#and if you are not used to doing so without having basic kneejerk reactions to things and are someone who just doesnt allow themselves to

[bloodanddiscoballs]

Kim is a,fascist

are you stupid

[tobiasdrake]

Man, Halara's great. Anyways, back to it. We were....

RIGHT. We're in danger. I wish Halara was here. I always feel safer with them around.

That's okay. If they aren't here, then they might be at the secret lab being tortured to death by homunculus experiments choking the shit out of Makoto for thinking he could contain that much raw awesomeness. Even Yomi ran shrieking for his life once Halara hit the field. They are, without exception, the baddest ass in Kanai Ward. Top-tier unpleasant glutes.

Corroborating what Kurumi was telling us. This place was a village once, but then a toxic gas leak from a nearby mine prompted an evacuation from the village. At least, that's the official story.

I know better than to trust the official explanation for "Everyone needs to get the fuck out because rich people have decided that they own the land now." Maybe it's an eco-disaster or maybe it's gentrification. Or both! Capitalists are opportunists, after all.

Yep. Nobody can enter here, not even Peacekeepers, on account of how deadly the gas is supposed to be. The obvious place to hide a secret lab.

The presence of the nearby "zombies" means something's obviously going on here, but that's not what toxic gas typically does to people. My kneejerk reaction is that the homunculus project is responsible for... Whatever's happening in their eyes, and subsequently the rest of them.

What you would consider to be a corpse, a homunculus researcher may look at as viable resources.

That's what I was thinking. Occam's Razor says the toxic gas did that to those people, but my money's on the lab. I don't think those are actually zombies, so much as they are failed homunculi.

But we should still keep in mind the possibility that it's as simple as "gas victims".

SHIT, I guess they are aggressive. These three broke down the door and--

Wait, are those three wearing Aetheria Academy uniforms under their raincoats? Oh. Oh. Oh god no. I know who they are.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

It is NOT toxic gas. I repeat, it is NOT toxic gas. These three are our victims. We murdered them and sent them here.

These three have been haunting me since the day we killed them but I didn't expect them to do so literally. We are in Silent Hill! This is the ghost of my past trauma manifesting corporeally! I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT, I SWEAR. T_T

Okay. Less hysterical. I take this as confirmation that these are failed homunculi. After they died, the Theater Girls' bodies were shipped to the secret lab, where they were used for homunculus experiments. Now they want to eat our brains. And they're entitled to it because we murdered them.

No, not going to think like that. We have to run.

AND NOW SOMEONE'S SHOOTING ARROWS. Have we killed any archers? I don't think we've killed any archers. Wait, there's a note. This was probably fired by a human. Do we know any archers?

Good on you, Kurumi, for grabbing that note.

Didn't expect that to be confirmed so quickly. We're moving along at a rapid pace.

Y'know, I tinkered with both "KANAI WARD SIGNATURE MEAT BUNS are cannibalism" and "Everyone in Kanai Ward is homunculus" as spitballs at various points while I was here. Maybe it's both.

Wild-ass speculation theory: The meat buns are made with human meat, which helps keep the homunculi sane and reasonable. This meat comes from the kidnapped people Number One was talking about; They're trafficked into the city and butchered to make meat buns.

When someone dies publicly, their body is brought here and basically dumped to keep up the appearance of an immortal being's "death". Separated from the sanity-granting meat buns, they degrade into the zombies we're encountering now.

That's the reason why Amaterasu always moves extremely quickly to remove a dead body from a crime scene - something that's come up a few times. The official explanation is that the Forever Rain causes the body to rot too quickly, but they do this when bodies are indoors too. In reality, they need to traffic the "dead" homunculus out of the city before everyone sees them wake up.

Maybe we weren't brought here to, like... be killed by homunculi or experimented on or whatever. Maybe we're here for the same reason all the other homunculi are. We're here because we're "dead". We know Kurumi's a native; If this theory is right, she's likely a homunculus too. We know nothing about Yuma. And none of the confirmed-outsider Master Detectives have been found to be here yet.

Everyone who's died in Kanai Ward is probably here somewhere.

...including Yakou.

Okay, so I wasn't wrong before when I said those others seemed to be lulling around dormant. Homunculi become steadily more feral, the longer they're deprived of human flesh. The Theater Girls are starving, while those others were simply hungry.

I wonder if we can "unkill" the homunculi by getting them something to eat? This would be a good reason to invest in human cloning. See how they do with lab-grown human arms and stuff.

...y'know, if my theory is true, then Icardi was screwed from the start. If his plan had worked, he would have escaped Kanai Ward and fled to the outside, then gone slowly insane from a lack of understanding for how to feed himself.

Makoto, what did you do to this city? What even makes people turn homunculus? Is it something in the rain? Is it... Is the rain altering our genetic code or something?

Is that why you wear the mask? To shield your face from whatever is happening in people's eyes that makes them change?

Is that how we survived the sinking of the sub? We were inside it when it went down. Did we die, but Makoto fished our corpse out of the river and then waited for us to wake up again?

Is that why Yomi was going to execute Martina by having her mashed in an industrial-strength presser? I thought he was just being barbarically cruel, but if the Peacekeepers are extricating corpses before they can wake back up then he'd have to know what's up, right? Crushing someone into paste might be one of the only ways to kill a homunculus.

Hey, man. Sorry about that whole surprise-murder thing. On a scale of 1 to Brains, how hungry are you right now? Do you have the emotional capacity for a chat?

I mean, you died before the Theater Girls so probably not but you had the emotional capacity to make your way to what is clearly a religious shrine, so you must have had some reasoning and comprehension skills when you first woke up.

BRAINS IT IS. THE ANSWER IS BRAINS.

There's Shachi and Icardi. Also Worshipper. If we're going to find allyship, we need a fresher-dead homunculus than Chapter 3. So. Yakou and Huesca are the only potential candidates, then.

Come on, Yakou, you gotta be around here somewhere.

How did you think "Restricted Area" was enforced? Honestly, I was expecting a huge concrete wall. We could climb that shit.

...those black and yellow warning panels look suspect. Maybe throw a stick at it or something. Might be electrified. Not that it matters if we're both unkillable immortals but being electrocuted to "death" would still hurt like hell.

After all, it would need to be strong enough to deter homunculi from doing exactly what I said: Trying to climb it.

Yep. Even better than a stick, we had a random homunculus to walk his dumb ass into it and demonstrate. Thanks, rando.

Oh, more randos. We should see if they walk into the fence too. If we pile up enough homunculi, maybe we could - No, human bodies are electricity conductors. That wouldn't work.

It's okay, it's just the Theater Girls again. I know exactly how to repel theater kids. Ahem. "Good luck on your performance of Macbeth tonight."

Can't run any further, Yuma! Do something! Anything!

ANYTHING ELSE BUT THAT, OH MY GOD.

Be fair, Shinigami. There's a reasonable chance that Yuma died again, not passed out.

Oh, that is much more of a "Secret Lab" than what Makoto showed us. I think we hit jackpot.

Can you? Hmm. Just picked up a Solution Key that says homunculi are attracted to sound. So that's interesting.

[awellboiledicicle]

First person to try drilling down on what Fido's deal is would be Gale, between adventuring and actually sleeping. He's limited to whatever books they can scrounge initially [as Fido is hoarding them to learn about the world they're now stuck in], but by the time they get to Baldur's Gate he's going to have some very specific queries outside of the whole Crown research thing.

First person to go "Maybe this is a warlock thing" is, naturally, Wyll. Because Fido is going to eldritch blast something in a panic and he's going to go "now hold on". Also because I imagine Mizora would think it was hilarious another warlock is making noise about his deal. They make some barbed comment to her, the magic flaring a bit, and she tuts at Wyll for consorting with 'that mean old octopus' behind her back like this. Leaves before explaining anything.

Astarion 100% believes they're lying about not knowing they're bound up with some apparently tentacled monster when it comes out. like. just thematically it feels like a thing one should know about. He's just saying that if HE had made a deal to get MAGIC INVULNERABILITY POWERS, then HE would have remembered that. They throw a handful of grass at him and he rolls his eyes.

Lae'zel still occasionally thwacks them with a random sword to see if their protection is still working. This is, she insists, a function of their friendship that she would bother doing a check at all. Deep down she just really appreciates their willingness to listen and learn from her, as well as their absolute unwillingness to take any shit from her. Thus the checking.

Shadowheart still thinks they're a little crazy, for different reasons. Initially it was because they insisted they had no idea elves were real, followed by being from 'earth', followed by their panic response being to yell insults at the enemy to make their brain explode. The warlock thing feels like they might have been lying about it--a skill they seem unnervingly good at in spite of their general honest streak--but honestly? Given how they keep tripping into being good to others, she wouldn't doubt them having been just given the ring by some sorcerer or something.

Halsin feels conflicted about Fido expressly because they have a very... dim view of nature being allowed to take its course. With people. They get along largely after Fido gets fed up and goes "you're ungodly old so you can handle sitting down and leveling with me here. I need you to understand that, where i come from, if someone looks at someone like me and says 'nature should take its course' that means 'i want you to not exist'. It means 'you are unnatural'. We're not having the same conversation when we talk about nature, here. I like the birds doing bird things and fish swimming and whatever. But sometimes nature is cruel and I am living proof that sometimes nature would destroy people and things that should exist." Basically they get along on principal but have initial complications bc Fido spent a lot of time as a chronically in pain child being told survival of the fittest wouldn't allow for them. As a queer kid being told they were unnatural. So on. So they don't actually have beef with him so much as a kneejerk reaction for a little plus the initial GODDAMNIT response when he can't help. His take on the warlock thing is largely being curious as to how that happens without ones knowledge.

Karlach meanwhile is just pissed that she can't hi-five them without it still hurting. Like their skin doesn't melt but they can still feel the sensation of heat and pressure, so it isn't pleasant. She also wants to know how one ends up in a warlock pact without knowing it because that feels like a pitfall to avoid.

Not pictured is the GOO checking in occasionally like it's reading the sunday paper like "oh they had a conversation about the nature of gods with Gale. Cute. Aww they're having cognitive dissonance about the nature of sentience after using speak with animals. Popped a man's head like a cherry. Shame, they could have interrogated that one."

[artinclined-jointheartside]

How did Terra and Faust react to learning they're gonna be/are grandparents in the Gramma AU?

I actually got a question like this earlier and hadn't answered it yet, so I hope this is a repeat of the same question from the same person. If not, I hope that anon sees this answer. >.> (sorry about that TvT)

Gonna be honest, they didn't react well at first.

Their kneejerk reaction was actually angry. Because Maehnall (Manny) was a bit too young to be a father.

See he'd stumbled up on a way into the Human Realm when he was a wee lad and despite Terra and Faust's precautions, he was pretty good at just sneaking off and doing his own thing. As he hit his teen years, they were a bit more lax but basically said as long as he was careful and didn't do anything stupid they wouldn't consider more drastic measures like house arrest or something. (basically grounding, but for a fire demon/witch half-blood you have to be a little more strict and creative with your methods, lol)

Well, he met this girl he really liked. She really liked him too. Aaaaand things happened! She thought he was older than he was, he thought she was younger than she was, and well now they were in a bit of a pickle.

So Maehnall goes to his parents, because despite being reckless he wasn't totally irresponsible. And of course, they were angry because he shouldn't have been participating in that kind of activity, first of all with a human and secondly without protection. But, too late now.

So they insist on meeting this human he's become so attached to and while she's stunned at first to learn his age, his realm of origin, and that he didn't even look the way she thought he did, she gradually gets used to this weird set of circumstances she's fallen into because he's trying to take responsibility and his parents are actually quite nice and supportive! Despite his father being literal nightmare fuel and his mother a terrifying figure all her own.

In other words, after everything is hashed out and settled, Terra and Faust are actually quite happy to know they're going to be grandparents and are rather pleased with this human and how well she's handling the situation, impressed even, because she's actually very interested to learn about the Isles and the witches and demons that inhabit them.

And so, what ended up an unfortunate accident turned into a happy accident that turned into an adorable little family that Terra and Faust are fiercely protective of.

[arvnsis]

ON PERCY’S YEAR OF MARITAL STRAIN.           meta analysis

           i think about this a lot my dudes. this is going to be really long because it includes QUOTES.

“Armand knew that: her impulses and imprudence, knew it still better; but Blakeney was slow-witted, he would not listen to “circumstances,” he only clung to facts, and these had shown him Lady Blakeney denouncing a fellow man to a tribunal that knew no pardon: and the contempt he would feel for the deed she had done, however unwittingly, would kill that same love in him, in which sympathy and intellectuality could never had a part.”

so ok there are a few things here. one is that armand is very wrong in the fact that percy is an idiot. percy is far from slow-witted, but on the other hand, armand is right that in this scenario, percy only listened to facts.  percy DID just take the information on marguerite’s supposed part in the eventual execution of the marquis de st cyr … at face value. which ok yeah is he hypervigilant because he’s the scarlet pimpernel, yes. but also, he decided not to trust his wife. the woman he adores more than life itself ( and no, his love for her never died ) and because of this disaster yes of course there was strain on their marriage, even when — no, especially when percy found out that marguerite was tricked and in the matter she was innocent. 

percy is prepared for basically every situation, he KNEW marguerite had once been friends (?) with chauvelin. even if he didn’t let on how much he knew about her, he’s the scarlet pimpernel, he keeps himself informed on people because there’s also an inherent fear of betrayal. and nothing could’ve prepared him for hearing about this — and so he was suspicious of her for the entire fucking year because he had this kneejerk reaction. for percy, knowing he was WRONG was absolute hell. he hates that more than if he’d been right in thinking he married someone who could betray him. because he hurt her. he was distant and honestly really fake in basically every aspect for the whole year and she was miserable. and she comes to warn the scarlet pimpernel about chauvelin, not knowing it’s percy, and he’s literally punched in the gut because what does he do now, knowing the truth and knowing he’s been an absolute ass, a real idiot, for NO REASON — 

and STILL, his pride stands in his way, he can’t even tell her when they’re in the garden of THEIR OWN HOME? instead, percy is still a goddamn headass, 

“Twenty-four hours after our marriage, Madame, the Marquis de St. Cyr and all his family perished on the guillotine, and the popular rumour reached me that it was the wife of Sir Percy Blakeney who helped to send them there.”

“Nay! I myself told you the truth of that odious tale.”

“Not till after it had been recounted to me by strangers, with all its horrible details.”

“And you believed them then and there,” she said with great vehemence, “without a proof or question–you believed that I, whom you vowed you loved more than life, whom you professed you worshipped, that I could do a thing so base as these STRANGERS chose to recount. […] had you listened, I would have told you that up to the very morning on which St. Cyr went to the guillotine, I was straining every nerve, using every influence I possessed, to save him and his family. But my pride sealed my lips, when your love seemed to perish, as if under the knife of that same guillotine. Yet I would have told you how I was duped! […] I was tricked into doing this thing, by men who knew how to play upon my love for an only brother, and my desire for revenge. Was it unnatural?”

percy gets to know that wow he really fucked up. literally right before this exchange, he accuses her of basically just kicking his affections aside ( as evidently , the marquis was executed a year before they married ), and then. THEN, this dumbass fucks up AGAIN. marguerite tells percy armand is in danger, and he basically tells her ‘ask chauvelin for help’ because good god he’s really just doing HORRIBLY, so we get to this,

“Faith, Madame, since it distresses you, we will not speak of it… . As for Armand, I pray you have no fear. I pledge you my word that he shall be safe. Now, have I your permission to go? The hour is getting late, and …”

“You will at least accept my gratitude?” she said, as she drew quite close to him, and speaking with real tenderness.

With a quick, almost involuntary effort he would have taken her then in his arms, for her eyes were swimming in tears, which he longed to kiss away; but she had lured him once, just like this, then cast him aside like an ill-fitting glove. He thought this was but a mood, a caprice, and he was too proud to lend himself to it once again.

at this point, you’re probably wondering if i’ll ever be done talking about this or if percy’s headassery gets any better and in order yes and … not during this particular interaction. because percy’s a FUCKWIT, he actually CAN’T function if he doesn’t have a plan for a situation. without that absolute control of things from his perspective, he’s truly as stupid as he pretends to be, and it shows. the worst part is uhh as soon as he just tells marguerite ‘it’s late go to bed’, mind you, she’s in tears, HE KNOWS THE TRUTH NOW. HE FLAT OUT WITNESSED IT and HE’S STILL ACTING LIKE THIS. yet, he’s too fucking prideful to show his emotions until marguerite goes into the house and percy … 

Before entering, she paused once again to look at him, hoping against hope to see his arms stretched out to her, and to hear his voice calling her back. But he had not moved; his massive figure looked the very personification of unbending pride, of fierce obstinacy.

Hot tears again surged to her eyes, and as she would not let him see them, she turned quickly within, and ran as fast as she could up to her own rooms.

Had she but turned back then […] she would have seen […] a strong man, overwhelmed with his own passion and his own despair. Pride had given way at last, obstinacy was gone: the will was powerless. He was but a man madly, blindly, passionately in love, and as soon as her light footsteps had died away within the house, he knelt down upon the terrace steps, and in the very madness of his love he kissed one by one the places where her small foot had trodden, and the stone balustrade there, where her tiny hand had rested last.

percy worships the ground marguerite walks on, LITERALLY. and he always has, and the issue is that he let his pride win in those moments and if she hadn’t figured out he was the scarlet pimpernel, who knows if this shit would ever have been resolved? that very thought haunts him. all of this haunts him, and honestly, it’s what he’d consider his greatest failure in life. he hurt the woman he loves more than his own life and even if she forgives him, even when she does, he never forgives himself for this.

[honourablejester]

Also, while I’m talking about Episode 2 of Spy x Family and Loid/Yor, can I just babble about Loid’s response to Camilla immediately throwing Yor under the bus in the worst way? Like, Yor comes in with a lovely (if, uh, somewhat bloodstained) man she’s apparently secretly married to, and Camilla jealously flips her shit, and in the middle of a fairly prestigious work party full of paranoid and probably conservative civil servants publically implies that Yor used to be a prostitute specifically so her apparent husband will be horrified and drop her like a hot rock there and then. (Seriously lady, what the absolute fuck? Yor’s entire department is in that room, let alone her husband. You’ve already been talking about single women getting arrested as spies. Like that was … extreme. Wtf?)

And Loid … keep in mind, Loid’s entire purpose in this fake relationship with Yor is to get his fake child into an incredibly prestigious school specifically so he can spy on a government official. The entire point of his fake wife is to be classy enough to help get him into a position to spy on a high-ranked official. Yor suddenly and publically being outed as an ex-call girl should immediately tank her as a potential option for him, on purely mission-based grounds. If the school, the incredibly fussy school that interviews not only the children but their parents for fitness to attend, ever gets wind of this extremely public conversation, that’s his mission potentially tanked. (There was literally a parent from the school right there, though he hadn’t arrived yet, so he wouldn’t know it)

And that completely fails to occur to him. At all. (Sidenote: how good is Loid supposed to be at his job? Because he’s amazing in a fight, and has apparently successfully managed a sequence of jobs in a foreign country without being suspected, but he also … completely fails to register that as a potential mission failure. At all).

But I completely and immediately forgive him for it, because his response instead is so amazing. His apparently kneejerk and entirely sincere response.

Which is to immediately compliment her on the amazing sacrifice she made to do such a harsh and merciless job for the sake of her family. While thinking about his own job as a spy, about having to do a hard job where you let your body and identity be degraded for the sake of other people who will probably never know what you sacrificed for them. Some vicious cow at a party randomly and immediately told him his potential girlfriend/wife was a whore, and not only did he not freak out, not only did he not deny it or say it couldn’t be true, he just instantly went, if it is true, it only makes her more impressive as a person and as a partner.

His instant first response to an accusation that would shock or horrify many other husbands is empathy. Immediate, sincere empathy and admiration, where he connects it to his own life and sacrifices and sees no difference between getting shot at for your country and having to sleep with people for your family. He tells her she can be proud.

(Sidenote sidenote, I feel like there’s a thing there, too. That it’s not … There’s a thing about patriotism, and the idea of dirty things being right only if they’re in service of a bigger cause, and he doesn’t have that either. Her being a prostitute for her brother’s sake is enough of a reason for him, and he doesn’t see it as different from his service to his country. Which matches up with his reactions to Anya, how saving her when she was threatened or even just scared was immediately of equal if not more importance to him as his mission, because he only became a spy to protect people and he has the emotional intelligence of a spoon but that is still the basic motivation for all his actions. There doesn’t need to be a big, patriotic cause to justify it for him. Protecting and helping one person is a good enough reason. Yor-the-prostitute was trying to support her brother, and that’s no different to Loid-the-spy trying to protect other children, and he casually and immediately says that. Just outright says it. Because it’s true to him).

Some random stranger walks up to him at a public party and maliciously goes ‘did you know your new wife used to be a whore?’, and he goes ‘that’s an incredible sacrifice to have to make and I really respect her for it’.

And Yor is just standing there stunned going ‘maybe … maybe I should marry this man?’ to herself, and honestly? Entirely fair and reasonable reaction.

(And of course Yor wasn’t sleeping with people in sleazy hotels, she was killing people in sleazy hotels, but like. Same difference. This little moment makes her think Loid might … Like, maybe he’d get it? Probably not, because murder, but maybe a little? And honey, you’d be surprised)

Loid has known this woman for 10 minutes and he’s already casually tossed his mission on its ear to publically and emotionally support her, without once realising it. Like. He doesn’t know this about himself. This doesn’t register to him as a mission-unwise thing to do. This was a casual, instinctive moment of empathy for him, like this is just what you do for someone, especially if you married them (or adopted them), and he’s … such an idiot. Such an idiot. But such a casually good one.

But seriously. How has he survived as a spy? They tell him to get a fake wife and kid for a mission, and he’s immediately a mess about it and instantly trying to send Anya away so she won’t be in danger and absent-mindedly ignoring mission goals to stand up for his fake wife that he met for 10 minutes 6 hours ago against her bitch of a coworker.

I can already tell this mission is going to go so well for him. It’s going to be amazing.

[bigskydreaming]

Hi, I was reading your post about Jason punching Dick in the face when Dick revealed he fake his death was bullshit ( which it was) and it reminded me of an issue/question that has bothered me for sometime.

Why did people believe Dick was actually dead?

I’m not the most avid comic reader so maybe I missed something but it was always weird to me that everyone just accepted this especially given how Bruce was acting or should I say wasn’t acting.

This is a man when his child died another child had to come along and told him sir you are being too violent and emotional you need supervision. When his other child died he went all over the universe to bring him back to life because he knew it was possible ( which was happening at the same time), so why didn’t anyone think it was weird he wasn’t doing that for Dick. Can you imagine Dick really dying that soon after Damian it would be injustice Batman Version. You are telling me that Tim, Jason or Barbara didn’t think it was weird that Bruce didn’t also bring Dick’s corpse to the bring Damian back to life mission or mention it to themselves. Like what more likely Dick dead and Bruce is handling it well or that he fake his death to do something stupid and Dangerous after his partner/brother/ little bit my son the feelings are complicated died after he was knocked out and woke up to his corpse.

Oh man, this is like, the entire nature of my beef?

(Slight derail just to emphasize the fact real quick that Dick DID actually die, he was just revived quickly, but like, the trauma of his death was very real and its not like anyone was clued into Luthor having a resurrection backdoor built into his literal murder of Dick in the actual moment of it happening. So Dick’s death wasn’t fake, and additionally, he didn’t have anything to do with like, telling people about it, because he was literally comatose in the cave and recovering while Bruce was telling people....by the time Dick woke up in the cave, we already know that Alfred at least had already been convinced by Bruce that Dick was dead, so I have a kneejerk need to pushback against the Dick faked his death narrative by reminding people wherever possible that Dick had no agency in the spreading of that narrative. 

It happened without him being involved, and the only actual contribution he ever made to it was just not revealing he was alive before Grayson #12, after Bruce like.....emotionally, mentally and physically badgered him into accepting that doing so would be directly harmful to his family and he didn’t want to be the reason more people died when like, people had just died because he ‘let’ himself be captured and interrogated by Power Woman’s Lasso of Submission, did he?

SORRY TO BE PEDANTIC, just wanted to start this off on a clarification, even though I know the aim of your ask was very much in tune with the rest of my response. A lot of people don’t read the actual comics, so like, I’m never gonna skip over an opportunity to emphasize that the shorthand people use to refer to Dick’s death and the year he was with Spyral, is like, literally just shorthand for describing it. Its not actually an accurate description of how all that went down and who had the most hand in it).

BUT ANYWAY. BACK TO THE MEAT OF THE BEEF.

Okay so like, not only was the entire family and Bruce himself giving Dick shit for his death and Spyral, like, PAINFULLY egregious because it was literal victim blaming in every possible sense of the word....

None of it made a LICK of sense with ANY of their characterizations, and they ONLY all accepted it on face value because the Plot Demanded It, and when you're like, no, as a reader I say The Plot Demanded It is not a good enough reason for me to be like well sure, that makes sense......looking at the characters ACTUAL actions at face value pretty much just makes them all look like assholes?

Like, Tim has never gracefully accepted anyone's death. Ever. This is core characterization for him. He will go to the ends of the earth for his loved ones and to bring them back, prove they're not dead, refuse to let death be the final verdict for them. He was tempted to use the Lazarus Pit to bring his parents back to life. He refused to accept Bruce was dead long before he had any proof whatsoever of that theory. He tried to clone his BFF/future-husband Kon in his fucking basement like, dude was two whole inches away from going Full Dark Side in his quest to bring back a lost loved one no matter WHAT the cost.....and then you've got Dick unmasked onscreen, killed offscreen, and Bruce then reporting to the rest of them with zero inflection 'oh Dick's dead now. Its very sad' and Tim's just like, sure. Sounds legit.

I mean?!?!

And you're SO RIGHT ABOUT THE DAMIAN THING! Bruce LITERALLY LITERALLY LITERALLY went BEYOND the ends of the Earth, like, he full on chartered a fucking space ship to fly his whole family out to APOKOLIPS to bring Damian back from the dead by going to EXTREME lengths.....WHILE everyone else thought Dick was dead....

And not a single person looked at Bruce and was like, okay, not that we're not down to do this for Damian because we miss Stabby Smurf something fierce ourselves, but.....what the fuck is UP with you dude? Why aren't you displaying ANY hint of this same kind of energy in regards to your eldest son that you said you watched die right in front of you?

Like....I don't know that we were actually ever told that Dick's coffin was empty or had a fake in it, but like....this family of detectives who refuse to accept death, defy death, COME BACK FROM THE DEAD....not a single one of them said like, okay, if I'm gonna like, ACCEPT accept that Dick is dead and gone for good, I need to at least just see him one last time? That's literally all it would have taken for someone to realize hey something's a little wonky here. Where's the dead body, Pops?

Since when has Jason ever missed an opportunity to prove Bruce is a) full of shit, b) acting like an emotionless robot and all his kids deserve better especially when they've just like....died, c) just factually incorrect and wrong and jumped to a conclusion before it was conclusively proved, d) lying like a liar or e) all of the above?

Nobody even ASKED if Dick's body could be put in a Lazarus Pit? Yeah, Jason wouldn't necessarily recommend it himself, given what it put him through, but actually fuck that, I take that back, because I'm NOT actually of the opinion that Jason full on hates his life and actively spends every second of every day wishing he hadn't been resurrected, even if it had come with a huge buffet of additional trauma and pain.

And that's kinda what's implied when people just take it for granted that he would never be on board with any scenario involving using a Lazarus Pit to bring Dick back, because it suggests that based even just on his own experiences and feelings, he honestly believes Dick would prefer being dead and not have ANY further opportunities to be with his loved ones, his friends, help save the damn world again at some future point.....that Jason, projecting based just off himself, legit feels Dick would rather be dead than have another shot at life even WITH the downsides of Lazarus Pit usage? Nope. Sorry, I don't buy it.

Speaking of not buying it.....you know what was missing from all those soliloquies the others monologued at Dick about how they felt and were hurt and just devastated by his death, to such a point they can't seem to muster a single shred of happiness that he's NOT dead still -

(seriously, Damian was the ONLY person in ALL THE LANDS OF EMOTION-HAVING who expressed ANY kind of positive reaction to having Dick back. We were so fucking cheated of like.....ANY opportunity to have the characters show just how much they valued him by just being fucking HAPPY he was alive, no matter what else was involved....and then most of fandom compounded that by for years being like mmmm, no, Dick didn't get yelled at enough by his family for what HE put THEM through. Needs more yelling. More punching too. Bad Dick. Bad. This is the only way you'll learn not to die and get shipped off on a mission that you don't want but at least is to protect your family after being beaten into it by your dad whilst victim blaming you for dying in the first place. WHEN WILL YOU LEARN TO THINK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE AND THEIR FEELINGS FOR A CHANGE, DICK?!?)

- But like, BUT I DIGRESS aside....you know what was missing from all those monologues about how hard DICK'S death and ensuing year of basically exile from his loved ones was for EVERYONE BUT HIM?

We never got a single line of explanation as to what everyone else officially thinks even happened to him in the first place?

Like, did Bruce straight up just say oh bad news kids, your brother umm. Expired. Spontaneously. There's no one to blame, he just keeled over, its all very sad.

Is that how that went down?

You're telling me that the explanation of Dick's death didn't come with a single pointed finger at someone for this family of blame-happy vigilantes to like, BLAME for the loss of this brother they all mourned oh so much, they just couldn't help but blame him for all the hurt it caused them?

The family that in every other fic is like OBSESSED with avenging and being avenged and all things vengeful and even tangentially vengeance-y....like didn't ask for a single detail on whomst the fuck deprived us of our brother-having?

Where were the attempts on Luthor's life by Jason (who I mean, yeah I know it was in a previous continuity, but erasing that timeline doesn't erase my awareness of the time Dick killed Jason's murderer so like.....mmm, just saying, woulda been nice)....where was the rage directed at the Crime Syndicate and references to how seriously and personally the Batfam took making sure that they were PUNISHED for all this and would never be free to wreak havoc on their world or their family again? What did they tell Damian when he came back to life, and how are you going to tell me that this fraternal little ball of fury didn't aim himself like a cannonball at whomever the fuck had DARED take HIS Batman from him when Damian wasn't around to have his back?

Not only does everyone else's desire to be avenged start falling really flat the second you factor in hey maybe Dick feels "mmm what about MY avenging" sometimes, and why doesn't anyone ever care about doing that for him.....but also, y'know what REALLY sucks about the ONLY person we actually SEE being blamed for Dick's death and ensuing absence being like....Dick himself?

Not only were his family all super keen on making all of this HIS fault and HIM the bad guy because of how it made them all feeeeeeel (and meanwhile fuck his feelings, am I right Batfam hfaklshfklahfkla).....

They somehow found a way to justify prioritizing this OVER ever even getting around to blaming some villain for his death in the FIRST place, in the entire year or so they thought he was still dead!

Like, you couldn't come up with a single target in all that time, but Dick's back two seconds, and you don't even give him a chance to EXPLAIN before you're punching him, shutting him down with 'I expected better from you' and turning away with 'I don't want to hear it, why am I surprised Dick Grayson disappointed me again'?

afshklfhalfhalfhla

Make it make sense!

And like, it won't, cuz it doesn't, and it never will, and like I said at the top, the ONLY reason it all played out this way is because DC doesn't give a fuck about character development and deemed it necessary to go down this way for the sake of the plot (which was totes worth it, I mean, glad we sacrificed characters for this A+ plot which was clearly the greatest plot of all time and definitely justified every story choice made or not made around it loooool).

BUT.

BUT BUT BUT.

The problem isn't JUST that DC is stupid, even though that is an eternal mood and quite the problem.

Its that the SECOND large parts of fandom decided to play along with DC and just accept the story at face value, only add to it and play into it exactly as it happened in canon with no significant deviations, and like, heaping on the LITERAL abuse from Dick's siblings while ignoring the LITERAL abuse from his father....

THAT....is when all of this becomes relevant.

Because the second people decided TO engage with the reasoning DC gave for what Bruce did and how and what Dick did and how and just not mess with any of that and have it all play out exactly like that...

The second people are like, okay we're FINE with not just dismissing this story as OOC writing that doesn't make any sense, and actually VALIDATING it to various degrees by engaging with it as is....

That's when 'OOC writing' stops being an excuse or explanation for alllll of the above gaps in character logic and actions.

Because its like, when you had abundant chance to REJECT this story and say nope, this was bullshit from start to finish and I'm not here for it, when you were just as capable of transforming literally ANY aspect of this story you didn't like into something that made more sense to you....

And you chose not to.

That's.....accepting it as valid writing. You were like, okay, I'm game to just treat this as a thing that happened, just like they said that happened.

For the chance to give Dick shit for it, see. For the angst, see.

And that's when I'm like okay cool, so when engaging with this story as is and accepting it on face value and just delving into the characters as they were SHOWN interacting with and around these events......for the angst or whatever....

You guys just all decided en masse to just hop, skip and jump over allllllllll the opportunities for angst inherent in examining even ANY SINGLE ONE of the above lapses in judgment or hypocrisy on the parts of the characters (who don't get to be excused by OOC writing if you're not going to call the story an example of OOC writing, whoops).

And its just like, uh, what's up with that?

[legendary-assassin-stance]

gimme a bryok and/or mori boss fight!! either solo or as dual bosses, up to you :>

OH BOY. my kneejerk reaction is to write out either of their Bad End AU fights but honestly, imagining them as a dual boss fight (possibly a training fight that you can request via a pact NPC?) is interesting, because i don't get to talk about them both as twins often at all.... ( let me go fetch you some fitting boss music for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDVd1F3ZI4w )

(I am going to preface this by: If any of this sounds unbeatable... well. I can't say I'd be surprised (honestly, it is best to think of this as a training fight for that very reason lmao) this is basically a DPS check of sorts, splitting the group into half to focus each one would be the optimal way to do this encounter.)

Throughout the entire fight, Mori will be putting boons on herself and Bryok, and both of them cast raid-wide conditions that need to be cleansed.

Phase 1

Mori will attack at random, targeting people with her menagerie of mirage skills -- she'll be the most annoying to get the health down of, thanks to her ability to teleport, use her Signet of Midnight to stealth/blind, as well as the clones she makes as diversions. She uses these clones specifically to cast Mind Wrack, Cry of Frustration, and Distortion to damage and cleanse herself of any conditions she takes on. Her Mirage Cloak + clones will do a lot of damage that either needs to be evaded or healed quickly.

Bryok, being a Reaper, is a very big threat to begin with. He does a good amount of damage, as well as doing increased damage to low-health foes, or those that are downed (both of which, he will prioritize in killing). Most, if not all, of his hits will slowly refill his health so he does need constant dps to counter this. His "Your Soul Is Mine!" heal shout needs to be evaded, or else it heals him for a good chunk with every melee-range person it hits.

Both of them have defiance bars during this that can be used to stun them and keep them in place long enough (especially Mori) to do more damage. Once either of them reach 60% health, they'll roughly stay there (with consistent dps), and you'll need to focus the other down to that amount to start the last phase.

Phase 2 when both of them reach ~60% health

This is where things probably get unfair, and far more hectic.

Mori will now start using Signet of Humility/Domination and Diversion to stun anyone close to her + anyone near her clones; she will also now cause portal traps to appear in the area that, if stepped on, will teleport you around randomly and damage/stun you for ~5 seconds.

Bryok will shift into his Reaper Shroud for this phase of the fight, doing significantly more damage than before, as well as stacking chilling on those caught in his Executioner's Scythe hit, or the Soul Spiral he follows up with. He gains back noticeable health from his Life Reap, which needs to be consistently dpsed to keep down. His Infusing Terror gives you a 6 second window to scatter away before he casts Terrify, which will do DoT damage for its flee duration. This phase + his shroud is when he utilizes his offensive shout abilities far more as well ("Rise!" and "Your Soul Is Mine!" will be particularly annoying at this point).

Their defiance bars will appear more frequently during this phase, but getting near them enough to break it without getting stunned is the challenge. The other big, obnoxious part of this fight is the fact that they need to be downed at the same time -- you get a 15 second window to down the other, or they'll recover from with 55% health (much like the legendaries in the Kralk meta).

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

What do you think of Camila? Do you think she’s a good mom to Luz? I’ve seen her getting a lot of hate recently especially after Yesterday’s lie’

Ah, an Owl House ask! Thank you so much for this, anon!

Camila is an absolute sweetheart. Anyone who works in Veterinary medicine earns my respect for the intelligence and hard work that takes, as well as the kindness in their heart. Speaking as the kind of person who would also set animals free from traps, I relate to Camila and respect her considerably. However, being a good person and being a good parent are two different conversations. I can understand why people may have been critical of her during Season 1, what with her seemingly trying to make Luz change herself and forcing her to attend that camp. Still, even in S1, I thought to myself that she was an imperfect parent but that she was truly trying her best, just that she was going about things the wrong way. I never got the sense that she felt anything but love for her daughter. Still, my theory after the finale was that Luz was never going to return to the human realm, simply because the Boiling Isles understood her better and accepted her so quickly. But the inclusion of those letters and of "Creepy Luz" made it clear that we weren't finished with Camila, that she would appear in the future. Hey, come to think of it...the letters never got explained, did they? Based on the flashbacks we saw, Vee's impersonation began as an accident, but the letters from "Luz" would suggest that this was more premeditated. So either Vee is lying about what happened, which she would have no reason to do anymore...or there's something else going on here, another player in this game. This could be unrelated and unimportant, but did anyone notice how the second parent in that family photo had their face obscured? I wonder...

Never mind that for now. As of the most recent episode? I don't see how anyone can hate Camila People are entitled to feel however they do about the characters, but I've seen how swift the turnaround was about Vee, and I was the same way. She is baby and must be protected. But you know who's agreed to protect her and take her in, and been generally wonderful about having her entire life and worldview upended? Camila. She's such a human character and she's not perfect, but she's kind. Even in the beginning of this episode, it was shown that the stark shift in "Luz's" personality was troubling her, and when she thought everything was a trick, she was relieved to see that Luz was "being creative again." So she never wanted to squash her daughter's imagination, just make sure she would be able to function in society. Whether she went about it the right way is open for debate, but it is clearer than ever that she was just trying to look out for her. I have to commend Camila for how she handled everything that she learned. Saw a literal monster and her response was perfect. She recognized, as a mother and as a veterinarian, that this was a vulnerable child who needed rescuing, who needed acceptance. And that's exactly what she gave. She didn't recoil in fear or disgust. She didn't act betrayed or hold Vee accountable for the deception. All of which, Vee was probably expecting. But no, Camila was a damn hero, saving and then adopting her.

Through all this, she's grappling with the understanding that demons and other worlds are real. But that's not even the biggest bomb that's been dropped on her. The child that she thought was Luz for these past few months was actually an impostor, a different child. And Luz herself has for all intents and purposes, been missing. Trapped in another world full of magic and demons. I'd imagine that Camila's feeling a fair bit of guilt right now. Any parent in her position would be wondering why they failed to recognize the disguise, how their own daughter could have gone missing for months without her noticing. She's probably going to beat herself up for all this, for a while yet to come. And that's not even getting into the reveal that the end. That Luz came to the Boiling Isles deliberately. I wonder if there are fans who took issue with the line "Was living with me so terrible?" Because it guilts Luz, a kid who's known for her imagination, for simply wanting to see a fantasy land. I'm sure Luz feels even worse about all this now. And I agree, Camila shouldn't have said that. But it was her kneejerk reaction, her immediate question. She shouldn't have said it, but I don't blame her for feeling that way, for wondering that very question. For feeling a little abandoned. She probably feels like she drove Luz away by limiting her creative impulses. But it's far from being that simple. Luz didn't feel accepted in the human realm, and Camila was basically the one thing she even had that tied her there. Camila was the reason that Luz was even bothering to try and go home.

This is a tragic situation that's unfolding and it breaks my heart, but I don't think anyone is at fault here. Luz and Camila are both so very human. They're good people with weaknesses and flaws, suffering from an impossible situation. I am glad, more than anything, that Camila knows the truth now. And that she's supportive of Luz, even if she was hurt by the knowledge that Luz left on purpose. (Seriously, I think the way she handled the Vee situation tells us everything we need to know about her.) I suppose something else that people might take issue with is her extracting that promise from Luz that when she makes it home, that she'll stay. That's one hell of a position to put Luz in, considering the life that she's build in the Boiling Isles. But here's the thing. Camila doesn't really know about all that. We don't see most of the exposition relay that Luz gives her. So there's no reason to assume that Camila knows about Luz attending school and training to become a witch. That she has best friends, that she has a girlfriend now. And honestly, even if she does know about this...it's still her daughter, who's only led this life for a few months. Wouldn't you have done the same? Wouldn't any parent in that situation just want their child back? Camila is responding to emotion in this scene and I don't blame her for asking what she asked of Luz, though again, it's still a problem. In fact, I once again worry what this will mean for the future, because I'm willing to bet that this promise will come up again. And play a role in how the series ends. Luz might have to say a permanent farewell to her friends in the Boiling Isles because she feels obligated to keep this promise. Or, she might elect not to return to the human realm or to stop trying...because she knows that if she succeeds, she'll have to stay there. Technically, she only promised to stay if she made it back, after all. Either way, I foresee heartbreak.

[firstagent]

Since it popped up on the Podcast, how would you rank the sibling dynamics from healthy to trainwreck?

This is an innocent-sounding question until you go over the franchise and realize just how many sibling relationships there are in Digimon and that all but like three of them have elements that might raise eyebrows. In the interest of being comprehensive, this includes all named characters in any anime, manga, and game I’m familiar with, treating the reboot separately and including Survive because... (looks at Kaito and Miu’s bios) ...holy crap.

Sibling Relationship Rankings! (Healthy is Higher)

Joe & Shin Kido (Adventure): Shin understands Joe’s hang-ups and offers support to make his own choices without steering him in any specific direction, for or against the family. And Shuu exists too (depending on the language you’re watching in)

Juri & Masahiko Kato (Tamers): For all of the awkwardness and potential points of fracture in the family, Juri and Masahiko are very close. Fun Fact: She started carrying around her iconic hand puppet to amuse and entertain him!

Keito & Nozomi Tamada (Re:Arise): Even with very different personalities, Keito and Nozomi have a lot of respect for each other. Unlike some big brothers, he comes to a mature conclusion when he realizes she’ll be just fine with Pumpmon at her side.

Yamato Ishida & Takeru Takaishi (Adventure 2020): Yamato’s worry over Takeru only affects his reluctance to take on time-consuming side quests when he might be in danger. Far more chill about trusting Takeru with the rest of the team, he’s a motivation rather than a mental handicap.

Masaru & Chika Daimon (Savers): Perhaps a more controversial pick for the healthier side, but Masaru and Chika have a playful relationship that proves that Chika dishes out as much as anyone in the family. Given how much harm DATS and Digimon have done to the family, Masaru risks her love to keep them away from her.

Joe & Shin Kido (Adventure 2020): Shin’s still supportive and still encourages Joe to make choices for himself, but having that bugout bag ready to go raises some serious questions about that family and which side Shin’s really on.

Ai & Makoto (Tamers): Toddlers fight. It’s okay. They come together for Impmon’s sake and the fact that they’re the only duo in the franchise with mutual custody over a digivice has to say something about the strength of their relationship.

Nene & Kotone Amano (Xros Wars Manga): Nene’s tactics are still desperate but not quite as extreme as the anime, and it counts for so much that Kotone fights so hard for Nene once the tables are turned. And good lord that backstory...

Takuya & Shinya Kanbara (Frontier): There’s definitely a sense of Takuya lapsing into thinking Shinya encapsulates everything frustrating about having an older brother, but he gets over it.

Miyako Inoue + Three (Zero Two): Perfectly normal large household. And while wondering what it would be like to be an only child is something every youngest does... top of mind fantasy, Miyako? Really?

Jianliang & Shaochung Lee (Tamers): Speaking of four-packs... there’s no doubting how much they care about each other, but Jian’s occasional short fuse with Shaochung betrays his usual calm demeanor, and we never get a picture of the full family dynamic once Rinchei and Jaarin are included.

Daisuke & Jun Motomiya (Zero Two): Everyone likes to paint Jun and Daisuke as something uglier than it really is. As much as they annoy each other, it’s still a pretty conventional sibling dynamic and they’d still fight hard for the other... even if the feeling’s closer to obligation.

Koji Minamoto & Koichi Kimura (Frontier): There’s no questioning the bond they develop, but there’s no way Koji and Koichi go from “don’t know the other exists” to “ZOMG Twinzies!” without a ton of awkwardness and feeling each other out. They’ll get better, but from our standpoint this is where we start to drift into trainwreck territory.

Tomoki & Yutaka Himi (Frontier): Tomoki can spin it all he wants but Yutaka comes off as a real jerk. Not that some resentment isn’t a little justified given how much Tomoki is coddled, but taking it upon himself to be the bearer of tough love is still not cool.

Taichi & Hikari Yagami (Adventure 2020): Hikari has a blind faith that Taichi can save the day in any circumstance, up to and including international shipping crisis. Meanwhile Taichi sees Hikari lapsing between typical friendly eight year old to brainwashed robot and doesn’t find any problem with it.

Yamato Ishida & Takeru Takaishi (Adventure): Lessons in how not to be an overprotective big brother. Yamato freaks out at the slightest notion that Takeru might be exposed to danger, including his very presence in the Digital World. When you have a complete nervous breakdown realizing that little bro’s actually pretty capable on his own, it’s not about your relationship with him anymore.

Touma & Relena Norstein (Savers): There’s caring about a little sister, making her plight a central cause in your life, and then involving her in a chess match with a madman. There’s a lot to forgive here (they are raised in a family where your kneejerk reaction to Grandma is “I bet she supported the Nazis in World War II”), but everything about their relationship just makes you uncomfortable.

Kaito & Miu Shinonome (Survive): Maybe it’s not fair since their game is the franchise’s unicorn, but their bios have warning flags all over it. He’s overprotective, ready to fight at the slightest hardship, and she repays this attitude by being rebellious and weird and eager to pursue trouble. May end up being worse once the game actually comes out.

Rei & Hajime Katsura (Appmon): Another one where their backstory makes you sympathize with the lengths they go to in order to stay together, but risking the security of actual guardians to go it alone? Jesus. Even with their ride or die attitude, you still sense a bit of friction in their relationship, and so many of their hardships are their own doing. 

Nene & Yuu Amano (Xros Wars): There’s nothing seemingly wrong on the surface between Nene and Yuu, but that’s why their actions are so extreme. Yuu’s more than happy to treat her as an enemy general in his game, while Nene’s aligning herself with dark forces and causing real trouble to get him back. It’s all very loud and intense for a relationship that, without external influences, is just nice and cordial.

Yuuko & Yuugo Kamishiro (Cyber Sleuth): You can be anything you want on the internet! So why not take the identify of your big brother who was stricken with a mystery illness at a young age and lead a legion of hackers? And if you’re Yuugo, use your digital body to take control of that avatar! Nothing weird about any of this!

Ken & Osamu Ichijouji (Zero Two): Like Tomoki, Ken can come up with whatever rationale for Osamu’s abuse he wants, and Osamu at least had some kind moments, but there’s no denying that this family was a mess. And of course Ken’s reaction to Osamu’s death... could have been better.

Taichi & Hikari Yagami (Adventure): Hikari’s introduction to the series was intended to be a little creepy, and that just sets the tone. Her blind loyalty to Taichi is a primary point of emphasis through three series, and Taichi sometimes goes ballistic worrying about her... when not accidentally endangering her life. And that’s before she unleashes a world-destroying abomination at the mere suggestion that Taichi’s dead, and why telling him “what you’re doing is wrong and I kind of hate you for it” is a big moment for her, even though she’s wrong.

Neo & Rei Saiba (V-Tamer): There’s going a little overboard to keep your family together or save a sibling’s life, and then there’s aligning yourself with evil forces to avoid having to deal with your sister’s manageable disability. Call it being jaded or delusional, but when it drives your sister to attempt suicide there are definitely issues you two need to work through.

Erika & Ryuji Mishima (Cyber Sleuth Hackers Memory): Because aligning oneself with Arkadimon is always a fantastic idea. He’s overprotective, she manipulates him because of it, there’s resentment, there’s anger, and basically the entire game is spent watching these two outdo each other in terms of causing wanton destruction throughout the city and cyberspace.

Honorable Mention: Bagramon & DarkKnightmon (Xros Wars): The battle of who can stab the other in the back last.

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[uncloseted]

How do I deal with being unattractive? Not like "I'm ugly (but I'm actually pretty)" but knowing you just don't catch people's eyes and your looks don't stand out. I know I'm like this because both of my friends are conventionally attractive and wherever we go they get looks, hit on, and on dating apps they constantly get matches and significant numbers of people wanting to sleep with them, whereas I get ignored or ghosted by people online and offline. I don't even really want to sleep with anyone, I just feel bad because I know I'm not beautiful and I'll never be the beautiful person but I want to move past it and forget my looks even exist tbh. Do you have any advice?

There's a lot to unpack when talking about beauty. I think typically the response to someone feeling unattractive is either denial of the person's feelings ("but you are pretty!"), a fallback on useless platitudes ("Everyone is beautiful!"), or a dismissal of beauty as something that holds value ("why do you care if you're pretty? That's so vain, there are more important things in life" or "beauty standards are just social constructs").

To a degree, I understand why people would say things like that. Many people who don't feel beautiful are still attractive to others. The beauty standards we hold are frequently xenophobic, racist, colorist, homophobic, transphobic, ageist, and ableist. There are all sorts of things that are more important than being beautiful, like the quality of a person's character or the contributions they've made to the world around them.

But I don't think those responses make the experience of being unattractive or unremarkable but wanting to be beautiful any easier. We can cognitively understand that the standards of beauty we're held to are problematic while still wanting to be beautiful. So what's the solution? I think there are probably a few different options that need to work together.

First, there are external ways to become attractive. There's the obvious, like finding makeup looks that make you feel pretty (or attract other people to you), or finding clothing styles that really suit your body, or, at the more extreme end, getting cosmetic procedures done to change how you look. I recognize that this is a bit of a problematic suggestion given that we're all supposed to learn to love ourselves the way we are and never put any effort into "improving" our appearance, and I feel a kind of kneejerk reaction of guilt for moving away from that. But fashion and cosmetics are such giant industries for a reason; they make people feel more beautiful. And in a world that insists on beauty, I don't think there's anything wrong with using the tools available to us to feel more beautiful.

As an extension of the physical, or perhaps, as an alternative, you could focus on style instead of beauty. This idea of style as an alternative to beauty is one that I was introduced to through a Contrapoints video where Natalie discusses her own relationship to beauty. In it, she talks about how a person can be stylish at any age, regardless of if your physical appearance is conventionally attractive. It's a way to cultivate a personal visual aesthetic for yourself, one that lets people know who you are without having to conform to beauty standards. Style is a way to stand out and to be seen, beauty or not.

Which, in a roundabout kind of way, brings me to my second point- the internal. Oftentimes, I think we approach physical attractiveness as if it's a purely physical trait, but that's not really the case. Think about the women who are consistently voted as "the most attractive woman alive". They're not usually the blonde, baby faced lingerie models that we (culturally) think of as the pinnacles of beauty. They're typically actresses. And sure, they're physically beautiful, at least, after the cosmetic surgeons, makeup artists, stylists, hairdressers, and photo editors have done their jobs (you would be surprised how many celebrities aren't naturally beautiful).

But more than being physically attractive, they're charismatic. It may sound cliched or a bit mumsy, but I really do think that we're attracted to confidence and charisma more than we are to how a person physically looks. And that's why style works; it's a physical expression of confidence in yourself, a visual expression of charisma.

So, okay, then, how do we build charisma? MacArthur “genius” psychologist Angela Duckworth says that charisma basically boils down to communicating, “I like you and I like me/the world likes me”. If you want to communicate that you like someone else, eye contact, saying their name in conversation, and being interested in them and what they’re saying are all easy ways to do it. Communicating, “I like me” or “the world likes me” is more complicated, and it’s really where confidence comes into play.  Smiling, not being self-deprecating, and holding yourself in a way that communicates confidence (open and with good posture) are all part of that. But to truly like yourself, you need to start building your self-confidence.

Building self-confidence is a process, but I would start with a simple exercise. Every morning, look at yourself in the mirror and say some things you like about yourself.  Focus on those things that you like and try to only focus on those things.  Each day, try to add a new thing to the list.  When you’re out and about, remember those things that you like about yourself, focus on them, and try to draw attention to them.  When other people compliment you, add those to your list as well.  I think eventually by recognizing all of the things that you like about yourself, you’ll be able to feel like there are things about you that you can be confident in, and you won’t focus so much on the things that you feel are negative. These don't have to be just physical attributes; include things about your personality and your relationship to world as well.

Another thing you can try is looking for celebrities who you find beautiful who have similar traits to the ones you dislike in yourself. It can be hard to appreciate our own traits or see them as beautiful, but sometimes seeing them on someone else can help us to realize that actually, they can be really pretty.

Finally (and sorry this has been so long, there really was a lot to talk about here), it's okay to totally move past how you look and to adopt a policy of body neutrality. You don't owe anyone physical beauty. You can live a fulfilled life without being attractive. Your body is capable of doing all sorts of things that allow you to engage with the world, and that is more than enough. Practicing body neutrality may include things like being grateful that your legs allow you to walk from point A to B, or that your arms allow you to hug your loved ones, or that your lungs allow you to breathe. It may look like wearing clothes that are comfortable for you instead of focusing on how they look. It may look like caring for your body because regardless of how you feel about it, it's the only one you have. It may be focusing on your passions and goals and appreciating how your body allows you to achieve them. It's okay to not want to engage with beauty as a concept.

[thedreadvampy]

look not to vague here particularly bc my comment about You Know did straddle the line between criticising art and being mean about a person, fair play there, it was not a simple critique of art

but my biggest beef with Fine Art as an educational establishment is that I've yet to meet a Fine Artist who's been taught to separate artistic criticism (which can be very harsh and very negative) from a personal attack.

and as I say I'm not talking about You Know here, I understand how that felt personal bc it was about his public persons not just his work. but the idea that negative comments are inherently unkind or are a suppression of the Artistic Vision are pretty endemic to my experience of Fine Artists (whether at college/university or pros in their fifties setting up shows in spaces I've helped run).

like I tend to say the thing I got from my undergrad that I couldn't have got without studying art wasn't technique or theory (you can learn those from books) but the ability to give and take productive criticism.

and that includes criticism that isn't meant as concrit tbh, like, my tutor used to say 'clients don't know shit about art but if they say something looks like a dick you need to be able to either take the dick out or make sure there's a good reason for the dick to be there.' like art is made to be seen so anybody who sees it and tells you what they're seeing in it is giving you useful information even if they're also being a cunt. this is especially true for commercial work/work to brief but like. all art you put out the world rather than keeping as a personal/practise work is a communicative medium so what is communicating Matters.

you won't always have to change it but you do have to accept that some people won't like it and some people won't like it for reasons that didn't occur to you. so taking critique effectively is about listening to what the other person is saying and deciding whether or not you think their point is valid, significant and useful. and sometimes it isn't! like I've suggested some changes to people's works in progress and been really glad they ignored me when I saw how they finished it! and sometimes we are just gonna disagree! if you put a political message in your work and I say 'i think that message sucks' that doesn't mean you're WRONG or your art needs changing it may just mean. we disagree. but art is a conversation and for a conversation to work people are gonna have opinions about it.

and btw there's a skill to giving good critique too and it means getting beyond 'i like' or 'i don't like' and trying to work out what specifically you're reacting to and why. like 'the anatomy is dodgy' is less helpful than 'the hand looks weird' is less helpful than 'the hand looks stiff and awkwardly posed' is less helpful than 'what if you moved this finger to here?'. Saying 'i hate this' is less useful than 'this colour scheme makes me nauseous' is less useful than 'i think the juxtaposition of these two colours is gross, is that intentional? if not it might be nicer with a warmer yellow'. and always giving space for the artist to consider and explain why they made intentional choices.

critique is not about instruction but about questioning. but like. also if you have to give a ten minute explanation of why you made a choice then the art probably isn't effectively communicating for itself and that's useful information in itself. like 'I'm not sure what you're trying to say' or 'this seems kind of on the nose is there something more you're trying to get across' are Very Useful Criticisms to develop your work

but a lot of people get very defensive and like not to be a dick but while there's a few in every group, every single time I've had a joint crit with fine artists they have just been dreadful at taking crits. like it's always the fine artists who get upset at you questioning their vision and burst into tears or storm out or say "why are you all picking on me" when like. the crit they're getting is way lighter than in illustration or graphic design groups.

and like. this makes me sad. because I think when it comes to art teaching, group and individual crits are like 90% of the most valuable learning. like I didn't get a lot out of my art education because I had The World's Most Amazing Artists as teachers! (some of them have been really good though) I got a lot out of my art education because group crits helped shape my work, make specific changes, and learn from 30 other minds who saw my work from different angles. and if that basic skill, to criticise and be criticised, isn't being developed in five art courses then those students are missing a vital skill to keep improving and developing their work and communicating their ideas clearly and strongly.

also uhhhhhh if they haven't learnt to take criticism from other artists in a safe managed environment like a studio or classroom then they are really gonna Struggle if they get any notoriety because the majority of people who look at art aren't thinking about how to improve it, they're criticising from the perspective of a finished work, and that's still useful critique but it's much less likely to be couched in compliments or to come with specific suggestions for improvement. and with commercial art clients they often know nothing about process or theory they just know if they Like It or Don't Like It. so it helps to have practise in interpolating vague or general criticism into actionable changes and subjective opinions, and to have had space to develop some resilience. you know. it DOES hurt when people criticise your work, particularly if it's very personal, and it takes work and practise to get past that kneejerk defensive reaction and to step back from it a bit. but somebody saying "I don't like this art" or "this art is shallow/obvious/meaningless/ugly/unpleasant" isn't a personal attack. it feels like one bc you know how much thought and effort and work and how much of yourself goes into every piece. but art is a conversation and a negative response is part of that conversation. and if your work reaches a wide enough audience someone ain't gonna like it and uhhhh. a lot of fine artists don't seem to be able to cope with that concept.

(mind you if somebody says "this art is ugly and meaningless because it was made by an ugly meaningless stupid person" then yeah that's about you and they're being a dick (but also. it is about you and it isn't about you, it's about the single facet of you that they see from your art, and they do not know you and aren't speaking to your actual worth even if they think they are). but even there like. block it out and move on bc throwing a tantrum at them, however justified, only makes things worse. their opinion is not of you the entire human person but of you the reflection they're seeing in their interpretation of the art. it's not your problem.)

like it's not that you don't get to be upset when people talk shit about your art or recieve it in a way you don't like. of course you do. but it's also uhhhhh an inevitable consequence of putting art out into the world. by putting it out publicly you are inviting 'what do you think about this' and you can't be surprised when people tell you. it's not bullying to Not Like Your Artwork. it's kind of aggro to seek somebody out to tell them you don't like their art and all the things they should change about it (and that's got pretty endemic with the internet and accessibility of artists) but it's on you if you go looking for reviews or critiques or responses to your work and then can't cope with the fact that they're not unilaterally positive and not everyone is picking up what you're putting down.

[whereyoursoulresides]

DiC Dub. vs Sub, Episode 21/25 - “Jupiter Comes Thundering In”/”Jupiter, the Brawny Girl in Love” Pt 2

After so long, here is part two!!

Because of the massive break in between the two, I’ve had to switch gears a little with my explanations, but hopefully they’ll still appear coherent! Without further ado, the remainder of this episode of Dub vs. Sub!

Previously, I covered the manners in which the episode begins to establish the foundation for both diverging character arcs. Propped with knowledge from both Beryl and Kunzite, Zoisite takes his charge with perfect grace and professionalism. Meanwhile, DiC's Zoycite is introduced as being far keener, promisingly relentless, and a more dangerous adversary. If Zoisite was concealing his fangs, as it were...then we were introduced to Zoycite flashing hers.

If it sounds like I'm bashing a dead horse with this difference a lot,  perhaps it's also because the DiC dub seems to do so with as much vigor. Certainly, I can't assume writers' intentions when they re-wrote the character for DiC. However, DiC seemed to find as many opportunities as they can to showcase Zoycite's contrary presentation of Zoisite's original character as often as they can, even when they didn't necessarily have to...

This bit of exposition was given right at the very beginning of the DiC version when no such introduction was made in the original. Possibly, DiC made this change to ramp up the story's dramaticism. However, DiC's reputation for obvious exposition leads me to believe otherwise, especially when it starts cropping up in later episodes more frequently, and for no other reason. 

(For example, yes, I understand that the following screenshots are referring to Lita / Makoto. However, if you look at Zoycite’s arc as a whole, it is also an excellent setup to the infamous “Disguise” episode...and I feel it is also a great representation of why DiC so desperately wanted to sow these character changes into Zoycite. For if they hadn’t, and Zoycite remained exactly as Zoisite in all manners except gender... how different would “she” be, a beautiful female soldier fighting for love, than another titular character we know?)

Anyways, I digress, and will return to the above bracketed point once we reach that particular episode. In the meantime, please enjoy the following comparisons remaining from the episode below...

1. Zoycite’s keenness, and further proof that DiC can’t stand empty sound space, even if it’s to imply a character’s softly - and ominous - coming).

2. I wish there was a way I could put audio clips in these tumblr posts, because I do love how both these characters are still portrayed with a sense of play...Zoycite’s acrid, saccharine poison, and Zoisite’s breathy, cotton-candy kiss of death.

3. If I could put in audio clips, this is where we would hear Zoycite’s syrup literally curdle - her voice rips into an edge of monstrous roughness, similar to other other monster-of-the-day characters that were also portrayed by the same actress. Meanwhile, Zoisite’s actor speaks with a softness of a snake beginning to gently suffocate you..

4. Goddamnit Zoi, you are so fucking cute, I will never get over how you call out your own name like you’re a fucking pokemon <3.

(Side Note: Zoisite’s use of his own name may seem vain, but I tend to read it less as a form of vanity, and more of a form of cute-speak. It’s yet another way he downplays the perception of his potential: to evoke the sense of adorableness, of femininity, a way to startle the opponent into a sense of lowered security. Honestly, I’m sure this isn’t so much of an actual farce he puts on and is genuinely how he expresses himself, both on the job and at home, but it works! Note that in the future, whenever Zoycite uses the same tactic, she never says it in the same, diminutive cute way. Her spell-cast is always aggressive, shouted in determination and confidence).

(Extra Side-Note: Another +1 for how many times Zoycite will say she is excited to please Queen Beryl. I’m keeping count for an explicit reason. Infer that what you will, and please imagine it with the same kind of “ding” that’s heard in CinemaSins.)

5. I mean, apart from the usual (Zoycite’s kneejerk reaction is to be antagonistic, while Zoisite is actually only politely informing Makoto that she does not have to engage, etc, ...he literally does not coax, mock or challenge. We will see later that Zoisite treats physical bloodshed and confrontation as unnecessary and only as a last resort, while Zoycite is spurred by challenges) - I also love how Zoycite’s dialogue also reflects this difference. I’ve talked at length at how Zoisite is always unfailingly and elegantly polite before, and now look at Zoycite’s speaking mannerisms: uncouth, aggressive, and filled to the brim with attitude when the opportunity arises. ‘SCUSE ME, indeed!

6.Further point regarding Zoycite and Zoisite’s divergent opinions of physical or violent confrontation: one disparages it, considering it barbaric, and that he is above it (often literally). The other laughs in the face of it, and has no qualms dishing it out as a threat...or is more than ready to follow it through.

(Also: buzz off omfg)

In fact, we see their opinions play out beautifully below:

7. After being punched, compare these reactions: one promising brutal threat, and the other fucking gobsmacked it even happened. Also, their differences in priorities.

While that may sound like I’m making a dig at Zoisite, I am legitimately not. I know this scene tends to be one of the ones that famously evoke the idea of Zoisite’s vanity, but I tend to read it another way. Yes, Zoisite’s face is precious to him, and yes, it could also be read as a stereotypical portrayal of a feminine gay character. 

However, this scene is not meant to illicit laughter. Nor it is not meant for us to startle with incredulity of how silly it is that he is upset his face his hurt. In this scene, Zoisite is truly shocked - his words are less an angry tantrum and more a statement of startled fact. He hadn’t anticipated Makoto could get that close to him, could actually touch him, much could actually strike him. And, in a place that is fiercely protective of, not because of his vanity...but because it is a precious commodity in the main force that drives his arc. (Yes, it’s Kunzite.) It’s no surprise that Zoisite’s beauty and “beautiful face” gets mentioned so often at key moments in his character development. His arc starts with a punch in the face, rises with gentle caresses, and - after a similar injury - crashes.

All of these subtleties, however, are swapped entirely in Zoycite’s case. Her face is not a fragile commodity by which she holds dear...in fact, it is of little importance to her. Her immediate concern is vengeance - more so than the injury on her face, it is her ego is bruised, and damn anyone who dares to make that mark.

Anyways, before I digress further, let’s round back up to the remainder of the episode. These last few scenes only continue to consistently show the differences in Zoycite’s and Zoisite’s professional approach. There isn’t as deep to note, with one exception at the very end...

8. If you haven’t already caught on, Zoycite really wants this fucking crystal.

9. Up above, DiC makes as much of an effort to showcase how much joy Zoycite derives from her job. Being a Negaverse warrior is an excellent honour - your true self - and boy, is she enjoying exerting her power over those below her. Zoycite’s ambition is demonstrated not as an ideal professional characteristic, but the potential in her to throw a coup if she wanted to. She is power hungry, and that grows recklessly to dangerous heights as her arc progresses. Notice that Zoisite says none of these things...because it isn’t power he seeks. He approaches his subject with almost professional indifference: he seeks no more than the objective of his task. And don’t worry, “it will only take a moment”.

10. This has always been one of my favourite scenes. I just love how Zoisite politely “nopes” out, while Zoycite - and I fully believe it - has a fucking victory celebration. (Don’t think for a moment Zoycite is just jesting, she probably told Malachite to set out the champagne before she left on the mission!)

And again, note the increased victorious laughter, where there was none before...

And FINALLY, the one ODD thing that happens a LOT throughout DiC’s version of this character arc. Remember how I mentioned in a previous instalment that DiC seemed to like to inject extra dialogue and laughs that could exposit Zoycite as a fundamentally meaner character than Zoisite?

Hey look, it happened again:

Like, this may not seem like much of a deal, but think about it. We had a scene earlier where Zoisite’s words basically remained the same in conversion (the “order” scene). We’ve had many instances where the original dialogue/script did not need to be changed, and yet was tweaked in just certain places. This seems like a wholly unnecessary change, so why do it?

The answer is: in changing Zoisite’s gender, DiC encountered a whole other problem. And that problem was: a female solider character, who’s primary motivation was love, a love that could be read as more complex, established, and equally both inspirational and problematic ...could end up becoming an unintentional role model for DiC’s demographic. Figuratively speaking, the tragedy by which we all love Kunzite and Zoisite’s humanity for carried a message that DiC feared might be misconstrued as another example of a miracle romance - because at that point, superficially, the character would no longer be any different than Sailor Moon. iIf Zoycite also fought for love, then her motivations would blow a hole right in the Power of Love message that DiC’s Sailor Moon stood for. And, if she was as dedicated to Malachite as Zoisite was to Kunzite - questionably so - it would also rip a massive hole in DiC’s message of Girl Power. 

I’ll talk more about this in greater detail as those essential scenes crop up throughout the arc. For the time being, let’s simply observe that for all the animosity Zoycite gets in the DiC version (even by other characters in the same universe), that Zoisite was never perceived in the same way, even by his enemies. And there’s a reason for that.

[pestopascal]

yeah but vivienne has a different experience from everyone else and she got to get out of the circle and do things which not many other people do. her world view is pretty narrow

which she acknowledges in her first conversation??? she says she focused on moving up within circles, transferred from ostwick to montsimmard, was part of a show, caught bastien’s eye, and has been living out of the circles in a very different lifestyle for some time (both in bastien’s home and has a wing or smth in the palace). she acknowledges that she has had luxuries many others will never have. she also says that she has no memories of her parents or a life outside the circle as she was incredibly young when she was taken to ostwick. the circle is her life, and she helped shape it. if u dont take into account her dialogue i cant rly help u there lmao

anders comments on lake calenhad circle as “everyone kissing everyone”, but he also tried to escape 7 times or whatnot and was left in solitary confinement up until the mages returned from ostagar so like i think close to/more than a year? (and u have to acknowledge that he was part of the circle much later into his childhood, almost teenage years, vs when most children are taken, so he had already lived a great deal of years outside). we know kirkwall is horrific, even though bethany writes that it’s not the worst time she’s had (likely lying however in her letters to not worry her sibling/mother as you just need to get some ambient dialogue to hear about the gallows). the game tries to tell us that kirkwall is an outlier but idk they try to change/redo a lot of lore in dai without introducing it properly (like the amount of damage in kirkwall from what u experience at the end of da2 which may truly be limits to the engine and capabilites vs how they tell u that basically the entirety of high town was destroyed lmao). which is exactly why i think vivienne’s dialogue is SUCH a point of contention for so many people, because instead of them gently introducing new lore, they have her info dump it all, and then SOUND like she supports the chantry. which she doesnt. she supports the protection and education part.

and then if u take into account the books, like what happens in white spire (both in book and movie now that i think about it), then we get another perspective. we generally are told the circles are bad overall, and of course they are! even if you weren’t told this, basic information is 9/10 of the mages taken in dont get to see their families ever again, and will likely live and die in the walls.

as for the warden amell/surana that is then taken into player discretion on how they believe the circle was for their own character. and trevelyan gets special treatment and discretion from ostwick circle to be able to visit their family, which is interesting. i attribute that more to the lack of “origin” and changes in writing to attribute that “not all circles are bad just kirkwall” that dai pushes.

anyway tldr; vivienne literally acknowledges in her first set of dialogue that she has a different experience to the average mage due to how she worked to get out of the circles, and she’s literally used as a mouthpiece by bioware to introduce all the new lore and understanding (the dalish comments for example), which is one of the reasons i think people hate her outright. if you dont actually listen to her and ur kneejerk reaction is to think someone is disagreeing with ur player character then thats on u

[6-mcs-for-6-lis]

Apprentice April!

I wanted to participate in this, so I thought I’d start off with an introduction to Ziv, using the ask list from April first!

1. The Basics.  What is your character’s name?  How old are they?  How tall are they?  Skin color?  Eye color?  Hair color?  Gender identification?

Ziv Paz Levi, they/them, nonbinary, roughly 5"7', 25, olive skin, sea green eyes, mouse brown hair (usually in a long braid, also they have pointed ears!)

2.  Love Interest.  Who does your character love?  What attracted them to that particular LI?

Asra! Before the plague, Ziv and Asra have known each other since childhood. It was a natural growth from friendship to more. After they're brought back... it's just a draw to him. Like home.

3. Familiar.  Does your character have a familiar?  How did they meet?

They do! A shapeshifter with a preference for bird forms named Nitzan!

4. Hobbies.  What kinds of things does your character like to do for fun?

Baking, swimming, running along the sand. They're from Nopal, so anything outside and in the sun feels nostalgic for them.

5. Hidden talents.  Is there something neat that your character can do?  Tie a cherry stem into a knot with their tongue?  Say any word backwards perfectly?

Voice mimicry. If they hear someone speaking long enough, they can copy them perfectly.

6. Magical talents.  Is there a specific type of magic that your character excels at?  Any magic they aren’t so great at?  Or do they actually shy away from magic altogether?

Enjoys water magic the best, but excels at pyrokenesis to their chagrin. Ziv is afraid of fire. Also fairly empathic, but keeps themselves closed off for the most part.

7. Interaction.  How does your character typically interact with people?

They are very comfortable with most people, and will be friendly as long as the other person is friendly. If they like you, they warm up. If not, you will never get further with them than "civility".

8. Romance.  What is something that your character and their LI love to do together?  How do they show affection?

Ziv's love language is physical touch. So randomly taking Asra's hand, idly playing with his fingers while laying in his lap as he reads. They do like cooking together, and dancing, and for special occasions they go out for a boat ride and bring a picnic.

9. Travel.  Does your character like to travel outside of Vesuvia?  How often?  For how long?  What kinds of things do they do away from home?

They haven't really traveled outside Vesuvia and Nopal. They grew up in Nopal and know the area really well. After the main games events they get Asra to travel with them up thereat least every other month.

10. WTF.  Has anything just…weird ever happened to your character?  Something that made them stop and go “What just happened?!”

The first time they used magic was a pure accident! About five years old, they were playing by the fire with their parents sitting by them, and suddenly the fire was in their hands! Then it wasn't! Then it was! Two years later they were sent to live with their aunt in Vesuvia during the summers, to learn to control their gift.

11. Crime.  Has your character ever been arrested?  If so, what did they do?  Have they ever helped stop a crime?

When Ziv would be in Vesuvia, they were a little rascal. Their aunt had a lot of connections, and was well respected. That being said... Ziv would regularly "steal" (they went back later with money or good to exchange) from the merchants that knew them and give the food to Asra and Muriel. Of course there was one time they got caught by the guards... and auntie came to the rescue before they could be hauled off to the palace.

12. Secrets.  What is a secret that your character has?  Are they in line for the throne in a far off land?  Was there this one time at band camp…?  Are they secretly involved in an assassin’s guild?

Ziv is part fae. Or something. Their father never said exactly what extra blood that side of the family has, but they all have some strange feature that they have to play off. Ziv has pointed ears. Their father had cat-like eyes. Their aunt had skin that glistened in moonlight. It goes back generations, but almost no one outside the family knows about it. It's part of why their magic is so strong and shows so early.

13. Overcompensation.  Is there something that your character just HAS to do better than anyone else?  Or are they just that dang good without trying?  If they see someone else showing off, what is their kneejerk reaction?

Quietly fume and walk away. They don't like show offs who do it just for show. Showing off out of pride, or to get money, sure. They get that. But just because you can? Ick. If they decide they want to be the best at something, they just keep working at it. Usually their only competition is Asra, and that's more fun than rivalry.

14. Fight Club.  Is your character a good fighter?  What kind of skills do they have?

First reaction: Shield. Second reaction: Fireball to the face. Third reaction: Run.

15. The Arts.  Is your character a creative type?  What kinds of things can they create?  Can they act?  Street perform?

Ziv is good with their hands for certain crafts. Making charms and wind chimes or window hangings. Things that are made for the sunlight and wind to play with.

16. Goofy.  Is your character a clown?  Do they like to make people laugh?

Definitely not a clown, but once they know you, they can make you laugh. It's very personal, and it's very them.

17. Language.  Is your character multilingual?  How many languages do they speak?  Do they have an accent?  Is it sexy?  Is it silly?  Do they have a multilingual lisp?

Asra finds it sexy. Ziv does speak both Vesuvian and Nopalese. Thier first language does give them a slight accent, similar to welsh accents.

18. Embarrassment.  What is something really embarrassing that your character has done/said?

The first time they met Asra after staying in Nopal for about five years. It was the masquerade, and they bumped into his table behind their aunts shop. They turned around and recognized him after a moment of staring and said something like "Well you just walked out of my childhood dreams." And immediately died on the spot as Asra giggled.

19. Memory.  Has your character gotten any of their memory back?  If so, what?  Did it change them?

In their upright ending, Ziv does regain their memories. They and Asra spend a lot of time in the Arcana realms working to figure out a way for them to remember and also a way to control their new gifts properly. Eventually, they wake up and everything is... there. It didn't change them that much, but it definitely helps them feel more whole. And they are able to track down their family because of it.

20. Family.  Talk about your character’s family.  Who were they?

Their parents were Agam and Ori Levi. Agam dies of the plague around the same time Ziv did, but Ori survived. Agam and his sister Ahava were twins, and magicians. Ahava - Ziv's aunt in Vesuvia - left Nopal to make a name for herself, while Agam stayed behind to help the community. Ori comes from a large family, and Ziv has A Lot of cousins. Most of them are chattel farmers, or cactus farmers. Although some potters run through as the family rebels.

[ollifree]

Apprentice April Week 1

1. The Basics. What is your character’s name? How old are they? How tall are they? Skin color? Eye color? Hair color? Gender identification?

Skylar, 6’9”, male, dark brown skin, green eyes, curly black hair, 38 y/o

2.  Love Interest. Who does your character love? What attracted them to that particular LI?

Lucio, his main draw being that he really does have a one-of-a-kind personality. Even after meeting so many types of people Skylar still went 👀 when he first heard Lucio open his mouth. It also helps that he’s rather physically attractive. Their main bonding early on happened over their shared immense love of animals.

3. Familiar. Does your character have a familiar? How did they meet?

Skylar has Salsa, a bastard gremlin coyote. How they met is as much of an enigma as the coyote herself.

4. Hobbies. What kinds of things does your character like to do for fun?

You will never find him more than two feet away from a book and that is a threat. He gets outdoor activities in with the dogs, but isn’t a big fan of being outside unless there’s snow on the ground.

5. Hidden talents. Is there something neat that your character can do? Tie a cherry stem into a knot with their tongue? Say any word backwards perfectly?

Very good at constructing card houses, and excels at word problems.

6. Magical talents. Is there a specific type of magic that your character excels at? Any magic they aren’t so great at? Or do they actually shy away from magic altogether?

Skylar’s natural affinities are for fire magic. He does know party tricks, but doesn’t go out of his way to perform them.

7. Interaction. How does your character typically interact with people?

He likes listening to people and learning their stories. For those he becomes friends with he’s stellar at providing emotional support.

8. Romance. What is something that your character and their LI love to do together? How do they show affection?

If your shared love language is physical touch and you aren’t all up in each other’s business 24/7 are you really in a relationship?

9. Travel. Does your character like to travel outside of Vesuvia? How often? For how long? What kinds of things do they do away from home?

He loves travel! It was what he did for the bulk of his life before staying in Vesuvia. He did take a few trips here and there after coming to the city, but never as often or as long as before.

10. WTF. Has anything just…weird ever happened to your character? Something that made them stop and go “What just happened?!”

This was also the bulk of his life during his traveling years. Skylar tends not to be very observant, to the point that almost everything he had his attention drawn to could fit under this umbrella.

Staying in Vesuvia fits here as well. The most he'd ever remained in a place before then was a number of months instead of years.

11. Crime. Has your character ever been arrested? If so, what did they do? Have they ever helped stop a crime?

Never been arrested, no. But, constantly being in new places meant he accidentally busted a few minor laws he was unaware of. He has been detained, however. Thanks, Ilya.

12. Secrets. What is a secret that your character has? Are they in line for the throne in a far off land? Was there this one time at band camp…? Are they secretly involved in an assassin’s guild?

This man’s backstory is so secret I don’t know half of it. Skylar doesn’t intentionally keep secrets so much as he travels so often and meets so many people he’s fallen into the habit of not telling others deeper things about himself. Sure, he could go out of his way to make stronger connections and let people know more about him, but he’s gonna leave in a few weeks anyway.

He is from a noble household, and will tell people this if they ask, but he doesn’t bring it up on his own due to aforementioned reasons.

13. Overcompensation. Is there something that your character just HAS to do better than anyone else? Or are they just that dang good without trying? If they see someone else showing off, what is their kneejerk reaction?

Skylar’s not one for competition or proving he’s the best at anything. He knows his own worth.

14. Fight Club. Is your character a good fighter? What kind of skills do they have?

Despite his affinity for fire magic, he’s much more a defensive person than an offensive one. And he doesn’t care for violence much to begin with.

15. The Arts. Is your character a creative type? What kinds of things can they create? Can they act? Street perform?

Skylar knows a good bit about the arts, but doesn’t have an interest in doing them.

16. Goofy. Is your character a clown? Do they like to make people laugh?

Not outright goofy, but he has a dry wit and is a master of deadpan snark.

17. Language. Is your character multilingual? How many languages do they speak? Do they have an accent? Is it sexy? Is it silly? Do they have a multilingual lisp?

Skylar grew up in a multilingual home! I kept him to six (plus a smattering of words in others) because I didn’t want to outstretch Julian’s eight. His accent mostly comes out in different stresses on consonants and difficulties with some back-of-the-throat sounds. Part of the reason he has Julian’s blessing to keep calling him “Ilya” is that he had trouble with that pronunciation of J.

18. Embarrassment. What is something really embarrassing that your character has done/said?

Please give him a five hour grace period of ignoring his presence whenever he fucks up which word he meant to use.

19. Memory. Has your character gotten any of their memory back? If so, what? Did it change them?

He does get his memory back (all of it), but that being in my own AU that’s replaced game canon. In that he never got his memories back.

20. Family. Talk about your character’s family. Who were they?

Skylar’s immediate family consists of his mother, father, and two older sisters. They lived with aunts, uncles, and cousins of varying degrees: all descended from his grandmother (who he knew) and grandfather (who died early on in his childhood).