#been learning how to write interpreters using it and its very very good

[janokenmun]

hard to pick a favorite

if i had to it'd probably being able to return and destructure tuples whenever u want. i LOVE returning multiple things from functions without having to declare a new struct every time

but also the enums are so powerful (while not being awful like c unions)

and cargo Just Works

and the documentation is SO GOOD. definitely the best language documentation i've used so far

also using entire blocks of code as an expression in an assignment statement or w/e is really funny and enables some mildly cursed designs (also i like the if-as-expression syntax more than the ? : syntax like in C)

speaking of syntax the syntax in general!!! it's So Explicit which is very nice. makes it very easy to read imo (especially since my IDE autofills the types for let statements)

a lil bit of functional programming is also nice but tbh i dont use that as much as i could

also so many compiler checks!!! helps me to not have to focus as much on the code. if it compiles its probably correct

ALSO THE UNIT TESTING IS SO GOOD ITS SUCH A NICE LIL FRAMEWORK BUILT RIGHT INTO RUST & CARGO

also very nice that if it gets in ur way theres usually a way around it. what with Cells for getting around mutability issues, Rc for multiple ownership, and unsafe blocks for system-level nonsense, stuff like that

lots of things. its my favorite language for a lot of reasons

reblog with your favorite rust feature

[jibunbosh]

Mesmerizer is a satire of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and the rest of the modern short-form vertical video format

A brief thematic analysis.

I'm sure there are countless people already interpreting the imagery and details in this wonderful song & MV, like here and here, so I won't spend too much time retreading that ground. Miku and Teto are dancing. Miku gets hypnotized. Teto signals for help, but gets hypnotized at the end as well.

That part is obvious enough, but that's still pretty surface-level. What is this seemingly hyperspatial horror scenario supposed to mean to us?

While checking to see if anyone before me's already come to the same conclusions as I did and if I should bother not writing this text post at all (lol), I came across udin's great analysis video. She comes to the conclusion that the song tackles themes of disillusionment with reality and the ways we indulge in escapism to relieve ourselves of the pains of the world.

I agree with that reading! From practically the very beginning, we have Miku call to us - the viewer - to push away our true feelings. Teto comes in to peddle a solution, inviting us to surrender and empty our minds - in her words, "pretending to know nothing."

You, the viewer, are a critical character in this masquerade. For nearly the entire video, Miku and Teto's eyes are unfailingly trained on you. Or, well... perhaps they can't actually see you, but they can see a camera, or whatever other aperture the point of view is supposed to be from. And they know they're being watched. (Who else would Teto be sending distress signals to?)

Let's put a pin on that for later.

udin notes very early on that Miku and Teto are, conspicuously, kept in vertical frames - very similar to the video formats of TikTok (and Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, and whatever other clones of the format exist.) You know, just like the animator Caststation's Rabbit Hole fan MV that went viral some months ago.

Hey wouldn't it be crazy if the song's producer, 32ki, released Mesmerizer shorts too haha. Wouldn't that be crazy.

Wow, wild.

These short-term vertical videos are captivating & alluring. If you're reading this, it's more likely than not that you've also found yourself caught up in them at least once, scrolling through the infinite algorithmic slurry and forgetting about the real-life issues you have at hand. Would you say, then, that you felt hypnotized? Mesmerized, even?

And so these two invite us to join their world and focus on the... uh... rectangle.

Their dances are repetitive, following the same loop. Their outfits are distinct, but their choreography isn't. They're copying the same formula, repeating it ad nauseam to the best of their ability.

They're doing a fucking TikTok dance.

Back to the pin I told you about earlier, with Miku and Teto looking at a camera.

Miku sways with the camera, eyes looking directly at it like a swinging pocket watch. She's been looking at it the entire time, after all. We've been seeing her via our screen this entire time, but, again, she doesn't necessarily see us. She's beholden to the camera, which she dances for day after day, caught up in its spell. She's hypnotized by it. Eventually, she breaks.

Teto, on the other hand, resists. For a while, anyway.

Despite her being the one jumping to us with the "solution" at the beginning of the MV, there's very quickly good reason to question how much agency she has in this. She dances for the camera as well, but she doesn't want to. She's signalling for help. She wants out.

Many content creators (as much as I personally loathe the non-specificity and soullessness of the term) have struggled with the adaptation to the short-form video format, and the preference the algorithm has had for these captivating, bite-sized videos. They're catchy, and easily drive up metrics. Practically anyone who's publishing their work via video format online needs to learn to adapt or fall behind, even if that means whittling their content down to fit the frame, the time, and people's shortening attention spans. Sometimes, that means compromising on specificity and completeness... or, in other words, the true representation of a full work.

The song's writer, 32ki, has been releasing songs on YouTube for several years. Their first YouTube Short, however, was posted only a year ago: a short, whittled-down segment of their previous song, CIRCUS PANIC!!!, hoping for it to win the ProsekaNEXT song contest. It was their first song to achieve widespread popularity and hit a million views.

The shorts, however, aren't the "true" versions of the song. The full song just won't fit.

We're being mesmerized as consumers of this endless stream of content, rather than appreciators of music and art. However, that relationship isn't completely symmetrical across the plane that is the 4th wall. Miku and Teto are trapped not by their attention spans, but by a compulsion to project their "truthful acting" and peddle that window into a colorful, problem-free world.

We, as the collective audience, need not dwell on any one thing for too long - we need only swipe, and move on to the next video. However, Miku and Teto are trapped behind the screen for eternity, day after day.

They're the only characters we get to see, of course. There's no evil 3rd voice synth character that's plotting to keep them trapped in there. We can't put a face to whatever force is hypnotizing them and trapping them behind the screen. It's faceless - like the inscrutable algorithms of YouTube recommendations or the TikTok For You page, or the impersonal corporations that develop & maintain those aforementioned apps. Miku and Teto's likenesses, on the other hand, are being exploited and extracted from for their entertainment value, being strung along by that metaphorical hypnotizing force like puppets on a string.

Many people, represented by Miku, enjoy their success on such platforms. It's freeing and liberating to throw oneself wholeheartedly into such an endeavor, of course! Others, represented by Teto, harbor their doubts of the emotional veracity of such a medium, but know they have little choice lest they face destruction... perhaps not literally as a person, but as an idea.

Wouldn't it be easier just to let oneself be swept away by it and give in?

[creatingblackcharacters]

ive been really into greek mythology lately, specifically athena and her subsequent myths, and it is so fucking nightmarish over here. (i want to preface all this as well by saying i myself am white, so if anything i say is ignorant/racist absolutely let me know)

not only do people refuse to see ATHENA as anything but white (and unfortunately the most common depictions of her find base in either epic the musical, where she is white and has red hair, or the percy jackson book series, where people for Some Strange Mysterious Reason refuse to make athena anything but pale blonde haired light eyed despite the author of the series HIMSELF revising this in his show to make her Black), a very large majority of people have also decided that one person from her myths (pallas, daughter of triton), should have the very same depiction.

pallas is from North Africa. in literally every telling of her and athena's myths, she is very explicitly said to be from North Africa. and despite this, the most common interpretation i see of her is, of course, whiter than notebook paper with blonde hair and blue eyes. there is never any attempt to write her as even Amazigh or Arab if the creator doesnt see her as Black either, there is just. Nothing. there is no "oh North Africa is a very varied place! people can be blonde with blue eyes!" excuse for this that is anything but eurocentric racism. i have also seen very few people ever even attempting to depict Africa at all, as a whole, in their greek mythology fan works despite how important the region was and how much of greek mythology was derived from various African peoples beliefs (and then subsequently erased)

it is exhausting to engage in a medium where theres so many different interpretations throughout history and see only This Shit. to see only us, white people, seeing only ourselves and never thinking of anything else. never bothering to learn, never bothering to consider anything else, speaking over every other possibility.

theres also still a lot to say about athena herself. for example- academics and historians have repeatedly and vehemently denied any concept of athena being Black, (see: Black Athena by Martin Bernal and how it was received, even past any arguments of historical inaccuracy its glaringly obvious the racist reasoning behind why people were so venomously against this book) despite how much its also speculated that many parts of greek mythology are derived from African belief, including athena herself!

thats of course not saying anything of athena as shes depicted in actual myth writing either, which is also largely reminiscent of what ive learned of the Black experience, especially in terms of misogynoir. for example, athena is said repeatedly in myths to be "masculine", to have a "masculine" domain and be of "masculine" appearance. her domain is war, but shes a goddess ! she cant be "masculine" ! thatd be inane ! so of course her domain has to be weaving too, she has to be "feminine", they must write her stripping herself in front of a man to be judged by him (judgment of paris). nothing is ever enough.

when she is helpful to heroes she is "like their mother" (fun fact! the ancient greeks themselves also gave her the epithet of "mater", which translates directly to mother), she is surely goodness incarnated ! but as soon as she shows any hint of frustration, of unkindness, of doing anything but complacently and invisibly helping her heroes that are Strangely Constantly Depicted As Strong White Men, she is a suddenly a demon, suddenly she is just a goddess subjecting a mortal to her whims and is an "insufferable bitch". suddenly it is all about ovid and how many times athena acted "unfairly" against other women that these same people see as pale. suddenly athena is "too violent" and it "makes sense her domain is war".

thank you for putting the work in on this blog that you do, as not only has it helped me see all of this in a clearer light, but also has helped and inspired me multiple times to write an athena who is overtly Black. if you or anyone here have any works or work recommendations (animations, artists, etc) that depict or talk about athena being Black, or works about ancient-era Africa, i would love them! i want to see more Black athenas so badly, PLEASE let me know of anything out there

"I've been into Greek mythology lately" ooh friend you coulda stopped there and I woulda told you, from a fellow lover (Patroclus x Achilles, myself), that there is not a single Greek mythology related fandom on here that isn't chock full of people that hate negroes lmao. I've even managed to organize the types of antiblackness into groups, I've observed it for so long. I don't even bother participating directly in fandom (haven't since 2022) anymore, I sit in my corner and write and make art. So 😬

I see where you're going with the potential of using her character to reflect misogynoir! That would be cool. Alas. We ARE getting a Black Athena in the new Odyssey movie (Lupita!) but alas the movie also does not look very good, so. We'll have to hear about that, because somehow "woke" will be blamed amongst other things.

"Ancient era Africa" is an extremely broad request. You want to find more, you'll have to get more specific!

[bohoteacher]

Navigating Betrayal: Reconciling Admiration with Disillusionment

Like many Neil Gaiman fans this month, I've been shocked and distressed by the news regarding the SA allegations. I won't go over the details, as they're readily available online. I'll start by saying that I believe the accusers, and even the most lenient interpretation of events is still troubling enough to discredit Gaiman. For a long time, I didn't know what to say. I was just shocked and, somewhat naively, felt betrayed. I don't typically idolize actors, authors, or other public figures—I'm here for the characters, they're who I love and believe in. So, how did I end up believing in this man and his rhetoric?

I only had a parasocial relationship with him, which is to say no real relationship at all. But I took his Masterclass on writing, spent hours taking notes, and learned from him. I feel betrayed by someone I saw as a beloved teacher. I know this is insignificant compared to what the women who came forward experienced, but it's a valid feeling, and I needed time to process it. My initial reaction was to throw out and discount everything he’s ever written or done—of course it was.

This isn't just about my love for Good Omens, although how can it not be? I learned so much from this man—about writing, about not being too hard on myself, about the creative process. I read his books to my middle school classes, and we all learned how to be better people from them. Today, I saw and bought Instructions, a children’s book by Neil Gaiman illustrated by Charles Vess, from the used bookstore where I volunteer. It was a used copy, so no royalties will go to him. It’s a beautifully illustrated book where the main character walks through a land that clearly symbolizes life, learning lessons like saying please and "if any creature cries to you that it hurts, if you can, ease its pain." How could someone write this and then do what he did? I asked myself. "What an evil hypocrite," was my first thought. But then I recalled a line from another author, Stephen King. In The Stand, a character is described as "awake at the lectern, but asleep at the switch," meaning they know the right thing to do and can talk about it, but in the moment of choice, they act without integrity.

I don’t know if I’m making sense, but I think it’s too easy to label Gaiman as simply evil, as if he intentionally manipulated us by saying the right things just to make us read or watch his creations. The reality is likely far more complicated. Within this man is the amazing, thought-provoking, life-affirming wisdom that many of us have tried to live by, but also the hard, thoughtless, selfish cruelty that led him to abuse young, vulnerable women. The wisdom does not justify the abuse, and the abuse does not nullify the wisdom.

I think it's too simplistic to say Gaiman is despicable and always has been, hiding it from us all along. This doesn't acknowledge the complexity of human nature—that there is potential for both good and bad within us all. As it’s said, possibly by Terry Pratchett or possibly by Neil Gaiman, “It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”

Gaiman is a man who has done some fundamentally good things and some fundamentally bad things. I can’t forget either one.

This is just my opinion. I know some people want to cancel him, while others want to exonerate him. You do you. As for me, I will continue to love Aziraphale and Crowley. I will continue to read and create fan-fiction. I will continue to find comfort and wisdom in books that have meant so much to me over the years. But I will also remember that they were created by a very flawed man whom I can no longer trust.

I understand that opinions on this matter vary widely. I know some people might feel that not discarding everything associated with him is wrong, but this is where I stand. I’m not looking to debate this or be told how I should react. I just needed to process my thoughts in writing and move forward in the way that feels right for me.

[belit0]

I’m unsure if you’re open to requests/ideas at the moment so feel free to ignore!

I recently fell back into Naruto & your writings & headcanons are just so good to fuel my dopamine drive 🤭 I was curious about how madara, tobirama, & hashirama might react/engage with an arranged marriage partner who is kinda like a spider equivalent to the aburame clan? Her clan has primarily been silk merchants who provide some of the best fabric for shinobi clothing & it’s only in this marriage that they find out it’s spider silk🕷️

(i know spiders aren’t everyone’s thing so if it’s not yours no worries! just curious of your interpretations🖤)

Welcome to this Uchiha corner, where we revere these idiots, their madness, and their unhealthy obsession with burning things!!

Madara

Madara never cared for politics that didn’t serve his war efforts—until now. The moment he hears of the arrangement, his first instinct is to reject it. An outsider? From a merchant clan? He has no patience for trivialities. But the moment he learns of the true nature of (Y/N)’s clan, interest flickers behind those sharp, crimson eyes.

Spider silk—stronger than steel, more versatile than any fabric known to shinobi, a hidden weapon woven into something as delicate as silk. It’s genius.

Still, Madara does not simply accept things.

When he meets (Y/N), he is composed, unreadable. He watches, listens, but says little—until she speaks, until she moves, until he realizes just how deeply her clan has hidden its strength. She is not weak. She is something else entirely.

It is on the wedding night, as he runs his fingers over the silk of her robes, only to realize it is woven with threads not meant just for beauty—but for defense, for strategy—that he finally smirks.

–So that’s what you are.– His voice is low, approval laced in the words. –You trap before you strike. I can respect that.–

And when she smirks back, unafraid of him, he decides—perhaps this marriage isn’t a loss, after all.

Tobirama

Tobirama’s first reaction is immediate: No.

An arranged marriage is nothing but a chain. A tie to someone he does not know, does not trust. He loathes the idea of being bound by politics, especially to a clan so secretive. A clan of silk merchants? What use is that to a warrior?

But then he investigates.

And what he finds changes everything.

Spider silk—flexible, near-indestructible, woven into the very fabric of the shinobi world. Shinobi uniforms, armor underlays, specialized bindings—all things that have relied on (Y/N)’s clan without even knowing it.

And (Y/N) herself? A woman who moves with careful calculation, a presence that is neither loud nor weak, but clever, sharp—like a web unseen until it is too late.

On their wedding night, as he traces the hem of her undergarments—feeling the near-invisible strength of the silk—his keen mind clicks the final piece into place.

–How long have you been weaving your influence into the world without anyone noticing?– His voice is quiet, intrigued despite himself.

(Y/N) only tilts her head, that knowing look in her eyes. –Long enough to catch even you in it, apparently.–

Tobirama exhales through his nose, a rare smirk tugging at his lips. –Hn. We’ll see about that.–

And suddenly, the marriage does not seem so trapping after all.

Hashirama

Unlike the others, Hashirama’s first reaction isn’t rejection—it’s curiosity.

An arranged marriage? Strange, but not unheard of. He has never considered marriage for himself, too swept up in dreams of peace and unity, but he understands the why behind it.

And then he meets her.

(Y/N) is nothing like he expected. She is not fragile, despite her connection to something as delicate as silk. She is not meek, despite her clan’s quiet presence in the world. She is... endlessly fascinating.

The way she moves—silent, graceful, yet deliberate—reminds him of something just out of reach, something unseen until she wants to be seen.

And when he finds out about the spiders? About the silk that is not just fabric, but a craft honed over generations, a secret strength no one has truly understood?

He is delighted.

On their wedding night, he cannot help but reach for her robe, slowly, fingers grazing the silk with an almost childlike wonder.

–So soft... but strong.– He looks up at her, warmth in his expression. –Like you.–

(Y/N) blinks, caught off guard, before smiling.

Hashirama does not care for power like Madara. Does not see webs of strategy like Tobirama. But what he does see—what he feels—is something just as powerful.

A connection, woven with threads neither of them expected.

And perhaps, just perhaps, it is a bond that might hold stronger than any silk.

[slowd1ving]

Hi! If you're not taking reqs then feel free to ignore this but could you write Kim dokja angst? Maybe we're switching the roles and the reader is dying instead of dokja for once lmao

HOUSE OF CARDS ゜・KIM DOKJA

"A house made of cards, like the fools we are." In which a gambler finally pays the price for his bet. never actually written angst so I hope this is good enough anon art creds to kim28_dokja on twt! pairings: kim dokja + gn reader warnings: blood, injury, death, references to child abuse/dokja's past wc: 2.4k

ORV MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST ・゜・NAVIGATION

Dokja is shit at games. 

It’s clear to the dealer. Even on the best day, those omnipotent palms that allocate fate will grow clammy (which they never do) and that ever-present smile slowly turns into a profound grimace. They know. They feel it instinctually, on a cellular level: that hand was terrible. 

It’s clear to the people around him. The salaryman stumbles into the building as though he’s just learned to walk: in never-polished shoes, slacks that perpetually crease further with each nervous wipe of his hands, and the clinging scent of smoke that preludes his entrance. He’s not got his life together, they observe, behind stony poker faces he can never quite master. That’s why he’s here.

Most of all, it’s clear to Kim Dokja himself. Every irregular heartbeat pulses in his throat as he gazes at his cards—two seven offsuit. In his sweat-streaked fingers is the short straw urging him to enlist. On the table before him are all his chess pieces, lined up neatly: spectators to the constant check, his inevitable downfall. 

Despite his atrocious luck, the thin red string binding him to this world never quite severs. A fire befalls the casino. A bullet embeds itself in the shell of his helmet and not a hair further. The chess game is postponed by a phone call and the poignant sound of shattering glass—and Dokja is left to shoulder the limbo of an unfinished game.

He’s shit at games, but never truly loses. 

Is it simply up to chance? A coin is tossed into the air: another foolish plan devised, another chip placed that equates to one of his lives. Crisis after crisis—Dokja, that harbinger of misfortune—yet each time, he resurrects. He bets on it, in fact: quite literally gambling away everything. 

It is just how things are. He cuts corners. He smooth-talks the fates into letting his transgressions slide just a little longer. For once, he’s winning, and the grand prize is something beyond his wildest dreams—an ending, to mark the indefinite uncertainty of chapters that seem to grow like nebulae. 

“Dokja.” It’s a sigh each time when he defies the end. Anyone else would interpret it as exasperation, but he likes to think he knows you better than that; it’s relief you greet him with, no matter how many times he sacrifices himself. “You idiot.”

It’s nice to know his long-time friend cares about him. 

No matter how many times he places his bets, the value of his life never seems to deprecate for you. Sacrifice is something you’d rather avoid (so does he, but it cannot always be helped, right?). If Dokja’s life can be used to save more of the people he cares about, all the better. 

In fact, he’d rather keep you away from any front line. 

There’s a story of its own between the two of you: years of scraped knees and violence, of gazing up at your shoulders while you bruise your knuckles with whoever bruised his eye, of friendship pacts forged with spat-on palms and corded bracelets. 

Your very soul is entwined with his scrawny one from years past, and it’s always been the case that yours has fought the battles in his stead. ‘Why?’ he’d once asked, and he still vividly remembers the cool response you attempted to give, only to end up fumbling the words. 

Because I can. Because I want to. Because you deserve it. 

It’s his turn to repay his debts. These fights are no longer about a bloodied mouth and spitting red onto the asphalt. They don’t end with bruised ribs and broken noses. 

You sit out. This one, he thinks grimly, is his fight—one that will guarantee both you and him turning the page on ◼◼◼◼◼◼◼◼. Every factor has been considered. Each risk is carefully mitigated at the expense of himself. None of the contingencies fail to prioritise his oldest friend. 

These are chips he cannot afford to bet on. 

Naturally, he keeps them close to his chest. 

゜゜・

Dokja is shit at games. 

His friends know it all too well. Those disbelieving laughs they let out, their fists clenching and unclenching as they debate whether to hit him across the head—Dokja, the herald of despair, he is—and finally the rush of words leaving their mouths like air deflating from a balloon: “Never do that again.”

All in, his chips go—each and every time. There is no other way about it: not unless you shackled Dokja to you in vain to make him listen—to stop the endless deaths he goes through. Over and over, until you feel his mind wear into recklessness, until you see the emptiness that taints his eyes as he slips into quiet contemplation.

How will Dokja die this time?

You’d rather erode into nothingness than clip his wings, though. That book he gushed about to you (syllables rushing over themselves in his excitement each update) gave him back his life—if you ruin his painstaking ◼◼◼◼◼◼◼, you don’t think you could forgive yourself.

Even if he’s ratcheting to Icarian heights. Those feathers of his are beginning to streak wax-hot down man-made frames, made of pages upon pages of a book obsolete to all but one dedicated reader. 

You think he can see the pain in your eyes, before he turns away with lips pressed together tightly. You’ll be safe, he reassured you. You’ve got me. I’ll create an epilogue for you to witness. 

Dokja’s changed. 

Those scrawny shoulders have become something that the very sky settles on: ones that no longer shake behind your own arms. The world has bruised you, and Dokja shall bruise it back. Every favour, repaid tenfold. 

Dokja’s changed. 

He’s still got the same facade of the boy you’ve called your oldest friend. If it weren’t for that, you’d think the man who coldly settles his death were a stranger. Someone you never shook hands with, childishly grimacing at the remains of a spat-upon pact rubbing into small palms. 

Dokja’s changed. 

He thinks he no longer causes misfortune with each risk he takes—as if his life were a mere trifle, as if each shred of news about him doesn’t shatter your heart over and over. 

When will it end? 

You haven’t seen him for months. 

Is it finally time to grieve?

゜゜・

Dokja is shit at games. 

It seems you are too. He turns the page of his book, and beside him the house of cards is carefully stacked on the glass table. It’s a precarious matter: high stakes against yourself, an unsafe tightrope that threatens to give way any moment now. 

Your eyes meet his. 

Like magic, the house collapses. 

゜゜・

You are shit at games. 

You take a deep breath, and begin organising what could be the final legacy of Dokja. It’s something he treasured even over his life, evidently: the ending, which you allow into your soul in the Kim Dokja-shaped hole left behind. 

It’s the first time you take a gamble: carefully picking up the shards of his ideas while rivulets of blood run down your fingers. It’s your turn. 

The battlefield in the scenarios is a sanctuary: white noise washing out Dokja’s ever-persistent voice in your head. There’s a perpetual, acrid smell of ash and smoke—a reek that is far better than the dust of buildings Dokja leaves you behind in. 

It’s hard. 

Gambling is not for you; in the sense that it sickens you, rather than just invoking disaster like it does for Dokja. The only good thing about it is that Dokja’s dream is finally being realised—a tribute to your oldest, dearest friend. Like funerary wine, metallic iron fills your mouth (a once-familiar taste) with each battle, every step closer to the story Dokja wove for you. A fabric so salient you couldn’t help but be entangled in it. 

I can do it. That is your gamble. 

You do it. 

You cut down monsters the size of buildings. You cling to life with bleeding fingernails, scraped raw with tenacity. Tentatively, you begin fleshing in the husk of yourself: talking with the friends you made in the apocalypse once more.

And like Dokja, you begin defying death. 

It starts off small—an arrow that you saw coming but didn’t feel like dodging. Jung Heewon almost blew a gasket when she took a glimpse, but then her eyes met yours—filled with the same distance that Dokja’s were, as though you too were peering through an impersonal screen—and she looked away for a brief moment. 

“Idiot,” she whispers. “Don’t treat yourself like Dokja.”

Your chips pile up. 

Except, you don’t quite have the same privilege that your dearest friend has. 

You will incur the cost, rather than somebody else. There is a reason Dokja is called a harbinger of ill fortune to others, and you are not. In the end, your downfall will be at your own hand. 

“Fool,” Yoo Joonghyuk grimaces as he cuts down a wolf you let claw your arm. The coppery stench is thick in the air, but there seems to be a manic grin on your face as you slice and chop and stab: a madness that slowly spreads like illness through your body. “There is nothing more worthless than sacrifice without cause.”

The debt accrues. 

Kim Dokja dreams of your knuckles, bloodied once more as you stand to face the world. But, it’s just a dream. 

He bets on it. 

゜゜・

You are shit at games. 

Bitter, arterial blood congeals on your hands as you try in vain to staunch the flow. There is nothing quite as caustic as the realisation that you fucked up, because now all the signs of your hamartia are clear. 

The house has long collapsed—it’s that final card that still hasn’t hit that glass table yet. 

Is this what Dokja feels? The thought runs wonderingly through your sluggish mind. Is it what he felt, you mean to say, but your throat grows thick whenever you speak about him in the past tense. You can’t quite accept the reality that he’s gone. The shock anaesthetises your mind: cradling your neurons with such gentleness that it’s hard to conceptualise you’re about to follow him to wherever he’s gone. 

Will I see him again?

Everything reeks of iron: from the massive corpse on the ground, to the claw impaled through your abdomen. It was inevitable. You’ve grown tired of the endless fight, and it’s cost you dearly. 

Your chest heaves desperately. 

Dokja. 

“Dokja,” you croak, collapsing onto the rubble freshly decimated. Despite the rough surface, your blood-slicked hands scrabble for purchase on the concrete—something that doesn’t quite feel like you’re the one puppeteering your strings. 

Deliriously, you watch as the same hand urgently attempts to apply pressure to your wound; it goes against rationality, but then again you’re not really yourself anymore. 

“Dokja?” you try again. Perhaps if you speak loudly enough—syllables soaked with sanguine that dribbles from your lips—you’ll be able to reach your dead best friend. 

There is a pressure behind your eyes. 

It may be tears; it may be an unwelcome guest in your head. 

It’s too late, you think. He’s dead, and soon I will be too. 

“Dokja,” you whisper, and there is salt on your tongue as you feel your limbs grow colder. Everything hurts—your pounding head, the thrum of your pulse as you marr the asphalt with crimson, and finally that stupid bleeding heart of yours that swears you can hear the spirit of your oldest friend. 

You can’t die, you think he says—a quiet scream drowned out by the static of your mind. 

“I’ll see you soon, though,” you slur, and the weight in your mind lifts—blurring and coalescing into a mirage you could recognise blind. 

Frigid fingers pass through the hologram, and you smile, bittersweet. 

“Dokja,” you breathe. “It’s been almost a year since I last saw you.”

His hands grasp your shoulders desperately, though his frantic mouth goes unheard upon your ears. You… can’t… die, his lips read—but that’s silly, you think. Doesn’t he want you to meet him again?

Horns curve out of his head, while his wings fluff out—shoulders shaking, with an expression you’ve only seen once on his face before. Utmost grief, when he came soaked in congealed blood and a haunted look in his eyes: murmuring she killed him, over and over. 

He’s your best friend. He was your best friend. 

Kim Dokja has lost his final gamble, and the bullet in the chamber has finally been spun into place for you too. 

“I can see you soon, right?” you murmur—there are cold fingers brushing against your forehead, and you think death is unexpectedly gentle. 

His lips wobble. 

Incorporeal fingers trace the tear tracks on your face—ones that mirror the slow stream of salt from his own eyes. You didn’t even notice—too caught up in the gradual greyness that spreads through each vessel, weaving through sinew and bone and brain. 

“I did a good job, right?” Your sword rests across the ground, heavy after almost a year of fighting. “Maybe it’ll help with the ending that you wanted.”

Dokja’s face crumples, and you can feel your own throat growing thick. Dokja, I’m scared, you want to admit. For the first time in your life, there’s a choking fear that grips you as the red surrounding you blooms into a field. 

Your own wings are rapidly coming apart. 

“Dokja, I don’t want to die,” you mumble. Struggling, you curl and uncurl your hands into fists, but you can no longer feel them. 

“Dokja,” you try again. You can no longer see him, but whether it’s from the salt clouding your vision, or the haze of limbo, you cannot tell. 

There is a phantom pressure that lingers on your face. 

“Dokja,” you gurgle, mouth iron-hot with arterial blood. “Don’t leave me alone—please.”

No response is given, but that sepulchral presence seems to remain—this time, those hands brush and cradle your face. 

You cannot tell if it’s him or death itself, but you don’t think death would kiss you like that. 

As if he could possibly breathe life back into you, his ghostly lips move against yours. Desperately, so urgently you half-wonder at his panic. 

Dokja, you want to ask. You’re already dead, right?

Right? 

With the final scraps of your vision, you watch as he pulls back—his tears pattering across your face—watch as his mouth moves for a final time.

I can’t live without you.

But by then, it is too late.

The words go unheard, and Dokja is alone once again.

[eye-may]

Do you have any Munkustrap headcanons mayhaps? The people would love to hear it if you do <3

I was waiting for someone to ask about Munkustrap!!! granted I would have yammered about him unprompted eventually anyway but YAY!

pls accept this speedy doodle of Munk having, what I imagine is one of very many, serious conversations (tm) with with his protegee Alonzo <3

"alonzo I told you the kittens could not watch terrifier 3. I say the things I say for a reason. now neither of us will be able to sleep for a week."

all kidding aside, yesss I have a LOT of thoughts about Munkustrap and how he and his story drive a lot of things that happen in my fanverse lol. I'll keep it relatively brief for now because if I don't moderate myself I'll end up writing 100k words worth of incomprehensible diatribe. somewhat abridged yammering beneath the cut!

edit: this mostly ended up being formatted in extensive elucidations on his relationships with other cats, with references to his backstory through that...which I hope isn't baffling lmao hopefully yall can make sense of it

✨Personality

My Munkustrap is pretty heavily based off of 98's Gruberstrap. That is to say, he's a very "warm" version of the character, a softer and more patient leader compared to some other interpretations where he errs on the side of strict and stringent.

Munk has a pretty troubled background (not unlike Tugger and Alonzo), but I place his symbolic age at around 30-35 so that he's still young and has things to learn and growing to do, but still old enough to have already matured and wizened up past a matrix of self-destructive idiosyncrasies he has dealt with in the past. He may not fully realize it, but he wasn't entirely dissimilar to Tugger in his adolescent days (at least, insofar as feeling governed by his emotions). The temporal distance from his early youth has enabled him to mellow out, think more clearly, and capitalize on his better attributes such as decisiveness, a good grasp on strategizing, and being empathetic and caring.

He is, of course, known to be a straight arrow...that is to say, very about rules and order, following traditions, establishing a hierarchy, having respect for authority and elders, etc. However, he is not immune to lightheartedness and joking around. He's a good, gentle playmate with the kittens on occasion. He lives for directing plays (although subversively he might take them a little too seriously sometimes lmao). He definitely lets a Dad Joke slip out every once in a while. He can read and write, and is pretty erudite about a handful of subjects that extend beyond life in the Junkyard. He's a pretty well-rounded chap!

He's not particularly spiritual or mystical, but has always been fascinated by the mysticism inherent in felinity, and has a unique connection to the concept of magic due to his connection with Old Deuteronomy. He's more naturally attuned to felinity in every corporeal sense, and has strong and thoroughly-developed opinions about the meaningfulness of Jelliclehood along with its history and customs.

He's gentlemanly and intelligent, courageous and dignified, so a pretty archetypal 'leader/hero' character. his faults are brought out by adversity with which he is not familiar...as someone who prefers adhering to precedent and keeping everything in order, he feels very challenged by untrodden territory. While he's good at thinking on his feet, he's also prone to overthinking after the action, and letting that repressed sentimental side from yesteryears cloud his approach. When he's feeling menaced by uncertainty, you'll see those cognitions buoy to the surface...overprotectiveness, stubbornness (sometimes he's bad at listening to suggestions!), over-intensity, and over-worry that he tries his darndest to conceal. He may periodically fall into lapses of "work-life imbalance," for turn of phrase (feels weird because we're talking about mystical dancing singing cats but you get it).

Perhaps his biggest fault is difficulty ceding control. There is no bigger control freak in the Junkyard, even though many would probably assume that the title goes to Jenny. Jenny is more ostentatious in her form of leadership, yes, but Munkustrap is far more immoderate when it comes to judging what he can feasibly handle. Bearing the weight of the world on your shoulders, after all, does not a healthy habitude make. Munkustrap's elders...namely Jennanydots and Old Deutoronomy...occasionally remind him of that.

He also perpetually Tired (but doesn't show it!) and, despite maintaining his veneer of cool-headedness, does in fact Have Anxiety lol.

🫂 Notes on Relationships

Tugger - They are half-brothers, and symbolically, there's about 10-15 years between them. So the age gap is significant, but Munkustrap isn't exactly old enough to be his father (try as he might to parent him in the frequent absence of Old Deutoronomy). Truly the Annoying Younger Brother Ever, Tugger gets on his nerves faster and more effectively than just about anybody in his life. Granted, their pasts respective of each other aren't the most conducive towards a harmonious, peaceful relationship, but the same circumstances are what make their bond so close and significant. If it weren't for Munkustrap extending the olive branch to a very misled young Tugger, the latter would have never been able to severe himself from Macavity. Meanwhile, Tugger's effects on Munkustrap are less literal and obvious but just as significant. He acts as a looser, more optimistically nihilistic buffer to Munk's razor-sharp edges, and frequently functions as a catalyst for Munkustrap to unearth a bevy of feelings and emotions he's long been in the habit of smothering. They frequently bicker and frustrate each other, yes, but they know how to work with one another when it counts, and they love each other very much.

-

Old Deuteronomy - Munk is one of a few examples of a child of Deuteronomy who was raised primarily by the latter; among cats, it's frankly more common for those born into colonies to have been "raised by the village." Munkustrap has always been very close to his father, has bottomless admiration for him, and abides by his platitudes unquestioningly. Deuteronomy recognized a unique fervor and emotional vulnerability in a young Munkustrap and allowed the latter to attach himself inextricably to him. it's because of this connection, and Munkustrap's unconditional adulation of his father, that Tugger has traduced him as being a rather ideal "little soldier."

After a huge fallout with Macavity (whole thing it's a WHOLE THING), Old Deuteronomy took Munkustrap and his other followers (including Skimble, Jenny, Jelly, Gus, and Asparagus) and splintered away from the colony, going onto to establish the Jellicle colony that inhabits the Junkyard, as seen in the actual musical. For a while, the group focused on rebuilding and recuperating, and succeeded harmoniously. but, after a while when the reconstructed colony was comfortably settled, Deuteronomy became more of an itinerant than Munkustrap had ever known him to be, coming and going patternlessly. Munkustrap knows that he can always attempt to reach out to Old Deutoronomy (there's a postal system cats use...again...whole other thing) in times of need (i.e., when Munkustrap learned about Tugger being in Macavity's possession) but at that point, Munkustrap became established as the de facto Secondary Leader and had to establish himself as capable and independent. He never outwardly questions what Deutoronomy is up to when he's away on his long sojourns to Who Knows Where...but he's never one to question his father. (Tugger, on the other hand...)

Macavity - Macavity is symbolically around five-ish years older than Munkustrap. Closer in age than Tugger and Munk, but the gap is still significant. Munkustrap was born into the same colony as Macavity, and the two did share a portion of their respective childhoods together; Munkustrap being, of course, rather worshipful of Macavity as a kitten. Macavity, for his part, engaged with Munkustrap, and the latter retains fond memories of their interactions...but he also remembers how, with the clarity of hindsight, Macavity seemed to "troubled" back then. He was a bit moody, but that's not wholly unusual for an adolescent cat! More uniquely, he seemed oddly attune to the Jellicle Moon...an evidently Mystical characteristic. He often sought solitude and was reclusive, cagey, secretive, and was obsessed with his developing his mysticism and harvesting magic of Deuteronomy's ilk.

Ultimately, Macavity attempted to persuade Munkustrap to join him in a staged rebellion against Old Deuteronomy; but, even at such a tender age, Munk knew better than to be cajoled, and ultimately sided with his father. He tried in earnest to talk Macavity out of his pursuit of power, but of course...it was fruitless. And the ramifications were abominable. Ultimately, Macavity attempted something of a mutiny that resulted in the deaths of Munkustrap's mother, his two littermates, and the injury or loss of many of his friends and cats he considered to be family. To this day, Munkustrap blames himself for knowing of Macavity's designs, but underestimating him and failing to prevent the disaster. He vowed to never allow such calamity to befall his loved ones again, which manifests in the fiercely protective persona for which he's known. Whatever love existed between the two brothers has been seemingly lost to time; Munkustrap has grown past his bitterness, anger, and desire for retribution...but what's left in the wake are sadness, regret, and wariness.

-

Mistoffelees - The youngest of the protag trifecta of Munkustrap/Tugger/Mistoffelees (for purposes of not getting lost in the sauce, they are, in my mind, the Kirk/Spock/Bones so to speak), Mistoffelees is something of a little brother/son/protegee ??? person??? to Munkustrap. Their relationship is a little hard to compartmentalize, but it's warm and familial all the same. Munkustrap sort of supplies to Mistoffelees what Deuteronomy was to Munkustrap. The magical cat, of course, is far from the first youngun to ever stumble into Jellicle territory in need of reprieve, but usually raising the new arrivals is a village effort. And it still was for Mistoffelees, but Munkustrap zeroed in on him in particular for two major reasons: his inexpendably cathartic effect on Tugger, and the whole Being Magical. Munkustrap remembered, of course, the quixotic fascination his older brother had with magic and the legends surrounding it, and his own proclivities towards harvesting and using it, but Munk was not prejudicial towards Mistoffelees because of that. He knew from the onset that Mistoffelees and Macavity are incomparable, and wanted to make sure that Mistoffelees would never lose touch with the goodness at his core. He also wanted to solidify that Mistoffelees would not be treated differently because of his abilities, but would get to enjoy a normal and secure upbringing. Also...he intuited immediately that it was important for Macavity to Not Find Out about this inexplicably magical cat. (Magical Cats aren't exactly unheard of but they're really not...supposed to be able to exist anymore lmao)

In return for Munkustrap's warmth and extensions of care and friendship, Mistoffelees has always been eager to be helpful and useful, and often functions as a "right-hand man" for the Jellicle Protector in many of the banalities of life in the Junkyard. Despite his aloofness and eccentricities, Mistoffelees has always sought to please and prove himself to Munkustrap, despite the fact Munkustrap has always had confidence in him and never required proof or reassurance that the conjurer was someone he could trust and rely on. hhhhh idk their relationship is cute to me!!! they're cute!!!!

-

Alonzo - Alonzo and Munkustrap have a lot in common...like Munkustrap, Alonzo's early youth was peppered by loss and grief, disasters outside the scope of his control for which he still blames himself. Also like Munkustrap, it is because of these developments that Alonzo has sworn himself to be a protector for all those he holds dear. But, unlike Munkustrap, Alonzo is heavily saddled with endless self-doubt, self-flagellation, and fear. He's around Tugger's age, and Munkustrap recognizes how much learning and growing he needs to do, but also recognizes the drive and intensity propelling him towards becoming either a mess of self-destruction, or a rocksteady protector and friend on whom others can rely. Munkustrap instinctively took Alonzo under his wing, becoming his unofficial mentor, and is pretty much the only cat toward whom Alonzo is open and affectionate. The latter often goes to Munkustrap in times of doubt and fear, but also focuses on impressing and emulating the Jellicle Protector in any way he can. When it comes to being backed up during an altercation, or any matters concerning the security and safety of the colony, Munkustrap knows he can rely on Alonzo above anybody else to back him up. The two are very brotherly and familial with one another, and together make a duo that I, personally, would not fuck with.

Also, importantly, Alonzo supplies a sort of catharsis for Munkustrap as well. While the Protector may not realize it, being able to guide and mentor Alonzo functions as something like reparation for his own past failures; now he's able to pass on the lessons he's learned so that Alonzo won't make the same mistakes he made, and Alonzo being his protegee reassures him that he's capable of positively influence those who are in his care. (which he doesn't often conscientiously doubt, but losing his family instills fear in the back of his head that he'll fuck up in any way with his new family, a fear that's usually surfaced in conjunction with Tugger)

Jenny - She is a surrogate mother figure to Munkustrap, and one of the only cats to whom he yields his absolution of authority in the absence of Deuteronomy. (not unlike the way Kirk often has to cede to McCoy...two star trek references in one post about cats??) He's known her his entire life, and she has always been a source of comfort and guidance towards him that is similar, yet still different, in comparison to Deuteronomy. I like to think Jenny is one of the few cats that Munkustrap would ever go to for advice or consolation, and also one of the few cats who will openly question his approaches or point out his shortcomings. (it comes from a place of love!) Munkustrap also just thinks she's hilarious. A heavily burdened cat like him needs the unique combination of comfort and levity that a cat like Jennyanydots can provide! together they have a lovely rapport <3

-

(here comes the somewhat controversial takes pfffttt. you can flame me if you want idc it's the internet and I know what I signed up for lmao but if you are a demestrap purist who may become emotionally compromised by the suggestion that a romantic connection between the two is Not A Given, feel free to skip this part)

Demeter - listen. I know you're wondering but I'm going to keep it short for now okay. suffice it to say, they have a bit of a back-and-forth, so to speak, mostly stemming from Demeter trying to navigate the residual damage of her troubled past (and.....present) but. my version of Munkustrap is on the aroace spectrum (hides) and so instinctively doesn't move in on Demeter out of an impulse to "rescue" or "fix" her. And for her part, whenever she does indicate an interest in anybody, it's not like she's driven by a long-sufferer's Need For True Love. And even if it were, I'd lampshade that as Not A Good Basis For A Relationship. like idk it's a complicated thing, but regardless, I think she's a fascinating character on her own, far outside the realm of her sensuality and her relationships with the male characters lol.

So continuing, Munkustrap doesn't overstep the fact that she's an adult who can make her own decisions, and also he can see with his own eyeballs that she errs on the side of indecisive regarding her estimation of Macavity, and morality in general, and his mind is not clouded with "I Am A Straight Man In The Presence Of A Beautiful Woman" so as to persuade him to, for some reason, insist that she's not capable of making poor decisions, and trust her judgment above anybody else's in a comparable situation. He, of course, would like to help her, within reason, like he would like to help any cat who expresses interest in being a part of the colony and embracing the mores of Jelliclehood. And he is, of course, kind and helpful towards her because that's the kind of cat he is. and it has nothing to do with an urge to romance her. 😬 or protect her with anomalous fervency because She's Just A Girl (honestly idc about any implications regarding gender roles that have wormed their ways into various versions of CATS bc these are CATS and they lack culturally gendered expectations/roles and also they lack secondary sex characteristics)

because Demeter is rather flighty and cagey, and Munkustrap is a Busy Bee, it takes a while for the two of them to even really become friends, and when they do, there are still some ups and downs granted by a bevy of contrasting opinions/idiosyncrasies endemic to the respective characters. Once he gets to actually know her, Munkustrap does believe in Demeter and encourages her to make progress, but he doesn't hover over her or fuss over her more than he does any other of his adult friends lmao. in the few instances that she behaves in a sensual manner towards him, he's like...ig open to it, but again, he's on the aroace spectrum and navigates those kind of connections within that realm, which To Me means that, in his case, he's never governed by romantic, sensual, or sexual impulses/attractions. bc listen. I just love a male hero who is not ultimately fulfilled by A Woman's Love and Having Children (those things are great for some people!!! pls don't think I am suggesting otherwise lmaooooo)

if it seems like these past few paragraphs have a defensive tone...it may be because I operate in anticipation of being condemned by passionate shippers (and also I too am on the aroace spectrum and thats not for nothing lol) but like I said it's the internet and ik what I signed up for. I have nothing against believers in demestrap. not to mention that yk, hal.........it's about cats.

anyway!!!! Munkustrap has a meaningful relationship with everyone at the Junkyard, but I'm gonna stop here for now lol. I could write a passage for every possible combination of every possible pairing of cats but I have already gone beyond the scope I originally imagined pfft. I hope this gives an adequate enough glimpse into how I construe him and his personality and a little bit of his backstory. sorry if's confusing af, or if I focused too much on other cats. also I alluded to a few things that I'm not even sure I've expanded on before. but if you made it through this whole thing and if you care at all about my fanverse pls don't hesitate to ask for expansion or clarification on anything

ty for the ask!! <3

[beyonddarknessintolight]

My Skeleton Crew finale SPOILER thoughts!

...I am so fascinated by Jod. I was kinda right that he doesn't get a full blown redemption, but I was also proven wrong about my reaction to him from last week: he's not a completely evil bastard.

I will say, that I still think he's not a good person, but I won't call him 'evil.' He doubled down on his choices and his philosophy right up to the end, and he still kept using gaslighting language on the kids: blaming them for things getting this bad, claiming if they just obeyed him then things would be fine, etc. That's all abusive language.

But yes, now that we know his backstory, his actions all make sense as a trauma response. He was deeply messed up by watching that Jedi die in front of him, and it made him cynical.

It's very interesting though, that in his rant he still acknowledged that there is good in the universe, and it makes me think he sees himself as a monster. If he is at least aware of what is good and bad, and he still chooses to be bad... that makes him someone who, by default, probably hates himself and doesn't think he deserves to join the side of good.

It's psychologically so fascinating, and I see parallels with Darth Vader and Kylo Ren too. They too on some level knew that they were doing evil things, but had no hope for themselves. So much to unpack. I love characters like this!

So, while I think he still counts as a 'bad guy' in this, the way it ends does leave open the door for, someday, after a lot of work, he could redeem himself. But right now, he's still too much of a scoundrel. Also important to note how self destructive he is: his choices are very impulsive and poorly thought out, and he honestly could have just stayed with the kids until the very end and been able to get away with a giant reward, and be a lot better off.

But he chose to betray them for no good reason other than his own pride, and not wanting to be indebted to these kids that he finds annoying. He caused his own downfall by giving them a villain to overcome their own differences to defeat.

God this is such good writing!

It is interesting that they don't let us see what happened to him, they left that very open-ended. I know his final expression is being hotly debated, and I personally saw it as him accepting his defeat with dignity, but also.... there might be a tiny bit of him that's proud of the kids for defeating him and proving him wrong, that there are good guys who sometimes win. But it's very up for interpretation.

I also love how Wim's dad got to be a hero too! He's such a giant nerd lol. 'Son, you're looking at a Level 7 Analyst,' or whatever, and he says it like its the most badass thing in the world.

In general, this finale lets the adults learn to trust their children and defy the strict rules of that society, which is a good message.

And I LOVE that bit where Fern tells her mom about how, no matter where they went, even in the really bad places, they still met people that were kind and helped them. It's mirroring what Jod was saying, about pinpricks of light. The difference is that Jod lost faith in those pinpricks, while Fern found it (faith).

Yeah, I would have preferred we got a brief epilogue, to just show how the planet adjusts to now being part of the galaxy again, but it's honestly a minor nitpick. And part of me is ok with it not answering every single question, it allows our imagination to blossom. And also gives the writers wiggle room for Season 2...

Oh! Also: I love that, even after everything, Wim wanted Jod to come with them. He didn't want to abandon him. That feels so much like Luke. And I love that Jod just gives him this small smile, like he's saying, 'nah, kid, you earned this, get going.'

I loved this show so so so so much, it's just classic Star Wars fun, but it still felt fresh and different. Bravo!

[zepumpkineater]

do we got any thoughts on Dedmos specifically...

Dedmos is an interesting one since Deimos himself probably has the most strongly defined personality out of anyone in the SQ side of the main cast. Characters like Hank of course are under tons of interpretations all the time, which is in part intentional. Sanford's personality is defined, but he's still fairly different across fan interpretations. Deimos, on the other hand, I find to be the most consistent in this regard.

Most folks can agree he's the cocky, bad mouthing, gun toting, cigarette loving mercenary we've all come to know and love over the years, which is why I find it the most fascinating that it was him Krinkels chose to drag through the other place's cavalcade of personalized horrors that is the Dedmos Adventures series.

Dedmos as a series definitely slots into some of my favorite content that has come out of Madness Combat over the years, namely through its greater focus on psychological horror elements and deconstruction of its titular character. It's very Silent Hill 2, and I love that game to bits, so it's only natural I found myself really loving Dedmos.

And in terms of the character of Dedmos, I think there's a lot of fascinating lore implications that may or may not be explored somewhere down the line in another piece of Madness media. As I said before, Deimos being such a strongly defined character with a clear personality is a huge part of what makes Dedmos so good, because it quite literally strips away layers of that personality with each passing episode. We learn a lot about Deimos as a person as the very fabric of his being is stripped away, layer by layer, until he's nearly unrecognizable by the series' end.

I love how Dedmos as a series preys on Deimos' personality, his insecurities, and his worries. Outside of all of the physical torment Deimos endures, we also see him suffer mentally. I definitely think that scene where Deimos sees an apparition of Sanford and desperately runs over to it forever rewrote how I view Madness Combat as a series. That one little scene and series of actions forever recontexualized not only the events of the series, but Sanford and Deimos' relationship as a whole for me.

Even after being beaten, battered, losing pieces of himself that he will never get back, part of him still urges him along to chase down something familiar, something he knows in this desolate place. This action is of course immediately punished as is classic Other Place fashion, but the fact that it happened at all is deeply telling to Deimos as a character. I think it's proof that Krinkels thinks about these characters in a much more three dimensional way than what may be immediately made clear by Madness Combat at large. It shows that there's real emotion, real stakes in this series, and that's something long time fans of the cartoons never knew could happen.

All in all, I do hope the consequences of the events of Dedmos are at least partially explored in Madness 13, or whatever side content comes out before or after that cartoon's release. The way I see it, Deimos has been forever changed by his time in the other place, and he has lost pieces of his very soul that will never be returned to him. Who knows how much of him has been lost, and if it can ever be truly repaired.

If I were in charge of writing Dedmos, I think I would absolutely bring a greater focus on how hollow he must feel. Pieces of himself gone, filled out with lifeless rocks. I would write about how other characters, especially Sanford, notice how awkward and stilted he feels. Deimos knows who he is on a fundamental level, there are aspects of him that will not, cannot be changed for as long as even a fragment of him exists. But he can't help but notice how it feels like he has to force it out, sometimes. He knows the part he's supposed to play, the jokes he's supposed to make, the cocky and snide remarks, but it just feels...Empty, sometimes. Like he's pretending to be someone he used to be, not acting like someone he is. Memories that he knows are his, but feels like they're someone elses' entirely.

Not to mention the strain it might put on his relationship with Sanford. It can't be fun to see your best buddy die, and not only die, but come back different. Changed in a way that makes it difficult to recognize him sometimes. He's got mostly the same face, the parts of it that are left, roughly the same clothes. Same dorky hat and bulky headphones, anyway. But the way he carries himself is just...Different. Heavier. More subdued. His jokes land awkwardly and he stumbles over his words. He's quieter, still the occasional sarcastic remark, but sometimes they almost feel mean-spirited rather than playful.

I could go on really, but the point is I really love Dedmos the series and Dedmos the character. Krinkels 200% cooked with that side series.

[radioisntdead]

On my knees begging for Carmilla content some day because I want to be adopted by the Latina who defied angelic immortality out of love for her family-

And you write really well and I'd love to see you interpret her.

My dear, Get off your knees for your wish has been granted!

Mamá Carmilla Carmine headcanons

Warnings: fluff!! I did headcanons first since this is my first time writing for her [I say, lying while staring at the scrapped Oneshots of her.]I used some traits of my own Hispanic mother for her.

A strict but loving mom for sure, if she has to drench her hands in blood to ensure her children are safe and sound, that her children are alive and breathing, she'd destroy heaven and hell if she had too.

We don't know if her daughters are adopted or biological but that doesn't matter, I see her as the type to just causally adopt a kid.

Like "You are my kid now."

All of her children are bilingual, I don't make the rules, she does.

She can and WILL start talking to you in Spanish, she'll start quizzing you on what word means what if you've started learning.

If you don't know she stares at you disappointed before telling you the word and what it means.

Duolingo Sinlingo is highly frowned upon, that little owl uses ai and its app is increasingly getting worse and worse, all of their budget is going towards marketing.

She'll get books and other language learning apps for you to learn.

I feel like she's the type to scold her children but not physically hurt them, spoons, sandals? Only for eating and wearing, respectively

Do not EAT SANDALS.

Family game nights, everyone gets competitive, your mother, your sisters and you.

Monopoly was banned by Zestial.

Your name like your sisters is possibly also after a ballet.

Speaking of ballet, you and your sisters were taught, she has recordings and pictures of the three of you dancing.

She's a very proud mother, like those are her kids!!

If you have long hair sometimes she'll brush it, maybe put it in a braid or bun, or something elaborate like her own hairdo.

She doesn't cook often but when she does it's the best fucking food ever.

I'm talking Menudo, Tamales, Pernil, Almojábanas, empanadas, etc etc

Teaches her kids to be smart and how to defend themselves.

She may not always be there to protect you, you need to protect yourself.

All kids get a goodnight kiss to the forehead before bedtime.

You get random bowls of fruit sometimes, you didn't ask for it, she didn't ask you, just eat the fruit.

Definitely a believer in hard work.

She's proud of you, and your sisters, even if she doesn't say it often.

Broke out the fancy gravity falls headers for her, I want tamales, I haven't had them in like ages :[

PLEASE I WANT SOME PLEA-

ANYWAYS good evenin' folks! I do hope you enjoyed these! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your night, thank you for tunin' on in!!

[gloopdimension]

do you have any ideas or interpretations about like. how post-forsaken 1337n7 would go about… im curious because i’ve been trying to like. Piece it together if it ever kind of Did happen. especially considering the fact that in tlg Guest was a rlly big part in winning the war against the bacon empire so like. what state would roblox even be in if they ever did come back? where would they live? ect… also Daisy is like! a very big and interesting factor (me personally im a polycule truther hehe)

OOOOOH

hmmmm. i think it could be very interesting and enlightening(...maybe also a little devastating) on both ends (7 seeing guest w his family, guest seeing how 7 would act w coolkidd if he was normal again[I HAVE OTHER HCS ABOUT THAT BUT FOR NOW, JUST THESE GUYS]).

iirc guest DID take out an important part of the baconarmy as he died so i imagine that faction would have to recover from that loss...everyone thinks hes still dead so hed have that going for him Personally in terms of peace at home.

the state of roblox when he returns is something ive pondered before but not super specifically. i dont care Much to sort out specifics rn

guest and his family would probably have to be quite protected and never really let that Hes Alive get back out. as i think he'd step back from his role fighting in the war because he just got done fighting another one on an Entirely different level(though he'd probably be even MORE of a force to be reckoned with w/ how the spectre unintentionally trained him). in my mind he wants to chill w daisy..matt.. and please please god see charlotte again LET ME SEE MY DAUGHTER.

ican write more abt charlotte later. or just ask me .aha

i always picture if 7 and cooly got to go back home they'd just..go back to where they lived prior. i think he lived off the grid, nobody found his corpse. spekaing of his corpse, 7 would remember what he did, find the blood and matter, and let coolkidd rest outside for a little while as he cleaned up (..honestly, i can picture him hurriedly[very sloppily probably...been a while since hes been able to use his gui to its full extent] replacing some things entirely).

as for the 3 of them, 7 1337 and daisy, hmm. i imagine there is Immediate concern from both sides of the men abt the things they did w eachother down in spectreland because 1. 007n7 feels really guilty about "taking" guest from daisy 2. guest feels guilty about "betraying" daisy (neither of them thought he'd return). its um. its very awkward. ive wirrten abt it manytimes tho so thats just here for additional thoughts.

past that though...Ok yes its still awkward even if the spectre loops were worth a thousand years and they know eachother inside and out--but not to say theyd drift. i think theyd stay in contact and .. GUEST WOULD BE VERY NERVOUS ABOUT ALLOWING COOLKIDD around charlotte but (while cooly was still damaged) hes still a good kid. i can picture 7 bringing cooly and some smoothies or something while they chatted.

daisy ohhh my gawddd i KNOWshes so happy to see guest. so many hugs so many kisses and SO MUCH FLUTTERING in her heart of just pure fucking joy. i think they would both cry and while she'd flinch at the state of his...half-missing face, body covered in scars, notable somehow more muscle, hes back home and CLUTCHING her in a way his hands could never be pried, despite everything its still HIM. and she loves him. she will adapt as will he.

i think there'd be a little rollerocaster of emotions. she gets the feeling something went on (when she does learn of 007n7). shes sad, angry, hes been gone this long, shes grieving the time they lost. it clashes with the joy of him just Being here again. i think daisy is quite sensible so she'd realize while her Anger makes Sense, its not justified and she'll likely just talk it out with a friend or even guest (FEEL FREE TO ASK MORE SPECIFIC Q'S ABOUT HER, MY BRAINS GETTING SCRAMBLED)

daisy and 007n7...i think daisy has quite an open mind but he'd be offputting and probably a little annoying .SORRY. he's quiet, apologetic but somehow snappy at the same time...he's under a lot of stress. if i just got out of murder hell i'd be tired and angry too.

i think AFTER SOME TIME hes very willing, as his emotions blow over tho, to get to know her and converse w her. I think everyone in the cast would need some time to themself rlly...

i can see the polycule vision but hmmm i dont knowww i just dont see daisy and 007n7

it is quite late as i write this so i might have run out of steam/have revisions later on. ill prob rb or edit whooo knoowsss!

[nnymphie]

Hiiiii obsessively scrolled your blog in one sitting and I’m obsessed w how you write Laios it’s so sweet (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

With that, how do you think he’d handle maybe some of the more animalistic traits his partner would have? Getting used to things like hibernation, “weird” (to tall men) mating rituals, different bodily reactions due to whiskers or different strength in senses. We all know he ♡’s monsters and animals of all kinds so he’s probably not TOO surprised by it, but now he has to deal with it as the partner to someone with these traits?! Woah!

AHH thank you so much🥺🫶 I’m seriously SOOO flattered!!! I’m glad you enjoy my interpretation of Laois! He’s honestly one of my favorite characters from any franchise, and i think one of by far the best written manga/anime protags ever. Like he’s just wonderful and i wanna chew on him and hold him so gently ugHHHHH

As far as you ask:

I think he’d honestly be a damn good partner to someone with animalistic qualities. This man probably has multiple journals dedicated to every little special quirk, habit, mannerism, etc, that you have- and he thinks they’re all wonderful. He is genuinely in awe of everything about you and how uniquely you live life. He would absolutely ask as many questions as you’d allow him, and conduct all the research he possibly could. Hell, I could see him researching the specific husbandry and behavioral aspects of whatever species your beast side comes from- and trying to work some of it into his routine. Dare i say he’d even be a bit jealous that you get the privilege of experiencing some of these instincts and traits???

If you hibernate? You best believe he is helping feed you plenty before its time and making sure you have a safe comfortable nesting place. If you have special mating rituals? He’s learning them all so he can be the best mate possible to you ( he’s honored to even have the title of mate)

He’d love to test your reflexes and sensitivity to different stimuli, but also learn what you don’t like and find ways to mitigate or all together alleviate your discomfort.

I’ve talked about it before, but I firmly believe that your animal traits and beastly nature makes him understand you better. He hasn’t ever really fit in, and regular human social situations are not his strong suit or something he favors really at all. He doesn’t seem to pick up on queues the others do, his interests and passions are often not understood and mocked/judged. Perhaps in a different way than you, but he has also been a misfit outcast most of his life, he empathizes with you on that, finds a sense of camaraderie in not belonging. And even better? The very things that make you different are precisely what he’s so passionate and knowledgeable about. He is fantastic with animals and beasts alike, hell, there’s a solid chance he already knows about some of your specific behaviors and needs before you even have to tell him. And what he doesn’t know? He is eager to learn from you at any and every opportunity. He would never make you feel like a burden for the things you cannot control, rather id imagine he’d encourage you to live as naturally and comfortably as you can.

Laois is so damn amazed by you, he loves every little weird thing, and wants to keep discovering more for as long as he’s possibly able to,,,

[0ujidere]

The way Anya & Curly's entire characters are dependent on viewer interpretation is crazy to me but also oh so very good. I will start with Anya okay be ready. The way others draw her interaction with any members of the crew varies so heavily and its based off of how others project onto her. Killing Jimmy with the Axe or the Gun, Anya and Curly killing Jimbo, Keeping the baby, Aborting that baby (dattebayo), Forgiving Curly, Blaming Curly, Killing Curly. All of these are interpretations that we can't really confirm or deny because we Don't know how she would act in any of these situations. We don't know who she is outside of the little tidbits of interaction with the crew and how those can be interpreted and how much those vary. I think its really interesting to see how some Anyas take revenge through their own means and others try to find the road to forgiveness. Both are very valid, but we never learn how she really feels about Curly post-crash, whether they even try to have a conversation or if she follows Jimmy's ideal of projecting herself onto the captain, whichever way that means. His pov has made her character so easy to twist to the way the viewer finds more cathartic and I think it is both a disservice to her from Him as a victim, and insanely good writing from the devs to leave an open ended story with a character who can be formed to fit whatever feels best. I'll make another ramble at some point about her precrash relationship with curly because i think it also holds alot BUT that is a whole nother essay. Curly, very obviously, has no way to communicate other than to fight back with what little he has. We see his fatal flaw & mistake, the semi immediate aftermath, but from then on, he is completely at the mercy of Jimmy/The viewer. We do not see him interact with the crew postcrash, except the three times Jimmy gives him his medication. If he didn't need painkillers every day, he might as well just have been a figment of Jimmy's imagination haunting him, the way Swansea+Daisuke avoid talking about Curly. Though he is still very much a person, he is made out (by jimbo) to be (possibly) a complete mockery of who he used to be, strangled and forced into an idol and a scapegoat and a friend and a coward and a god. Whatever he is needed as at any given moment. An obstacle or a damsel or an upstanding captain or a traitor crushing the crew (Jimmy alone) into the dirt. Any of these could be true or false, all at the same time or otherwise. His actions precrash are all we have to understand him, and the way he fights Jimmy against his medication and is beaten for it, and the way he creaks out a laugh once the gun is revealed, after all this time, right under both of their noses. He spends time with Anya and jokes with her. He helps Jimmy with his psyche eval and reveals his fears regarding being captain. The crew get let go and he goes against the company and tells them anyways, only holding out for a week. He doesn't understand Anya's situation when they watch the 'stars'. He makes some horrible word choice and false promises once he does. He continues to make some more horrible word choices and then action followed by a fatal, single thought. And once the regret hits it is too late. And whether or not he could ever be forgiven or more responsible than ever isn't a question given to Anya, but rather, the viewer. Anya and Curly hurt. They are written both as human and an ultimatum. Who Anya is as a person and where she stands on Curly are both vague. Curly's lack of action and level of responsibility are devastating, but whether or not he deserves punishment or empathy are the viewer's decision.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

your “sentimonsters vs tropes” post made me realize how sentimonsters don’t work as a metaphor for marginalized people despite what other people say, because even if it was intentional, the show doesn’t acknowledge the fact that the majority of them get killed by the heroes, including Adrien and Felix (who are part of their race). Honestly, it makes me wonder if Miraculous ever did some sort of allegory right at all

(Post in question)

Before we get into it, I wanted to quickly define allegory in case that's a new or forgotten term for anyone as it's hardly common parlance:

An allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughout history in all forms of art to illustrate or convey complex ideas and concepts in ways that are comprehensible or striking to its viewers, readers, or listeners.

In the linked post, I chastised canon for not using the sentikids to say anything about personhood or self worth. While I stand by that, I will also give canon credit for the fact that sentimonsters as a race are not presented as a clear allegory for anything. The sentimonsters that weren't meant to be equal to humans are just worthless akuma knockoffs created to act as canon fodder. The human-equivalent sentimonsters are basically perfect humans who happen to have remote controls. You are never supposed to think about the implications of that frankly bizarre difference. There is not meant to be a deeper message and that's the right call because, when you look at the setup we just went over, you quickly realize canon didn't set itself up to make the sentimonster race an allegory for anything but eugenics.

While you can argue that canon is eugenics apologia, that is very clearly not intentional. I don't worry about kids walking away thinking eugenics are good because you only get that as a takeaway if you're actively searching for a message in canon's writing. There is no on-screen discussion of which sentimonsters are okay to kill or any other type of blatant allegory for eugenics. If eugenics = good is the intended message, then it's incredibly subtle.

While plot-level* allegory can be subtle, that tends to be rare in family-oriented media as the point of allegory is to convey a message. If no one is picking up on the message, then you've failed to make your point. That's why no one is watching Zootopia or Elemental and walking away asking, "Huh, I wonder what that film was trying to teach kids?"

Miraculous doesn't have anything that stands out as a clear allegory like I'd expect if the intent was to use allegory to teach kids something. I'd normally say that means there was no intentional allegory in the show, but we have straight up insane statements from the writers like this one about the season five final:

In the next scene, we can see Marinette taking the miraculous that have been standardized and industrialized by Gabriel and putting them back in shape. The writers specify that this is a parable about craftsmanship vs industrial production. The miraculous will now be adapted to every person, but we can’t see what they look like just yet! In this new world, the powers are all shared, among people who they trust and know will work for the common good.

Did anyone get this from the show? I certainly didn't. With the writers making statements like this, who even knows what messages they're trying to send. Between this and the reveal that Lila learned about Gabriel by reading Nathalie's lips in the season four final, I've given up trying to figure out what these loons are doing with their wacky storytelling. It's always fascinating to hear them talk about the story they think they've told versus what the average viewer came away thinking. I have never once seen a fan get the Lila thing. Everyone I've seen thought she was just evilly enjoying Nathalie's suffering, but it's pretty clear that the writers are quite proud of this and think it was a great choice! You know what would have been an even better choice? Letting Lila read lips at any point before or even after that scene to establish this is a skill she has. That's basic setup and payoff! Storytelling 101!

*As a quick clarification, when I said "plot-level allegory" that was me trying to find a term to convey the sort of high-level, in-your-face allegory writers use when actively trying to clearly convey a message to the audience. There are lots of works that have no obvious allegory, but actually contain subtle allegory for those who enjoy analysis or a select group that's in the know. Something the author had fun playing with, but doesn't expect the audience to get.

An example of more subtle allegory that comes to mind is The Little Mermaid. There are many valid queer readings of both the original story and the popular Disney film, especially since the book was written by an openly bisexual man after a man he loved got engaged to a woman and one of the movie's producers/major creative influences was an openly gay man. These fact have lead many to argue that the stories were always meant to be about queer acceptance on some level as opposed to the stories simply being ones that can be used to discuss that topic in spite of the author never intending that. (Which doesn't invalidate the value of a reading, btw. As far as I'm concerned, author intentionality only matters in very specific types of discussion. Most of the time, I'm a death-of-the-author girl.)

However, even if the two works are meant to be an allegory for acceptance of "alternate" sexuality, you'd be hard pressed to argue that the allegory is presented in a way that the average viewer is going to get. Everyone gets that Zootopia is all about prejudice being bad. I generally hear Disney's The Little Mermaid described as a silly fairy tale about "a girl giving up everything for a man" even though that's only true for the original story.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi Raven! I just had a quick question because I was hoping to clear up some confusion for me.

In book 5, when getting ready to audition for the VDC and the actual audition, I interpreted it as us just helping and being moral support for ADeuce. However, with some of the things I’ve seen, we, the MC, might’ve auditioned? Bc I really hope not lol I have no musical talent and would be so embarrassed I know I’m a bad singer I don’t need Vil the Queen telling me

Thanks! Have a good night/day :>

Good question! I went back into the game to check and… well, it’s more complicated than you might think! Let’s go through it all.

So beginning in 5-4, you first learn about the VDC/SDC. Grim expresses his excitement: “I want in on this competition!” In Japanese, you’ll notice that Grim uses “ore-sama” which is an uppity way to refer to oneself in the singular. Here, Grim is talking about his own intent to join the competition both in English and In Japanese.

Now let’s jump ahead to 5-9. This is the part where Adeuce and Grim are practicing their dance moves on the basketball court. After witnessing how bad they are, the player is granted two dialogue options, one of which makes use of the word “we”. This could imply that Yuu is practicing dancing with Adeuce and Grim. Important to note, however, is that the Japanese version includes no such subjects and could be interpreted as not including Yuu because of this.

Also!! Jamil comments on the dancing abilities of the other boys in both EN and JP, but not on Yuu at all.

In 5-11, Jamil asks if “you” have applied for the audition yet. In JP, Jamil uses the phrase “kimi-tachi”, which is closer to “you all” (ie more than one person). He does not make specific reference to Yuu, nor does he single them out with the “you”.

Then in 5-12, Adeuce, Grim, and Yuu approach Rook to sign up for VDC/SDC auditions. Rook announces their personal details and then tells them "Since you have informed me of your intent, you do not need to fill out any paperwork". In Japanese, the subject "you" is not present, but the implication is that he's referring to at least Ace, Deuce, and Grim as a group. There's not much here to implicate that Yuu is also signing up.

When the actual audition happens in 5-16, Rook announces that Ace, Deuce, Grim and Yuu "may enter". This could imply that Yuu is there for moral support or that they, too, are auditioning.

In 5-18, a little while after the auditions, Yuu has a dialogue choice: “Did we flunk?” The use of “we” here could imply Yuu auditioned, or it could refer to their group of friends + their efforts to cheer them on. It should be noted that JP lacks pronouns in these same options, so it’s unclear whether or not Yuu is referring to themselves and/or the group.

5-20 perhaps gives us the most definitive answer. Grim gets annoyed that he was summoned despite not being accepted into the NRC Tribe. More specifically, he points out that he and Yuu were left out of the conversation. Grim then says “Why’d you call us over when we already flunked out?” Given that every other student present has been accepted, the use of “we” here HAS to refer to Grim and Yuu. In JP, Grim uses the term “ore-sama tachi”, which makes a plural or group of people. So here, both EN and JP are very clear and agree with each other; they seem to suggest Yuu auditioned and failed.

It's very easy to miss this if you aren't paying close attention! (I overlooked it myself, www) I wonder if the writing was intentionally vague or dragged its feet up to part 20 because a lot of details surrounding Yuu are left vague to allow for as much or as little player projection as they like. That way, people who have no interest in it can imagine just sitting out while the people who are interested can imagine performing their heart out. I know that there's some fan art of individual people's Yuusonas auditioning, but the majority of the fandom seems to be satisfied with Yuu fulfilling more of a support/cheerleader or managerial role for book 5.

Interestingly, Yuu failing the auditions here can support a line that Azul says in book 3 when they're negotiating the terms for a deal (in 3-10). He states that Yuu is "not gifted with a beautiful voice [...]" but doesn't remark on their dancing abilities. So... Yuu might have been mediocre at the singing part of the audition?

Ace, Deuce, and even Grim seem to have improved a bit thanks to Jamil's coaching earlier in book 5, but since Jamil did not comment on Yuu... er, maybe Yuu didn't see a little improvement and so didn't get accepted into the tribe? Not sure why Grim wasn't either, especially since Vil was convinced by Rook to go for "unpolished" gems to make himself shine even brighter; maybe cuz he's a lil' cat and would steal all the attention/j)

[annie-silverl2]

CHARACTER STUDY: Liquidator, Representation of parody or oblivion by the script?

INTRODUCTION

Good morning / good afternoon / good evening or Good night, Returning with the third character in this analysis, Liquidator / Bud Flud. First of all, this post wasn't the easiest thing to structure, especially when the character doesn't exactly have a good depth within the program itself, so let's not leave aside the points to add to these characters, there is a guarantee of better reach with the public when the screenwriter explores how to think and until the end he will realize some things that basically they would have made him one of the strongest of the superhero's main team of adversaries, without further ado, let's follow the information.

IMPORTANT WARNINGS ABOUT SENSITIVE CONTENT: NONE

DARKWING DUCK SERIES - Taking everything the show SAYS for itself

The episode “Dry Hard” is characterized as the first and last of great participation in the sense of having attention on his abilities, there was a comic strip, but publicly only one. To sum up the basics, Bud Flud is one of the businessmen responsible for selling water on a very hot day and to earn the final income he poisons the water of his opponents. Until he is stopped by Darkwing Duck until he meets his end as a normal dog. Later, chemists somehow brought him back to life and enhanced his abilities so that they could manipulate matter and its form, giving enough idea to snot the total water of Saint Canard and sells the fresh water expensively (I don't know where this guy got the water from, if it wasn't his I don't know but where he made it appear). Luckily Darkwing has the upper hand when he beats him by throwing cement from the local construction site and learning something from the episode. Unlike those who remember, Darkwing used his own opponent as a garden decoration (old-era Disney wasn't The family friend, was it?).

DARKWING DUCK FANDOM - Building everything that was formed for the fans together with the most indirect interpretations perceived in my participation when writing or drawing with lore

There is a great personality who worked finger by finger on the character of Liquidator, whoever walks in the community must recognize the great effort and quality of this artist's work, so I also want to add to the old ones from the first internet communities like Devianart and Instagram, have been working for quite some time on adding abilities, design variation beyond their basic concept of a mutant water dog.

The point that I will highlight as its differentiation in our main universe that we will have in this meeting is that the character received a few more things from references, from a renewal of its personality, adding some points and making it go a little beyond sales dialogues. Give to cauterize a mix between a character with little social filtering/sincerity and a bit of a sensor of ease in getting into fights (it is not possible to go into too much detail, this part is better worked on than said). Trying not to leave this passage too vague, the character here gets a light dose to flourish his best characteristics that range from confidence (perhaps pride), greed (a big point) and professionalism, being able to say that in his episodes he failed to defeat the protagonist. However, there are some moments like the boiling water trap for the water modification that could have easily resulted in a filming accident, originally the villain 's animation is SIMPLY WEIRD, only, only weird, of course there's not really any indication that it was intentional by Darkwing, however it seems to have been a moment... of possible poor elaboration in the scene? It's an opinionated piece, but honestly here, Darkwing Duck barely showed any resentment or guilt over the ACID DEATH of a criminal, yes, criminal, however in this version there is a makeover that shows that it was an accident and without attempts at humor here, this moment could really have a more dignified passage and less than an episode of the week. Darkwing Duck really isn't the type who wouldn't take passages involving death, this isn't one of the first times.

IN DARKWING DUCK appearing in the episodes:

"Just Us Justice Ducks, Part 1" (Season 1, Episode 20)

"Just Us Justice Ducks, Part 2" (Season 1, Episode 21)

"Life, the Negaverse and Everything" (Season 1, Episode 35)

"Dry Hard" (Season 1, Episode 36)

"Darkwing Doubloon" (Season 1, Episodes 40)

"Jail Bird" (Season 1, Episode 62)

IN DUCKTALES 2017 appear in the episodes:

"Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!" (Season 1, Episode 11)

"The Duck Knight Returns!" (Season 2, Episode 16)

"Let's Get Dangerous!" (Season 3, Episode 12)

IN COMICS (Boom! Studios and Joe Books):

"The Duck Knight Returns, Part 1"

"The Duck Knight Returns, Part 2"

"The Duck Knight Returns, Part 3"

“The Duck Knight Returns, Part 4"

"Crisis on Infinite Darkwings, Part 3"

“Crisis on Infinite Darkwings, Part 4”

"Dangerous Currency, Part 1"

"Dangerous Currency, Part 2"

"Dangerous Currency, Part 3"

"Orange Is the New Purple, Part 1"

“Orange Is the New Purple, Part 2”

“Orange Is the New Purple, Part 3”

DARKWING DUCK/DRAKE MALLARD - Story adapted without extreme spoilers, just adding the changes, ideas on his biological identity and influence:

One thing that is important to note is that we gathered information from the episode and with the loose ideas that we already had about what led to the character's acceptance of crime, for now.The main point is that we improved the approach with their own solo appearances and made it a little harder to win. One example is that now cousin Mortimer has a better participation in the character's past. :›

LIQUIDATOR/BUD FLUD - Conceptual And Final visual:

Concept art Vs Final Design

Not enough data…

Canon Redesign

DEVELOPMENT

The first point not to forget is that the character deserved as much attention as the others in terms of giving him room to deepen his skills, of course, possibly the animation was not very cheap, But then why do they still bring the same character who only had one episode? This is your chance! Liquidator is a perfect villain to give the protagonist trouble, he not only manipulates water (and possibly is not entirely water), he himself is an unstable chemist with unknown capabilities. Able to change the state of a liquid, transition components, general manipulation of one's own body, in addition to low damage capacity, this super villain advances without difficulty within a police conflict. If Saint Canard hadn't already had some budget misappropriation, they would have reformed the banks as well as the police department to keep this villain in (yes, in the comics it was easy for him to have simply broken the glass, IF BY CHANCE it was glass). The question of the character's abilities is pure experimentation, both in script and in combat, and,the only thing that seems to be able to bring this character down is purely pricing his original body, very similar to some other characters in the cast of characters with liquid bodies, right? I can't say anymore for now, secret AU information.

> CREATIVE WRITING: What ideas can be worked and how can each one fit in?

RELATIONSHIPS:

In this process, you can work on the character's relationships as you prefer, whether platonic, loving, intimate or aggressive, the dog's relationship with others. Would he act with Negaduck the same way he did with the other Fearsome Five? Would he be open to questioning or would he find a way to manipulate the situation for his own good? Would he still have any family he would like to meet again in another life? But what reason prevents him from doing so other than mutation? Dynamics are the soul of stories, feel free to respond with your observations about this mischievous dog.

THE IMMORTALITY:

Before working on this issue I will add a theory that I tried to formulate with zero experience in chemistry, Maybe it didn't come out very well, but I'm going to transcribe what I explained in private to an acquaintance. "The fact responsible for making the jealous is the neutralizing component in the character of the donor due to three factors, CaO, H2O, CO,2, KOH and NH4, summarizing what these components found in the productivity of the agricultural process leads to the decay of electrons to a positive form of a homogeneous mixture (on this side the entire Liquidator is internally heterogeneous and nothing mixes), then the jealous has components that neutralize making a base mixture, because in the end jealous is the base of water." Summarizing what I said there.

Structuring this concept, the fact responsible for the opportunity for rebirth and maintaining the character's consciousness makes his body purely unstable to maintain each item. This point is visible because its shape is always spilling and is basically impossible to be physically damaged. Of course, with this concept the only object of damage to your body is through reactions or addition of components that break down in water, ranging from soap, chlorine, liquid or powder products in general. However, this is a theme that influences the character's personality and life, because it can gradually make him feel the consequences, perhaps destruction of the components, seeing everyone in his friendship circle die, becoming a completely unhuman figure and perhaps making him as crazy a criminal as the rest of his team, and, If this observation is correct someone could easily threaten him with this weak point in mixtures.

INTERESTING REFERENCES FOR YOU TO PICK YOU TO PICK UP FOR THE CHARACTER

Hydro-man (The Amazing Spider-Man #212) of Marvel Comics:

Clayface (Detective Comics #40) of DC Comics:

Globby of Operation Big Hero - The Series:

Sevika of Arcane: League of Legends:

CONCLUSION

This post ends here, I will not complicate the information as much as I had planned, unfortunately, without a bonus about the theory of what reaction Bud performed to bring his life back.Possibly messing with the fictional more than actually some technical source of what I expected, well, I'm leaving, see you around, BYE-EEE!