries to keep things from spiraling out of control but also willing to join in on the fun. Probably the most anxious but also the one to stick by a friend no matter what even if scared. I think a toned down Shaggy from Scooby Doo is probably a good fit. Like, a very loyal friend and helps out even if they don't want to. I don't know.

The problem is that I need to make them a lot more concrete and separate from each other. Which I guess was my mistake when first creating them. It doesn't help that the image I based them off of made it look like Renho and Yua were super outgoing while makign Haru and Aoi look like some kind of villains for the story.

So yeah, I still need to just sit down one day and flesh out the personalities for each mermaid a lot more. I have Aoi's and Renho's down pretty good, but Yua and Haru being really close in personalities isn't something I particularly like. At least if they are both the comic relief of the group I need to make them more distinguished from each other.

It's like with 1010 honestly, each one has their role and how they are supposed to act on stage. Rin is the strong leader, Purl is the quiet and cool one, and Zimelu is the rough and tough one. Haym is supposed to be the innocent one and Eloni the funny one, but I run into the same problem with those two as I do with Haru and Yua, because I want Haym to also be a jokester.

Haym and Eloni are supposed to play off each other really well, while also Haym and Zimelu play off each other really well. But having two little clowns seems like doubling up. So Haym is stuck in this middle grey area of being the innocent one but also trying to be funny (and honestly I can see Haym being the first to try and break from his role because being the innocent one probably came with a lot of infantalization from the fans he hated).

And that is where Haru and Yua are at. They are in a grey area right now that I don't like. At least with 1010 I can spin that grey area as Haym literally trying to break out of his role. With Haru and Yua's grey area, I don't even want it to be there in the story, which is why I try to offset the goofy nature of Haru by making sear a bit more mean spirited, but then THAT is a problem because that makes a grey area between Haru and Aoi.

I'm just ranting now, sorry about that! I think what I should do is do some small redesigns for the mermaids (nothing major, I actually love my designs a lot) but while doing that try to think more of what role I want Haru to be in. I'm content with basically the rest. It is just Haru who I don't really know what to do with.

I am willing to let Yua not be the super goofy one, maybe she can be that super supportive friend or the little gossip girl while Haru is the jokester, or maybe the other way around. I do like Haru being a jokester a lot, especially since Haru's Halloween costume was a devil/angel hybrid to sell prank gags. Yua was a pumpkin with vines which is why I think she could be the gossip because of the phrase "heard it through the grapevine" which I do like.

Literally yeah, I am so off topic. The mermaids in this AU definitely have the ability to change, but they probably aren't changing much since the team does want each mermaid to feel unique but also keep their already established identity if applicable (so Sayu and Aoi).

Also, I do think the names would probably be different for Yua, Renho, and Haru. Since the team is no longer just purely made up of Asian characters (the Crew) I can see the designs and names being slightly different for the last three. Maybe something more American since Gwen, Margo, and Peni are all from America. I don't know.

Pronouns and stuff could also be different, but also be the same as the OG club. The club itself only used she/her pronouns, with Yua being the only queer character by being trans. I don't think the mermaids would start using different pronouns until they became sentient. Though, Yua and Renho could potentially use different pronouns later on before being sentient as Gwen and Peni figure things out about themselves.

Though honestly, considering these are teenagers getting super popular with their work, I think they might be a little bit scared to have the mermaids with neopronouns. It was probably already nerve-wracking to make Yua trans when they had a small audience (and that is something some people could ignore or forget about since it isn't completely obvious just from the the design itself).

Imagine how scary it would be to make a character use entirely different pronouns (or at least add pronouns so it's like she/note) when they started getting popular.

By the time Renho and Haru were added, the team was thinking about joining NSR. NSR is full of older people judging new musicians. If they don't like openly queer things like that then they might not get accepted (which would be for the better if that was the case). So they didn't want to make those pronoun changes before the Lights Up Audition happened.

However, once they got accepted and started moving up the ranks (and later on become a megastar) changing the pronouns of characters will just look like a marketing stunt and could potentially lead to backlash for the mermaids and the team. They would be afraid to give these mermaids (who at the time are all entirely fake and not sentient) neopronouns because of their teenage anxiety telling them all the horrible things that could happen.

It probably wouldn't help that Gwen and Tila's family lives could be something the whole team thinks of whenever the idea of making the mermaids more queer comes up. It is definitely something they want to do, but they know not everyone is going to like the change and either say the mermaids are now woke and stupid, or this might make them less popular and they would have to push themselves even further to not get fired or something.

So honestly, I don't think the mermaids would use neopronouns before being sentient. However! If they do become sentient like how Sayu and the club did later on after the revolution, that is something I can definitely see changing! And the pronouns they use too would most likely change.

Renho is probaly not going to keep only using they/them (maybe something like they/fin). Aoi I kinda want to keep using he/they no matter what, I just really like that a whole lot. Yua I can see sharing a lot of experiences with Gwen since Yua was basically made in Gwen's image kinda, so maybe Yua does also start using note/notes pronouns as well as she/her (or maybe another set entirely). Sayu as ze/mer is still a favorite of mine, but anything can be used for mer (love the idea that Sayu takes pronouns that sound like she/her and keeps those ones or makes up mer own). Haru, yeah, I can definitely see Haru as going with something entirely different from sea/sear pronouns. Don't know what though.

Anyway! Yeah! Mermaids would change, not into a completely different group that would not be distinguishable from the OG club, but there would be changes. A lot of the major changes however come later after the Rock Revolution where the mermaids might become sentient.

[fictionaladoptionpolls]

Louis de Sade

Age: Unknown

Home: Altus (The Case Study of Vanitas)

Blood type: Connoisseur

Likes: …

Dislikes: …

Cryokinesis: Maybe?

Vampires, being superstitious, believe that twins are bad luck; whenever a vampire gives birth to twins, one of them is disposed of. Louis was to be that twin, until a mysterious elder vampire adopted him. That vampire subtly manipulates him into thinking he’s…okay, this part is hard to explain unless you understand the stuff these wiki pages are talking about.

Louis thinks he’s cursed to have his True Name corrupted, turning him into a mindless, bloodthirsty monster; then he saves his…friends? adoptive siblings? people he likes from someone who has been cursed like that, who they were trying to save (they failed), and then he did contract the curse. And he wanted his adoptive brother to mercy-kill him, but he couldn’t.

That’s depressing. (TV Tropes makes it sound like all of this was backstory? I hope it’s not spoilers.)

If I was careful with what I said, I could paint two very different pictures of Louis. He’s snarky, insensitive, sometimes cruel, reluctant to admit mistakes; on top of that, he acts cold and aloof, to the point of cutting his hand to show how little he cares. But he does care; he hates seeing people suffer, he loves his people-he-likes, he works to ensure they’re happy.

The overall collage I see from this is a good kid who no longer sees hope or joy in his own life. All he thinks he can do is make things better for his people-he-likes when he leaves, and part of how he tries to do that is by hiding these negative feelings. Trying to act like things are normal.

That’s depression. (Well, maybe not, I haven’t watched Vanitas yet, but it sounds like depression.)

What does Tumblr think about Louis the Sad? (I do not speak French.)

You're gone but you're on my mind, I'm lost and I don't know why. #Comfort character except there's no comfort

Dont be sleeping on the fact that it's my boy, Louis's birthday too, okay!! He was a good boy and deserved better. Everyone wish him happy birthday as well as Dominique.

i know vnc is about vanitas and noe but i cant stop thinking about the "what if louis survived" concept bc 1) the story would've been completely different 2) listen i needed more of them. i really like louis and noe's bond both platonically and romantically and i often associate them with ivy (listen i have 0 idea of plants symbolism it's like me associating the whole vnc to topics like winter/stars) (or maybe i'm just overthinking)

[enbyleighlines]

Reasons why the Fire Emblem franchise peaked at Tellius:

main characters have an actual personality, backstory, individual goals/desires, established flaws, and a character arc

no dating sim elements

the sheer amount of queer coded characters (Kyza, Heather, Ike & Soren, Tibarn & Reyson, etc)

Seriously, Kyza is a silver-haired cat-person with they/them pronouns. They are almost literally the "has blue silver hair and pronouns" meme

the running gag of Ike having absolutely zero interest in dating women

the laguz, which are a race of people who can transform into cats, lions, tigers, wolves, hawks, ravens, herons, and dragons

an anti-prejudice message which, while not perfect, does explore, among other things: being willing to have uncomfortable conversations, classism, the ramifications of war on the underprivileged, and how religious doctrine can be twisted to justify prejudice

Soren and Micaiah being the best narrative foils (sharing nearly identical backstories and strikingly similar stoic love interests, yet having opposite personalities)

a plot that's driven by character actions and motivations and not just something that happens to the characters

the ultimate ally Ike Fire Emblem who doesn't always understand what he's talking about but damn does he have the spirit and the willingness to learn

the greil mercenaries literally inventing the found family trope

not allowing the player to vicariously date whichever scantily-clad anime waifu strikes their fancy

Ike betraying everybody's expectations by, instead of growing up into a heart-throb bishonen pretty boy, evolving into a bara muscle man

Ike also betraying everybody's expectations by rejecting any fame, noble titles, or other fancy gifts others try to bestow upon him, preferring to live the simple life of the everyman, because that's where the true heart of humanity lies

Ike's absolute brutal honesty and snarky one-liners

did i mention that there are characters that can turn into cats and wolves?

Ranulf especially has the most early 2000's high school OC aesthetic possible with his blue hair, ears, and tail, his cheshire cat energy, and his heterochromia. Arguably Ranulf is Claude's spiritual predecessor, with his playful personality hiding a sharp intellect, except Ranulf actually has a paired ending with the male protagonist

I'm not saying PoR and RD don't have their flaws (they're borderline unplayable at times with the difficulty spikes, the lack of support conversations in RD leaves the new units with much to be desired in terms of characterization, the offensive stereotypes of Heather the man-hating lesbian and Kyza the flamboyant femboy, the lack of racial diversity, how much grinding the Dawn Brigade needs in order to become decent units, the English localization team screwing up the translation in several key conversations or outright adding extra content to push their Ike/Elincia agenda, etc)

But in comparison to the newer games, with their blank-slate protagonists, dating sim elements, and lack of attention on creating a cohesive plot that isn't segmented into three or more routes that all only contain a fraction of the entire story...

Well, the Tellius games are just superior.

Like sure, Heather being a stereotypical man-hating lesbian is not great. But I'd rather have that than have a small number of bisexual options that exist solely for the representation points, while also ensuring that they don't have to be bisexual, if the player so chooses, to avoid hurting the feelings of the cishets

So far I have played PoR, RD, Shadows of Valencia, two of the three Fates games, and the golden deer route of Three Houses

Shadows of Valencia was also very good, if too short. And I will forever hold my golden deer students close to my heart. But I really hope that future FE titles start putting more focus on developing good characters and stories, and less focus on things like character customization and player choice. I'm not saying those things are bad, but they're not what I play Fire Emblem for. I came to Fire Emblem for the high fantasy world politics, the world-building, and the compelling narratives. I don't need 10+ romanceable waifus and the ability to change the main character's outfit in my war strategy game.

[curemoonliite]

My Favorite Magical Girls from Each Color!

Just a fun little exercise I decided to do after seeing a bunch of Rainbow High posts in my doll collecting group! Feel free to reply with yours!

Red: Cure Passion (because I love reformed villains and her story makes me cry like nothing else, what more can I say?)

Pink: Madoka (because I identify with her a lot, even moreso the older I get, and I really hope I can use my compassion and sensitivity to change the world like she did)

Orange: Sailor Galaxia (partially because orange magical girls aren't super common, but mostly because she was a magical girl driven to villainy and is therefore a really unique and cool character and I hope she gets a Pullip doll release when Cosmos comes out--)

Yellow: Mami (because her whole storyline about trying to be the perfect mentor while also hiding her true loneliness is heartwrenching and I love how she both kinda is and kinda isn't your seemingly perfect hero archetype)

Green: Aisha from Winx Club (because she was my first favorite magical girl; I loved her 4kids voice and how she was both tough and vulnerable at the same time and learned to embrace both)

Blue: Mew Mint (because sometimes I don't always gravitate towards troubled mentor types in everything and am strangely drawn to this snarky, sheltered rich girl who has to figure out how to make actual friends)

Purple: Cure Moonlight (because I love watching her go from a hero who failed at her mission to a depressed teenager who, again, has to open up to people before becoming a hero again)

White: Kanagi Izumi (because she's literally so hellbent on societal justice over heroic justice that she's almost an antihero about it, and she deserved way more time in the MagiReco anime)

Black: Sailor Pluto (because, like Mami, she has a bit of a loneliness with a side of being the mom friend to her, but also has the bonus of being a grown-ass woman with a good-paying STEM job, something even my elementary school self admired immensely)

Miscellaneous: Sakura Kinomoto and Utau Hoshina don't really have set uniform colors (though one could maybe argue for them being pink because of both of their most iconic costumes), but I couldn't really make a best MGs list without them. As much as I like both their characters, they also kinda represent the more artistic things I love about MGs, too (the costumes for Sakura and the music for Utau)

[strawberrywindow]

She-Hulk ep. 2 spoilers below the cut, Emil specific thoughts

EMIL IS BAAAAAACK 😍😭

And honestly - I don't know if I'm being naive or gullible or maybe just a combo of that and hopeful - but I don't know if he's faking his reform anymore. Like...I'm still INCREDIBLY suspicious but...he SEEMS much more sincere and much less like the completely snarky asshole with the veneer of 'enlightenment' I was expecting him to be.

His perspective on things is...biased to say the least lol. And he's definitely not as past ALL of his animosity towards Bruce despite what he'd have him and Jen believe based on how he isn't even able to begin hiding his distaste for the Hulk when he speaks about him. And Emil, darling, while true that you were pumped full of some half baked, experimental, super soldier serum that caused you to experience some unprecendented mental side effects - it is a BOLD. FACED. LIE. That your fight with Bruce was not personal. VERY convenient to leave out you holding Sterns at gunpoint to force him to irradiate you with Bruce's blood. Very convenient. Not to mention even after only ONE injection of the SSS this man was ignoring orders so that he could challenge the Hulk face to face. He wound up getting kicked into a tree and shattering all his bones for his efforts but - even BEFORE the obvious side effects of the serum he was already acting much more haughty and brash than he had before his injections - and I think only part of that was due to side effects. A lot of it was just Emil relishing his new speed and strength and agility and WOW he doesn't feel 39 anymore, he doesn't even feel like a younger him - he feels like a DEMIGOD or something! Above human! ENHANCED. 🤩

Emil has ALWAYS had delusions of how powerful he is and I suspect always an inclination to rewrite events in his favor. His comics self definitely does. Mans is NEVER, or very rarely at least, able to accept when he has done something wrong/when his actions are the reason for his suffering.

We'll see lol.

However, asides from my suspicions, I am LOVING the direction they have taken Emil. Even if this is a farce, I'd be hesitant to say the entire act is. Emil has an English degree in the comics (I believe?) so it's nice to see that called forward here with him using poetry/haikus to show his remorse and help express himself. I don't think it's too far out of left field that our favorite Ex-Captain in the Royal Marines, canonically called an 'odd duck' in the novelization, and if you've seen the 2008 film you KNOW he's a bit of a weirdo, has turned to spiritualism and talk of soulmates and going from a rather blank, quiet man who only sparked up when adrenaline was involved to a quirky, twitchy, frankly STRANGE man who spends his days in prison writing poems to EACH of his victims, (AND to Bruce 🥺). Just such a breath of fresh air with Emil and I am incredibly excited to see where they further take his character, even if the 'reformed' part of things winds up not being true, I think it would be fun if he retained some of the traits above still. Humanizes him a bit from the man who lived only to fight from 14 years ago.

Also - that property his seven soulmates bought they're all going to live on? DEFINITELY bought with his share of the prize money from his and Wong's fight in Shang-Chi. Calling it now. 😌

I may make another post about my other thoughts on this episode later but I knew this one would be long enough with just my thoughts on Emil lol.

[brother-hermes]

THE SOULS FLAW

“In all this talk of ‘soul-reckoning,’ a word must be said about our ‘blind-spot,’ the way in which we conceal our true Self from ourselves, and conceal this act of concealment. This blind-spot is highly charged, and even as we catch a glimpse of it, it recedes, provoking all sorts of avoidant behaviors. However, if it is confronted and contained, it ultimately yields its secret and strength.”

-Gate To The Heart- Reb Zelman (pg. 87)

In the not so distant past, my daughter and I were talking over sushi. The conversation drifted into dangerous ground as we discussed the various narcissists in our family. Anger is an emotion I’ve never kept concealed and I’ve always looked at it as the character flaw I needed to overcome. You can imagine my surprise when my daughter said “you’ve became unbearably judgmental in your old age.” Naturally, I cracked a joke about barely being 40 but the seed was planted.

When your child has the EQ of a 90 year old saint it’s always good practice to apply their observations and study self. The more I examined my inner dialogue and the passive aggressive words I’d hidden under a thin veil of snarky flair I realized it was self-righteous anger. The reason anger had such a home in my heart is because I looked at it as manifested trauma- a justifiable roughness around my edges.

Oh, the lies we tell ourselves are always the sweetest. After all, how can someone 20+ years into meditation and spiritual practice possibly be running on ego. Not just the ego we use to navigate through existence but a carefully crafted ego that had allowed all the gangster mentality of my youth to shift forms and hide behind what I thought of spiritual evolution. I had found a way to remain critical of people who weren’t putting in the work to change their lives and do better.

Like I have exclusive rights to spiritual growth and know what it feels like to be anyone else. You see the arrogance in that?

Once again, I set a sentinel at the gate of my heart and began observing every instance where this new spiritual ego reared its head. I created new prayers to recite with lines asking God to “remind me it is you who is reflected in people I don’t like.” Yud, Lamed, Hey became the letters I engraved on my heart with a simple mantra of “I will spread love for no reason.” I took those judgmental thoughts and steered them towards instances where I did something equally cruel- or as is usually the case with x-cons with gang files, something worse.

Examining flaws became a source of compassion and humility. Meditation and prayer became more fluid and I became painstakingly aware of the fact that I can still be a complete asshole of left unchecked. That… is unacceptable no matter how pretty the mask appears to be.

Still not sure which one of us is the parent but growth is a process.

[glowyjellyfish]

October Halloween Movie Fest Day Five:

Today’s selections were House on Haunted Hill (1999), Treehouse of Horror 5 (The Shinning/Time and Punishment/Nightmare Cafeteria), and the end of s1/start of s2 of Teen Wolf.

I really love House on Haunted Hill. My sister and I first watched it not long after it came out—I think not until it was on DVD, but I’m not sure—purely for James Marsters. But these days, I just find him an amusing cherry on top of a delightful hot fudge sundae. I don’t know how people feel about the overall quality of the movie, but I don’t care, I could watch Geoffry Rush and Famke Janssen bicker and threaten to kill each other for days. I don’t always like Chris Kattan, but I adore his character in this movie. Just something about his mix of jaded-snarky-genre savvy and terrified-and-hiding-it-poorly. And I am very fond of Ali Larter. The soundtrack’s amazing, the effect still look cool, and it doesn’t hurt that it gives me Silent Hill vibes at times. The sole hiccup is that Eddie being adopted is enough to let him escape, but you know what, the darkness of the house is fueled by the murdered souls of sadistic doctors from the 30s and criminally insane prisoners who were tortured by said doctors, also from the 30s; of course they think that adopted kids don’t count.

I also noticed that this is the second movie so far that had Peter Graves hosting a 90s True Crime show of some sort, probably directly referencing a real one I don’t know the name of. That amuses me, and I wonder if I should watch The Frighteners next just to deliberately maintain that trend. I can’t remember whether it makes the same reference, but it definitely does a similar thing.

Treehouse of Horror 5 is the first one I think is creepier than 1. Homer trying to murder his family and the teachers cannibalizing all the students is legitimately horrifying. I’m not sure whether I want to fully rank it above 1 or not, because 1 has a much lusher eerie atmosphere and it slightly more Classic. I think I am keeping THOH1 at rank 1, since I feel it is a masterpiece of early Simpsons, but it was a VERY close call. Thinking ahead, I sincerely doubt any future THOHs will come that close to beating 1.

Some beloved gifs: (the first one I love using to describe certain characters being extremely bad at time travel, DIEGO.)

My list goes: 1, 5, 4, 3, 2. Easy to remember so far! It’s probably going to get less straightforward once I emerge past the golden age.

I don’t have any specific observations about Teen Wolf right now; it’s so early in s2 that I am just eager to get to various wham points in this season, and reveals and stuff in seasons beyond. Also, Jackson is a hot mess although he would laugh derisively if anybody tried to tell him that, and god what I remember of the Kanima timeline is very confusing.

[firstaidspray]

OKAY FINISHED THE GAME. Some thoughts below, spoilers ofc

- Luis was THE BEST. Even better than the original!! He was so funny and snarky and I think it's so funny how much he annoyed Leon LMAOOOO. Also UNTIL THE WALLPAPERS PEEL goddamn

- Also irt Luis- his death can be salvaged!! This moves into my next point which is a personal thing

- So I have an RE4 specific oc named Cereza. She's a scientist who worked on the plaga shit with Luis and fell in love with him there, however she was also in a sorta forced relationship with Krauser since he's the one who started training her to fight "for Saddler" and ultimately inject herself with a dominant plaga alongside him. Her "love" for him was mostly just fear that he'd kill her if she defied him and sexual attraction. Not really true love.

She betrayed him anyway, and often snuck away to be with her true love, Luis. Cereza was also in on the plan with Luis and Ada, giving her an excuse to not inject the plaga and also to escape Krauser.

So with this new Ending for Luis, Krauser being the one to deal a mortal wound, brings in opportunity for Cereza to hate and want to leave Krauser for good. So I think I'll have split timeliness with her- original timeline where she also injects the plaga bc Krauser makes her and becomes a monster which Ada kills, new timeline where she rushes to Luis's aid after following Krauser, and saving him and they live happily ever after bla bla blah. Anyways that's enough of my oc garbage back to the game

- I loved Ada's portrayal, a huge step up from RE2make (I disliked that portrayal of Ada). Also her outfit is now the best Ada look in history. Her voice is also sexy idk why people don't like it.

- Leon and Ashley were so cute, I like their relationship much more here. They seem closer and he seems to respect her more than in the original. It felt like Leon actually cared for her and it wasn't just a mission, where the original made Leon act like Ashley was just a mission objective in comparison.

- MERCHANT MERCHANT MERCHANT. Oh I love the Merchant. Even little 11 year old me was so charmed by him in his original version, and I love him even more here. His lines are so funny and I like the ones that reference the original. I feel you looking at me weird for my little crush on the Merchant. Please. Don't act like I haven't desired worse characters.

- Speaking of, the TREASURES!! Some being in the same spot as the original made me so happy, and I like that we can choose which jewels to inlay in the objects. The new treasures are also very beautiful!!

- Like that we got some context for Operation Javier in game while in original, we got little to no context other than Krauser and Leon were there and Krauser was mad. So I like that we got context and history between them.

- KRAUSER TOOK HIS SHIRT OFF WOOOOOOOO I was sosososo scared they'd hide his beautiful fat tits from us

- Salazar boss fight was SO EASY like the original sucked ass and made me wanna break my ps2 but this one was an improvement. Didn't like human Salazar's design tho he looked like a mean old lady that would yell at me for getting her meds at the nursing home even if she wasn't my assigned patient

- The little side quest things were fun!! I only completed all of the blue medallion ones and most of the rat ones bc I got tired near the end lol but I tried to get as many as I could.

- Ashley's segment was SO GOOD. Actually kept me anxious with those fuckin knights

- The jet ski segment not insta-killing you for hitting an object was a GODSEND, so it was actually very fun this time. Similarly the mine cart segment with Luis was super entertaining!!

- HEY THAT DOG!! The dog was back!! And so cute as usual. I would be pissed if it didn't show up.

- The first time I got game over in the game was when there's the brief pursuer section with Big Cheese and it was because he kidnapped Ashley. The second was because I did not listen to Luis and switch the tracks on the mine cart lmao

- Regenerators were so lumpy and jiggly I couldn't even be scared they made me laugh

- Sad to see some funny things not happen. Like when Leon chokes Ada bc of the plaga I'm sorry that shits so funny. Or the noise that original Garrador made I missed that

And that's all I can think of rn. Anyways 10/10 great remake great game in general 👍

[playedbetter]

57, 53, 43, 30, 18, 15, 7, 1 for Zach

What’s the lie your character says most often?

"I'm happy." It is rare for that to be fully true, and yet he sells his life as if it were one of glamor and fame. Does his best to hide the tragedy in his life or distract from it.

Zach has bad untreated ptsd, addictions, and is exploited by the entertainment industry for profit and has been since he was a young teenager.

He has a lot of reasons to be unhappy.

What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

I'll be honest I never really understand this question so well be skipping it

What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

The Zach you'll meet when he's at work is a charming if not arrogant person who always has a trick up his sleeve and time for everyone who wants a bit of him.

The Zach you'll meet when he's a super is sarcastic, proud but clearly insecure under that, not all that pleasant to be around and yet utterly dedicated to saving the day. Frequently this mask is combined with his work one.

Around his friends he is snarky yet charming, ready for a good time but quick to tease others. He seems to feel responsible for them and yet is quick to abandon that responsiblty when possible.

Alone, at home you will find him with his guard down. Down to earth, his cunning on full display along with his loneliness. He's blunt, sarcastic, and cares so deeply it will someday kill him.

Who do they love truly, 100% unconditionally (if anyone)?

Kate and their unborn twins. If life had gone differently he would have married her and quit preforming and never taken up heroing in order to have a stable job that would let him spend time with them. He would have been a loyal husband and caring father until the day he died. Unfortunately she died and he didn't get that chance.

Also his pet bunny Abby.

When they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

Yes it does, with professional it's easier to shrug off, say that there was nothing else he could do.

Personal though, that hits him hard and generally it will last a lot lot longer.

What do they commonly misinterpret because of their own upbringing / environment / biases? How do they respond when realizing the misunderstanding?

People judging him or wanting something from him. As a result of the child star thing mixed with other trauma he constantly feels like others are judging him harshly or want something from him, resulting in lashing out or people pleasing behavior.

He feels guilty or embarrassed when he does realize, depending what he did. He doesn’t like lashing out, and practically begging for positive attention is humiliating.

Who would / do they believe without question?

Zatanna, while they have had their differences he knows she would never do anything to hurt him.

What’s a simple daily activity / motion that they mess up often?

Any high-school level math, he didn't go to high school and his educators were lacking. Most things he just ended up looking up on his own but math was not one of those things