#Jester's Truth

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Started a new book series, and has been a journey...an Odyssey, if you will.

[wafflinglumos]

I walk out with a microphone and speak “Stripping away a female character’s traits and personality for a male character is wrong and is not a cool thing to do,” everyone cheers.

“Especially if the male character treated the female character like shit and wished death on her multiple times,” everyone cheers again.

“If the only way you can make your ship work is by completely desecrating one or both of the character’s personalities, maybe it’s not that good of a ship” everyone cheers and claps.

I say “Dramione” and get booed and thrown rotten tomatoes at.

[kacievvbbbb]

Say what you will about the clown, but you can’t deny he is a clown of the people.

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

Somewhere in Exandria, Jester just woke suddenly and slapped Fjord on the tit

[oblivionsdream]

Hi @oblivionsdream!

Me again! Just wanted to show you this Jester meme I found when looking up pictures of Jesters (what can I say, I love Jingly Menace and now have a fever for the concept of hot jesters so I wanted to see if there were any others out there 😜 p.s. no one tops JM)

JM is definitely the latter, despite his secret insecurities and loneliness. It’s great to see a fictional jester that is making use of his royally granted privileges and living it up!

These last two memes I actually was reminded of several times while reading through your Jester x Knight content on both your blogs, and hunted them down so I could tweak them and send them to you.

Definitely JM and Augustine after they FINALLY get together (although the first one could count as pre-relationship too)…

As always, really enjoying your blogs. I find your Selkie and lighthouse keeper au intriguing also, but Jester x Knight is the best!

Hey there again!

Haha another person has fallen for my hot jester agenda! Success! It’s an honor to hear that the Jingly Menace maintains the status of the top hot jester. That totally wouldn’t go to his head. 😆

YES GIVE ME THE MEMES. Jester is definitely wielding his privileges to the fullest extent with no mercy. Those are hella accurate. Especially the second one. If he doesn’t have all of the attention he will perish. Or at least he will pretend to in the most dramatic fashion possible so you’ll have no choice but to pay him attention.

Ahhhh I’m so glad you like all my silly characters! It means so much ❤️

[lavenoon]

Gotta make sure there are as few tripping hazards as possible in the daycare <3

[snowshinobi]

hear me out: divorce ceremonies. divorce cake and divorce outfits. toasts to the uncouple spoken by the Worst Man and Maid of Dishonor (gender neutral). separate piles of gifts for the freshly parted, stuff like nice sheets and Target giftcards and cookbooks. marriage gets to have all this ritual attached to it and by god divorce deserves some of that action

[shorthaltsjester]

i do not want to dig a hole but i am too much of a laura bailey pc enjoyer to not make this post so:

selfishness ≠ a lack of kindness 

selfishness is a theme that has come up with all of laura's main campaign pcs. that doesn't mean that her characters are always making selfish choices or that they don't care about the rest of the people they're with or that they're not good. it's just that, for the most part, the first thing they're thinking of when they take action or make choices is themselves. 

in jester and vex both it is more typical and obvious selfishness. vex's developed because she needed it to keep herself and vax alive and as safe as possible and it grew into a behaviour that she had to actively work to avoid. it's evident in her greed, her theft of the broom, her reaction to her own death which relied heavily on i'm okay/i survived to which keyleth reminded her that she wasn't the only one who had to witness and reckon with her death. in jester's case, she grew up in an environment that literally trained her to make every decision based on two things - her mother's opinion and her own. so, when she's out in the world without marion for the first time, her choices are those that will benefit her and her actions are those that consider her own thoughts and not really many others' (aside from the traveler's). 

it isn't a criticism of either vex or jester to say that they are characters who act selfishly. in fact, i'd argue that to claim otherwise does a great disservice to exactly how immense both of their character arcs are. because the nuance of both jester and vex is that they are selfish, and they also hold extreme room for self-sacrifice and empathy. vex is much more brash than jester is, and jester is much more trusting than vex, but both of them are characters who begin with selfish impulses who grow with them. neither ever truly shed those impulses, but they use them in new ways, typically transforming them into impulses towards things that are in the best interest of the party. 

you may have noticed the lack of imogen in this post about laura bailey pcs and that's because of two reasons. one, we are an unknown amount of time into her story, i can't analyse her development the same way i can vex and jester's. two, imogen's selfishness isn't the blatant quasi-self-aware selfishness that we see in things like jester complaining about her lack of money to caleb or vex stealing a broom. instead, imogen's is very internal, like a lot of laura's character work with imogen. it is a bit similar to jester’s in the sense that it comes from a lack of awareness moreso than vex’s practiced behaviour, but imogen’s is a lot more tied to inherent beliefs she has about the world and the people in it.

as a consequence of her powers, imogen sees people's thoughts as their entirety, she holds it above their actions to be the truth of who they are - to act against what they think or to say something that doesn’t cohere with what they’ve thought is akin to lying, so for her to act empathetically is to act in tandem with what someone else’s thoughts are, not how they act, which is typically not all that wanted. the same as vex’s greed and jester’s naivety, this is a trait that makes narrative sense and it’s one i find quite compelling, especially when read in the vein of someone struggling through trauma that has made them assume that the world is against them. imogen’s cynicism is coherent cynicism, i can’t say that in a similar situation i wouldn’t have the same predisposition towards the world.

the part that is particularly self-interested comes in if you look at how imogen has actually been treated in the campaign (quite well) in comparison to the cynicism that she’s developed from her past (something that speaks to a world out to get her). certainly, a bunch of shitty things have happened to imogen in the time we’ve known her, but the same can be said for everyone in bell’s hells and pretty much everyone in exandria at this point in time. but, in a fight to save the aforementioned world, imogen’s focus was getting her mother back on her side. which, while very consistent with her character and a choice that i enjoy, is a very selfish one. the fun thing (to me, obviously) about imogen is that she has, more than most, an insight into the opinions of others and she also tends to seek others’ opinions out and genuinely engages with them and supports their choices. but she still very much acts towards what she thinks is best. it’s one reason i enjoy looking at the dynamic between her and orym as one between foils, as orym tends to be stalwart in his beliefs and doesn’t care too much for other’s opinions if he’s already sure of his own, but his actions tend to favour collaboration and protecting others.

as i mentioned earlier, imogen is a harder case to look at because she is still in the process of her story. however, the circlet is clearly influencing how she interacts with the world and in the wake of the solstice, the hostile reaction towards ruidusborn people has started to become more and more apparent and i’m interested to see what route that ends up leading imogen down and how it will influence her relationship with the rest of bell’s hells. (for better, i think, based on recent conversations, but if it's for worse i will be just as seated and excited).

all of this is just to say, please stop assuming that claiming a character has a trait you think is a bad one is criticism or a hate post. in light of the fact that i know that people who don’t believe this will continue to not believe this, i’ll encourage anyone confused about the ability of a character to be good and kind and selfish all at once to look to what the text itself says, specifically scanlan’s words to pelor when asked what vex means to him:

“Her name is Vex, and she is greedy and mean sometimes, and she can steal a lot. She’s a little bit not the greatest person, but her flaws highlight everything that is right about her, which is she does all these things to protect her friends and her family. She would give her life for any of us and for anyone who was truly in need. And she’s not perfect but she’s the most perfect of all of us.”

would you look at that... an ability to be a multitude of things, some in conflict with one another. i know that's hard for fandoms to believe, especially about female characters with agency, but i promise its true!

[sky-scribbles]

asdjlksds I am usually Terrible at figuring out what happens after the events of stuff I write but! I do have some thoughts!

Next time the wizards go on a study date to Aeor, they go back to the Astrarium, and Essek finally gets to properly nerd out over it! And Caleb watches him for a while, then says, 'You know, the first time I watched you here, it struck me how very beautiful you are. I knew before, of course, but it did feel very good to be reminded.'

Essek at some point takes Quaera to the Blooming Grove to meet Cad, and they get along super well. There are long philosophical conversations.

At some point their beacon-hunting expedition leads them below the ocean, so of course they hang out with Fjord, Jester and Kingsley for a bit. Kingsley thinks Vicara is very cool and makes a very concerted effort to convince her to become a pirate, but no dice.

Genuinely, I need to think about how the Complicated Brenatto Dinner would go. This could be an entire fic in itself. I think the wizards deliberately show up early so that they can help make food, which is really an opportunity for Caleb to take Veth aside and tell her he and Essek are Official now, and for Essek and Yeza to have a... talk about things while cutting green beans.

I think it goes okay. Mostly because Veth sees how much lighter Caleb is, how much life there is back in his eyes, and sees how Essek makes him smile. For that... she can not just accept Essek as Caleb's partner, but be happy that he is.

Veth is the only member of the Nein that Caleb actively tells about him and Essek being a thing. No one is in the dark for long though, because Essek tells Jester over Sending, and she burns through spell slots to tell literally everybody. (Yasha: 'Wait, weren't they together already? I'm confused.')

[hana-bobo-finch]

pickled men

don’t ask about Garfield remember you’ll understand it soon

[cervideity]

I KNOW YOURE NOT NAÏVE

[sourtomatola]

Pinned post

Hi! I'm Sourtomatola, you can call me Sour or Toma. I'm happily drowning in the FNAF fandom, mostly for the daycare attendant, Sun and Moon. (also am certified Eclipse SIMP)

I write fics, draw (a lot of comics and fanart), and animate. I also have a Kofi shop who's sole item is embordered DCA butt earrings (for now)

I do not do requests. Please be respectful.

Ko-fi

Youtube

Stuff I've done you might enjoy:

Fic's: My AO3

Rise of Eclipse |Shooting for the Sun |Of wood carving and Metal wiring

Buckethead Family (Kill code fic, very dark, lots of death)

Dark fae AU series: MASTERPOST

Thing on your swing

A midsummer nightmare(spinoff)

Comics:

Thing on your swing (in comic form)

The entire first chapter: Part1 | Part2

Stalker Y/N AU (not Yandere)

First episode

Master post

Arsenic and Old lace AU:

Discovering a body | Accusations

Others of mine:

Farmer and chicken au

Pro(phesy) T-shirt AU

Sun eating glitter glue

Prosthetic AU: Part1 | Part2 | Part3

Learning Tolerance and fetch (comic) (Fic Here)

Big brother Moon: first | second

Candy Factory AU (aka Taking Candy for a Fool) Masterpost

Powerwash sim

THE PLUSHIE DEBACLE (True story)

Camelot AU : Masterpost

Light switched AU | Part3? | Part4 | Part5 (darn it) | Part6 :)

Moon activation noise

Sun in a rocket

Sun vs fish

black eye fic

Spooder Moon fic

Not My AU/fic comics (credit's are in the posts):

Enthralling you enthralling me (Vampire AU) Masterpost

Anything for the truth

Sleuth Jesters:

No small favors

Take a bow

Bounty hunter eclipse saves Vigilante

MB Eclipse being a creep

Henchman Humphry (my idea in SJ world)

Eclipse dancing animation

Cosmic Chaos (My story, not my AU):

The bank altercation | The kidnapping | The New guy Part1+2 | Part 3+4 | Part 5+6 | Part 7+8 | Part9 | Part 10 (last)

Villainous Trio (some fanart, and some creative liberties):

AU comic

Fanart

doodles

Fic

fanart of fic

Solar and his Sunny

Accidentally undercover:

Idiots in love

The brothers are all idiots

Biting the hand that feeds AU:

Meeting the boys

Moon's trolling

Moons hat

Ghost in the machine AU

Nova Zoomies

Sombra dancing like a bird of prey animation

Misuta and fool dance off animation

You and I, and Sol animation

Delivery guy is misunderstood

GITM roll call

Wine and feathers (and blood and feathers):

Harpy Sun being dramatic

harpy moon dancing animation

BAF Moon ficlet

Vampire equinox:

Eclipse Pic

Fic to go with the pic

Any comic related to The Sun and Moon show:

Bloody solar animation

You don't need that much sanitizer

Sun teaching earth how to drive

Solar paint job

Blood Moon going after Sun

Ruin's tea party

Solar in jack

Sun's TRUE PURPOSE animation

Nexus be like

One time comics AU:

Kappa Sun

I WANT MOON TO BITE ME (tw blood)

Dealer's choice, chapter 27

Beings made of stardust AU (sources of light fic tho)

Staff and security stinky

One time fics I didn't post to my AO3 (not my au's):

The dark Sun's approach

[pocketgalaxies]

i love beau and jester because they would both be so fucking annoying if you kidnapped them but in two completely different ways. AND they're best friends. worst case scenario

[oblivionsdream]

Everyone talks about the first time Jester sees the knight without his helmet, but what about the other way around?

Is Sir Agustine ever going to see the Jester clean face?

Idk, maybe a vulnerable moment where our dear knight sees Jester taking a bath (maybe a river, or a pond) and actually sees his real face and notice how beautiful and delicate his features are and is out of breath and words and just stays there struck by the arrow of love

Augustine definitely will one day. And when he does he'll be stunned and speechless, but it will also be a moment of serious vulnerability for Jester. Augustine might be the one wearing a physical mask, but Jester has his own as well and despite the jovial face he puts on for everyone it's very hard to let those walls down and let someone actually see him.

[garbagechocolate]

Sleuth jesters but they all have truth virus, how do u think that would go?

a night full of confessions is how that'd go

[shizunitis]

I think half of this fandom got wife-beamed by Shen Yuan, any comments on this tumblr user Shizunitis?

i acknowledge no such events, myself. i don’t need some narrative device or convenient trope or genre convention or whatever to fall in love with shizun. i’m sure there are people out there whose affections needed some prompting or a helping had to get going, but. like. couldn’t be me.

it’s not about the wife beam. it’s not even about what i want from shizun, or in what light i see him, or what he’s done for me, or any of that. it’s the very core of him, the tangle of contradictions and avoidant, endearing paths he takes in his navigation of the world around him, how he clings to it and the people around while adamantly claiming he isn’t.

he fucks up, and he’s snarky, and he’s a bit out of pocket at times, and that’s the most endearing part of him. the acting and the self-reprobations and his own wisdom, which he always overlooks or bats away, and the fumbling and the way every one of his action betrays just how easily his mask can crumble the more he’s made to fight for what he cares for, and how at the end of the day between his own pride and the love guiding his every action, it’s always the pride that he discards first.

also, he’s got a case of rejection sensitivity that would, and does, put both binghe’s and mine to shame.

a wife beam is, in itself, a… filter? i’m not sure how to put it, but a wife beam is too… inauthentic. as the reader hitching a ride in shizun’s brain (which thinking about makes me feel faint and like i’m about to burst with joy and entirely not normal about the whole thing) it’s kind of… impossible, i wanna say, to be fooled by its effects in any meaningful way.

it’s like putting on glasses just a bit different from your own prescription (guess who’s sleep deprived and doesn’t know how to put words together again. you get no prize and you have to feel sorry for me)—the shapes are there, but the exact definition of what you see is not right. the “wife beam” is not doing justice to shizun’s true self.

shizun is shizun. shen yuan or shen yuan as shen qingqiu, whichever, it’s the core of him that matters, and the wife beam makes him seem too… ideal. too untouchable. it’s like cling film. bothersome and unhelpful outside very specific circumstances and we all know shizun doesn’t belong in the kitchen. where he belongs is for me to think about while laying on the floor at 10am on a friday.

or, put in another, more obnoxious way:

this here is a naturally occuring phenomenon; every binghe loves every shizun, and i’m not about to betray the cause or turn away from my nature.

rate this for coherence i give it a solid 6.5 right now. i did a great job, considering.